March 26th 2184 CE 04:21

"Alright. This time, we're approaching the doctor a bit more discreetly. Those damn cameras and mechs mean I can't sneak you two into the clinic through the front doors." Garrus pulled up a map on his omni-tool. "However, there is a point of entry through the air ducts you two can reach via the ramparts. You'll have a perfect view of the doctor's exam room."

"I don't get it." Butler protested. "He was fine the last time we met. Why are you paranoid all of a sudden?"

"A good dose of healthy paranoia has kept me alive through unthinkable situations. There's more to this doctor than meets the eye. Not to mention the fact, he somehow contacted me directly despite never exchanging information with him and my omni-tool is heavily encrypted. Unlike our other encounters, he chose the place and time for our meeting. And I have no idea where his loyalties lie."

"You think it's a trap boss?" Ripper interjected.

"No. But I want to be prepared just in case. Only reveal yourselves on my signal or if they decide to try and blow my head off. I'd appreciate some backup in that scenario."

Garrus waited, hidden from the clinic's cameras until his team was in position. His affirmation came in the form of two distinct ticks over the coms. Not wanting to appear overconfident, Garrus cautiously approached the clinic's doors with his rifle out. "Alright doc. I'm here. But I'm not holstering my weapon. Play nice and I won't shoot."

"Most unusual request."

"I won't cause any trouble unless you give me reason."

"Have overflow. Need to move patients from halls. Will not accept threat to them. Not from anyone."

"Very well."

After nearly twenty minutes, the doors hissed open and Garrus was greeted by the same young man he met during his first encounter with the clinic. He followed him inside and down the hall to the exam room. The doctor was preoccupied at his lab station, carefully measuring some sort of yellow substance. Garrus wondered if it was an acid strong enough to melt through turian hide, there was no way this guy would let anyone have the upper hand.

Straight ahead sitting awkwardly in a cheap, folding chair was the batarian they had rescued from the brink of death a few days earlier. Now that his gaze had moved from the salarian, he could feel those scrutinizing, alien eyes on him. Watching. Waiting. I knew it. But I have a few surprises of my own should you try anything.

"I'm told I have you to thank for my life." The batarian's four eyes swiveled to meet his gaze. "And that you're gunning for slavers, mercs, and red sand dealers."

"You could say that."

"I have a proposal then. There's this asshole I want dead, name's Thralog Mirki'it"

"Let me be blunt." Garrus cut him off. "I am not a hired killer. The guys I put down have it coming. And I choose my own targets."

"This guy fits the bill. I promise you that."

"I'll need more than the word of a man I know nothing about."

"Take your time and check him out yourself then. Take weeks. I don't fucking care. All I ask is that I'm there when you kill him. Prove you can do it, and I'm your man. I can hack almost anything. I promise you, I'll be the best engineer you've ever fucking had."

"Assuming this guy..."

"A red sand dealer. The nastiest SOB you've ever fucking met."

"Assuming this guy fits the criteria," Garrus raised his voice. "You're simply offering up your services free of charge? I don't even know who you are. So start talking. Convince me you're worth my time and effort, not just for your skills but your loyalty as well."

The batarian narrowed his eyes. Silence fell between them but Garrus refused to budge. Finally, seeing there was no other option he spoke. "Grundan Krul's my name. I served with The Hegemony. Those men you saved me from were some of Thralog Mirki'it's. I've been trying to kill him for months. But clearly, I can't do it alone. You help me, I help you."

"I hope you realize I put down slavers. I don't recruit them."

"Slavery is part of The Hegemony whether you approve or not, whether its own citizens approve of or even understand the consequences of it or not. I don't see how our society can move forward without it but I happen to disagree with my people on how they're treated at least until we figure out another way."

"Is that so? I don't see how…."

"Let me finish." Krul waved his hand in frustration. "Life is precious. Our slaves are, in my opinion, a precious resource and they should be treated with respect. No sapient being deserves those crude control chips or to be driven on by pain and torture."

"I don't think I've ever met a 'nice' slaver. But are you saying you won't have an issue with putting down your own people? Because we will be killing slavers. In fact, I consider it a personal mission of mine."

"The only slavers worth the oxygen they consume are on Kar'Shan and there ain't that many of them. I don't give a flying fuck what you do with the assholes out here."

"How do I know this is true?"

Krul's entire demeanor took on a different tone. His shoulders hunched and all four eyes moved to stare at the ground. "I was dishonorably discharged from the military. My sergeant got his kicks by raping and torturing the female slaves. Well, the squishy ones anyway. Guess I got sick of listening to the screams. One day, I shot him in the back of the head during one of his rutting sessions. You can look it up yourself. I'm wanted for murder in batarian space."

Garrus lowered his guard, holstered his gun, and leaned against the wall. "That sounds like quite the story. How did you escape?"

"I wasn't lying. I'm the best engineer The Hegemony ever had. Hacked my way out of my cell. Idiots thought triple encryption would keep me in."

"So you know your way around batarian coding? Say I wanted you to infiltrate a slaver ship and download the data on their slave holdings, could you do it?"

"You deaf or just slow? Maybe I should shout? I was the best engineer The Hegemony ever fucking had. Yeah I can do it. Don't know why you'd bother though."

Garrus scarcely refrained from flicking his eyes in the doctor's direction. "I'm looking for someone. But this isn't the place for that kind of conversation."

As it turned out, Krul was more amicable than Garrus expected. Without protest, he allowed himself to be blindfolded for their journey back to the base. A safety measure Garrus was loathe to ask for, but on Omega, trusting someone without verifying their story was akin to suicide.

Once they'd arrived home, it took less than thirty minutes before Garrus was certain of Krul's story. He was listed on The Hegemony's most wanted list for the 'grotesque murder of a high ranking official of fine caste.' Both his picture and DNA identification markers were posted on the extranet in an effort to capture him. It was clear that harboring the batarian would be risky in and of itself. Every bounty hunter with a pulse was after the hefty reward. But hunting down Omega's most notorious gangs wasn't for the faint of heart. If this guy was as good as he said, the risk was worth it.