Chapter 27

More days passed and there were more pointless raids. It was always the same story, first Vorlak's forces would storm into an area and kill a whole bunch of people (mainly civilians). Sometimes they attacked potentially important positions like the bunker, other times not. It never made any difference because the final result was always the same. The League never hung around long enough to capture anything of significance and we always arrived too late to do anything but clean up after them. It was maddening.

What made it worse is that, just as I had feared, Nalar had been taken prisoner when the group of delegates had broken out of the secure area. Aria had been furious about that. Not about the loss of Nalar but at the "pathetic traitors" as she named them that had gone over to the enemy. In strategic terms, it hadn't been many (a couple of Human and Turian warlords, some Batarian slavers and the leader of a nasty drug cartel) but it was the symbolism that hurt us. The idea that anyone could be tempted by the League's offer.

Aria had raged about that for days until I pointed out that the betrayal had come too quickly to have been out of genuine convincement by the enemy campaign. More likely the League had contacted them before the summit began and made arrangements with them to do this stunt. She went very cold after I pointed that out, I could almost see it in her eyes as she wrote them off and planned their very painful executions. I shivered, there were some parts of this job I was happy to leave to Aria.

It was on the sixth day that he came to us, a Salarian messenger arriving from Vorlak's camp to speak with us. We were back in Afterlife, doing our best to unwind after yet another day of fruitless searching for our target. The messenger had tried to come in quietly, approaching from one of the secret entrances with his stealth field engaged. He didn't get very far; we were all very much on edge.

He panicked and tried to run when he realised he'd been spotted but it was no use. Within minutes he'd been grabbed and dragged in front of the comfortable sofa that served as Aria's throne. She stood up as soon as she saw him, her right fist glowing an ethereal blue of gathered biotic power.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you right now and put your body on display for all of Omega to see."

"We have one of your people held captive in our camp," he reminded her smugly, though his expression changed rapidly when hers didn't.

"So what?" she asked, raising her fist to strike.

"They sent me to deliver a message," he yelped in alarm.

"So deliver it," she replied in a bored tone of voice, though she put in considerably more venom as she added

"Quickly."

The Salarian visibly gulped at this but didn't hesitate in his mission.

"Vorlak feels this conflict between us has gone on too long," he began.

"That doesn't sound like Vorlak," Aria commented mildly.

"As I recall he used to prefer to take his time with his sadistic little games."

"Regardless he is keen to finally bring matters to a head," the Salarian continued doggedly. It is hard to describe the expression we were all staring at him with at this point but if I had to define it I'd call it a mix of bemusement and incredulous rage.

"While is why, since you have not been able to catch him until now, he is willing to offer you a final showdown. A one on one fight between Omega's Queen and its Demon"

We all took a moment to absorb this, or at least all of us except for Aria.

"Suicide would have been a less painful option for him but very well, I accept."

I was just about to speak up myself (to advise Aria on all of the hundreds of ways this might be a trap) when I received a private message on my omnitool. The text simply read:

"On your right, 'Jack'"

I glanced over to my right, not seeing anything at first, but then down on the lower level, just by the door to one of the private rooms, I saw him. Peeking out from the room was the Salarian once introduced to me as Melnar Sol, the pilot in our brief attempt to escape Korlus. I should have called out, but I was confused and curious, to say nothing of the fact that everyone else seemed busy at the moment.

So instead I walked down the stairs to the lower level and joined him in the room. The door closed behind us.

"Ah, I'm glad you decided to come and chat without mentioning it to the others. I assume that means you're interested in talking rather than starting a fight?."

"I don't need anyone's help to take you down so if I were you I wouldn't assume anything right now."

"Ah, I can see you're still upset that I warned the League about your attempt to grab Anoleis. What can I say? I had orders from the League and I carried them out. I'm sure you understand better than most that it wasn't personal."

I had to admit, it was a position I recognized all too well. When I was in Cerberus I followed exactly the same code, not that it would stop me from tossing his worthless body around the room like a ragdoll if he tested me.

"What do want Melnar? Assuming that's even your real name of course," I snapped.

"No more than yours was 'Jack'," he replied smoothly.

"But... Straight to business, eh? I can respect that. The League is willing to make you an offer Miranda. While they couldn't let you take the director, he's too important to our plans, they do sympathize with your plight and they can see that you have no true loyalty to Aria."

"Maybe not, but I trust Shepard's judgment and he believes that we need her help for the war."

The Salarian looked incredulous.

"Really? Aria T'Loak of all people? I mean sure she seems to be helping for the time being. And yes I can see that she has acted with a certain benevolence towards the Normandy crew in the past but you and I both know that the only person Aria really cares about helping is Aria. Why not let a more civilized power take over the summit here?"

"Like the so-called League of One?" I sneered.

"Even if you were the real deal, the Council cast you out because you couldn't be trusted. I wouldn't say that recent events indicate a change in trajectory."

"What do you care?" Melnar asked, affecting surprise at the concerns I was raising.

"What?"

"I'm serious. Ultimately what does it matter to you what happens here so long as you get the information you came here for?"

"Which is?" I asked guardedly, unsure how much they actually knew about my search. Melnar frowned for a moment.

"We believed you were searching for your father for some reason. We know you wanted Anoleis because he was the only person you knew of that could reveal the location of his secret lab on Noveria."

He smiled warmly, as you might if you were offering up a treat to a small child.

"We have long known of its location. Whether or not your father is hiding there now I cannot say, but as the primary hub for all of his research it will doubtless contain more than enough information to help you locate him."

"And in exchange?"

"All you have to do is walk away. We're confident that without your help we can outsmart Aria."

'More likely you know I wouldn't agree to anything more and you're trying not to push your luck,' I thought to myself. Stepping up to stand in front of him, I smiled as I shook my head.

"No deal. It was a good pitch, I have to admit, but I've stood where you are now far too many times to fall for it."

He hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure of himself but not for long. Drawing himself up to his full height, he plastered another warm smile across his face as he prepared his next entreaty.

"Don't bother," I advised him, turning to leave as I did so. It was at that moment I noticed it, a slight weakness in my limbs when I tried to move them that corresponded to a fuzziness I was beginning to feel in my brain. It was subtle, barely noticeable in the way that it had crept up on me. I think I only picked up on it because I am so accustomed to my body responding at peak efficiency. Like a skilled craftsman noticing that one of his tools was just starting to lose its edge.

Suddenly I lunged for the door, but quick as I was my reflexes had been slowed and Melnar had been expecting it. Stretching out a hand he activated a program on his omnitool that immediately scrambled the door's locking software. I could almost certainly hack it, but I would have to take down the Salarian first.

Whirling around to face him (so fast that I almost lost my balance), my first thought was that he had somehow left the room. Certainly, there was no immediate sign of him, and little in the way of places to hide. Even as I scanned the room, trying to understand his little disappearing act, I could feel the disorientation increasing.

'Knockout gas, of some kind,' I thought to myself. Most likely tailored not to affect Salarian physiology. I could hope that my genetic enhancements would limit its effectiveness but something told me the League had given this a great deal of thought. Clearly their doctrine relied on high spec custom-made tech to achieve supremacy.

That's when I saw it, a slight flicker of movement to my left. Even with his cloak activated and the effects of the gas, I was able to make out a faint outline as he moved to line up his next attack. When it came I simply sidestepped his strike and pushed hard against his back when he passed, driving him into the wall. I gasped briefly as his elbow connected with my gut, but the blow didn't have enough strength behind it to wind me. Within seconds I had him pinned up against the sidewall, a thin line of cracks spreading across his visor where I had slammed his helmet up against it.

I thought that I had him, until with some difficulty he managed to extract one of his hands (which were trapped between his body and the wall) sufficiently to tap one of the controls on his chest plate. Instantly his armour began to throw off such virulent luminescence that I was forced to release him. I staggered backwards blindly, waiting for my sensitive eyes to adjust to the brightness.

The light snapped off just as quickly and he came on, attacking aggressively. I did the best I could to hold him off (his technique was somewhat sloppy in my opinion) but scarcely able to see and fighting the increasing effects of the gas, I was forced to stay on the defensive. Slowly step by step I was pushed back, blocking his attacks as best as I could (as soon as I could see them) but unable to find an opening that would allow me to strike back. Melnar smiled as I went on the defensive, knowing it was only a matter of time before I would succumb to whatever toxin he had put into the air.

We had returned to the center of the room when I finally slumped. Arms hanging loosely at my sides, posture drooped as I expended all my remaining energy just trying to stay on my feet. The Salarian stepped forward, ready to accept my surrender. Which is when I grabbed him by the shoulders and drove my knee into his abdomen, driving the wind out of him. Quickly I rose up and landed a couple of heavy elbow strikes onto his head but it wasn't enough. Exhausted as I was, I knew I had to put him properly out of commission somehow and try to get the door open before I lost consciousness.

Improvising, I tried stamping down as hard as I could on his right ankle. Upon hearing a satisfying crunch and his accompanying scream, I dropped the Salarian and made my way slowly back to the door. I wasn't moving so well anymore and it took all of my limited remaining focus to concentrate on the task of hacking the door.

I don't know what Melnar did next exactly. Overloaded my amp somehow I suspect, though it was designed to be hardened against EMP attacks. All I registered from the attack, was the blinding pain that ricocheted through my skull, tearing down the last of my resistance. Darkness came soon after, as consciousness fled.