The Rotunda lay before them, silently hovering in orbit. Her crew was blissfully unaware of the storm about to be loosed upon them. Behind him, a squadron of battle ready soldiers stood firm. Despite their beginnings, each and every one had earned his utmost respect. Their ability and skill were immeasurable. Each personally trained by him, honed into weapons against the reapers. His friends. His companions. His people. And now they were about to rectify a terrible and personal evil inflicted on his family.
Ever since Pressly announced that #4913 couldn't be Jane, despite his best efforts, hope trickled in from the darkness. The other girl had starved to death. And a healthy human child should be capable of surviving a month or so without food. This juvenile had died, severely emaciated, less than two weeks after Mindoir – the same length of time in which a quarian child would starve to death. Tali's mistake had been understandable.
Shepard slowly breathed in and out, calming the blood curdling rage building in his veins. This was the time for patience, for stone cold calculation. No slaver would be left breathing. He had made that clear to the entire team. If anyone was squeamish about executions, they were welcome to stay on the Normandy. But they couldn't afford any witnesses. And despite his misgivings, Kaiden still chose to accompany him. That meant something, and Shepard vowed to make it count.
But heaven help the batarians if Jane turned out to be owned by these filthy maggots. There were no measures too extreme. No lengths he wasn't willing to go to if it meant bringing her home.
The uncomfortable twang of his hidden grenades momentarily pulled him out of his violent day dreams. He shifted. Right. No cost too high. At least if slaves attacked him while he was alone on deck one he wouldn't be forced to put them down. Still, this had better be worth it.
Tali voice carried through the Worthington. "We're in range."
"Start hailing the Rotunda."
"Let's hope Pressly knows what he's talking about." Garrus groaned. Their absolute vulnerability made his plates itch.
"That crotchety old bastard is right so often it'd make your head spin. There's a reason he's my XO. Alright everyone quiet we're live in 3...2...1..." Shepard cleared his throat, trying his best to emulate a defenseless merchant. "This is the MSV Worthington requesting assistance."
No answer.
"Switch to emergency channels. This is the MSV Worthington. We're in desperate need of assistance."
A harsh guttural voice crackled over the speakers. "Acknowledged. We have you marked as Alliance. What's your status?"
"Alliance?!" Shepard retorted incredulously. "Our vessel may be from Shanxi sir, but we're independent merchants. We were set upon by unknown enemies, they fried our internal navigation and we've been adrift for months. Our ship is barely holding together and our rations are severely depleted."
"Why should I care?"
"Sir, we have supplies – ammunition, minerals, even some eezo. In exchange for safe passage, we'll give you the whole lot. It's not worth our lives. And if The Alliance is pissed, they can kiss my hairy ass. Those bastards left us twisting in the wind."
Minutes passed with no answer. They're checking our story out, he told himself. Patience. Just a few more minutes.
C'mon, take the bait.
Tali looked up at the commander. But Shepard just motioned for silence.
"Acknowledged. We'll let you dock. But our pilot wants a word with your captain. Understood?"
"You're speaking with him. Thank you sir. You won't regret this. I'll have my men prepare the cargo on approach. You can see what we offer for yourself."
"Yeah, yeah. Of course, it sounds like you guys have had it rough."
"You don't know the half of it."
The second their docking chute extended, Tali leapt from the pilot's chair and wordlessly stuffed herself into the small bin they'd set aside earlier. Garrus sealed her in while Shepard busied himself securing the rest of the team. Wrex was slumped over behind the narrow isle of faux cargo they'd piled onboard. Shepard grabbed the krogan's flask, pouring half its contents over his hulking mass for good measure before darting back to the airlock. It opened with a hiss, revealing a batarian in blood-red armor accompanied by eight others, their rifles pointed directly at them.
"Which one of you vagabonds is the captain?' The batarian in red was clearly in charge of this little group. He stepped forward in what was an obvious intimidation attempt.
"That would be me, good sir." With his trembling hands in the air, Shepard strode in front of his squad. He anxiously eyed their weapons as if he'd never been at the business end of a gun barrel before. "Please, we've been through quite an ordeal and mean no harm. We… uhhh we weren't expecting batarians. Independent merchants too I presume?"
"Something like that." The squad leader answered. "Alright back up everyone. We're just going to take your captain for a debriefing."
Expertly playing the part of half-starved body guard, Garrus shuffled forward to protest. "Not without me, or my…. Dammmit where's the krogan?!"
"Drunk or dead. I'm honestly not sure." Liara shrugged.
"Figures. When we get back to the citadel, I get his whole damn cut. That good for nothing overgrown lizard has been a pain in my ass from day one of this fiasco."
"Seriously man, you're worried about creds right now?!" Kaiden gave the turian a good shove.
"Considering our situation, and the fact I'm your protection you may want to watch your tone."
"Fucking bird. The sole reason you weren't spaced with the rest is due to the fact you're the only one who can eat that dextro crap."
"You don't have the balls to try, human." Garrus attempted to lunge forward, stumbled over some cargo and landed on his face with a nasty crack.
"Guess you ran out with the rest of us eyy tough guy?"
"ENOUGH." The batarian in crimson bellowed. "There has been a great deal of troubling news with the geth since you last saw civilization. We just need to ask a few questions."
"No trouble, no trouble." Shepard politely obliged, allowing them to confiscate the small sidearm from his belt. He was the only one completely unarmored. Kaiden had an ultralight projectile blocking vest on under his civvies. Liara wore an asari huntress outfit designed for stealth and recon. The shimmering ensemble looked closer to a strippers outfit than battlegear, but it got the job done. Wrex and Garrus were the only two in their regular gear, after all they were posing as freelance mercs hired to protect the MSV Worthington's freight.
As two guards roughly grabbed each arm and pinned them behind his back, Shepard suppressed a grin threatening to surface. This was going to be easier than he anticipated.