Chapter 25

Illium Entertainment News Update – Hanar superstar Blasto's announcement that he will hold a press conference today related to his recent alleged drug overdose has sparked a frenzy on the Illium betting forums. Odds are running 5-1 that Blasto will announce he is entering rehab, 9-1 that he is renouncing his vid career and entering an Enkindler monastery, 15-1 that he will announce a bid for elected office on Illium, 29-1 that co-star Adria S'Voz is carrying his child, and 85-1 that Blasto is carrying S'Voz's child. Blasto was discharged from the hospital this morning, sources tell us, and will give the press conference at noon.

Major Kirrahe looked at his omni-tool and told Solik Vass to take a left at the next intersection. "That's about halfway between Dantius Memorial Hospital and the hotel where Blasto is scheduled to give his press conference. It is as good of a place as any to begin our search for the hanar superstar. We've got to intercept him before the Eclipse mercenaries do."

Vass banked their skycar left into the intersection. "You weren't able to plant a bug on Blasto?"

Kirrahe shook his head. "I never got close enough to him when he was at the hospital to do that. The shoot-out with the Eclipse mercenaries erupted before I could. The entertainment media did report he was discharged from the hospital this morning but there's still two more hours until his press conference. He could be anywhere."

The Special Tasks Group agents didn't know for certain what the hanar would say at his press conference, but they feared he would reveal that 6th Dimension Vids was connected to Eclipse's red sand smuggling operation. That could prompt the legal authorities and the press to investigate the studio's finances and inner workings, which could reveal that the studio was also a front for the STG.

Vass slowed the skycar down as they began navigating through Nos Astra's downtown. "It's just a hunch but I think I know where we might find Blasto," he told the major. "Use your omni-tool to scan the city map for the most direct route from the hospital to the hotel, then do a second search to see if there are any strip clubs along that path."

The major considered that for a second, then shrugged. "Not a bad idea. Blasto had been stuck inside a hospital for several days. He probably does miss his dancers." Kirrahe's search revealed that there were five clubs along the route. Only one of them was open at 9:30 in the morning, an establishment known as "Overload." Any concerns by the major and Vass that they were grasping at straws vanished when they approached the establishment and saw that Blasto had a reserved parking spot near the front entrance. "Go inside and see if he's in there. I'll keep an eye out for Eclipse and warn you if they're approaching the club."

Vass would have preferred that Kirrahe went inside the strip club and he stood watch outside instead. One look at the major's stern expression, however, told him that this was not the time to question his superior's orders, so in he went.

Overload was as sparsely attended as Vass expected given the early morning hour. The few customers were mostly turians, some of whom were clearly nursing hangovers. There was no sign of Blasto in the immediate vicinity.

It was only after Vass had scanned his eyes across the room for the third time that he realized the performer strutting around to a slow, bass-heavy beat on the main stage was a quarian in a green and silver exo-suit. Or possibly a human or an asari who was wearing a quarian exo-suit. Surely an actual quarian wouldn't risk her health by removing her protective covering, Vass thought.

"Hey! You! Salarian. Two drink minimum!" shouted a gruff, heavy voice behind Vass. He spun around to see the establishment's bartender, a volus, staring at him. "Buy them now or leave."

Vass apologized and ordered a pair of bottled waters. "The dancer you have on stage now, is she—"

"You mean, Ms. Vah'Vah vas Voom?" the volus replied as he produced the bottles. "Yes, she's an actual member of the migrant fleet. Her act is she wears five differently-colored exo-suits, one on top of another, and slowly sheds the top four one at a time. If your tastes run more towards burlesque, you might like the show."

"Actually, I'm looking for Blasto," Vass replied. "I'm with 6th Dimension Vids and he has, ah, wandered off. I saw that he has a reserved parking space out front so I thought maybe he was here. Or, if not, that he had been here recently."

The volus rang up Vass' drinks and handed back his credit chit. "As a matter of fact, yes, he left here about 15 minutes ago. Hard to miss that exit too. He had a whole entourage with him: asari, humans, and a few salarians like you."

Eclipse mercs, Vass thought. They had Blasto. There was no time to lose. "Did they say where they were headed off to?" he asked the bartender. "Blasto has, uhh, some important scenes to shoot today at the studio. We can't afford any more delays on the vid."

The volus shook his head. "Not that I recall. You might want to ask Ms. Vah'Vah though. I saw her at a table with Blasto earlier before he headed out. She might have heard something." The volus leaned forward and motioned for Vass to do the same. "Is the studio really going to finish the vid?" he inquired. "Please say it is. Watching Blasto and Adria S'Voz together would be amazing! I'll bet they have terrific chemistry."

"I assure you, we're trying our hardest to get it completed," the STG agent replied. "That's why I'm here. It is urgent that I find Blasto."

"Understood," the volus replied. He waved to the stage to get Ms. Vah'Vah's attention. She had just completed her set, which revealed that her fifth and final suit was a racy crimson and silver outfit. She was collecting her other exo-suits when she spotted the waving volus and began heading towards the bar. "This salarian is with 6th Dimension Vids. He needs to know if you know where Blasto was heading when he left," the bartender explained.

Ms. Vah'Vah pulled a straw from a pocket and pointed to Vass' second, as-yet-untouched bottle of water. "May I?" she inquired. Vass nodded and the dancer placed the straw into an opening on her helmet and began sipping. "Yes, Blasto invited me to his table. I explained to him that I was dancing as part of my pilgrimage, trying to save up enough credits to buy a used ship and bring it back to the migrant fleet," the quarian began. She then stopped and took another sip from the water bottle.

Vass stood silently for a few moments, expecting her to continue. "Yes, and then?" he eventually replied.

The quarian continued sipping. "As I said, I was explaining to Blasto how I was dancing as part of my pilgrimage, trying to save up enough to buy a used ship and bring it back to the migrant fleet," she repeated.

"Ohhh…" Vass replied. He brought up his credit chit and made a donation to the migrant fleet ship recovery fund.

Ms. Vah'Vah nodded and placed the water bottle back on the bar top. "Blasto said he could get me a cameo in the vid doing my act instead of him giving me a tip now. I told him I'd much rather be able to buy a ship instead. He replied that he could get the studio to pay me to perform. We were discussing that when his entourage showed up. They weren't very friendly. Told him that he couldn't stick around here any longer. Something about debts he needed to settle."

"Please," Vass pleaded. "It's important that I know where they went. Did they mention anything?"

The quarian dancer thought for a few seconds. "Sorry, I don't remember. They made pretty clear that I wasn't welcome and should leave. So I did."

Vass frowned. Then an idea struck. "Was one of the entourage members an asari who had a short piece of paper in her mouth with one end burning?" he asked.

"Yes, she was part of them," Ms. Vah'Vah replied. "Pretty strange sight, but you meet all kinds in this business. She did most of the talking, in fact."

"Thanks. That will probably do," Vass replied. "Good luck with your pilgrimage," he said, then headed back outside.

"So he's definitely with Eclipse right now? Damn, I'd hoped we could reach him first," Major Kirrahe declared. "This really complicates things. However, if Mara T'Rue is with him we can at least track them both thanks to the bug I put in her cigarette case."

Vass grimly nodded. "Is it possible that Blasto is dead already?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Kirrahe replied as he pulled up his omni-tool and began checking for T'Rue's location. "There's no way to dispose of a hanar body in the city without attracting some attention and inconspicuously moving a corpse isn't easy either. He's in danger but they'll probably try to get him out of the city first before they do anything." The major got a fix on T'Rue. "It's as I thought: They're heading in the direction of the same warehouse I found you in. But they're not far from here and moving oddly slowly. If we run now, we can catch up with them!"

A quick sprint across a few city blocks brought Kirrahe and Vass to a small public park. They spotted Blasto surrounded by a throng of autograph-seekers. Other city denizens casually strolling through the park would join the crowd when they realized it was Blasto. Also present were about eight people who were alternately scowling or impatiently tapping their toes rather than trying to get autographs. The Eclipse mercenaries, Vass assumed. There were three asari including T'Rue, three salarian men and a pair of humans, one male and one female. While they were all in civilian clothes, their body language indicated their hands were hovering near concealed weapons.

"I think I see one of the skycars the mercs have used before parked along the far side of the park," Kirrahe exclaimed. "The mercs were probably trying to discreetly put Blasto in that and then fly him to their hideout. My guess is as they were heading to vehicle, some fans spotted Blasto and approached him. The mercs didn't want to risk a scene in public so they were obliged to let him sign autographs. For the moment, Blasto's fans are literally saving his life."

"He does appear to be taking his time signing the autographs and posing for photos," Vass noted. "So, what do we do? Eventually the crowd will fade away."

Kirrahe pulled up his omni-tool. "Keep watch on Blasto and try not to be seen yourself. I'll be right back." The major activated his cloaking device and Vass watched as his blurry, translucent shape darted across the park. A few short minutes later, the Eclipse skycar the major had previously pointed to burst into flames. Some of Blasto's fans gasped and pointed at the conflagration. A pair of the suspected Eclipse mercenaries raced over to the burning vehicle and activated its flame suppression program. Another minute later, Kirrahe decloaked by Vass' side. "The flame was the engine overloading. Now they can't take Blasto anywhere," he announced.

"It's only temporary," said a disembodied voice on Vass' other side. Mara T'Rue de-cloaked, revealing she was leaning against a nearby tree. "I thought I spotted you guys entering the park," she announced. "I spent 300 years as a huntress. I know when I'm being tracked." She looked Vass up and down. "So, I was right after all that you were a STG agent? Huh. Not sure how you managed to fool the others into thinking you weren't. Doesn't matter though. I've called in for reinforcements. They'll be here soon. And when Blasto finally runs out fans, we're taking him with us. Don't try anything stupid in the meantime."

Kirrahe's face was impassive and voice was calm and measured. "I think you're bluffing, Ms. T'Rue. I don't think you have reinforcements coming. At least not for a while. Most of your Eclipse cohorts are still in the city jail following your failed attempt to take me out at the hospital. On top of that, my partner and I have eliminated more than a dozen of your operatives. Eclipse has other mercs, yes, but you are a business and I'm guessing those others have been working different assignments. You'll have to pull them away from whatever they're doing to bring them here. And that's going to take a while, isn't it?"

T'Rue produced her cigarette case, pulled one out and slowly lit it with her biotics. "Maybe you're right. What does it matter? You may have stalled us but you don't dare make a move here. This is a public park that has civilians regularly strolling around. Are you going to risk one of them getting shot? Are you willing to deal with the police when they inevitably show up and you're forced to spill the STG's secrets and explain why you're involved in this at all? I don't think so," she declared while blowing out a puff of smoke. "No, you're going to stand right here and wait, then watch as my team takes Blasto away. In the meantime, I'll be watching you. So will several others." With that T'Rue turned and strode in the direction of Blasto. The hanar began noticeably shaking more as she approached him.

Kirrahe's eyes scanned across the park, pausing to take note of where each likely Eclipse merc was standing. "Unfortunately, she's right. Not only are we outnumbered and without the element of surprise, but we can't do anything out in public like this. Our mission must remain as secret as possible. The only thing we have going for us is that Eclipse doesn't want to make a move in public either." The major turned to his protégé. "I'm open to any ideas you might have."

Vass rubbed his chin. "If we can't make a move without exposing ourselves to the public as STG agents, then we have to convince the public that they're seeing something other than two STG agents making a move. I think I know how we can do that." Vass pulled up his omni-tool and placed a call to 6th Dimension Vids studios. A few seconds later he got the connection he wanted. "Yes, sir, this is Solik Vass. You know, Major Kirrahe's assistant? Yes. I need to ask you for another favor but I think you'll enjoy it," the young agent began.

Blasto's fans proved to be even more numerous than Vass would have assumed. Every time the throng around him started to thin out, more would enter the park and head over towards him. Vass spotted a few fans using their omni-tools to forward their pictures to friends and he guessed that word had spread pretty widely that Blasto was currently holding a meet n' greet in the park. Given that some headlines after his overdose had indicated that his recovery chances were slim, this impromptu event was probably truly exciting news for a lot of people, Vass surmised. Blasto took his sweet time with each and every fan, much to the Eclipse mercenaries' mounting frustration.

Kirrahe's guess that Eclipse's ranks were spread thin proved to be correct. For almost an hour after their conversation with T'Rue, Blasto's fans were the only ones to enter the park. That changed when a large van bearing the 6th Dimension Vids logo pulled up to the adjacent street. Jorgal Dreed, clad in his Blasto vid commando costume and holding a large shotgun, hopped out of the driver's seat. He was followed by Linia T'Pala, who was wearing a rather ill-fitting jacket with the studio's logo on it and dark sunglasses held on to her head with the help of an elastic band. She was holding a large script datapad.

The sight of the same krogan who had bitten the hand off of one of their colleagues only a few days ago initially rattled the mercs. They quickly steeled themselves however and kept a close eye on the krogan. Dreed, by contrast, paid them no attention at all and instead went around to the back of the van. He opened its doors and a half-dozen camera mechs exited and began marching into the park and towards Blasto. Linia and Dreed followed behind them.

Vass pulled up his omni-tool as soon as he realized the asari actress was heading his way. "Mr. Dreed, why is Linia here?! That wasn't part of the plan! You weren't supposed to tell anyone else!" he whispered into the device.

"Yeah, about that," Dreed rasped in return. "I just couldn't get these mechs out of the studio and over here before anyone noticed without help. I asked Suzra'Bonah to assist since she already knows you're with the STG. Well, apparently, she and Linia are kind of friendly and I guess Suzra spilled your secret to her. Anyhow, Suzra asked Linia to help too and I'm just no good at telling asari maidens 'no,' so along she came. It's fine though. An extra person should make your plan easier to pull off. Linia even created her own character and worked out her lines on the ride over. Suzra, on the other hand, didn't want to be anywhere near this so we dropped her off a few blocks away, but she can still remotely operate the mechs from there."

The junior STG agent felt a lump in his throat and took a long, deep breath. "Mr. Dreed, I know you're already doing me a huge favor by coming out here, but I need to ask you for one more thing. When it starts, I need you to grab Linia and make sure she gets out of harm's way. Don't worry about the major and I. Please, just make sure she is safe."

"She means that much to you, huh, kid?" the krogan asked.

Vass' response was immediate. "Yes, she does."

Dreed paused for a moment, then replied, "I understand, kid. Don't worry. I'll watch out for her like she was one of my own girls. You just do what you need to do."

Vass looked over at the major, who nodded to him. The young agent nodded back. "Ok, Mr. Dreed, whenever you're ready." He clicked off his omni-tool and reached for his concealed pistol.

The camera mechs reached the section of the park where Blasto was signing autographs and began arranging themselves in a rough rectangle around the area. Neither the mercenaries nor Blasto's fans knew what to make of this. Dreed drew as much attention as the mechs, with several mercenaries continuing to eye him warily. The krogan continued to ignore them and instead walked up closer to Linia. He nodded to the asari, prompting her to start shouting at the crowd.

"Please clear the set!" she bellowed to Blasto's fans as loudly she could. "I'm sure you're all very excited to see this scene from Blasto: The Hunt for Saren as we film it. But we cannot start filming until you clear the area! We can't have any of you potentially getting in the way of the camera mechs or being near any of the special effects when they go off. You can watch from the other side of the street, but you have to go there now!"

Several fans gasped. Others' jaws dropped. People began excitedly talking to each other. "You're filming a scene for the next vid right here this morning? Really?!" a turian woman asked Linia.

"Yes," the asari replied, "But only if you clear the area." She again raised her voice to a shout and waved the datapad at the crowd. "You can all be extras in other scenes, but not this one! Come on, move it! We don't have much time before the light changes on us."

Dreed began pointing towards the opposite side of the street. "You heard the director! Now get going!" he growled.

The fans began trotting en masse away from Blasto and the Eclipse members. The mercenaries were dumbfounded by this unexpected turn of events and clearly uncertain of what to do in response. As soon as the fans began to cross the street, Linia hit a button on her omni-tool and the mechs' brightest camera lights switched on, blinding the mercenaries.

As the Eclipse members tried to escape the glares, Linia again began shouting at the top of her lungs. "Blasto: The Hunt for Saren, scene 46! Special Tasks Group commandos rescue Blasto from mercenaries!" she announced.

Kirrahe and Vass drew their pistols. Dreed readied his shotgun.

"Annnnd… Action!"

[Author's note: Sorry, folks, for the slowed pace of the updates. We've reached the final chapters of this story and I'm trying to stick the landing and tie everything up properly. As always, thanks to my beta reader Magpie Corvidae for her thoughts and comments.]