Well shit guys. 100k+ views, 500+ favs, 700+ follows. I never expected this tbh. I just love the ME universe and wanted to put a good story in here. Never expected it to grow as fast as it has. I truly love the support y'all have given me; including the engaging conversations, critical reviews and everything in between. So truly, THANK YOU ALL.
Gotta say though, I apparently hit a moonshot with the last chapter if the reviews are anything to go by. I now have set the standard y'all will expect and I will endeavor to deliver with every chapter. I know I won't do every chapter justice but I will try nonetheless. Readers like y'all deserve it.
That being said, if y'all thought this shit was good. I can't wait to unveil what'll happen at the end of ME2 and the Rannoch and Earth chapters mentioned earlier in the story. Still, they are a far way off.
Enjoy the chapter.
POV: Aedon Wynne
Waking up was a bit of a bitch. The glaring lights of the infirmary did not help matters in the slightest. Not to mention the throbbing headache and the aches my whole body was producing. Felt like someone had gone to town with a hammer on my body over the span of a whole month. That's when everything that I had done in the past month came back to me. To say that someone smacking me with a hammer for a month was an apt description.
Pushing myself up on the bed I looked around to try and get a better idea of which part of the infirmary I was in. I was relieved to see that I was in normal area; not in the ICU or the recovery section. That meant that I wasn't too badly hurt and I wasn't suffering anything terrible. As for everything else no one was in the room with me.
Taking the covers off of me I realized that I was in just a hospital gown. Looking around the room again my gear was nowhere to be seen. Sighing at that development I swung my legs over the ledge of the bed and stood up. Definitely felt weak but no more so than having just woken up from a nap. I wonder how long I had been out.
Going to the door to the room I poked my head out of the door and looked around. There was the usual hustle and bustle of some nurses and doctors going around so that meant it wasn't night time at least. Stepping out of the room I walked over to one of Mordin's pupils; Tim if I remember correctly.
"Where's my gear?" I asked him as I approached. He looked up from his datapad his eyes widening as he recognized me.
"Nurse. Get Mr. Wynne his gear," he barked out to no nurse in particular. The nurses that were in the area all stopped, looked at me and then one of the Asari took off to get my gear.
I nodded to him in thanks and waited for the nurse to come back. Only a few minutes later she came back with a bin being held up biotically by her. She didn't drop it in front of me and instead took it back to my room without so much as asking me where to put it. I just followed along not intent on asking her to put it down.
Opening my door she dropped it into my room and left. I took a few minutes to go over all my gear to make sure that everything was there; it was. Once that was confirmed I got dressed into my gear. I took my time getting the gear on so a couple of minutes later I stepped out of the hospital room fully geared up. As I stepped out though Mordin, Garrus and Nyreen were all waiting there in front of me.
None of them said a word but Mordin jerked with his to where his office was. I nodded and simply followed them. A couple minutes later I sat in one of the chairs in Mordin's office. Mordin sat in his while Garrus sat in the other one and Nyreen stood, leaning against the wall. There was a comfortable silence hanging in the air, at least to me it was comfortable, before Nyreen broke it.
"Why didn't you tell us you were an Ardak Yakshi?"
"Didn't know until I took care of Jaroth and I'm not a true one anyways. It only works on biotics, I can't do it to normal people like Yakshi's can," I said looking at her as I did so.
"Regardless, result concerning," Mordin said in finality.
"How would you like to proceed?" I asked as a general question to everyone in the room. Garrus was the first to say anything.
"We don't know if you'll develop an addiction like some Yakshi do to draining people. You'll be monitored by Nyreen's people for a time until she says it's no longer needed. As for anything else I'm just happy you're back and alive," I gave him a nod of thanks. One that he returned.
"Would like to run tests. See extent of development. Wonder if you either absorb biotic powers or simply kill them," Mording said.
"Not exactly keen on draining people for research doc," I replied instantly.
"Sorry, misspoke. Only blood trials and biotic field testing. Nothing involving live subjects."
"That's fine with me then. The geth gone?" I got nods all around, good. "Anything else then?"
"No. Go to your apartment, get some rest on your actual bed," Garrus said, giving me a smile. I nodded and stood up going to the door. I stopped as I reached the door and turned my head to look back at them.
"How long was I out by the way?"
"53 hours, 22 minutes and 12 seconds," Mordin answered. I didn't bother thanking him for that and sent 5000 credits to Garrus, he did find me before it was done. Then I left the room and made my way back to my apartment.
When I opened the door I got a surprise. Kelli, Vrul, Samuel and Ilok were all in my apartment; with Girl sitting in Kelli's arms. As soon as she saw me she jumped out of Kelli's hands and sprinted to me. Getting to one knee I let her jump into my arms; I was so happy to have her in my arms I didn't even notice what the others were saying.
Standing up with Girl in my arms I went around the room and greeted the others individually. Samuel and Ilok were the two that changed the least, they greeted me as they usually would. Vrul looked to practically be worshiping me with the look in his eyes. As for Kelli I could see the slight fear in her eyes.
They would hang out for a good while. Catching me up to speed on everything that had happened in the time I've been out. Aria had followed through on her deal and we now had sole control over 21 floors of Omega. The few gangs and small merc bands that tried to resist us were either eliminated or assimilated. Most went for the assimilation and we now had well over 1500 soldiers under our control.
Now that I was awake again I was now in control of 300 of them while Nyreen held control over 100 and Garrus had the rest. According to them we hadn't had any real problems with the area's we've been given. Still had to a bit of looking to make sure but the 21 floors we controlled were as close to being free of slavery and degredation as they might ever be.
I was so goddamn proud of us you have no idea. That being said, I was happy I wasn't in charge of that many people. 300 was more than enough of a number for me. Which brought me to the real reason they were in my apartment. Garrus and Nyreen had made them my unofficial Lieutenants while I was on my rampage and they all came to me to ask if I agreed with their decision. I did and they were relieved when I said so.
That being said, I was on the fence about Vrul. I hadn't seen him develop with my own eyes but if Nyreen and Garrus were willing to put him there then I would agree with their decision.
Eventually they would leave but it wouldn't be until after dinner. I attempted to make the dinner but Kelli told me to sit my ass down and let her do it. I sat in the living room with Vrul, Samuel and Ilok drinking beers while Girl sat on my lap.
"So… how fast has the video spread?" I asked out loud to them as I drank a beer.
"After we got Girl back and the geth left it hit the Extranet. If you were famous before I'm pretty sure literally everyone knows who you are now," Vrul said with a chuckle.
"Fantastic. Anything else?"
"Nyreen had to give the boot to several STG agents yesterday when they tried to get onto Omega," Ilok siad with a slight grimace. Once that piqued my curiosity; but I would hold back for now. He would tell me eventually and if it became an issue Nyreen would tell me.
"Anyone else coming after me?" I asked with a soft chuckle.
"No one officially," Kelli shouted from the kitchen. Great, that meant everyone was after me. Cool.
"And our people?"
"No one on Omega even has it on their minds," Samuel said. "You cleaned this place up on a one man rampage and we helped but you're Omega's champion. People might even bow to you if you walk by them."
"That would be the day," I gave a soft chuckle and drank my beer only to hear nothing in response. Setting my beer down I looked them all in the eyes incredulous. "You're serious?"
"Sir. The families you reunited, the people you cleared debt for, the revenge you gave people. I wouldn't doubt it that when people find out you're walking again you'll have a mob outside your apartment all waiting to thank you," Vrul said with a deadly serious voice.
I quietly put my beer down and contemplated what he had just said. It seemed so ridiculous that I wanted to dismiss it outright. Especially since I never ever expected anything like this to happen. Or for me to actually do as well as I did on my rampage. Well, I'll deal with that eventually. For now, I'll just enjoy my time.
And so I did. We moved on from the topic of my apparent ascension to Champion of Omega to other 'mundane' things. Troop movements, people who could be leaders for us, training, and how to handle paperwork among other things. It was a rather relaxing night to be honest.
A couple of hours later they would all say their goodbyes and leave. Leaving on Girl and myself. She had long since past on snuggled against my chest. I took her too her room and laid her down on her bed before going to mine. I stripped my gear off before doing something that was several weeks overdue.
I called Tali and she answered the call almost immediately. We talked for I don't know how long; it was good to hear and see her again. When the call finally did end though I got into my bed and passed out.
The next morning I woke up early as usual and made breakfast for Girl and I. She too was an early riser and woke up right before I started making breakfast. She sat quietly at the dining table waiting for the food to be done when there was a knock at the door.
Once I heard the knocking I stopped making breakfast and grabbed my pistol that was next to me and went to the door. Only to see it being opened by Girl and she had a pistol in hand. I filed that under things to ask her earlier, where did she get a pistol? I only had my 1911.
When the door was fully open there was a man standing in front of it. He wasn't anything special but I could tell he was a fighter just from how his body was, and the fact that he was trying to conceal a weapon. However, proudly wrapped around his neck was a necklace with the cross on it.
"Who are you?" Girl asked as she pointed her pistol at him. I did likewise but kept my finger off the trigger; Girl's had her finger on the trigger.
"My name is Romeo. I come from the pope."
"Why are you here?" I asked, still keeping my finger off the trigger.
"His holiness wishes to ask you about the Reapers," silently staring at him for a few moments to see if he was lying or not. I decided that he wasn't.
"Have a seat at the table. We can talk once breakfast is finished," he gave me a small nod of thanks before stepping around Girl and heading to the table. Girl turned around and looked at me with curiosity written all over her face. I silently told her with a look that it was okay. She didn't object.
A couple minutes later breakfast was ready and I served it at the table. Eggs with some peppers and mushrooms for myself, just eggs for Girl and Romeo. We ate in silence and once we were finished I gave the plates to Girl and told her to wash the dishes. She didn't complain but definitely looked like she wanted to.
"His holiness is curious about your stance on the Reapers. We don't know much about them besides the whispers we've heard. Can you tell me more?" Romeo began once Girl was in the kitchen.
"They're sentient machines; no idea how old. What I do know is that every 50 thousand years they come back to this galaxy and kill everyone they deem to be a higher life form. And we've got, at best, two years before they're here."
"And worst case."
"Little more than a year, 13 or 14 months is my best guess."
"Do you have anything solid I can bring back to his holiness? He wishes to convince the other religious leaders to do something about this but he won't get far without actual evidence," I nodded at that and sent him the video of Sovereign on Virmire. He watched the video silently before looking back up at me, his complexion visibly more pale than before.
"Will that do?"
"It will. I will be leaving at once, thank you for this," as he said that he stood up and reached out his hand to me. I stood up and shook his hand. With that he left.
The rest of the day went by easily. Girl went to the orphanage to play with the kids again and I spent most of my time going over paperwork that needed to be done. It was incredibly annoying but it was important and all of the paperwork had to deal with my people. I didn't have to go over any civilian disputes like Garrus did.
That being said Samuel had been right when he said some people might bow. None of the humans, Krogan or Turians did but a couple Asari and Drell did. It felt really weird to be honest but they weren't extravagant about it so it could have been worse if they had been. As for what Vrul had said he was also kind of right.
They weren't lining up to thank me but of the ones that felt inclined sought me out to thank me personally while the rest thanked me when they saw me. One of the ones to seek me out was the girl who I helped when she was being raped by Batarians. Camile Bright-Sun was her name and had some native american blood in her apparently.
She had barged into my office while I was going through paperwork and I almost shot her out of reflex. I was able to stay my hand though and she walked straight up to me and hugged me. Thanked me profusely for helping her before leaving. It was a bit of a shock to see the pureness in her eyes during that time; but it was appreciated.
Other than that I finished up my day by giving Kelli the rest of the paperwork and going back to my apartment. Girl was still at the orphanage when I got back but before I could start to relax there was a knock at the door. Unholstering my pistol I approached before looking through the peephole; it was just Ilok.
"Everything okay Ilok?" I asked opening the door fully.
"Would like to speak in private. Acceptable sir?"
"Yeah, come in. Have a seat," he quickly paced straight to the table and sat down. He looked to be apprehensive but not scared; I guess nervous would be the best way to describe it.
"Would like to come clean," guess this was about what I saw yesterday with him. Something was bothering him.
"Go ahead," I waved him on.
"I am former STG agent. Was one upon appearing on Omega; worked under you as one. Sent reports of you, Garrus and Nyreen to Council," I tightened my grip on my pistol preparing to fire but I stayed myself for now.
"Do Nyreen and Garrus know?"
"Yes. Told them after resignation from STG."
"And they still made you one of my Lieutenants," he gave a slow nod. "I will trust their judgment on this Ilok. Consider yourself lucky, if they didn't know I would have killed you."
Ilok stood up and outstretched his hand to me. I did the same and shook his hand before escorting him to the door. I was not happy at all for this bullshit; an STG had been right next to me for months and I didn't know it at all. At least he came clean to me but after so many months he had definitely lost a good portion of my trust. It wasn't completely gone but it didn't help him at all.
Something to worry about another time; I'm going to make some dinner.
Three months. It's been three months since I had become Red Eyes and three months since the whole galaxy found out I was a human Ardat Yakshi. In those three months I can truly say that as far as Omega is concerned it's been boring.
We haven't made any moves against Aria and she hasn't made any moves against us. I admittedly got a bit paranoid at that and asked a couple of our people to try and find a reason why. When they returned to me it was a Salarian that found it out.
Aria was losing money, a lot of money, but it wasn't destroying her. She would be bankrupt in 131 years according to the Salarian. From every angle she just intended to wait us out. A solid strategy to be honest and I might've been mad if the Reapers weren't right around the corner. As such I didn't care about Aria, she could play her games and wait. My plan was still to make sure the Reapers lost.
Still, we needed to make Omega better for the future and we weren't done.
Either way, everything had been going as well as it could've been. We took out the occasional dealer or slaver that decided to try their hand at our territory. That being said, I've only been able to go on a scarce few of those adventures. The rest were so pathetic that I just gave them to the people who could use the experience.
Though, I wasn't just sitting around being a pencil pusher the whole time. I worked with Kelli and Vrul a lot over the past three months. Kelli kept me in shape for biotics and my skills in general with frequent competitions. Vrul was always hand to hand and I would help him in a leadership capacity; he still had a few things to learn.
As for Garrus and Nyreen I made sure to push them into training with me. They joined without much fuss at all; they didn't like pencil pushing either. When an assignment did pop up that would keep us in shape we always took it; usually with my personal squad helping us. Nothing we went up against lasted long but it kept us in relative shape.
Speaking of personal squads though, Frank and the rest of my mentors visited two months ago. They stepped up my training when they visited, especially Ceelo, and worked me into the dirt and I appreciated it. When they visited it was also their first official time meeting Girl; she still hadn't decided on a name for herself yet.
Miss T'Kari absolutely fawned over Girl, spoiled the absolute bejesus out of her. Frank and Volio played with her and treated her well but not to the point of Miss T'Kari. As for Ceelo he kept his distance from her but he never treated her badly. Just kept his distance and I understood.
As for Ceelo and his training it wasn't fun. He brought out the shock collar again and it absolutely sucked. Mostly because when he would train me I would be going up against him. Either stopping him from hacking me or trying to hack him. It is safe to say that he kicked my ass most of the time but I was getting better each time. Eventually I was able to prevent him from hacking me; still wasn't able to hack him though. His defenses were ridiculous.
Frank on the other hand brought me into live fire exercises against them but with nonlethal rounds. Either way it was always those two against myself and just like Ceelo they would usually smoke me. I fared far better against them than Ceelo but they still kicked my proverbial ass. Miss T'Kari even joined in against me; I won eight times against those three with 42 losses.
Out of my time with them though I spent the most time with Ceelo. Just hanging around him while the others looked around Omega and got used to how much we had changed it. Cello stuck around and we talked a lot; he was a great conversationalist. They spent three weeks on Omega hanging around and I learned a lot about Ceelo and grew closer to the man. Past everything that he was as a person was someone who was still in mourning; it hurt once I realized that.
As their going away party all five of us got absolutely roaring drunk in one of the bars in our territory. Suffice it to say I don't remember anything from that night past 2130, we got to the bar at 2000. As for what did happen a few people recorded videos and I am now renowned as an absolute lightweight and a rather gifted darts player, Frank had been swarmed by women who wanted a piece of him, Miss T'Kari practically beat them all back with a broom and was since perma banned from that bar. Volio became a legend at the bar for beating everyone in chugging competitions. Ceelo didn't do anything but I would bet everything he was the one who recorded it all. I spent two days recovering from the hangover.
That was it for them but apparently I had also drunk called Tali. I don't remember it but apparently she had been in a mission debrief when I called. Not my proudest moment but according to her, I didn't say or do anything overly stupid. I was just really drunk.
Now during that time and after Mordin has had me going through tests with him to assess my status as an Ardat Yakshi. There were a great many tests that we went though and most boiled down to the result that I was just as dangerous as all Ardat Yakshi but not overly so.
As for activating the power it would only happen when I wanted it to so interacting with biotics in general wasn't something I couldn't do. We also found out that I would increase in biotic power with every biotic I absorbed. Found this out after I drained an Asari slaver only a couple weeks after the first test with Mordin.
Saw that my biotic potential increased along with my reflexes in general. However, he didn't know if I would ever be able to actually use biotics since I wasn't born one and didn't have an amp. Even if I ended up being able to, Mordin didn't know what type of Biotic abilities I would have. He simply didn't know until they came about.
It wasn't without its drawbacks though. The same thing with Asari Ardat Yakshi's I was susceptible to the addiction of draining people. Mordin had run tests immediately after I drained the Asari and saw everything that could lead to addiction. Increased dopamine levels, a euphoric sense, and a couple other things he said that went over my head. I would have to really control myself in the future.
That was really about it for the last three months. Everything else has been work as usual, nothing crazy. Though a couple minutes ago I was called to meet Nyreen and Garrus in the meeting room. So there might be some crazy coming soon but for now there wasn't.
When I arrived at the meeting room both Kelli, Vrul and Mordin were there as well. Along with Vrul's whole Krogan group standing guard outside. That was my first warning that something was about to go down. Sitting down in one of the available chairs I waited for Garrus to start talking and tell us why we were here.
"The Spectre Tela Vasir is on Omega and she's currently meeting with Aria. We don't know why she's here or what she wants but for now we're on high alert for anything to happen," fantastic.
"She's also with two other Asari who we currently don't have an identity on. Sending you the pictures of them we were able to get," Nyreen spoke as she fiddled with her omni-tool and sent us the pictures. I saw the first picture and swore.
"Fuck."
"You know them boss?" Vrul asked looking ready for a fight.
"Just one," I said, bringing up the picture. "That's Samara. A Justicar and a frighteningly powerful biotic."
"Why the hell… Shit," Kelli voiced as she connected the dots that I already had.
"Feel free to tell the class Kelli," Garrus said in a joking voice but the undertone was anything but.
"Justicars are the Asari elite of the elite. The most powerful biotics who keep Asari law but they never leave Asari space. When they do it's usually for one thing and one thing only. Ardat Yakshi's," everyone turned their heads to look at me. I was impassive behind my helmet and betrayed nothing with my body.
"Will they try to kill him?" Garrus asked with a soft voice; one that promised violence if it came down to it.
"Maybe… Probably, I don't know. I've never interacted with a Justicar. If they are here though they'll probably try and force you to go to one of their 'sanctuaries'. Essentially a prison for Ardat Yakshi's."
"Not gonna happen," was my only response as I pulled my pistol out. There was a chorus of agreement from everyone in the room. Vrul being the most vocal about it. Though, Garrus was able to calm everyone down before anyone decided to go and find the Justicar's and Spectre.
"We need to try and resolve this peacefully if possible. I'd rather not have the blood of a Justicar on our hands. I don't know anything about their organization but they probably wouldn't take too kindly to that."
"No they would not. Violence should be our last option here," Kelli agreed, nodding to Garrus.
"What's the plan then?" Vrul asked, looking a little disappointed that violence wasn't the first option.
"Nyreen. Send one of your people as a messenger to them. Ask if they would be willing to meet and talk things out before anything goes down," Nyreen gave a simple nod to Garrus before opening up her Omni-tool and sending out the message.
"For now, Kelli, Vrul I want both of you next to Wynne at all times until this is resolved. Vrul get a couple Krogan to watch over Girl too. I don't want anything happening to her. Until the messenger gets back to us everyone get to your posts. We're in the waiting game now." Everyone went about as ordered but as I made to move Garrus grabbed my arm silently ordering me to stay.
"Kelli, Vrul. Wait outside; we'll be quick," the both nodded and left the room. "How do you know this Justicar?"
"I met her daughter. Morinth, the daughter, is an Ardak Yakshi and Samara is hunting her. She never showed me a picture of her mom but Samara looks like an older version of her," Garrus thought that over for a few moments before looking back at me.
"Can we use that?"
"I don't know to be honest but if it comes down to it that may placate them so we avoid violence."
"Okay, we'll keep it in our back pocket in case things go south. Now go back to your apartment."
I went straight back to my apartment and got a six pack out of the fridge. Kelli and Vrul each got one as we sat and waited. We played cards for a little bit too during our wait but we didn't have to wait long. It had barely been two hours before Nyreen got in contact with us. We were to go to the training grounds and wait for contact from the Justicar's and Tela.
A few minutes later we were sitting in the training grounds at a table that had been brought in. Everyone who had been at the previous meeting was there but what surprised me was that some of the other people below me had caught wind of this and its meaning. Samuel, Ilok, Yete and a lot others including some of the civilians were now making a whole circle around the training grounds.
I was happy at the show of support but it caused Nyreen no end of headaches. She had to run around the whole area and even delegate to her subordinates to talk to everyone. Make sure no one does anything stupid unless the Justicar's and Spectre act first. We couldn't risk doing anything stupid.
Only a few minutes after I arrived Tela and the Justicars did so as well. The two, I assumed both were Justicars, kept their eyes solely on me. Tela on the other hand observed the whole group. When she felt it was okay she pulled out a chair and sat in it. The two Justicars remained standing leaving the two remaining seats untouched.
"When you told me not to report what I found I never thought it would develop into this," she stated with a sad smile as she looked at me.
"Neither did I. Didn't know it could happen until I found and killed Jaroth."
"How many did you kill exactly? Aria wasn't exactly willing to give out those numbers," there was genuine curiosity in her voice. I turned off my external audio for a second and Sam told me the number.
"1623*," Tela let out a whistle at that before leaning back in her chair and gave a small hand motion to the Justicars.
"You are a danger to the people around you," Samara spoke for the first time. Eyes boring holes into me. I didn't bother acknowledging her. Garrus however gave out a dry chuckle at that.
"We're on Omega. Everyone is a danger here."
"He belongs in a sanctuary," the nameless Justicar spoke sternly as if talking to a child.
"If he were an Asari I might agree. However, he isn't. He doesn't need to meld and he can interact with other biotics without sucking them dry. You are here because you want to control him. Plus, it's been three months. What the fuck took you so long?" That was the most support I had ever seen Nyreen give me and she was absolutely scathing at the Justicars. Tela for her part just sat back and watched the show.
"It matters not what you agree with or not. He will be coming with us," Samara said resolutely as her biotics began to glow. Tela simply let out a loud bark of laughter before standing up and walking away.
"I agreed to take you out here. Not die here you fucking Zealots."
And then she was gone. I, for one, was already standing out of my chair with my Mattock out. Everyone else though had their weapons out and looked to be prepared to duke it out. Silently watching the confrontation and knowing that Samara would be useful later on I made my play hoping to get out of this with no bloodshed
"Morinth," Garrus clearly and loudly for everyone to hear. Both Samara's and the unknown Justicars eyes zeroed in on him as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "Release your biotics, promise to leave without trouble and you will walk out of here alive and with new information. Refuse and you will die."
The two Justicars looked between each other, a silent conversation raging between them. Eventually Samara seemed to have won as they both deactivated their biotics. The rest of us didn't lower our weapons until they each pulled out a chair and sat down with their arms on the table. Once they did that we lowered our weapons; everyone except Vrul that is. Garrus then looked at me.
"I met Morinth on Illium. She was a good partner for a bit until she tried to kill me," I spoke looking directly at Samara. She got the hidden meaning that I knew exactly who she was. Still, neither Justicar spoke for a few moments before Samara stood up.
"Thank you for the information. Do not think that this is over but we have more pressing concerns," and with that they both left us there.
Thankfully the other soldiers surrounding us and civilians let them pass. Not without a few jeers and a couple crude cat-calls but I'll let it pass. They were both annoying and would have led to a lot worse things. We didn't need the Justicar Order on our ass, and by extension the Asari Republic.
"I wanted to fight the Justicars," Vrul spoke in an almost pouty voice. I couldn't help but laugh and neither could Garrus or Kelli. Nyreen had already left us to disperse the crowd.
"You'll get your chance, big guy. They did say that this wasn't over," Kelli said and that seemed to brighten Vrul's mood.
"I'm going to find Girl and make some dinner. Y'all are welcome if you wish," I spoke standing up from the table.
"She's at the apartment Boss. My boys called it in right before the Justicars arrived," Vrul said. I gave him a nod and made my way to the apartment.
It didn't take me long but as I got there Tela was leaning against the wall next to my apartment's door. I didn't say anything to her and just opened the door, letting her go in first. Inside were Hirlok and Tril; Vrul's best. I gave them the order to stand down once they saw Tela and gave them the go ahead to leave. They didn't look convinced but left all the same.
As for Girl she was sitting at the table reading an Asari Commando tactics datapad that Nyreen had found with her gun lying next to her. Tela quirked an eyebrow at that but said nothing and sat in the chair farthest from Girl. I did appreciate the gesture and saw the reason; she was here purely to talk, nothing else.
"What can I do for you Tela?" I asked from the kitchen as I grabbed a couple of beers and brought one out for her. We may not be allies but she wasn't an enemy.
"The Council has an offer for you," bullshit.
"Let's hear it," she gave me a raised eyebrow not expecting me to say that. "Oh, I know it's a play to control me but I could at least hear you out. It might even be of a benefit to me and mine," she gave me a wry smile at that.
"Always smarter than anyone believes," she took a big gulp of her beer before continuing. "Anyways they want you to 'take care' of a couple people."
"Why?"
"Because your warning and threat actually bore fruit. The STG dug far deeper than I ever thought they would and they came back with some concerning results. Since then the Asari Republic has been silently gathering an Army, the Humans and Turians are building their Armada's and the STG is working overtime on info gathering. However, them doing all this is -"
"Increasing tensions across the board because no one besides the top brass knows the real reason." I stated interrupting her. She gave me a wry smile seeing that I had already connected the dots.
"Exactly. And some people are taking advantage of this by stirring the pot for profit; arms companies and the like specifically. Of those people who are in Council space, they are being dealt with accordingly. However, for the few in the Terminus Sector we can't do much."
"And you need me to do it because of plausible deniability?"
"Partially," I tilted my head and gave her a confused look. "The people we're sending you after are believed, by the STG, to be exhibiting symptoms similar to Saren. In short, they may be indoctrinated."
"How'd they connect those dots?" I was rather curious there.
"Saren had a full physical and psych eval only a few months before he went rogue. The STG is comparing those results to everyone else. It's a crude system but from people we've monitored the results match. Small but gradual personality changes and seeming to have conversations with people who aren't there to name two symptoms. They haven't figured out a way to actually discover it but we've monitored them and believe the targets we'll give you are, at least on some level, indoctrinated."
"Fucking hell Tela… As much as I want to believe you, how do I know you aren't just sending me after people the Council wants out of their hair."
"You don't but we need you on this. The council fears you, you called the geth in here. They see that as an influence they have to at least some type control of control over instead of just assassinating you -"
"Sparatus?"
"Sparatus... I and Bau convinced them that you might be able to help here. You give us plausible deniability for all operations out here and your record is proven to be practically flawless in the jobs you've taken," I sat still and contemplated the results of this. What could happen from here on out but if they were genuine, I had to take the risk… Liara might be able to help me with this. She'll know if Tela is telling the truth or not.
"Who are the Targets?" she gave me a seemingly relieved smile before tapping on her omni-tool and sending me three info packets. All three having Possible Indoctrinated as the front and center intro to the documents.
"Donovan Hock, Human, arms dealer and collector of rare and ancient pieces of art. Rethan Sebbohal, Batarian, slaver, arms dealer and one of the best drug smugglers out there; repeated actions in Turian, Drell and Asari space. Tolaw Velusa, Salarain, kidnaps high profile kids and uses them as ransom to get people to do what she wants. She may have the lowest crime in terms of severity but she has destroyed business and reliable people."
"And when I'm done with them?"
"That's all we have in the Terminus Sector for now but if more come up you'll be expected to take care of them."
"What else is there?" Where's the catch? Where's the control they want?
"You will become the first ever true Black Ops Spectre. No Ceremony, no galaxy knowing you work for them, nothing," there it is… but it's not as bad as it could be.
"Does that come with the perks?"
"Yes," instant response. Good. "Here's the code to a black card or blank check as the humans call it. It has a max out of 1 Billion. However, if the Council ever comes calling."
"I answer. Understood… They'll be dead within a month or two."
"Good. I'll be seeing you Wynne," she downed the rest of her beer and made to leave. Before she could though I reached out and grabbed her arm.
"What did the STG find that made them believe me?" she looked incredibly conflicted for a moment before sitting back down. As she sat back down she shot up and went to the kitchen and grabbed four more beers and opened them all; downing the first in one go.
"Don't interrupt while I talk," she downed half of another beer before starting her story "They found the original Journals of the three Councilors during the Geth Uprising. Now, that isn't all that concerning but what they found in the Journals is. From the time that the Uprising happened and the Council's decision to abandon the Quarians to their deaths their writing gets… hectic. Erratic. Weird tangents, explosive anger in areas, things that just didn't make sense on the records of those three. Then the day after they decided to abandon the Quarains," she finished the other half of the beer before popping open the third and downing it in one go.
"They talk about the decision. But not about how it weighed heavy on their souls or anything like that. They talked about how they didn't agree with their own decision. But how they thought they needed to make the decision. Hell, all three of them talk about how they didn't expect the others to agree so quickly. It was, by their own omission, the quickest and most united those three had ever been; and it had been to abandon a race to die. The Asari councilor even mentions it felt like she had been blackmailed without her actually knowing about it. With all that though, here's the kicker."
She grabbed the final beer and downed it all while I stared at her in mild fascination at the drinking and horror at what she was telling me. I know it was a theory that the Reapers intervened but to have it practically confirmed was a scary thought. The prospect of facing them for real and not as some enemy on a screen was truly… chilling. Entities that could turn your friends and family against you on a whim, haunt your dreams and make you do things you never would've before. It was the ultimate form of slavery and they were the slavers.
That thought was what brought me back though. My whole goal had been to eradicate slavery and now I was facing, possibly, the greatest slavers of all time, anywhere, any place. That brought out my WRATH. To take people and change them, make them yours when they don't want to; there is no free will, there is no choice. That is something I cannot and will not accept, ever. Fuck everything else, the Reapers will FEAR ME.
"Hey, you there man," I shook my head as Tela grabbed my shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Go on," she didn't particularly look convinced but continued anyway.
"The kicker is that all three Council members were dead within a year. The Asari was a drunken car crash. The Salarian's ship malfunctioned and exploded, first and only Salarian Councilor to die while in service. Then there's the Turian, the clincher to the STG. Went to check out a garden world and disappeared within 15 minutes. A former techie against BlackWactch ops and no one knows what happened to the councilor. The Turians blacked out the real report out of embarrassment and gave a fake official one. Sparatus' political pressure is the only reason we were able to find out the truth.
That is what made the STG, and in turn the Councilors, believe you."
"Fuck me," I breathed out slumping in my chair. I then downed the rest of my beer.
"About that," she got that horny look in her eye all women get at times.
"Nope. Spoken for."
"You sure," she purred out as she stalked over to me. I wasn't about it but before I could do anything to stop her Girl jumped out of her seat and put her gun to the side of Tela. She froze in shock before looking at Girl.
"Daddy has a woman already," god that sounded weird coming from a six almost seven year old.
"I gotcha kid. I'll leave," Tela put her hands up smiling the whole way as she left.
"Dad. What was that about?" Girl asked with curiosity written all over her face.
"I just got a job offer."
"And everything else she talked about?"
"I'll explain. I promise but not today. I need to make a few calls and then I may be gone for a bit. Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine as long as you are," I gave her a bright smile at that. So cute.
"Of course I will be. Now, head to bed. It's about that time for you," she looked like she wanted to protest but understood now wasn't the time. She was so smart, I need to start treating her a bit more of an equal… but she deserves to have her innocence for at least a little while longer.
Once she left I called Liara. She answered instantly.
"What can I do for you Wynne?"
"I need everything you have on Donovan Hock, Rethan Sebbohal, and Tolaw Velusa. And have you heard anything about the Council Races increasing their war machines?"
"Half a million Credits," I sighed and sent her the money; no friend discount Liara okay then. Still, I wasn't exactly hurting for money. Omega hadn't been as profitable as my merc jobs but reselling weapons, armors and mods still paid decent enough.
"I'll have everything I have on those three sent to you within the next two days. As for the Council their war machines are moving. It's been steady but the uptick is noticeable; tensions have been increasing," well at least Tela wasn't lying to me. The Council seems to be true to their words.
"Thanks Liara," I then hung up. As soon as I was done with that I called Kelli, Samuel and Garrus. All three got to my place within a few minutes of me calling them.
"Why did you call us here?" Garrus didn't sound too pleased, he might've been having fun with Nyreen. I answered his question by sending the three the documents Tela had given me. Samuel and Kelli looked a bit confused by the intro of the documents but Garrus' eyes shot to mine immediately.
"Sir… What is this?" Samuel asked, looking up from his omni-tool.
"I'll explain but do you remember Commander Shepard talking about a threat called the Reapers before his death?"
"Vaguely. I wasn't exactly paying attention to the galactic news."
"Well, the Reapers are real and I was somehow able to convince the Council of that. Those three are the targets the Council has sent me after because they may be indoctrinated."
"Okay… As much as I want you to explain more about this… job, what aren't you telling us," Kelli asked sternly, staring at me.
"The Reapers are a sentient race of machines that come around the galaxy every 50 thousand years and kill everything they deem to be a higher life form. In simple terms, we have maybe two years before they get to the galaxy and the Council wants everything to be in working order. Their War Machines are moving but those three are disrupting everything and fucking with the already high tensions the War Machines are causing."
"What else Boss?" Kelli asked again.
"Tela Vasir gave me an offer on behalf of the Council aftering sharing that info with me and I accepted. I am now officially the first true Black Ops Spectre. You tell anyone and I'll be forced to kill you," all three of them looked to be in shock at my words. Garrus was the first to recover as he shook his head and went to the kitchen grabbing beers for everyone. My condition let me keep both types of alcohol.
"And let me guess. You want our help taking out those three?" he asked as he handed me a beer.
"Yes."
"I'm in," "As am I," "Me too," all three of them voiced their affirmation back to back.
"But I want to know how you convinced the Council about the Reapers," Garrus asked as he sat back in his chair. I gave him a smile in return before opening my mouth.
"I kidnapped the Council members over the span of the first three months after Shepard's death. Branded them with my Torchbearer symbol, and threatened to kill them if they didn't get in line," Garrus spewed his drink everywhere at my explanation as he coughed violently. Samuel looked to have shut down completely with his bottle mere inches from his mouth. Kelli, who hadn't touched her beer yet, was currently rolling around on the floor in laughter.
Samuel was the first to of the three to recover.
"Sir… You're insane."
"Well thank goodness for that. Otherwise it never would've worked*," his eyes just widened before he shook his head and downed his beer in one go. Kelli seemed to laugh even harder at my words while Garrus, finally recovered from his coughing fit, shook his head with a smile on his face.
"Okay then, how were you able to confirm everything Tela told you," Garrus asked.
"Liara. She's an information broker now; I called her before I called y'all. She confirmed everything that Tela said."
"The girl's growing up," Garrus said and I nodded.
"She'll have more on the three targets for me in the next couple of days. Once that info comes in we'll get around to setting everything up. All good?" I got nods from all three.
"What about leading the group Garrus?" Samuel asked as he took another big gulp of his beer.
"Nyreen wants to prove she can lead this place. I'm willing to give it to her and from this info she'll happily take the chance. As for you Wynne, what about your group?" Kelli and I exchanged glances before I spoke.
"Vrul will be given his chance and Ilok will oversee him. Once we get back adjustments will be made if they need to be. Otherwise, it'll open us up for the future," the future they didn't know about. The suicide mission for one and everything that comes after. Vrul was still young and had incredible potential to be a great leader. Time will tell though.
And that's a wrap for this week. Two chapters max until ME2 begins.
*1: 1623 is literally one away from 56 kills a day.
*2: CPT JACK SPARROW