And here we go. A bit heavy in the beginning, took a bit of a liberty with Shepard. Just an FYI.
POV: Aedon Torchbearer
Standing in front of the new and improved Normandy really gave it a feeling of new life. More sleek than the original and definitely more powerful. With that I could tell just by looking at the outside that it was far more luxurious inside than the previous one had been. Still, with that was all that was the feeling of experience coming from the ship. Of one who had already seen enough but was more than willing to see more. It made me feel like I was looking at myself at this point; it was the best way I could describe it.
"Reminds me of time with STG. Fresh, yet filled with pain and regrets… but also triumphs," I looked over to Mordin as soon as he finished but he was already walking towards the opening docking port.
I turned my eyes back to the ship as a whole and stared for a few more moments before shaking my head and walking forwards. Looking forward at the opening port Mordin was already inside and Shepard was standing there leaned up against the open hatch. Dressed in formal looking clothes he had a small grin on his face and I could tell from the ripped piece of clothe above his breast that the Cerberus insignia had been ripped off.
Walking up to Shepard we shook hands before he gestured for me to follow him inside. Doing so he didn't bother giving me a tour and just sent me the schematics of the ship as he walked with me to my room. Which would end up being the one that Thane would usually get in-game. It was a nice little place to set up. No larger than my living room at my apartment but it had all the essentials. A bed and a good amount of space for weapons, activities and an small extra bed if Iris can make it on board.
Before I began to unpack though I had to talk to Shepard. Just looking at him the man already seemed tired. Not to mention that his facial scars were nothing to laugh at. Yeah, they could be fixed but they weren't exactly to pleasant to look at now that I had the time to actually examine him. I'd bet almost everything that they reminded him of his death too.
"Shepard," I called out just as he was about to leave me alone. "Everything okay?" There was a heavy silence that hung in the air between us for a few seconds before he broke it.
"Call Garrus and let's head to the bar. I don't want to have this conversation twice… or sober," his voice was so tired and defeated.
I complied with his request but instead of calling Garrus I just sent him a message saying it was urgent for him to get to the bar. Upon arriving at the bar, which was in Kasumi's room, I poured both myself and Shepard a drink. He slammed his back before grabbing the bottle and pouring himself another one, his scars glowing as he drank. A couple minutes later and another drink for Shepard later Garrus arrived.
"So, what's this about?" he asked as he entered the room.
"I remember the impact into the planet the Normandy crashed on after our first run in with the Collectors," well I guess it's all gas no brakes. Garrus seemed to be of the same mind with the look we shared between each other. We had not expected that.
"I'll get the hard stuff then," Garrus stated as he went around the bar and grabbed what I recognized a very potent dextro drink he shared with me once. Shit put me on my ass. Still, I offered him my now empty glass and he poured me a drink. He then grabbed what looked suspiciously like Everclear and poured it into Shepard's, again, empty glass. He took a sip before making a face and giving Garrus a silent toast, with his glass up we all clinked glasses before taking sips. Only then did he start talking.
"I remember the impact on the surface of the planet. I remember breaking into the atmosphere after the Normandy and watching it crash knowing that more than half the crew didn't make it the escape pods. Most of those who didn't make it I knew on a personal level; I had to know them as commander and I got to watch them all die. Then I got to watch as the ground came up to meet me and I knew I was going to die.
I didn't get it easy though… I survived the initial impact," Garrus and I exchanged glances at that. Horrified at the implications he was already giving us. Shepard didn't notice it and instead slammed his drink back and poured himself another one.
"So after surviving impact I was broken as all hell and unable to move at all. But I was awake and alive. Inside of a suit that had a broken respiratory system; it wasn't the injuries, as extensive and fucked as they were that killed me. I slowly chocked to death over the course of 15 hours while in incredible pain. Lying on an unfamiliar planet alone, hoping beyond hope and praying to god that someone was coming to get me; that I wasn't going to be left behind," he slammed his drink back and then put his glace on the counter before taking the bottle of Everclear and taking a swig. Garrus and I didn't have it in us to stop him.
"Finally I pass out and my last thoughts are that I was left behind… then I wake up and I'm so fucking happy. Happy I wasn't left behind, that the Alliance or the Council came for me but that wasn't the case was it. I woke up in a lab under attack by someone rogue robots and my scars aren't even fully healed. Still, I fight my way to safety and then I get the nasty surprise that it wasn't the Alliance or Council that got me. It was fucking Cerberus; the same fucks who tried to kill me on Akuze, that imprisoned Toombs for eight god damn years and were a thorn in our side," Shepard was seething as he talked about it with us. Guess the guy hadn't had any time to vent at all; he really needed it though. Though, he got up from the chair and then really started getting into it, his voice getting progressively louder the whole time.
"After all that I get the surprise that the Council and the Alliance didn't do jack shit about my death or my body. Just left me to rot without a god damn reason on a planet no one gives a shit about; barely even gave me a 'he's was a good man' in my eulogy. I dedicated everything to protecting them and serving the Alliance and they basically abandoned me; just like they've abandoned these frontier colonies that are disappearing. They haven't done shit and now I have to figure this shit out all over again just like Saren.
Then I find out it's been two whole years since then so everything that I had with Liara is probably ashes in the wind. Then there's the cherry on top," he shouted before drinking the rest of the bottle and burping. "I can't even get drunk for more than a few minutes."
He walked over to us and dropped the bottle in the trash before slumping in the chair next to me. Propping his elbows up on the bar he put his head into his hands and held them there. Silent as the grave the whole time. Gently I put my hand onto his shoulder and gave it a squeeze before rubbing his back gently.
"Well… Shit man," I said trying and failing abysmally to say the right thing. Garrus just stared at me with his mouth open in increduality at my words. Shepard simply turned his head a looked at me while keeping it resting on his hands.
"Seriously?" Shepard asked looking at me.
"The fuck else am I supposed to say man?" I responded gesturing towards him. "You've had the very definition of a shitty week."
Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Shepard let out a chuckle and raised his head from his hands before shaking his head. He chuckled and shook his head again before reaching out and grabbing my shoulder. Quiet possibly the first real smile I had seen him have since resurrecting coming to his lips.
"At least I can rely on you two not to change to much,"
"To trust and friends then," Garrus stated raising his glass. We all clinked our glasses, Shepard already having a new one, before slamming our drinks.
After that we sat quietly together enjoying the company we gave each other in silence. That was what I appreciated most about them both, they appreciated silence. Plus with the view of the gently flowing asteroid field around us through the window it was quite relaxing. I would've liked to enjoy it for longer but that wasn't the case as EDI's hologram popped up next to me. Reacting on instinct I jumped out of my seat spilling my drink and my knife pointed right under her circular hologram head.
"Commander, we have an extra crew member on board but I have been unable to ID them as they are somehow blocking my sensors."
"Ah, thank you Edi. I'll check it soon," EDI then disappeared and Garrus gave Shepard a confused look, I just stared at him impassively. Shepard got the unasked question.
"That was EDI. The ship's AI; Cerberus built it and shackled it so it can really only help with minor stuff like a VI, just more efficiently," Shepard answered blandly as he finished his drink. Garrus and I exchanged looks before I just shook my shoulders basically saying I didn't care. Garrus just sighed and went along with it.
"Go check it out Shepard. We'll be waiting," was all I said as I sipped on my drink. Shepard sighed before getting up from his chair and leaving us.
"It's Iris isn't it?"
"Yep."
"You know I don't agree with this at all right?" he stated staring at me dead in the eyes. His voice poignant and sharp displaying his obvious disapproval.
"I know but I want her by my side for this. I trust the people we left behind to do an excellent job at protecting everyone but with both you and myself gone someone will try something."
"And you think they'll go after Iris?" it was a staredown between us now but I wasn't backing down.
"If given this opportunity I would. Someone I obviously cherish will always have a big target on their back."
"That why you've been pushing her already with training and for others to train her?"
"She also wants this life; I see it in her eyes Garrus. She takes after me far too much than I would like. I don't want her ending up like me but she'll follow this road regardless. The least I can do is make sure to prepare her as best as I possibly can."
"What about dropping her off to Frank," I did not think of that. "You didn't think of that did you?"
"No."
"And that's why both you idiots need a Vakarian at your side," he gave me a triumphant grin at that.
"I'll talk to Shepard about dropping her off when we can. Before that happens though I'll train her as much as I can; can I count on you to help?"
"Of course," it was at that moment that the door to the bar room opened and Shepard came in carrying Iris underneath his arm. She gave me a small sheepish grin as Shepard set her down. She quietly thanked him before running over to me and jumping into my lap. She gave me a quick hug before pulling back and giving me a big grin.
"I made it undetected. When do we build bombs?" her excited posture and grin enamored me and I couldn't help but smile and and pat her head ruffling her hair in the process.
"Where's you stuff?" I asked avoiding her question.
"In a vent in the cargo bay. Now, answer the question dad," she was pushing me right now so I ignored it and looked to Shepard.
"She get on without being detected?" was my simple question.
"Got to the elevator as I arrived. Caught her there."
"You promised not to tell," Iris said pouting at Shepard. He gave a smirk before responding.
"I lied."
"Meanie."
"Go grab your bag and head to my room. I'll be there in a few minutes and we'll talk okay?" she gave me a pout before nodding and jumped off me and went out the door. As soon as she left Shepard turned to me, disapproval written all over his face.
"You have a kid and you brought her onto this ship? And you're teaching her to follow your footsteps?" he seethed.
"I rescued her from a slavers ring Shepard. She had been taken for so long that she forgot her name completely; she only finally named herself a few months ago. She wouldn't let go of me the whole time after I rescued her until I brought her back to my apartment on Omega. Trust me when I say I tried to keep her away from this life but she wouldn't have it.
I stopped trying to keep her away from it months ago and started training her. She's a natural at everything she does Shepard; not like you or me, a true natural. Smarter than both of us too and that was before she got kidnapped and I went on my rampage. Once I got her back she threw herself into it; as much as I don't want her too she wants this life."
"You'll keep her away from us during missions and she's resigned to the ship."
"Of course, I never planned on taking her on missions. Just to keep her close."
"Okay and what about the part where she asked about making bombs?"
"I promised her if she got on the ship undetected I would teach her how to make IED's," seeing this as a good time to retreat I stood up placing my drink on the table and walked out the door putting my helmet back on. The door closing behind me but not before I heard Shepard and Garrus one last time.
"Even with a kid he hasn't changed… I need to catch up on all this."
"Would you like a video or a story?" I heard Garrus ask.
Leaving them I made my way to my room in a relatively good mood; being near my daughter always made me happy. That mood was immediately dashed when Miranda and Kelly Chambers walked out of the elevator in front of me. I recognized the redhead as she looked just like in the games but only with longer hair tied in a ponytail and definitely a lot hotter than her in game self. Her green eyes sparkled under the ships lights… I'm a sucker for red heads and green eyes but she had absolutely nothing on Tali.
"Miss Lawson," I greeted neutrally before trying to walk past her only to be stopped by Kelly and her stepping in front of me.
"Have you met Miss Chambers Mr. Wynne? She's our Yoeman, available to help with all mental needs," she stressed the word mental while Kelly gave me a beaming smile… Okay, I guess we're playing this game.
"That's nice. Thanks for informing me Miss Lawson. How are you with daddy issues Miss Chambers?" I asked while I gave a small smile and looked directly into Miranda's eyes. Her face instantly lit up with a small amount of embarrassment but was overshadowed by the pure hate that filled her face. Kelly somehow didn't see it though.
"Ah, a complicated one. Can lead to a great many trials in your life if not properly addressed. Would you like to come by my office and talk about it?"
"No. I'm fine, I had a great father," and with that I walked right passed them and went to my room.
Getting to my room I spotted Iris' bag in the corner and a little make shift bed next to her bag. It made me proud to see that, she's been making me proud a lot lately. As of right now though there was no trace of her at all. I expect to get at least five complaints from people about her curious nature within the next few days. That or at least one warning from EDI about her doing something dangerous.
Pushing that out of my mind I went to my gear and started to set everything up within the room. Set up my weapons and gear on the wall while putting all my clothes in the drawer. As for the my hygiene supplies and IED materials I put them all in separate areas away from Iris' area.
Just as I was finishing that up I heard the vent above me open me and someone dropped down. Acting on instinct my pistol was out of my holster and pointed at the intruder's face… Who happened to me Iris. Her eyes popping out of her head for a moment in surprise before they were filled with unbridled fear. We stared at each other for a few moments before I let out a shaky breath and lowered my gun; noticing that I had pulled the trigger but it was on safe.
"Iris… Please never do that to me," my voice was shaky as I looked at her frightened face that had been inches away from the barrel of my gun.
We looked at each other in silence before she broke down and jumped at me. I dropped my pistol and caught her as she jumped to me crying into my chest and incessantly saying that she was sorry. I would be lying if that didn't scare the hell out of me. I had almost killed my daughter on day one on the Normandy… Can I really have her here on this ship with me if I'm going to be this jumpy?
"Always announce yourself to people like me. Unless you are trying to kill them. Do you understand Iris?" she sniffled twice and rubbed her nose and bloodshot eyes as she nodded her head. "Good. You want some dinner?" she nodded again.
Gently standing up I let go of her before holding out my hand. She took it and we walked to the Chow Hall together. IT was nice to see upon getting there it too was like the game which meant no more MRE's. As good as they could be I didn't want to eat any more than I had to. Either way Iris went straight to a corner table while I grabbed two plates of food for us. As I arrived at our table we were joined by my favorite doctor.
"Hello Young Man," she spoke in that motherly voice that instantly put me on edge.
"Hello Dr. Chakwas. How's everything been?"
"Been as good as it could be. Though, I never did take you as the parent type. I honestly thought the girl you were talking about in the video was competition for Tali; guess not."
"Tali loves Iris from the few times they've met through video calls," I responded with an easy smile sitting down next to Iris and handing over her plate.
"Yet you took her with you on this ship knowing our mission?" Hmm.
"She didn't give me a choice with being her father and she didn't give me a choice here either. At least this way I'll know where she is at all times," she gave me a cold stare before turning to Iris.
"I want to be near dad," was all she said to the doctor as she stared into her eyes before starting to devour her food.
"Hmm. Good. I trust you young man and from everything I've heard about you you've become everything I expected you to be."
"Is that good or bad?" I asked as the doctor got up from our table. She didn't answer my question choosing instead to just smile before leaving Iris and myself alone to eat.
"Who was that dad?"
"Dr. Chakwas. The doctor on the ship; if I'm not available go to her and she'll help you out," Iris nodded her head not able to respond as she already had food in her mouth.
Knowing I wasn't getting a response from her I dug into my food. It was some kind of fish with rice. Not the best of meals to be honest but it wasn't bad. Either way we both enjoyed our meals and put up our plates when we finished.
As we left the mess Jacob popped up out of nowhere. He took one look at me before giving a wide birth and leaving me alone. I didn't mind that or the man too much. Just wasn't all that interesting in the game in my opinion. Personally, I blame bioware on phoning in his loyalty mission for that. Plus, he was kind of just bland in the games.
Moving on he left Iris and myself alone as we left and went back to our room. Once we got back to our room Iris began pestering me about the IED's. I told her it wouldn't be happening today and just took her through the basic katas of the same fighting style Miss T'Kari and Frank had taught me. She fussed for a bit but eventually relented; when I was satisfied that she could do the katas by herself I went and started doing my own. Only I did them with the knife and ax; switching between the two and sometimes using both as I went over and relived fights I had been in with them.
About 90ish minutes of that there was a knock on the door. Opening the door Miranda was standing there with an almost serene grin on her face. I just knew that something was coming for earlier; she was going to even the score. I was right too.
"Miss Lawson. How can I help you?" I asked as I now realized that I was only in shorts and a shirt. Both of which were mostly drenched in sweat from the 90 minutes of katas.
"All crew members have undergone a psych eval from our Yoeman; including Shepard and Mr. Vakarian. As soon as you step foot into her office we will be on our way to pick up the next recruit for our mission," okay, good play. Miranda: 1; Myself: 1.
"Okay," I heard the strain in my voice from admitting defeat her, the game was on now woman. "Where is our next recruit anyways?"
"Purgatory."
I almost lost my poker face at that, almost. If she thought I was getting to her Jack will be on a whole other level. It was like Christmas came early for me to be honest. Now, I was in the theater watching the commercials waiting for the movie to start. I just couldn't wait for it to happen. Sam will be recording it all.
"Okay, where's the Yoeman's office? I'll head there right away."
"Room C6; should be on the schematics Shepard sent you," did they hack my omni-tool through that? Could they? I'll have to purge it on general principle after I memorize the schematics.
"Thanks, I'll head there now," I then began to walk past her but stopped in teh doorway and turned to Iris. "Do some maintenance on your weapon and then head to the range; I'll meet you there when I'm done."
She gave me a nod of her head and went to her bag bringing out her rifle I knew she had smuggled in. At that I stepped through my door and made my way to Kelly's office. It was only a singular floor below my room.
*Kelly Chamber's POV*
Vakarian's eval went about as well as I expected from someone in his place. Meaning that he gave me absolutely nothing to work with at all in terms of his actual psych. Not that unexpected though, one of his best friends is the Torchbearer who is known for his paranoia and his girlfriend ran their intel on Omega. I'm surprised I got any fully true statements out of him at all.
Now, it was time for Torchbearer. I'll be honest I wasn't looking forward to this. He had quite the reputation and the only real picture of his face anyone really had of him was the one from the Bloodpack video. That wasn't really him though; you could tell that he hadn't slept or eaten a proper meal in who knows how long. Besides that piss poor picture no one besides the original Normandy ground team and probably his people on Omega have seen his face while he was healthy.
*knock* "Come in," I guess it's time for the eval.
When he entered the room it was like the whole world stopped for him. He just had this absolute presence about him that demanded you pay attention to him. He wasn't that bad to look at either. Blackish-brown hair cut cleanly into long hair that was slicked back. Then his beard; a dark red brown color that was full grown and full. It wasn't unruly though and neither was the hair; it seemed that he took care of his hygiene well enough then.
Then him overall. Taller than most and definitely full of muscle but it didn't show. He wasn't sculpted but built more akin to a farmer. His full body was like that too as he apparently came straight from a workout; he looked magnificent to be honest.
That thought was immediately dashed when I looked into his eyes. Deep brown eyes that you could get lost in and I would've too if I didn't see what was behind them. Behind them was a deep burning hatred. A hatred of what I don't know but it was almost palpable. That wasn't all though, there was a deadly intelligence in his eyes; like he was analying all the ways that he could kill me. Which way would be the best option, which would be the fastes, most brutal, what have you. All I can say that it was incredibly unsettling.
Still, his body betrayed nothing of what his eyes showed. The scars along his forearms and around his legs highlighted his whole demeanor. His body seemed like an experienced but not old bear; always ready for a fight but not looking for one. This man is probably the most dangerous individual in the galaxy right now.
"Please, have a seat," I gave him what I hoped was a disarming enough smile. His reaction of giving me a small chuckle proved that wrong. I opened my mouth but he silenced me by simply raising his hand.
"Do not lie and say you are not sending all the profiles you make of us to TIM. Ask your questions so I may avoid them and leave," well… that was probably the quest I've even been found out. I am a psychiatrist though and being paid by Cerberus, it should be obvious I'm handing the profiles over to the boss.
"Of course I do and will; every single one of you we've picked up and those that we will. As for all of you, you will probably be the deadliest group of individuals ever assembled for a singular reason," his eyes betrayed nothing of his reaction to my words but I just knew from the way his mouth twitched he liked the honesty.
"Fair enough… What are your questions?" the slight hesitation, the increased paranoia. Hmm, he doesn't like to be on the back foot, typical for people in his place. What else can throw you off?
"How was your childhood?" his poker face didn't falter at all but again there was hesitation in his answer. Wasn't expecting that huh.
"It was good. I grew up well, had a good family and didn't have to worry about anything," … he wasn't lying. Even though their poker faces I can tell when they're lying and he wasn't.
"Then why get into a job like the one you have now?"
"I enjoy it," lie.
"You enjoy the danger? Or is it the killing? The pay?"
"None."
"Then why do you do a job you don't enjoy?" his eyes widened a fraction before they went back. Here comes the fun of half truths, time to see how good you really are Torchbearer.
"Who else but me? I'm here, send me," quoting scripture? Knew he was religious but is this all there is too it? Can't be.
"Is that truly it? That you are available, that no one else will step up?"
"I was given the opportunity to act. So I have acted because I knew I could help; could make the galaxy a better place after I left it, even if just a little," truth. And as much as I want to deny it right now this man had near single handedly made the galaxy safer. Definitely the Terminus Systems and Omega in particular.
"So you believe you are on a religous mission to mend the galaxy then?" he chuckled at that for a moment before stopping dead and staring me down. It was an impressive glare.
"No," he stated in a calm voice after a second of silence. "I don't preach, I don't think my religion is better. It simply is. All I want to do is what I said, to make the galaxy a little bit better after I'm gone," that wasn't it. There was more he was hiding.
"Hmm, is that truly it?"
"No… I want them to fear me," his voice grew deathly cold and his eyes… flashed a dull grey before returning to brown. "I want the galaxy's scum to see only fear when they see me or hear my name. To know that one day if they don't fix themselves I will be there, a bullet with their name on it. And the Reapers… I want them to know I'm coming for them. I want them to fear me and to look in their eyes when we kill them all," true.
Fuck me he's crazy… But the way he spoke, the way his body barely moved upon his voice changing. He was going to will his statement into existence if it was the last thing he did. And if anyone else would've said that, even Shepard, I wouldn't have believed them. Him though, I believe he could do it. The Reapers won't have just Shepard against them; they'll have the beast that is at Shepard's side baying for blood.
And I swear that when he talked about the Reapers his mechanical arm started glowing purple. It appeared and was gone so fast though I couldn't be sure if I was seeing things though.
"What do you feel when you take a life?" I asked trying to throw him off a little after the involuntary silence he had stunned me into.
"Nothing. Never have, never will," true… but there was more too it. There wasn't any false bravado there. He's truly never felt anything upon taking a life. I've never met anyone like that. The desensatized like Masani, Shepard and Varkarian were normal; the psychopaths who got off to it too. But to truly feel nothing… odd and frightening.
"And what of your daughter? If you had to would you kill her?" an unfair question for anyone bu-
"Yes. There are things worse than death out there," true. True. The resolve and acceptance in his eyes. This wasn't a man, a man couldn't kill their daughter without a second thought. This wasn't a man, this was a natural born killer.
"What happened to you?" I had to ask even though I knew I had lost control of the conversation. Still, someone like this shouldn't exist without a massive amount of trauma behind them. As soon as the words were out of my mouth though he cocked his head to the side ever so slightly and his eyes turned curious… he didn't get my question.
"What do you mean? I've had a pretty good life so far," true. The honesty in his voice like even though he didn't truly enjoy this he wouldn't be anywhere else. This man was a pure killer, I'm done.
"You may leave. I belive that I have what I need for now," I gave him a small smile. One he didn't return; just have me a simple nod of his head before standing and leaving the room. When he left it felt like I could actually breath again. He wasn'tnormal, I don't think he should be here. He's a danger to everyone should he snap.
*AeT Eyes POV*
That was a bit shorter than I expected, fine by me though. Heading to the range after leaving Kelly's office I got there in a few short minutes. Walking in I saw Iris lining up a shot with her rifle. Garrus was next to her looking over her shoulder at the target. Shepard was in the next lane over firing with a multitude of weapons. Grabbing a headset I threw it on and switched it to Garrus and Iris' channel.
"-d don't forget it's a slow squeeze of the trigger," Garrus' voice came through the channel. Iris didn't answer and fired at her targeet a half second later. The feedback from the range showing that it was a perfect shot through the Targets throat. It would've severed the light switch and thus was a perfect sniper shot.
"Okay, that's the fifth one in a row. We're making this harder on you," was all Garrus said as he punched numbers into the console. After a few moments the target started moving exactly like you would expect a person to if they were being shot at by a sniper. As Iris focused in on another shot I walked up to Garrus.
"How's she doing?"
"She's doing great as usual. She's a deadeye shot," he turned to look at me and tapped his headset three times. Pushing the channel up three marks he continued. "She's not natural Aedon…"
"You think she was made in a lab?" I didn't want to believe it and wouldn't but she wasn't anything like you would expect a child to be. Even if they were raised in this environment.
"No. There was a Turian progam years ago, big scandal and the Media and Asari went wild with it. But it was about finding the best soldiers and forcing them to have children. Then taking those kids and turning them into soldiers; most Blackwatch operators of the last 30 years come from that program."
"And you thik Iris could be the human version of this?"
"She's too smart and good at this for her age. It's the only thing that makes sense to me; I just have to assume the transport she was on got hit by those pirates you rescued her from… then again it could just be the paranoia you've rubbed off on me," I punched his shoulder lightly at his joke and stayed silent for a moment.
"And we just happen to be on a ship with the exact type of people that would do that," Cerberus wasn't the only human centric group but they were the only one I really knew. Who else but them would throw ethics out the window… Ethics did always stop innovation; as bad as that sounds.
"And you brought her on here. Smooth."
"Best trip ever… Then again our next stop won't be the best either."
"Where are we going?" Garrus groaned knowing he wouldn't like the answer.
"Purgatory."
"You've got to be kidding me. You, myself and Shepard at Purgatory; one hell of a paycheck."
"I know right… What's the range simulating for Iris?" I asked steering the conversation away from that headache of a conversation.
"150 meters," nodding to him I walked over to the ranger operation and upt the simulated range to 350 meters for Iris. She pulled away from her weapon to look at me. I just gave her a blank stare and gestured back to the target. She didn't say anything and looked back down her scope.
"Anyways, we're already on the way there. How much you wanna bet we blow the place up in the end?" I asked Garrus as I walked over and got behind Shepard who was loading a Claymore shotgun.
"90-10 chance it happens and no way am I taking a bet on that."
"And the 10%?" I asked curiously.
"It's already blown up by the time we get there."
I laughed at that but it ended our conversation. From there we went into a comfortable silence and jumped into a third lane together. From there we spent the better part of three hours alternating between shooting, helping Iris and talking with Shepard. IT was nice and relaxing time and by the end of it we wer eat the Relay. When we got to the Relay we hit it and shot to the cluster with Purgatory. However, we still had about a 16 hour wait until we got there as ot was tom the sector over from the relay. More time to relax and get a good amount of sleep in… Plus I could use it as time to teach Iris she needs to learn to sleep light. She'll hate me before these 16 hours are up.
*Shepard POV*
We got on our way a few hours ago to PUrgatory. WE'll be picking up our newest recruit there and right now they have me mildly worried. Nickname of the Psychotic Biotic and plenty powerful from rumors but nothing beyond that. For having a rapsheet as long as theirs is they're practically a ghost. That isn't good, usually.
Mostly because that they're not an idiot, which makes them significantly harder to control as a leader. That and usually the smart ones are far more volatile and toxic than the dumb ones. The one exception I've met being Aedon, but he isn't an psych. Though from the reports of him and recordings that is a hard point to argue. Then there's what happened to his body. The reports I've been able to get form Miranda label him as the definition of an anomaly. He should not be alive and was practically an affront to Nature as a whole.
All that compiling into the fact that the man is a known Ardak Yakshi because of his change. Being a biotic myself he scars me now but I know he would never do anything to me. He respects me too much and he's relatively controllable.
As long as you know how to control people like him, he was easy. Point him at a target and let him loose. Like a dog in some case, a hyper intelligent dog who absolutely knows what I'm doing but doesn't mind. Which is why I trust him; he knows the real enemy is coming and as long as i'm going after them he'll be with me.
I won't lie though, after talking with Mordin it is concerning. His hunger, dopamine, increases with each drain. Not to mention he gets physically stronger and faster after each one. He must be kept as far away from Cerberus as possible after this. Mordin is already working on counter measures for me and Zaeed is keeping a lookout for weird instances; had to pay him out of pocket for that but it's worth it. I wonder if the STG has anything on him… I'll find out at the Citadel after Purgatory.
*knock* "Commander, can we talk?" What does Chambers want to talk about? She should still be in her office.
"Come in Yoeman," I pushed myself from my computer. The video of Wynne ambushing bounty hunters on Omega playing on a loop.
"I wank to talk about Torchbearer," straight and to the point. Better than most psych's I guess.
"Go on," was all I said not bothering to even get out of my seat. It was obvious where this convesation was going.
"I don't believe he is suited to be on this mission. He is a natural born killer who will one day snap on -"
"I'm going to stop you there Yoeman. I know exactly what and who he is. A natural born killer, absolutely; but someone who will snap and hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it he is not. As much as people miss that, he won't go after those who don't have it coming. He is cold and calculating but he isn't a psycho," I emphasized the last few words so she would get it. This would not be a conversation I would have right now. Only if he ever showed an actual indication of it. "If that is all Yoeman, you are dismissed."
She opened her mouth to respond but shut it and left. Once she was out of the door I locked it and prepared to get some sleep. Knowing my luck we'd be shooting our way out of Purgatory.
There we go folks. No action but it had to be done. I wanted to set the stage for a few things in the future.
That being said I've tried to make these characters as human and relatable as possible; a review or PM on how I'm doing with that would be much appreciated.
LOVE Y'ALL.