Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: Well, February has come and gone, and I'm way excited for the Legendary Edition of Mass Effect. Excited to the point of distraction even. But the episode is still done mostly on time. Enjoy!
Episode 60: Triumph [Part I]
Shepard was behind Joker's seat when the Normandy emerged from the relay corridor into the Widow system. The flood of pink-purple light was so intense that she had to squint in order to avoid retinal burn-in. Joker had done the maneuver so often that almost as soon as the Normandy decelerated from relay speeds he had her stabilized and accelerating out of the arrival area.
"It still looks the same," Joker murmured, fingers dancing over the control.
That snapped Shepard out of her reverie. "What?" She asked.
"Just making an observation. You normally do not stand behind me as I make a relay jump. Not that I would mind if you did… I do love to show off." Joker replied, his eyes never leaving the sensor panel.
Shepard put her hands on the back of the pilot's chair. "It's my ship, Joker. I can do whatever I want."
"That's my point exactly!" Joker replied. "It's still your ship. It makes sense why you're standing there. See, Leif said it would probably take a while for you to fully relax… from where I'm sitting, I figure you probably want to see the Citadel with your own eyes, because until you do, you won't quite believe that you've gotten the better of Lindholm and that you're free as a kite."
Shepard stared at the top of Joker's head. It was times like this that she remembered what an observant git he was. He was reading her like an open book and being oddly thoughtful. Of course, it could be that he was being so damn conciliatory because he was responsible for getting her drunk. Matthews told her at breakfast today that the beer in the keg had been eight percent. "Kites have a string, and I'm still irked about the beer." She muttered.
"Knowing who's holding the string… yea, not buying any suggestion that you're somehow limited. Hackett would probably let you get away with murder if you rationalized it nicely. As for the beer… well, maybe we should have mentioned that it was a little stronger than normal, but we meant no harm."
"I know you didn't mean any harm." Shepard replied. That was probably the closest Joker would get to acknowledging that he should not have done something and apologizing for it. She would have to take it. "You probably wanted everyone to relax and Leif is a bad idea factory producing without breaks or weekends."
"Hah!" Joker replied, a grin in his voice as he guided the ship to roll into alignment with Zakera Ward, already aligning them with their regular mooring destination. "Well if you must know, we ordered that keg because it was a good brand and it was on sale. Leif and I paid for all of that out of pocket, and our generosity does have a limit."
"Uh huh…" Shepard drawled. She was not buying that.
"Think we can file the receipts for reimbursement? Or is that privilege with Hackett just yours?" Joker went on.
"You can try." Shepard replied. Truthfully, Shepard suspected that if they explained themselves properly, they would probably get it. Ultimately, this topic change was Joker's defensive side rearing itself as soon as someone got even a little too far past his comfort zone and his ego barrier. Joker had never been the one to show his softer side willingly, and it did not look like he was about to start now.
Shepard knew what was driving that. Joker's condition made it easy for people to dismiss him, write him off as infirm and incapable. He hated that with a burning passion. His at-times abrasive, crass attitude was a mask used to kill those thoughts before they started. If people were irritated with or mad at him, they would not pity him. At some point, that tick became a habit so powerful that he started rejecting more than just pity and sympathy.
"I'm still irked at you. But… the alcohol did snap me out of the weird locked-in state. I was still expecting something nasty from Lindholm." Shepard stated. Joker would put the rest together on his own. As far as she was concerned, there was a balance there. If he was not going to apologize in so many words, she was not going to thank him in so many words.
"I'm glad I could help," Joker's tone warmed a little, even if he never once looked away from the console. "Now at the risk of sounding dismissive… I need to start calling for docking clearances. Unless you want me to put us in float while we finish this conversation. I don't mind… but you know, Citadel Security might mind. You're not yet a Spectre to be flaunting that."
Shepard rolled her eyes and stepped back, "Ah. Right, we don't want to hold up a passenger ship. People will get uppity if their arrival is delayed. " She did not even bother concealing her sarcasm there. "Get us those clearances Lieutenant Moreau. I'll be in the OD." Without waiting for a reply she turned and moved aft.
"Aye, aye, ma'am!" Joker called after her, voice full of laughter.
Shepard shook her head and smiled to herself as she made a beeline toward her office. "EDI, could you please ask Jenkins to come up to the OD? I want to ask him something," She said as she crossed the CIC.
"Right away, Commander," EDI replied.
"Thanks, EDI." Shepard replied. She figured now was as good a time as any to ask the corporal whether he heard anything about places on Eden Prime where radio signals mysteriously went haywire and other bizarre things.
The OD door opened for her, and Shepard made her way straight toward the sideboard to get her kettle. Knowing Richard, he would turn into a schoolboy who had been called into the principal's office, and that would not help anyone. She figured if she got the tea going and offer him a cup, it might cut through some of that wariness. She had just managed to fill and set the kettle on its heating plate when the OD door opened.
"You wanted to see me, Commander?" Jenkins asked as he stepped inside and came to attention.
"At ease, Richard. Come in and let the door close. I'm waiting for this kettle to boil. You want tea? Or maybe instant hot chocolate?"
"Ah, thank you for the offer, Commander, but I'll pass." Jenkins replied as he moved deeper into the room.
Shepard looked the corporal in the eye and smiled. "Richard, you are not in trouble. Make yourself comfortable."
He duly made his way across the room toward the couches, moving like a robot with its cogs wound too tight. Shepard had to contain her urge to sigh, her attempt to lighten the mood did not seem to be working. Well, she could just explain why she called him up, maybe that would do it. "I wanted to ask you something about Eden Prime. You're a local, so you might know."
"If I don't, I might know someone who does… or something." Jenkins perched on the very tip of her couch extension.
His speech lost some of the formality, and that was a good sign. "You remember the Prothean we met on Feros?" Context first, it would help ease his nerves.
"Yes, ma'am." He replied.
"Well, aside from teaching me his language, Nabu showed me the three places where the Protheans wanted to build… what I assume are cryostasis facilities. I think Eden Prime might be one of those three locations."
"Really?" Jenkins asked, his tone betraying his instant interest.
The kettle whistled and Shepard turned off the heating base before she poured herself a cup of Earl Grey. "Yes. I know that Eden Prime has quite a few scattered Prothean ruins, so that seems to fit."
"Well, the presence of Prothean ruins was one of the reasons why Eden Prime became a colony so early," Jenkins murmured, "But if there is a cryostasis facility of some kind… no one ever found it. Maybe there is one, somewhere, but I don't know."
"That's fine, I didn't expect you to tell me exactly where it is. Just I have some questions you could answer." Shepard said as she sat down on the couch under the viewport with her cup and saucer in hand. "Do you remember how they found the Mars ruins?" She went on, even as she set her drink on the coffee table.
Jenkins almost jumped right in his seat in his eagerness. "Yea! Something about a magnetic field where there shouldn't be one."
"There." Shepard flicked a pointed finger at him. "The plain around the crater where the Mars ruins were found came to be known as Mars' Bermuda Triangle because of the archive's deteriorating power core was producing an errant magnetic field. I'm wondering, is there any area on Eden Prime that has a similar reputation… basically where electronics act funny, comm signals drop, or compasses point wrong without any natural explanation."
Jenkins leaned back into the couch, crossed his arms over his chest, and hummed.
"Take your time," Shepard replied as she sipped her tea.
"Well, there is the old Whistling Mountain iron mine. That's the biggest place where weirdness just happens… but it's natural. Compasses will point wrong with so much ore around, especially ours, as a good lot of it is naturally magnetic. Obviously satellite communication wouldn't work underground anyways." Jenkins murmured. "But no one compares it to the Bermuda Triangle, or anything like it."
Whistling Mountain? That was an interesting name. A mountain could be the place they were looking for, but an iron mine could easily be a false positive. "Alright, any natural place with a reputation for hauntings?" Shepard decided to shift tack.
"As in ghosts?" Jenkins asked.
"Yes," Shepard replied. "Two of the scientific explanations for what is thought to be hauntings are electromagnetic field anomalies and infrasound. Both are normally unnoticeable, but they're thought to cause weird sensations. Again, we're going back to the idea that if there is a hidden power core somewhere, it might be causing electromagnetic aberrations." It was a long shot, but people tended to talk about places that made the hair on the back of their neck stand on end. To be sure, unlike on Mars, there would be no radiation-shielded EVA suit to buffer those minute things.
Jenkin's eyes widened. "Yes! The old Whistling Mountain mine has that reputation! It was established in 2152, with the town of Blackrock on the coast just east of it. Here's the fun bits, the mine was closed in 2156, because the miners kept saying they saw moving shadows, and some developed migraines. Then, just as a serious investigation started, one of them fell from a ledge and swore someone pushed him. His safety harnesses caught him and cameras showed no one, so it was written off as vertigo. The miners thought otherwise. There is a new mine under the Black Peak, five kilometers south of there, on the same chain and deposit, but there's none of the weird stuff."
Shepard took a generous sip of her tea. That was certainly interesting. "Can you show me where it is?" She asked as she set the cup down and reached for the projector set into the coffee table.
"Sure!" Jenkins replied.
"Alright, give me a second to bring up a map." She said. "By the way, why do they call it the Whistling Mountain?" That question was just there to fill the moment.
"Oh… that. There's a rock formation on the north-eastern flank… when the wind blows through the gaps just right, they start to whistle in one of five tones, changing with the wind speed." Jenkins explained.
"Oh." Shepard should have guessed it was something like that.
"The rocks are the legal tourist attraction. The old mine is the real one. They catch people trying to go in often enough." Jenkins added.
"Of course!" Shepard laughed as the projector finally displayed a full holographic representation of Eden Prime. "Alright, where to?" Shepard asked.
"Let's see." Jenkins swiped a finger at the projection, causing it to turn a little. Then he stabbed at it, which unfurled the map and zoomed in on one of the continents. Then he poked at the eastern side of it, and zoomed further. With that done, the corporal pointed at a ridge of mountains. "Here. The Black Range has three main peaks. The highest and northernmost is the Whistling Mountain. The old mine is on that south-eastern bit that pokes out."
Shepard stared at the chain of mountains. They were set a few kilometers inland from the coast of a sizable sea. This tight in, the town Blackrock was also indicated, right on the coast. A road stretched from the town toward the old mine, and then bent away to wind toward what was labelled as the Whistling Rocks camp ground.
Shepard had honestly thought the mountains would be smaller, she could definitely certainly see what attracted the colonists. If there was a steel mill in Blackrock then iron mining and steel production would have been an early boon for Eden Prime's development. Locally-produced steel would always be cheaper than any import. "Thanks, Richard. I need to do some more research, but if this ends up being the place you'll get due credit."
"I'm glad to help!" Jenkins replied, his smile positively beaming. "Does this mean we'll be going back soon?"
"Soon… ish, I'm not sure how the time frame works out, but yes." Shepard replied.
"Awesome!" Jenkins cheered.
Shepard suspected that barring Harbinger or Nazara showing up with a fleet, she would not need her whole go team with her for this search. It would also likely take some time, and involve a bit of hard work. So, unless things went south on the scale of their previous visit, she could probably even allow Jenkins to go visit his family. He might even like that, unless he wanted to go spelunking in some abandoned mine. It was rather hard to tell with Jenkins. "Are you sure you don't want some hot chocolate?" She asked.
"Well… okay, maybe I'll have some." Jenkins replied.
Shepard smiled and flicked her hand toward the cabinet. "Help yourself." Well, if he did want to go spelunking, she might just allow that too.
Shepard was still in the OD when the Normandy jolted ever so slightly as the docking clamps came in contact with its hull. However by then she was seated at her terminal, taking care of tiny details. Jenkins had practically gulped down his hot chocolate before leaving, saying something about needing to send a message to his family. Shepard had spent about twenty minutes doing some background research, but then turned to sending some messages of her own.
At the top of her list was an update for Admiral Hackett. She let him know that she had talked to Jenkins about Eden Prime and that she had a good feeling about what she learned. Hackett was one of the only people who knew just how much she had gotten from Nabu. She felt comfortable enough to mention that she had a bizarre sense of certainty about this Whistling Mountain. She was not certain what else, aside from a language and a cultural primer, Nabu managed to pass on to her. Maybe this sensation of certainty had some weird subconscious component. The way she saw it, if she followed her hunch then at the very worst it would just waste some time, it was hardly a critical error.
Still, before she could go searching, she needed Admiral Hackett to lay down the groundwork. Liara's presence would look good with the Council. They would not be able to claim that the Alliance had concealed any additional discoveries. However, Liara was not enough. Shepard needed to get someone to contact at the Sunstone Mining Corporation that operated those mines. Ideally she would want to talk to the miners who had worked down there. Maybe there was someone who was willing to guide them back to the places where the creepy phenomena had occurred.
Shepard's gut instinct insisted that those incidents had everything to do with proximity to a decaying power core. To power such a huge cryogenic facility, its core had to be massive. The electromagnets required to generate a field powerful enough to contain a fusion reaction on that scale might even affect the ore in the mine. A cursory research had even confirmed that the old Whistling Mountain mine produced an unusually high quantity of lodestone magnetite. The ore might even function as natural shielding of a sort. Once she had confirmed all that, it only increased her conviction that she was looking in the right direction.
Her next message was a single paragraph for Liara, telling her that the Normandy had returned to the Citadel and they should finalize their arrangements for a meeting. She left it up to Liara to set the place, just as long as it was not a three figure bill just to sit down. Shepard had never paid that much for salad at a restaurant, and she was not about to start now. She hoped the archeologist would not hold it against her.
Her final message, sent just as the Normandy was finally pulling into its berth, was a paragraph to Castis Vakarian. She told him that she was back on the Citadel and that she wanted to meet with him to discuss the clone's case and swap investigation notes. Here too she was willing to let him set the time place for a meeting.
When that was done, she turned to the task of finding a range with an iridium-plated back wall. However she did not get far before the OD door swished open. Shepard turned around just as Nihlus strutted in, adjusting his armor gauntlets mid-stride.
"Shepard." He greeted.
"Nihlus… please don't tell me that something is happening." Shepard replied. The last thing she needed now is another fire to put out.
He chuckled, "Relax, Shepard. There is no emergency. I just came by to tell you that I intend to go and give my report to the Council in person."
"Ah." Shepard replied. She had overreacted, though Nihlus did not seem to hold that against her. He likely intended to put their plan into motion, to lean on Tevos and Valern so they would pressure Sparatus to stop holding out on her promotion. "Sorry, I'm jumpy. I am kind of laying the groundwork for some things, and if something derailed that now..."
"Something to do with the ark colony?" Nihlus asked.
"Yes. I talked with Jenkins earlier, he pointed out an interesting location to start our search in. I sent Admiral Hackett a message explaining everything already. I need him to put me in touch with some locals. The Admiral has the right amount of clout for that. I also sent Liara a message, I need to meet her while we're on the Citadel. She will be interested and her involvement will look good."
"Sounds like you plan to be busy," Nihlus murmured.
"Very busy. I also need to meet with Castis one more time, I want whatever they have on Leng. Then in middle of all that I plan to take Legion practice-shooting."
"Spirits. Right back to work, huh?"
"Yes. Lindholm wasted enough of my time." Shepard replied without a moment of hesitation.
"Alright, but I want to do it all sequentially. I want to get you that Spectre status first. After that, we can meet with Liara, and Vakarian senior."
Shepard hummed, she knew that Nihlus wanted to be there to see what Citadel Security had on Leng. He probably wanted to be there during any meeting with Liara. But as far as she was concerned, she needed Spectre status more than him being in the room with Castis or Liara. The young asari was not the problem, but her family connection could be. As a full Spectre, Shepard would be out of the manipulative reach of Asari matriarchs who might want to become involved, they would have to go through Councilor Tevos. As for Castis, she plainly did not want Nihlus anywhere near the detective, Nihlus tended to antagonize Citadel Security, she did not need that right now.
"You do not agree," Nihlus stated.
"I think that I could still meet with Castis. If he's genuinely willing to cooperate, he will, whether I am a Spectre or not. I do think that it would be better if we can work on this together without me lording Spectre status over him. I don't want him to think that he was the first person I pulled Spectre privileges on as soon as I got said privileges." Shepard explained. It was not the entire truth, but it was the parts that Nihlus was more likely to accept.
"If you can get their case file without Spectre status, it is still getting the file. I can see your point there." Nihlus said.
Shepard smiled. "I know you want to be present, but that may not be possible." There was one other thing to consider, her clone had almost killed Executor Pallin. Citadel Security would not take that sitting down, it was personal. It was possible that Pallin would categorically oppose Spectre involvement just because of that. Shepard would never presume to underestimate his personal sense of honor, pride, and ego. Sure, turians tempered all three most of the time, but they were still there.
Nihlus sighed, shifted his weight from foot to foot and folded his arms over his abdomen. "Alright, if you want to keep cordial relations with Castis this much… I can sacrifice my not being there. Take Garrus with you."
"I meant to," Shepard smiled. She would not dare to show up to any such meeting without Garrus. Diplomacy was often an exhausting and carefully choreographed dance of give and take. It was not something that she had mastered, but she knew a thing or two.
She shifted in her seat, metaphorically shifting thinking tracks as she went. "Here's how my cards are stacked. I'm waiting for replies from Castis and Liara, I can't arrange any meetings with them before that. I will take Legion out shooting first. Come to think of it, if Tali finished making modifications to her drone, I will ask her if she wants to come test it out too." They could easily set up holographic targets for Chatika to shoot at.
"Sounds like a plan," Nihlus said. "But keep your omni-tool connected. If Sparatus agrees to induct you into the Spectre corps, it will have to be done as soon as possible. We do not want to give him the time to change his mind."
"Of course not," Shepard chuckled. "But just so you know… I can't go out shooting while wearing my dress blues."
"That is fine, Shepard. Some Spectres have been known to be inducted in their dusty armor. It is not an issue for us." Nihlus' mandibles flicked a few times, almost playfully.
Shepard suspected that there was something to that. That was an awfully specific example to bring up.
"Well, you know what you are doing, and I need to get going." Nihlus said as he turned back toward the OD door.
"Alright, have fun!" Shepard replied automatically. Well, that meant she would have to ask him later, if the thought did not flutter from her mind.
"I think I much rather be shot in the gut again," Nihlus muttered as he stepped out of the room.
Shepard chuckled. She knew what that gripe was about. She did not fancy herself much of a diplomat, but Nihlus? He was basically categorically wrong for the job, too proud for the give and take, too direct to beat around the bush, and impatient on top. Nihlus knew that he would have to fight for her Spectre status, and he would do it, but the song and dance would not be enjoyable for him.
As the OD door closed, Shepard turned back to her terminal. She needed to find that range now. After that she would go ask Tali if she had finished Chatika's modifications yet.
The one thing about the Citadel that Shepard loved, was just how expansive Avina's database was. If you asked the station's VI whether there was a business that could fulfil specific needs, Avina would find it. This meant there was no need for Shepard to message all the ranges. She really only needed to access the Avina site on the extranet and type in her query.
Within ten minutes she found two ranges on the Citadel that could safely accommodate an anti-materiel rifle. Both were operated by Hierarchy weapon suppliers as an entertainment and shopping complex. Somewhere people could pay to practice with their weapons, but also try the company's products before buying anything, and if they wanted to buy, they could place an order right then and there.
The nature of the facilities did present a bit of a problem. If Shepard wanted to take Tali and Legion to such a place, it would probably be a good idea to bring Garrus along too. She did not want to cause a scene, should anyone take umbrage to the quarian and geth in their midst. Still, she copied the location code to her omni-tool, put her terminal in stand-by, and went in search of Tali. The final decision was for her to make.
Shepard found the young quarian in the shuttle bay, working with Ashley at the weapon maintenance table. Once again it was draped with a protective tarp, and as luck would have it, as Shepard approached, the answer to one of her questions was self-evident. The gunny was running a light over Chatika's insides. Meaning they had poured the foam insulation and were now curing it.
"Hey you two," Shepard greeted with a smile.
"Hi, Commander." Tali greeted, clearly chipper.
"Hey, Commander. Sorry, I can't look away right now. Keeping air bubbles from becoming trapped inside this stuff as it cures is important, and it's also the most annoying part," Ashley said by way of her greeting.
"No problem, Ash, do what you need to do. I'm not here to supervise, more like ask a question. Tali, do you think you can have Chatika operational within an hour? I found a range I can test my new gun at, and I'm taking Legion with me. Do you want to come with us? You can test your modifications with us. Though I should add that the range I found is operated by Hierarchy weapon manufacturers. They will try to sell you things." That is, if they did not try to kick the quarian out, but Shepard would not say that out loud.
"They can try." Tali replied blandly. "I would love to come with you, but the curing is only about half done."
"I'll have this done long before that, Tali." Ashley stated without looking up from her task. "And I'll even help you put Chatika back together too. I don't know much about building drones, but I can operate a screwdriver, so it'll go quicker."
"Oh thank you!" Tali clapped her hands together. "Then yes, I think we can finish within an hour!"
Ashley smiled, but kept working without saying another word.
"Perfect," Shepard grinned. "There are still some things I need to do myself. You can ask EDI to let me know when you finish." Namely, she figured she still needed to finalize the leave rotations. Right then she just needed to shift some names around to accommodate an outing, once she knew who was coming with her or not.
"Will do!" Tali replied.
"I look forward to it," Shepard smiled. "Now excuse me." Without another word Shepard turned and made her way back toward the elevator. Next on her agenda was finding Garrus, then she would go and tell Legion that they were on for within the hour. After that, she would quickly finish the rosters and hand them over to EDI for distribution. It was shaving things a little too close, but she was crunched for time. She just hoped that Garrus or Legion would not end up too busy.
An hour later, as their hired skycar lifted off, Shepard sat behind the controls, and while it was a bit weird to be hauling a rather heavy rifle in a bag, rather than attached to webbing, she was still perfectly pleased with herself. Garrus was riding metaphorical shotgun next to her, carrying his own rifle. Legion sat in the back row, theirs attached to their back. Tali was next to them, her drone's mobile cradle in her lap.
Right then, it looked like everything was coming together handily. Aside from helping to avoid any incidents at the range, inviting Garrus offered another peripheral benefit. Shepard realized that whatever combination of tweaks Tali, Gino, Ashley had made to Chatika might throw off the previous work Garrus did, and he would want to tweak the drone a final time. For that, it was best if he got to see how the drone was performing first-hand, and without the hassle of making mental notes in the middle of combat. If she was right, then Chatika was going to be the best drone in the galaxy, and it would make Tali happy.
As the vehicle climbed into the mid-level lanes on its way halfway down the length of Zakera ward, Shepard glanced at the rearview monitor and noticed that Legion was staring out the door window. The light from their sensor suite reflecting in the transparent pane was moving. Somehow in that moment they looked like an awed child taking everything in.
A moment after that thought crossed her mind she realized with a jolt that today would be the first time that Legion actually stepped foot on the Citadel proper. Shepard had not kept them on the Normandy, it was more than Legion opted to stay on board. Shepard hummed, that thought brought to mind a question. When was the last time that a Geth had stepped a platform's foot onto the Citadel?
"Is something wrong?" Garrus asked.
Shepard looked up, of course Garrus had heard her and noticed that she had been staring at the rear view screen the entire time. "No. I just had a thought…" she turned to face the back seats properly. "Legion, if you don't mind me asking, has any Geth even stepped foot on the Citadel in the last three hundred years?"
They looked away from the window, their sensor suite shifting about as the emotive plates danced. "Negative."
"Oh wow! I wouldn't have thought about it but that'd be right. The last time someone might have brought Geth on to the Citadel would have been… before the war," Tali said, her voice quiet, as if she was not sure whether she should speak at all.
Shepard grinned, "Well that a thing… That's one small step for a Geth platform, one giant leap for Geth-kind."
Barely a second after she spoke Legion's emotive plates started undulating as the iris of their sensor suite whirled. Then, a good five seconds later, the plates flattened out all at once. "A modified variation of the statement made by Neil Armstrong, on making the historic first step on the surface of Earth's natural satellite, Luna. The sentiment is… appropriate."
"I thought you'd appreciate that," Shepard replied, smiling.
"Affirmative," Legion replied in their usual monotone.
"Just don't go announcing to everyone that you're a Geth and no one will panic," Tali added.
"Acknowledged." Legion replied, somewhat more cryptically than usual.
"Unless of course we encounter an asari who has seen a Geth before," Garrus countered.
"Where we're going… I'm hoping that unlikely," Tali replied.
Garrus did not counter that statement as he turned back in the front, and that seemed to be the end of that conversation. A moment later Legion turned back toward the window. Shepard turned to face the front too, but her train of thought kept going. Somehow she wanted to do something to commemorate this event, but how? It was not like Legion would ever come out and ask for something. Besides, what did one get their sapient synthetic friend to celebrate anything, especially when said sapient synthetic would probably categorically deny deriving any pleasure from the act of celebrating, thus making the whole thing some form of inefficiency?
Well, maybe this whole outing might count. After all, the first time a Geth had set foot on the Citadel in three hundred years, it did so not as an attacker, or a conqueror, or even as a forcefully reprogrammed subservient. The Geth were masters of their own domain. The fact that their unofficial return to the Citadel occurred in friendly company, out to have fun, had to count for something, right? She hoped it did. Because if it counted for nothing, she was just spinning her wheels. She had no other idea of how to mark this.
Once they arrived at their destination and paid for a holographic range suite, Shepard went right to the task of acclimating to Strix. It did not take Shepard long to figure out the intricacies of her new gun, and half as long to become convinced that it was truly a monster. Every trigger squeeze led to what sounded an explosion right next to her ear. The kinetic impact force recorded across the range's iridium back wall, while firing polymer practice slugs that dissipated energy by disintegrating on impact, still confirmed that Strix would brutalize soft targets.
Beyond the raw power, practicing with the gun confirmed that Legion had considered literally every detail of their design. They had even picked the perfect material density for the stock padding, to minimize recoil transfer if she had to fire the gun out of armor. After firing a hundred shots her shoulder was a little tense, but hardly hurt. She could fire Strix as comfortably as she could fire Nike. There was literally nothing that required tweaking or modification. Shepard was left in a state of utter awe.
The range operator watched her shoot the whole time in a mute silence that made Shepard more than a little proud of herself. She would not be surprised if he had a hundred questions, but knew it was not in his job description to ask. He did challenge her to see how far the gun could shoot. The test involved finely-controlled mass effect fields that sapped the slug's energy in such a way as to mimic distance and the effect of gravity. This particular facility boasted the ability to simulate two kilometers.
That was where Shepard decided to make a game of things and invited Legion and Garrus to join her with their rifles for a round of sport-shooting. Garrus spared the operator a cocky smirk, told him to take notes, and swapped ammo blocks. Legion swapped blocks without saying a word, but the sight of their rifle unfolding had flabbergasted the operator. Shepard almost laughed. Then the two stepped up to the mark and the real fun began. They traded shots right up to that two kilometers and when the final shot was fired, Shepard smiled, patted both Garrus and Legion on the shoulders, and announced a tie, much to the operator's slack-mandible shock.
The whole thing was not much of a competition. After all, it was not much of a challenge for Legion. Still, Shepard was happy to say that she had hit every single of her targets dead center in the tiny red zone that was supposed to represent the vitals. She kept up with the Geth who was literally calculating every shot's trajectory in real-time and without an error margin. Garrus had kept up as well, though his shots had grown a little slower once they passed one kilometer. Shepard also would not be surprised if the operator started rumors. There was just no way a mere VI-operated off-the-shelf Synthetic Insights personal assistant mech could shoot that well, or would pack that much firepower.
Shepard suspected that the slow-down was caused by Garrus' visor not working with the range's simulated distance system correctly. He would never admit to it in so many words, but in that instance, the slight difference in their training reared an ugly head. Arthur had been absolutely adamant that she should never become reliant on technological shortcuts. That she should be able to do the background math in her head. That was only further reinforced in the ICT. Garrus was perhaps too used to that visor, and even though he could compensate, needing to do so slowed him down.
After that bit of competition Shepard allowed Garrus to shoot Strix as well. Garrus seemed impressed enough that he gave Legion a look that could only be interpreted as a wordless admission that he wanted one too. Legion pretended that the wall was absolutely fascinating, and that they had missed that look. Shepard was not going to buy that. Legion's processing power could not have been so occupied by the wall that they could not concurrently process visual and auditory information. The geth one was being wily again.
The final hour was spent ironing the last kinks out of Chatika. The range operator projected a wide array of static targets for the drone to pepper at its leisure. From the first volley the difference was so stark that even Shepard noticed it. Even before Chatika had filled its first thermal clip, Tali turned ecstatic, repeating "It works!" for all to hear. Shepard would not point it out, as Tali would not understand the reference, but in that moment she sounded like almost like the classic Hollywood depiction of Doctor Frankenstein, shouting "It's alive! Alive!" as his monster sits up. Garrus hummed and made some notes on his omni-tool. Legion looked on, impassive as ever.
In the end, Tali changed the drone's thermal clip a total of five times. After each swap she would program it to run a sequence of increasingly complex commands, shooting targets in erratic patterns while flying various maneuvers meant to test mobility and stability while firing at full auto. In the end Chatika passed every single crazy experiment and Tali completely turned into a blissfully happy, gleeful, and oddly-adorable female version of Doctor Frankenstein.
Shepard waited for Tali to get as much of her joy out of her system before she congratulated her and made her one suggestion. That Tali should prepare more energy packs, for quick swaps, as sometimes that was quicker than recharging. She figured that since the drone's performance improved by such a wide margin, it was no longer just a decoy or a floating sensor suite. Tali was bound to use it for combat more. More firefights meant more draw on its shields, which meant more energy consumption.
Tali listened and then tipped her head to the side before saying she would ask the next Heretic she met, politely of course, to donate whatever power cells they could spare. Garrus chuckled. Shepard snorted and smiled, she knew that Tali would not make any such request, she would likely just blast the first Heretic to cross her path in the head and take its power pack. Then Tali declared that she was satisfied and proceeded to pack her drone back into its cradle.
When the four them stepped outside some minutes later, Shepard was surprised to see that a small group of curious onlookers had gathered in the vicinity of the large monitor that allowed for observation from outside the range suite. They had hurried to step away, pretend that they were just waiting their turn in the suite, but Shepard was not buying that. Then, their eyes followed Legion and it became abundantly clear why they were so interested. After that, Shepard hurried to thank their range operator so they could leave. She figured it was best to be gone, before the onlookers worked up the guts to come and ask, or worse, made the connection outright.
"That was really fun." Tali stated, as they exited the range and turned toward the nearest vehicle rental kiosk.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Tali." Shepard replied as she rolled her wrist and brought up her omni-tool to check her emails. She had been checking them about every half an hour, a quick glance at the notification counter was all it took. This time though, the counter showed that something had in fact arrived. She flicked her finger across the screen to bring up the message proper. She was instantly surprised, the message was from Castis Vakarian, confirming that he was at work today, and not too busy for a quick meeting. He was willing to spare her half an hour.
"Commander, is something wrong?" Garrus asked. "You have been checking your omni-tool all day."
Shepard looked up and smiled at Garrus. "Yea, I've sent a messages earlier, I want to meet with Liara to discuss what we discovered on Feros. There is also something else in the works, though I won't talk about it here. I also need to meet with your father regarding the murder investigation. As it happens, I just got a reply from Castis, he agreed to spare me half an hour today, if I can make it. Which I can." Well, she knew that a single half hour might not be enough, but she was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Castis could have just as easily refused her request.
"Ah, I see." Garrus replied. "Should not Kryik be there for that?"
"Nihlus is off dealing with… things. It will take a good little while. He expects the Council to be very busy today." Well, Nihlus really expected Sparatus to be recalcitrant, but Shepard would not say that anywhere in public. Garrus was certainly aware of enough background information to put the rest together on his own.
"I see. I thought he would be off doing something important, because if he was not, he would have been regaling us with his typical... ah… commentary."
"Commentary? Is that what we're calling that?" Tali asked, quietly, almost under her breath.
Shepard chuckled, "Don't let him hear you say that, but yea."
By then they were approaching the taxi landing pads, and as luck would have it, two of the three had vehicles on them, ready for new customers.
"Are you heading back to the Normandy?" Tali asked.
Shepard hummed, "I wanted to talk to Castis sooner rather than later. I don't want to be my first act as Spectre to be pulling privilege with Citadel Security, for certain reasons." She thought those would be self-explanatory. Everyone on the Normandy knew about the clone who tried to frame her, and to do so, had tried to kill Executor Pallin. She hoped that most would realize that she would rather avoid rattling that tree if possible.
"Oh. That makes sense." Garrus replied.
"So Spectre Kryik is off negotiating your status?" Tali whispered.
"Yes." Shepard replied.
"Then, yea… I think I will go back to the Normandy." Tali said. "I do not want to go anywhere near Citadel Security. They're hardly welcoming. The last thing I need is someone questioning my permission to be here. I don't want to be underfoot too."
"You will never be underfoot, Tali." Shepard protested.
The girl shook her head. "Honestly, I need to do some few little tweaks to Chatika. For one, swap ammo blocks, and full auto fire still makes it wiggle, just returning forces, but I think I might be able to do something about that. If nothing else, I'll see what parts I have on hand for power packs."
"Oh." Shepard realized that just like she tended to mask secondary reasons for doing anything, Tali might have just tried to do the same. It was fine by her, just as long as the young quarian did not think Shepard was eager to be rid of her. "Well, who am I to prevent you from perfecting your drone? Go have fun. What about you, Legion?"
"Shepard-Commander, we will accompany Creator-Zorah, to ensure she returns to the Normandy unharmed."
"Sounds like a plan," Shepard said, cutting in quickly, before Tali could mount a protest. She was not surprised either. Legion would not want to be seen by Citadel Security either. Maybe they even realized that until Shepard was a Spectre, she could not excuse their presence as well as she would have wanted. "Oh, since you are going back, could you take this with you?" She slid the bag containing her gun off her shoulder and held it out for Legion.
Tali sighed, turned, and made her way toward the closest kiosk stand.
"Would Shepard-Commander like us to place the weapon in the appropriate storage locker?" Legion asked as they took the bag.
"No, you can leave it by the lockers, I'll put it away when I get back." Shepard replied. It felt odd to be asking Legion to do something like that, but she did not want to show up at the station with a massive gun.
"Acknowledged." Legion replied as they started on their way toward the kiosk.
Shepard turned on the spot, "Oh and Tali, take a receipt. I'll reimburse you for the fare!"
"Alright!" Tali called back and then turned to the kiosk. A moment later the closest vehicle opened its doors, allowing the two of them to climb aboard. Barely a minute after that the taxi lifted off, turned on the spot and then accelerated away.
"So, Citadel Security headquarters?" Garrus asked a good ten seconds later, motioning toward the other vehicle.
"Yes, and hopefully that's not going to turn into an incident." Shepard muttered as she started toward it.
Garrus hummed as he fell in step. "So it is really happening, Kryik is off arguing for your promotion?"
"Yes. Lindholm is basically… breathing down my neck. The only reason she backed down is because parliament kind of made her. But if I don't make Spectre, or if I lose status, she will make my life hell." As far as Shepard was concerned, the hard part was making there, not staying there. She would have to give the Council a pretty good reason, something on the order of terrorism, willful genocide, or garden planet destruction, to lose status.
Just as Sparatus could not revoke her trainee status on his own, he could not get her fired on his own. He would need Tevos and Valern to agree with him. Shepard thought she could keep in their good graces easily enough.
Shepard reached the Taxi kiosk first. A few keystroke of input, telling the system where she needed to go, and the vehicle opened its doors, allowing them to climb aboard. Soon they were on their way.
Their trip to the Citadel Security headquarters was not terribly long. Waiting for their turn at reception took longer, as there was the usual lineup of people submitting employment background check forms. Fortunately the officer did not ask very many questions after Shepard introduced herself. He merely checked to confirm that Castis was in his office before he issued them their guest passes.
Shepard had hers clipped on before she was three steps away from the reception desk. She already knew where Castis' office was, and strode down the corridors like she owned the place. When she stepped through the door into the homicide squad main office, she was unsurprised to see it was busy, but in a controlled way. A number of junior detectives were at their desks, looking over things, or busy with their communicators. Her eyes landed on Bellacus, seated at his desk, and it was as if he felt it across the room and looked up. A moment later he was on his feet and making way across the bullpen.
"Garrus! Commander Shepard!" he called, causing more than one of his co-workers to look up from whatever they were doing. Not that he appeared to care whether or not he was disrupting them. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise." He finished, quieter, as he stopped in front of them.
"Hello, detective." Shepard greeted.
"Bellacus. How you been?" Garrus asked.
"Oh I am fine. Family is fine too. It has been a little… well I will not say dull, but after that case… everything feels dull. Somehow though, I do not think you are here to know how I am doing." His mandibles flicked with every word.
"We can do both, no?" Garrus replied.
"You are lying past your teeth, but I will take it, so what can I do for you?" Bellacus smiled.
"Speaking of that case… if you were referring to the same case." Shepard said. "I wanted to compare notes with Senior Detective Vakarian." Shepard would not be caught getting too familiar with Castis, not in his domain and with his underlings. "I've done some sleuthing of my own, I might have something for him too."
"I bet you have. Well come, his office is right through here." Bellacus replied as he motioned with his thumb over his shoulder.
Shepard thought Bellacus was definitely osmosing human mannerisms. It made him seem far more approachable. She would not be surprised if he was the one who brought levity to the workplace. Sometimes levity did more for a team than a dozen one-man-armies. She wordlessly followed him as he crossed the bullpen yet again.
"How is Pallin?" Garrus asked, as he fell in step at her side.
"Great! In fact, your timing is perfect. Today is his first day back at work." Bellacus' mandibles flicked.
Shepard had to stop herself from flinching. It would outright suck to bump into the Executor. Assuming her clone wore a mask, Pallin would not have seen her face, but still, how did one get through that sort of meeting? How did one go about saying something like "Hello, I'm Commander Shepard. Pleasure to meet you. By the way, sorry about my clone trying to kill you," without everything turning weird? Things could get very awkward, very fast there. Add to that the fact that she was almost a Spectre. She would not be surprised if she was a persona non grata with him. She would not blame him for any of that either.
"Perfect is not the word I would use," Garrus murmured.
Bellacus chuckled as he pressed the key on Castis' office door.
Before any of them could say anything else the door opened, and Shepard met Castis' gaze across the meters between them. He was seated at his desk, a datapad in his hands, and made no move to get up.
"Commander. Garrus."
Shepard could not even begin figuring out the chilly nip in that greeting.
"I have things I need to do, so please excuse me." Bellacus said, his own tone becoming detached. All familiarity disappeared as he made a suspiciously agile about-face and bustled away.
"Detective Vakarian," Shepard replied as she stepped into the room first.
He set the datapad he had been reading on his desk and pushed it aside, and stared her down.
"Hopefully I'm not popping in at just the wrong time." Shepard replied. "But as I've mentioned in my email, amidst averting a horrible misunderstanding between the Alliance and the Hierarchy, Nihlus and I had some time to do some sleuthing of our own. I think I know who killed my clone, but I would like to be a hundred percent sure."
"Have a seat," Castis motioned to the chair in front of his desk.
Shepard duly obeyed that request slash order, simply because this was somewhat awkward enough without her adding to it by being contrary right then. Garrus wordlessly took the other chair on her right. She also knew better than to even attempt to bargain for a preemptive agreement here. Quite frankly she did not have a lot to bargain with. Castis was the one who walked away with all the physical evidence. In fact, she did not expect anything from this meeting. In some ways this was just a display of cooperation.
"What would you like to know?" Castis asked, his voice still distant, almost chilled.
Shepard really wished she did not have to be here, doing this, right now. "I ran facial recognition on the video from the hotel." She began, but had to pause there, to think what to call Kai Leng. Ideally something that was not outright a slur. "I assume you know that you're looking for one former lieutenant Kai Leng, a former N-seven, and current disgrace to the Alliance."
"Yes. Our lab retrieved his genetic material from hairs left at the scene and matched it against the Alliance database."
"Thank you." Shepard replied.
"We even confirmed that the telomeres in our sample are the correct length, accounting for aging and therapy. You understand how that has become a factor in all of this." Castis' mandibles began to twitch ever so slightly, showing that he was biting back his amusement.
Shepard chuckled quietly, dare she hope the ice was not too thick to break? "Somehow I don't think they could clone the brand of psycho Leng is." She murmured. No, Leng was the genuine article, pulled out of his box, and used as a plaything by overgrown children. Still, it was good to know that Castis was being thorough about his confirmation process. It would mean Kai Leng would go on her guilt-free-kill list. "You must also know that he was dishonorably discharged from Alliance service, then charged, convicted, and imprisoned for a murder he committed here on the Citadel. From what I can tell, Alliance Criminal Investigative Services cooperated with Citadel Security on that case."
"Indeed. I am also aware that he escaped confinement," Castis replied.
Shepard sighed, they were going right into the thorny parts. "That is part of the reason why I'm here. He escaped from a maximum security facility. I'm not sure of the details right now, but… that's not easy without help. The pieces fit if we assume that Leng is on the Cerberus payroll. Why else would he be tying up the loose ends of their schemes otherwise? I wouldn't be surprised if he was recruited in prison, and the escape was his sign-on bonus." It did not flatter the Alliance's penal system, but it would be hardly the first time that a criminal in a slammer continued to advance their shady career like that.
"It explains his apathy. He has already been to prison, probably thinks that it will either not keep him, or he will not even see it," Garrus said.
Shepard thought it was a good thing that Garrus said that. She thought of that too, but she would not be caught dead pointing it out to Castis. The obvious might be a little more palatable if it came from his own son. "Primarily he knew he would be long gone before Citadel Security caught up to him. There was an exit strategy." Another big of obviousness, but less contentious.
"Criminals always have one," Castis said.
"He was an N-seven. He would've had more than one." Shepard replied. "It's how we operate." It went without saying that exit strategies varied. Sometimes it meant having a car stashed away at just the right spot, and sometimes it involved leaving no one alive to stand in your way out the front door. "Therein is another problem, Leng is not a civilian serial killer, akin to those monsters Citadel Security deals with regularly enough."
"What are you implying?" Castis asked, his voice instantly dropping lower as his gaze grew stormy.
Shepard raised her hands, to placate. "By my understanding, Leng killed a krogan in a club, with a single knife thrust into the brain, through the eye. Unlike a civilian serial killer, he is vicious and has the skills to back it up. He clearly thinks nothing of committing murder, he will commit more. Also, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that he's a raging xenophobe, and killing non-humans might be particularly fun. To put it bluntly, Leng poses a threat to all officers who might attempt to arrest him, but he might be extra inclined to pursue non-humans."
"I have considered that possibility as well," Castis said.
Shepard almost breathed a sigh of relief, she had just dodged a bullet. Her words were not a lie, but they were the bare minimum of her thinking. Garrus was right. The justice system could not handle Leng with conventional means. There was no point in putting him back in prison, because Cerberus could spring him even before the trial began. That was assuming Leng would allow himself to be arrested. She had every reason to suspect that his final play would end up the very worst of last stands. He would fight just to take as many police officers with him as he could, doubly so if they happened to be non-humans. Those officers would die for nothing, and that bothered her.
"Commander, you are putting me in an awkward position. If Leng is indeed working for Cerberus, a group the Council considers to be terrorists, a Spectre's involvement is the matter is… justifiable."
Shepard could not miss that pause, 'justifiable' was likely not the first term Castis had wanted to use, and it might have even bothered him to use it in that context to begin with. From the corner of her eye she was Garrus shift in his seat.
"You also came to me to confirm your target before you pursue it. Some part of me is uncomfortable knowing that my confirmation today could essentially be construed as a tacit approval for your involvement in the matter," Castis went on.
"I am sorry about that." She would not insult either of their intellects by denying the obvious.
Castis sighed, "I am not a fool. I know that Leng is highly dangerous to the unwary. It still bothers me that the best recourse we might have involves sending a Spectre after him. This should be something that is handled by the law."
Shepard nodded. There was no need to say anything to that. Castis was uncomfortable with the idea that Citadel Security would in any way owe the Spectres for anything. Leng had committed another murder right under their collective nose, and they could do nothing about it. That sort of thing left a sting that would not go away, no matter what. Beyond just a professional concern with giving the Spectres anything, Castis also had a personal reason to be concerned sitting right next to her.
Shepard knew she could do nothing to allay that one. Sure, she could promise to involve only her ICT squad, but how realistic would that promise be? Add to that, Garrus was not the type to be side-lined like that. Knowing him, he would conspire with Nihlus behind her back. Those two were beginning to develop a worrying pattern for that. It was worse than their random growling matches simply because she knew better than to think anything could stop them from scheming. Their concerns were endearing, but she was a big girl, she could handle one psycho.
Suddenly there was a chime behind her back, which pulled Shepard from her thoughts.
Castis reached straight for the button that would open the door.
By the time Shepard turned her head, she found herself locking eyes with another turian clad in a dark blue suit accented with white and some red. He was clearly older, his chocolate-colored plates were rougher. His powder blue markings covered the entire forehead plate and most of his brow plates. There were also lines down the middle of his fringe and the length of his zygomatic crests. It all framed a pair of dark blue eyes that focused on her in an instant as his mandibles drew up to his jaw.
Garrus outright shot to his feet as if the chair had electrocuted him.
That reaction told Shepard enough about who this person was. The fluency of Castis' movement to open the door told her that the meeting had been anticipated and planned for. Castis Vakarian had gotten the better of her, again, and all without even twitching. Shepard could only respect his ability to make her eat humble pie.
"Venari, hopefully you were not in the middle of anything when they called?" Castis greeted, warm and familiar.
"Nothing too important," he replied as he stepped into the room. "Garrus. Commander Shepard."
Shepard got to her feet and smiled. "Hello. I'd say this was a pleasant coincidence, but this isn't one. Pleasure to meet you to face to face, Executor Pallin." Busted or not, Shepard was not about to be rude to the chief of Citadel Security.
Author Notes: Lining up even more duckies in a row, it needs to be done for consistency and future development. Tali is getting to take a few "levels in badass" eventually, and this is part of that. And it seems like the whole universe is wising up to Shepard's machinations.
General Notes:
Nothing in particular…
Chapter Notes:
Iron Ore – Magnetite (Fe3-O4), a type of iron ore, is one of the most magnetic minerals there are. It is black in color, and can be made into a permanent magnet. Lodestones are naturally magnetized bits of magnetite. This range (and the Whistling Mountain) are rich in magnetite. Kediet ej Jill in Mauretania (Africa) is an example of such a magnetite-rich mountain here on Earth.