2174 CE

"So then the mad Salarian scientist turns himself into a pickle!" Castus spoke. "Funniest thing I'd ever seen in my life!"

Jason couldn't help but bring his face down onto the palm of his hand as he began giggling almost uncontrollably to an extent that his sides began hurting. Jason had come to visit his two friends at their apartment and Castus was in the process of telling them about a vid-series he was watching. Zuna, on the other hand, was less amused.

"So... he turns himself into a pickle? I don't get it, what's so funny about that?" she asked.

"Well, I mean, he's a genius that can basically do anything and he turns himself into a pickle!" Castus explained. "It's just ridiculous!"

"Well, I guess it's ridiculous but I don't see how it can make you two laugh this hard." Zuna persisted.

"Ok, ok, maybe it's not for everyone." Castus relented as Jason finished off the last remnants of his laughter, its true extent unknown to his two hosts.

Spending time with these two was always pleasant to Jason. It reminded him of the friends he once had in his childhood and offered a break from all the action and boredom of killing people for a living. Not that Jason needed it, the power of his Light had given Jason more than just his superhuman abilities - there was also a mental component. Through analysis and discussion with Templar, Jason came to realise that his Light also strengthened his mind, in a sense.

He could fight for pretty much an indefinite amount of time and not have any emotional drain. His body could do it, of course, but thanks to his Light his mind became immune to exhaustion. He could go from fight to fight, bounty to bounty and not suffer any battle fatigue. Templar suggested that perhaps this might have other effects on his psyche, that this change might have made him less human. Jason had to admit, how little he cared for those he killed and those that were killed as a result of his actions was maybe cold but he countered that those he killed were pirates and criminals. He still knew right from wrong and would try his best to save the lives of innocents but there'd be no use crying over spilled milk.

He didn't put too much thought into it all, though. He liked the fighting and he liked being in combat - he quietly revelled in the mayhem of battle as some sort of god of war. He was a soldier and he'd been given powers fit for destruction, what else was he to do?

You've got mail. Templar spoke as Jason reached the docking bay holding the Tempest.

From whom? Jason asked.

An Asari Matriarch, apparently. Remember that Batarian frigate you rescued the four Quarians from and returned to the Fleet? Templar began. Well, there was an Asari in the slave cells. Her mother appears to be a powerful Matriarch and she wants to see you so she can offer her thanks in person - she mainly lives on the Citadel, it seems.

That was a little while ago. Jason countered. Why now?

Only one way to find out. Templar shrugged.

Jason was naturally suspicious at the information Templar had just given him, chief among them was that this Matriarch knew Jason was on the Citadel. As Templar had said, this Matriarch was a powerful one and obviously, she would have access to networks of intelligence but to contact Jason only when he was on the Citadel told him that the Matriarch had already been tracking him beforehand. Whatever the case may be, Jason concluded that he had to proceed carefully - who knows what forces might be at play here?

Jason went back into his ship and felt the ever-familiar touch of the inside of his armour and the all-seeing sensors of his helmet. With respect to diplomacy, he would once more elect to carry just his hand cannon. The message he was sent contained a pickup location for Jason where he'd be taken to the Matriarch. This woman appeared to favour discretion and this only further supported Jason's previous thoughts as he made his way towards the given location in one of the Wards.

When he got there, he went about analysing the potential trap. A skycar was waiting with a squad of Asari commandos guarding it in a back-alley that was less travelled. Jason's sensors told him that the squad of commandos were the only ones present but he remained cautious as he went about approaching the party.

They all became aware of his presence as soon as he stepped foot into the alley, most of them turning their attention towards him with a few maintaining lookouts for anything untoward. When Jason drew closer, the apparent leader of the squad stepped forward.

"Jason Miller?" the Asari asked.

"Your Matriarch wanted to see me?" Jason replied.

"Letenia Daala, my squad will escort you to Matriarch Sarina's residence." the Asari spoke and gestured towards the skycar.

Residence? Jason raised an eyebrow under his helmet.

The skycar itself was bigger than the average. It had 3 rows of seats that could accommodate 8 standard humanoids. There were 2 seats at the front with the centre separated by flight controls and other faculties whilst the remaining 2 rows were uninterrupted seatings that could accommodate 3 standard humanoids each. There were 5 commandos present, including their squad leader.

Not a single word was spoken as the skycar lifted off and headed towards the Presidium.

As Jason was escorted to the room where we would meet with Matriarch Sarina, he took in the opulence on display in these magnificent halls. Pieces of art, plants, et cetera were all on display in these halls reminding all those that walked them just how powerful was the individual whose halls was being treaded. Or maybe they just liked to look at them.

Jason was finally brought to the destined room where one Matriarch Sarina sat upon a couch, not too dissimilar to a certain Pirate Queen of Omega, though this room was much quieter and cleaner - in all the ways one could imagine. Inside the room with the Matriarch waited more Asari commandos. Together, with Letenia's squad, made a total of 12 commandos.

Jason didn't like those odds. He was used to fighting multiple enemies by himself, yes, but they weren't Asari commandos. Even the Turians named them the finest warriors in the galaxy, each commando having decades of training and experience - if not more. The long lifespan of an Asari simply allowed them to hone their skills over a period of time that was simply not feasible for the other races, a fact that's resulted in more than one blue woman developing a superiority complex.

Up against these odds, Jason estimated that he'd be able to take down maybe a handful of them before he was torn to shreds. Even if they were all naked and unarmed without kinetic barriers, they'd still tear him apart with their biotics.

He had to admit it, though. It was dignifying that a Matriarch would choose a bodyguard of 12 Asari commandos for a meeting with him.

His thoughts were concluded as the Matriarch greeted him from her seat.

"Jason Miller?" she spoke with confidence and wisdom. Jason couldn't help but think of Mara Sov, the Awoken Queen from Destiny. On the surface, they seemed quite alike.

"Matriarch Sarina." Jason replied and nodded his head.

"Come." the Matriarch spoke smoothly and gestured towards the couch opposite her. "I would not have my quest stand whilst I sit."

Jason once more thought back to his first meeting with Aria as he obliged the Matriarch and sat down.

"Would you honour me by allowing me to see your face, Mr. Miller?" the Matriarch asked.

Again, Jason obliged. He moved one of his hands up to his helmet and, with a small hiss, lifted the helm and placed it beside him on the couch as he returned his gaze towards the Matriarch. The Matriarch was content to look at the man's face for a fair few seconds before speaking once more.

"As was stated in the message you were sent, I wished to meet with you in order to thank you in person for rescuing my daughter. Ask anything of me and you shall have it." she said calmly.

"Hard to imagine the daughter of a Matriarch such as yourself ending up in the hands of some Batarian slavers." Jason replied.

"She was always somewhat unruly. She wanted to explore the galaxy and meet all the many peoples that inhabit it so I allowed it, under protection from one of my commando squads." the Matriarch spoke in that perfect, soft, and calm voice of hers and Jason would feel the squad of commandos that had escorted him here tense up. "She slipped away from their watch, wanting complete freedom away from the prying eyes of her mother's enforcers but ended up in the hands of those savages. They were not kind to her and so I must thank you, both for rescuing my daughter and for killing the men responsible."

Whatever emotion there was behind that porcelain face, Jason could not determine it. Her tone, her eyes, and her body betrayed no emotion or thought as she spoke her words to the human sitting across from her. One thing Jason did know, however, was that she was holding something back.

"That's not the only reason you asked to meet me, was it?" Jason asked.

"I understand that you are a bounty hunter, yes?" Sarina replied. "I would like to hire your services, to bring down the man truly responsible for my daughter's abduction."

"Oh?" Jason wondered.

"The Batarian frigate owed their allegiance to another, a human." the Matriarch spoke. "He was responsible for funding the ship as well as many others and reaping the benefits from such an investment. Finding out who was truly responsible was the reason why I've taken so long to contact you, Mr. Miller."

There it is. Jason thought to himself.

"Why not send your commandos? They should be more than capable." Jason asked.

"They are certainly capable but I specifically wanted you." Sarina replied. "You took down a frigate full of Batarians all by yourself and the wanton disregard you held for those men you were murdering inclines me to choose you to help carry out my vengeance."

Jason considered her words for a few moments before replying.

"I'd like to know more." he said.

At that, one of the commandos that had originally been waiting in the room pressed a few buttons on her Omni-tool and a holographic display came on between the human and the Matriarch showing the 3d image of a human male in his late 30s.

"This is Michael Hunter, a 'businessman' who has a propensity for less legitimate avenues of revenue. He lives here on the Citadel with his family. I want you to capture him and bring him in to me." the Matriarch explained.

There was other information displayed alongside the man's image but Jason's attention was focused on the one that said he was in the Presidium.

"A raid inside the Presidium itself?" he queried.

"Conditions will be set for you and a team of commandos to insert yourselves into his residence and capture him." Sarina answered as the door to a side room opened.

"C-Sec won't be a problem." came the voice of an Asari as she walked into the room towards the meeting human and Matriarch.

Jason immediately recognised the approaching Asari as none other than one Tela Vasir, Council Spectre and agent of the Shadow Broker. It seems that things had just become a whole lot more complicated and Jason's mind began racing about the possible implications that might become of this. If a Spectre was involved in the operation to bring down this Michael Hunter then they definitely didn't need Jason which meant they must have had ulterior motives for wanting him to be here.

Was Vasir investigating him? Had he drawn the attention of the Council? The Shadow Broker? Was Matriarch Sarina in league with the Shadow Broker? All of these questions were unable to be answered as the security on the Omni-tools of all these Asari meant Templar was unable to gain more than surface-level information without risking intrusion alert. This was true for the more mainstream networks as well. For example, Templar could pull some decent stuff out of the C-Sec networks but the deeper-level shit was out of reach if Jason wanted to remain unnoticed by the law. All he knew was that he had to tread very carefully.

"Spectre." was the only word that came out of Jason's mouth.

"Tela Vasir. My investigations led me to cross paths with Matriarch Sarina's agents and now we're working together to bring down this criminal." Vasir explained.

There was a pause before Jason spoke.

"And his family?" he asked.

"Firefights can be chaotic and oftentimes non-combatants can end up in the crossfire." Vasir answered and Jason understood her implication.

"If your honour prevents you from taking such an action then I will think no less of you." Sarina spoke. "While this proposition was part of the reason why I wanted to meet with you, my wish to offer you thanks should not be discarded from thought."

"Well, I doubt they're innocent." Jason shrugged. "I won't lose sleep over a guy that funds slavers losing his wife and kid."

"Good to hear." Vasir replied. "The raid will occur during the night cycle. Hunter has people inside C-Sec so any notification to them would only tip him off and he'll be gone within the hour. When we breach the residence, I'll send a pre-scripted message to C-Sec informing them of our operation and have them move into the area to set up a cordon. We'll go in through maintenance ways and exfil via shuttle."

"Sounds good." Jason spoke.

"Set, flash ready." Jason spoke as he and 2 commandos stacked up on a door. One of the Asari opened the door and Jason quickly tossed the grenade inside. As soon as he heard the flash, he rushed in making sure not to stay in the doorway and fired his shotgun, Found Verdict. He took 2 guards down whilst the Asari commandos quickly finished off the remaining ones. Jason had definitely not underestimated their prowess when first meeting them but seeing them in action definitely allowed him more appreciation for his earlier assessment.

They were fast, agile, and precise - more than worthy of the title of 'commando'. He took a liking to working with combatants more to his skill level. The guards weren't a joke either. They were organised, disciplined, and offered a commendable defence. Jason's kinetic barriers were broken on more than one occasion to concentrated fire. He, too, took a liking to fighting enemies more to his skill level. For all their worth, though, they could not hold back Jason, a Spectre, and a squad of commandos.

From behind a flipped table Michale Hunter jumped out and prepared to fire a pistol right at Jason's face before he was knocked back against the wall with a biotic throw.

"Room clear." Jason called out as he moved towards the man and kicked his pistol away.

The man tried to get up and offer more resistance but a swift whack from the butt of Jason's shotgun sent him back down, though he made sure not to render him unconscious. The man's wife and son were crying in terror at the invasion of their home as Jason grabbed the man by his hair and pulled him up. He was made to watch as an Asari commando sprayed his family with mass-accelerated fire. He was allowed to cry out in pain at the loss of his loved ones before he finally felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and was embraced by unconsciousness.

Letenia was impressed by the human bounty hunter. His speed was unrivalled. On more than one occasion during a door breach, he began firing his shotgun before he even made it through the doorway. She couldn't help but compare him to the few human N7s that she had worked with and trained with though if she were to be remiss, she might even say that he was better than an N7.

His file said that he was only in the Alliance Marines for a short time before leaving to pursue mercenary work. This apparent lack of insight made Letenia curious and suspicious at the same time. Maybe this was why her Matriarch wanted the human to be present, to find out more about this human.

When Letenia first learned the human that had freed the Matriarch's daughter from slavery was being asked to join the raid to take down the man truly responsible for said abduction, she was resentful. It was through her mistake that the Matriarch's daughter was taken in the first place and it was her job to find and bring in the person responsible for it all. After all of this, though, Letenia now thought that maybe recruiting this human was not a punishment for her after all.

"I find myself in the position of offering you my thanks yet again." the Matriarch spoke. "And yet you still have not asked anything of me."

"Well... I'd like two things, actually." Jason replied. When the Matriarch remained silent, he continued speaking. "I'd like your friendship."

"I cannot give you what you already have." Sarina replied, understanding the implication. "Should you ever have need of my aid, you may call upon it."

"Thank you, Matriarch. As for the second, I have two friends here on the Citadel." Jason began.

"Yes, Castus Santius and Zuna'Vulan nar Fima." the Matriarch finished for him. "They will have my protection, though my influence is not without limit. So long as they remain on the Citadel, no harm will come to them."

Of course, she knew. Jason exclaimed to himself. All the more reason to have gained her as an ally.

"I suppose I find myself thanking you again, Matriarch." he spoke.

"Think nothing of it, Mr. Miller. It was been a pleasure making use of your services. I bid you farewell and safe travels." Sarina replied.

"And I, you, Matriarch Sarina." Jason returned.