Chapter 56 - Call Back

Date : 9.28.2173

Location : Arcturus Secure Comm Facility

Hackett

"With reluctant optimism: Her activities in the Terminus are having a dramatic effect. Attacks by the Red Wake inside Citadel space have dropped in frequency by nearly 52%. At this rate, the mercenaries will soon abandon the civilized galaxy entirely." The council all nod in agreement.

"Indeed and it's making waves in Hegemony space. SIU operatives are being deployed left and right to try drumming up more support for pirates or slavers, but it's not working anymore. The stories of young mercs disappearing for months before reappearing in pieces have blunted any enthusiasm from the lower castes. In fact, the Hegemon himself has even stopped calling for resistance against the fabricated stories of human 'encroachment'. Too many young nobles went off to try and make their fortunes and not many of them come back. The few that do are broken men, either in body or spirit. Her viciousness is inspiring many to oppose such scum with greater fury after each attack."

"This one is curious as to the Fulcrum's current activities. Where is she at the moment?"

"We don't know. She's been following Alliance protocol religiously since entering the Terminus?"

"How so?"

"No Alliance operative shall send uncoded transmissions while operating in hostile territory or reveal their true location at any time. The point is to prevent anyone from tracking them down and interfering in their work."

"The Hierarchy operates in a similar fashion… Do we know anything about her plans from here on?"

"I have some information that might ksssht shed some light on this. Recently, Callen Mineral Tech has purchased vast ksssht quantities of new robo mining technology. They are shipping it beyond Omega. ksssht It is almost a guarantee that she's discovered another valuable source of mineral wealth and seeks to exploit it. There is also the matter of her shipyard. She's moving it." That draws a confused babble from them all.

"With nervous perplexion: Why?"

"Moving a shipyard is no laughing matter."

"It'll be horribly vulnerable in transit."

"Will the Alliance provide escort?"

"Please! Everyone calm down…" The babble fades away as Hackett goes on. "It is unknown why she's moving it at this time, though it's possible that the Fulcrum no longer trusts the security of the Home sector. As for an escort, she doesn't need the Alliance. A small fleet of her own Q-ships is providing defense in addition to hauling pieces away."

"Do we know where it is to be reconstructed?"

"No. The Fulcrum has chosen to withhold that information as well."

Date : 9.30.2173

Location : Undocumented System - Local Name - Alon

Jane

"So, what do you think?" Jane looks over at Callen as he pours through the new numbers. She can hear his heart pounding is his chest.

"What do I think? What do I… I think you've stumbled onto the holy grail. How is it possible Jane?" Callen looks up from the data pad and pushes his glasses back with a trembling hand.

"What do you mean?" Callen gives a bitter chuckle.

"I spent damn near forty years scouring mineral claims throughout human space and barely found enough to keep my company afloat. You on the other hand… how did you manage to stumble across not one, but two miracles in less than ten years? The mountain alone was wonderful but this… this is…" He trails off, unable to find the words.

"How long before you can start pulling out eezo?" The little man consults his pad again.

"Two months to move all the gear out here without drawing attention and another three to safely punch through the surface deep enough to start operations. Then we'll need time to set up a secure route to keep this place hidden. I'd say six to eight months before we start seeing revenue from it. It'll be more than worth the wait though. That moon is like King Solomon's diamond mines, Ali Baba's treasure horde, and El Dorado all mixed together." Jane nods happily before turning her eyes to the new ships moving into the system. Three of her Q-ships are escorting a single heavy tug. The tug is pulling one of the spinal mounts for her shipyard. "You mentioned that you were moving something out here. What was it? A shipyard right?" She nods, "How long till it's up and running?"

"It'll be back together right before the new mine starts turning a profit."

"Why move it out here in the first place?"

"People were starting to pay a little too much attention to it back over Jupiter." The last three Q-ships hadn't been as effective as the previous ones. Someone had been identifying them before leaving Sol and sending warnings back to friends in the Terminus. "Not to mention that I want to start building some more… note worthy ships and trying to do that in the heart of the Alliance probably wouldn't go over well." Callen nods sagely, despite having no idea what she means. "Do you have any problems with the cut the colony asked for?"

"Not at all. In fact, ten percent is shockingly low for something like this. The standard fee in Alliance space would be twenty five or higher. Are you certain that's all they asked for?"

"Tybar's exact words were, and I quote, 'I don't give a Spirits be damned spit about the crap that goes on up there. You can rip whatever you want out of whatever you want, so long as it's not on our planet. Oh but the others said they wanted a ten percent cut. We don't need much here, but a decade of being cut off from the galaxy and the people are itching for some off the luxuries they've been denied.' That's all he'd say on the matter."

"I see. So where are you off to next?"

"You know that relay at the edge of the system? There are another 24 systems that it links to and the Wake has assets in most of them. We've taken down a few but nothing really substantial beyond this system and Teg's home. We're going to fix that." Further conversation is stymied by Teg's stomping stride. The young krogan has definitely pulled his weight over the last few months. He was eager to please, relatively smart, and the only person that Jane could safely spar with to practice purely physical combat. The only slight problem was his growing 'interest' in Kalia. He'd asked Jane more than once how to woo the female quarian, but she hadn't been able to help.

"Hey boss, Kal says the new guns are ready to go and Tybar's guys are finished with the trainin. We're good to leave whenever you are." In addition to setting up a surprisingly successful partnership between the turians and krogan, Jane had two full batteries of orbital denial guns smuggled into the Terminus, one set for each new ally. Even during installation, the people ground side had gotten some practice when a small band of pirates had thought to try launching a raid on Tybar's people. Needless to say the result was quite unpleasant for the pirates. The turians were never going to be toyed with again.

Teg

Humans are weird, especially his captain. Most of them, in including Jane, are obsessed with building stuff that doesn't kill things or make things blow up. Yeah she built a lot of cool guns for him, but most of the things she gave him were for testing his smarts, like those 3D puzzles. It made his head hurt trying to figure them out. He still did them though because it made her happy, and when Jane was happy the rest of the crew tended to be happy, especially the little woman that flew the ship. As his thoughts drift towards the way Kalia's hips sway when she walks and her beautiful laugh and the stunningly erotic way she can clock him with a spanner, his captain starts talking to the tiny human next to her again. "Is there anything else you need to get going Joshua?" The little human shakes his head.

"No, I believe I have everything we need. I'll keep you informed." He turns to leave but Teg puts a huge hand on his shoulder. Jane warns him with a glare, so he does his best to be gentle. His first day on her ship ended with him accidentally breaking the gunship pilot's shoulder after he tripped and tried to use Gavin to break his fall. He'd been very careful since then.

"I have a question. You're the rock guy right? The one that pulls stuff out of the ground to sell?" The little human looks to Jane in confusion and his captain shrugs. Callen pushes his glasses up before answering.

"There's a bit more to it than that but that does cover the barest essentials. How can I help you?"

"My mother often speaks of the stone wealth of the world under our home. Could you go there and see if we have something good on the planet that our stations orbit? My mother would give you a good deal on it if you are an honorable man." Callen looks to Jane again, receiving a nod in turn.

"I suppose I can make a quick stop there, so long as you call ahead and let them know I'm coming. I'd rather not risk getting laser scars on my ship's hull. I just got it back after all."

"I will send word. Thank you sir." He gives a respectful bow as his mother taught him to do when saying goodbye to an elder. Callen gives a stiff bow in return before leaving him and Jane behind. They head to the shuttle bay to ride back to the Pale Horse. Gavin still scratches his shoulder every time Teg shows up, much to Teg's continued embarrassment. As they leave the bay, he watches the rock guy's ship come into view. At first he'd thought it was a warship, given its immense size, but Jane had cleared that up. Apparently the kilometer and half behemoth was just a big ore hauler, a heavily armed and armored ore hauler, but an ore hauler all the same.

"It's one of his family's ships. He's been trying to get it back for years now. Good to see it back with who it belongs." Teg nods as the ship, named the Sinum Currus, starts pushing away from them. "You ready to get back to work Teg?" He nods with a toothy grin. His captain got him some good fights. She didn't always let him come, but when she did it was always a good time.

Date : 10.13.2173

Location : Undocumented System 3-6

Teg

He stomps behind his captain, splattering mercenaries into paste with the hammer he took from Grel's corpse. They arrived at the station an hour ago and the fighting hasn't stopped yet. Jane said something about captive scientists that needed rescuing. The asari is on her way to the core with Kal and Kaiden, which made it even more fun for him. It meant that he got to fight more people. He still had to move fast though. If he doesn't, Jane will get everybody. His father had always said that aliens just didn't get it when it came to appreciating a good fight, but the humans in his new crew were proving that wrong. Even the grey haired doctor could knock a tooth out when she was angry. But none of them hold a candle to his captain. She rips people apart with her bare hands or cuts them to shreds with those fancy swords. Jane moves just like the sword dancers that his mother used to tell stories about. They guard the old tombs on the home world, cutting down anyone foolish enough to approach. Her varren stays right by her side the whole way, ripping chunks of flesh away with tusk and talon or crushing its prey with brute strength. The beast would have been a champion pit fighter back home, but that would be a total waste of such an impressive animal.

They reach the final doorway to the command center. His captain starts to pull out explosives but Teg is too excited to wait. He charges forward, swinging his hammer with all his might. The heavy door buckles under the monstrous impact, leaving the way clear for him to surge through the hatch and straight into a wall of gunfire. His shields take the brunt of the shots, giving him just enough time to barrel into the man at the center of the room. The batarian screams as Teg tramples him before swinging his hammer into the turians beyond. The fringe heads don't have time to utter a sound as his weapon's impact sends the three of them crashing into the wall with a crunch. A heavy shot clips his hand, breaking through his shields and hitting just hard enough to numb the hand.

Unable to swing the hammer properly with only one hand, Teg drops it so he can draw the pistol his captain gave him. The little gun didn't look like much but it kicked like a harvester and it's explosive rounds make a mockery of the enemy's defensive. Merc heads, torsos, and limbs are pulped as he pans from left to right, laughing heartily with each shot. As he turns to the last group, he sees his captain dancing on between them, slashing through them with ease, leaving three steaming piles of mercenary behind. With those three dead the fighting stops and his captain eyes him with concern. "Are you okay Teg?"

"Yeah, why?" She points to his torso where there are a dozen small holes leaking blood. He hadn't even felt the bullets get through his armor. As he thinks about it the feeling starts to show up, a mix of soreness and an awful itching sensation, just like when his four year old sister stabbed him in the leg for taking her favorite hammer away after she wouldn't stop hitting people with it. "Ehh it's fine. I'll regenerate pretty quick. What about you?" She mirrors his confusion and he points to her left leg. Dark red blood is slowly seeping from a pair of holes in the plate.

"Dammit… Come to think of it, that does itch like a bitch. Let's wrap things up so I can get the plate off and scratch it properly." Strangely enough, his captain could regenerate almost as fast as he could. He'd asked the doctor about it a couple times but she kept saying that only Jane had the right to answer that and he didn't want to bother her with it.

"Dammit Teg, I wanted to kill him." Jane's kneeling next to the flattened body of the batarian leader, gouging out his eyes. "Guess I'll have to move faster next time. Bet you fifty credits that next time you and I storm a command center together, I'll kill the guy in charge."

"Make it a hundred at you gotta deal." They share a laugh and shake hands, sealing the wager. Jane steps over to a console near the door. She waves her omnitool over the panel and Century calls out over the control center's speakers.

"Security penetrated, deleting local personnel security clearance… completed. Replacing with Pale Horse crew… completed. You and the others now have complete access to the station."

"Good. Standard procedure Century. Cut off oxygen to all sections not holding captives and flood them with carbon monoxide."

"That will not be necessary this time Shepard Jane. The bulk of the Red Wake presence has been exterminated and Lia Not-Justicar is currently ending the last few survivors… amended, the Wake presence has been terminated in totality." Jane chuckles when Lia calls an all clear.

"Well that's nice. Okay Century, find any captives on board and start directing us to them."

"Captive."

"What?"

"Examination of station records indicate the presence of only a single captive, a salarian quantum physicist, first imprisoned by the Red Wake 2.23 Terran years ago. In addition, information indicates that this salarian has escaped Red Wake custody on no fewer than 36 occasions, including an escape immediately preceding our arrival."

"Do you know where he is right now?"

"Affirmative. Station sensors indicate that he is attempting to access the hanger containing Blue. Our consensus theorizes that he intends to steal the vessel in order to flee the station." Jane immediately sprints out of the room, quickly leaving Teg behind. He can't blame her. That gunship is a work of art and someone was tryin to steal it.

Jane

She's swearing for the entire sprint to the hanger. Century is trying to keep the doors locked down, but this salarian is apparently an expert at breaking through cyber security. "Warning, our lockdown is being overridden. Estimate thirty seconds before the door is open." She pushes herself even harder, ignoring the building pain in her thigh. The two shots in her leg aren't doing her any favors. Jane rounds the final corner just in time to see the bay doors open a hundred yards away. She can spot a salarian ducking inside as the doors slide shut.

"Century! Get the doors open!"

"We are attempting to, however new protocols are producing a random pattern of unintelligible data that we are having difficulties breaking through. We recommend manual entry." Jane smiles at his name for it.

"Copy that! Manual entry it is." Jane builds up a huge surge of energy and launches herself with an overpowered biotic charge. On impact the doors are blown apart by the discharging energy, staggering her for a second after returning to the ground. Their 'rescue' target has just climbed into Blue. The salarian points a pistol towards Gavin and shouts at her, "Stay back! Do not want to hurt anyone but will do what I must! Will not be slave for Red Wake or anyone else!"

Jane raises a hand in a placating gesture, "Take it easy friend. We have no intention to make you or anyone else into a slave. We actually came here to free slaves." The pistol wavers slightly but stays pointed at Gavin's head. Then Teg stomps into the bay. The salarian let's the gun drift ever so slightly in their direction, giving Jane a safe window to act. She pulls the weapon out of his hand with a biotic surge and it discharges, missing Gavin by inches. The weapon clatters to the ground as Jane storms over. Not ready to surrender, the salarian pulls of a knife and presses a button on its hilt. The knife starts emitting a high pitched keening sound that painfully resounds in her ears. She's stunned for a moment which lets the salarian lunge at her.

Kinetic shields only activate when something moves towards you at high speed, which means they do next to nothing against melee weapons. Biotic barriers are another story altogether. They tended to block anything at any speed as long as you were powerful enough, which just makes it even more surprising when the salarian's knife passes through her personal barrier to gouge a small furrow through her left vambrace. She jerks away from the still keening blade in confusion, "How the fu-" He lunges at Jane again, aiming for her face this time.

"Come on boss! You can take him!" Teg is cheering from a few yards away. He never interfered when Jane was fighting somebody one on one.

"I'm not trying to hurt him Teg!"

"Oh…" Jane backs up to try and talk the Salarian down.

"Just take it easy buddy! We're not trying to-" Another swipe, this time it claws into her palm, drawing blood. "Ow! Oh that's it you little fucker!" Tired of trying to play nice, Jane grabs his wrist and twists. She knows his bones are approaching their breaking point, "Either drop the knife or I shatter the wrist! I don't want to hurt you, but you're really pissing me off!" Jane starts adding pressure to his wrist. She can feel the tissue beginning to buckle just as he relents and lets the knife clatter to the floor. Jane breaths a sigh of relief, right before he pulls another knife with his other hand. He tries to stab at her again, but Teg's fist closes around his hand.

"That's enough idiot! Boss is tryin to help and all you're doin is gettin yourself hurt!" The salarian looks up at Teg, then back to Jane. Finally he sighs in surrender, releasing the hold on his other knife.

"Very well… Caught again. Intend to try and hold me like vermin before? Not end well, will escape!" He speaks a mile a minute, almost as fast as Mirdan's nephew. "Don't care what you do! Will not make weapons, will not help cause pain!"

Jane crouches down in front of him, "How many times do I have to say it buddy? We didn't come here for any reason other than freeing the people being held here. I was told there were several scientist imprisoned by the Wake, but apparently that was a lie. What's your name?"

The salarian glares at her for a moment, gauging the value of answering. "Taseen… Valern Taseen… Serious about coming to help?"

"Yes."

"Then I am free?"

"Yup. Come back to our ship and we can give you a ride back to council space after when blow this place up."

"NO! Do not destroy! All instruments are here! Years of research!"

"Wait, I thought you were a prisoner here."

"Not always, was my lab before Wake's coming. Ostracized by citadel scientific community. Unconventional ideas and research into relay travel, frowned upon by entrenched communities… also may have accidentally vaporized one or two assistants. Not on purpose, but still happened." The name finally clicks and Jane's eyes go wide.

"Hold on, you said you're name is Valern Taseen, right?" He nods, "I've heard of you. You published a doctoral thesis on the relay's. What was it called…? Oh yeah! 'An examination, deconstruction, and theoretical approach to understanding and replicating the FTL capabilities of mass relays.' I read it years ago, it was brilliant! Why would that get you kicked out of council space?"

"Suggested choosing non-critical relay in uninhabited system to experiment on. Proposal rejected, tried anyway. May have… accidentally… blown up star system…." Now she remembers. The major news outlets had done their best to vilify the doctor for the incident and not one of them had ever mentioned the reasons behind what happened. They just built him up as some kind of super villain or what not. "Salarian councillor at time sent warning of impending arrest. Gave time to flee to Terminus. Used contacts on Omega and beyond to set up station. Spent years trying to put together resources to resume experiments. Was nearly there when Red Wake attacked two years ago. Tried to force me to make weapons but refused… still failed to stop them. Stole research, created crude tech. Viable, incredibly dangerous, but crude. Expense monolithic, inhibitive to mass production." Jane is struggling to keep her feelings hidden. He doesn't know what happened with his research, so maybe he's telling the truth.

"So you're research could be used to develop weapons to bypass heavy defenses?" Taseen's eyes widen and he backs away.

"Already said will not make weapons." Jane shakes her head.

"That's not what I want. If your research can help penetrate biotic barriers, does that mean you could develop a countermeasure?" Taseen tilts his head back and closes his eyes for a moment.

"Theoretically possible. Would likely involve changes to biotic technique for most part rather than tech, but an interesting field for potential research. Not my expertise though. Seek to understand relays and hope to one day render them obsolete." Taseen sighs heavily. "Will take years to recover from Wake occupation though, so much time wasted…"

"What would it take to get you going again?" Taseen chuckles bitterly.

"One, two billion credits."

"How soon do you need it?" He looks at her with suspicion.

"Do not like being teased…

"I'm serious. If I agree to fund you, what else do you need to get going again?" Taseen starts hyperventilating, practically chittering in excitement.

"Funding would cover most issues. Would use funds to secure materials and capable assistants. Also need to acquire qualified defense force. Hidden station defenses significant, but useless after enemy lands on station."

"I'll make you a deal Taseen. I'll give you the funding you need and give you a defense force if you agree to two conditions." Taseen grabs her by the shoulders.

"Name them!" She gently pries his hands off.

"First, you share all the data you gather with me. Second, you give me results. This isn't some bullshit government deal where you keep getting funding just because what you're doing sounds good. No forward progress after a reasonable period of time, no more funding… Agreed?"

"Absolutely. Terms more than reasonable. Can begin with twenty million credits in beginning but will need at least fifty percent of promised funds by end of year, rest inside six months. Promise to keep up to date." Jane and Taseen go over a few more details, mostly ways he can contact her or acquire outside help without without giving away anything important. When that's done, Jane contacts Alamara.

"Greetings Jane Shepard. Are you're battles going well?"

"Yes they are. Listen, I've got an idea and I wanted to see if your people would be interested. You've got a lot of idle warriors right now, yes?"

"Indeed. Without the Wake tithes, many of or warriors currently lack purpose. It is not a problem at the moment, but eventually something will need to be done. Do you have a solution."

"I think so. What do you think about going into the private security business?" Two full days of negotiation later between Alamara and Tybar's people, the Dun-Alon Security company was formed. Co-headed by a set of krogan twins and a turian with bright red eyes, the company was a curious amalgam of brute force, coupled with iron discipline… at least it's going to be. For now, Jane is just glad they're willing to work together. One of her Q-ships drops off a dozen men to help protect the station, along with a old krogan 'scientist' to assist Taseen until proper help can be hired. Jane gives the new defenders their instructions before bidding them farewell and heading back to the ship.

That evening, she's reclining is her turian style bed with Spits, flipping through some of Century's files, trying to pick their next target. Most of the potential targets are relatively low threat or low reward. She's about to settle for a tiny group of idiots running a 'casino' two systems over when her comm panel flashes a call alert. With nothing better to do, Jane climbs out of bed to answer. It's a surprise when she sees Aethyta's comm codes. "Hey Aethyta, what's up?"

"Plenty, but first how're things out wherever you are?"

"Pretty good, little slow right now but good. What about there?"

"They've been better."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's the general."

"...What happened?"

"It hasn't happened yet, but it won't be much longer. He's already past the average lifespan for a turian. It's only a matter of time."

"Is there anything that can be done?"

"Not unless you've learned how to cure being old since you left." Jane grimaces in annoyance and it draws a tiny smile from Aethyta, "But seriously kiddo, he's asking for you."

"Me? Why?" Aethyta rolls her eyes.

"You know damn well why Jane. Can you come back soon?"

"How long does he have?"

"Gallia gives him about two weeks, if that." Jane mulls it over for a minute before coming to a decision.

"We can be back in a week. Go ahead and tell him I'm coming." Aethyta thanks her before closing the channel. Jane starts making a few calls. There are a few things she needs to put in motion before leaving. Once things are good, Jane calls the bridge and Gavin answers. He covers for Kalia whenever she needed a break from the helm.

"Hey Jane, what's up?"

"Set a course for Liseera. Get us there as quickly as you can."

"Got it." The deck trembles slightly with the course correction as Jane pulls the dagger from her thigh and lays back down in bed. She's still re-reading the inscription when they hit the relay

Date : 10.15.2173

Location : Torfan

Taracus

It's taken months to set up but he's finally receiving a return call from the Spectre. Their friend in Citadel space never shows his face to them, so it's no surprise when his image is shrouded in shadow, "This had better be good boy, I am a very busy man." The condescension dripping from his voice is almost to much to bear.

"I apologize Spectre, but this matter is of the utmost importance. The Wake is being slowly but surely strangled to death. We-" The Spectre cuts him off.

"Yes, I heard about that. I also heard that it's the humans doing it. Something to be truly ashamed of." He grinds his teeth at the insult.

"Not the humans Spectre… a single human."

"What was that? I don't think I heard you correctly boy. If I'm not mistaken, you just said that it was a single human destroying you."

"Well she has a crew, but without her this wouldn't be happening." The Spectre snorts in derision.

"This is pathetic. The Red Wake! Mightiest of mercenary organizations is being destroyed by a mere human. Do not waste my time with such trash boy!" The Spectre is about to close the channel when Taracus shouts.

"Wait sir! Please! At least review the footage before casting judgement!" He transfers the files as quickly as possible and waits… and waits… and waits. He waits so long that eventually he starts to think that perhaps some kind of glitch has severed the connection. Then the Spectre speaks again.

"Fascinating. Perhaps I judged you fools to quickly. This is indeed worth my time, I shall handle her… for a modest fee of course."

"Of course sir… Name your price." The Spectre chuckles at his immediate acquiescence.

"Good. My price is two hundred million credits and four assassination teams to take care of some choice targets. These teams need to be comprised entirely of humans. Don't want to waste any good blood on suicide missions." Taracus cringes at the idea of knowingly sending any man to a meaningless death, but they have no choice. The Spectre is the only real chance they have at stopping her now.

"We agree to your price Spectre."