The sounds of the creaking transport came flooding in as he came to his senses. All seeped in as the blaring alarm on his omnitool continued to sound on and off. A slight touch of the interface turned off the annoying reminder.
He looked down at his armor in the dull glow, signs of scoring and a missing shoulder pad reminded him of how he got there before passing out, both him and his new...what, employer? There she lay in the corner, almost curled up into a ball, still sound asleep. How the alarm did not wake her up was a mystery to him, then again Quarians were always mysterious with those enviro suits.
It was supposed to be a simple job...
(42 hours before, Illium)
"You called?" The sound of a gruff voice came through the door.
Sliding open, there stood a local legend or at least he thought of himself as such. If it were a Hollywood production you could have heard spurs jangling as he strode across the threshold of the office, but there were no such theatrical effects. He stopped just three paces away from the ornate desk in front of him, hands on his hips.
"Yes", the Turian around the other side replied. Waving her talons across the larger holo interface behind her.
The image reappeared before him, giving the man an eyeful. His target was slender, like the rest of her kind. She was apparently in her older years and had experience in smuggling as well some redacted records. A Salarian matron seeking a thrill ride in her final years. The mission already seemed interesting enough, now his interest was piqued.
"So what am I supposed to do, just tip her over? Judging by the marks on her face she should be just about ready to go on home, wherever the frogs go when they die."
Unlike him, the Turian across the table did not share the same sense of humor.
"Shinzo, now is not the time. She may look advanced in years but as of late she has a few kills tallied to her name."
"Ok? So she offed a few Street rats. Why the high bounty?" He replied with a subtle shrug.
"Read further. She killed police with a high powered rifle just to demonstrate its capabilities. Her clientele are underworld criminals and..."
A hand shot up from his hip stopping her mid sentence. No longer was his very figure questioning her, he knew exactly what needed to be done.
"Just point me in the right direction. I'm about to put frog back on the menu."
Turning to leave he heard rapid steps come up behind him. Claws wrapped around his chest, causing a frustrated sigh to emanate from his lips. A rough exterior nuzzled against his, part of her fringe grazing the back of his neck.
"Come back in one piece please. I don't want to pick you up off the pavement like the Elkoss job ok."
Reaching down he gently removed her claws from his waist and turned to face her. He pulled her close by the waist as he laid his lips on hers, or where hers would be. First few times in the past he tried he messed up, and of course had a bad reaction. By now though he was holding with the best of them, her being one.
"You worry too much love."
Quickly and quietly he went out the door, almost having to escape from her embrace. She watched as the door closed behind him, off he went on another job. Maybe, just maybe, he would come back in one piece?
(38 hours ago, Chang-Xiu dockyards, Illium)
Even at this time of day the dockyards were still buzzing, but not for all the right reasons. Typically most arrivals came in from the late morning to just after noon. Why they were still busy as the sun went down should have tipped off law enforcement. Then again this was Illium, local law was probably being paid to look the other way.
Zooming in through his scope, he scanned from group to group among the crates below. All were trying to pass themselves off as common dock workers to fool everyone else, but his eyes knew better. He recognized all firearms no matter their origin or their paint scheme.
"And what do we have here?" He said to himself as he spotted a new arrival.
The skycar was elegant, just as elegant as the creature sitting in it. Once it touched down, an Asari, armed with a shotgun, came around from the drivers side to open the door for her passenger. She too stepped out, making her grand entrance. Most of her kind would be quick to move, but it was obvious she did not have the kind of youth her driver did.
Target in sight he put the sniper rifle on his back and slowly made his way down. Unlike others of his profession he never bought the fancy hiking equipment. No zipline launcher, no grappling hook, just well coordinated and physical footwork.
Landing on a crate below he began his descent. Each time he would land he looked out and around to see if anyone noticed, and saw most of the hard at work dockhands still doing their patrols. Another leap here and there he could no longer see the Salarian or her entourage, so he decided to get closer.
As he took a few steps back he rubbed his hands together, he always hated these jumps. Running as fast as he could he sprang off the storage unit beneath him towards a section covered in smaller containers. Panic shot through him as he missed the crates he was aiming for, having to settle for whatever he could hold onto with the support column from an overhanging light above.
He stopped and took a deep breath, looking around once again for the sake of situational awareness. Unfortunately his strain and effort did not go unnoticed as two dock workers walked his way, pistols at the low ready.
As they drew near he used all the strength he had at the moment in his arms to hoist himself up to the crates above and just barely made it. Times like these made him question having heavier armor, but the choice was not his in the matter.
Crawling forward, the audio receptors in his helmet started to pick up on the conversation just ahead. He could sort out who the Salarian was, as she spoke swiftly. The more interesting factor was the male voice who chimed in. He never heard another transport or skycar pull in, and his helmet caught most sounds.
"I see you are a man of great stature my Turian friend. The weapon should fit such a warrior." The older Salarian said.
A series of beeps came from just up ahead. They were close, real close, and by the time he crawled out from the small makeshift cordon made by the crates he was right above them. He pulled back far enough to where he would still be in the shadows, slowly lifting out his sniper rifle and scoping in on the group below.
There she was, the woman of the hour. A former member of the Salarian STG using her renown and place in society to get one last rush. Reaching into the crate she pulled out a rifle very familiar to him and not for all the right reasons either. He zoomed in to see if he was right in his musings, and each one was confirmed.
"Why does he need the rifle? That gun of all things?" He whispered to himself.
"This rifle, as I've tested, works against civilian, and military grade armor. Nothing will stand in your sight after you pull the trigger."
The Turian walked closer, talons behind his back in near military fashion, or just an air of superiority.
"Excellent, you have outdone yourself this time Unan." He said as he lifted the hefty rifle from her arms. "I believe this will be most helpful in my task ahead."
"Indeed." She replied, wringing her hands. "I do hope Saren sent proper payment? I understand you could not afford such a weapon with your own fortunes?"
The Turian huffed at her, putting the rifle back in its proper casing. "Saren did send payment with me. He promised you would be most rewarded for your business."
Unan looked as giddy as she could be at her age, even with just a slight grin. Opening up her omnitool she primed her credit app for a transaction. The Turian did something similar, though the arm he had it on was not easily caught by the scope.
"There Unan, a gift for your service."
BANG
Out of nowhere a small explosion came back from where he had just jumped down earlier. Gunfire could be heard echoing behind, but unlike anything he had heard before. He paused for a moment and looked up from his scope as he saw what looked like an organic leap onto the roof above. Scoping in he saw what he had never seen in his life.
A red needle shot out from its form, instantly killing the Asari escort. Unan growled in anger, brandishing a hidden pistol from underneath her robe. The Turian did the same, closing the distance between the two and squeezing the trigger. He pulled the trigger three times, planting a kiss on the dying Salarian's cheek before he dropped her and ran.
Leaping down amidst the battle he ran over to the dying Salarian and held her up. Her breaths were somewhat ragged as she tried to drag air into her lungs. Her eyes shifted to meet his gaze as a small watery trail came down.
"Who was the Turian? Who is Saren?" Shinzo asked, after removing his helmet.
Unan spat blood off to the side as she looked back at him. "Who are you...such a handsome young man."
Massaging his temple with a free hand he shook his head. "I'm not going to ask again lady, who was the Turian, who is Saren?!"
She laughed.
Even on the edge of life itself she laughed. Guess he was right about the STG.
"The right question isn't who young man..." She started as she coughed another spout of blood. "I've been tracking my previous shipments to Commander Jacobus for weeks now. Go to the Crescent Nebula...follow...follow...the source."
Her last words barely made their way to his ears as she went limp in his arms. Sounds of gunfire disappeared off into the distance. The warehouse went silent all around him, almost on cue.
"DAMN IT!" Shinzo yelled. "I can't even claim this...she...GAH!" He yelled again, slamming a fist against the crate she was now leaning against.
This job just got more complicated.
(35 hours ago, Penthouse, Illium)
"She's dead, but not by your hands?" The Turian asked, hands on her hips.
"Correct." Shinzo curtly replied, taking a sip of his drink.
The Turian shook her head in frustration.
"Why would the buyer have her killed when she's been giving him weapons? More importantly who were the other gunmen at play here?" She asked herself out loud, walking over to the holo display across the room.
Both were stumped by the situation, never seen before by either. Unan always had experienced helping hands wherever she had an operation, and the other gunmen involved did not miss a single shot against them. Such accuracy was not common among anyone in the galaxy, not even the top tiers of assassins out there.
"I'm not even sure the thing I saw kill Unan...I think it was synthetic." Shinzo said, now getting up and walking over to the display.
"But who could make such things? Synthetics are banned by the council if I remember correctly. You can thank the Quarians for that." She replied.
"What about what Unan said to me? She talked about the Turian's name, think it was Jacobus?" Shinzo said pointing at the still from his helmet cam.
Talons reached out to the holographic interface. She looked up and down from where she was typing, entering and reentering his name, but there was nothing, no results. More typing came across the screen as well as a few pop ups on screen, one of which caused Shinzo to whistle.
Right before them appeared Turian military archives. Passwords encoded by the pages themselves appeared on screen as scrambled digits, then as soon as they disappeared a series of windows opened. One by one she thumbed through them all, only for each to end in the same result.
"Classified, by General Arterius...I don't know what to say." She said, running her talons down the back of her neck.
Looking up and down the pages he pointed to some of the verbiage that was not covered up at the least.
"Sealed by general Arterius, name ring a bell?"
The woman went to work again entering in more information, this time pulling up two different people, her eyes bolted open. On one side she pulled up a Desolas Arterius, former Turian general involved in some "accident" on Palaven where a temple collapsed. The other was Saren Arterius, still among the living and a member of the specters.
"I remember an incident years ago happening at an old temple on Palaven. There was a general Arterius who was involved with something underhanded there that required the temple to be destroyed..." She started, talons balled up.
Shinzo reached out to her side and pulled her close.
"Divia?"
"He told them it was to make our people stronger..."
The woman crumpled and fell in his arms, knees becoming weak as she wrapped her arms around him. Back in his time with the Alliance he was good at dodging physical mines, just not emotional ones. He tried comforting her as best he could.
"Look, Divia...look at me." He said now putting his hands on both sides of her head. "Whoever that general Desolas was, he is long gone and dead. However this Saren is and out there and apparently dangerous. Unan even dropped his name before she died which means he's up to something nefarious, especially if he's using his dead brother's name to cover records."
"You're right." She said wiping a tear making its way down her face. "We need to focus on what we have, this commander Jacobus."
She reached with her Talons up to the interface, but they were pulled down by a human hand. Her eyes met with his again, and with a familiar look to her.
The same smolder he used on her back when they first met and it always sent a shiver down her spine.
The work was not finished but it would have to wait until the next day as the lights dimmed, eventually going out.
(27 hours ago, Penthouse, Illium)
As the sun was coming up over Illium, so too was the form of the Turian laying next to him, exposed hide shining in sunlight. She was finally stirring after he had been up for the past hour, staring at the chat he had on his omnitool. The grip she had around his chest tightened, planting a kiss on his shoulder as she looked up at him.
"How long have you been up?" She asked, making the Turian equivalent of a smile.
"Long enough to speak with Sergeant Aidas who works at the docks." He replied, typing in a response to the bubble that just popped up. "You remember her right?"
"I see how it is." She said, running talons slowly across his chest, making the occasional circle. "Have fun for one night and you're done with me."
He snickered. She knew how to push his buttons, but this was just playing . Sergeant Aidas was a friend in the local police department who had an ear just about anywhere you set foot on Illium. Some thought of her as an information broker, but really she just knew where to stand and for how long in certain circles of gossip.
Divia then reached over and shut off his omnitool using the tricks she knew. It didn't matter what piece of tech or screen you out in front of her, she always found an exploit, always. The skill always amazed him.
"I know you've had plenty of time to rest...so how does round 4 sound?"
"Hmm, we've got time to kill, but let's take it to the kitchen."
(25 hours, Illium, transfer station 375)
From a distant vantage point an Asari in what looked to be a long coat looked down at the vessels docked and being loaded up one by one through the magnification feature on her visor. On the outside they looked stylish, but on the inside they were her command center. She could see a heads up display showing everything she needed to.
Reaching up to one side of the visor she pressed in and looked down at the station again, this time pulling up thermal imaging. With a flick of her wrist she discreetly pulled up her omnitool and typed in one simple word, quickly shutting it off again. Down below the fruits of a coordinated effort were coming to fruition.
As stealthy as could be, Shinzo had infiltrated the dock with the uniform he "borrowed" from a dock worker gone home after an all nighter. None differentiated him from the rest of the crew since it was a bigger facility than the one he visited last night. He made his way over to the group of Turian guards watching over the crates in the far end and eyed up the ship being loaded up behind them.
"Ship comes up as last traveled to the Crescent Nebula. The cargo comes up as research station supplies, but the planet they come from is uninhabited, so that's bull. Think you found your link to your Turian from last night, question is how do you plan on getting aboard?"
"That's up to you. How do you want to do this?" Shinzo asked, rubbing the stubble on his chin out of sheer nerve.
There was a pause over the comms. He waited for the immediate response from the one he told would be overwatch, but there was none. Getting more antsy he went over to a stack of unmoved crates off to the side to make himself look busy or even normal in this palace when one of the Turians came up to him.
"Hey human!" He said with authority. "Why don't you come over here and help us load this up?"
Caught off guard Shinzo looked from side to side. "Who? Me?"
Facepalming, the Turian in front of him walked over and held his hand behind Shinzo's back. He was guiding him over to a stack of crates behind their parameter like a child who's hand needed to be held. Shinzo abided by everything, using the hovering carrier underneath to carry the hefty load onboard the vessel.
He looked off in the distance and barely saw the asari still standing there. She seemed to be like typing something into her omnitool. Must have been a story by the time it took to finally reach him.
Freeing one arm up from the menial task he looked over to read and saw a map pulled up for him with a message. "Took a few strings with port authority, but they handed over the schematics. Nothing like knowing who was having an affair with the section chief. Hope it helps because I can't see anything inside."
This is where Divia came in.
There was a slight beep that came from his omnitool, indicating she was backpacking off his device to breach the local network. First time she attempted it was the Elmo's job and ever since then it's been a lifesaver. Another beep followed with a green check briefly flashing across the screen meaning only one thing, she was in.
"Silver 1 do you copy?" Divia started off with the code names.
"Hear you loud and clear Moonlight, over."
"Solid copy silver 1. All right remember what we planned right?"
He took a moment to think and then facepalmed. "Riiiight. Tag the ship, walk on out, meet you at the rendezvous."
"As long as everything goes peachy keen. Oh, and keep the talk down there's a couple of guards up the way."
Shinzo kept his sense of professionalism about him, acting as aloof as possible as he passed by two more turians, both were wearing high grade mercenary gear like the others outside. The guards paid him no mind other than the nice comments about the weather of their destination. He kept note to bring more than a coat wherever it was.
Walking out the same way he came in another beep came from his omnitool. Pulling it up, out of sight, he saw the overlay of the ship and an orange arrow leading to a panel just through the door to his right and then a left. Head on a swivel, he turned everywhere around, looking for straying eyes and saw not a single soul, but the mercenaries, and they were too busy making small talk.
Carefully moving out of sight he opened the door and saw a hallway with several other entrances. He quickly turned to the panel, activating the quick hack tool on his omnitool to open the small hatch. For a moment he stood there, watching the locks slowly revolve on the screen. Finally it flashed green, and the hatch opened.
Hand to his side he pulled up the small bug and stuck it far behind most of the wiring and important looking tech. Just as quickly he sent a message to Divia letting her know it was planted and shut the panel. His right foot just made it to the door when it opened for him, a mercenary standing there.
"HOLD IT! Why are you outside the cargo bay?" He yelled, raising his rifle towards Shinzo.
"I was just trying to find the bathroom." Shinzo replied, almost crossing his knees. "I think I might have mixed up the acids...oh boy...I think I'm gonna repaint the floor."
Doubling over Shinzo made the guard lower his rifle. He rolled his eyes underneath his armor and muttered something along the lines of the collective intelligence of humanity.
"For the love of Palaven, we have lavatories aboard the ship but it's only meant for crew, not you! Go find one of the portable ones outside and get out of my sight."
"Yes sir!" Shinzo said, holding his stomach as he ran.
His feet carried as far as he wanted to outside the cargo hold and out in the open of the yard. He made a b-line straight to the closest open stall, went in and locked the door.
"Mission accomplished silver 1. The bug is transmitting perfectly, and with the shielding over it they won't be able to detect any signals."
"Good." Shinzo said, actually taking a moment to breathe. "Here is where the fun begins."
Know it's been a while since I even worked on the original and yes I deleted it.
Too dark, too messy, unsure of what to do with such a character at times I decided to change things up. Reboots are not always bad.
Onto chapter 2!