Chapter 37: To The Victor Go The Spoils
There was no quiet ride back in the shuttle that CPO Peeks finally touched down at the LZ. There could have been but the fallout of the battle had every face from the party drawn to Allison Gunn and 'Major Kusangai Motoko.'
In fact Shepard had with a squad of marines returned to the vault.
More than a few were stunned to see not Gunn but one of the most famous humans in recent history standing in her place. Leading the pack of the underhanded-backroom dirty-dealing crime lords was none other than Miss Sniddy-Pants better known as Nadu Deavers and as if velcroed to her side her partner Peii'jia Ullerup.
"What sort of game you playing at Gunn!" she all but screamed. It did not seem as if she recognized the blue and white armor or the distinctive white wings insignia over Shepard's heart that identified her as a Spectre nor the white / red N7 directly below that that stated this human was part of the most elite sect of the human military.
Shepard turned to the speaker, "The correct form of address is Spectre Shepard, Miss Deavers." At the confirmation of her identity more than a few of the well-dressed criminal element took a very healthy step back. Ullerup all but abandoned her partner for safer higher ground.
"If I'm not mistaken you traffic red sand. A substance that is highly illegal to market if you're anywhere outside of Illium or the Terminus Systems. Oh look you are in the Window Nebula right next door to the Citadel. Council controlled space. Prime jurisdiction of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of Council Justice System.
"As there is no proof you were doing anything here but socializing I can't reasonably arrest you. Any of you."
Many visibly relaxed.
Shepard grinned she had them all where she wanted them. "I said reasonably." the room tensed up once more. "As a Spectre…I need only cause in order to act. The facial recognition program on my omni-tool will no doubt register many of you with rap-sheets filled with questionable activities. It is more than enough reason to act and start making arrests. In fact I can put this entire party into lockdown if I so choose."
A few people stepped back, a few made a run for the door.
"Not if you're dead you dump bit…."
Shepard whirled at the sound behind her, raised her new omni-bow caster and fired three rounds in quick succession. The turian would-be-shooter was flung backwards by the sheer momentum of the bolts rocketing into his chest. His bleeding corpse now hung like a macabre medal on the marble trunk of a krogan battlemaster.
Shepard spun back to Deavers. "If you point a gun at a Spectre, use it. Don't talk."
The holdout pistol the asari once clutched tightly clattered to rubble strewn floor, bounced muzzle over butt and skittered to a rest at Kasumi's feet where she stood a pace behind Shepard.
"That's what I thought." The raven-haired woman leaned in close to the asari, close enough to kiss…her voice a dark malevolent whisper. "I shouldn't think you want to be here when C-Sec arrives to confiscate stolen antiquities. So skedaddle your blue ass back to Illium like a good little girl and leave the 'badass-ness' to me. Hmm?"
She pulled backed surveying the room. "That goes for the rest of you!" she bellowed so loudly it would have any DI back in Boot proud.
In rapid order the room emptied leaving Kasumi alone with the Spectre and a handful of Alliance Marines.
Shepard grinned.
"Not exactly the thiefy way to exit the house, Shep."
"Nope. But there are a few things here I want."
"Ohh like David?" The thief smiled. "We'll need a bigger shuttle."
"He goes back to Italy. No I was thinking of this." she held up her new toy, the bow-caster not the Locust "He's got to have more of them tucked away. They will come in extremely handy when dealing with the Collectors. The trip wires if set high enough may even be a deterrent against seeker swarms. And then there is that." Shepard pointed to the quarian Sanskrit. While the case itself had suffered during the firefight within the vault, the stone tablet was remarkably unscathed. "You are going to give that to Tali.
"As for the rest of it, the scans we're taking now will be transmitted back to the Citadel. They'll send the appropriate people to reclaim these treasures. By the time they do we'll be nothing but taillights."
And indeed they were.
CPO Peeks called in a second shuttle to carry the marines and a few crates of recovered arsenal. One such crate was indeed filled to capacity with the omni bow-casters. And unlike most of the finds from Ilos they did not need to retrofitted and reengineered the wagons were ready-to-go as is.
Kasumi and Shepard were alone in the first shuttle. In the quiet offered by their solitude, Kasumi looked at her greatest prize, her stolen memories. There was an interface along the shuttle's bulk head. Shepard gave her companion a slight bow of her head and activated the guai-command consol. In a matter of milliseconds, Kas was logged into the VR world of Keiji's graybox.
At first it was but a dark room. At its heart standing upon a blue 'lilypad' was her beloved. His voice—whispered velvet heartache. "Kasumi. if you're seeing this, it's because I'm dead." he stretched out his right arm, instantly an infinite row of windows appeared stretching further back then the eye could see.
"The information we found is all here. It's big Kasumi." he said fearful, awe struck, like Pandora's must have been just after she opened the box. "If the Council ever got wind of this…the Alliance could be implicated."
Kas took a step then another, each creating ripples in the virtual ground like ripples upon the surface of a glass-still lake. Each step hummed. She scanned one after the other with her omni tool, some of the images she didn't know what she was seeing, others were of her and sweet tender moments with her sweet Keiji.
"Kasumi…I…I. encrypted the information to keep it safe. And I uploaded the encryption key to your graybox." the man's avatar followed 'his' lover's movements. "So no one can get the whole package."
Kas activated one particular 'chapter' in the long winding row of memories. She activated it. And witnessed the last time they made love. He had been standing at the window of their apartment back in Japan, he was reading something on a data pad, when she snuck up behind him and gave her lover a tilt of the head. He took her hands….
"But if I'm dead, then I've made you a target my love. I am so so sorry my love."
"Keiji…" Kasumi's fists clutched at her sides. Pain needle sharp and bitter coursed through her soul lancing it though.
His voice still soft and velveteen as if he was whispering in her ear. "I know you Kasumi. You'll want to keep these memories forever."
She looked up from beneath her dark hood. A smile crossed her lips as she watched her vid-self kiss her beloved.
"….But you don't need some neural implant to know I will always be with you."
Kas kept watching as her vid self threw her Keiji onto the bed that was behind him. Panther like she crawled onto his lap…
"Please Kasumi. Destroy these files."
The thief whirled around. Panic. No! No! No! She ran back to Keiji's avatar. Terrified it might activate some sort of fail safe. No! NO! NO!
"There is nothing more I can do to protect you." his voice so soft, tender…was agony.
"I can't! I can't do that!" Kas reached up taking the face she adored so much. She was crying now. "This is all that is left."
But the avatar wasn't him. Not really. "Goodbye Kasumi. I love you."
She pulled back. And he was gone. All around her were windows and windows of memories.
The real world came back as a bucket of ice water tossed in her face.
Shepard looked at her for a moment in reverent silence. She had seen too. Of course she had through the monitoring device on the interface. "Is there any way we can just destroy the information?"
"No." Kas struggled to bring her voice back under control. "Keiji is…was a master at encrypting files. He laces the information into his memories. You can't get one without experiencing the other."
"You heard him, Kasumi. He wants you to destroy the information and save yourself."
"I know it's just that…I can't…" renewed tears fell down her cheeks. She walked to the interface panel and looked at the man she loved more than her own soul. His little stripe of beard he grew to mimic her chin tattoo. His deep coffee brown eyes. His smooth baby-fine brown hair….he was… "This is all that is left of him." She was pleading now. Begging.
Shepard breathed in. If it were her Angel Eyes…. Damn it! "You'll have to go dark." she said at last. "You can't let anyone know you have this. I know how important this is to you. If it were Liara…if that was all I had of her…Just make sure you're ready to deal with the consequences, Kasumi."
Kas didn't miss a beat; relief flooded her voice, nearly choking her as her heartache had seconds ago. "Yeah I am. No one will know I exist. I'll stay off the grid." She was practically giddy now.
Shepard nodded and took a seat, watching as the thief took one opposite of her. "I think want this. Thanks, Shepard." she smiled, dipped her head as if taking a nap as she activated her blue guai wraparound and dove back into the graybox.
Not for the second time or even the third Kasumi's graybox got Shepard thinking about her future. Or rather her daughter's or even daughters' futures. Even with the gestalt having changed her and Liara, Shepard didn't know how long she'd live outside the dangers of her career as an N7 marine and Spectre. She wanted her girl…girls to know her. Something for Liara too should it come to that. Of course she knew asari had their own internal grayboxes that they could delve into their own memories and even pull someone they love and trusted without hesitation such as their bondmates within them. But a daughter…wouldn't have that ability not yet. But a graybox…
Shepard knew the idea needed to be tabled until she spoke to Liara about it. But the Spectre doubted her bondmate would nix the idea out of turn simply because the tech was illegal. If it was done on Illium there was some law somewhere, some sort of contract that would grant them reprieve from prosecution. She didn't want to trade on her Spectre status for something so inherently personal as stored memories for her children.
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
*You were right Dr. T'soni, Hock had a great deal of intel on Okuda despite he was no where near opening their hacker's graybox. We know of course Keiji Okuda was posing as Admiral Abraham Rumoi an employee of the Alliance Intelligent Agency. Using the stolen identity Okuda managed to steal data on a wide array of Alliance operations, both historical and ongoing. Rumoi was captured and put on trial but 'escaped'. Okuda of course just dropped the Rumoi disguise
*"Some of the intelligence Okuda stole was too hot for even him to handle, which is what is in the graybox. I think some of it Hock had high suspicions of, like something that could generate a war between the Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony. Okuda made himself a target by a lot of people; a lot of agencies were after him including Cerberus and the Shadow Broker.
*Doctor, if Commander Shepard allows Kasumi to keep that graybox for whatever reason they both become targets.*
Liara listened to her agent give her report. "I am positive Shepard will take the necessary and prudent measures. She will either do it herself or make Miss Goto destroy the evidence." the tone in her voice was pitched so there was no mistake that course of action was the one to be believed whether it be true or not. "Shepard is Alliance Military through and through she will never allow something so dangerous to threaten the Alliance. And she is Spectre and while that mandate may conflict with her instincts to protect the Alliance, the best possible course would be to destroy the box."
*I am sure you know your life-mate and what actions she will take best, Dr. T'Soni.* Peii'jia Ullerup dipped her purple head which delivered another statement: 'Message understood, loud and clear'. *As we suspected Cerberus had a deep cover operative in place, I took the opportunity to liquidate them. The Shadow Broker had an active agent there as well. He was eliminated by Shepard ironically enough.*
Liara's eyebrow markings jumped up high on her forehead. "Oh? How?"
Ullerup described the events in the vault and what the Spectre had said.*I don't believe she knew To'jen was one of the Broker's. He was just some turian stupid enough to try and kill her.*
Liara nodded. To'jen on the other hand once Shepard had shed her Alison Gunn person knew exactly who he was facing. No doubt he thought he bagged himself an easy kill. He had no clue how shielded the armor was or how fast the Spectre was. How hyper alert she was after a battle. Most turians completely underestimated humans, denying any success they had. Take for example the bastard on Pinnacle Station who was so determined that a human had cheated he was going to press charges. When Shepard proven the turian's accusations false by winning all of the challenges he grumbled that Shepard had cheated as well. That was one of their greater flaws, something Shepard always seized. All the better her enemies always underestimated her. She thrived on it and they died.
"Very well. Did Shepard spot you?"
*Doubtful. I suspect she had Goto look us up; it was how she knew who we were.* the agent of course was referring to herself and to Nadu Deavers. Who of course was her cover. Deavers wasn't even aware that her partner was T'Soni's agent. *You would have been proud of her Doctor. She played the part of Allison Gunn extremely well. I didn't even recognize her voice.*
Liara ginned. "Ah yes the south London accent. It would be effective."
*I doubt anyone noticed that Gunn was indeed Shepard until she revealed herself. The only reason I did was for your warning." The warning came in the form of the Allison Gunn issue of Badass Weekly and a note reading: 'Take no action. Watch for explosions. Take opportunity of inevitable distraction to harvest.' *And you were correct, whatever Game everyone else thinks they are playing, Shepard is not playing it with them. They have to constantly reshuffle the pieces on the board to account for her actions. I'll have to say her timely explosions caused enough distraction for me to harvest what we needed from Hock's databases. We have as the humans might say struck gold. I'll transmit the bounty now.*
"Let's see what you have and how much of it is salvageable. Good work Ullerup. Come in, I have another assignment for you. Besides Deavers will find it strange you are not close at hand. You must maintain your deep cover."
*Fortunately keeping that end of the cover is a pleasure, even if I have to sit and hear Nadu bitch about Shepard. I have to say Shepard can be downright frightful when she wants to be. She can be as blunt as a krogan but she's an adept at wordplay when she needs to be.*
"We all must endure unpleasantness." Liara replied not hiding the sardonic undertones. She cut the video-feed
Long tipped blue fingers rubbed a weary brow. Since leaving the Normandy Liara had been suffering a long term series of unpleasantness. The loss of Shepard's close proximity, the touch of her flesh against her own. The soft exhale of Sam's breath against her neck folds as they slept-her scent, the sound of her laugh, the crooked smile, the glittering blue eyes. Her caramel hand upon her chest so that her bondmate might feel the thumping of Liara's heartbeat. Their deep meditations, their minds caressing-merging as one even as they worked to float a rose blossom between them. Nights of making passionate sometimes even wild love. Days of working together, collaborating, coming up with ideas and solutions.
Now such things could only be touched in the deep memories. Liara held on to them with desperation. Each night she touched them, each night she lost herself in them. Until she reunited with her beloved bondmate the memories were all she had. Her hand stroked her belly which was now showing she had life within. No she corrected herself. The memories were not all she had. She had much much more. A smile lit up her face at the thought of their babe.
Several long days stretched out. Liara was never short of work. There was always just one more meeting, one more thing needed to attending to. When one of her agents reported the fuel refinery on Zorya had gone up in flames, Liara thought it an attack from a rival faction to the Blue Suns until she recalled Zorya was the name of the planet she gave to Samantha as the location of Vido Santiago, Zaeed Masanni's target.
Further reports indicated that all civilian lives were saved, those of course that had not been previously killed by the Blue Suns. No doubt Shepard's doing. She would have without hesitation or question helped the workers escape the inferno even if it cost her Zaeed's loyalty. To know the full outcome of incident on Zorya Liara knew the best way was to ask her bondmate personally. There were other ways of course, but Samantha being there was by far more reliable than the accounts of those locked into hero-worship of a savior that liberated them for a certain fiery death.
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
Dr. Liara T'Soni Prothean expert, archeologist cum respected information broker, wasn't the only one to think on the events of what occurred on Zorya. Zaeed couldn't shake it. He had been livid with Shepard for her choices, save those pathetic little nothings rather than make good on her promises.
Vido fucking Santiago escaped. Again!
"I'm not sure I need a man like you on my ship." The gun in his face. Her gun. Then she flipped it around so the muzzle was in her face and he had the trigger. Her words: "We work together or this doesn't work." She lifted the column off his body, saving him. She could have let him burn, could have left the rubble to continue to crush his body. But she didn't. Could have shot him in the face but made a good point of showing they were on the same side, fighting worse demons then Vido Fucking Santiago. God curse the woman but she had his loyalty. Always would, even if Zaeed thought it a bad idea to follow an idealistic hero into battle. At least he could count on her not doing it for the glory. Glory-hounds were worse then do-gooder war heroes.
Do-gooder war-heroes could always be counted on for saving the meek and helpless, those that couldn't help themselves, like those stupid workers at the refinery. Do-gooder war-heroes were willing to sacrifice their own lives for what was called the greater good. Do anything for the greater good. Survive the long reach of the cold dead fingers of Sergeant Death if it meant the salvation of everyone else. With Do-gooder war-heroes suicide runs were not just a quirky name for very low odds. But at the very least she wasn't doing it for the glory. Glory hounds didn't care who they hurt, who go in the way as long as they were counted as heroic saviors.
He sat picking at his food in the galley when Jack plopped down next to him.
"Shit thing on Zorya ehe?" she said digging onto spaghetti. She along with quarian kid had gone down with the Queen of the Girl Scouts to settle the score on old Scar-Face's old partner. Jack didn't have an issue with it. She got the need to settle old scores, make things even. Fuck it's what she wanted to do to Cerberus. Even if it went tits-up, down there and her majesty QotGS went with the screaming-memes instead of gunning down that fucktard Santiago like Masani wanted, still she tried and all. Couldn't blame QotGS for doing the hero thingy, it was all apart of the deal of being some damned hero-Spectre crap.
"Me on the ground like that gun in my face, thought she'd pull the trigger for damn sure. She was totally pissed at you. Then hands that gun over like she did. Don't know what I'd make of it."
"It was like she said. We're in this together or it doesn't work. I know she made a call to that wife of hers to find out were Vido went. I got no grudge against Shepard. She had to do what she had to do. Tell ya this though, you ask her to help you settle the score on Cerberus don't let no innocents get in crossfire cause all bets are off then." he chewed on his lasagna, gulped a bit of coke down and spoke once more. "Then again she's got a score to settle against Cerberus so who's to say? She might. But I doubt it. Seems when she got this ship the score was settled some. But she's got no love for TIM, you can count on that. She doesn't trust him none either."
"Yeah. Guess so." Jack tore a piece of garlic bread off with her front teeth, chewed and dipped the rest of the bread into the spaghetti sauce on her plate and took another large bite, then stuffed into the corner of her cheek like a gerbil in order to speak. "So what'cha gonna do now? You going to go after the fucktard or stick with the crew and kick those Collectors' buggy asses?"
"I'll finish what I signed up for. I always finish the job. Get a bad rep as a merc if you don't. Best remember that if you're looking to go serious into the business." he shoveled another bite of food into his mouth. "If you're staying independent and want to keep getting contracts make sure you look into the job before you take and if ya do, finish it." He pointed at her with the business end of his fork. "Take this naff run with Shepard. What them bugs be doing to our people out there, I ain't letting that go, no how. But any chance I have to strike against Vido I'm taking it. Shepard knows it too."
Jack slurped up the rest of her spaghetti, wiped the tomato sauce off her mouth onto the back of her tattooed hand and let out a very loud belch.
"Isn't that just charming." Came a refined Australian accent from someplace behind the ex-con.
"I believe in some human cultures that such expulsion is a sign that the food was well received and enjoyed." an even more eloquent voice spoke out. Sumara took a seat next to Zaeed. Like him she had chosen the lasagna. "It is also a common practice amongst the krogans."
"Once perhaps, not any more, at least not for humans." Miranda chided Jack. "Now only children and men with beer bellies do so and with some sophomoric amusement I might add."
"Yeah? Been wondering something there, Miss Gene-perfect-Petri-dish. If you let out a burp would your tits shrink or would your bubble butt deflate?"
Zaeed couldn't help the snicker that came snorting out of his mouth. He immediately put his hands up as if to say: 'I'm out of this.'
"I can understand why you'd stare at another women's assets Jack, having so very little of your own. You can't help but be envious." Miranda shot back without blinking an eye.
"Pft like you know shit. Good fucking way to get cock where you don't want it, if you go around in the Joint with your tits hanging out."
"Good advice, if you had any tits to speak of. Tell me do they still have the little satin bows on training bras? Oh that's right you just hide your nipples behind ink and a belt strap and call it good."
Jack ground her teeth, glaring icicles at the older woman. Samara who had been a mother of three knew exactly where this was headed. She didn't even need to see that Jack was scooping up remnants of tomato sauce on her fork to fling at the Cerberus operative. It wasn't however her place to separate the 'maidens' or interfere with their childish bickering. Demurely she rose from her spot and sat down on the bench opposite of her current one. Zaeed quickly followed suit.
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Shepard looked at the bulkhead spattered like a Jackson Pollock painting with tomato sauce. She let out a very heavy sigh.
Garrus was standing next to her with his arms crossed over his chest. "At least it isn't human blood."
"Yet." growled the Commander.
"What are you going to do?"
"Slam their heads together?"
"And for the long term?"
"You know when I was a kid I visited my Grandmother, Mom's side…anyway she had these two cats one old, one new. They fought, tearing into each other like bloody murder. Grandmother couldn't just get rid of one. Not her way. So she opened up couple cans of tuna fish and smothered their bodies in the brine and fish chunks then put both of them in the head and closed the door.
"You heard hissing and fighting and then later nothing. After a couple of hours Grandmother opened the door back up to find both cats licking each other off. They were inseparable after that. "
Garrus chuckled at the imagery. "I don't imagine you could do that with Jack or Miranda."
"Not with tuna no. But rum and chocolate …who knows? Clearly something has to be done."
"Good luck."
"You know as an XO you're supposed to help me with this sort of thing."
"If it were a turian ship, I'd say put them in the ring and let them fight it out."
"Ring?" Shepard turned to her best friend. "Clarify."
"Well it's a way to work out differences. Guess you call it a boxing ring, or ultimate fighter's ring. Thing is tensions get high on a war ship. Can't be helped. The ring is a way to settle the score so to speak. I remember I had this issue with a scout. We fought and bickered, no way we got along. The Captain put us in the ring to help us work out our issues."
"Did it work?" Shepard was intrigued.
"The match went on for several rounds neither one of us getting the upper hand. I had reach but the lieutenant had better flexibility. Those betting on the outcome got a bit pissed when it was called a draw. We held the tie-breaker in my cabin. I had reach, but ..." he coughed a little and if he were capable of blushing he would be. "She had flexibility. It's still a draw."
Shepard chortled. "Might not want to let Tali know you have some turian babe wanting to end that draw. But still that's a great idea. You know it just might work! Put Jack and Miranda in the ring let them duke it out then give them an empty crew quarters for a few hours to settle a tie-breaker and to top it off as bit of insurance we smother them in rum and melted chocolate and lock the door."
*Commander?* Joker broke in over the comm-system. *Hate to brake the funfest but your least favorite person just messaged us. Guess you-know-who wants to have a chit-chat with you. His tyrannical TIMieness is waiting in the comm-room.*
"Thanks Joker. I'll be right up. Tell him to keep his pants on.." another heavy sigh "Wonder what in the hell he wants, now."
"Only one way to find out." Garrus said, his mandibles twitching in a turian smile of sympathy.
"You're no help at all."