Chapter 30 - A Bit Of Commotion At The Studio
Citadel Newsnet - A surge in the number of pirate raider groups in the Hades Gamma Cluster has created an ironic problem: Some merchant companies have pulled out of the region altogether following an increase in the number of attacks and there is now no longer enough traffic in the system to go around for the pirates. There have been reported instances of pirate groups fighting amongst each over the right to raid a ship. The situation has prompted some of the groups to propose a 'raider federation' that would regulate the amount of attacks in order to prevent more merchants from fleeing. "We're rapidly losing resources," said a federation representative who requested anonymity. "If we're going to survive long-term, we need to start practicing sustainable piracy." - Emily Wong reporting
Blasto series script supervisor Jenny Nakamura sighed and knocked on the trailer door. "C'mon, Sayryta, we need you on the set."
"I'm not going," the asari actress declared, her voice slightly muffled by the closed door.
"Surely, it's not that bad," Jenny argued.
"Yes it is!" the actress protested. "At least when we still had that quarian, she made me look like a dignified 500 year-old matron! But this new makeup artist? By the Goddess is she ever a rank amateur! Not only do I look every bit of half a millennium, but now I look like I spent all of it on Tuchanka! I can't walk in front of cameras like this!"
Jenny rubbed her forehead. "So what? You're playing a character part," she said to the trailer door.
"So what?! So what?!" Sayryta shrieked. "People will think this is what I really look like!"
"Fine, then do something else to clue audiences in that that character isn't really you. To show them what Sayryta M'Laan really looks like," Jenny suggested.
"Like what?" the actress sarcastically shot back. "What could I possibly do to make vid-goers pay more attention to me than appearing in a Blasto vid?"
"Well... You could call Fornax and offer to pose naked for their next issue. No makeup, no nothing," the human suggested. "Those pictures will be the first things that pop up whenever anybody does an extranet search using your name."
Several long seconds of silence were broken by the actress asking in an earnest, hopeful tone, "You really think so?"
"Guarantee it," the script supervisor declared.
"So... who would I call at Fornax?" Sayryta asked.
"I don't know but I could find out for you," Jenny replied. "But I'll only do that IF you get out of this trailer now and head to the set."
"Promise?" the actress pleaded.
"Yes! I promise!" an exasperated Jenny nearly shouted. "Just go, okay?!"
"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Sayryta said. The door to the trailer slid open and the actress hurried off.
Jenny shook her head and rolled her cybernetic eyes as she watched the actress scurry away. She pulled up her omni-tool and and began an extranet search for Fornax's Citadel office. "Maybe I can get a commission out of this..." the human muttered as she began to open a communications line. The attempt was interrupted by an incoming call. Upon seeing the caller ID, Jenny took a quick look around to be sure she was alone and ducked inside the actress' still-open trailer to take the call.
"Operative Kasumi Goto, we have received some potentially troubling information we need you to investigate," declared the rumbling, electronically-distorted voice of the Shadow Broker.
"Sure thing, Liara! What is it?" the human asked.
A loud, wordless block of electronically-amplified noise followed. Goto recognized the sound as the broker's annoyed grumbling being converted into sound by the electronic voice modulator. The broker continued, "As you have no doubt already heard, set designer Telak Gaffno was found dead this morning. The death was assumed to be from an exosuit malfunction. However, a C-Sec source has determined that the person who found the body, a Blasto set security guard named 'Sanderson Carlino' working under contract for 6th Dimension Vids, was a former Terminus Systems smuggler."
Goto made a low whistle. "You think he may have killed Gaffno himself and somehow made it look like the volus' suit broke?"
"Possibly," the broker replied. "We have reason to believe the al-Jilani situation is moving towards a resolution. That makes Gaffno's sudden death suspicious. We are forwarding C-Sec's initial report on his death. Read it and see what else you can find out."
"I'm on it, Liara! I can shelve for the time being setting up that nude shoot with Fornax," Goto replied.
There was brief repeat of the earlier electronic noise followed by the broker sputtering, "Wait! What's this about Fornax?!"
"Oh, that. It's nothing," Goto declared, adding, "Forget I mentioned it. Heading out to find that security guard." She clicked off the line before the broker could say anything else.
"Agent Vass, I have a new assignment for you," Major Kirrahe announced over the omni-tool communications line. "Are you at the Blasto set now?"
"Yes, sir. I just arrived, in fact," the young Special Tasks Group agent replied. "Is this related to Telak Gaffno's death? Everybody on the set is talking about it."
"Correct. The STG's source inside C-Sec has revealed that the security guard who claimed he found Gaffno's body may be a Terminus System smuggler or pirate," Kirrahe explained. "I'm forwarding the C-Sec report now. Unfortunately, I chose this morning to go to the spaceport and check up on the weapons and munitions for Her Majesty's mercenaries, so I'm some distance away from the set. I'm heading over to you now as quickly as I can. In the meantime, start looking for other things C-Sec may have missed regarding the volus' death."
"You can count on me, sir!" Vass replied, giving the image of Kirrahe projected by his omni-tool a quick salute. Kirrahe saluted back and line switched off. Vass rubbed his chin as he contemplated how to proceed.
'Gaffno was constantly complaining about 6th Dimension Vids using non-union contractors,' Vass thought. 'Maybe he somehow discovered the guard's background? If he did, there might be something about it on his office computer.'
The salarian went as quickly as he could to Gaffno's workshop. C-Sec had not cordoned the area off - the volus' death was still officially an accident so there was no need to - but several people were milling around. Vass turned on his cloaking device and slipped into the room as quietly as he could. No one noticed as Gaffno's computer switched on and began downloading its recent user history.
Khalisah sat calmly in the passenger seat as Jacana flew her skycar toward 6th Dimension Vid's makeshift headquarters on the Presidium. Exactly how Khalisah was doing this, Jacana could not fathom. The human reporter was going, alone, to a secret meeting with Aria T'Loak, a person who had reason to want her dead. It was unlikely T'Loak would try something at a meeting in such a public location, but not unthinkable. She had a temper, after all, and who knew how living in exile had changed her? Yet if Khalisah was at all fearful she gave no outward indication of it.
Jacana, by contrast, was close to being a nervous wreck. She had only just regained her human lover and now she was chauffeuring that person into potential harm's way. The only thing that kept her from turning the vehicle around was knowing that avoiding the meeting would be even more dangerous. Aria T'Loak would not forgive being stood up. The Shadow Broker would be angered as well. Going through with it was their best chance of getting all of this behind them.
The pair sat in silence for most of the trip. When her omni-tool indicated that Quetzal was trying to reach her Jacana didn't bother to respond. Now was not the time to chat with that dimwit. 'He'll leave a message if it is important,' she thought. Her omni-tool indicated a short while later that the salarian had left one but had not marked it as 'urgent.' Jacana's lingering worry over Khalisah's meeting so consumed her thoughts that she completely forget about the message a minute later.
The front entrance to 6th Dimension Vids' makeshift headquarters on the Presidium was heavily trafficked every morning but that sharply trailed off after 9 a.m. It got so quiet that turian security guard Villik Marsus would surreptitiously pass the time by watching his favorite entertainment programs on his omni-tool. He had just begun to watch the latest episode of 'A Turian's Best Varren' when a voice behind him caused him to jump out of his seat.
"Hey, Villik! Is Carlino around?" asked a young human female in a 6th Dimension Vids Jacket, matching cap and sunglasses.
"Spirits, Jenny! Did you have to spook me like that!?" the turian exclaimed.
"Sorry!" the human chuckled. "Anyway, have you seen Carlino?"
"Not in a while. Why? What's up?" the guard asked.
"One of my blueberries thought that maybe he was checking her out this morning," Jenny replied. "She asked me to, umm, 'investigate' whether he was into going interspecies."
"Really? Carlino?" grunted the turian. "Well, I don't what your starlet *thought* she saw, but I'll bet a week's wages she was wrong. That guy said aloud more than once that he couldn't imagine having sex with a 'tentacle head,' as he put it, and didn't think much of the humans who did." The turian reclined in his chair. "In any event, he left early today. Said he was stressed out from having to talk to the C-Sec officers about the dead volus he found. Took off an hour ago."
"Drat. Alright, thanks anyway!" Jenny declared, then trotted off.
Villik was able to watch another seven minutes of "A Turian's Best Varren" before he was interrupted again.
"Ahem," coughed a voice through the intercom by the main door. The image on the viewscreen showed a human woman wearing plain pants and a dark blue hoodie with several black, braided hair strands spilling out on either side.
"Name and business here," Villik wearily asked.
"Peggy Shippen, special consultant. Adria S'Voz should have alerted you that I was arriving," the human announced.
Villik checked his "guest" arrivals list on the guard station's interface and, sure enough, a "Peggy Shippen (human)" was flagged as arriving at about that time for a meeting with S'Voz. "ID please," the turian asked.
The human ran her omni-toll past an outside scanner. The response startled the turian. The scanner revealed the human was actually Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani. Immediately following that a message popped up on Villik's screen stating, "Allow al-Jilani access. Do not alert security. Adria S'Voz has requested the meeting and vouched for the human's conduct." The return address on the message was for the vid's producers.
The guard puzzled over the message.
"Something wrong?" the human asked.
Villik scratched his mandibles. "No. Nothing. Would be nice if the studio gave me a heads up on this kind of stuff, though," he muttered as he hit the switch to open the door. The human strode through.
Once she was a fair distance inside the compound, the human pulled up her omni-tool and opened a communications line. "Okay, S'Voz was true to her word. They let me in without a fuss even after they scanned my omni-tool. I'm off to the building S'Voz specified and I'll try to make this as brief as possible."
"Okay," Jacana replied. "I'll park the skycar down the block and wait for you there. Be safe and good luck."
"I promise," the human replied as she switched off the line. As she looked back up she was startled to see that a hanar had quietly walked up to her in the time she was sending the message.
"Excuse my impertinence, Honored Guest, but This One has a question," the hanar asked, "Do you know of The Path That Wends Ever Upwards Towards the Light?"
"Umm, no. Look, I have an important meeting to get to, so if you could just move..." the human began.
The hanar remained defiantly in place. "Honored guest, it would be a most selfish act by This One if he did not share the knowledge of the path," the alien asserted. "The Enkindlers created it for all to follow. Surely, this meeting could wait a few moments. This One only seeks to talk. The Honored Guest's soul may hang in the balance."
"Umm..." Khalisah began. The hanar's actions were attracting several onlookers. The reporter soon realized why. This nutty evangelist was none other than Blasto. Trying to tear away from him now would do the one thing she was trying to avoid: create a scene and attract further attention. 'Okay, just play along for now. Listen to his spiel and then go,' the human thought. 'How long can it last anyway?'
"What is this path exactly?" the human hesitantly asked.
The hanar began radiating a series of blue and yellow-ish flashes. "This One is thrilled to have found an open mind," he declared. "Understanding the path is quite simple. One need only read all of the chapters in the Book of the Enkindlers. You, Honored Guest, have the good fortune to have found a humble soul that has committed all 45 to memory. The first begins thusly..."
'Oh, no...' Khalisah thought.
Solik Vass entered the cavernous storage area. The last note on Gaffno's computer was a reminder to himself that a scene involving several geth dramatically smashing through a wall had been moved up in the shooting. Vass was gambling that the volus was too fastidious not to have checked to see if the main pieces of the set were ready. A scan of the records for the storage area showed that Gaffno had used his ID to enter the storage area, but had not used it a second time. At about the same time, the records showed, special effects director Lyle Jeddick had used his ID to enter and exit. That was odd. What, if anything, would the person who's main purpose in the vid was blowing things up need to get from this storehouse?
Vass knew little about Jeddick. The human always seemed to slip into the background. The salarian recalled that Linia had mentioned something about him the other day. Vass used his omni-tool to call the actress. Linia said she was preparing for a scene later that afternoon but she could spare a few moments for a "handsome documentarian."
"Jeddick? Yeah, the other day we happened to be standing near each other when the subject of Khalisah al-Jilani came up," Linia revealed. "He went on this rant about her being a phony, calling her names and so on. It was a bit startling because he's usually pretty easy-going. Something about al-Jilani made him really angry."
"Hmm..." Vass replied. "Do you know where he is now?"
"Nope. Haven't seen him all morning," the asari declared. "Ooooh, is this related to your 'project' for the, ummm, 'Spacious Taxi Group'? Do you need help tracking Jeddick down? Jenny is probably the best person to ask. She's human too and it's her job to keep track of who's needed on the set. I'll help you find her!" Linia exclaimed.
"Uhh, sure," was all the salarian could think to say in response.
Jacana found a spot about two blocks away from the front entrance to park the skycar. She nervously drummed her fingers across the dashboard for several minutes, trying to imagine what was happening to Khalisah inside the studio's headquarters. She only recalled that she had gotten a message from Quetzal after she dropped a breath mint on the skycar floor and in the scramble to pick it up noticed that her omni-tool was blinking.
"Possible item of interest, which I am providing exclusively to you," the message began. "A volus who worked for 6th Dimension vids, Telak Gaffno, was found dead this morning in his workshop. C-Sec is treating it as an accidental death with 'exosuit failure' as the cause. However, I have discovered that the 6th Dimension Vids security guard who first reported finding the body, Sanderson 'Sandy' Carlino, may be a former Terminus Systems pirate. He had a smuggling conviction a decade ago."
Jacana immediately called Quetzal directly. "Dammit, Quet, why didn't you mark that message as high priority? I mean, 6th Dimension Vids is using Terminus Systems pirates as security and there's been a mysterious death on the set?!"
Quet shrugged. "If you couldn't hire ex-goons as security guards most places wouldn't have security at all. Why are you so anxious?"
"Because Khalisah is on the Blasto set right now!" the asari exclaimed. "Adria S'Voz set up a meeting between her and Aria T'Loak."
"Really?!" Quet remarked. "And you say S'Voz set it up? Strange. T'Loak used S'Voz previously to try to extract information from al-Jilani. You'd think that this time Her Majesty would use a go-between who hadn't already demonstrated to al-Jilani that she couldn't be trusted. I mean, that's what a master of espionage like myself would do."
"S'Voz was the only option T'Loak had," Jacana explained. "Her Majesty has had a security breach at her headquarters. Her systems were hacked and we were warned not to trust messages claiming to come from T'Loak and her people."
"Who told you that?" Quet inquired.
"S'Voz did," Jacana answered.
"That's also quite curious," the salarian declared. "I've been in contact with the Shadow Broker today and the broker made no mention of such a breach at T'Loak's end. We know they are in contact with each other, so you'd think the broker would know if something happened to T'Loak's systems. And the broker has at its disposal the galaxy's leading expert in hacking: me. I'm on the Citadel same as T'Loak. You'd think the broker would at least seek my expertise on this."
Jacana's purple blood suddenly began to run cold. She had assumed a message from S'Voz was the same as hearing from T'Loak. Now Quet was pointing out that they'd never heard from T'Loak herself and the 'security breach" story might not be true.
"Quetzal, you've got to do me a favor," the asari pleaded. "Contact the Shadow Broker and tell the broker what I just told you. Let me secretly listen in on the conversation."
"I can charge the broker for the information, right?" the salarian asked.
"Yes, fine! Just make the call," Jacana begged.
The Shadow Broker accepted the incoming call and Quetzal's image appeared on the main view screen. "Yes, operative Quetzal, what do you have to report?" broker asked in its menacing, electronically modified voice.
"Broker, I received a report that Aria T'Loak's security network was compromised," the salarian began. "It happened - or at least T'Loak became aware of it - at least yesterday, possibly earlier. I'm not sure if the information is reliable though. You see, the source is our erstwhile colleague, Operative Aragem."
"I see," the broker noted. "Continue."
Quet nervously cleared his throat. "Yes, she contacted me, seeking my... expertise as the galaxy's leading expert in hacking. She wanted my insight on whether T'Loak's systems could be breached. Yes, that's right... I couldn't help her on that point. I haven't had the opportunity to examine Her Majesty's network and its safeguards."
"How did Aragem come by this supposed information?" the broker inquired.
"She claimed to have been contacted by Adria S'Voz acting on behalf of T'Loak. Apparently Her Majesty wanted to set up a one-on-one meeting with Khalisah al-Jilani inside the 6th Dimension Vids compound. This was so they could peacefully resolve their differences. S'Voz apparently said the breach meant that Her Majesty could not risk reaching out directly and so was communicating through her."
"Where and when is this supposed meeting?" the broker asked.
"I believe it is happening right now at 6th Dimension Vids," the salarian announced. "Do you know if any of this accurate?"
"Your job, Operative Quetzal, is to provide information, not extract it," the broker curtly replied. "Anything else?"
"Hmm, there was one other thing. Now, what was it?..." the salarian replied, then sharply cried out "Oww!" as a datapad flew in from his right and bounced off his head. Quet swung around to his right and sputtered, "Commander, I am on a personal call! What? ... Yes, I'll get to that in a minute. Just let me finish this." The salarian turned back towards the view screen. "One other thing: does the name 'Peggy Shippen' have any significance? I heard the name... somewhere, I think. Yeah, that's it. I'm told it's a human name."
The broker appeared to shift in its seat and turn away for a few moments before turning back. "In human history, Peggy Shippen was the mate of 'Benedict Arnold,' a person whose name became synonymous with the word 'traitor' among that species. Shippen aided him in his activities," the broker explained.
"Ah, I see. I think. Maybe..." the salarian replied. "In any event that's all I have to report."
"Very well, Shadow Broker out," the underworld figure declared. The com line went dead.
"Glyph. Open a communications line to Aria T'Loak," Liara T'Soni requested as soon as the line with Quetzal closed. "I have something she needs to know about."
"At once, Shadow Broker," responded the hovering virtual intelligence program.
"Was that helpful?" Quet asked.
"Yes!" Jacana declared. "The broker clearly didn't know any of this. It referred to the 'supposed' information and 'supposed' meeting. And that 'Shippen' name being synonymous with 'traitor'?! By the Goddess, Khalisah's been set up! I've got to get inside the studio and find her before-" The asari swallowed hard rather than finish the sentence. She hopped out of the skycar and sprinted towards 6th Dimension Vids.
'What horrific torture could Khalisah be experiencing at this very moment?' Jacana thought as she ran.
"...And that is how we know that the Enkindlers continue to watch over us all," the hanar concluded.
Khalisah was only dimly aware that Blasto was still speaking. Her eyes had glazed over and she had tuned out of the conversation a while ago.
"That's wonderful of them," Khalisah muttered. "I really must be getting along..."
"Please, just a few more moments of your time, Honored Guest," Blasto continued. "For not only do the Enkindlers watch, but their mighty hand can be felt in events large and small. For example..."
Zaeed Massani was hunched over a table in his modest Presidium apartment, several metal components laid out before him. He was busy using a metal brush on one when his omni-tool indicated an incoming call.
"Hey, Zaeed! Got a minute?" Kasumi Goto asked over the open com line.
"Yeah, sure. I was just giving Jessie some tender loving care," the mercenary replied. "Yer timing is good too. If you'd waited a little longer to call I'd be giving her an oil rubdown and that cannot be interrupted."
Goto sighed. "I'll pretend that I didn't hear that… Anyway, I need your opinion on something. Can you read this C-Sec report on a volus' death? The report says the death was accidental, but something about it seems fishy to me."
"Lemme guess: you figured ol' Zaeed would know if it was really murder? Is that it?" Massani chortled.
"Pretty much, yeah," the thief replied.
"Yer probably right!" the mercenary laughed. "Gimme the report." Goto forwarded the file to Massani's omni-tool. The mercenary spent several minutes reading through report and swiping through its pictures, humming as he did. "So do ya want my opinion if it's a cover up or just shoddy police work?" he eventually asked.
"Back up first," the thief declared. "You're saying the report is wrong? You're certain?"
"Definitely. That volus was murdered," Massani flatly declared.
"How can you tell?" Goto inquired.
"Cuz it happened too quickly," the mercenary replied. "Lemme explain: the volus suffocated because a gizmo in his suit broke. Now that device is like any mechanical part. It'll wear down over time and eventually break. Usually it's pretty obvious when the gizmo starts to give out. It works, just not as well. The volus has time to get it fixed or replaced. However you can speed the process up by slamming a volus against something hard enough until the shock waves cause the gizmo inside the suit to crack. Looks just like it broke on its own too."
Goto muttered an "Uh-huh" then asked, "Do I want to know how you know this, Zaeed?"
"Probably not," the mercenary said with a shrug. "What's this about anyway? Duz it involve al-Jilani in some way? Despite the, uhh, communications problems she and I have had lately, I still consider myself under contract to her and Zaeed Massani doesn't leave a job half-done."
"It may involve her," Kasumi admitted. The thief explained that the volus worked at 6th Dimension vids and that she was spying on the production for the Shadow Broker. When she got to the part about the person who found Gaffno being a likely former Terminus Systems pirate, Zaeed chimed in that he knew of at least one other pirate working on the production.
"He had a meeting with al-Jilani. Said he was a special effects guy," Massani recalled. "His name was Lyle... Something."
"Jeddick?" the thief asked.
"Yeah, that wuz him!" the mercenary declared. "Offered to be a secret source for al-Jilani but she told him to fuck off. Good call on her part. Right nasty one, he wuz. Worked for one of the more notorious human-only pirate operations. Hated non-humans. I'd bet Jessie herself that he knows that trick to killing a volus. So he's probably the murderer."
"Or it might be the one who says he found the volus' body. He split today," Goto revealed. "Or maybe he and Jeddick did it together. Hmmm..."
"You gonna try to track this sonuvabitch down?" Masssani asked. The thief nodded. "Bring me along then. This punk could be dangerous. I'll back you up."
"Thanks!" Kasumi replied. "I'll hack the front gate's security system and create a day pass for you. It'll be waiting there. Message me when you get to the studio."
The thief headed to the front gate, mulling over in her head what distraction she could use to get the guard away from his monitor long enough for her to hack the system.
She had just reached the area when she saw a blinding biotic flash, followed by security guard Villik laying sprawled out on the ground and a greenish-hued asari standing over him. A handful of shouts and screams from others in the vicinity followed. The asari brought up her biotics and charged away from the gate and further into the compound.
'What's going on now?!' Kasumi thought. She turned on her cloak and raced in the asari's direction. "Change in plans, Zaeed! Some crazy asari suddenly showed up and, uhh, left the gate wide open for you! Just run through!" Kasumi breathlessly shouted into her omni-tool. "Something big is going down! I'm turning on a tracker so you can use your omni-tool to find me once you get here!"
Vass peered his head through the open door of Lyle Jeddick's workshop. "Hello?" he asked. Vass' voice echoed through the empty room.
"Okay," he told Linia, who was standing right behind him. "I guess we go with your plan and see if Jenny can track him down."
"One of the other actresses says they saw Jenny heading towards the front gate a little while ago" Linia announced. Vass shrugged and the two, after a minute of trying to remember which direction the front gate was from their current location, began heading in that direction.
Half-way to the gate they spotted Blasto evangelizing. The hanar superstar had cornered some unfortunate human, probably an extra in a battle scene, and was giving it his all in effort to convert her. The human's face was obscured by a hood but her body language indicated that she wasn't interested. The actor had her boxed in and she was being too polite to tell him to step aside. Vass briefly considered intervening but thought better of it. 'No time for that. I've got to get to the bottom of what happened to Gaffno. Sorry, human,' he thought. Vass and Linia strode past Blasto while trying to be as inconspicuous as they could.
After sprinting half a kilometer inside the studio, Jacana ducked into a darkened alley created by two trailers in order to catch her breath and get her bearings. 'Well, that could've gone better,' she thought as she recalled her encounter with the front gate guard. 'Still, it's not my fault that that idiot wouldn't accept, 'Get out of my way! I've got to get inside now! There's a life at stake!' as a valid pass.' She panted for a few more seconds. 'The only thing that matters is finding Khalisah and getting her out of here.'
Jacana contemplated calling Khalisah on her omni-tool but ruled that out. She still didn't know how the message purporting to be S'Voz had been faked. Had Khalisah's own omni-tool been hacked? If she tried to contact Khalisah through her omni-tool how could she be certain she was actually talking to her human lover and not somebody mimicking her voice? Jacana could only be certain it was Khalisah if she saw her in the flesh. Anything else was too risky, she decided.
Her thoughts were interrupted by sight of a smallish human female de-cloaking next to her. Jacana was startled when recognized the human. It was the Shadow Broker's other operative, the one who had secretly replaced Khalisah's bodyguard.
Goto was excited too, though in a different way. "I know you!" the human energetically declared. "You're al-Jilani's girlfriend! Cool! You two are so cute together! But why are you here, unless-Wait! Is al-Jilani here too? If she is, that saves me a lot - a lot - of time and trouble! You see-"
The thief's declaration was cut short by a swift biotic-powered uppercut from Aragem that lifted her a few centimeters into the air before leaving her flat on the ground and completely unconscious.
"Not today, assassin!" Aragem sneered at the human. "No one's taking Khalisah away from me ever again! You understand!?"
The asari used her biotics to lift the human and deposit her face down in the darkest corner of the alley. She then crouched over human and frisked her for weapons, eventually finding a concealed pistol. Aragem used the human's own belt to create a makeshift bind for her hands. 'Doesn't need to be foolproof,' Jacana thought. 'Just has to slow her down long enough for me to find Khalisah.' As she worked the human's omni-tool lit up and Jacana heard the gravelly voice of Khalisah's former bodyguard.
"Kasumi, it's Zaeed. I'm almost at the studio. Where are you at?" the mercenary asked, followed a few moments later by, "Kasumi, c'mon, girl, answer..." and then a clearly anxious, "Kasumi?! Kasumi?!"
'By the Goddess! I've got to find Khalisah now!' Jacana thought as she dashed out of the alley.
The sudden loss of contact with his friend had put Massani in a twitchy mood. He knew from personal experience what these Terminus Systems pirates were capable of and he now feared the worst regarding Kasumi. Massani was already watching one of his few friends, Thane Krios, slowly expire from a terminal disease. He hated the idea losing another friend on top of that. They had all survived a trip through the goddamn Omega Four Relay together! 'Am I gonna be the last one standing? That's not right!' he thought as he bounded towards 6th Dimension Vids' front entrance.
The sight when he got there wasn't reassuring. The gate was open and the sole guard, a turian, was laying unconscious on the ground. The tell-tale signs of scorches from a biotic energy blast were everywhere. Zaeed crouched down to see if the guard was badly hurt. He discovered that while the guard had been banged up, it was nothing that some Medi-Gel couldn't fix.
"What did you do to him?!" shouted a voice. Massani looked up and spotted a young, green-hued salarian training a pistol at him with his right hand. The omni-tool on the salarian's left arm was also charging up. Semi-hiding behind the salarian was an asari maiden. Massani held his hands up to show they were empty and slowly stood up.
"Wait, you're Khalisah al-Jilani's bodyguard, aren't you?!" the salarian asked. "What are you doing here?!"
Massani, his hands still up, narrowed his one good eye and glared back at the salarian. "And how the bloody hell do you know that I work for al-Jilani? You'd have to have been monitoring her to be aware of that, eh? Am I right?"
The salarian cleared his throat and attempted to speak in a deeper, more authoritative voice though he nevertheless quavered on some of the words. "I believe that in these situations it is the person who has the gun who gets to ask the questions," he declared.
The asari behind the salarian peeked her head above his left shoulder just enough that her eyes became visible. "Yeeeeaaah," she chimed in. "Start, umm, talking, human!"
"You should know that you ain't the first fellow who thought he had the drop on me," Massani growled back at the salarian. "They all came to regret that miscalculation. Well, the ones that lived, anyway... Why don't you lower that thing before this gets messy, eh?"
"This is no ordinary salarian!" the asari declared. "This is an undercover Special Tasks Group agent! He-" The salarian loudly cleared his throat in response to the asari's announcement, prompting her to duck back down behind him while squealing, "Sorry! Sorry! Just-just ignore me! Okay?"
Massani nodded. "STG, huh? Explains why you're packing. Doesn't matter though." A moment later Massani lunged at the salarian's gun hand.
Vass zapped him with a neural shock from his omni-tool. To his astonishment, while the human grunted loudly and grimaced in pain, the blast was not enough to put him out of the fight. The human was that tough. Vass' mind suddenly flashed back to a combat training session months previously at STG Headquarters on Sur'Kesh. He recalled the instructor demonstrating how to use a neural shock to the best effect, explaining that it was "more than enough to incapacitate the vast majority of sapients." Vass had raised his hand and asked what to do if the shock wasn't sufficient. The instructor had given him a patronizing look and said that "almost never happens."
'I really should have pressed the issue,' Vass thought as Massani grabbed at him and twisted his gun arm. The mercenary yanked the STG agent forward and sent a brutal knee into this stomach. Vass attempted to transfer the gun in his right hand to his free left hand but the blow to his mid-section caused him to fumble and drop the weapon. Massani followed the knee with a short, sharp palm strike at Vass' head, causing him to lose consciousness and collapse to the floor.
"Get off him!" shouted the asari maiden, who had brought up her biotics during the tussle. She hit Massani with a stasis field. This time, the mercenary was immobilized. The asari turned and bent down towards the salarian. "Solik! Solik! Get up! Please!" she pleaded.
"Whhuu..?" was all the STG agent could manage.
"Don't worry, miss! We've got it from here!" a turian voice loudly announced. Linia looked up and spotted a quartet of C-Sec officers, all with their weapons drawn. "Citadel Security! You're surrounded, human!" the lead officer shouted at Massani. "When that stasis field wears off, get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head."
As the biotic field faded out, Massani sneered but complied. The lead officer stared at Massani's face, then brought up his omni-tool. "Commander Bailey, we're at the scene of the commotion reported at the 6th Dimension Vids entrance. We have secured the area. I believe we also have the human you were looking for in relation to the Citadel Chambers break-in," the officer announced.
"Good work," declared the voice of Commander Bailey. "Sit tight and don't let anyone go anywhere. I'm sending back-up your way and heading there myself as soon as I can."
"Understood, commander," the officer replied.
"I really, really, have to go. It's quite urgent," Khalisah pleaded to the hanar.
The alien shook and began radiating yellow and purplish flashes, before sighing and saying, "This One understands. It can take several years to fully understand the Enkindlers' message of hope. This is especially true in the cases of species with limited cognitive powers, such as your own. Very well, Esteemed Stranger, you may go. Please contemplate what This One has said."
'Finally,' Khalisah groaned inwardly. 'Shit, how much time did that cost me? Gotta get to the meeting now! The reporter half walked and half jogged across the 6th Dimension Vids compound until she found the Akbar building, the location S'Voz had specified. It was in a far corner of the compound with little to no other activity in the immediate vicinity. 'Makes sense. Quiet and remote,' she thought and stepped inside. The entrance lead to a small waiting room area with a pair of large double doors on the opposite side leading further inside the building. "Adria S'Voz?" Khalisah asked in a raised voice as she walked through the large doors.
"We're here," said S'Voz's voice, which emanated from the far side of the room. "You're a little tardy, but we can overlook that now that you've arrived. Come on in."
The hairs on the back of Khalisah's neck stood on end when she realized that most of the room was pitch-black and completely silent. 'Maybe S'Voz and T'Loak are just trying to be dramatic or create an intimidating atmosphere?' Khalisah thought. But something didn't feel right.
Khalisah lingered near the doorway, bringing up her omni-tool and quickly sending a call through to S'Voz. If the actress was really in the room, Khalisah might hear the call coming through or see an omni-tool's indicator light up. She paused and listened intently. Nothing happened. The room remained silent.
"Okay, who are you and what is going on?" Khalisah shouted into the room.
Before any answer came the building's outside door suddenly flung open. Khalisah spun around behind her and saw Jacana Aragem, her biotics fully engaged, charging into the building. "Khalisah, get out! It's a trap!" she shouted as she raced towards the human.
"Fuck it! Use it on the asari!" a voice shouted from inside the darkness. The loud, crackling noise of an industrial device springing to life was followed by the bright flash of a mass effect field enveloping Jacana. She soon found herself floating a meter off the ground, trapped inside a sphere of energy.
The lights in the room went up and three humans emerged from the shadows, two male and one female. One of the men, a large, sandy-haired person, was working the controls of a bulky industrial device, clearly the source of mass effect field surrounding Jacana. The other two humans pointed pistols at the reporter.
Khalisah gasped when recognized the man holding a gun.
"You're that pirate, Jeddick!" she sputtered. "What-what is going on? Where's S'Voz and T'Loak? What have you done to my friend?!"
Lyle chuckled. "You remember me! I cannot help but be touched," the pirate laughed. "I, of course, remember you." His smile faded, replaced by a sneer. "Hard to forget the face of a traitor."
"Ugghhh..." groaned Jacana as the mass effect sphere holding her noticeably shrank. The human controlling the device grinned like a child stealing sweets.
"You're hurting her! Stop!" Khalisah pleaded. "Please, just tell me what you want!"
Jeddick's expression switched back to an aw-shucks grin. "Want? There's nothing you have that we 'want.' Except your lives, of course. I would, however, like the satisfaction of letting you know how far you've fallen before we finish things," the pirate declared. "You used to be one of the good ones, al-Jilani. Fighting the good fight and standing up for your people. But you just had to start playing for the other team, didn't you? Well, we can't forgive that. No, no, no. Humanity has to stick together," he explained. "And, occasionally, deal with those who won't get in line."
"That-that's what this is about?!" Khalisah stammered, incredulously. "You're punishing me for 'playing for the other team'?!"
Jeddick nodded "yes," then smirked at the horrified expression on al-Jilani's face. He continued, "You see, I found out that you weren't going to be publishing any expose of T'Loak after all. Doesn't matter how I know. The important thing is you sold us out, didn't you? Sneaky bitch." He slowly shook his head. "So, here's what we're gonna do: we're gonna use this here special mass effect generator to pulverize your blue girlfriend until she can be spread across a cracker. You're gonna watch as it happens. Then we're gonna do the same thing to you. And everyone's gonna think Aria T'Loak did it to shut you up. Maybe then we'll be able to get everyone in the Terminus Systems to work together to fight for humanity's interest," Jeddick revealed. "Hell, I'm doing you a big favor! You're gonna die a hero and a martyr!"
"Funny thing is, we never planned to kill your girlfriend too," he added with a grin. "That's just a nice bonus for us."
"Ahhhh!" shrieked Jacana as the other human shrank the mass effect field further.
"Stop! Please! I-I... I love her! Don't do this!" Khalisah begged.
Jeddick again shook his head. "Now you're just making it harder on yourself," he sneered. "Love?! An alien?! You are one sick fuck, al-Jilani, you know that?"
"There must something else you want!" Khalisah argued. "Is it T'Loak? I can give you the notes and the drafts of my expose! You can publish it yourself! Just let Jacana go!"
Jeddick paused and contemplated the offer. "Might not be a bad idea, Lyle..." the female pirate opined. "T'Loak IS the bigger fish..."
"Nahh, she's bluffing," Jeddick declared. "If she truly had a story, she would have published it already. Ain't that right?" he yelled at al-Jilani. "Tell us right now, Miss Reporter Lady, what is the story? What did you uncover, huh?"
Khalisah tried to respond, but froze up. She was unable to think of anything to say.
"Yeah, I knew it... Traitor to her species AND a rotten liar," Jeddick sarcastically laughed. "Okay, Smiley, let's-"
The pirate stopped as he heard the faint but tell-tale crackle of an audio communications line. The other pirates heard it as well. All three froze and focused on the dim static-y sound.
After a few moments of nothing but subtle crackling noises a disembodied voice suddenly chimed in. "By the Goddess, what is it with this studio and its special effects directors?!" lamented Adria S'Voz, her voice emanating from al-Jilani's omni-tool.
Jeddick and his compatriots' faces turned white at the sound of her voice.
"Yup, I've been listening in the whole time," S'Voz announced. "Couldn't figure out why al-Jilani wanted to talk to me, but I'm glad I took her call from a minute ago. It's been HIGHLY informative. Oh, and I took the time to loop in a friend of mine. You might have heard of her."
At that moment the building's outer doors ruptured and blew open, forced apart by a roaring blast of purple biotic energy. A lone asari in a white leather jacket and black slacks and surrounded by a blazing corona of energy defiantly strode through the entrance and threw a bolt at the mass effect industrial device. The bolt slammed into its side, tearing off its outer cover and ripping through the circuits underneath. The control panel exploded in a shower of sparks and the human manning the device was thrown violently backwards. He remained motionless after he hit the floor.
The mass effect field surrounding Jacana immediately vanished and the asari collapsed to the ground. Khalisah ran over towards her, cradling the asari's head in her arms.
Jeddick took aim at the new arrival, chuckling as he recognized her. "Well, I'll be damned. Aria T'Loak," the pirate declared.
T'Loak didn't flinch as he drew a bead on her. She instead threw her arms up in a mock "hallelujah" gesture. "Finally, a human who gets my name right on the first try!"
The human prepared to fire off a round but froze as he felt the barrel of a Carnifex pistol pressing against his neck. "I'll be taking that," declared Major Kirrahe as he de-cloaked from behind the human and used his free hand to snatch away Jeddick's gun. The salarian then pointed pistol at the female pirate. "Drop your weapon," he calmly demanded. The human cursed and let her gun fall to the ground.
The asari strode over towards Jeddick, slowly looking him up and down then glanced in the direction of the salarian. "Everything under control, Kirrahe?"
"I believe so," the major replied, a gun trained on each pirate. Kirrahe looked over at Khalisah, who was cradling Jacana in her arms. "Miss al-Jilani, is Miss Aragem in need of a medic?"
"What? Uhh, no, I-I don't think so," the reporter sputtered. "She's dazed, but breathing alright." Khalisah looked up at T'Loak and Kirrahe. "How-how are you even here?"
The gangster queen smirked. "I got tipped off earlier that I had apparently arranged a meeting at the studio but without - somehow - telling myself. That was odd, so I went to the studio to find out what was going on. When Adria included me in on the call, I was able to use your omni-tool's signal to track you down."
"On behalf of the STG, Miss T'Loak, I thank you for forwarding the coordinates to this secret meeting," Kirrahe chimed in.
T'Loak crossed her arms as she contemplated Jeddick.
"Adria, you still there?" the gangster queen asked aloud. The actress replied in the affirmative. "Good," T'Loak replied. "Be a dear and play interference for us for a bit, would you? We don't need studio security and/or C-Sec crashing our private party just yet."
She nodded in the direction of al-Jilani. "Killing this human and pinning it on me? That was your big plan, huh?"
Jeddick glared at the asari. His voice dripped with contempt. "What you waiting for, 'Your Majesty'? Just get it over with and kill me!"
The gangster queen sighed. "Tsk-tsk-tsk," T'Loak replied. "I try not to get rid of things that might still be useful to me. And I have something in mind for you..."
Illium Entertainment News Update - Elcor adult vid star Nor Rejemy has announced he will start filming a second parody vid based on the Blasto series, a sequel to his earlier hit "Blasted: The Butt of Soren Assterius." The upcoming vid is tentatively titled, "Blasted: Soren Assterius Gets It In the End."