A/N: Happy N7 Day everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the day. Compared to last year, a lot seems to be brewing today. I personally am eagerly awaiting the panel discussion that will be taking place on Youtube with the majority of the series cast. On a more personal level, I'm marking the day by proudly sporting my N7 jacket, listening to the soundtracks and now I'm ready to share my N7 Day gift to all of you. Or should I say...GIFTS!
That's right I'm releasing not one, not two but three new postings today. I know last year I promised that by this N7 Day I would be finished with this story. However the other two gifts had been on my back burner for awhile and I personally wanted to release them before the final chapter of this story. So today the only chapter for this story being released is the climax chapter. Fear not though, the ending of this chapter will come. In fact, I'm going to have the final chapter serve as what I hope will be a happy end to this otherwise chaotic year. Until then, feel free to check out my other postings from today once you've finished reading the climax of Mass Effect: 187.
The ride back to C-SEC HQ was filled with more chatter than the ride to the Citadome. Alas for Shepard and Garrus, this was not an improvement. It was actually more of an annoyance. They had to leave the Citadome in a hurry and the only vehicle heading back to C-SEC was the prisoner transport vehicle. Thus Shepard and Garrus had to cram into the front seat so that they didn't have to ride in the back with the prisoners. Though they weren't able to see the prisoners, that didn't stop them from being able to hear them.
Wilkinson and Vala were the loudest of the protestors. They kept insisting that Shepard and Garrus had no case against them. As far as they knew, Shara's death had nothing to do with the scheme Wilkinson was running. Since their warrant was granted based on that theory, there were certain they could get the warrant overturned. Little did they know that the discovery Shepard and Garrus found at the Citadome proved that Shara's death was caused by her investigation into Wilkinson, just not in the way they had thought. But they were not going to let Wilkinson or Vala know that. Their biggest concern at the moment was something else.
When the ride began, Garrus had called Bailey to warn him that their murder suspect was at C-SEC but would likely be trying to leave now that the raid at the Citadome was over. He requested that Bailey lock down the building and alert him and Shepard the moment that their suspect was in custody. Now they were minutes away and Bailey hadn't called back. It was possible their suspect had fled the building before the lockdown was initiated but that seemed unlikely. Garrus had called in the lockdown request quickly. So where was their suspect and why couldn't anyone find him? Suddenly a call came in from Bailey just before the transport turned the final corner.
"Get out of the transport when you two reach our parking structure!" He said urgently. "Our officers watching the surveillance vids just spotted your man entering the area!"
Bailey's news was both reassuring and confusing to Shepard and Garrus. On the one hand, they now had confirmation that their suspect was still in the building. On the other hand, it was strange that their suspect was in the parking structure. They had brought their suspect to C-SEC in their vehicle so he had no personal vehicle waiting for him. With the building under lockdown, any rides he might have tried to arrange wouldn't have been aloud in the structure. How was he expecting to get out of there? Hopefully Shepard and Garrus would be able to find him before he could enact whatever escape plan he had.
The transport slowed just enough for Shepard and Garrus to hop out at the parking structure and pulled away. Once the officers guarding the entrance to the structure received clearance from Bailey to allow Shepard and Garrus in, the detectives pulled out their sidearms and made their way inside. They moved slowly to ensure the sound of their footsteps remained quiet. If they were going to hear any footsteps, they wanted it to be their suspect's.
About halfway into their ascent, they heard something but it wasn't footsteps. It sounded like someone trying to force something open. Quickening their pace but keeping the footsteps silent, Shepard and Garrus moved towards the source of the sound. It was on the next level that they saw a figure trying to break into one of the many C-SEC skycars parked in the lot. It then became clear how their man was planning to leave the structure. He was going to use a C-SEC issue skycar to approach the gate. The gate guards would let their guard down thinking he was a C-SEC officer. Before the guards could realize he wasn't, their man would smash through the gate and be out of the area before C-SEC could react. Shepard nodded to Garrus to indicate that he would follow Garrus' lead. Weapons raised, Garrus and Shepard approached the figure.
"KABAN JEEL!" Garrus shouted. "STEP AWAY FROM THE SKYCAR AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"
Kaban stopped what he was doing and slowly complied with Garrus' command. He slowly turned around so that he was now facing the detectives. When he recognized them, Kaban seemed surprised. Shepard and Garrus figured that Kaban was hoping they would still be at the Citadome. He confirmed this with what he said next.
"Detectives? What are you doing here? Did you finish raiding the Citadome already?
"We did," Shepard replied. "Wilkinson is in custody and our techs are going through the terminals we found."
"Well…that's great," Kaban said while slowly lowering his arms, "sounds like you have everything you need to get him to tell you who he sent to kill Shara."
"WE DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD LOWER YOUR HANDS!" Garrus shouted causing Kaban's hands to snap back up.
"T…take it easy Detective," said Kaban, "listen, there's no need for guns. Whatever's wrong, I'm sure we can talk it out."
"That's fine," said Garrus, "but before we can talk, we should advise you that we're here to arrest you for Shara's murder."
"What?!" Kaban gasped while involuntarily taking a step back. "That's crazy! We've already been over this. Shara was my friend. Why would I kill her? Besides you already have Wilkinson. He's the one who has the strongest motive for wanting Shara dead."
"You're right," Shepard said, "the thing is, he only has motive if he had known about Shara investigating his operation. When we told him that Shara was about to report him to the league commissioner, he was surprised. He had no idea that his operation was so close to being exposed."
"And before you say that he's lying," Garrus said continuing the explanation, "when we stormed the Citadome, Wilkinson was in the middle of a meeting with bookmakers. If he was really concerned about his operation being exposed, he would have been laying low instead of keeping business running as usual."
Shepard continued, "he also would have been destroying evidence BEFORE we stormed the Citadome. The fact that he didn't start until AFTER we showed up not only proves he really didn't know Shara was on to him, but it also proves that you lied to us when you said that you heard Maul saying that Lyle ordered him to destroy evidence. Now why would you lie to us?"
"Because you wanted us to focus solely on Wilkinson. That way we wouldn't bother to look too closely at how his operation was run. Unfortunately for you, we did look at Wilkinson's terminal and found a list of every member of the organization involved in his scheme and your name was on it."
"It all fell into place for us after that," Shepard said as he prepared to deliver the final punch, "when Shara confided in you what she was doing, you realized that your career and reputation were on the line as well. You went to her apartment to talk her out of exposing the scheme. You didn't have to break in because Shara trusted you and didn't see you as a threat. When it became clear that Shara wasn't going to back down, you lost it and you stabbed her twenty times with a knife that you brought with you."
In that instant, Kaban's expression changed. He didn't look scared anymore. He was angry. The jig was up and he knew it. But he didn't seem like he was on the verge of surrendering either. This was proven by the fact that he started to slowly lower his hands. Shepard and Garrus tensed up because they knew he was about to try something. Before they could issue a warning, Kaban smacked the skycar he was trying to break into and the door opened. Evidently he had finished breaking into the skycar when Shepard and Garrus surprised him. He climbed inside the skycar, closed the door and proceeded to hot wire it.
Shepard and Garrus knew that C-SEC skycar windows were bulletproof so there was no point in trying to hit Kaban. Instead all they could do was charge the skycar and try to open the door. They barely started their attempt when they heard the skycar start up. It hovered for a second and moved forward, forcing Shepard and Garrus to step back. Within seconds, the skycar vanished from their sights as it headed for the structures exit.
"My skycar is on the level above us," said Garrus, "it's close but I don't think we'll be able catch up to Kaban before he leaves the structure and vanishes in the traffic."
Shepard knew Garrus was right but his mind raced as he tried to think of some way to catch Kaban. He and Garrus had found Shara's murderer and there was no way he was going to let him get away. They were going to need a skycar to catch Kaban but how to find him once they were out of the structure. If they had been able to put a tracker on the skycar Kaban took, they would be able to follow him even if they didn't have a visual. Sadly they didn't have any tracking devices on them so that the idea was moot…or was it. An idea popped into Shepard's head. It was risky and that already made Shepard not thrilled about it. He had was already in hot water with Ashley for taking dangerous risks the past two days and didn't want to tempt fate with a third. But as guilty as he would feel if he took the risk, the guilt would be stronger if he had a chance to catch Shara's killer and didn't take it. With his mind made up, Shepard took off towards a nearby elevator.
"Get to your car and leave the structure," he called to Garrus as he ran, "once you're out, follow my suit tracker. It will lead you to Kaban."
Before Garrus could ask any questions, the door to the elevator closed. Alone in the elevator car, Shepard tuned out the elevator music and took some calming breaths. If he was right, this was going to be the last calm moment he was going to have for a while. Worst case scenario, it could be the final calm moment of his life. No. Shepard was not going to think that way. He needed to focus on what he was about to do. The next few minutes would prove that he deserved the nickname given to him by his former squadmate, James Vega: Loco.
Garrus ran to his skycar as fast as he could. In a fluid motion, he remotely opened his car door, jumped in it and got the car started and moving before the door closed completely. He was tempted to get on the radio to warn the gate guards but knew that it wouldn't help. Kaban would be approaching the gate by the time he raised someone and Kaban would just smash through when he realized the guards were being alerted. There was nothing he could do but go after Kaban and hope Shepard's plan worked.
But what was Shepard's plan? The last thing he said to Garrus was to follow his suit tracker when he was out of the structure. Garrus figured that Shepard wanted to use the tracker to help them track Kaban's car even if they lost visual. Except Garrus couldn't understand how Shepard was going to get his tracker on the car. Their suit trackers were designed not to be removed easily. If an officer was in danger and needed assistance, the last thing they would want is for their tracker to fall off their suit somewhere and lead their rescuers to wrong place. So why was Shepard wanting him to follow his tracker? Though he didn't understand why he was doing it, Garrus trusted Shepard's judgement enough that he tuned the skycar's radar to Shepard's tracker.
As Garrus approached the exit of the parking structure, he saw the gate had been smashed by Kaban's exit. The C-SEC officers guarding the gate were looking around outside and calling on their radios. Likely they were reporting Kaban breaking through the gate. Both officers didn't appear to be wounded so Garrus didn't stop to check on them and proceeded through the exit. He was forced to slow down in order to complete a turn he needed to make. While he drove, he looked up towards the traffic flow Kaban would be driving into. Sure enough, he saw Kaban's skycar rising to the top of the parking structure and heading towards the traffic. In a few seconds, Kaban would be driving with the traffic and be out of Garrus sight. Once he was gone, Kaban could take any number of exits leaving Garrus with no way to know where he was heading. If Shepard was going to do something to help Garrus tail Kaban, he needed to do it now.
Suddenly Garrus noticed something else at the top of the parking structure. Whatever it was, it was moving at a quick pace. It was too small and not moving fast enough to be a skycar. Garrus tapped his visor to make it zoom in on the shape. When the image finished zooming in and focusing on the shape, Garrus' mouth dropped.
"Spirits!" He exclaimed in horror.
A dinging sound was heard and the elevator doors opened when it reached the roof of the parking structure. The timing of the arrival was perfect. His mind was clear and focused. He ran out of elevator full speed towards the side of the structure closest to the nearby traffic flow. In fact, Shepard could hear Kaban's car approaching. A feeling of hesitation tried to crop up in him but he internally shoved it aside with ease. He had made up his mind and he was not turning back.
Just before Kaban's car was level with the roof of the structure, Shepard had reached some skycars parked along the edge of the structure. In a fluid motion, Shepard leaped onto the roof of one of them, ran from the back of the car to its front and leaped over the structure's wall into the open air. For a brief moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion as Shepard seemed to glide several stories above the ground. Eventually his forward motion slowed down and gravity began to take over. Fortunately for Shepard, his jump had achieved the desired distance and he was over Kaban's skycar which was rising up to meet him. Kaban's skycar was rising at a relatively slow pace so it didn't hurt Shepard when landed on the roof of the skycar. However the impact was still hard enough that Shepard's landing wasn't gentle and he found himself rolling across the skycar's roof. He would have fallen off the skycar if he didn't manage to deploy his omni-blade and jam it into the roof. Secured as he could be, Shepard adjusted himself so that he was lying face down. His free hand managed to find a grip to hold on to and he braced himself for whatever maneuvers Kaban might try to shake him off.
From his position Shepard could see Kaban looking up to investigate the noise Shepard made when landed on the skycar. After some initial shock and confusion as to how Shepard had managed to get on his car, Kaban's eyes crossed with anger before he turned back to look in front of him. The skycar started to swerve side to side. A classic move seen in vids when characters tried to shake someone off the roof of a car. If Shepard had been on the roof of a land based vehicle, there would have been a chance he could survive a fall. Being several stories above the ground however meant that a fall in this case would be fatal to Shepard. His grip tightened as he fought to stay on. When Kaban realized Shepard was still with him, he started taking more drastic measures.
Even with all the traffic around him, Kaban stared making the skycar do a loop. Shepard started to get nervous as he knew that his omni-blade would not hold him in place the minute the skycar was completely upside down. He quickly deactivated his blade and found a grip for his other hand. With both hands gripped tight and the skycar flying upside down, Shepard dangled in the air while fighting the urge to look down. Not just because he didn't want to see how high up he was but because his safety depended on him looking ahead. Kaban was flying above the traffic high enough to clear but Shepard dangling below meant he would easily collide with the skycars Kaban flew over. Shepard lifted his legs up as high as he could and each time he managed to clear the skycars. Luckily Kaban didn't want to narrow the gap between him and the other skycars and risk a collision. The pattern of Shepard lifting his legs repeated for a several seconds when he heard a sound most people would dread. To Shepard however, it filled him with relief.
Shepard didn't risk turning towards the source of the sound but he knew it was a C-SEC skycar coming up behind them. He also had no doubt that it was Garrus who was driving. Garrus' sirens ensured he had a clear path and was able to follow the Shepard's tracker and catch up in record time. The arrival of Garrus also caused Kaban to switch his focus from shaking Shepard off the skycar to trying to lose Garrus. Kaban flipped the skycar back over causing Shepard to fall back to his previous position of lying facedown on the roof. He then tried to shake off Garrus by taking a random exit. Garrus did end up overshooting the exit and was unable to turn around. Kaban likely thought he was successful in losing Garrus but Shepard knew that his suit tracker would allow Garrus to catch back up.
With Garrus gone, Kaban resumed trying to shake Shepard off. The muscles in Shepard's arms were starting to ache but he forced them to continue holding on. This chase couldn't last much longer. Garrus would've called all available skycars to join in the pursuit and given them Shepard's tracker signal so they could find him. Kaban may be able to outrun one C-SEC skycar but there was no way he could outrun multiple skycars. Though at that moment, the only thing Kaban was concerned with was shaking Shepard off. He was in the process of starting another loop when he suddenly slammed on the brakes. If Shepard hadn't had his feet tucked into some slots on the roof, he would have flown forward. As soon as the car was hovering steadily, Shepard looked up to see what had caused Kaban to stop and smiled when he did.
Three C-SEC skycars had arrived from the opposite direction and blocked the traffic. They were hovering at different altitudes to ensure no one tried to fly above or below the obstruction. Alas Kaban made a last ditch effort to avoid capture by trying to back up and turn around so that he could drive back the way he came. He didn't get far however as he was confronted by three more squad cars. Leading the trio was none other than Garrus. Three skycars in front of Kaban and three skycars behind him. He was effectively boxed in.
The doors of Garrus' skycar opened and he stood up. His trusty sniper rifle hung by his side. He then raised it and aimed at the skycar. It would be difficult for him to disable the skycar without hurting Shepard but Garrus had full confidence in his sniping skills. But if he was lucky, he wouldn't need to use them. He tapped his comm. and activated the feature that would allow his voice to be projected from his skycar's loudspeaker.
"It's over Kaban!" He shouted. "There's nowhere for you to go. Now here's what you are going to do and you're going to do it slowly. I don't want you accidentally dropping my partner. You are going to pull out of the traffic and my colleagues are going to escort you back to C-SEC HQ. I will be following you the whole way. If you try to escape, I will disable your skycar so that you will be forced to land. Honk your horn once to show me you understand my instructions."
From Shepard's position, he couldn't see Kaban's face but he could tell Kaban was weighing his options and was frustrated that none of them would work in his favor. Finally his shoulders slumped as he accepted his fate and honked the horn once. Garrus nodded to acknowledge the horn and gestured for Kaban to get his skycar in line with the escort while he quickly said something over his comm. Kaban did just that and followed the escort to C-SEC HQ. The whole way, Shepard let out a relieved sigh and loosened his grip on the skycar. He still held on but with Kaban driving slower and more steady, he didn't have to worry about being thrown off and could relax his sore arms.
Minutes later, the convoy landed on the C-SEC HQ rooftop. Waiting for them were several armed officers, each one pointing their weapons at Kaban's car. Shepard figured the call Garrus made while Kaban was joining the escort was for the officers to meet them when they arrived. With these new officers keeping their guns on Kaban, Garrus could relax and land his skycar on the roof as well. The second Kaban's skycar came to a stop, Shepard rolled off and and landed safely on the solid ground. Alas there was no time for him to celebrate surviving his harrowing journey. He quickly pulled out his own weapon and aimed at Kaban. Garrus quickly got out of his skycar and joined Shepard. Kaban slowly stepped out from his skycar with his hands raised.
"Detective Shepard," Garrus said, "you do the honors."
Shepard nodded and stepped towards Kaban. He turned Kaban around and brought his hands down to be handcuffed behind his back.
"Kaban Jeel," Shepard said as he put on the handcuffs, "you are under arrest for the murder of Shara'Vael vas Moreh."
"You two don't understand," Kaban said, "Lyle promised me that he was negotiating to have me traded to a team that would pay more money. He convinced them that I was still a great player but my talents were being wasted with the Peacekeepers. If Shara exposed his scheme, the team I was going to join would have realized that I was helping Lyle throw matches and would cancel the deal. My credibility and reputation as a player would be destroyed and my career would be over. After everything Shara did to help me get me to where I am, she had no qualms about ending it. Some friend she turned out to be."
Shepard aggressively spun Kaban around and pushed him up against the skycar, "I have a feeling that it's Shara who should be saying that about you. From the email she sent you, it's obvious that she didn't know you were involved in Lyle's scheme. I wouldn't be surprised if after you told her the truth that she offered to not reveal your name when she exposed Lyle to the commissioner. After all, she intentionally caused a deal with Starfire to fail because she didn't want them to be caught up in the fallout. She would have looked out for you like any friend would. But you decided to side with Lyle over your best friend. Shara didn't betray you Kaban, you betrayed her. You brutally took a good woman from this galaxy and now you're going to spend the rest of your life in a cell to pay for it."
With that said, Shepard escorted Kaban towards the door that would take them into C-SEC HQ. Along the way, he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. He and Garrus had promised that they would find Shara's killer and bring him to justice. Now a small smile was appearing on his face because they were successful in keeping that promise. His first case as a C-SEC homicide detective was now closed.