Hello everyone, chapter's out, but not last Monday like I had originally wanted. The reason for this is because I'm thinking about about moving to an apartment, one that's not only closer to work, but is also cheaper on bills as well: 500 a month, and utilities are included with that. Electricity is separate, but trash collection and water are put into the bill. But this is all speculation on whether or not I'll actually live there, as my friend and I gets to see it much better than we have from images and pictures. Not really much to say other than I'm sorry, but as a way to make it all up to everyone; after this chapter is out, tomorrow around 12pm east coast time, I'll be releasing the next one, which is Garrus' loyalty mission.
Moving on from that, this chapter is all about Thane finding and stopping his son from committing an act that'll drive him down a path of darkness and despair. A lot has been changed since in the mission for the sake of this story, mainly with the addition of a crew member, which is Tyler, going with Shepard and Thane as the trail Joram Talid, the racist turian politician, and a few more. You're going to see and learn a lot about Tyler's past in this one, boys and girls (or whichever you identify as, it is practically 2020 so you never know) and it's going to be sad. Not only that, but Thane gets to see his son and reconciles with him over what has happened between them in the past, and as promised, you get to see a bit of the mission in his eyes and how he reacts to being on the job and how it gets interrupted by Shepard and co. Maybe it's good, maybe not, but I hope it is.
Review Time:
Blaze: Whoops, I'll try and go back to fix that here soon. And in Gears lore, I don't they ever created a cure or a treatment for when the imulsion coalesces inside of your system, like rustlung, for instance. And while the newer variations of COG weaponry are better, Devin would gladly keep his babies, though he will also gladly take a retro lancer and a few others weapons.
Guest: Such is the curse when time dilation is in play; listen to a song from Queen simply labeled as '39, it's about a group of twenty astronauts leaving earth and looking for a new home for humanity, and they left in the year '39 and were gone for year. A quote from that song, and do keep in mind the previous sentence when reading this: oh so many years have gone, though I'm older but a year, your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me. The astronauts had left in the year '39 and came back a year later, year '40, but instead, due to time dilation, it has been a 100 years. And yes, Jay is from the Gears 4 and 5 era.
Captain: Yeah the gag should've ended with Clayton, but nope Elizabeth was killed (albeit it was an awesome way to die). Justin doesn't have the resources to furnish a cruiser, Kasumi merely gained that many credits to that, Justin only received a wink, a smile, a kiss on the cheek, and an old style MP3 player/radio. Honestly the tesla add on for Tulma's wrist blades are a great idea, and the way they could be incorporated is solid as well. Thank you! And ACME... wow, that made me laugh. Maybe you should do a one-shot about that?
With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter and remember to check back after a few hours to read the next one.
See you soon!
Chapter Twenty: Like Father, Like Gun
Thane kept reading the message that he received over and over again; an old contact of his has told him that his son, Kolyat, has begun his journey down a dark and destructive path. A path that Thane is more than familiar with on a personal level: a level that he doesn't want Kolyat experiencing himself and potentially ruining his life forever.
Which is why he had contacted EDI to inform Shepard that he would like to speak with him personally about an issue that needs his immediate attention.
He only hopes that Shepard will take him to where he needs to go.
Shepard knocked on the door leading to Thane's personal room, not wanting to just barge in on the man and invade his privacy, before entering and seeing that he had both of his hands clasped together and held close to his face, seemingly deep in thought.
"Hey are you okay there Thane? You seem… kinda lost in thought." Shepard asked the man, causing the drell to shake his head abruptly to get a hold of himself, before looking at Shepard and answering.
"I am fine Commander; I was just pulled into a memory for a moment there. Nothing too serious, I assure you."
"What was it about?" He asked, taking a seat across from the man as he put both of his hands together and held them to his chin.
You can read all you want about different cultures, mannerisms, and ideologies, but seeing them first-hand is an entirely new experience. Same with learning things about others that makes them unique.
"As you know, all drell have a unique ability that allows us to relive memories in near-perfect detail for a set amount of time, eidetic memory is the term that humans use for this ability; we can sometimes get lost in these memories for all the right reasons or even the wrong ones, the good memories and the bad ones in particular. You came in and seen this happening first hand. Nothing to worry about, I assure you, but the reasoning for it happening is something that I requested help for: my son, Kolyat, is the only remaining member of my family, and I haven't seen him in a long time… a very long time."
Following the man as he went to his weapon rack to look at it, Shepard stood beside him and asked about how long it had been since he's actually seen him, considering that he's never spoken of having a son at all before this meeting, to which Thane informs him that it's been a little over ten years since he left.
'This is starting to sound a lot like Jacob's affair and his relationship with his father.' Shepard thought to himself, raising an eyebrow at just how similar the two instances were with each other, only that the roles had been reversed with Thane looking for his son, and not the other way around.
"It's funny, the last time I seen him was when he showed me some of his school work and asked if we could dance crazy; something my wife and I did a lot with him when he was younger." Thane reminisced, his voice trailing off as Shepard nodded at the information.
"What kind of dance is that? It's not something that I've heard or read on the extranet."
"It's," Thane starts, before his suddenly dull and go unfocused, moving rapidly from all angles as he recounts what happened, "I look at my list of extranet contacts. I expect an update on my next target. The console plays music; old, unfashionable in today's climate. Kolyat runs into the room, his mother in tow. "Hi father!" Runs around in circles, I scoop him off the ground; toss him into the air as he shrieks with laughter. "Spin me!" The console beeps. I set him down. Check the massage's contents. "Father!" He pleads. "I need to read this." I tell him. I don't look at him."
During the entire time that he was reciting that, Shepard couldn't help but look at the man, perturbed as he witnessed the man recount everything in perfect detail.
He really wished he didn't see his eyes acting like they were experiencing REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement- a term used for when someone is sleeping and are currently experiencing dreams that are either vivid or full of depth. Ha ha, I bet you weren't expecting to learn something science-y when you started reading this, were you?) as he was awake and speaking to him in rapid succession; much like Mordin would whenever Shepard asked him about the progress of any research that he had going on.
Clearing his throat to get the thoughts and images out of his head, Shepard had asked him if anything had happened to his family since then, only to be met with the man lowering his head to the ground, as he explains that he abandoned one day, that it was nothing dramatic with leaving them in the midst of the night, no arguing or slammed doors, that he only had his contracts to finish and that he had killed all across the galaxy.
"Away on business." My wife would tell people; I was always away on business."
"That couldn't have been easy on Kolyat, considering that he was only a child at the time and only his mother was around." Shepard commented, his mind filling with memories of his dad being away on official Alliance business for weeks or months at a time.
It still didn't change the fact that he and Jane didn't love the man any less than if he was around more often; though he did wish that he was around more often.
"When my wife… departed," he said the last word with a sense of distaste, almost pitting it out, "I… attended to that issue. I left Kolyat to be tended in the care of his aunts and uncles. I have not seen him since that day." He told him, going back to his desk as Shepard took in all the information that was given to him, before following the man back to his desk and taking the opposite seat from him.
"That's not the choice I expected, that's for sure; why not take him with you, you know raise him yourself?"
Thane was quick to refute that, stating that his body had been honed with the skills to take life, that the hanar furthered those skills even more, and that he has few others. He then proceeded to say that he didn't want Kolyat living that life, that he wanted him to live by his own morals and to find his own path in life, and if he hated Thane for leaving him, then he accepted that thought in its fullest. He wanted him to not follow the path of sin as he has.
"I used my contacts to trace Kolyat. He's become disconnected, doing whatever his body wills. When a drell becomes disconnected, they are no longer doing what their soul, their true self, wants; only wanting to do what his body would normally never do as intended by the soul. The soul and body are no longer whole. Something happened that caused him to go down this route; he's discovered what I've done, where I've been, and what I'm capable of. I don't know his reasons, Commander, but he has gone to the Citadel and is currently taking a job as a hitman… Commander… Shepard, I need your help to stop him from walking down this dark, destructive, and lonely path. Please, help me save my son." Thane asked him, almost pleading with the man to help him right all of his wrongdoings.
Not just in his life and to others, but mainly for his son.
Shepard could only smile.
"We'll stop your son before he does anything rash, I assure you."
"Thank you, Shepard."
Walking through the automated doors, Shepard, Thane, and Tyler heads straight for Bailey, seeing as he was their go-to man for when they needed to find someone on the station, and with his record in keeping information on everyone and everything that Shepard had asked for thus far, he doesn't see why he shouldn't speak with the man yet again for the umpteenth time.
"Shepard, what can I do for you this time? Need information on a location, or are you looking for someone?" Bailey asked, leaning back in his chair as he finished typing some report on his terminal to give the group his full attention.
"Hey Bailey, still working hard or hardly working? Jokes aside, my colleague here is trying to find his son, a drell by the name of Kolyat; we think a local criminal may have hired him." Shepard told him, forward a picture to the man from his omni-tool to help them find their target faster, for Thane's sake.
"Should be easy, we don't get many drell here… and there we go, one of my men reported a drell matching the one in the picture recently speaking with Mouse. Interesting…" He trailed off, silently reading the information himself as to see what else was brought up.
When questioned about the name, Bailey explained that Mouse was a petty criminal, probably not the man that they were after, but was instead most likely a messenger of sorts. He had told them that he used to be a duct rat, a term used for those who live in the ducts of the Citadel, and that he'll run errands for anyone willing to pay. He then explained that every once in a while, they do, regrettably and unfortunately, find a body that was torn up by fans, broken from a fall, or even exposed to the vacuum of space.
"Some disappear, and with all these scanners and machines that we have nowadays, you'd think that we'd be able to find at least a sign of where they've went, but we don't: maybe they fall into the protein vats that the keepers run, I don't know." Bailey said, shaking his head slowly at the thought as Shepard frowned at the information.
Whoever this Mouse was, they were lucky not to have met a grisly fate, when others had.
"Believe it or not," Bailey started, interrupting Shepard as the man began to ask another question, "Mouse was selling a VI copy of you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, and when you deleted files, it would say, "I delete files like you on the way to real errors." It was buggy as hell though; crashed every few hours max and half-hour at minimum and the error message stated that the galaxy was at stake and that you should fix it yourself. Anyways that's all that I have about the kid, you can find him hanging around Dark Star Lounge, but you really should get a copy of that Shepard VI, I'm sure a man with your talents and skills would be able to find a person who could fix it up. But other than that, your boy sounds like he's running with the wrong crowd and is in need of desperate help." Bailey told them, looking at Thane as he nodded his head at the officer in return, silently thanking him for helping them.
Shepard didn't know why the man was helping them this much, all he asked for was a contact that he could follow and/or ask for the whereabouts of Kolyat, but Bailey went above and beyond that by giving a name, location, and even more information than what they actually needed, so he asked him about that and why he gave them more than he needed.
Bailey's response was one that he wasn't expecting.
"I've worked Zakera Ward for two years; everyday kids turn to crime because they don't have a choice anymore. Because their parents don't care about their well-being as any sane, caring, and loving parent should… You're trying to save yours."
Thane lowers his head, Bailey's words hitting the man deep as he could only think about what was said to him, before speaking up.
"He… he is walking a dark path; one that I and his mother wouldn't want him treading down."
With that said, Shepard motions for both Thane and Tyler to follow him outside, bidding Bailey a good day as they exited the area and entered the wards.
Thane was quiet the entire time as they walked up the flights of stairs, his mind replaying Bailey's words over and over again, with him wondering what would've happened if he actually stayed and raised Kolyat himself, instead of leaving him with his wife's family.
Would he have turned out the same? Would he be in school learning about the galaxy and furthering it by learning a career that required a degree? Would he be an artist? A song writer? A decorated soldier? A doctor, even? He didn't know and that's what hurts him the most; he should've stayed instead of leaving.
He hopes that he'd be willing to hear him out: if not for Thane's sake, then for his own.
"You okay there, Thane? You've been quiet this entire time and honestly it's kinda creepy." Tyler asks him, leaning against a wall as Shepard spoke with Mouse while Thane shook his head to bring himself out of his mind.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just… thinking about what could've happened if-" He is interrupted when Tyler started shaking his head at the man's words, him rolling his eyes as he looked at the man with a serious and firm face.
"Thane, I understand what you're thinking, believe me I do. I was thinking about how if I stayed home instead of spending the night at a friend's home when the batarians came and invaded Mindoir, then maybe I could've grabbed my dad's rifle and killed the bastards before they got to my brother and my mom. But I didn't. I have to live with that for the rest of my life, and I've accepted that what happened couldn't have been stopped or delayed at all; you're having those thoughts too huh? Trust me, I've had to live with this for years, and they say it gets easier, but it doesn't… well, it does but it doesn't seem like it. Trust me, I know what you're going through, but we're doing this to stop anything that your son is going to regret later on. Okay?" He tells him, patting him on the shoulder as Thane nodded his head, saying his thanks to the man as Tyler lets go and steps back.
"I didn't realize that you were a survivor of the Mindoir Raids. But your words speak true; thank you Tyler, I appreciate you and the commander doing this for me."
"It's no problem man; the Normandy is our home and everyone within it are our family. Even the nonhuman ones."
"A Cerberus personnel calling a nonhuman family? I don't think you really belong in a xenophobic organization." Thane jokes, chuckling as Tyler shrugged his shoulders and laughed along with him, merely telling him that he only hates batarians and everyone else is alright with him.
With the two of them done, Shepard comes back and clears his throat, causing the drell and human to look at their companion as he held a small package within his hands.
"What's up with the box?"
"It has three copies of that Commander Shepard VI, but since these things aren't functioning properly, I'm going to give it to Justin and maybe Jay, see if they can fix it up to where it works perfectly. That, and I want to see if they can find a way to get it to where it would say something that I would say within seventy percent accuracy. Though, the higher that number it, the funnier it'd be."
The three of them stood in silence; one having a smirk on his face while the other two stood there and only looked at the smirking man with a raised eyebrow/ridge.
"Fine," Shepard started, rolling his eyes and shaking his head at the lack of comments from his two companions, "I got it as a little joke for not only myself, but my mom and my sister. As for the situation on your son, Thane, a man named Elias Kelham hired him to take out someone, but since we don't know who that someone is, we're going to have to take him in and question him ourselves." Shepard finishes, placing the small package underneath his arms as he turns and heads back to the only man who they know who can help them.
"And just how are we going to do that?"
"I'm a Spectre, I can practically do what I want on this station, as long as it's on official business; which is what this is. Trust me, Elias is going to talk, whether he likes it or not." Shepard finished, flashing the two a charming smile as he turns to look at the two of them whilst walking backwards.
That wasn't a smile meant to spread happiness and cheer; that was a smile meant to spread dread and fear amongst those of which it was intended for.
Shepard was going to get his way, and Shepard always got his way.
"I'm going to ask you this one last time Elias: who is the assassin after!" Shepard screams, hitting Elias across the face as he uses his other hand to grab his pistol and points it right between the man's eyes.
Shepard's a little bit upset at the moment, with the man not cooperating with any of their suggestions and or questions, only giving them smart-ass remarks or telling them that he didn't have to talk.
"You see this," Shepard tells the man, activating his omni-tool and showing him his Spectre credentials, causing the man's eyes to go wide in shock, fear, and trepidation, "I can fucking kill you right now because of your criminal history, but mainly because what you just said about not only my mother, but my sister as well. Tell us who the target is or I. Will. Fucking. Kill. You." He growls out, his pistol only millimeters from the man's head as Elias rapidly nods his head, his eyes wide and his chest heaving.
"Joram Talid, the target is Joram Talid! He's running for the Intendant office here on Zakera Ward. He's currently at the 800 Blocks, probably talking with some of his supporters right now. The hit going down in two hours, maybe sooner, though you'll catch him if you go even earlier." He immediately tells them, folding at the information given to him, the weapon currently being aimed at his face, and the look of pure wrath emanating from the man who was giving him all three.
"Good. Never say that about my mother and my sister again, or I'll will personally kick back and relax and drink a nice brandy as a friend of mine, a krogan-sized friend at that, hangs you with your own insides off the Citadel Tower. Let's go you two, I've had enough of this guy and he isn't worth a second of my time." Shepard tells both Thane and Tyler, giving Elias one last glare before exiting the room, bumping into the lawyer who just came through the door.
Shepard only glared at the man before continuing on his way. He wasn't worth his time and neither was Elias. He was only going to speak with Bailey, get a little more information from the man, and head to the 800 Blocks.
He needed to get his mind off of what Elias had said; for his sake, and Shepard's.
"There's our man. How do you want to do this Thane?" Shepard asks, crossing his arms over his chest as Thane looks towards the turian and his krogan body guard.
"You follow Talid via maintenance catwalks up above, Tyler can follow as well on the ground, but at a distance as to not raise any suspicions from the man. With him having a krogan as a guard, it'll be easier for you to find him amongst a crowd, especially if he makes any stops at any of the local shops or attractions; be sure to keep me updated on his whereabouts at all times. I'll be following from the shadows, watching their every move, we don't have time to stand here and discuss this anymore: Talid is on the move." Thane tells them, with Shepard and Tyler looking up at where the turian was and seeing that he was currently walking away from where he and his follower were standing at.
"Okay, I'm… where the fuck did he go?" Tyler muttered to himself in confusion, looking at the vacant spot that Thane had left behind while Shepard was climbing a maintenance ladder.
He only blinked a few times before shaking his head at what had just occurred, taking a deep breath as he patted his jacket for his credit chit.
If he was to blend in, he'd need to spend a little cash to keep the façade going.
"I see him Thane; it looks like he's speaking with some voters, probably trying to gain a bit more traction amongst them." Shepard radios Thane, watching as the turian shook hands with a salarian and another turian as the krogan bodyguard merely stood to the side, his stance suggesting that he was bored at the moment.
Shepard's radio comes to life, with Thane and Tyler confirming that they see it as well and that they are following him to the next area, with Tyler saying that he'll be giving updates as well.
"Looks like he's headed for an area that's in your blind spot Shepard," Tyler tells him, walking amongst the crowd before stopping at a kiosk and browsing for anything that catches his eye, "I'll take over your job until you've got your eyes back on him."
"Copy that, give me an update when that happens."
"What is he doing now, Tyler? And is there any sign of Kolyat?" Thane asks him, maneuvering around the backs of shops, kiosks, and other vendors while maintaining his stealthy approach.
Tyler took a look from the kiosk, glancing upwards from the terminal and finding the turian rather quickly as he and the krogan were conversing with each other outside of a small store, but no signs of another drell within sight.
"Nope, not a thing. It looks like our guy here is standing outside of a small shop though, seems as if his guard is currently roughing up the shopkeeper for whatever reason, racist dick-lick. But- oh that looks nice." Tyler says, stopping his description of what was happening in the store which prompted both Thane and Shepard to immediately question about what is going on.
"Nah nothing's going on, I just found a limited-edition Commander Shepard figurine for a hundred credits. Anyways, I don't see another drell anywhere- wait I think, nah nevermind, that's you Thane. Jesus Christ man, how in the hell did you get up there? Looks like Talid is heading out Shepard, Thane; I'm moving ahead to get a better sight of them now."
"Tyler," Shepard calls him, causing the man to stop in his tracks, "if you buy that figurine for me, I'll give you ten thousand credits."
"Deal." Came the immediate reply.
Thane was watching as Tyler purchased the figurine, a smile adorning the man's face as he followed far behind Talid, and if he wanted to find him later, he'd have to move positions as well.
Dropping down to the ground and hugging the wall closely, Thane stealthily maneuvers his way through the shadows, avoiding anything that could or would give away his position to anyone that didn't need to be made aware of his existence. Climbing onto a shelf, Thane scales the back wall of the storage room, climbing into an air vent so that he could move around without being seen on the ground level, but not before accidentally knocking down a small box from the top shelf, with the owner of the small vendor shop coming into the room only a couple of seconds after to inspect what happened.
Seeing that the box was on the ground, the human shook her head and picked it up, placing it back on the shelf but further back from the edge as to avoid the incident happening again.
"Damn stockers; always putting these things close to edge…" She muttered, stepping out of the room as she stepped back out of the room.
Had she have been paying attention, she may have noticed that the vent had just closed as she was leaving and that she wasn't alone after all.
'Too close. I need to be better than that.' Thane cursed himself, silently making his way through the vents as he radios Shepard and Tyler for a sitrep.
"I don't have any visuals on Talid; what's happening?"
Shepard tells him that it appears that his guard is talking with the bartender, that it appears to be a shakedown of sorts, though a man was loudly arguing with the krogan who was causing trouble.
And it seemed as if he was winning.
"No sign of trouble?"
"None that I can see; though I'm sure trouble might start if the man continues."
"Отвали, жаба-переросток! Леди здесь не хочет, чтобы ты или твои расистские друзья были рядом, и будь я проклят, если ты снова встанешь между мной и моей водкой!" (Rough translation at the bottom) The man screamed at the krogan, standing right up to the thug as the other patrons joined in, voicing their unhappiness with what he was doing.
The krogan decided that he wasn't getting paid enough to pick fights with a bunch of patrons, knowing that there were plenty more of them than there of him and that they'd beat the genophage out of him and put it back in afterwards.
No one messes with a patron's favorite bar or bartender; the consequences would be severe.
With them leaving, Tyler walks up to the man who shouted in the krogan's face, not backing down from the massively larger alien as he defended his favorite bar.
"I don't know what the hell you just said, but damn was that hilarious."
"Aye, the krogan is just bully with insecurities; easy to handle if you confront them, no? Anyways, I have to be off now; lady back home would kill me if she were to see me go up against another krogan." The man tells him, finishing his drink before paying the bill and leaving a tip for the bartender.
"Wait, if you've gone against krogan before, how is it that a woman scares you even more? And what is that accent; Russian? Or Ukrainian?"
"Russian, my friend. Now, my lady isn't your average lady; I may have been N6 in the Alliance, but she scares me. That, and a few others ladies that I'm friends with are scary as well. Then there's my two good male friends: one of whom will take your head clean off at a mile with any rifle, and the other who can and will tear you in half with his bare hands. Прощай, друг." He tells him, waving goodbye as he leaves the bar and heads down the street and out of sight.
That was simply the most interesting man Tyler has ever met.
The sound of grunting was heard over the comms, with both Thane and Tyler immediately reaching for their earpiece and asking what happened, only to meet silence for a few seconds as Shepard's voice came through.
"I may have knocked a maintenance worker out…"
Tyler could only snort at that.
Thane could only shake his head.
He didn't know why he wanted to do this. Was it to get back at his father? To follow in his footsteps? Because he wanted to? Kolyat didn't know. He sees his target walk past him, bodyguard in tow; if he wanted to complete this contract then he has to get through him first. Maybe load in a few stun rounds and then hit him with a tranquilizer? That would take down a krogan for a period of time.
With him mind made up, Kolyat rubbed his face once more, deciding that it was now or never, before taking his pistol out and shoving a human out of the way and lining up his shot.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he hears someone call out his name which makes him hesitate and lose his composure, giving the krogan enough time to push Talid out of the way and inform him to call C-Sec. After this, Kolyat shook his head and fired the stun rounds and the tranquilizer into the krogan, putting him out of the fight immediately before dashing into the apartment complex after Talid.
He didn't know how that human knew his name, but what he did know was that he and two others were following him up the multiple flights of stairs, trying to stop him from doing what he was hired to do.
He knew a flashbang would come in handy at some point.
"Almost on him Commander!" Tyler yelled, his biotics enhancing the muscles in his legs to push himself farther and faster than normal just so that he can catch up to the much more agile and acrobatic drell.
That was, until a small cylinder rebounded off the wall and directly in front of him, causing Tyler's eyes to go wide for a split second.
"Fuck me-" Is all that he got out before the cylinder exploded, sending out a deafening noise and a flash of light all throughout the stairwell, causing the man to fall to the ground and fall back down the flight of stairs right into Thane's and Shepard's path.
Upon picking the man up, Shepard looked at Thane and then back to Tyler and asked if he was okay.
"WHAT? I CAN BARELY HEAR YOU! FUCKING PUNK HAD A FLASHBANG!" He screams out, rubbing his ears and his eyes as the two of them nodded at each other.
He was fine, nothing that medi-gel wouldn't solve.
Now it was back to chasing Kolyat.
"Who are-" Talid never finished his sentence, Kolyat's fist connecting with the side of his head as he fell to the ground and froze when he seen that there was a gun trained on him.
"Get up and- and get on your knees! Put your hands behind your head, now!" He ordered him, stepping back as Talid did exactly as he was told, panicking at the thought of getting killed by the gunman.
"I- I don't know what you want, but I'll-" He is interrupted yet again when he feels the barrel of the pistol being placed directly against the back of his head, the cold metal being a stark contrast against his carapace and flesh.
Just when Kolyat was about to pull the trigger did the three people who were following him burst through the door, weapons being wielded by the armored human and the-
"No…"
"Kolyat…"
"This… this is a joke. Now. NOW YOU SHOW UP?!" Kolyat screamed, cursing as he looked at his father for the first time in years with anger laced across his face.
"Help me drell, I'll do whatever you want!" Talid pleaded, not moving a muscle as the barrel of the pistol was harshly pressed up against the back of his head.
This was when C-Sec showed up, Captain Bailey coming in with backup as he had his own pistol drawn and aimed at him, telling him to put the gun down immediately.
"Get out of my way," Kolyat told them, looking directly at Bailey and everyone else, "I'm walking out and he's coming with me."
"Kolyat, they'll have snipers outside; you wouldn't make it past ten feet before they shoot you." Thane told him, trying to reason with him as everyone stood still at what may happen next.
Except Tyler, who had dropped his pistol to the ground and calmly, but slowly, walked towards Kolyat, his arms stretched out to the side to show that he had no weapons on him and to stop the motions from Thane, Shepard, and the officers.
Kolyat had immediately raised his pistol and pointed it directly at Tyler, telling him to stop right he was before he would shoot him. But Tyler only shook his head in response.
"You don't want to do this, I can see it in your body language; you're scared, confused, but most of all you're hurt. Hurt at having to grow up without a parent; a mother and a father, one who was killed and the other who abandoned you." He started, his eyes never leaving Kolyat as he sees the drell beginning to shake.
"I know exactly how that feels, believe me I do. I grew up on the human colony of Mindoir with my mom, my stepdad, and a younger brother. I had the perfect life growing up: friends, family, a girlfriend, schooling, a place to sleep with a warm bed and a bathroom. But all of that was taken away from me when batarian slavers came and razed the colony to the fucking ground. My parents were killed within hours of the start, and I and my brother held out for days while trying to fend for ourselves. But… we were caught and I had fought back against them; in return, they punished me by forcing me to watch as they installed the control chip inside of my brother's head right there on the spot. I snapped and killed them all, my biotics tearing them apart and used a pistol I had scavenged from one of the corpses to shoot anyone else that wasn't human. Hell, I even used my own teeth to tear out this one guy's throat and jugular vein and I just kept going at it with my mouth… I threw up from the smell, the taste, and the feeling of blood, sinew, and flesh that now coated my body and the inside of my mouth. And…" He paused, his voice hitching and cracking as his eyes began to tear up and his breathing getting more labored.
No one had moved or said a word while he was explaining how he knew exactly how Kolyat felt and what he had experienced. They were all just frozen at his tale of surviving hell made reality.
"I… found my brother, still laying on the ground where they had put that damned chip in… I pulled him close to me, held him tight, and whispered to him that I loved him and will always love him no matter what. I told him happy birthday, then I told him goodbye before I ended his suffering. Then that bastard, Huran," Tyler growled out, nearly spitting as he does so while tears flowed down his cheeks, "found me and put five rounds through my chest; payback, as he called it, for killing his men. If there's anyone you want to shoot, then shoot me: I won't resist." He tells him, gently gripping the gun barrel and placing it directly between the eyes before lowering his arms back down to his sides.
Kolyat had no idea on what to do: this wasn't what he signed up for, this was never brought to his attention when he was searching up information about being a hitman.
This was… someone who had experienced more pain than he has. But he was frozen in place, his arms not obeying his mind as he desperately wanted to drop the gun.
He was scared.
Then, Tyler continued.
"Right here, right in between the eyes, above the base of our nose and beneath the eyebrows lies the perfect spot to shoot a human dead. How perfect is this spot? Right where the barrel is pointing, beneath the skin and bone lies the base of the human brain and its stem. If you were to shoot any human right where you're pointing, nine times out of ten you'll sever that stem from the brain and we'll drop dead before we hit the ground: we won't flinch, we won't gasp, we won't spasm, we won't even blink. We'll drop dead as if we're nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Shoot me. If you're going to kill someone, kill me."
(It's messed up to say, but this is true: if one were to sever the brain from its stem, all bodily functions will immediately cease right then and there. From the outside, it will look exactly as if someone were to drop a sack of potatoes right where they stood. The human body, for all its purposes, is a very hardy machine, but as with all machines, a simple break in the smallest bit can permanently destroy it.)
Kolyat's only response to this was to finally drop the pistol, falling to the ground as Talid was escorted out of the building by C-Sec, with Bailey staying behind to escort Thane and Kolyat back to the precinct where they can speak with each other.
Shepard could only look at Tyler with pity as he put an arm over his shoulder and guided the silent but crying man out.
A lot of feelings were brought up today, some good and others bad, but it was for the sake of helping Thane's son, or at least that's what Tyler would tell anyone who came and questioned him about it.
"They've been in there for a while now." Shepard mused, standing up from his seat to stretch and pop his joints as Tyler laid back with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought.
"The boy's been through a lot. I've been searching through C-Sec archives, stumbled upon a few unsolved files: about ten years ago, a bunch of real bad people had been killed, like someone was cleaning house. The main suspect was a drell, but we've never caught them." Bailey informed Shepard, looking at the man as the unsaid question lingered in the air.
Shepard was quick with a response to the man's claims.
"Ten years is a long time, Bailey; the person who did all of that probably doesn't exist anymore, or they're dead. Who knows for sure, though?"
"Yeah, you've got a point about that."
After Bailey finished talking, the doors to the holding cell containing Kolyat and Thane opened, revealing Thane looking as if he had found what he was looking for, with his head held high and what appears to be a smile on his face.
He looked happy with what had occurred in the room.
"Thane?"
"Our problems, though we are seeing them through, aren't ones that can be solved in one afternoon. We'll keep talking, see where that brings us. Maybe then, I can truly be forgiven."
Shepard could only nod at the man's response, accepting it in its entirety.
Bailey had cleared his throat, gaining both of their attention.
"Your boy shot some people, people that I have absolutely zero sympathy with, but the fact remains that he still shot some people." He told them, bringing his hands together on top of the desk as he looks at both Shepard and Thane for anything that they wanted to add.
Shepard leaned on the desk, looking Bailey in the eyes, telling him that he watched as Talid and his thugs were shaking down businesses and threatening humans, to which Bailey told him that he couldn't just get away with having committed those crimes.
That brought an idea to Shepard's mind.
"The kid wants to make a difference: give him community service." He suggested, completely serious about the suggestion as Bailey looked him in confusion.
"Community service for attempted murder? What jury would agree to that?"
"None that I've seen. But since I'm a Spectre… Bailey, you're a good man and all, but as a Council Spectre, I'm ordering you to keep this strictly within C-Sec and out of the judiciary systems. I trust that you'll have no problems with this?"
Bailey could only laugh at that, standing up while chuckling as he shook both of their hands.
"If it were any other Spectre, I'd follow that order without hesitation. But since it's you… I'll think about it."
"Thank you, Captain." Thane told him, giving the man one final nod as Shepard went and got Tyler before heading back to the Normandy, with him following closely behind.
He's forever grateful for both of them helping him with his personal life, and especially for keeping his son out of prison. He knew that Tyler didn't have to share his history with his son like that, but it got him to stop and realize that there were other people out there who had it worse than a simple father abandoning him.
That brought a memory to him from right before he left the containment area.
"The human, is… is he all right?" Kolyat asked him, his eyes staring directly into the table as Thane could only shake his head.
"Honestly Kolyat, no. But he continues on, fighting for his family, living for their sake, but not forgetting who they were and how they molded him into becoming the man he is today. Humans are strange, son, but they, like everyone else, experience everything that we do: they love, they laugh, they cry, they scream, they get angry, and so on. He had it worse than both you and I, that is true, but instead of being disconnected with his soul, he found that living on with his friends and family always within his heart is much easier than simply living day by day. Take his words into consideration, learn from them. That could've been you."
Kolyat only nodded his head, processing the words that his father had told him within his mind, before slowly looking up at him.
"Can we… can we pray for his salvation? Pray for his healing?"
Thane could only smile and nod his head.
It seems as if Tyler had finally came out and told someone else about his past, whether it was for good or not, that is up to you. He is a hurt individual who is in need recovery, but he is well on his way for receiving it, not to worry. Other than that, a lot in this chapter had been changed and as is the case, I hope that it works out well and that it is received with positive reactions. Have a good year and blessed decade!
Rough translations for the Russian bits in the chapter:
Отвали, жаба-переросток! Леди здесь не хочет, чтобы ты или твои расистские друзья были рядом, и будь я проклят, если ты снова встанешь между мной и моей водкой!
Back off, you overgrown toad! The lady here doesn't want you or your racist friends around, and I'll be damned if you come between me and my vodka again!
Прощай, друг.
Goodbye, friend.
That's the end of this chapter, and as promised, the next one will be up real soon so come back after a few hours and read that one.