Ch 2
"This is a waste of time Shep, you know it is" Kaidan exasperates from his seat behind her.
Currently they were sitting in the base briefing room awaiting Kallus so they could be informed of their new assignment. Shepard was tired from the lack of sleep that usually plagued her and was in no mood for everyone's BS. William's elected to sit in the back of the rowed seats most likely hoping Shepard wouldn't notice her dozing off, though she had a pass since Shepard was well aware how infuriating debriefings could be while running on less than an hour of sleep, especially considering she was doing it right now, though she doubted anyone could tell while she was wearing her smile.
"Are you referring to the briefing Lt?" She asks for clarification, though already knowing exactly what Kaidan was referring to. He had made his opinion on the transfer to Lothal very vocal ever since Shepard had informed them of the assignment. When questioned as to why they were going to a backwater in the middle of nowhere as a team that was designed for covert ops she had given them the 'every settlement is important' speech but the truth is Shepard had no idea why she had chosen the assignment from Hackett's board, only that as soon as her eyes landed on it she couldn't look away. Hackett had even questioned her decision which was incredibly rare, though unlike her crew her excuses seemed to satisfy the gruff old moff.
"I think he's referring to our assignment to Lothal commander" Jenkins clarifies innocently. Ah Jenkins, pretty much the only member of her team who didn't feel the need to question her sanity, something she appreciated even if she understood where the rest of her crew were coming from. Even Garrus was looking at her weirdly after the assignment lock and he was still the new guy. Not Jenkins though, no he trusted her absolutely, most likely out of appreciation for actually giving him an opportunity to use his skills. Either way Shepard was grateful…
"She knows Jenkins, she's just being difficult" Williams says in an understanding tone, piping in from her spot in the corner. Jenkins looks a little surprised at her interruption, but Kaidan is unfazed.
"Aren't you supposed to be napping Lt?" Shepard asks with a smirk, not turning her head to look at her most likely beat red face of embarrassment.
"Shepard" Kaidan says calls out firmly, Shepard turns to him slowly, smile still worn in a goofy fashion.
"Yes Lt Alenko?" She asks sarcastically. He gives her an exasperated look before continuing.
"I did my research on the way here, Lothal is a backwater plain and simple" Kaidan says with finality.
"Well Agent Kallus said that it's the main manufacturing planet to prepare for the expansion into the outer rim, and if Hackett put it on the list that means he at least thinks the rebel presence is worth looking into" Jenkins offers hesitantly.
"The emperor has been talking about his expansion for years now, if it was truly that important to him, we would have had most of the Hutt cartel wiped out by now" Ashley interjects again.
"And let's not forget Hackett's list is compiled by analysts who have spent more time looking at a computer screen sifting through old data to look for patterns than any actual investigating" Kaidan says sharply, still not breaking Shepard's gaze "I bet the only reason it was even on the list is because the rebel presence here has been around for just over a year-"
"You're right, and it's time someone put a stop to it" Shepard finishes in a jovial tune.
"Shep stop acting like an idiot for a moment and talk to me, why are we here?" He asks with finality, Shepard simply raises an eyebrow at that but refuses to give in, choosing to remain silent.
"Shep" Ashley says getting them all to turn to her, a serious expression on her face "T'soni would be asking the same question…" Shepard's smile drops at that before turning away quickly.
"…Shep she didn't mean it-" Jenkins begins to rectify only for Shepard to cut him off.
"Dr T'soni is a traitor plain and simple, she asked too many questions and now she is a wanted fugitive on the run from the Empire" She snaps her head around so they could all see her look of rage "But since you're so keen to bring her up maybe you should all take a lesson out of it and shut the hell up" She turns her head away in a cracked movement.
For an extremely long couple of minutes everything is dead silent, not even the equipment in the room currently running the slide holos dared to make a sound. The members of the N7 tactical ops squad were still stewing in Shepard's outburst. Shepard takes a secretive look around the room. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Kaidan's look of barely contained frustration, the tension in his shoulders and the furrowed brow on his forehead as he looks away gives Shepard exactly what he is feeling. A slight jerk of her head and a crack of her neck gives her the angle to see Jenkins face directly behind Kaidan, a look of dejection and contemplation written on his face, slouched shoulders and a craned neck tell Shepard that he feels somewhat guilty for her outburst, something that somewhat softens her mood. A quick glance to the mirror on the right corner of the ceiling gives Shepard a look at Ashley's tired form, a similar look of dejection but more hardened, most likely since she's far more used to schooling her features… Still…
"…I'm sorry" She apologizes after a minute, she can feel their gazes at the back of her head "I shouldn't have said that I value input from all of you, it's important to me especially since this team is still somewhat new. I like to know what everyone's thinking but at the moment I'm tired and very frustrated, in some ways more than you guys are. I know you don't understand my decision to take this assignment but I need you guys to trust me…" She pleads with clenched eyes.
"…We do trust you Shepard, but you're usually pretty clean about keeping us in the loop which kind of leaves us wondering why you keep giving us half-assed excuses..." Kaidan explains softly. Shepard looks down at her desk but doesn't say anything at first. She opens her mouth to speak only for the briefing room door to burst open with Agent Kallus stepping through.
However, Shepard is surprised when he is followed through the door by a relatively short Quarian girl in a purple evo-suit.
"N7" He greets taking a look around the room "I see that one of your squad is missing commander" He observes slowly still looking around the room.
"If you're talking about Moreau I'm afraid he doesn't attend debriefings unless they directly involve him, we'll fill him in o the details when we return to the Normandy Agent" Shepard clarifies while sliding her smile back onto her face.
"Hm, very well…" He accepts the answer with a raised eyebrow before he gestures to the Quarian who Shepard now realizes is holding a datapad "N7 this is Tali Zorah Nar Rayya; she is an assistant of mine and I think you'll find her to be a valuable asset with your assignment here"
Tali gives a slight bow before greeting them "An honor to meet you all, just know I will do my best to assist your team in any way possible" She greets in a heavily modulated voice. She slowly stands from her bow and walks over to the holo projector.
"She's…. Enthusiastic" Shepard observes with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk.
"Yes she is, she's also smarter than any tech I've worked with" Kallus says with a hint of pride in his voice. Though what he said was definitely more impressive than it sounds considering most imperial techs were enhanced with cybernetic processors, but quarians can't modify like most races considering they are allergic to pretty much everything besides their home world.
"Right, I've compiled all the data I could find on this rebel cell and while there's not a whole lot there's enough to at least find a pattern" Tali explains still working with the holo until a hologram pulls up of modified VCX-100 light freighter "Keep in mind a lot of the information we have is simple educated guesses on patterns rather than any solid proof, one thing we know is definite however is the ship that appears in orbit along with every attack that has taken place"
"This ship got an ID?" Kaidan asks with an attentive gaze.
Tali shakes her head and continues "It has a pretty unique scrambler, though I might be able to track the signal if I had some time reading it, we're not going to get an ID from it unless we can get on board and physically read the ID or they turn off the scrambler while we have them locked"
"Both of which are highly unlikely" Jenkins says helpfully.
"The ID isn't necessary as it is, even if it would be helpful to see where else this scrap has been" Shepard offers gesturing for Tali to move on.
"The ship's equipment is basically a mystery, we have some data like an onboard shuttle and a few three-hundred-sixty degree twin blasters but other than that…" Tali trails off.
"These rebels are resourceful, they've used our own technology against us as well as more… Unconventional tactics" Kallus finishes. Shepard raises her eyebrow at that and gestures for him to continue "They once destroyed a carrier by launching empty cargo crates with a magnet"
"That speaks more for the competence of that carrier than the ability of a single crew on a freighter class vessel" Ashley interjects from the back in a tired voice.
"Agreed, though it could be a combination of both, after all the rebel presence has only existed here for just over a year, that at least shows some kind of aptitude" Shepard adds thoughtfully.
"Ha as someone who used to train with stormtroopers you can trust me when I say that's not exactly an accomplishment" Ashley says with a clear grin in her voice, though Kallus doesn't seem offended, no instead he seems to be sharing a conspiratorial glance with his assistant. "What is it?" Shepherd's demeaner changes to serious in a flash.
Kallus looks at her for a moment before nodding to Tali "I assume you've read the records this base has kept on the rebel movement?" He asks hesitantly.
Shepard nods "Why?" She asks slowly.
"Because they're wrong" Tali says getting everyone's attention, she has a holo of a woman with a hood concealing her face carrying a lightsaber "This holo was taken three years ago on a destroyed kyber refinement factory that was recently rebuilt just under three months ago"
"Kyber refinement? Here?" Jenkins asks in shock, standing from his seat quickly with wide eyes.
"Would you expect it?" Kallus asks with a raised eyebrow. Jenkins calms down and sits back again.
"Ok is nobody gonna say anything about the fact that that is clearly a jedi?" Ashley interjects with a pointed finger.
"Not anymore" Kallus says "She died in the resulting explosion, the governor believed she would be the last jedi seen on lothal"
"Let me guess she was wrong" Shepard says not really asking.
"Just over a month ago, a member of the crew was identified as one Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, Apprentice to Jedi master Depa Billaba" Tali explains slowly.
"And who determined this exactly?" Kanan asks in a suspicious tone.
"…An expert" Kallus answers with narrowed eyes.
"Can we assume that his master was the one who died in the refinement factory?" Shepard asks seeking to break the small tension before it grows any larger. It works as they both turn to look at her.
"The records say Depa Billaba died in the initial attack on the republic, but…" Tali trails off.
"But, since the records also say that the jedi are extinct, we should assume the worst" Shepard finishes with a sigh.
"Well that's intel for you, always assume they're wrong and you'll usually turn out to be right" Ashley says with a hint of bitterness.
"Any other jedi we should know about Agent?" Shepard asks.
"No but every member of this crew is a threat, even if most of them haven't been identified" Kallus answers slowly.
"Speaking of, let's do a head count" A few glowing blue profiles without identity holos pull up "We know they have a mandalorian on board, though her origins are unknown and we only know about her from eyewitness accounts"
"Wonderful" Kaidan groans out. Yea the mandalorian could be just as much a threat as the jedi if she's anything like the deathwatch members they've run into.
"Next is a boy who goes by a few aliases, he's been captured before but we don't have any real information on him, or any definitive pictures, just a description from eyewitness accounts and some of them are… conflicting to say the least" 'Jabba the Hutt'? Well at least the kid seemed to have a sense of humor. No one else commented so Shepard just assumed they all had the same thought.
"They also have a Lasat, though not much is known about him other than he was a member of his home world's honor guard" Tali explains.
"A Lasat? I thought they were wiped out" Jenkins says in a curious tone.
"Like the jedi you mean?" Shepard says with a smirk.
"Fair point" he gives without missing a beat.
"Yea it seems the emperor has somewhat lost his touch with genocide" Kaidan says darkly.
"Cool it Lt" Shepard warns, he doesn't say anything, but she can feel his nod.
"Finally, we have the pilot, almost nothing is known about them unfortunately" Tali says sadly, seeming genuinely dejected at not being able to find anything.
"Well, what do we know?" Ashley asks with irritation clear in her tone.
"…That she's really good at flying?" Tali offers with a shrug. The rest of the team lets out a groan, knowing intel would be the key to capturing these guys, and unknowns almost always got someone killed. Shepard however just gave Tali a grateful smile before getting up and walking to the door.
"Anything else Agent?" She asks once she touches the doorknob.
"No that would be it" He gives with a nod.
"Good, I'm gonna go brief Joker" she says walking out, leaving some very confused glances between all of the rooms occupants.
Empire day… What a waste of valuable time and resources, not to mention it pulled said resources from finding a high level security threat currently hiding somewhere in the city. A rodian named Tseebo, Tali had informed the squad that he was a low level tech equipped with a hard-drive that he had used to steal imperial secrets, what could possibly be so important on a lothalian hard-drive Shepard could only guess.
Either way, with the celebrations in full swing and Tseebo on the loose, their knew liaison saw it fit to split the team up. One half would search the city for the rodian while undercover and the other half would show up for the new tie demonstration as a morale booster. Shepard had decided Ashley and Jenkins would be the ones to attend the event, meanwhile she and Kaidan would ask around the city and smoke out any holes they come across, something she believed herself to be quite adept at.
Kaidan had seen fit to scour the outside of the city and do a physical scan for the fugitive while Shepard did some investigation. Garrus and Joker had elected to stay with the Normandy as per usual, though Garrus had some advice, he had told her to look for a bar somewhere between classy and seedy. If the bar is too classy they likely won't have any underground information anyway, at least none they could afford. On the other end of the scale, if the bar was too seedy she would likely find herself doing more beating than actual investigating, but if the bar is somewhere in the middle it'll mean most of the patrons might be willing to talk, and they should be low enough to the ground to find something useful. Only one thing, if she let on to being imperial they would most likely clam up and leave her with nothing.
That was how she found herself at Jho's bar, the walls were old but not dirty and the patrons seemed at least fully clothed. There was also only one bartender, an Ithorian, Jho she assumed. As she walked in she tried to walk at a brisk pace and give a relaxed posture, a Lothwolf in cattle's clothing. For the most part it worked, until she saw a green Twi'lek woman giving her a curious eye from her seat next to a girl in very colorful armor. The girl didn't seem to pay her any mind but the Twi'lek was trying to get a better look at her face, in response Shepard simply twisted her movement in a natural manor till she was only facing the bartender. Jho had yet to notice her, mostly focused on cleaning a glass.
She took the stool right in front of him "What'll ya have?" He asks in a modulated voice, still not looking up at her.
"Sorry still kinda new here, heh Lothal is a strange place, no offense of course" She says wearing her smirk. Jho stops his cleaning and finally looks up to meet her gaze and simulated relaxed demeaner.
"New to Lothal? We don't get a whole lot of visitors lady, you a smuggler? Or imperial?" His voice gave nothing away about his feelings towards either, it made her think he had to be used to this kind of probing. Saying she was a smuggler would probably be the easiest route, but then she takes the risk of him not accepting criminals. Then again saying she was imperial would probably have a similar effect, either way she wouldn't get anything out of him.
"I'm afraid I don't have the kind of mindset to be running around the galaxy waiting to get shot in the back" She explains watching as he reaches under the counter to grab something.
"You referring to being a criminal or being an imperial?" He asks in a slightly joking tone, though she understands the game he's playing, she didn't really answer his question and now he's 'subtly' trying to get her to let something give.
"Both" She answers simply, her smirk never wavering. The bottle and a glass are pulled out, he pours smoothly in a practiced motion, giving her a small chuckle.
"Heh, fair enough" He finishes pouring and slides it to her "So what brings to Lothal?" He asks in a semi-guarded tone.
"To be honest with you" She pauses to knock-back the drink in a quick practiced motion before setting it down just as smoothly, she lets out a satisfied sigh at the burn it gives her and puts on her smirk once again "I have no idea"
"…Yea? And how's that?" The suspicion returning to his voice, she was losing him.
"Looked at a holo for shuttle paths and something about Lothal just.. Caught my eye" She says pushing her glass to him and gesturing for a refill, he moves to grab the bottle again "I mean, after Tatooine, I figured it'd be impossible to find a more backwards planet, yet here I am stuck on the only planet in the outer rim that locks down the whole planet for Empire day 'Sigh' just my luck"
"Heh, yea I'll give you that, but at least we ain't got the Hutts running every back store deal in the system" He says loosening his tone and pouring her next drink.
"Psh there's only one difference between the Hutts and the Emperor" She prompts with a smirk, leaning back in her seat.
"Yea? And what's that?" He asks with genuine curiosity.
She knocks back the drink and closes her eyes while letting the burn travel through her body. Head still tilted up she finishes her joke "Hutts aren't as ugly" He gives a harsh laugh at that.
"Ha! Good one, but you should be careful" He warns in a cautious tone. She turns to look at him with a questioning eyebrow raised "You never know who's listening" He finishes in a low tone.
Just then three imperial pilots walk into the bar, she turns in her stool to look at them but doesn't show her whole face. They walk around the bar to several rodians who aren't even the same color as Tseebo. Then one walks up to the bar and looks to the holo screen that has been shut off by Jho. Jho in a practiced motion produces another glass of the same stuff she was having her drink and places it on the bar in front of the pilot.
"The Imperial Holo broadcast should be playing here at all times!" The pilot spits out angrily, knocking a perfectly good drink off the counter.
"No one's requested it since… well.. ever" Jho reasons with a slight chin scratch.
"It's the law" The pilot grinds out in a dangerous tone. Jho hesitantly turns the broadcast on.
The screen turns on to an imperial symbol and the imperial marching song before a deep grainy voice cuts over it "Today we celebrate the Empire's fifteenth anniversary. Fifteen years ago today Emperor Palpatine ended the clone wars and founded our great society" One of the more enthusiastic pilots decided to raise his blaster to some of the patrons.
"You hear that? Raise your cups to our great-" He's cut off when the broadcast loudly switches frequencies as a new voice cuts in.
"This is Senator in exile Gall Travis, bringing you more news the empire doesn't want you to hear, I urge you to boycott all celebrations to protest the Imperial occupation of Lothal"
"Shut this off" The same pilot from before orders Jho.
Jho doesn't move for a moment, crossing his arms in defiance "It's the law" He says in an innocent tone. In response the pilot raises his blaster to him.
"I said-" Shepard seeing an opportunity, jumps between Jho and the barrel of the blaster.
"Now hold on a minute good sir, can't we all just be civil?" She asks in a slurred tone, the smirk plastered on her face. The pilot stands in shock for a moment at her blatant interruption. She can feel the eyes of every patron in the bar on her "I mean c'mon it's empire day, why can't we just share a drink and move on? Can't let that Travis guy or whatever ruin our day right?" She holds up a drink from the kid who was sitting a few seats from her, holding it out to the pilot, continuing to play the drunken fool by putting her arm around the pilot.
"Get off me!" He shouts angrily, he shoves her to the ground roughly, spilling another drink to the ground… how wasteful. Still playing the drunken fool she pretends to have to try and stumble up as he kicks her down to the ground again. She slowly rolls to her back with a groan and sees the boot coming down, fighting every instinct in her body to catch it so as to keep her cover, she can feel the blasteel on the bottom bite into her cheek as it comes down two or three more times while the pilot grumbles something incomprehensible with the pain she was feeling. When it stops she opens her eyes to see all three walking out in a huff.
Seeing it was safe to move, she rolls onto her stomach and begins to lift herself off the ground. She feels a pair of small hands help her up from her left shoulder and another pair of much larger hands lift from the other side. They gently help sit her on her stool as Jho pours her another drink. Her vision still not clear she goes to reach for the glass only to miss the first two times.
"Are you alright?" A boy's voice asks from in front of her. Her senses finally manage to clear up and she grasps the glass, slamming it back as fast as possible she quickly slides the smirk back onto her face.
She looks to who helped her and sees the concerned face of a young teenager with purple hair "I'm fine kid, thanks for the assist though" She says reassuringly, she then realizes it's the kid who she stole the drink from "Sorry about your drink by the way" She scratches the back of her head to sell the 'nervous apology' role.
"It's fine, you might've saved Jho's life with that little act" A man's voice says, she now notices he is standing next to the boy with a strange look in his eyes, the same look the Twi'lek was giving her. She turns her head to hide her face more in response.
"Act? I was just trying to get a free drink outta the guy" She grumbles with a playful smirk. The two of them smile at her, though the boy's is more sincere. The man still seems to be looking for something in her and his gaze is starting to feel a little too piercing.
"Well you got a few out of me" Jho says from behind her. She turns to see him pouring another glass "That could've gone real bad, who knew all you had to do to get those imps to leave you alone was to get your face bashed in" He says handing the finished drink to her instead of sliding it like normal.
"Eh I wouldn't advise it, that impotent rage can be a real pain" She says taking the drink from his offered hand. "What was all that about anyway?" She asks in a relaxed tone, pretending to only be half listening to his response while holding her head in one hand and the drink in the other.
Jho takes a conspiratorial look around before leaning in close to her. She also takes a curious look around and notices that the two who had helped her were now gone. She turns back to Jho satisfied that they are now alone.
"They're looking for a Rodian named Tseebo" He explains lowly "He used to be a friend of the Bridger family but that was a long time ago"
"The Bridger family?" She asks in a semi-curious tone, this could be her in.
"Yea, used to be radio pirates, got capture some years back but Tseebo ended up becoming an imperial after that, no idea why they're looking for him now though" Jho explains in a somber tone.
"Huh" She gives in response before downing the last of her drink, she groans in pain and holds her head with both hands "Ugh, sorry Jho, I should probably go find some place to nurse this headache" She says getting up from her seat.
"Yea sure thing, hey I just realized I never got your name kid" He prompts in a friendly tone.
"It's Pax, thanks for the drinks Jho, promise I'll pay next time" She says walking away still clutching her forehead in pain.
Just as she exits the bar she turns the corner into an alleyway and brings up her communicator "Kallus, get in touch with Lt Alenko and tell him to gear up, also ask Tali to research a name for me" She speaks quietly.
"Roger, what's the name?" He asks.
"Bridger…"