MASS EFFECT SOLACE

CHAPTER 36

The punching bag swung rapidly from Krysta's relentless strikes. The muscles in her arms ached from overuse and she could feel her heart pumping in overtime to catch up with her workout. Her entire chest was covered in sweat, soaking her sports bra. She was donned in her work out pants and bra only. No matter how tired she was, she wouldn't let up. To James and Steve who watched on, the punching bag was just a standard issued with no abnormal material. To Krysta, this was an embodiment of the Illusive Man. She desired so much for it to be him instead in the flesh. She never wanted to kill someone so badly in her life until she departed from the Sanctuary refugee camp. Her mind flashed back to the empty pods in the labs, the dorms of the inhabitants and the waves of the Reaper troops that took their places. Horizon was overwhelmed with Banshees, Marauders, Cannibals, but Husks were the majority. All those innocent people coming to Sanctuary with hopes to escape the war to only have the same outcome that they fled from. How come someone be driven to that extreme point? The Illusive Man pledged himself to be the champion of humanity and yet his methods almost seemed to be line in with the Reapers. She thought back to the phrase that Saren Arterius told her on Virmire, "Is submission not preferable to extinction?" Is that what the Illusive Man believed in? To top things off, Henry Lawson, Miranda's father, was the center of the monstrosity. Thinking more on this made her anger grew. She quickened her punches. She jumped back and then came at it with a hard-flying right kick. The force caused the bag to snap from its chain harness and collapse to the ground feet away from where she stood. Her hazel eyes stared down at it as she panted hard, wiping the sweat off her face with the back of her hand.

James whistled, shocked by the intensity of her workout. He cracked a grin over to Cortez who was also watching in awe. "Nice, Commander."

So, involved in her own thoughts, Krysta didn't realize that she had a captivated audience. She walked over to grab her sweat towel from the bench. "I didn't think anyone was up this late."

"Hard to sleep." James shrugged lightly. "Heard that Sanctuary was rough. That bad, huh?"

Krysta glared at him sternly. "Rough is not quite the term that I would use to describe it, James. Hell is more like it."

"I knew it couldn't be good when I dropped you off." Cortez sadly commented. "No signs of anyone around…never a good sign."

"Ashley wouldn't say anything about it. We need to take down these sick bastards." The marine appeared to be troubled and antsy. He was itching for battle. They all were. They were becoming stir crazy on the Normandy.

"Nor will I. I thought Eden Prime was rough after the Geth attacked. This was similar, but at all another level." Ashley Williams spoke for herself as she walked over from the elevator. She overheard their conversation once she reached the level that they were on. "I was on Horizon when the Collectors hit there as well. The entire colony was gone, and Cerberus uses what was left for this…" Her posture was straight and stiff. She turned to look at Krysta. "I'm with James, Mam. Let's go after the sick sons of bitches."

Steve chuckled as he heard her tone. "She's feisty, Commander."

Krysta's face lit up and she allowed herself to smirk at the question. "Already on top of that one, James." Knowing where Kai Leng ran off to was a breath of fresh air. She would take him down and then move on to his boss. "Kai Leng was tracked heading towards the Horsehead Nebula. We're heading there now."

"Am I missing the party?" Liara walked up to them with her hand on her hip, cocking an eye ridge towards the group.

"Not at all, Liara." Krysta acknowledged her presence with a warm smile at her old friend.

"EDI said you were down here. Can't sleep still?"

"Is that even a question?" Krysta chuckled. "You mined the data we collected from Horizon?'

"Glyph's programs are very useful. I'm still going over the manifest of refugees, so we can try to submit it over to the Citadel. Bailey assured me of C-Sec's cooperation. With so many systems impacted by the Reapers, it will be hard to get transmissions to the other colonies." Liara wrung her fingers sadly as her deep blue eyes drifted down towards the cold metal floor. "There was…something else…"

Krysta felt a cold chill move up her spine and she held her breath. "Yes?" Nothing good ever seem to come from their Cerberus incursions. How could things get any worse besides losing Thessia and learning what horrible experiments Cerberus had on innocent lives?

"What is it, Liara?" Ash pressed insistently, giving a worried glance at her old XO.

"One of the names of the Batarians on Sanctuary was named Sh'sk Bek'tall. Late intake. From Omega." The Asari slowly allowed her gaze to move up to meet Krysta's eyes once more.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" James scratched his head in confusion.

Krysta gulped slowly, allowing her mind to process the news. Her breathing became more rapid. "You sure of this?"

"Who's Sh'sk?" Ashley looked at Krysta for an explanation to fill in the rest of them that remained clueless in the room.

"A Batarian on Omega, a friend of Bray. He helped take Omega back for Aria. He was one of her people. I didn't think Cerberus had time to take any prisoners before fleeing the station after Oleg's death." While divulging of what she knew, she subconsciously began to wonder if Bray had any ties with Sh'sk on the planet. There was no mention of Sh'sk being taken prior to her leaving Omega. What happened after she left? Did the Illusive Man secretively have another faction that was hiding under their very noses? Waiting for the moment to strike against her? Why Sh'sk? He didn't hold too high of a ranking with Aria and no real ties to her. The sudden mention of his name didn't settle with her. Dread began to flood her mind.

Liara picked up on the blood draining from her friend's face. "Shall I alert Aria?" She asked calmly, trying to move the conversation ahead.

Krysta shook her head slowly. "No. I will handle it." She glanced up at the ship's intercom system. "EDI?" She knew that Joker was trying to get a few hours of shut eye in before they hit their next target.

"Yes, Shepard?" The AI responded quickly.

"Are we near a comm buoy?"

"Within five minutes."

"I'm going to the war room; patch me in to Omega as soon as we are able to make a connection. It is urgent that I speak with Aria."

"Understood."

Krysta looked back down at her comrades, who were standing there silently, giving her time for her next command. "Get some rest. We have a hard fight ahead of us." She hastily moved to the elevator. She had to put her mind to cease.

Bray opened his eyes when he heard the door to his room open once more. Jones beamed as he walked in. Cautiously, Bray moved off his bed to confront him. The Cerberus agent stopped with an impressed look on his face. "You are healing nicely." He tilted his head to the side to look towards the other side of Bray's face where his injury was. "My medics did an excellent job patching you up."

"You want a damn thank you?" Bray snapped coldly. "Piss on that."

A wide grin spread across the man's face. "The message has been sent to Shepard. It will ping as soon as she gets near a comm buoy. The Illusive Man is hoping that she comes to your rescue." He took a step closer. "I'm hoping she ignores it." Bray's confused look made him eager at his private wish. Jones never did like the Batarians as a race. As an ex-Alliance officer stationed on Elysium during the raids on the Skyllian Verge, he managed to escape the onslaught by the Batarian raiders unscathed. His commanding officer made them retreat when they were outnumbered, and the casualties were high. The Batarians methods to the innocent lives on Elysium were barbaric. The vivid dark images were burnt eternally in his mind. Even though the Alliance's retaliation on Torfan was a punch back, it was not enough in his mind for what they did. Fed up with all the hoops they had to jump through, he left the Alliance and joined the Cerberus at first chance. His marine skills made him an ideal candidate for an operative and he rose through the ranks. "I never had the chance to gut a Batarian." He withdrew his serrated blade once more. "I guess there's a first time for everything."

Bray didn't flinch from his threat. He stood down the man with his guard up. "That's a nice blade. I'll be sure not to scratch it when I shove it up your ass." A cocky smile moved across his lips, bantering the man. It was time for some payback.

Jones scowled, and he tightened the grip on his blade. "Your time will come, Batarian scum. Right now, I have orders to hold you until we deal with Shepard. Then you're all mine."

"She won't come," Bray spat. "May as well try it now." He knew that he was the bait after they talked about Shepard earlier. He didn't know what plans they had stored for her, but it couldn't be good. He was concerned for her safety and he hoped if he could take this guy out, he could find a way off Mindoir and warn Shepard.

"What makes you so damn special anyway?" Jones looked at him in dismay. "Shepard must really be desperate if she scraped the bottom of the galaxy for your kind. Shell shock does change a person I suppose." He gave the blade another glance before holstering it back into place on his belt.

Bray kept his gaze and smiled even wider in pride. "Maybe because Batarians are better in the sack, human. I don't go your gender way, but maybe you should try it. I am sure I can find someone for you on Omega. I know a nice brothel near Afterlife. Lots of us to choose from. You can even role play if that gets you off."

Insulted to a point of enrage, Jones screamed as he went at Bray, catching him hard with a right uppercut. The sudden strike caused Bray to stumble back. Bray blocked the next attack and met the man in the face with a punch of his own. He did a cross punch, hitting him again. Jones stumbled backwards this time and Bray was on him with a swift kick to the abdomen. Holding the man in place, Bray struck again, blood splattering out from the man's broken nose. Jones stumbled to regain his footing and ignored the blood that was gushing down his face. He yelled out as he unleashed a biotic blast that knocked Bray back ten feet and into the wall. Infuriated that the Batarian almost got the best of him, Jones aggressively moved towards him and delivered a singularity attack that lifted Bray up from his spot and into the air. His boots dangled to try to touch the floor. Jones spat out the blood that seeped between his lips. "How dare you…" He seethed.

Bray looked down at him as he no longer fought where he hovered in place. "Heh, I got you back."

Suddenly, Jones' omni tool chirped to alert him of an incoming call. Turning to it, he answered. The identification was scrambled, and he instantly knew it was from the Illusive Man himself. His boss was wise enough to never disclose his location, even to his own operatives. Treachery was among every faction that ever existed. All it took was creds and easy persuasion. He didn't blame him. If he held the power as much as the Man did, he would be the same way. Though, he wouldn't allow himself to sink to the aliens' standards by allowing their kind to mingle with Commander Shepard and his team. That was a mistake on the Man's part. Now, his prized possession was soiled. "Jones here."

"Sanctuary has been compromised." The Illusive Man's voice was calm on the other end. In during times of turmoil, he always seemed to be composed.

"Shepard?" Jones gave Bray a glance, who he still held in midair. He wasn't about to let down his guard while talking to his boss. Thankfully, the call was not a video. He wouldn't dare to show that the Batarian got the best of him and injured his nose.

The Illusive Man paused at the reply. "The Reapers got there first. Shepard was just in the way."

"And the data?"

"Leng recovered what he could. Shepard is getting too close to our operation. Has the message been sent?"

"It should reach her soon."

"See that it does and keep me informed. Jones. This is critical. How is the prisoner?"

"It is being handled accordingly."

"Good." The connection severed.

Jones retracted his tool and released his hold on Bray. The Batarian crashed back down to the floor with a thud. The man snarled what he could of his nose in disgust as he watched. "Get comfortable. You will see Shepard soon enough."

After he left the room, Bray groaned as he shifted his body up from the floor. The constant struggles against this Jones guy were becoming an aggravation to him. This guy was a formidable opponent and the confinement of his cell wasn't ideal to go up against a strong biotic, especially when he was unarmed. Luckily for him, there were no new injuries and his prior fractures were not aggravated from their healing process. He began to wonder whatever became of his friend, Sh'sk. The Illusive Man said that the Reapers struck Sanctuary. Is that where Sh'sk went? He prayed to the gods that was not the case. Even if he was slated to go there, he hoped that by some small chance that the shuttle transporting Sh'sk was redirected somewhere else. What exactly was Sanctuary anyways? What data was the Illusive Man speaking to?