Chapter 44: Interlude
xxxx
I groan, pushing off the looser debris as I try to rise. My power armor is nearly destroyed and I have nearly bled out. I should not have survived the initial blast, let alone the fall. I do not know how far I fell, but everything hurts now. My right leg crumples as I try to put weight on it. I crawl forward, reaching for the plasma pistol barely exposed. My fingers close around it just as I hear the screams.
More of the husk monsters. They sounds as though they survived much better than I did. Either that or the Reaper dispatched more before leaving. I heave myself forward and roll around so that my back is to a large slab of stone. The grey dust conceals all, but I can hear the creatures approaching. There are many of them.
I blink quickly, attempting to focus before they are upon me. I am almost too slow as they begin scrambling out of the haze, leaping towards me. I fire quickly, shooting one as it is airborne. It slumps into the ground and three more take its place. I wield the pistol lightly and through instinct, barely able to line up shots before I am driven to fire.
The energy clip is depleted. I rapidly search for a replacement, finding only one left in my armor, jamming it into place and reactivating the pistol. But I am too late. The creatures are upon me, tearing at my arm as I swing weakly and try to elbow them back.
I do not see the husk climbing over the rock behind me, I only feel as cybernetic talons pierce my head. I attempt to knock him away and more rush in, clawing at my armor and confining me. I can do nothing but watch as another leaps onto my chest, looking at me with mutilated features and cybernetic eyes. He raised his talons. With a metallic screech he drives them into my eyes.
Darkness brings no comfort. I scream, feeling my eyes being pierced and gouged out.
I woke with a yelp, my own eyes stinging, dull panic coursing through me as I recognized the Akina subdeck – out of focus and shrouded by red binary. I sat paralyzed as I watched the coding:
Updating optical sensors…
…
Complete.
…
Reconfiguring neural nanoprocessors…
…
Complete.
…
Integration 95% complete.
My vision flashed to black; returned to normal a moment later. Free of the red intrusions. I sighed, trembled as I covered my face with my hands, shaking as I tried to make the memory go away. Banthor. Whatever was happening to me now. I hoped this too was a dream. For if it were not… then I was scared. I didn't know what was happening to me. After everything I still didn't know why I saw raw coding like that. And so I sat there, curled up and pathetic until I fell back to sleep.
xxxx
"You sure you're alright?" I asked, leaning back on a mostly empty table in the Engineering wing.
Rana nodded, working between two terminals. She looked all spiffy, wearing casual garb instead of the usual leather armor. It was utilitarian, yes, reminiscent of what the other scientists and doctors wore and light grey in color to match her armor, but she had not bothered to do the collar all the way up and it folded over, so it looked more casual yet somehow clean. It also seemed far snugger than necessary. But that wasn't really a complaint, now was it? Still, she was working away. "I am fine. I have gone through all of our communication network protocols to try and find weak sectors…"
"And?"
"I have found a few. None of them seemed critical, however." She shook her head. "There are many more nodes to check… I may find a mundane flaw in the code. If I still find nothing… than I will have to update all of our encryptions. Although I will do that regardless."
I listened to her babbling away, back in her element, back in her Engineering bay. "How long have you been up working?"
"Since 0600." The young Asari responded, not veering from her work.
"Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Yes. A few hours."
I shook my head. I didn't say anything. Hell, I had only gotten two hours of sleep on the Castellus since I worked on our armor instead.
"And what of yourself?" Rana asked.
"T'Vannis said everything checked out."
"I know. I was referring more to your state of mind."
"Oh." I stated, then just stated: "Been better, but I'm fine."
Rana looked over her shoulder. "Is there something troubling you?"
I thought for a moment. I hadn't really bothered to sort everything out in my head. "Mostly stuff to do with the Contractor. Some nightmares. I'm not sure if they're ongoing effects of that Prothean beacon or my own imagination. Nothing big, though."
"I believe we are to start sifting through the Contractor intel later today." She offered. "I know I am looking forward to some answers."
"Yeah. No doubt. And hopefully we'll be able to find our next target." I cracked my neck idly, then added. "But we'll see. For the time being… we're all safe."
"On that we can agree. It is certainly a relief."
I picked up an older Synerge omni-tool and began fiddling with it. Stock firmware. "And you?"
"I am well. Knowing my mother is safe is invaluable, even if a bit inconvenient." Rana paused, asked: "Do you mind having her aboard?"
I shook my head sincerely. "Not at all. From the few times I've spoken with her, she seems cool."
The engineer nodded. "I understand. Just with the two of us as…" she trailed off.
"She's still ok with that, isn't she?" I asked and Rana replied with a simple nod. "In which case…" I shrugged for lack of a better way to explain how I felt.
"Thank you. I did not want to make any more undue assumptions…" She hesitated. "Although I believe she would like the chance to speak to you at some point."
My eyebrow jumped up. I didn't like the sounds of that.
"She is only curious about your species. Mother harbors no malicious sentiments towards you."
"Alright. I'll go find her later." I sighed.
"I am sure she would appreciate the gesture." Rana remarked, then apparently noticed something amiss with the communication network as she started murmuring incoherently and working even faster.
I pushed off of the table and started towards the door. "Yeah, I should probably let you work…"
"No!" Rana quickly protested. "I did not mean for you to leave. Besides, what I found was only a false lead."
"Well, it's not like I have any work to do myself." I joked, strolling over and standing right behind Rana, placing my hands on her hips and my head on her shoulder.
"On second thought…" She reconsidered lightheartedly, "I would prefer to be productive… for the time being."
xxxx
I stretched my fingers out, paced counterclockwise around a small section of cargo hold. Delina was opposite me, cracking her knuckles and neck. It had been a while since we had gone toe-to-toe and I didn't get too banged up on the last mission, so I figured I'd amuse her. She was going to get violent either way. It was just whether or not I consented to said violence.
I was stripped down to just a pair of shorts. No boots, no gloves. Delina was done up similar, just shorts and a trainer top. There were no mats on the floor. Just the two of us to duke it out.
We stopped pacing and faced each other, dropping into fighting stance.
"So." She growled, "You ready to tango?"
"What's it look like?" I responded real smart-aleck, watching her shift about over my raised fists.
"Good. Try to keep up." She sneered a little and launched an offensive. With just two quick shuffles, she was within striking range – and threw a quick right jab at my head. I was able to easily deflect it, then go for an undercut towards her gut. Somehow she deflected that with her leg, spinning around and trying to clap me in the head with her foot. I was able to duck quickly enough and then follow with a fast right-left set of jabs. She blocked both, hopped back for a moment. "What's the matter, kid? Going soft on me?"
"I was about to say the same thing." I countered. It was true – most times she would have been able to lay a hit on me by then. And she wasn't on a persistent offensive like usual.
"Well, considering you've been on Zephine for a good while, you wouldn't mind if I turned up the heat." She taunted, hopping about waiting for a clean strike.
I was on to that tactic. Especially after the last time we sparred and she decked me out in one hit. "Bring it, sister."
And she did, leaping back with a flurry of jabs, right-left-right-left, easy enough to block, then a mean right hook that I had to deek out of the way for. When she hesitated just for a moment, I threw a right jab at her shoulder. She managed to catch my wrist and drag me in for a less civilized tussle. I knew she didn't wrestle nicely – she was downright dirty about it, jabbing, elbowing and kicking every chance she got. So I usually avoided it. But this time she had me by the wrist, dragging me in and then tried to clock me with a right jab. And I returned the favor, catching her fist and then spinning inwards so that my shoulder was underneath her chest, under her weight so that I could throw her into a spin. But the arms specialist was planted strong, and when I tried to do so she only rotated so far – before snapping her weight and sending me forward. I took her down too; we broke our hold as we fell and then rolled back onto our feet in opposite directions. Back to square one.
"That was weak." Delina commented irritably.
I said nothing; blocked a right hook before asking: "So. You wanted to shoot Rana and I down?"
She took two more swings – and then eluded one of my jabs – before answering. "Sure. A little contractor frigate like that would have been good target practice."
"Do you ever -" I paused, grunting as I blocked a kick, "think before you shoot?"
"Sure." The Asari responded, ducking a heavy right hook. "I thought how much fun it would have been. And before you go getting all pissy at me, remember you were on a Contractor ship."
I growled, throwing an undercut that forced Delina to back up a step.
"And besides," she continued before charging back. "You're still here."
"Yeah yeah." I grumbled, dodging several hits and blocking a straight jab. "And what the hell went wrong with my Geryon?"
"Bad accelerator coil." Delina explained, throwing several swings. "It couldn't hold up to the charge. A lot like you."
"Nice work." I sneered, "I thought you'd able to catch something like that, being the expert like you are."
"Fuck off." The arms specialist spat, finally landing a weak jab on my cheek. "You should be grateful I'm willing to mod your weapons at all."
"I am." I continued, harassing her all the more with choppy, short punches. "And the RR12? It's a beast."
"Oooo, look at you.." Delina mocked. "All special and able to use guns that usually break wrists."
"It's a solid sidearm. Real strong."
"I'll glue your face shut if you don't shut the hell up." She threatened, trying to land several hooks on me. I blocked all of them.
"So…" I started, looking to cause trouble. "You been spending all your time over with the 14th fleet?"
Her eyes flared slightly, and her next hook hit substantially harder than the last. "Don't go there."
"Why not?" I asked, smirking as I hopped about, deeking away from several hooks and throwing a few jabs to keep her going. "You razz Rana and I all the time. It's fair that I get to the same."
"That's different -" Delina grunted as my foot connected loosely with her side. She recovered quickly, landing a punch on my shoulder and sending me staggering back a step. "And I haven't been over there at all."
"Oh, sure…" I persisted, gleefully badgering the Asari. "We're the only ones down here."
She threw an uppercut that barely grazed my jaw. "Ya know what, if your romantic endeavors ended with people dying you probably wouldn't want to talk about it either."
"Sorry." I retreated back a step. "Didn't mean to get into that."
"What the hell -" she paused to launch a mean left hook – "did you think you were getting into?"
"I dunno." I shrugged, barring several jabs with my forearms. "A new spark or something."
Delina snorted, hooking my defense from the left and then jabbing from the right – landing a solid one on my sternum.
I hopped back, regaining my balance and breath. "I take that as a definite 'no.'"
"Damn right." The arms specialist growled, circling inwards. "I've never been real welcome with military units like that."
"I can see why…"
She laughed. "Oh, you don't know."
"Yeah?" I asked, launching a vicious right kick. Delina had to dodge rather than block.
"Yeah." She got a real evil smirk as she closed in with a series of rapid jabs. "Like the time I smashed a shuttle into a cruiser's thrusters. They couldn't chase me down after that."
"Clever." I commented.
"Or there was the time that Evia and I replaced an entire commando squad's shaver cores with confetti." Delina was beaming. "When things got hot, they were firing streamers. They didn't think it was very funny."
I blocked a swing, chuckling slightly. "You miss those antics?"
"A little bit, sure. But I've gotten considerably more mature since then."
"Uh-huh." I replied sarcastically.
"Don't give me that." She hissed, cracking me something solid to the temple.
I was dazed for a moment as she closed in for a follow-up. I couldn't block her punch entirely, so I sort of swung outside of her arm, letting her pass and jumping up – catching her stomach with my heel and her neck with the crook of my elbow. In just an instant, my legs locked around her middle and I had her in a mean chokehold. I was prepared for her to try and jump back and slam me into the floor – I knew I could break the fall and keep my hold on her. But somehow she nailed me right below the ribs with the sharp of her elbow. Once, twice even harder, and thrice to knock me off. I scrambled on my feet, grimacing from the beating I had just caught and then just barely able to block a mediocre jab.
"This -" she started, catching me with a nasty uppercut that damn near sent me over backwards, "is for trashing another set of good armor."
I didn't recover before she clocked me with a right hook. "For damn near getting yourself killed."
My defense was weak as shit and her left hook tore through it. "And for not making a fucking move on Rana when you had the perfect chance!"
After those three solid blows, I was reeling, about done for and trying to straighten my vision back out. Delina could see that I was about done for and let her guard down… but something just clicked. As she took a step forward I launched a jab into her gut, knocking her back and then quickly following up with a left hook. It landed solid on her cheek. "That's for wanting to shoot us down."
A right hook. "And for modding my Geryon so much it gives out in the heat of battle."
"For nearly getting Rana killed, too!" Delina roared triumphantly and knocking me back with a fast jab. She recovered quickly too.
"For not being there to back me up!" I countered, blocking her violent swing and railing her with a right hook.
"For not following mission parameters!" The Asari yelled, grabbing my right hand and punching me right back.
I managed to catch her fist after it caught my face. And once again, we were out of options – no more arms to swing with, and nothing more to fight for. So I did what I always did, went to headbutt her solid. Unfortunately, Delina did the same and our foreheads collided with a sickening crack. As white flashed all across my vision, I staggered and let go, falling back on to the floor while the arms specialists faired similarly. For a minute we both lay there, clutching our heads and hurting real bad. I sat up, chuckling as I wiped some of the blood from my nose. Delina was almost laughing, even with various cuts around her face. I doubted I had fared better.
"That was good. It's like you actually wanted to fight this time." She teased, not bothering to stand up.
"Yeah, well…" I shook my head, rather pleased with how the scuffle turned out. We were about tied, rather than a definite one way fight as it had been before.
"You're at least going to let me take a look at that Voltage Rifle, right?"
"Maybe." I responded, and for a moment we just sat there, thinking and recovering. I spoke up again: "If you give me sniping lessons that aren't combined with bouts of violence."
"Maybe."
xxxx
After the spar with Delina, I cleaned myself up best I could – there was no hiding the cuts and bruises – and got back into my usual casual garb. Well, my new usual garb. I'd accidently lit my old hoody on fire while working on the late Z-280. But that was all said and done. Over my t-shirt and jeans I wore I wore a real spiffy Batarian jacket, dark grey and button up – although I seldom buttoned it up at all.
I had about scoured the ship looking for Kaira. I hadn't had a real good chance to talk to her since we got back en route, apart from some generic squad briefings. I wasn't entirely sure that we were on good standing.
Unfortunately, the only place I had left to check was the crew deck. And I knew that all the nutters would be congregating there – T'Vannis, Faeven. I know, I know. Pot calling the kettle black. But at least I didn't have a strange obsession with the color turquoise to the point where I would chase a small light around the room to certain snipers' amusement. That was T'Vannis. And then Faeven still had her paranoia, and she didn't want to fight. Decelia… I hadn't really gotten a chance to speak with her. But she seemed pretty level.
So there I was, all cut up and in my casual get up and stepping off of the lift. I would rather have avoided the lot of Asari, but they were congregating in the mess, apparently having broken out a bottle of cheap wine for no real reason. I tried to sneak by. Almost succeeded, too – until Patricia noticed me and called out:
"Forrest! There's enough wine for one more. Come join us!"
I had trouble declining the offer. And so I sat with the three matrons, watching as T'Vannis poured another glass of the merlot.
"I'm glad to see you back from the Zephine -" Faeven started, choked up for a moment, continued. "Facility. That is twice you have escaped that wretched place."
"From the medical scans, I would say you're quite bombproof!" T'Vannis cracked. It seemed like she had more than one or two glasses of wine and thought the pun was much funnier than the rest of us did.
"Well, here's to Rana and you making it out of there safely." Decelia lifted her glass.
"And to destroying the facility." Faeven added, raising her glass even though it was nearly empty.
"Indeed." I replied, clinking glasses with the lot and trying some of the wine. Not too dissimilar from what we had back home. I wondered what they made it from out here.
"Rana said that it was a close call on Zephine." Decelia commented, looking for more of an explanation.
"Yeah… She tell you how our comms were hacked?" I asked.
Decelia nodded and started to say something before Faeven cut her off. "Communication manipulators? Those were prototypes when I left. They never worked."
"You know about this, then?" I questioned the ex-Contractor.
"Partly. Before I was promoted to Elite, I was a project worker. Our goal was to create a signal that could disrupt flow of enemy comms and inject new broadcasts to specific ports. We never were able to get it to work and the project leader disappeared after the final report."
"You used to work for the Contractor?" The elder T'Lan asked skeptically.
Faeven hesitated before responding. "Yes. I was one of the few Elites tasked with capturing Forrest alive. I had differing views with another Elite and it was considered mutiny."
"And that's it?"
"I was stripped of rank and incarcerated. They…" Faeven stopped, freezing up for a moment as she stared at her glass. "Forrest and I escaped the Zephine facility together."
"And then you helped us crack back in on the last mission." I pointed out.
"Yes. And then I nearly killed you by overloading the power cores." Faeven winced. "My apologies."
"That was the plan." I reminded her. "And it worked out. Kinda convoluted, but hey."
"I may still have some of the original code from that project. Perhaps Rana could make use of it." The former Elite thought aloud.
"But I thought you said that it did not work." Decelia pointed out.
"Yes. But it would a start to building countermeasures."
"Yeah. Anything to give us an edge…" I shook my head.
"Speaking of gaining an advantage…" Decelia began, "I've been tracking a whole series of suspicious happenings throughout the galaxy. I never thought they were connected before, but seeing how the Contractor operates… I am beginning to wonder."
"Like what?"
"A small colony went silent in 1995. When commandos went to investigate, they found nothing – no people, no sign of struggle. In 2001, a group of Asari advocating relay exploration vanished. In 2005, a group of pirates were found slaughtered just next to an uncharted relay." The elder T'Lan rattled off. "There are more. They seemed strange to me at the time, even though there were reasonable explanations for all."
"And you think they're all connected to the Contractor? That far back?" I asked, a little hesitant.
"I'm unsure. In my line of work, it is very unprofessional to go off hunches, yet… I have an uneasy feeling about the matter. If it is of any help, I have compiled what information I have so far and I can keep searching from here."
"Definitely. We need every lead we can scrounge up right now."
xxxx
I rapped on the Spectre's door once. There was a pause before Kaira responded:
"Come in."
And so I did. Her quarters were far messier than the last time I had been in; datapads lay strewn about, several books lay open on the table, a stack of papers hung halfway off the desk. The commander sat in front of the desk, clearly frazzled as she held her head up with one hand and held a datapad with the other. Looked like I wasn't the only one to miss out on a good night's sleep.
"Commander."
"I'm glad you came by. I'd offer you a seat, but…" Kaira trailed off and nudged her chin at the stack of stuff sprawling onto the two chairs.
"No worries."
"And, well, I know I owe you more than just an apology." Kaira continued.
"For what happened on Zephine?"
She nodded. "And for how I handled it afterwards."
"The Contractor managed to get an upper hand on us again. So we change our methods a little." I shrugged.
"That's inexcusable on my behalf. I should have had a better plan to start with. I knew he would try something like that."
"Yeah, but nobody could have guessed that he would have the tech he did." I shrugged a little, leaning on the wall next to the Spectre's desk. "Faeven didn't even think it would work."
"It shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. Look at all the other tech he has." Kaira shook her head. "I would hope to learn from such a mistake, and yet every confrontation reveals new complications."
"Don't beat yourself up too much. There's only so much we can do."
"I know. As long as we can just stay one step ahead, we will be fine."
"Well, that's what blowing that base up accomplished, yeah?" I asked.
"Remotely, but it the cost was nearly too high."
"True. But now we're onto another of his tricks."
"We know what he is capable of, I agree. Rana still can't figure out how he cracked into our comm networks. Until that breach is fixed… we'll have to approach things differently." Kaira picked up a book, fiddling with in her right hand. I couldn't see the title. "I expect you all to make wise decisions – both in combat and beyond. Each one of you needs to think for yourself."
"And where are you going with this?"
"Good judgment. I know mission parameters may often make that seem ironic, but I hope you are all capable of seeing the best route of action even if it may differ from my own. That's not an excuse for defying orders, but in times when we're operating in separate groups, you may adjust to the situation as you see fit."
"Understood, ma'am." I nodded.
"I'll tell the rest of the crew the same. I just felt like you should know ahead of time… considering what happened back on Zephine."
"Alright. Thanks." I shifted against the wall. "So what's the news from the rest of the fleet?"
"The 14th Asari squadron made it out relatively unscathed. I believe they lost one mechanic. The 5th Turian division lost 3 men during the assault. The 6th, well…" Kaira looked down for a moment. "They found one of the Mk.15s."
"And?"
"It sliced up 15 soldiers before they caught it with a chance, close-quarter sniper shot. They weren't able to salvage it, either. They were getting pushed out too hard."
"Damn." I muttered.
"You were there before we destroyed the facility. Do you have any idea how many of those… abominations were there?"
"No." I shook my head sadly. "I have no idea. I only saw three on display. No telling how many more were produced."
"Alright. I'll send out a confidential warning to all units. Any suggestions for deactivating them?"
"A blade through the head seems to work. So do heavier weapons. The Mk.15s don't have shields yet, just armor."
"Noted. Thank you." Kaira quickly typed what I had said into one of the datapads skewed about and then stood up. "I was planning on having the crew convene and sort through the data we recovered from the Zephine facility. But there is something I would like to cover personally."
"And what's that?"
"A biotic technique that I learned some time before the Verge rebellions." Kaira signaled to the door. So we headed out. I presumed we were heading to the cargo deck. Considering the last time I had tried to use my biotics on the crew deck I had sent a throw that sent a soup pot clattering across the room twice over, that was wise on the Commander's behalf. Thankfully the group of Matrons – who were still drinking their wine – didn't notice us as we got onto the lift. "I taught you how to form a barrier before."
"Yeah. It's become almost instinctual to have the extra protection after charging." I commented.
"I'm glad to see it put to use." Kaira tilted her head forward as she stood there with her arms clasped behind her back. "That layer of protection can be taken to another level. Rather, you can channel it to protect someone else. Seeing how proficient you have become with biotics and how often you're stuck in hell with a teammate... you may be able to put it to use."
The lift came to a stop on the lowest stop. "Alright. Sounds good to me."
We walked to about four meters apart with without saying a word. And Kaira just lifted her hand, like she was in the very process of slamming an enemy, arm outstretched as her biotics began to flare. And almost instantly a barrier surrounded me, just as my own would have.
"It is the same principle as forming the protection for yourself, and it is just a matter of projection." Her biotics dissipated.
"You want me to try now?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yes. It takes a deal more concentration than throwing an enemy about."
I nodded and slowly raised my hand. I didn't really want to toss the commander around. So I focused best I could as my biotics started to charge, swirl around her. With just a twitch I knew I could have slammed her into the floor. Hell, that was all I knew how to do with my biotics. But I was able to channel them in to serve their new purpose. Yes, I was able to form a barrier around Kaira but no, it was not pretty. It was not concentrated, wisps of energy floating off in little streamers.
"Not bad." She commented, walking about with the protection staying wrapped around her.
"Not that great either." I grumbled, letting my biotics dissipate.
"You'll improve at the protection over time. If you ever need to provide support…"
"I can now." I finished. "Thank you, commander."
xxxx
"You all know why we're here," Kaira started teasingly, sitting down with a datapad. And indeed we did, the whole fire team sitting at a table in the mess, Kaira and I on one side, Delina and Rana on the other, all of us armed with datapads with direct access to the Akina's memory banks. "Mark anything that could be useful."
And so without further ado we began tearing into the Contractor intel, each from a separate point. We had everything, from shuttle records to base agendas.
"Huh." Delina commented right away. "The Zephine facility was a special research base or some shit."
"For what? Mk.15 augmentations?" I asked, scowling a little.
"Yeah, they mention that as part of it… I dunno. I'm trying to figure out what all this gibberish is getting to."
"More like trying to wrap your head around it…" I commented quietly and snidely. Delina threw a datapad pen at me. It glanced off my arm as I smirked and went back to work.
"Here we go." The arms specialist piped up again. "Something about exploring the effects of recovered technology and mass usage. Ah, even better – it was Reaper technology."
"What?" Kaira asked, suddenly looking up from her datapad.
"Yeah. Reverse-engineered Reaper indoctrination drivers. Says here that they were redesigned to reroute neural pathways without causing allegiance to the Reapers."
I couldn't say anything. I was trying to wrap my head around that. "But that… how?"
"Doesn't say. Just states that the base was used to study the effects of indoctrination on select individuals."
I immediately looked at Rana – as she did the same. I could see it dawning on her. "Goddess… That was indoctrination that I was feeling during our time there?"
"It makes sense." I nodded.
"You were there for weeks." Kaira pointed out, concern lacing her voice while she worked away.
"I don't know. I still want to kill the Contractor and the Reapers, so it didn't work that well." I shrugged. "But that was definitely what you were feeling, Rana."
"'The Mk.15 is based directly off of Reaper design. Modifications have been made to remove any Reaper code or control. They are a functional alternative in cases where indoctrination is ineffective.'" Kaira read aloud.
"What I don't get: how did he just reverse-engineer all this reapertech? I mean…" I trailed off, distracted from the personal dossiers I had been going through.
"I don't know." Kaira responded generically. "It says here that the facility was used to study individuals with a high resistance or immunity to indoctrination."
"Hmm." I noted, paying more attention to the dossier I had found.
Subject name: Delina T'Kasan
Priority: 10
Details: According to historical reports, T'Kasan has unprecedented biotic ability. While not an Ardat-Yakshi, she has been able to kill people with her mind alone and destroy entire squads without using a weapon of any sort. With minimal indoctrination she would be an ideal candidate for the Assassin initiative. If coercion leads to excessive neural decay, she would also be optimal for Mk.15 augmentation. With her biotic abilities she would be able to spearhead any assault.
CAPTURE ALIVE AT ANY COST.
I glanced over at the arms specialist, feeling rather sick as I thought about what I had just read. Indoctrinating or converting her aside… I knew what happened with Evia. That was an accident that still haunted Delina for fucks sake. And the Contractor saw it as a useful ability.
"What are you looking at?" Delina growled, barely looking up from her datapad, eyes just showing under her brow.
"Just…" I started; shook my head. "I'll forward it over to you."
I went back to the dossiers. After scrolling through a few randoms, I found another one relevant.
Subject name: Rana T'Lan
Priority: 5
Details: Highly skilled engineer and technician. Could potentially contribute to expert projects if coerced into ranks. However, indoctrination would have a substantial effect on mental function. It would be ideal to use psychological methods to force her into cooperation. No advantage for Mk.15 augmentation.
"Charming bastard…" I grumbled and then glanced over at Delina. She didn't look up from her work – and the previous angry expression was gone. Nobody else said a word, so I went back at it.
Subject name: Kaira T'Suni
Priority: 8
Details: Fought in the Verge Rebellions. Notable biotic ability. Age exceeds that of ideal assassin range. Could be indoctrinated, but Mk.15 augmentation would be an advantageous route to overcome physical limitations. Spectre authority will continue to cause disturbances, making her a higher priority target.
I shook my head. Things just got more and more twisted. I didn't want to know any more… and yet I couldn't put the datapad down. I was enthralled with the twisted antics our enemy employed. Another dossier caught my attention.
Subject name: Forrest Jackson
Priority: 10
Details:
Error: File deleted by executive command.
I raised my eyebrow. That was strange. But whatever. Probably for the better. I already knew I was a candidate for Mk.15 augmentation.
"Forrest, take a look at these…" Kaira said, sending me over several journal entries from a Zephine scientist.
"Right. Thanks." I opened up said files after forwarding the remaining 517th dossiers to Kaira.
Researcher: Kiva T'Nexis
Subject name: Forrest Jackson
Entry 1, day 4.
Subject 2245 shows no sign of indoctrination effect under standard levels. Command has ordered a more thorough investigation.
Entry 2, day 6.
There is still no sign of indoctrination. Even the most resistant subjects generally show mental decline by this point, but 2245 does not. Requesting additional time to study for lingering effects of neural rerouting.
Entry 3, day 14.
As an experiment, we increased the power output of the indoctrination drivers during study periods. 2245 showed no response, even under levels which sent 100% of subjects into manic fits. He is unaffected on both psychological and biological levels. I suggested that this may have something to do with the presence of element zero throughout the brain. Command rejected the idea.
End of study.
I was just more puzzled.
"That explains part of it." Kaira nodded.
"Part of it, sure. But…" I trailed off as I scratched my head.
"Dammit." Rana quietly cursed. "Their shuttle logs only include date, passengers, and priority. There are no hints as to destination."
"Is there anything useful you can extrapolate from them?" Kaira asked.
"No. They are constructed from very basic code. The Contractor was careful to keep hidden information to a minimum." The engineer explained.
The commander shook her head. I understood her disappointment – we had hoped to find our next target, not a bunch of info on past experiments. Although we did have a better idea of what we were up against now.
"Great. So all we've gained is the knowledge that the Contractor wants to use us?" Delina snapped.
"Let's keep looking. There has to be more clues as to how the Contractor is connected to the Reapers." Kaira ordered.
"Sample shipment 293." Delina started. "Damn. Just says it came from command supply lines."
"Any other info?" I cocked my head to the side and looked up from more, irrelevant dossiers.
"Not really. Just a packing list. Prototype weaponry, indoctrination drivers and Mk.15 augmentations."
"The Contractor must create those parts at a separate facility." Rana quickly reasoned.
"I'm glad you're here. We might never have figured that out otherwise." Delina quiped.
Kaira shot the arms specialist an annoyed look. "Any info on weapons they were bringing in?"
"Yeah. Voltage carbines, particle beams, something called a HF1 needle driver."
"Damn. I was hoping we could keep the particle beam away from him at least." I commented.
"Come on. That tech probably came from him anyway." Delina grumbled.
"This may be of some use." Rana suddenly spoke up again. "There are preliminary plans to plan indoctrination drivers on a Tirade frigate."
"Hence the attack." Delina commented thoughtlessly.
I cocked my head to the side and gave the arms specialist an overly sarcastic, exuberant expression. "Never would have figured that out!"
The arms specialist quickly looked for another pen to throw at me. Rana continued before Delina could succeed. "There is a later log. It describes the shortcomings of the drivers they used at the time… apparently they caused the Tirade mercenaries to be manic and uncontrollable."
Hence the neural decay and attacking the Citadel. I thought to myself – not willing to say anything obvious.
"That's good info to have." Kaira commented. "We may be able to suggest them for a council pardon… in return for support."
I nodded. Kaira wasn't screwing around anymore. We were gonna have a damn army to take on the Contractor. And we would need it.
"Hell yeah. I like the way you're thinking now, boss." Delina seemed to beam every time we talked about getting a fledgling army together.
"Delina, I'm a commando. Not a theatre operations chief." Kaira scowled, dismissing the arms specialist with a wave.
"Hey, you could pull it off. That's more than I could say for most commandos."
We all went silent and stared at Delina, trying to figure out what she meant by that – and if she was referring to her past run-ins, shaming her. Either way, she was unbothered. We went back to work.
I reached the end of the dossier list. I had gone through quickly, but nothing had caught my attention. "So… most of the Zephine subjects came from within Contractor ranks. A couple were snatched up from other merc groups or colonies."
"Any specifics?" Kaira asked.
"No. They made sure to keep origin as vague as possible."
"That's all I got." Delina noted, setting down her datapad. "With the data we lost… well, that bastard runs a tight organization."
"I have reached an impasse as well." Rana commented. "All of the information we have pertains to records, rather than alternative bases."
"It makes sense. If the indoctrination process went awry, the Contractor would want a buffer of protection." Kaira thought aloud. "We have a better idea of what we're going up against, but we don't have any idea where to strike next."
We sat there for several seconds, silently exchanging glances as we plotted and thought and plotted some more. None of us were willing to give the Contractor the upperhand again… but we didn't have anything useful to go off here.
Kaira's omni-tool pinged. We all looked over expectantly as she read whatever message had come in.
"Well? You gonna keep us waiting all day?"Delina grumbled.
"It's… from Tahre." Kaira explained slowly, still reading.
"Oho..." The arms specialist exclaimed gleefully as she leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. "Judging by the look on your face, it must be really kinky."
There was a dull thud as somebody kicked Delina under the table.
"No. He says he'd like to take me out to dinner." Kaira responded, unbothered by Delina's comment.
"Is that unusual or something?" I asked curiously.
The commander snorted. "He hasn't done so in eleven years. And he knows we have enough going on at the moment. I'll assume he's got something important to discuss in person and didn't want to mention it over the commlink. If not…" She trailed off. I wouldn't want to make her angry. I doubted Tahre would either. "Illium is close enough. We'll break off from the fleet long enough to see what's going on. In the meantime… Keep doing what you do. If possible, work together to reverse-engineer the voltage rifle."
Delina, Rana and I exchanged glances. That was easier said than done.
"This isn't over yet. We'll find a way to keep the heat on the Contractor."
xxxx
