Chapter 19

Part 3

The Citadel

The second part of the Citadel arc is here people. I hope you like it.

To answer Blac Magic

1) Anastasia is Anastasia the winged. Number 7 of the latest generations of warriors. The generation that mostly lived only as a buffer to let us see the Ghost's exploits to be precise. I liked their characters in the manga, for what little I could see that is. And Yes! We shall see more of her in the future.

2) Yes, Aran is still alive, and we shall soon meet him again.

3) In the first chapters, it is explained that Lena is number 22 of the latest generation. I did this because the latest generations are poorly fleshed out by Yagi, because all the story is mostly focused on Miria and her champs, naturally. I liked them and wanted to flesh them out a little in my fiction.

After all, apart from Audrey and some others, they get so little space.

Technically speaking the number 22 of this generation is Noma, but she gets so little screen-time (literally three pages and stop), that I decided to replace her with this. I wanted a Claymore strong enough to be a powerhouse if needed (so nothing from 47 to 31) but weak enough to not be a one-woman army (nothing from 1 to 19). In the end, I choose 22.

4) How Claymores exists in the ME universe: there are theories that Shepard himself will say once he sees the planet, but these theories will have holes that need to be fixed. What I can tell you is that, if the response is good, I will continue Lena's story with ME 3 and here the truth about the Claymores in this universe will be explained.

5) signature move, except for her stone-skin, I am not sure yet. Maybe after the loyalty mission. Who knows?

Citadel station. Zareka wards' walkways. 18 01 Citadel hour.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed across the empty halls of the Presidium's walkways, across tunnels and damp corridors usually used only by Keepers and duct rats. The sound was one of the heavy boots, and delicate feet, one not common among the people used to trudge their way through such muck and filth. Its usual inhabitants, rats both four and two-legged, scurried away at their presence, too afraid to face such dangerous interlopers. A wise move, because one was a renowned Spectre, infamous across all the Citadel for his heroic exploits and dangerous if only hypothetically, connections. And the other...

"I cannot believe I decided to follow you into this stupid quest!"

"Same here. I thought you wanted to go back to the Normandy after having your mind scrubbed by that Asari."

"And how was I supposed to leave Thane alone with a problem like that? I owe him as much, at least."

"And now your best dress is a torn mess of threads and ripped cloth. Kelly is going to tear you a new one once back on the ship."

Lena sighed, slowly, as her legs trudged inside the sticky mess that was the Citadel's tunnel system, where the infamous Rats lived and plied their trade. A filthy, dim and utterly disgusting series of holes, catwalks and damp rooms covered in cold metal, plastic tubes and every kind of trash and filth ever conceived by the Claymore's mind. And lots and lots of sharp edges that tore Lena's dress to pieces.

Riiip. A piece of her breeches disappeared under the broken rests of dozens of scattered bottles of boozes. Remains of a night of insanity done by some bored idiot.

Riiip. A flank of her upper dress scattered as she hit a ragged edge of a broken tube with her elbow.

And so on and so on and so on. It reached a point where her dress became so ruined and broken that Lena had to fashion together a new cover with fabric found on the ducts and what was left of her clothing, creating a curios mishmash of cloth in the end. At least it covered most of her body. Although for how long was an interesting question.

"You should have told me that the mission involved crawling in these sewers before accepting my help," commented Lena acidly. "I would have refused. Or at least looking for a better outfit first. I am armed only with my sword!"

"Yeah, sorry!" answered Shepard sheepishly "But when we wrestled the name of Talid from that asshole of Kelham I had no idea that the only way to follow in secret that Turian would be the upper conducts. Besides, since when you need more than that hunk of steel?"

Right. Thought the Claymore while ruminating about her own words. Since when? This universe was reshaping her in something different. Back in the island, the idea of using anything else than a Claymore would have been absurd.

"Shepard, here's Thane." suddenly asked Thane from their shared inter-comm "Update of the target?"

"One sec. Lena?"

Once again, Lena moved away from the main catwalk and aimed her eyes at the scenery below her. The Zakera Wards were back in front of her eyes, in all their shining glory and the people milling their life inside it. Every time the scenery was different: from small plazas to local bars to throngs of adoring voters claiming for Talid's elections and kicking humans' asses into the dirt. This time it was the multitude of Asari near a small fountain.

"Thane. Target is talking to some voters near a fountain. Third street, number 382." Again, Lena marvelled at just how little space there was between the open parts of the conducts and the people below. No more than seven meters, but the people below treated it as it was an impassable chasm. No one checked above their heads if someone was looking at them. All lived their life and ignored what happened just up their heads. Thane was right into calling the ones living in this tunnels of hell "The Invisibles".

"Still with his bodyguard."

"Acknowledged," replied Thane quickly. "Any signs of Kolyath?"

"No."

"I am moving to another position, ahead of him. Keep me posted."

"Fine." huffed Lena annoyed. So far this mission had been nothing else than following this Talid piece of shit, collecting proofs about his black business of extorsions and intimidation and hearing all of his bullshit about humans and crime. And no signs of Kolyath, Thane's son and would-be killer in training.

It was in moments like these that Lena wondered why in the Goddesses' name these people stuck to a regime like democracy. Monarchies were far better in dealing with slings like this one. Democracies, in her humble opinions, worked only in small groups, like the villages' councils.

And even then there were problems. Claymores like her back on the island worked well in democracy only if the dominant leader was indeed one of a kind, while during a hunt you declare a chieftess and be done with any squabbling.

"Let's keep moving Lena. Our target is going away."

"Coming, coming. Goddess's damnit," replied Lena darting away from the catwalk. Too quickly and without care.

Riiip.

"Fucking hell! Not again!"


Inner catwalks of Zakera's wards. 18 08 Citade hour.

"What the hell?"

"What the hell?"

"Why in the Goddesses' name there is an idiot like you sleeping in this rathole right now!? We have no time for this!"

The three people holed inside the small room looked at each other with various degrees of emotions. Shepard was looking with mild amusement at the human clerk in front of him, eyeing the small room in the catwalks he had confiscated for himself and furnished with third-rate chairs, tables and drinks. The man himself, no more than thirty years old, was watching the two soldiers in front of him with conflicted emotions. Dressed with simple robes made of black trousers, brown shirt and a dusty jacket, the man switched from fearful glances aimed at Shepard's armoured frame to the utterly confused (and slightly aroused) gazes aimed at Lena's now barely covered forms. Even despite the traces of the scar coming out from her ruined dress.

Lena, on the other hands, was too busy incinerating the annoying man in front of him with her silver eyes, especially when she noticed where his eyes were looking at.

"What are you doing here, son?" Shepard was the first to regain his senses and tried the diplomat way. Truth to be told, he already knows why this boy was here. He just wanted to be done as quickly as possible.

"We are from the Citadel security and cleaning service." lied Shepard smoothly "People warned us about strange rumours coming from the upper wards and sent me to come and check."

A bold lie that might have worked had Shepard coma alone. But with Lena next to him, and in that peculiar state, it crumbled into pieces.

"Cit...citadel security? With that get-up?" Snarked the slippery store clerk as a mischievous smile appeared on his shaved face. "Bullshit! I think I know what you are. A pair of creeps playing some kind of role-playing bullshit! You know, the shits that people like you doing for getting all hot and bothered becaus..."

Before the poor fool had a chance to end his words, Lena dashed faster than lightning and grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him like he weighed nothing and holding him in the air."

"You cursed, worthless piece of filth!" snarled Lena at a now utterly terrified man dangling on her arm.

"Give me a reason why I should not break your neck right now."

"I will give you two, Lena." intervened Shepard on her back "First, it would be a senseless murder. Second, we do not have time for this, so put him down. Besides, I am sure this fine gentleman has learned the lesson, right?"

The terrified man coughed and nodded frantically in the air as Shepard spoke.

"Fine!" snarled Lena, relenting in her rage. She freed the terrified man from his grasp with a snap of hand, letting him fell on the ground like a sack of fruits, coughing and sputtering.

"Shepard. Where is Talid? I need an intel now. Kolyath is moving." came Thane's voice in a hurry, cutting the problem at the root.

"Understood." answered Shepard "Lena, we are out of time. Deal with him as fast as you can and then reach me. Understood?"

"Understood Shepard."

The commander didn't even wait to see how Lena wanted to follow her orders and sprinted toward the exit, pistol in hand just in case.

Lena, on the other hand, let a smile of pure evil emerging on her face as she slowly approached the terrified man still on the ground.

"E...ehi listen, you crazy lady." tried to ward her off the man still in the floor, sweating bullets from her front

"You cannot kill me. I...I am someone important and...it is a crime. Please, I didn't mean it. I swear!"

"Oh shut up you idiot. I have no intention to kill you." The man sighed in utter happiness at this notice and stopped shacking, but quickly began anew when Lena pointed her sword at his neck

"However, I will take one of your bags and all you are wearing at the moment. Apart from the underpants, of course."

"But!" protested the man, only to have Lena's sword dangerously close to his carotid.

"Were you saying?"


3 minutes later.

Kolyath looked nothing like his father. Where Thane was tall, athletic and of green scales, Kolyath looked lean, short and of blue scales covering most of his body. The eyes and gills looked the same, but that was about it. The boy's movements were sluggish, fresh and untested compared to the father's practised fluidity.

Still, you do not need much fluidity and experience to place a bullet inside a hostage's skull, as Kolyath was ready to do to Talid right at that moment. Both Thane and Shepard had missed the perfect moment by a mere second. Instead, they ended up in this fucked up hostage situation inside a mercifully empty bar with a son with parental issues and a bloody Turian racist in the middle.

"Kolyath, listen to me! If you decide to follow this path, you shall not be able to move away from it."

"That's rich coming from you, father. Were you not too busy killing targets left and right all across the galaxy while mother and I waited in vain for you at home?"

"You are angry for my sins, and you are right for it. But this is not the way."

"Spare it! Spare it, father. You left both me and mother for years alone, too busy with your damned job, and now you have the gall to come here and lecture me about what is wrong or right?! Do you know why she died?! Because they wanted to rat you out. She died alone, with me whimpering in fear inside a safe room because of YOU."

"And this is a sin that will forever haunt me until my death, Kolyath. I cannot rewind it no matter how much I wish it. But I can prevent you from following the same path."

"And what if I want to follow it?"

As if to prove his point, Kolyath moved his heavy pistol again toward Talid's skull, forcing his hostage to squeal in fright and stop Shepard for doing any actions.

Shepard grimaced, and he was not alone, unfortunately: He and Thane were not the only one witnessing this family drama unfold. Bailey, the head of C-Sec security, was also with them, probably warned by his underling. His help had been crucial in tracking Kolyath, but now his presence made it all official, and damn challenging to cover up if necessary.

"Shepard, if he dies, we are all in a sea of shit, face down first." Whispered Bailey, his old, craggy features tightening under the pistol on his hands.

"Noted Bailey, now stay calm." answered Shepard back as he slowly moved toward Kolyath "I just need a distraction."

"No joy there. The boy is an inch too close to the hostage Shepard."

"I know! Fucking hell I know! We need a distraction!"

And as if called, a distraction arrived, in the guise of Lena. Stopped by the lazy worker, ordered to deal with him before coming, the Claymore made her sudden appearance only now inside the delicate theatre of operation. Dressed in the man's fatigue, she had just left and sporting her greatsword. Her presence spooked Kolyath that reacted out of pure instinct at her appearance.

"What the?" Wondered the younger Drell in awe at her, pointing the gun away from Talid for a split second.

All that Shepard needed.

The commander sprinted with all the speed his enchanted body could muster, thrashing tables and chair in his mad dash toward his target. Less than two seconds passed in a flash and Shepard suddenly found himself in front of a stunned Kolyath and reacted as fast as he could.

He hit the youth with the back of his gun with enough strength to break his jaw, wanting only to subdue him as quickly as possible.

Kolyath reeled under the blow, blood spewing from his now split lips, and did precisely what Shepard wanted: he lost focus and dropped the gun.

A kick to the groin and a jab to the stomach quickly followed Shepard against his downed enemy, making sure that he would not raise that swiftly. No compassion was given despite the youth's age. Shepard had to be sure that stayed down.

When he was done, Kolyath was on the ground, groaning in pain but still conscious, and no more of a threat.

"Sorry Thane, but I had to be sure," said Shepard sheepishly back at his friend once the deed was done.

"Don't. I understand." answered Thane "He shall lives. That is all that matters now."

"Agents. Escort Mr talid to a safe zone," said Bailey to some of his underlings after witnessing Shepard's takedown, not without leaving a sigh of relief.

"You gave me a bloody heart attack with that stunt Shepard. Glad to see that it worked. Now, about the boy."

"Father. You have never cared a lick about my life, and now you pretend to guide it?!" groaned Kolyath on the ground, massaging his head and interrupting Bailey on his track.

"Your father is dying, Kolyath." intervened Lena all of a sudden, finally speaking since she had arrived.

"He may not be the best father of the galaxy, but he still loves you, and he is trying to correct his mistakes. Listen to him. He deserves as much."

"W...what?" cursed Kolyath as he slowly moved up from the ground "I am supposed to forgive him and let the past go? Just like that? To let him die in peace?"

"Kolyath." Thane spoke finally, and inside his dry voice Lena and Shepard felt all the guilt of a father suffering for his son "I have come to grant YOU peace."

A profound silence followed his words before he spoke again.

"When your mother died, I tracked their killers. From the henchmen to the ringleader. And killed them all, slowly."

Dry laughter escaped from his lips.

"It was vengeance, and like all acts of vengeance, hollow and detrimental toward what truly mattered. You. When I came back, I found you older...changed. I should have stayed with you."

"Then why you didn't?" asked Kolyath, and this time Shepard saw a tear escaping from the boy's eyes. He even began shaking.

"I...Kolyath. I did many things during my life. Terrible things that needed to be redeemed. You are the only good thing I have ever done, risking it during my redemption was not an option."

"Ahem!" Bailey interrupted the moment between father and son all of a sudden, not without sadness escaping from in his mouth.

"Gentlemen, this is not a discussion you should have here. Boys, take Kolyath to the precint, but allow his father to come with him, and grant them all the time they need." He ordered to the C-sec guards now swarming the scene.

"Thank you, agent."

Bailey let a kind smile escape from his old lips, followed by eyes filled with guilt.

"You think you are the only man that screwed up raising a son? If I can help you mend the cut, then I am more than fine with bending the law a bit."

He refused to speak up more about it, and Shepard did not force him to do so.

"Come on, I will give you all a lift."

"Shepard. I 'd rather go now. Back to Raina." added Lena back to Bailey and Shepard, a strange expression marring her face. Shepard and Thane immediately understood the root within it.

"Of course, Lena," said Shepard. Thane even approached and grabbed her hand, the gesture sad and kind at the same time.

"Thank you for everything Lena. I owe both you and Shepard a great debt. Someday the gods will allow me to repay it, and I know this. Now go, and be happy with her, and her with you." A tear, a single tear escaped from Thane's lidless eyes, hitting Lena's hand with the strength of an avalanche.

"And promise me never to make my mistakes. Do it for her."

A lump of pain ended stuck inside Lena's throat, and for a second she saw Raina instead of Kolyath dragged away from the C-Sec, going to a possible life of crime because of her failings as a mother. Only thinking about it broke her heart.

"I...I will not." for the first time in years, Lena's voice now quivered just as her arms "By the Goddesses, I swear I will not."


Praesidium district. One hour after Kolyath's arrest.

"Say what you want about Turian, but they really know how to make an ice-cream."

"Ice-cream is for losers. Booze is better, you wimps."

"Manners, Jack. There is a child here with you."

"But this is fine Kasumi. Aunt Helen is far worse than Aunt Jack with her language."

"Fuck, I need to meet this Helen. She looks like my type."

"You live with quite the crew now, little Kelly. To think that at the university, people knew you as the silent type."

Kelly, now at the centre of this small maelstrom of confusion and happiness, quietly agreed as she surveyed what felt more and more as time passed as a gathering of children. Minus Samara, of course, that watched the unfolding scene with what looked like amusement.

Both her and her small group of guards, coupled with Samantha, were currently enjoying a moment of relaxation inside one of the many bars littering the Praesidium. Huddled together in one of the largest tables, each eating one of the many delicacies offered by the house, the group resembled more and more a boisterous family during a holiday and not a team of trained agents.

Raina eagerly lapped her strawberry ice-cream as Jacob made sure she did not make a mess of her dress. Kasumi chatted happily with a Jack never seen so casual and friendly by the group as Samantha and Kelly enjoyed a moment of relaxing to speak about their lives.

All while Samara elegantly sipped a cup of hot tea and made sure that no one, especially Jack, went too far with their manners.

"I suppose I do. This first assignment is proving far more interesting than I had expected."

"Interesting is too weak of a word, little shrink," remarked Jack as she gulped another drop of super alcoholic

"batshit crazy is much better."

"Manners I said, Jack. Think of Raina." scolded her Kasumi again. Raina didn't even care for this. She was too busy lapping every single drop of her strawberry bowl. Jacob sighed in comical despair as he tried to make Raina eat more responsibly.

"Is that the fourth bowl, Raina?" asked Kelly while looking at the child and the veritable mountain of bowls near her

"Too much ice-cream is dangerous for your stomach, you know?"

"And how I am supposed to know this?" replied a smiling Raina raising her face for a split second from the pot. "I never ate it back at home!"

"Your mother is that stingy?" asked Samantha, surprised. "She doesn't look like the type. Or maybe is a fitness issue? Some mothers can be true nightmares to deal with sometimes."

"No! It doesn't exist!"

Samantha's brows furrowed at this answer.

"A planet that banned ice-cream? What is that? Hell incarnate?"

"No, no!" added Raina quickly. "We just don't have them. We didn't even know they existed before my arrival here."

"Well, I will be damned." whistled Samantha in surprise. "Did you live inside a medieval village of during your childhood, princess?"

"A medieval village? What is medieval? I do not.." began to say a puzzled Raina back to Samantha, unsure how to respond. But her words died in her throat as her eyes saw a familiar figure entering inside the bar. One dressed in strange fatigue but sporting a pair of silver eyes that shone even in the light of the day. Eyes that compelled her to rose from her chair and ran toward the person.

"Mum!" she laughed, to the dismay the bar staff and the benevolent eyes of a couple of families. Samara included.

Lena smiled at her daughter and embraced the running girl in a tight embrace, far warmer than usual and refusing to let her go for precious seconds. A change that the ever-attentive Kelly immediately noticed.

Samantha, on the other hand, saw something else.

"Well, I will be damned!" whistled Samantha back to Kelly "She is even better in person. Damn! Just look at those toned legs. And that face! You better be quick about snatching her or I might be tempted to change my mind."

"Just stop it, Sammy!" chided Kelly back to her friend.

"Ehi Lady Oscar, just in time for a drink. How did you find us by the way?" asked Jack as she greeted her.

"I asked EDI to find you. She tracked your Omni-tools signals and relied on them to me."

"Fucking spying metal bitch!" cursed Jack "I hate being tracked."

"Whatever. Welcome back, Lena, I am happy to see that...wait! Where is the dress you had today for the Council meeting? And why are you wearing brown fatigue?"

Lena smiled sheepishly at these questions, something that made Kelly think for the worst.

"Ehm well, you see...after doing that thing with the Asari councillor, Shepard asked me to help him with Thane's problem, and I accepted."

"And?" urged Kelly, not liking where it was going.

"And I might have, entirely without aspiring to do it mind you, destroyed most of it by mistake while moving across the Zakera wards' catwalks. In this duffel bag, there is what survived of the previous dress."

Kelly rummaged inside the duffle bag and blinked once, twice, thrice before something akin to a sound managed to escape her lips. A burst of dry laughter, or a squeal of outrage, no one was exactly sure.

"You...you walked across...the Zakera' catwalks...with the skirt and silken top? The one that cost 1000 credits and half an hour of modelling back on Illium. The classiest one among all the others? That dress?"

"...Yes," replied Lena

Everyone among the table reacted differently. Jacob and Kasumi smiled at her answer, the former in sympathy and the latter in wickedness. Jack had to use all her willpower to not explode into laughter.

Even Samara could not hide a gentle smile emerging from her mouth

Samantha failed outright to keep it to herself, and laughed heartily at Lena's words, eliciting many reactions from the bar's staff. Mostly negative stares.

"Oh God girl, you are amazing. Not meeting someone like you at the Uni is a crime against humanity. Want a drink? I am offering."

Lena's brow tightened as she saw the newcomer dining at Kelly's table, but she did not refuse after seeing the accepting of the others toward her. Instead, she sat on Raina's chair as the girl happily put herself at Lena's lap.

As she did, her silver eyes checked Samantha from head to toe, until she spoke again.

"Loudmouthed, chocolate-skinned, raven hair and shamelessly looking at my body. You are Samantha Traynor, Kelly's friend."

"You know of me? Did Kelly tell you about me? If so I hope she didn't miss the best parts."

"She described her life with you during university, and how...aggressive and cheerful you were during you permanence." finished Lena with an unreadable voice

"Kelly apparently enjoyed your overeager attitude and easy-going personality, and I am happy for her. Me? I prefer quieter type."

"To each her own I guess, miss," replied Samantha without appearing angry at the remark

"See?" she also whispered to Kelly sotto voice, grinning softly at her

"I told you she is a top, but don't get tricked. Top says that they hate brats, but love disciplining them. So try to piss her off from time to times. I bet she look stunning in a leather outfit."

"Just stop it, Sammy." smiled Kelly "So Lena, how did it go? The visit with the Council I mean."

"Good because it took those annoying stooges off my back. Bad because it forced me to remember some -unpleasant times- back at my planet."

Raina immediately understood what Lena meant.

"The time during the mutations?" she asked. Lena simply nodded and gratefully accepted her daughter's embrace when it came.

"Wait, am I missing something?" asked Samantha

"Yes. It is called none of your damn business!" snarled Jack of all people back to her. Some kind of solidarity between experiments maybe? That is how Kelly decided to explain this small explosion.

That Kelly wondered, before quickly defusing a possibly incendiary situation.

"Don't bother yourself with these trivialities, Sammy. They are personal questions, after all. Very personal. Why don't we instead focus on our next move, now that Lena is with us?"

And Samantha, understanding the meaning behind, quickly complied.

"Oh? Yes, of course, if you don't mind that is. Were we all alone I would offer to go to a night club of my knowledge, but that is not a place where you can bring a little girl like Raina, unfortunately."

"What is a night club mom?" asked Raina "And why I cannot go?"

"You will know when you are older, sweety." quickly answered Kelly for her. Jack laughed and said something that ended up lost inside the buzzing crowd of the bar. Not something good judging by Jacob's eyes after hearing it.

"We can try with a Cinema. Isn't there the new Blasto film, am I, right?"

Offered Kasumi

"Fuck Blasto. Is only a load of bullcrap anyway." commented Jack casually "Why not going to eat something. Something serious, I mean. I am starving."

"Good idea Jack. I know the perfect sushi restaurant here in the Praesidium. Best fish in the entire Citadel, and top-notch service."

replied Samantha

"What is sushi?" asked Lena puzzled. It involved fish, apparently, but the Claymore had never heard of a fish with that name.

"Never ate sushi? That is a crime into itself." lamented Samantha back to her "Remember all the night we ate take away sushi before an exam Kelly? Always too busy studying for a proper meal. Those were the times."

"Fucking sushi!" lamented Jack "Better a juicy piece of meat. But I really want to see Lady Oscar raging at those stupid sticks, so I vote for sushi."

"Sushi it is then!" agreed Jacob calmly. "Shall we go?"


Normandy Sr-2. Captain's quarters. Two hours after Kolyath's arrest.

The sound of a buzzing door resounded inside Shepard's small quarter, stopping the commander from placing the last piece of a miniature in the proper place. The Asari cruiser, the same model lost during the Horizon mission and freshly rebought was coming out nicely, and Shepard would be damned to lose it for another sudden noise like the last one. That was why this time, the remarkable piece mounted on a specific framework test-proved against any kind of buzzing and sudden falling.

"Come in!" said Shepard, without even checking who was at the door. Too busy tinkering to a piece of the cruiser's main deck.

"Shepard," said Tali's voice once the door opened up with a whooshing sound

"A message from Liara just arrived. Apparently, it...oh!" stopped Tali once she saw what Shepard was doing.

"Ah, Tali!" Shepard greeted her friend warmly once hearing her words, immediately stopping what he was doing. He quickly freed a chair for her and urged her to step down before continuing.

"Come here, do not worry. I can continue later. What can I do for you?"

"That depends on the contents of this message!" replied Tali while holding a datapad. It arrived just five minutes ago, from Liara." the girl sighed from under her mask

"Keelah, I still cannot believe that she is the new Shadow Broker!"

"I still can't, and I helped her become. What does it say?"

"I have no idea, Shepard. The message says for your eyes only. I only took a look at the incipit, and it involves Lena."

The mood of Shepard quickly became sour after hearing this. The datapad must have been the result of Liara's agents about certain rumours. Quick research, but what else could he expect from the Shadow Broker after all? A churning movement of guts, always felt by Shepard before hearing grave news, started creeping inside his stomach.

"Thank you for your privacy Tali, but it is not necessary for you. let me see now."

Tali handed Shepard his datapad that the commander immediately began skimming with his eyes. For a good minute, no one talked. Tali too curious about his content to disturb Shepard and Shepard reading and re-reading its content while his breath became ragged and even scaring at some moment.

"Shepard?" finally asked Tali after the silence became too oppressing

"Is there something wrong?"

"Do you have a copy of this message?" asked Shepard suddenly and with a voice heard only once by Tali.

When Joker told him about Kaidan's impending demise.

"Shepard, if there is something wrong then maybe I" tried to reason Tali.

"Do. You. Have it?" repeated Shepard to her, this time more forcefully.

"Yes." she finally answered, "I do."

"Good!" hissed Shepard. A second later, the glass forming the datapad on his hands shattered under the relentless pressure of his enhanced hands, sending sparks and slivers of blood flying all across the room.

"Keelah, Shepard!" screamed in surprise and horror Tali "Doctor Chackwas!" she called on her Omni-tool "Come to Shepard quarter as fast as you can, please!"

"I can't believe it!" muttered Shepard in the meantime, uncaring about Tali's presence.

"Everything I suspected is nothing compared to to...this. That fucking insane, deranged, holier than thou piece of shit!"

"Shepard!" screamed Tali as she wrenched the shattered datapad away from Shepard's cut hands "Talk to me, please, I am begging you!"

"Talking!? Oh, I am going to do much more than that!" he replied "EDI!"

Shepard screamed on his main computer as his hands dropped blood on the ground. The azure sphere immediately reacted to his voice

"Yes, Shepard? How can I help?" she said in her usual tone.

"From now on, the entire ship is on full lockdown! All shore leaves are revoked and whoever is still outside is ordered to come back inside the ship immediately."

"Understood Shepard. Is there a specific reason should I tell in case the crew ask for clarifications?"

"tell them to fuck off! It is an order, and they are supposed to obey!" barked Shepard back, as Chackwas entered inside the quarter with a medical bag and saw the state of Shepard's hands.

"Shepard?" asked the stupefied doctor "What the hell just happened here?"

He just...broke the datapad with his hand. I had seen him so angry only once, back on Virmire." muttered Tali

"Tali" ordered Shepard without half measures, uncaring of the situation

"Remember the reason I called you and Garrus inside my quarter just before leaving Illium? After the battle against Vasir?"

"I do but what does that...wait," said Tali as she let Chackwas doing her job

"You are not telling me that..."

"Bring to me everything you planted." ordered Shepard cryptically "And call Garrus and Mordin. We all need to talk."

A grimace of pain, not aimed at her wounded hands, marred Shepard's face as Chackwas began ripping away the pieces of glass stuck inside his skin.

"This is not going to be pretty. At all."

The plot thickens! I wonder what Shepard read inside that datapad. You shall know next chapter when Lena's custom made mission (not the Loyalty one, but we are close also to that) shall begin.

See you!