A/N: Hello again! It's been a while but I have returned. Exam results and other life lessons have hit me hard and my disappointment at not getting into my first choice of University made me go on a month long binge of game playing. (No, not all at the same time!) So anyway, after finishing all of The Witcher, Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I'm back to my writing and it's good to be back. Since I have a gap year now, my writing should be consistent to one or two week updates; I sure could use some supportive reviews at this time, thank you everyone. :)
"Do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here... that's - that's just an awful feeling..."
(Elijah Price)
White Frost, Cold Blood
Kaidan Alenko was not a man easily assuaged. Upon seeing his Commander force one corpse and three still breathing, (not to mention screaming) forms of Alliance citizens into body bags and promptly drag and throw them out of the airlock, he began to worry about her state of mind. The rest of the crew knew to keep clear of such obvious danger signs. Such as spacing terrorists without a trial.
In spite of the butterflies rumbling through his stomach and his legs feeling like water. He plucked up the courage to have a heart to heart with Aran. If he had expected it to go his way, it proved how little he truly knew about the differences between male and female soldiers; there was in actuality, very little. Something he would find out to his cost.
"I'm just saying, Shepard - Commander. That one can't always take the quick and easy way out. I've seen these measures employed before, believe you me, they never end well."
Aran halted in mid-step and gave him a stern glare. Kaidan quailed under the withering look. Until Aran's eyes sparkled and warmed; she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I appreciate your candor, Lieutenant. But these people are extremists, we aren't going to win by negotiation. Negotiation leads to concessions and concessions are a victory for terror. I chose the lesser evil here; there is no blessed moral high ground, no white marble tower for us to take refuge and preach in. There are only decisions and their consequences."
"Don't get me wrong, Commander. I know you've been at this far longer than any of us. But sometimes - a new perspective is good for the mind - you know?"
"... No. I don't know; care to explain?"
"Those Cerberus bastards got what was coming to them. We relate to our profession in different ways, ways I can't even hope to comprehend. Just... never take life lightly, okay?"
"And what's that supposed to mean? You think it doesn't affect me? It makes me sick to think of the sheer magnitude of people I've killed. What am I supposed to do from your perspective? Mm?" Aran was forcing him to step back into his corner of the mess hall as other crew members stopped their chores to watch the argument heating up.
"Am I supposed to crawl into a ball and weep tears of penitence? It's done! These men have been punished and I was the being who made that decision. I'm not a weapon that is wielded by the Council against the criminal element, I'm the danger who consciously harnesses that power, for the sake of those who can't. What do you want from me, Kaidan? Can you tell me that at least within your pseudo-philosophical ramblings!"
Alenko's lower lip trembled slightly, he backed down again, suddenly finding his feet more interesting than looking Aran in the eye.
"Stop - stop this constant, blithely taking of life... please."
Aran spread her arms and let them fall to her sides heavily: "it's who I am, I can never change that. No-one can."
"Can't you? Since what we both saw on Eden Prime. Since Jenkins and Nihlus were murdered. I told myself - I wouldn't hold back anymore against our enemies, both synthetic and organic. But you? You've spiraled into a downward path of hyper-violence without bothering to note that there are other alternatives."
"Why... do I think - that you would never have come to me with this concern if I were one of the male sex?"
"I - I would have," he stated with all sincerity. His face soft and his eyes sad.
" - Oh."
"... Yeah."
"... Ah, I'm sorry - ugh, Christ." Aran rested her brow against her clutched hands in a moment of embarrassment.
"Please, Commander. Take it into account, that's all I ask, I'm concerned about you, that's all."
"Forgive me, Kaidan. For someone so old, I can sometimes be so blind."
"Not at all. You're too hard on yourself."
"No, nowhere near hard enough, I should pause now and then, reflect. I used to; all the time in fact. But the - repetition, of it all," she enunciated the stressed word with a rolling motion of her left hand. "Takes its toll."
"I - I should go," stuttered Kaidan.
"You do that."
He moved to walk away but Aran grabbed his arm, suddenly but not roughly. "I'm with Liara, if you, want the scuttlebutt confirmed."
Kaidan seemed to be overtaken by an incredible silence, then a pall of melancholy swept over him. "That's... great. I'm happy for you two," his voice was unnaturally jaunty, as if it didn't belong to the same man.
"There's no room in my heart for another, Lieutenant... at this time."
"Ha! I, uh, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
"Of course not. Buck up Alenko, you'll find someone."
Kaidan gave a weak and somewhat watery chuckle: "thanks for the vote of confidence, I, er, hope you'll watch out for yourself too. And the Doc as well."
"With you watching my back I don't think I have much to worry about, Kaidan. Thank you, truly, thank you. You've given me a lot to think about. You are, a good friend to me, to everyone on this ship."
"Hey, no problem, I feel likewise... Shepard."
As Alenko left, Aran's forced grin turned into an ugly expression, she took out a Quantum-entanglement phone and punched in a number without looking. Calming herself. "Idiot," she thought, shaking her fair head. Annoyingly, he did have a point, a valid point at that. Damn him.
"It's just that -" Kaidan spoke up again.
Samus lowered the cell, irritated.
"I know the UNC gives away bounties on Cerberus agents, they've had the dead-pool running for years. I thought that maybe, considering what your past profession was..."
"Don't worry Kaidan. It's not about money," she continued to type the subscriber code. "It's about - sending - a - message..." Kaidan left.
The CEO of Cipritine's Terra Nova Common Wealth Bank answered on the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Good afternoon, Mister Vice President."
"Who is this?"
"... You know who it is."
"Aran Shepard... you're alive. How did Abrudas die?"
"Your contact? Not well."
"I have others."
"No, now you have none."
"My connections keep me perfectly safe from the Spectres, Shepard."
"Are you in pain, sir?"
"What? No."
"You're about to be." Samus retained her grim smile as she heard the door being broken down and the heavy footfalls of Gabrilan and Mathias bursting into range, followed by shouts, cursing and the sound of two electric discharges accompanied by the strangled caw of a Turian being rendered unconscious. (Via a stun dart delivered capacitance of four hundred thousand volts.)
"Target acquired," answered her old Krogan friend. Aran snapped the phone in half, a smile creeping across her pert mouth, she'd kept her promise to Kaidan for now, she hadn't killed yet, maybe it could even become a new type of record while on active duty?
Three weeks later...
Liara lay sleeping peacefully in the Commander's quarters while Samus kept silent vigil. She didn't need to sleep like other beings and had cuddled with her in bed until tiredness had overtaken her lover. Then she had gently eased her arms out from the warm spooning they'd enjoyed and padded across the room like a shadow. Aran sighed from her armchair, someone had to be the Galaxy's saviour, she had been chosen, a destiny that many would kill for. But was there something greater than destiny? A greater power than blind predestination, or was there nothing at all? Even at her advanced age, she had no answer. Save that she altered her own fate; even in time travel, there was only one path.
She covered Liara's bare shoulder with an outer duvet quilt with unusual tenderness, then dressed silently. In a pair of dark heavy cargo pants, a navy rounded neckline cotton shirt, a buttoned cardigan and an open double breasted midnight black military coat. Then she pulled on two pairs of socks, the second set were woolly and had the day of the week stitched into them in grey thread. Friday. Riot boots with the hem of her trousers tucked over the laces completed her winter outfit. The boots had ice spike grips for extra security; though hardly essential for one with her co-ordination and balance, Aran was too much of a professional to expose herself to unnecessary risk.
Checking the weapon cupboard, she equipped herself with a pair of freshly forged carbon stainless-steel weapons. A Sayoc-Winkler tomahawk with a polished and wire-wrapped Verawood handle. Plus a three suction break hole-dotted, blue-steel handled, kopis short sword. Similar to the Gurkha blade that Wahib used, only longer and more lethal at eighteen inches. She slotted both melee tools into a deployment hatch on her HMW assault rifle and slapped its collapsed form onto a magnetic strap on her left thigh. Leaving the right free for her Mk. X and the underarm holster for her Paralyzer. Like her handguns, her CQC weapons were woven with different types of indestructible star metal. The kopis, of silver Denzium, the other, Black Core, giving the hand axe a nightmarish, opaque head.
All her gear was not completely concealed, intimidation was the aim of the game. Aran added her shotgun to the harness on her back, hidden from view (save the stock with a small orange Spectre insignia inscribed on it), underneath the coat. Best to leave a few surprises ready for any and all the assholes out there in the world.
Finally she put on black Schafa hide leather gloves, making her look horribly like a hit-woman. Only the thumb and first finger had cut-aways for added grip. Breaking out an omni tool diagnostic, Aran remembered how Lorik's coda had finally arrived; Matriarch Benezia T'Soni and her retinue had been spotted on Noveria.
"Approach control," announced Joker over the ship's radio. "This is the SSV Normandy, requesting a vector and a birth." Aran walked up beside his helmsman's chair, listening to the mood of the air traffic controller on the other side of the line; trying to get a bead on the planet's social atmosphere.
"Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defence grid is armed and tracking you, state your business."
Jeff rolled his eyes at the standoffish behaviour and answered crisply: "citadel business we've got a Council Spectre on board."
"Landing access - granted, Normandy. Be advised, we will be confirming identification upon your landing. If confirmation cannot be established your vessel will be impounded." Samus sniffed with evident scorn at the blatant fear these corporate types displayed to extraterritorial officers, undoubtedly, info-links and email messages were going crazy on the planet's surface, transmitting the data that a Spectre was about to make planet-side and conduct an operation into illegal activities. Of which there were plenty on Noveria. More than Jeff had hair-line stress fractures.
"What a fun bunch!" quipped Joker, "I think I'll take my next leave here!" Aran's lips curled at the jibe and she rested a hand on his shoulder before heading to the airlock to meet the squad. Regrettably, she could not allow the entire crew shore leave; Noveria was a mess of bureaucracy and turbulent espionage activities, ranging from white-collar crime to full out corporate sabotage. There was a clear and present danger to any Alliance MP's who took an interest in snooping while ashore.
Aran gathered around her shore party as Normandy slipped through the planet's exosphere, ME barriers glowing through the white gas clouds and sparkling ice particles. Wrex wore his usual heavy Mercenary hard suit, complete with added bobble hat that made him seem like a petty robber if not for its comedic size, (it covered most of his crest.) Garrus also wore a flapped woolly hat that made him look like a snowplow driver. Both of them being sentients from typically warm climates; they hated the cold as much as Saren hated Humanity.
In comparison, Ashley, Kaidan, Liara and Tali were both wearing their usual light body armour. Along with winter over garments. Liara had a muffler and Ashley a striped scarf. Kaidan had been forced by Garrus to don a pair of thermal earmuffs after losing a poker bet with the former cop. Aran held her shoulder length hair back with an insulated charcoal bandanna.
"So this guy of yours? 'Quin?' That's his name right?" asked Wrex.
"It's pronounced 'Keen', Lorik - Qui'in," Samus corrected him. "He's the manager for the Synthetic Insights branch across the whole hot lab complex. And a good friend."
"Can we trust him?"
"I saved his life once. And got him promoted when I bought a majority share in their research. But he's as stubborn as you are."
"Hah, I like him already."
"There are two undercover Spectres in Port Hanshan that have promised to lend us a hand also. Just let me do the talking."
Kaidan gave her a meaningful look, Aran sighed. "And let's try not to start any fights okay?"
Wrex shook his big head: "why not?" he said with all seriousness, causing the rest of the team to chuckle in mirth.
"Alright everyone, time to meet the neighbours," projected Aran as the Normandy landed slowly in Port Hanshan's docking bay.
The cold cut like a knife across Ashley's cheeks, making her pull up the collar of her coat. Garrus shivered involuntarily as they all moved out onto the platform and Wrex had a perpetually sour look engraved on his weathered face.
"Turians don't like the cold, Shepard. Did I ever mention that?" Vakarian wondered aloud.
"No, but it doesn't surprise me. Palaven's seasons are warmer than Earth's."
"How would you know?" Garrus queried, rubbing his palms together to generate heat, his breath coming out in misted puffs. Wrex was like a fog machine all on his own. Aran's controlled breathing released white smoke from her nostrils every five seconds, Vakarian wouldn't have been surprised if jets of flame could shoot from her maw when she gave a great snort in answer to his question; the sound a dragon might make.
"I've been," she replied simply.
Rounding the corner, Samus and her party spread out in a V-formation. Liara and Wrex flanking her, followed by Kaidan and Tali and Ashley and Garrus bringing up the rear. They looked an awesome sight heading down the boardwalk to administration. Three Elanus Risk Control Service security guards, two Human women and one male Turian, all wearing Guardian body armour were waiting to intercept them, holding their firearms loosely but with an air of caution in response to the new arrivals.
Maeko Matsuo was a former Alliance soldier and veteran of the mercenary conflicts in the Sloevig system. Therefore, upon first seeing Commander Shepard and her motley crew, she knew that such dangerous individuals had to be disarmed or else there would be untold property damage on her hands in a very short space of time.
"That's far enough," ordered the Japanese security chief sternly. Aran stopped dutifully, petty officials and mall cops filled her with an intense loathing but mindful of Kaidan's proclamations, Samus tried to be teeth-grindingly diplomatic.
"Something wrong, officer?" Aran said, placing a hand on the hip with a bull-pup rifle attached to it.
"You better hope there isn't," drawled the other woman, a peroxide bleached blond sneering cow, who looked as if speaking in anything less than a confrontational manner would cause her physical pain. Her name tag read: Sgt. Kaira Stirling. The silent Turian's: PC. Crismus Draven.
Matsuo was unperturbed by her subordinate's heckling nature and turned to face Aran's glacial glare. "This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials."
She wasn't prepared for the Commander to hitch an expression onto her face that was smiling mockery incarnate and for a slow, wheeling laugh to escape her. "All you need to know is that I have more credentials than you. Little girls."
"We're the law around here! Show some respect!" barked Stirling, visibly aggravated. "They plan to be trouble, ma'am."
Aran raised an eyebrow mirthfully.
"I can't let you into the mezzanine without confirmation of your identity," continued Matsuo in a measured tone. Aran's squad reached for their visible weapons...
"You know who I am."
"... No, I don't."
"Oh, come now, they told you I'm a Spectre. From this - paltry welcoming committee, I can tell that you don't believe it. But there's only one Human in the Spectres. Say my name, then maybe I'll show you my credentials."
"That's not true! There are no Human Spectres," spat Stirling. "Who the hell are you? We're not going to ask you nicely anymore - one more time, who the hell do you think you are!?" She pumped her shotgun threateningly, Aran inwardly cackled at the threat, then decided to have some fun.
"You know. You all know exactly who I am. Say my name."
"I don't have a goddamned clue - " Stirling began but Aran cut across her as if drawing a visible blade across a single hair.
"Yeah... you do. I'm the Inquisitor. I'm the one who killed Elanos Haliat."
"Bullshit, the Afterlife cartels got Haliat. They spaced him in orbit," the Turian, Draven, spoke up angrily.
"Are you sure?"
The police officers were tight-lipped and stony faced, not daring to believe.
"That's right... now. Say. My. Name."
Matsuo narrowed her eyes and gave Aran a small nod: "... you're Shepard."
"... You're God Damn right."
"Load of horse crap, ma'am! Even if she is who she says she is. There's no proof this marine's a Spectre. It's at least two weeks before the next naval patrol is due, I doubt even her rank is real."
"I suppose we will have to confirm that," agreed Matsuo. "Also, you should know that firearms are prohibited on Noveria." She considered her next move while chewing her lip. It was the wrong one. "Sergeant, secure their weapons."
Stirling took an overeager step forward - and was met with seven smooth bore barrels promising instant death. Aran was pointing her Paralyzer pistol, drawn in the blink of an eye, right at Matsuo. Kaidan and Liara were glowing indigo and rippling the air around them. Tali's omni tool stood out like a ball of fire and Wrex leveled his own basic HMW boom stick at Stirling's face.
"Don't try it," he warned in a voice that brooked absolutely no room for argument.
"No-one takes my weapons," concurred Aran, "not that it would matter if you did. Principle and all." She waived to her concierge.
"Charge and lock!" yelled Stirling as she, Draven and Matsuo drew their own guns and switched off the safeties. Brave amateurs.
"We are authorised to use lethal force," warned Matsuo stupidly, faced as she was, with Aran's superior force. "You have until the count of three to surrender your weapons." Aran gave her a feral grin, why did they always choose the hard way? "One, two, thr -"
"Captain Matsuo! Stand down," called the canned voice of a woman Aran knew from recordings to be Gianna Parasini, the Administrator's secretary as Lorik had told her. The cops did so grudgingly, especially Stirling, every officer hated being hamstrung by spooks and their greater privileges. "We confirmed her identity. Spectre's are authorised to carry weapons here, Captain."
"And her henchmen?" asked Stirling. Aran answered for her.
"These men and women are under my command, as operatives under a Special Tactics mandate my immunity is also theirs."
Matsuo suddenly looked weary: "you may proceed, Spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs."
"Behave yourself," snarled Stirling. Aran took several steps towards her until she was offensively close. To her credit, Stirling didn't back down, though her hand twitched for her freshly holstered gun. Samus spoke haltingly as she looked down at her.
"If you had – the slightest inkling of professionalism – you'd be wise enough to know when you're dealing with someone you'd rather never meet while you enjoy your daily power trips, Sergeant."
She made to walk away.
"Who the fuck do you think you are, Shepard?"
Aran looked around, seemingly bewildered. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm the one who does her job, you must be the other girl."
"Why I oughtta - "
"Stirling!" checked Matsuo, the peroxide blond had to content herself with a deadly stare but for someone who had faced down Mother Brain's Hyper beam, Aran was a cold mask that heralded that old adage: 'woe betide anyone who stands in my way.'
"Yeah, that's right, get out of here!" jeered Stirling at Aran's back, Draven cawed along with her and flicked a smouldering cigarette he'd been chewing at Samus. It bounced off her shoulder in a shower of red sparks and ash. Dirtying her coat.
Wrex growled furiously at the slight and made to grab the cuttle-bone by the throat, only for Aran to lay a hand on his killing arm. She shook her head. Later, the gesture promised; before swatting the tobacco dust away with subtle control over her biotics.
The team made their way into the lobby, garnering mistrustful glances from the execs on duty at the time and other business men and women. Up the stairs, there were a pair of sentry drones re-purposed as security scanners. They set off every klaxon in the building when they crossed the cyan waves.
"Weapon detectors, don't mind the alarms," reassured a primly dressed brunette wearing glossy lipstick a bunched up hairstyle and an eye-wateringly vivid pink dress. She was standing behind a booth counter and was quick to disable the blaring siren from her terminal and introduce herself.
"I am Gianni Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologise for the incident in the docking bay."
Aran was immediately suspicious, she didn't trust corporate types at the best of times - and this one was hiding something. Though to her irritation, she couldn't suss out exactly what it was, only that she was not first and foremost Anoleis's assistant, as she claimed.
"Someone piss in your security sergeant's coffee today?"
Parasini was only shocked for a split-second: "she takes her job very seriously and is a valuable asset to the company." Then, without a beat. "One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"
Samus doubted that very much, the secretary to the most powerful man on the planet wouldn't act as a glorified bell girl but she decided to play along with this amusing charade.
"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?"
"Unusual? An - Asari Matriarch passed through here a few days ago - Lady Benezia.
"Benezia... she's really here," muttered Liara disconsolately, Aran had told her as much but hearing it from another source drove the point home sharply.
"Can I speak with her?"
"Ah, that may be problematic. She left for one of the research facilities days ago. Peak Fifteen - I believe. To the best of my knowledge, she's still there."
"Then that's where I need to be."
"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port."
"And I'll need your full co-operation. I can't allow my investigation to be hampered by the whims of secessionists."
"Tread lightly, Commander. The Board can bury you in litigation. You'd need an Asari lawyer to see the case through."
"If the Board prosecutes me, then the Council's ministry of finance might just pull their very generous support out from under them. You rely on their complete fiscal backing."
"You're good, Shepard. Worked in bureaucracy before? No? Never mind. Technically, there's nothing we can do to impede a Spectre, but the Administrator might not feel that way. He certainly won't feel that generous."
"I'm sure I'll bring him around to my way of thinking..."
Aran and her squad were walking along the boulevard of the main complex, snow battered the windows, Liara was sombre.
"She is here. I can't believe it."
"When was the last time you saw her?" asked Aran, linking her arm with hers at the back of the group now.
"Thirty eight years ago... I imagine you want to talk to me, Samus. About my mother."
"No, we don't. I trust you Liara. You might not be military but you're part of my crew. And something - greater."
"Thank you, that means a great deal to me."
"Well, I can't very well not protect you after all we've been through."
"You're sure you're powerful enough to match an indoctrinated Matriarch?"
"I've been accused of many things in my life, T'Soni. But lack of physical prowess, is not one of them!" she replied playfully looping her arms around her waist and spinning her around as she was fond of doing, the Asari squealed in joy and Samus set her down, basking in the Mediterranean pools as she looked into her eyes.
Liara clasped her hand in comfort as they strolled past the decorative rock pools. Several patrolling ERCS cops wolf whistled lewdly, causing the rest of the team and Aran herself to tense up. To avoid attracting too much attention she decided to let her squad mates break off from the main group and take a look around the storefronts and other appliance shops. She doled out some spending money onto their credit chits, the only one not pleased; was the gentle giant from Clan Urdnot.
"Shepard, I need to get my blood flowing. Find me something to kill!" he moaned and groaned.
"At this rate, you won't have to wait long, come with me and Liara then. Follow me at a distance after I've dealt with Anoleis, I'm a trouble magnet. Maybe the police will try and have another shot at me."
"Aye aye, heh hah heh hah!" he rumbled darkly.
The two woman, one man party were buzzed though the glass sliding doors to the Administrator's office. Behind a large desk sat a grey-skinned, purple-rim eyed Salarian in an expensive business suit. And a constant frown scrunching his wrinkled face.
"You'll excuse me if I don't stand up. I have no time to entertain colonial rubes," he murmured rudely.
"You'll - make time Administrator, or you'll taste my steel. Especially if you have a particular problem with colonials."
"No appreciation for economics. Protectionists and communists, all of them."
"I haven't lived on a colony for quite some time; I'd appreciate if you acknowledged you're dealing with a Spectre, not a Human. Keep that in mind."
"Believe me," replied Anoleis condescendingly. "That is foremost in my mind. This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board. You see, Commander. Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of Galactic law."
"Mhm," Aran nodded repeatedly, as if agreeing but then she raised a finger in objection. "Except... one of these businesses that you're so eager to protect has dealings with a terrorist organisation and a rebel warlord. This is a matter of Galactic security."
"Yes, isn't everything for you people? Just so we understand each other, I will not allow you to harass our clients. This world is - "
Aran placed both hands on his desk while Wrex kept an eye on the automated turret Anoleis had for security; unfortunately Noveria would not have heard the news of Arterius being dismissed from the Spectres. The Horse head Nebula was isolated from the rest of the Milky Way's relatively small community.
"Do you do business with Saren?" she probed aggressively.
"Agent Saren? One of your Spectre compatriots? He is a major investor in Binary Helix corporation, which is one of Noveria's backers."
Samus remembered the ship co-ordinates Saren had stolen from the Volus cargo freighter: the Kilwi Harmaniah. Of which Wrex had helped raid, though no physical plunder had been taken. What could he have found that he'd bring to this cold, desolate world, another part of the Conduit's puzzle? Although they conducted AI research, BH's main forte was in biology and genetics. As if they hadn't had enough of the Thorian trials conducted by Cerberus.
"Is Binary Helix developing weapons for him?"
"It's possible, given his interests. What our clients do in their labs is their business."
"What interests?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"... Fine. Back to my other questions."
"Every minute you waste costs the company twelve credits. I will keep a running tally."
Aran ignored him.
"I've heard an Asari matriarch is here, Benezia?"
"You mean, you already knew. She arrived a few days ago, accompanied by a personal escort and some cargo. She is up at Peak Fifteen."
"Define personal escort," Wrex said, bolstering Aran's veiled interrogation, he huffed like a steam engine despite the lack of foggy breath in the radiated warm of the office.
"The phrase is self-explanatory, bodyguards attending to the safety of her person. Mainly Asari Commandos."
"You let Asari, who can kill you with their brains, run around!? But give us flak about guns?!"
"They followed all our regulations, Krogan. I had no reason to forbid Lady Benezia from taking them."
"The cargo, what can you tell me about it?" continued Aran, filing away the information that there were very deadly combatants up there in the hot labs.
"Large, heavy and sealed. It passed weapons screening. Beyond that, it is not our concern."
"Why is she here?"
"I don't know the details, Shepard. She came here as agent Saren's executor."
"Excuse me, his what?" petitioned Liara, unfamiliar with the term.
"Ex-ec-u-tor, Saren is a major shareholder in Binary Helix, Lady Benezia is authorised to act in his name. I can only assume that there were issues at Peak Fifteen that required Saren's and by extension Benezia's, attention."
"I need to see her, immediately."
"I'm afraid that you cannot, Peak Fifteen is a private facility in the Skadi mountains. Regardless, there is a blizzard in the area, shuttles are grounded and surface access has been cut off," he finished with a false note of apology in his voice, as if that would settle the matter and he was sorry nothing could be done.
"Surface access, you say..." inquired Aran slowly and thoughtfully, finally deciding to take a seat and put her hands together, inter-locking her fingers and lowering her head so that her face was obscured, the stonewalling was really getting to her.
"Cut off, I said. Roads are not suitable for travel, don't make an issue of this Shepard." His blunt refusal turned into a high-pitched scream as Aran grabbed him by the lapels and dragged him over the desk, her omni tool's Chozo cryptology programme suite automatically jamming the security systems.
"Please! Don't hurt me! I'm paid to uphold the wishes of the Board!"
"I don't give a two-credit-fuck about your commercial conundrums you meat-headed shit-sack! Either you give me a pass to the garage of this building or the remainder of your short life will be unpleasant to say the least. I'll pull you apart and festoon this office with your own guts!"
"By the wheel of life, Shepard! Think what you're doing!"
"Leave him, Shepard," Liara spoke up bravely, "we don't need his help."
Aran breathed heavily - then threw him back into his chair.
"I have no more questions, at this time."
"Good," gulped Anoleis, massaging the pulled sinews on his chest and straightening the creases in his blazer. "I received a dozen urgent messages while you dithered about."
"Saren's not the only one with friends here, Administrator. You'll find that out to our peril," Aran retorted as she marched away.
"Ahhh... do you mean poor Mr. Qui'in, Shepard? He's not in any position to help you," he called out to Aran as she was about to vacate the room. Without looking back, she said in a voice that could freeze bone marrow.
"If you've hurt him physically, I'll find you. If you've hurt his wallet, you can expect to end this day with no job."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Commander. Now kindly get out."
Samus fully turned round and checked her shoulder: "I'll be back."
After nearly being waylaid by Parasini, who Aran brushed off quickly, (smelling the Internal Affairs charm school tactics from a mile away.) The team made for the hotel across the mezzanine. Where Aran hoped she would find her old friend. She wanted that runty little bastard, Anoleis to herself, damned if she was going to let some grad school rookie steal her prey.
Near the garage proper, she met her first ally from the Special Tactics, the Turian agent, Lilihierax. Though he was known as 'Li' to his friends. Working as the chief technician for the NDC.
"Spectre, right?" he posited conversationally.
"Yeah, that's me," answered Aran as if she'd met him for the first time in her life.
"I used to be a military tech. Except for Maeko's people, everyone's too corporate around here. They just sit around sipping expensive water. So what can I do for you today?"
"You seem like you have an ear to the ground, what's happening around here?" Aran continued, pretending to help him check a maintenance panel as the brother eye info-cam's stared down at them.
"Huh, what isn't happening around here? There's the problems on Peak Fifteen, Synthetic Insight's was shut down by Anoleis - and a Matriarch came through."
"Sorry, what was that about Synthetic Insights?"
"Well, the rumours going round says that Lorik Qui'in was on the take. So Anoleis shut down SI's offices, real quiet-like, so no off-world lawyers come in on it."
He was good at his work this Spectre, one of the finest, never blowing his cover but channeling Aran a trove of Intel.
"What sort of - problems, are there at Peak Fifteen?"
"Don't know... there's a blizzard up there but we've had those before. Never cut the satellite up-links before, Fifteen's always had a lousy reputation. Nobody talks about what they do there and everyone sent up, comes back a little quieter."
"Do you know where that Matriarch is now?" Aran asked casually, not willing to take the word of the execs on her whereabouts alone.
"You're looking for her? She took a shuttle to Peak Fifteen before we lost contact."
"What do you do here?"
"I'm the chief mechanic for Hanshan, just call me Li, Humans have a problem saying my full name. Got a team of twelve under me, keeping the shuttles coming and going."
"How would I get into the garage?"
"You need a pass, you can get one from Anoleis or the managers of the different departments." He palmed her a hacked ID card. "If you can polish enough gizzard."
Carrying on with the show, Aran put on her most congenial tone: "maybe you could let me borrow yours..."
"Sure," replied Lilihierax mildly. "If I wanted to lose my job and get sued into the next spiral arm, security tracks card use," he finished on a serious note, Aran apologised and smirked as Li gave her a roguish wink and a jerk of the head, indicating that the security pylons were located at the top of the hotel bar; their next port of call.
"Thanks for your time anyway, I have to go."
"You need anything, I'll be here."
Aran couldn't resist making the sign of the legion quickly, Li would be a valuable part of this mission...
The bar of the Pulsar Hotel was a rather dull affair for having so much money pumped into it. There was no great variety on the menu and the viridian rotating lights gave the spacious room a chilly, unwelcoming feel. The shore party re-united around a round table and shared stories of their adventures.
Mallene Calis, an Asari Spectre operating at the highest echelons of the Noveria Development Corporation; caught the eye of the Commander as she discussed her plans with her six squad members. Within a minute, Aran disengaged from the group and met Calis in the washroom.
"Excuse me, I need a moment of your time," introduced the Asari agent as Aran ran her palms and fingers under a jet of hot water and began to scrub them. She nodded her acquiescence and the Asari plowed on with her operation.
"The male Human at the hotel bar, he's a sales rep for Binary Helix, his name is Raphael Vargas; I need you to speak with him."
"Because everyone here knows who I am," stated Aran as she took some hand-wash lotion from a soap dispenser.
"Yes, that does make you ideal for my job; you are a known quantity, or so Vargas will think. He will assume you are here to investigate his company's dirty laundry, that will distract him from your - my real intentions."
"Get a grip, woman!" Aran inwardly shouted, the Council wanted to know how deep Saren's connections into Binary Helix went, Vargas would be the patsy who would deliver them the answers. as long as Calis hadn't completely bungled this mission.
"And what would I, talk to a man like Vargas about, exactly?"
"I represent the Armali City Council on Thessia, our town is known for its biotic amp crafters - "
"Get - to the point," harried Aran gruffly, rinsing her hands free of foamy suds.
"Much of BH's work relates to biotics, there are rumours that the Noveria branch has flown in Asari biotics, powerful ones; commandos to be specific. We want to assess any potential risk to Asari copyrights."
Aran nearly burst out laughing at the cover, it was pathetic to say the least, but on Noveria... it certainly stuck, it almost came off as realistic!
"You will present yourself as a buyer. On behalf of the Spectres or the Alliance, discuss their - military enhancement programmes. Your real objective, will be to distract him. I will give you a device that will crack into his personal wireless network. It will upload a variety of monitoring viruses; they will infiltrate Binary Helix when he logs into their intranet."
Samus dried her hands with a holo towel before answering.
"It's an interesting plan, I'm in."
"Excellent, here's the cracking device; you will know it is done when it beeps. I have assembled a dossier on Vargas, if you would like - I can brief you on his behaviour patterns."
"Argh! Great Moons of Zebes! Why don't you just go out there and tell everyone you're a spy, Mallene?"
"I'm - I'm sorry, agent Shepard, th- this is my first field situation!"
"Obviously! I mean... Jesus, I've met some dumb bastards in my time but you take the cake, why not just plant a similar sub-programme on his omni tool? One with in-built obsolescence."
"You can do that?" Calis gaped.
"No... that's why we don't have a Galactic information broker, peddling secrets like there's an arms trade on Tuchanka! Get out of here!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Aran shook her head at these impetuous, young agents. No sense of subtlety and not enough spontaneity; that was their problem.
Raphael Vargas was taking a small gulp of Elasa when a tall, golden blonde who was dressed for a protracted Guerrilla war in the Arctic sidled up to his bar stool and sat on the high chair to his right, looking directly at him. She didn't look like any ordinary woman, more like a Valkyrie.
"Can I help you?" he asked, taken aback at the sudden introduction. Eventually he found his tongue and put it back in before promptly tripping over it.
"Mr. Vargas? I'm Commander Shepard, a Spectre. I understand you work for Binary Helix?"
"That's correct, Raphael Vargas, sales." They shook hands and Aran inspected his proffered business card before pocketing it. "Were you interested in our services?"
"I might be - that depends on what sort of offer your company can make."
"It was my understanding that the Citadel contracted to a - Salarian corporation for its enhancement programmes..."
"Well I'm sure you know we pass a reviewed budget every fiscal year; if it delivers a better soldier - contracts can change."
"A sound business practice. Excuse my hesitation I've never heard of a government accused of good economic sense."
"That's what they need people like us for."
"Hah! Okay, first- " He took a breath, then recited his company's passage from verbatim. "The boilerplate disclaimer: no genetic enhancement is guaranteed to take. We can maximize the odds but every strand of DNA is unique. Our patented techniques can provide an 8% increase in adrenal response, 12% faster clotting and a measurable decrease in Z-G muscle degeneracy."
"I've never heard of a technique that improves zero-gravity endurance." In truth Aran had been gifted with biological enhancements that were still wet-dreams to Binary Helix, five hundred years from now.
"It's a first for the industry, the advent of element zero-based artificial gravity made it a less pressing concern. We're still waiting for tests to give us an average improvement. We estimate a 7 to 11% decrease in muscle loss rates. I can get you those improvements for 30K credits per head. For a bulk order I can work in a sensory enhancement package: guaranteed 20/15 vision, and hearing from twenty to twenty two thousand HZ."
"How would you distribute these upgrades? Retro-viral injections would take some time." Aran wondered at the primitive nature of their gene therapy. Most Humans in her time had lived up to four hundred years thanks to genetic repairs and centuries of bred physical perfection.
"Well it does take time to upgrade a body with adjusted DNA, skin cells can be replaced in two weeks but the liver takes over a year, the skeleton, a decade. For front-line units we can speed the process with full-system transfusions and injections to stimulate re-growth. It would still take six months to see results."
"Impressive, very impressive," she lied easily.
"I - have to admit it surprised me that you're here for business. There are many development projects on Noveria... some, not entirely legal."
"If you have any tips, I'd appreciate them. It would reflect well on you and Binary Helix."
"I'll keep that in mind. Of course, we don't perform espionage on our competitors, that would be illegal."
'BEEP!'
"Sorry Mr. Vargas, that's a call I've got to take, thank you for your time."
"Of course, Commander Shepard. We look forward to doing business with the Citadel." From the balcony above, a Krogan Battlemaster watched Aran intently...
It was only five minutes later when a stately and rather elderly Turian in a blue, white and black tux strutted into the bar from the hotel elevators and made for his usual seat.
He felt a jab in his lower back, it felt terribly like a gun barrel.
"Reach for the sky," laughed a rich feminine voice. Lorik Qui'in remembered who'd taught him that particular Human idiom.
"Now now, sit down, have a drink, what can an old Turian like me do for you?"
"You can start by putting your hands down and turning around."
Qui'in braced himself, his lazy left eye only half scrunched closed, and swiveled round: "Aran!" he shouted in surprise upon opening his eyes wide.
"Lorik! What are you standing there for? Come on and give us a hug you old git!" The two friends laughed and embraced slapping each other on the back. Much to the bemusement of the rest of the clientele and Aran's squad. They broke off the contact.
"You know, you've got a lot of nerve coming back here, after what you did..." Qui'in suddenly said, his gentlemanly timbre growing rather frigid.
Samus pointed at herself innocently, a silent 'me?'
There were a tense five seconds, then...
"Mmmggggfghhghffphhh...!" Qui'in tried and failed to restrain himself: "HAH! HAUH! HAUH! HAUH! HAH! How are you doing you old hunter, it's so good to see you! I thought I'd never get to see you again!" Most of Noveria knew Lorik as a unflappably reserved and composed; to see him act like this was a big surprise to all of them. He was in a playful tangle with Aran, like a tussle between someone who thought he was about to be attacked only to be trapped in a friendly bear hug, that was, until Wrex cleared his throat obtrusively, put off by the show of affection.
"Ahem," Qui'in coughed as his excitement died down to be replaced by mild embarrassment.
"Everyone, may I introduce Lorik Qui'in."
"Charmed," he nodded to those present as he took a seat with the squad. All of them welcomed him and introduced themselves.
"He's the manager of the local Synthetic Insights office - "
"For the moment at least..." came Qui'ins rather dour reply.
"I know, we'll hear about it later. I've got Anoleis's number, for now, I'm buying, let's eat and drink."
"And forget the Galaxy's problems for a short while," he finished for them all, making everyone besides Wrex laugh appreciatively.
Later, Aran had sent most of her team to the garage with Li's hacked pass to make the preparations for the journey to Peak Fifteen. But she would not leave her old friend to Anoleis's charity. After disabling card tracking and hacking into the security systems terminal in a locked room, thereby deactivating SI's cameras, she decided to save the facility's info-cam feeds for herself.
Qui'in swallowed a mouthful of his dextro vodka martini and dropped a Taetrun olive into the fizzing alcohol; Samus was enjoying the smoke of her peace pipe.
"I've been meaning to tell you Lorik..."
"What?"
"... James Bond called, he wants his life back."
"Hah! Oh, Aran. You always did know how to make me laugh."
"That and how to save your life and livelihood."
"How fortuitous," he said nostalgically. "That you of all people would walk back into my life during this, my hour of need."
"Anoleis...?"
"Mr. Anoleis closed my offices, yes. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption. The Administrator is an interesting man - he's become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents."
"What an intriguing coincidence, I sense a connection there that you must have found. Kickbacks and tolls, right?"
"Indeed. I acquired evidence of Anoleis's actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it. I suspect your goal lies outside this port, old friend. Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wonder, considering what this evidence could do to him."
"I don't need any incentive to see that slimy toad-blower boil in his own juices. You have a plan?"
"I do. However, there is one other... tut, what is that charming Human expression? Fly in the - lotion? Violence against Mr. Anoleis's thugs may be necessary, he has members of Hanshan security team engaged in the actual searching of my offices. He's paying them under the table, Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their - outside employment."
Aran chewed on the stem of her pipe, musing on this piece of delectable news. Then her eyes snapped open, filled with controlled rage and a certain, terrible glee. An emotion even she was not always willing to acknowledge, or certainly allow to run completely free.
"If they're accepting bribes they're mercenaries - I can kill mercenaries."
"Excellent!" Qui'in drawled, "here is my pass into my offices, it will activate the elevator. The evidence is on my office computer; this OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Slide it into the drive and it will auto-execute."
"Huh, that's what she said."
"Mgghhhfff, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh! Always a pleasure, Spectre. Oh - and do try to keep bloodstains off the carpet will you?"
Aran swaggered into SI's offices as if she owned the place, a fact not shared by the two Human male cops riffling through filing cabinets and throwing papers everywhere.
"Freeze, lady. This office is sealed! You better vacate the premises!"
"Or what?"
"Can you believe this haughty bitch?" cackled one, his friend was bent over clutching his knees such was his mirth. "Human Spectre my ass! I bet she's just another aching slut! Come here babe!"
He reached out to fondle Aran, the last greatest mistake of his hormone-fueled existence. His friend thought his eyes were playing tricks on him or he'd slipped himself one too many doses of LSD when his buddy's arm was pushed through his back, the shoulder a porcupine mash of white bone needles sticking through a red, pulpy mess; the hand an ornamental feature stuck to his pectoral.
The shock was too much for his system to bear, the crooked cop fell into a spreading pool of red that darkened as it was exposed to oxygen. Aran had dislocated the ball and socket joint with one hand and then struck the joint with unerring precision, sending the limb like a spear into his lungs and spine. The other took a moment to consider the implications for his own imminent expiry date. Then he crapped his pants.
Samus roared a terrifying battle cry as she parted his head from his shoulders with a back hand swipe of her kopis. The helmeted head spun as it arced across the room, leaving a crimson trail across the stone walls and landed at the feet of another group of officers.
Constable Jones looked up from Ryan's decapitated head as if in a dream, to see a tomahawk spinning at him, his vision died as it embedded into his faceplate and split his skull in two, throwing his body back in a sick backwards somersault.
Before one of them could retrieve their guns, Aran had cleared the ten metres between them in an impossibly long jump. An economical stab as she passed claimed another for the ferryman, she was able to withdraw the star metal blade while she flew. Upon landing, her crouch turned into a crab-step spin that alternated in either direction, first laying open the cop's belly, then hewing his legs out from underneath him, his kneecaps split in two. As he fell, turning over like a rolling pin, Samus carved out the right side of his chest with an upwards reverse strike.
The move didn't stop there, she flew upwards and then back and over the last one's head in an upside down flip twist, summoning her axe to her left hand with biotics while the bodies were still in mid-air and capitulated another cop's head in half diagonally. His brains exploded into magenta mist such was the speed of her dual blow.
Her six-part twist ended with a perfect dismount - just before the four bodies struck the white carpets after her, leaking life blood like a glacier gives water to tributaries. Aran knelt in the pose, then twirled both weapons idly as she stood. Enjoying the perfect balance and the swish of metal through air as they shone, dripping maroon droplets.
Crismus Draven was more than a little concerned when he radioed his men on the lower offices, no-one answered. But no shots had been fired, they couldn't have been attacked, could they?
"DRAVEN!" echoed a voice that cut to his soul. "STIRLING! I know one or the other of you are here. I've come to deliver a message. You unenlightened divots have mistaken the stars for their reflections in a gladed pool!"
The Turian police constable looked over the office balcony to see six of his men had been cut to pieces; and Shepard, she was standing there, her feet ringed with corpses, holding of all things, two medieval weapons!
"Tear the bitch apart!" he roared to his compatriots, "she's a goddamn lunatic!"
Many opened fire, only for Aran's gravitonic barrier and Neutralino hard shield to halt the fusillade.
"No use..." Aran chastised them. "No use - at all. Do any of you think you can honestly win? I do this for a living!"
She aerial-cartwheeled into cover, slotted the tomahawk into her assault rifle's storage compartment and deployed it. Shooting one handed, she leaned past the corner and picked off three more cops with pin-point accuracy, leading the targets if they strafed, blowing their arms, legs and heads off before finishing them with a quick burst that released more arterial spray and bone shards.
"Throw down your weapons!" she bellowed, "or you're all going to die."
"Screw you! Shepard!"
"You don't know who you're messing with, bitch!"
"I've fought in wars!" Aran yelled back, "this is NOTHING!" True to her word, Aran broke cover and ran up the wall, forward rolling over the railings and kicking two to death with the same number of explosive movements. Three more blocked her path, coming at her with shotguns and stun batons. Aran threw her weapons into the air and finished them with her bare hands, with enough time to catch her rifle and short sword after she'd grabbed one's head in her powerful hands and turned it round so that when he was walking North - he'd be facing South.
Rising, Aran pinned one to the wall through his throat and pulled out her silenced HMW riot-gun. It sounded like someone coughing into a barrel when it let loose its report. The main sounds were the screams of men, one who fell back from the grain cone with his forearm pulverized, the second spread caught him in the face, liquidating him. Another babbled pleas for mercy when Samus pulled him from his hiding place and jammed the gun into his visor, she didn't bother to shield herself from the spatter, knowing that the psychological effect it would have on the remaining units would be devastating. It added to the ferocity of her appearance as well; for she walked after them leisurely, taking her time. Besides, she had locked the offices down, there was no way out. For any of them.
"You scumbags are making me blush... you just keep on dropping dead for me!"
Draven knew she was right, this was a battle he could not win, the Spectre was better armed, better protected and most of all: had the advantage in every mental and physical sphere. What's more, Aran was on a combat high, her abilities and fighting prowess operating at peak efficiency.
Seven men fell, riddled with bullets from shotgun, rifle and pistols: "blowing hot and cold. That's all you degenerates can do. So because you are all lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!"
Five men slumped, their bodies crushed in a telekinetic grip, organs disintegrating from the inside with biotic fire, turned to carbonized skeletons that crumbled away or char-grilled by bolts of lightning: "come on you screw-heads! You fuck wits! Just TRY and kill me!"
Two were left, Draven and a Human: Johan. An unnatural calm had descended on the office, the ghosts of the dead were departing, he was sniffling in fear while the Turian rearranged his grip on his pair of sickle knives; he could not see the Spectre, she was stalking them, whistling a jaunty tune as if from a nightmare. Where was she!?
Johan's courage broke, he fled for the exit, Draven followed him at speed but as they reached the transparent-steel doors they heard a scuffle from one of the offices.
"Leave me alone! NO!" There was a sound of breaking glass followed by a beeping sound as a grenade blew out the interior from one of the cubicles; where an ERCS guard had apparently barricaded himself. Then - the sound of footsteps arrived - along the upper level. Slow and deliberate, inevitable.
Samus Aran landed behind Draven and Johan with both melee blades stained with red and blue. The Human spun about, only to be hoisted by her kopis point entering his shoulder, the man was tossed above and aside before the Turian cop attacked her with his long knives, trying to hook the blades into her vitals and tear them out. The huntress simply parried every one of his frantic moves, until he had tired, then she trapped his arms against his armpits with a quick double flourish and swept both her hatchet and sword back and forth in less than a second. Cleaving him in twain in a massive fount of navy.
The last injured pig crawled on his belly as Aran walked along side him, she spun the sword and planted it through the base of his skull as she passed, pulling it free without sparing him a single glance.
When Kaira Stirling and four other security staff entered the SI offices, they were treated to a scene out of The Book of Revelation, the ground was strewn with bodies, walls painted two coats thick with Human and Turian blood and at the centre: sat Samus Aran on a communal bench, her blades sticking out of the permacrete where they had been slammed home, she was bouncing a flash drive with Lorik Qui'in's data on it in the palm of her hand.
"Took you a while," she muttered, putting the evidence away.
"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepard." Stirling was suicidally confident, a biotic herself, she must have thought that Aran would have been drained from the slaughter. She was anything but, not physically at least.
"Do you plan on making me leave?"
"Leave? You think I'm going to just let you walk out? Nuh-uh."
"All of you are as crooked as Ephialtes of Trachis and if you think you've trapped me here; you've got another thing coming. I've been waiting for you..."
"Trick! Anoleis would throw you off world for what you've done here, I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on my world?"
"You're breaking the law for bribe money," thundered a voice of iron from behind Stirling's little group, they spun round to see Urdnot Wrex holding both his pistol and shotgun. "You know what we do to dirty cops on my world?"
"If you want a fight, Sergeant Stirling," ventured Aran, tiredly. "I'll give you your last."
"You can talk the talk, let's see if you can walk the walk after I break your legs!"
The battle lasted less than two seconds: Aran caught three with a pistol quick-draw, placing ten shots in less time than it took for a Human to blink, while Wrex blew one of his own away and brought down Stirling's barrier. Samus activated the sword attachment and dived around Stirling's flailing form, severing her leg above the knee with an inwards swipe which lifted her into the air. Aran then brought her blade down on Stirling's head as the policewoman flew parallel to her abdomen, destroying her face and slamming her into the ground with the crunch of breaking bones - but she had been dead before she even hit the floor.
"Damn, Shepard! Leave some for the rest of us mere mortals, will ya?"
"Sorry, Wrex. But these people are fools."
"Yeah... I should eat 'em."
"Heh."
At an unspoken command, the Paralyzer morphed back into a hand cannon and she and Wrex went on to clean-up. Double tapping anyone who could have possibly survived their injuries. Before leaving the ruined and blood-drenched office behind. There was so much in fact, that you could smell the stale iron in the air.
Kaidan had not spoken to the Commander all afternoon but he had been sent to find her by Wrex after he had returned from the SI offices: they had dealt with a surprise attack from Benezia's Geth troops hiding within her cargo crates in the mean time.
When Alenko entered the bar, he was surprised to see that even Qui'in had not been able to rouse Aran from her dark mood. She sat at a booth in the back, her pistols lying on the table top for all to see; her palms on top of one another and lying on the table as well, still as stone.
The Human bartender stood next to Alenko and followed his eye-line to the brooding Spectre at the rear of the establishment.
"Do you know her?" he asked carefully.
"I do."
"... Do something," he begged. "She's abnormal. All my patrons have been scared away because of her."
"Did something happen?" Kaidan replied, worried about Aran still since she had wiped out the Cerberus experiments on Edolus, he had seen it in her eyes and in her actions; they had opened up old wounds. And now she had been forced to kill these police officers... how much could one person take?
"No, but she has just sat there for nearly two hours now, staring at her guns. Maybe she's going to, you know..." The bartender mimed shooting himself in the head and Kaidan left in disgust, making a beeline for Aran's table. With the man looking on nervously.
Alenko stood opposite Aran, watching her meditations for about thirty seconds, then he said softly.
"Shepard."
She didn't react for a whole minute, but finally faced his sorrowful gaze.
"Answer me," he begged as she seemed to stare beyond him, unblinking. Another minute passed. "It's me - Kaidan."
Samus didn't know what to say.
"Why are the firearms out here?" inquired Kaidan carefully.
Finally, she spoke: "i'm looking at them... and hate them," she said it serenely.
Kaidan rubbed his mouth in concern and answered quickly, saying what he believed she needed to hear.
"It's just two pieces of iron and nothing more."
He leant forward while standing, hands on the table top, trying to impart the same confidence to his words as she was able to. Turning them into the most powerful weapons of all. "I remember your own words: 'I am not a weapon, but I harness that weapon for the sake of others.' That's a huge difference from what you must be feeling now, all the death, all the lies."
"... Grey Voice said that. But I didn't understand his words at that time, I carried weapons and armour instead of casting them away. I was never meant to be a killer... I don't know who I would have been; that I could even choose. Old Bird spoke of love, therefore I refused the callings of revenge. I once tried to live as a pacifist for many, many years. Instead of killing... just constantly killing."
Kaidan sat, not even knowing where he could begin to console her, matters of existentialism had never bothered him too much.
"I think - " Aran leaned forward, her eyes suddenly abright again, when they had been subdued and murky a few seconds before. Kaidan had his chin tucked in contemplatively, sitting side on from her, thinking desperately how he could repair the damage he had done to his leader's psyche and confidence. "I think that Liara may be able to save me from myself, I can't truly find love with her until I can find myself, until I've finished that job till the end. It's fate, she grounds me. I can be myself with her."
"I know you were harmed so much in your youth, Shepard. Not only you but - killing, won't ever give you relief. Once you start, you can never stop and you'll - lose all you have... you'll lose her."
"But I can't truly find her."
"Listen, if she and you are destined for each other, then what will be, will be."
Aran gazed at him intently, trying to find the solar flare, that spark of idealism that would ignite and burn away her darkness.
"But now," he continued, almost on the verge of tears: "you have a duty, like every Human being, every true sentient being. To use your gifts. These guns are something useful, to protect you, Liara, the squad. They need you - are waiting for you... Liara loves you, she, Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Ashley, Joker... me - it's so many, Shepard. You can't just ruin it, you can't leave your friends..."
He broke down and wept, his face buried in his arms, head on the table. Sobbing. Aran searched her soul and reached across to him, grasping his wrist in shared comfort.
"Kaidan!" she breathed, voice overcome with emotion, "you have a friend! Me! I'm not going to abandon anyone."
Alenko gulped and tried to say something, but failed, eventually he stood and stiltedly said: "Liara's on her way you know, wouldn't trust me alone with a matter like this, I, uh - "
"Kaidan."
"Yeah?"
"... Thank you."
A/N: And thank you, for reading this chapter! I hope it was worth the wait. Next time, a snowy chase through the Aleutsk Valley, the lurking terror of the abandoned Central Station and most of all: the remnants of an ancient space-faring race, harnessed as beasts of war and turned loose on the foolish individuals who wished to use them for their own nefarious ends! And at their heart, a Mother controlled and manipulated by an Ancient Evil...
