TO SURVIVE II:
AFTERMATH
A Security Matter
What a terrible day it had been. He thought Rael had been the worst of his nightmares, but now Shala and Garu had been almost killed by a Cerberus assassin and he was going to find the assholes who did it and make them pay with blood. Their blood. He didn't want to admit it in front of Tali, but she probably got the hint anyway, but he had no idea how he would track down this assassin. He would just have to find someway, even if its tiny bits of evidence, to hunt down the attempted murderer, and bring him or her to justice. For all he knew, Tali or Rael or even himself, could be in danger too. What terminal could be waiting to blow up in his face? Or their faces? He wouldn't let that happen. If it did, all hell would break loose, and he would be the cause of it.
"Shepard, we have a slight problem." Shepard was standing at the Luna Cafe, alone, on the Presidium, admiring the once beautiful view being rebuilt. Tali was off shopping with Kasumi, who were essentially BFF's, to get her mind off current events. Kasumi stated that it was strictly 'girl to girl talk. Girly stuff. No men allowed.' He knew when to take a hint. Garrus' interruption of the quiet was frustrating, as he had felt himself drifting into eternal solace, but he didn't mind it. "Yes Garrus?" Garrus seemed to hesitate for a few moments before answering, "Uh...let's just say Chief...we can't find him. EDI's done a sweep of the ship, he's gone." Shepard rolled his eyes. He had been expecting this. The last time he talked to Chief, he had mentioned joining the Alliance military, as he could not go back home. The supersoldier decided he'd be of use more there.
"Let him go Garrus. He wanted out, he got out. Just make sure to inform the crew, as much as I'm sure they don't care, it'll break Grunt's heart to not know where he is." Garrus chuckled at the statement, "In retrospect, it would have Shepard. Now he'll probably shake it off because Grunt's a big krogan now! All adult!" Shepard smiled before disconnecting. He felt the pistol on his hip, which he always brought incase of ridiculous kill-capture scenarios. Who knows, maybe C-Sec would ask him for help...John you idiot. Why didn't you think of that before! The scene of the crime, of course!
He switched radios with Lana. "Lana, this is Shepard." He could Lana yelling at someone with a commanding voice, which she did surprisingly well and if Shepard had been under her command, he would have feared it. She replied in a softer tone, "Yes Shepard? What can the new Commander of C-Sec do for you?" Shepard rolled his eyes, "Don't let that position get to your head, your only a Commander, not Executor." Lana laughed, "All women are the same Shepard, no matter the race. We girls are extremely tenacious, I thought you knew that by now? Hasn't Tali demonstrated it a few times?" Shepard smiled, "Fancy way of calling women stubborn Lana." Lana growled, but only lightly, she was obviously joking. "Men. Your all bosh'tets." Shepard laughed, "Tali said the same thing. Maybe all women have a secret consensus I'm not aware of!"
They laughed for a minute before Shepard got back on task, "Anyway, back to current events. I would like access to the crime scene when Shala was almost murdered. I need to do a little investigation of my own." Lana seemed to be in pensive thought, "I don't know, Shepard. Your the more 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of guy, not the investigative detective." Shepard nodded in agreement, "Exactly why I'm bringing a ex-C-Sec officer with me. He was a investigator." Garrus moaned, which was surprising to Shepard and Lana, not because of the action, but because they could hear it. "Do I have to?" Shepard was annoyed, but for two reasons; he was eavesdropping and two, he refused to help. "Yes, Garrus. One, don't eavesdrop again and two, stop bitching. Tali is like your sister, you should treat her as such by helping find who almost killed her surrogate mother."
Garrus nodded, "Its not that. Its just my C-Sec investigative days involved more of pulling a trigger than being a actual detective. And even then there was still enough red tape to sink a cruiser. I'm not a proper detective, but I'll help, nonetheless." Shepard nodded, switching back to Lana. "Where did the crime take place?" Lana took a second to answer, "Area just below the Council Chambers, where the Council quarters and offices are. She was attacked in her own quarters and office." Shepard's face lit up in rage. Attacking them in their own home. Hellion's a fucking coward, and he shall pay for it.
"Very well, Garrus, meet me there." Garrus simply said acknowledged him before disconnecting, as did Lana. Shepard sighed. He considered telling Tali where he would be, but he decided it was unnessacary, and that he didn't want to ruin any fun she was possibly having by bringing back memories of Shala's current state. Shrugging, he turned for the cab near by, readying his chit. As he opened the door, he could see the glimmer of armor reflecting of the shuttle's smooth exterior. Smiling, he talked without turning around, "Chief..." He heard the impact of heavy metal boots behind him. Hearing his suspicions confirmed, he turned around to see Chief looking directly down on him.
"Shepard." Chief replied in kind. Shepard crossed his arms and shook his head. Chief rolled his eyes, "I don't belong here, in this universe, you know that. I had to leave." Shepard nodded, "We could use you Chief. Besides, I know you want to join the Alliance and make a difference in this new universe you've joined, but what better way is there to do that by joining the crew of the Normandy?" Chief shook his head in disagreement, "I just don't belong. I feel...alienated. I need to be somewhere different, away from you guys. I'm sorry, Shepard."
Shepard nodded in disappointment. He didn't want Chief to leave, he was a fine soldier, a troubled one, but a great man nonetheless. He hadn't known the man long enough to become close, but he had befriended the faceless man. He would miss him, surprisingly. But he knew when to let go. "Very well, Chief. I'm not going to force you to stay. That's not my decision." Chief nodded, but then chuckled, "You wouldn't be able to stop me even if you wanted to, Shepard. I'm heavier and upgraded." Shepard smiled, "Very true. Just...stay safe. I'd hate to have to come to your rescue." Chief nodded and with that, he gave a final salute before jumping off the edge. Shepard ran up to it but looking down, found no trace of the gigantic foot soldier. He just laughed halfheartedly before walking back to his shuttle, and keying the lock to open the hatch.
Once opened, he sat down in the driver's seat before keying the hatch to close again. Once closed, he started up the drive, the same orange, holographic panel materializing in front of him. He slowly rose the shuttle up before turning and speeding down the Citadel's once thriving skyways. They were all but empty now; the only sign of activity was a few trucks or worker cabs. It felt eerily empty, like all the life was sucked out of the skyway and thrown into the pitch black abyss of space itself. The feeling was enough to give him goosebumps, his skin feeling like he was incased in cool ice. He ignored the feeling and continued to fly towards the Citadel Tower, which was no longer the great majestic work of art it once was, no, now it was nothing but a testament to its once beautiful outline. It was now left a shattered remain, half of the tower blown off by the Crucible firing or just the intense combat around it. He didn't know what, and he didn't care. It was getting repaired, that's all that mattered.
It took him no less than 14 minutes to reach the atrium of the Tower, in which he made sure his shuttle was locked and secured before he entered the tower, making sure to take in the fresh air filtered by the ventalation systems before entering. The elevator wasn't too long, but it felt like a lifetime before he finally reached the Council's Quarters. As the door slipped open and he stepped out, it wasn't long before he recognized Shala's quarters; it stood out like a sore thumb.
A large room at the end had an entire 5 meters worth of wall completely gone, leaving the explosion effected area a complete mess. The area around the whole was blackened by the once dominant fire and the inside was a bigger mess. As Shepard ran down the hallway to get a better look inside, he recognized what looked like Shala's desk half way down the hallway, shattered in splinters. As he went to step inside, he recognized what was blocking him from doing so. Holographic Crime Scene Tape. One of the officers, a turian, held up her hand to stall him from going inside. "Noone's allowed in here unless your C-Sec. You don't even have permission to be in here."
"Listen, Shala is my aunty, of sorts, and I just want to find out what happened to her." The officer rolled her eyes, "Yeah, nice try. Your human, besides, I'm not letting anyone, even you, inside until my superiors say otherwise." He was about to walk away in defeat when he heard a familiar voice in the turian female's mike, "Let him in. I gave him permission." The turian laughed, "You're not my superior Lana..." Lana's voice into one of command, "I guess you didn't get the memo. Allow me to reintroduce myself. Commander Lana'Reegar vas Citadel, and I think you need to rethink about what you just said to me. You want confirmation, you can call Bailey yourself. Now let him through or you can find another job."
The turian's eyes widened, "Oh yes...sorry Commander Reegar ma'am, yes, right away." The turian disconnected comms, "Go through now before I change my mind." Shepard smiled as he walked in, "I'm Rear Admiral John Shepard by the way. And Lana's part of my crew, better watch what you say." The turian let her jaw drop and Shepard had to stiffle a laugh. He continued into the devastated quarters, instantly spotting the desk, or what was left of it anyone. He was no detective, but it was quite obvious by the derangement of the devastation around the room made it evident the bomb into the desk. This bomb was meant to tear them both to shreds. Yet Shala manages to survive in just a coma and Garu is injured, severely. Either it was a poor planting, or Shala is a really tough woman...and Garu's just Garu.
He kneeled down before the desk and picked up a bomb fragment. He didn't recognize the design, the color was greyish with a tinge of green. Definitely Cerberus designed. Bomb design is odd however. He dropped it to the floor, sighing as he looked at the rest of the room. He spotted nothing that could actually assist in his current endeavour. He cursed under his breath, standing up. Very effective killing. Well, hopefully Garrus or Lana find something of worth. He crossed his arms as he sees someone enter out of the corner of his eye. He turns to see Lana, omnitool out, followed by Garrus walk into the room, spot him and walk towards him.
Garrus looked down at the rubble of the desk, "Damn. Talk about one hell of a package." Lana nodded, turning from her omnitool, "According to current data collected and Garu's account of the event, the desk was the bomb, so to speak. The blast was right next to them, making it puzzling on how those two would have survived." Shepard and Garrus both nodded in agreement and continued scanning the room with their eyes. Lana continued scanning with her omnitool. "Cerberus Designed Bomb. Low Yield, meant for terrorist attacks. Harper Class." She deactivated her omnitool and looked at them both. "Its Cerberus all right."
"But, how did you know that? You weren't even typing it into your omnitool!" Shepard asked. Lana talked, whilst solemnly, "Flotilla Shepard. Remember when Cerberus attacked the Fleet and boarded the Idenna? Well this is exactly the type of bomb they used to infiltrate that ship." Shepard nodded, "So a charge meant to blow open airlocks. Why use that on Shala and Garu?" Lana seemed to simply shrug, "Possibly due to the force it takes to blow open a airlock, it made sense to use it on them. The force of the explosion would rip them to shreds, except..."
"It didn't." Garrus finished for her. Lana nodded in agreement, "I'd better take this results back to the C-Sec Crime Investigation Office, they'll want to see this. You two can stay if you so wish, I'll give you full access to the entire area." Shepard and Garrus returned Lana's salute as she then turned around and limped out. Garrus shook his head at Lana's limping, "She'll never recover from that injury will she?" Shepard turned to him, his face empty of bliss, "She's lucky to be alive. Chakwas did what she could, but her leg will never be the same again. I hope the best for Lana. Who knows, maybe when medical technology advances thanks to the Reaper ruins, we can actually find a way to fix her leg."
"I bet Kal will be jumping up and down at that prospect. I'm okay with that, but I think we might have to restrain Lana. Leg's damaged already, don't want her ruining it again." They both grinned like idiots before deciding to call it quits and headed back for the elevator. I wonder what Tali's up to right now.
...
"Not even this? Okay...how about this?" Kasumi seemed to repeat this cycle for several minutes. Tali just went along at her own steady pace, but she didn't want Kasumi to think she was bored and that her effort was all for nothing. She knew this was a scheme to keep her mind off Shala, and she was appreciative of the support, she was so lucky to have such caring friends, like Kasumi and Garrus. Noone cared for her more than John himself of course, but they cared nonetheless. Shopping had never been a big favorite of Tali's, but she had become accustomed to the idea especially when she heard that a huge trait for human women was shopping.
If Shepard starts to think that I'm going to be his human stereotypical housewife, he's got another thing coming. Tali was only joking with that sentiment, as she did not expect John to treat her like a servant anyway. She had a million things running through her mind at once that it made being mentally stable almost physically impossible to hide. Shala almost dying, Garu's pained cries, Shepard's mental state, Rael, her state, the new Normandy, the Quarian Republic, Bellerophon, TIM's return and so much more, it was giving her such a headache. If only I could think like Legion. She looked down at Kasumi's latest attempt and was about to refute it when she looked closer at it. She was surprised out of her mind; a single holographic picture frame. She knew exactly what she wanted to use it for.
"Kasumi its...oh Kasumi. Thank you." With the picture frame still between them, Tali gave Kasumi a tight hug, which Kasumi reciprocated. "Your...welcome...Tali...but...your killing...me." Tali realized what she was doing and let go, motioning to apologize immediately for her rash actions. Kasumi held up her hand and stopped her, "Don't apologize, I was joking about the whole dying thing. Still, you hug pretty tight. And you don't need to repay me for what's freely given. Besides, there's a whole lot of things I could have stolen for you...like this." Reaching into her pocket, Kasumi pulled out a stone tablet and handed it to Tali.
Tali read the inscriptions and her eyes widened, "This is...This is Ancient Khelish! Back from the days when we quarians were just living in trees! Where did you get this?" Kasumi giggled, "Remember Donnovan Hock? Stole it from his vault, a very nice touch. He also had Lady Liberty's head." Tali cocked her head which told Kasumi she was confused. Kasumi waved her hand, "Nevermind. Come on, lets see what dextro-amino foods they have at the supermarket." Tali nodded, following Kasumi's lead. To be honest, she would rather go back to her cabin, fall into bed and sleep. She was just soooo tired. But Kasumi had gone to all this trouble to cheer her up, the least she could do was hang around with her for a few more hours.
Hopefully I'm still awake by then. Tali followed Kasumi through the crowds of the Zakera Ward, heading for the Zakera Cafe. Okay, thats not a supermarket. Still, I'll follow her lead. It wasn't long before they were right outside the busy workplace and they entered, looking at the various items on sale. The place was run by a turian now, so alot more dextro-amino stock had come in. Kasumi motioned for Tali to move up and have a look while she waited at the counter. Tali smiled as he approached the dextro food. Their wasn't only food, but drinks. Bottles of Ancestral Sunset, quarian brandy, quarian wine, and food like ta'cartme te. They even had an old favourite of hers from the fleet; ylat'kutuvm le. It was similiar to ta'cartme te but had a different texture and it had to be the single best piece of food she had ever eaten. She had only eaten it the one night when her father had brought it back from a hunt and he, herself and...mother sat down together. It had been the last family dinner before...before...
Tali wiped away the tears, sniffing. Before she died. I wish you were here Meru. What would you think of John? Meru had been so kind, she was strong and strict at times, but kind inside, not the cruel shell her father was. Meru was always there for her as was Rael once upon a time, but then she had been taken away by a simple ship-wide infection. Tali still relived her mother's death quite a few times, even when in John's embrace. Tali sobbed long and hard, she didn't stop, their was no stopping. Every emotion she had, had bottled up now flowed out in a steady stream of tears as her hand cradled her mother's dying hand. Meru stroked her cheek, wiping away a few tears. Meru smiled. "Mum...I...please mum...fight it." Tali pleaded, but she knew it was no use. Meru fought her hardest, but her immune system just wasn't strong enough. Rael moved in, "Please Saera, don't leave me. You can fight this!" Rael knew he was pleading to the Ancestors to have mercy on this gentle soul, his lifemate, but they were not heading his requests. Meru began another coughing fit, ending a minute later.
"Look after Tali, Rael. I'm...done for. I love you, Rael. Just take good care of our little baby engineer." Meru turned to Tali, her eyes gleaming with the same confidence and kindness they always did, death now sweeping in to consume them, to drain them of that happiness. "I love you, Tali. Remember...I'm always going to be...with you...in there." Meru touched the area where Tali's heart was and she looked down at the hand before looking back up. "
Mum..." Then all was silent. Meru's eyes gave a final wisp of life, before sliding shut. Her hand went limp, Tali could feel it, almost as if deflating. Tali just collapsed into her father's arms, and they both weeped intently, Rael more furiously-
"Excuse me, ma'am. Are you okay?" Tali left her recollection and turned to the quarian male who stood next to her, pistol on his hip and the C-Sec insignia emblazoned on his chest. Tali noticed she had been crying very loudly, as she had attracted some looks from other people. She sniffed, and wiped the tears away, half embarrased of crying in a cafe. Kasumi was next to her, rubbing her back. Tali turned to the officer, "I'm fine officer, thank you." The quarian bowed traditionally, which Tali followed and went to leave when he saw Tali's hand. He stopped and looked up at her, "Are you crazy! You'll get yourself killed!" Tali was confused but then realized when he saw her look at her hand. We quarians are so similiar to humans, that we almost pass as one. Until you see how many fingers and toes that have on their hands and feet. "I took a special vial that has improved my immune system 98%. Its okay."
The quarian nodded hesitantly, before asking, "A cure? Do you really think..." Tali smiled before holding up her hand, "Its only in prototype stages so far, not ready for full distribution. But it will be soon." The quarian nodded and walked off, rejoining his geth colleague. Tali turned to Kasumi, who was shaking her arm. When Tali looked into Kasumi's eyes, all she could see was sincere worry. Tali smiled to reassure her, "I'm fine Kasumi. Really." Kasumi seemed to nod hesitantly before lifting her arm off and growing a steady smile. Kasumi then laughed, "I find it funny how it takes him seeing your hands to realise your one of him. I thought the lines all over your body gave it away." Tali just shrugged.
Tali moved and grabbed some of the dextro items, mostly drinks, and then motioned for Kasumi to follow her to the counter. It wasn't long before they stood behind the desk, and presented the items to the shop manager. Once the manager scanned them, he turned to look directly at her. "So your a quarian. Plan on stealing anything today?" Tali rolled her eyes. Even after saving this bosh'tets sorry butt he is still racist. "I'm not looking for any trouble, kind sir. I just want to purchase these items." The human nodded hesitantly, "Thats IF you've got the credits. Let me see them." Tali nodded, pulling out the 600 credit chit that John had given her and gave it to the man. He immediately snatched it away and shoved it in the air, "Thief! This quarian just tried to steal my credit chit!"
Tali could hear the telltale signs of Kasumi extending her wrist blades, but kept her hand on Kasumi's wrist. She heard two C-Sec officers run in, a turian and a asari. No quarian or geth. Better hope their not racist. "Where's the culprit?" The shopkeeper pointed straight at Tali, and a turian grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and extended handcuffs. He began wrapping them around Tali's wrists, but Kasumi extended her blade so far that it almost touched the turian's neck. "Let her go...now." Tali shook her head, "Kasumi, its okay. Go get Shepard, tell him what happened. Better yet, Lana will get me out once she sees I did nothing wrong." Tali put emphasis on her last words, as if trying to phase her captors. They didn't.
With the cuffs secured, the turian pushed her out of the store, heading towards the nearest interrogation room. Kasumi looked at her worriedly, but did not react. She simply watched as Tali got dragged away to imprisonment. Don't worry Tali, Lana will get you out. Even if she's not in charge yet, you can count on John. I did nothing wrong, afterall.
Kasumi's cheeks flared in fury as Tali was dragged behind a corner and she stormed back into the store, towards the man, who was serving another customer. She pushed past the customer quite roughly, much to that customer's frustration, and she punched the shopkeeper in the face, "Racist dick." Kasumi grabbed the bottles, took back Tali's credit chit, and then took out a empty credit chit and thrust it into the man's mouth, forcing him to close it. "Enjoy shopkeeping, cause the REAL thief just stole the money back." And with that, Tali walked off. She saw two C-Sec officers looking at her, but they did nothing. The quarian seemed to just wink at her as she went past, the geth just whirred its approval. As she walked away, she swore she heard the officer say, "Should have done that myself." She stopped, Then why didn't they intervene when that man framed Tali? Were they not looking? Could they not hear? Kasumi shrugged it off and headed for the Normandy. Someone was going to be very pissed off.
...
The door next to her slid open, and Tali looked to her left to see a C-Sec officer walk in. "So, quarian..." The officer was an asari, wearing bright blue uniform to match her skin and she looked equiped with a Kassa Locust SMG, a datapad lay in her hands, her eyes scanning its contents. She didn't even look Tali in the eyes, everytime she did, they reeled back in disgust. Tali felt her cheeks burn up, "My name is Tali..." The asari immediately ran up to her and faced her down, "I don't care you filthy parasite. Thieves are nameless, and you are a disgusting thief." Tali wanted to retort but didn't, this asari had a firm opinion and wasn't breaking. Let her be racist, it made no difference what she thought.
The asari broke off, but not before spitting on Tali's face. Tali closed her eyes and mouth, making sure the saliva didn't get anywheren near them, as it could cause lethal infection. Her immune system would improve, but consumption of non-dextro acids would kill her. Tali looked at the asari officer and put as much loathing and hate into her eyes as possible. It didn't have the desired effect, it just made her reel back in disgust. The asari began to pace back and forth, hands behind her back. Tali wasn't restrained, but she wasn't stupid. She was unarmed and the asari had both biotics and a predator sidearm. Attacking her would be suicide. Besides, trying to escape would make me look even more guilty. Time to work the law. Tali just watched as the asari paced, contemplating her words. The asari spoke as she began her second pace, "So...buying stuff a from a cafe with stolen credits. You must be really stupid. First of all, your not in your suit, I'm surprised your not dead already. Secondly, stealing in a store full of people was a misguided idea to be honest."
Tali sighed, "First bit is none of your business, secondly, I didn't steal those credits!" The asari rolled her eyes, "Let me get two things straight, the credit chit you provided was Alliance-distributed. One, your clearly not Alliance and two, noone would trust a quarian with this many credits. What was it...? 27,000 credits? Thats alot of credits in your possession. Now I can run you in for vagrancy and theft." Tali's cheeks flared up. No, don't let this asari get the better of you. Your the better woman Tali, don't give in. "I...did...not...steal...that...chit. My lifemate gave it to me." The asari raised a brow, "And what mate, was that? Human? Turian? Who the hell would be stupid enough to trust the likes of you?"
Tali smiled, "My lifemate would. Rear Admiral John Shepard vas Normandy. And you will call me by name, Tali'Shepard vas Normandy. I'm Chief Engineer and XO of the QRV Normandy SR-3." The asari chuckled, "I've made the greatest bust in C-Sec History! Not only do I have a quarian thief who is lost in her imaginary world of the greatest hero marrying her, but now a thief that has stolen alliance property for her people! The Normandy, a quarian vessel! I'll believe that when I'm braindead." Tali growled, "Its true! You can contact him yourself!" The asari activated her biotics and Tali felt herself lifted up and thrown into a nearby wall. "Don't make demands thief! I will have your ass in a jailcell! Now, where is the ship you've stolen?"
Tali remained silent, before opening her mouth. "Docking Bay D24. You can ask Shepard yourself. I'm not a thief! He'll prove it to you!" The asari simply smiled as she approached and crouched next to her, "You are incredibly pathetic. I should kill you right now. Actually, I might. These walls are soundproof, so noone will hear you scream." Tali simply began laughing, almost manicially. The asari lost her smile and looked at her in confusion, "I'm going to kill you quarian, there is no humor in that." Tali stopped laughing and looked the Asari dead in the eye, "My friend behind you says otherwise." The asari didn't get to retort as she felt a coldblade tip touch the nape of her neck. "Stand away from my friend." Kasumi deactivated her cloak right behind her.
The Asari did so, but not before Kasumi felt herself fly into a wall, the asari glowing with blue energy. "Both of you shall die!" With the asari concentrating on Kasumi, this gave Tali a chance to surprise the biotic. Tali leapt up, executing a footsweep. The asari toppled over, but not before unclipping her pistol and shooting her in the right shoulder. Tali flinched and grunted in pain, stopping for a second. It didn't matter; it was all that the asari needed to gain power over the helpless quarian. She lifted Tali up and threw her into the interrogation chair. Tali hit the side, her side burning in pain from the sheer impact and she toppled onto the ground. Kasumi tried to come to Tali's aid, but the asari picked up the Master Thief and wrapped her in a stasis field. Tali tried to get up but felt a batton beat her back down. "I shall kill you slowly you piece of garbage!" Tali felt the batton hit again, and again, and again. Each time she would show strength and try and get up, only to be beaten down again.
Kasumi is stuck and I'm being beaten to death. Come on John, please. Tali attempted to grab the batton to stop the asari's assault, but she only managed to get her wrist badly damaged. She held her mouth shut to keep in her squeel of pain. She cradled her wrist as the assault continued to hit her. Bruises began to show on her body, and it wasn't long before the asari brought the batton to rear on her face. Keelah, its over. One hit from that batton to my face and I'm a goner. The asari swiped down but the batton only got halfway before halting. Standing next to the asari was Shepard, in his modified Cerberus Ajax Armor, holding the batton tightly in his fists. He was glaring at the asari with pure hatred. The asari smiled slightly, "Oh, Rear Admiral Shepard. I was just treating this thief to some little retribution."
"How dare you assault my lifemate out of petty racism, you self-righteous bitch. Besides, didn't we all steal Prothean tech? Your the victim of your own racism. Now get away from my lifemate before you take her position on the floor. And release my friend from stasis. Now." The asari smiled, "Very well, Admiral. Just..." The asari grabbed her pistol and reared it at John's head. Tali was about to scream when she heard a gunshot, followed by the asari's exploding head, red blood coating Tali's face. The asari's body went dead, the pistol falling from her grip, the batton held still in John's grip. The asari's body fell ontop of Tali, but she easily shoved it off with little trouble. Seeing that it hadn't been John who fired the shot or Kasumi, who only just got freed from the biotic stasis field, they turned to the doorway. In the doorway stood the one person they least expected; Hannah Shepard. She stood pistol at her side, her face still in a position of sheer anger. "Noone...threatens...my...daughter." Tali was confused by the statement, but she guessed it sounded better than saying Noone threatens my daughter-in-law. Shepard smiled at his mother before moving to help Tali up, using a fine cloth in one of his pockets to wipe the blood off her face.
"Are you...shit, that asari hurt you real bad." He was examining her brusies, which were close to pure purple in color and they stood out like bumps on her skin. It destroyed her beautiful outline, but it was better than having huge ones on her face. Tali smiled reassuringly, "Its nothing Dr. Chakwas can't fix up John. Come on, I'm sure we've got some catching up to do with Hannah. Am I right?" Shepard nodded and turned to Hannah, who moved aside as Lana rushed in. "Is everything...damn, you got her first. Better her than you I guess." Tali gave Lana a confused look. Kasumi just joined beside her, whispering, "Got your credit chit back. And bought that food for you." Tali smiled, taking back the chit, giving a simple, "Thanks Kasumi." Kasumi smiled before reentering her cloak and making a quick escape, "We girls stick together, no matter the species."
Shepard eyed Lana curiously, "Got her first? But that asari was a C-Sec officer." Lana shook her head, bringing up her omnitool. "Yeah, that was her disguise. You won't believe who it actually is." A picture of the actual asari appeared on screen. Shepard's jaw dropped, but Tali spoke first, "Rana Thanoptis? Why would she try to kill me? I was with you both times we let her go on Virmire and Korlus." Lana nodded, taking the omnitool image down and then spoke, "She disguised herself as C-Sec to get to you. The shopkeeper was a agent working with her, I had to say, the plan was well set out for a indoctrinated servant. She was working for Cerberus. TIM really wants you two dead." Tali nodded, "The news reports stated she was indoctrinated but she blew herself up when killing asari military officials. She actually survived?"
Lana nodded, "Survived and has been working for the Reapers since then. Bellerophon is...well, was controlling her. Hannah did her a favor by killing her. Other guy, not so lucky. He wasn't indoctrinated, so we took him into custody. According to the interrogation, he was working for Hellion himself. He's willing to give information on Hellion's current location as well, but he ain't listening to me." Shepard smiled, "Let me give him some motivation. Name?" Lana opened her omnitool, checking her current incarcerated list. "Andreas Decman, Cerberus Field Operative. Works for Illusive's Intelligence, but mostly under Hellion." Shepard nodded before beginning to walk out. "Where are you going John?" Tali called out after him.
"I'm going to talk with our friend. Time to find Hellion and end that bastard. Then we look for Bellerophon, and hopefully convince our Cerberus friend he's on the wrong side."
Sorry for the short chapter, but this has been delayed so bad, I had to shorten it to get it out sooner. Chapter 35 will be longer.
I'm trying to get to the point in this story, but there are so many things I want to do with it that I keep making detours. Next chapter will be mostly about Shepard's hunt for Hellion. As it draws closer, the secret to how Bellerophon survived the Crucible firing will be revealed. As well as where Connor's loyalty really lies; Humanity, Xen or Cerberus. He's going to have to pick one, or maybe two if Xen can be reasoned with.
Like a guest keeps saying, "Shit keeps getting real." Never been so true.
"Adrenaline's better than oxygen any day."
- James Vega