Noveria – part 1

I stood next to Joker as we closed in on the main spaceport on Noveria. On this mountainous, frozen and blizzard-blasted world every building was fully insulated and maintained artificially created environments. To add to the trouble of our investigation, Noveria security contacted us before we were even in atmosphere.

"SSV Normandy. This is an unscheduled arrival. Please state your business here."

"Council business," Joker answered, masking his annoyance, "we have a Council Spectre aboard."

There was a delay in the response coming back until the comm crackled away again and an unhappy voice said,

"Rodger that Normandy. Permission granted to dock in bay 4. Be aware; confirmation of identity will be needed upon arrival. Your vessel will be impounded if you are found to be lying."

"What a fun bunch," Joker said, "I think I'll take my next shore leave here!"

Laughing at his sarcasm I turned and headed for the comm room to where I had summoned the rest of the team.

"Ok guys," I started, "the good news is that we're not being thrown straight into the fire like on Feros. The bad news is that this place will be a bureaucratic nightmare. We need to watch what we do and say while we're on this station. We ask everyone we see and search every crevice of the place to find out what we can about Matriarch Benezia's visit. If we do find her, I would prefer to try and talk with her. If we can get her to help us it would help us immensely, as well as hopefully hurting Saren's plans."

Liara's head had dropped a little at the mention of her mother but she remained silent. Kaidan leaned forward,

"Are we gearing up before we go ashore Commander?"

"No," I said thoughtfully, "the less of a threat we appear the better, I think. If we find that some force may be necessary then we come back to the Normandy and get kitted out then and only then."

Just like me they were not hugely happy about my decision, but I felt like diplomacy could work better for us here than bullets could. I dismissed my friends except for Liara; she was evidently shaken by the prospect of meeting with her mother for the first time in years, especially under the circumstances which we found ourselves in.

Once we were alone, I spoke quietly to her,

"Liara, are you ok?"

"I… do not know Commander," she said without looking up.

"I know this must be hard for you, but she is an ally to Saren and therefore we have to investigate her presence here."

I made sure she understood the importance of the matter and gave her a moment to ponder the situation.

"If you'd prefer to stay here, I'd understand," I said, "I won't force you to face her."

"I understand what we may have to do, how this might… end. But I will not sit idly by on this ship. I have to try and talk to her at least. I am her daughter after all; hopefully that may count for something."

I respected her decision; it was brave to be certain and I wondered if I could ever bring myself to do the same if put in the same situation. Liara turned and left the room without a word, her mind swimming with dark thoughts as the Normandy made its final descent and entered her allocated docking bay.

We were gathered at the airlock and ready to leave my ship when Joker suddenly called to me,

"Um… Commander. Small issue's just come up. Noveria security's only allowing you as the Spectre ashore, all other personnel have to remain on board."

"Brilliant," I said glumly. I looked around the faces of my comrades and eventually said, "be on standby. And if I need to come back in a hurry make sure I can get on nice and quick."

Wrex growled with disappointment as they all ventured back to their usual haunts. Only Tali took a long look back at me and I could only smile at her, despite how I was truly feeling. The airlock door hissed as the room was pressurized and brought to the same atmospheric status of the spaceport. Alone I stepped out onto the gangway and proceeded towards the security checkpoint, where I saw a line of grim-looking armed guards waiting for me.

"Hold it right there," one of the female officers held up a hand, "we'll need your credentials before you go any further."

Outnumbered six-to-one and unarmed I thought it best to cooperate,

"I'm Commander Scott Gardner, Human Alliance Navy and Council Spectre."

A taller, blonde-haired woman snorted with contempt at my words,

"Bullshit Ma'am; there aren't any Humans in the Spectres. I say we kick them right out again."

The officer who had spoken first looked at me and then turned to her subordinate,

"Actually, the first Human Spectre was appointed by the Council just under a month ago, and this is definitely him." She then turned back to me, "I'm Chief Security Officer Matsumo, I watch over this station. You may proceed, but I hope you'll understand that we need to keep an eye on you. Spectres and Council authorities are not very welcome here."

"And why is that?" I asked. Matsumo did not answer and simply waved me through, but I did not budge.

"Now that you know who I am may I bring my team with me?"

"No," came the annoyed answer.

I tried a more friendly approach,

"Where should I go if I have inquiries about certain people who have visited this station recently?"

Matsumo replied courteously, "Administrator Anoleas is the one to talk to; you'll find his office up the elevator and round to your immediate left. I hope you have a pleasant and more… peaceful visit to Hanshan Station."

Feeling naked without my weapons and armour in this foreign place I strolled by the silent guards and took the elevator up to the main business floor. The place was packed full of business types, all crowding different kiosks and yelling and screaming at each other. Along the path to my right there were offices for many of the big industries; Binary Helix, Exogeni, Synthetic Insights and a bunch more. On the left-hand side of the building were huge windows that looked out over the majestic and beautiful mountain landscape that lay beyond; or they would have if not for the snowstorm raging out there. A wall of fresh white snow was blowing past at gale force speeds and larger lumps whacked off of the windows from time to time. However, they were not to be heard over the clamour and racket of all the business people.

I knew that my job took me to dangerous places and into life-threatening situations quite regularly, but I still would rather have what I had instead of having this kind of job. Soldiers and Marines were guided by a sense of honour and duty to his fellow Man, Turian, Asari or whatever other species they hailed from; but these people were driven by greed, and only greed. They did not care who they stomped on or whose lives they affected, as long as they made some money in the process.

Mr Anoleas, a stern and frustrated Salarian, had his assistant admit me to his office, though he sounded not too thrilled about it.

"Make this quick, Commander, I have little time to deal with troublemakers like you."

"I'm not here to cause trouble for you or your associates. I simply want to inquire after an Asari Matriarch that passed through here not too long ago," I said as pleasantly as I could manage.

"Matriarch Benezia?" He raised a brow at me, "she was here five days ago for a while before heading to the Peak 15 research facility. There has been no word on her since."

"Do you know what business brought her here?"

Anoleas was growing impatient and making no effort to hide it,

"She came here as Saren's executor; he is a major shareholder in Binary Helix Corporation. What was she after specifically? I could not tell you even if I knew."

"So she's here on Saren's behalf. What does Binary Helix work on? Weapons?" I asked, my mind taking careful note of everything I was hearing.

"Mostly Binary Helix works on genetics. Given your Spectre associate's interests it is highly likely. However, what each company does at their own research stations is entirely their own business."

Anoleas made it clear that I was not going to get any further on this line of questioning so I changed my focus,

"Did she arrive with any cargo? Any escorts or a guard detail?"

The Salarian's eyes kept darting towards his computer screen as messages flashed up and calls kept coming in,

"Over twenty large, heavy crates that were sealed, but they passed weapons screening. As for escorts there were several Asari Commandos with her. That is all I can tell you."

"Very well," I said reluctantly, "I'll be on my way to Peak 15 then. Thank you for your… help."

Anoleas held up his three-fingered hand,

"I'm afraid you cannot go there, Commander. The storm has resulted in all transportation being cancelled and the land routes are blocked."

There was a contented smugness in the way he said it that really pissed me off, but I was on his turf and did not see another run in with the security forces going well for me. I buried the anger and replied,

"As a Spectre I'm authorised to go where I want, my investigation must proceed. With or without your help. Good day, Anoleas."

Once out of Anoleas' office I walked along the plaza beneath the great windows, the snow still obscuring the rest of the world from me. I went on my comm unit and radioed the Normandy,

"Normandy, it's Commander Gardner. Were you listening to that?"

"Yes sir," came Kaidan's voice, "don't like this Anoleas guy; he knows more than he's letting on."

"Agreed. We do have a location however, did you find anything on Peak 15?"

"A large facility ten miles to the west, further into the Skaadi Mountains. Nothing solid on what goes on there, but it's got a bad reputation by all accounts."

"Ten miles through a mountain pass? Even if we did obtain a ground vehicle it would be virtually impossible to get there."

After a pause Kaidan said,

"What are you thinking Commander?"

"The Normandy: We find a suitable landing zone near enough to the facility and take the Mako, either that or we drop on foot straight on top of the facility from the ship herself. But in this blizzard… I don't know. Plus, I would rather have you guys there than solo the mysterious research station and possible confrontation with a very powerful biotic."

"I hear that," Kaidan agreed."

"I'll head back to the ship and we'll discuss this together," I said finally.

However, just as I turned to start heading back to my ship, I heard a voice behind me, almost a whisper in my ear,

"You should go for a drink in the hotel bar, Spectre," it said. When I turned to find the source of the voice my eyes were met with only a huge mass of bodies going this way and that, and not one of them seemed the slightest bit interested in me. I went back on the comm,

"Kaidan, new plan. I'm going to…" I suddenly became aware of a Turian security guard nearby, he was watching me closely, "look around a bit more."

I walked away trying to look as if I was still unsure of what to do but as soon as I was clear of the guard I disappeared in the crowds and made my way to the Hanshan Hotel. The luxurious and warm feeling entrance opened up before me and I was swallowed up into the world of the rich and prosperous.

Making my way past the reception, receiving a few repulsed glares at my military fatigues from the snotty staff as I went, I ventured into the bar. If the main floor of the spaceport was busy then this place was simply over-flowing with people, every inch of the floor had three people almost fighting over it. Yet there was a calm ambiance to the place, all the drinkers engaging in quiet and academic conversation with each other. For a moment I wondered what would happen in a bar like this back in Scotland, and I concluded that several alcohol-fuelled fights would probably have broken out by now. Most likely involving an argument about which football team was better.

I eventually made it to the bar and ordered myself a glass of water and nursed it while I waited to see who the voice belonged to. Five minutes went by, and then ten and I was starting to wonder if I was just hearing things when I heard the voice again coming from behind me,

"Don't turn around," it warned, "continue as you are. I'm being watched."

I played along and continued to gaze around the crowd as I had been before,

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I want to help you, Spectre. But in order to do that I first need to ask for your aid."

"Who are you?" I asked again a little more forcefully.

"Lorik'Quin. I preside over the Synthetic Insights office here on Noveria. However, I've run into a little… trouble recently."

"That being?"

"Administrator Anoleas has closed my office and is investigating rumours of my corruption."

"And you want me to remove any evidence there may be against you?"

"Certainly not," Lorik answered sharply, "there is no evidence to be found… about me anyway. I recently found out that Mr Anoleas has been receiving several large kick-backs since he took direct control of rents, something he would be very upset about if it were to become public knowledge. His goons are ransacking my office even as we speak to try and find my evidence."

"So, I go to your office and retrieve that for you, and then how do you help me?"

"I can reinstate my status here and use my authority to allow your crew-members ashore and allow you to reach wherever your goal lies."

I felt a little unsettled now, he seemed to know a lot,

"How do you know my goal doesn't lie in the spaceport?"

"Because you would have achieved it by now, Commander Gardner. The Hero of Elysium is no simpleton."

I did not like it, but Lorik's offer was all I had. I nodded ever so faintly and I felt a scaly Turian hand slip a pass key into my free hand,

"This will allow you into my personal office on the second floor as well as access to my computer. Put this into the computer drive and it will auto-download what I have against Anoleas. Do this for me and you will have all the freedom on Noveria that you need."

I drained my glass and left the bar casually. I realised that I still did not know what Lorik looked like, but assumed that he would be keeping an eye out for me anyway. Even as I left the hotel and headed for the Synthetic Insights office a pale looking Salarian came straight towards me and bumped into my shoulder,

"Watch where you're going, stupid Humans thinking they own…" his voice trailed off as he vanished into the crowd. My fist tightened around the pistol that he had just thrust into my hands and I concealed it in my waistband, concealed by my shirt. This was one of Lorik's men telling me to expect a fight.

Using Lorik's passkey, I slipped inside the first pair of doors and checked the pistol; it was a standard issue Predator, nothing special about them. But when I checked the clip, I saw that it was loaded with modified ammunition. High in cost and highly illegal in Council Space for the kind of horrendous damage these rounds could inflict; shredder ammunition which, when coming into contact with flesh and muscle, burst like a shotgun blast. Not many survived being hit by one of these beauties.

Without a sound I opened the second set of doors and peeked inside. There were two guards posted about twenty feet away to guard the door, but neither were paying attention and sat yapping away to each other. I stepped into the poorly lit office slowly and crept over to take cover behind a large stone plant box. Listening for a moment, I could hear the sounds of doors being broken open and locked drawers being blown open by gunfire. Looking around I realised that the second floor of the office was merely a set of walkways that crisscrossed the room held up by pillars. There were several stone plant boxes similar to the one I now knelt behind; I knew that I could climb up to the second floor from one of them, and the best choice looked to be on the far left of the room as it would lead me straight up to where Lorik's office was.

I dived out of my cover and ran straight for the pair of guards. With one good whack to the back of the head the Turian was knocked out cold and lay sprawled on the floor. I wrapped my left arm around the Human woman's arm and hip-tossed her to the ground where I then sent a fast side-kick into her face and knocked her out also. I sabotaged the firing mechanisms of the rifles, just in case the guards came to. Sprinting over the plant box I leapt up on top of it and, with the grace and balance of a cat, climbed quickly up onto the walkway above me.

I walked softly over to Lorik's office door and stepped through it, seeing as it had already been broken open by Anoleas' men. I found three figures gathered around Lorik's computer; one trying to hack his way in and the other two simply watching. The office was in a sorry state from the thorough search it had no doubt received and now all the attention of the guards was on the console. The two observers were Human and the hacker was a Quarian man, his helmet equipped with a HUD flashing up important details that he found in Lorik's files. I moved quickly, kicking the first Human in the back of his knee and smashing his head into the desk. The second went for his weapon and I raised my pistol to his chest and fired several rounds which tore through him. The shredder rounds did a hell of a job turning his abdomen into a mottled mess of red mush.

When the Humans were dead or unconscious, I rounded on the Quarian and kicked him in the chest and sent him and the chair he was seated on tipping backwards onto the floor.

"Why are you helping Anoleas with this shit?" I growled at him, "he's the corrupt one."

The Quarian was terrified and squealed,

"It's just a job. He… he paid me well for it. Please don't kill me!"

I closed right up to his mask,

"You're going to leave right now and you're going to speak to no one. Do that and I don't smash your mask open."

He nodded quickly,

"Ok, ok. I'm going."

I had inserted Lorik's card into the computer before the Quarian had even left the room and, after hearing a series of beeps I withdrew it and made my way out of the office. I went down to the ground floor via the plant box again and swept around the room until I made it to the doors again. I heard a grunt behind me as the Turian started to stir, he shook his head in confusion, and when he looked for me I was already through the doors and gone. It was hard to look calm and at ease amongst the crowd when I re-entered the hotel and went back to the bar. I had a soft drink and waited patiently, letting the cold drink soothe me and bring me back into focus. I was back to normal within a minute and once again looked the part of a Spectre getting nowhere with his investigation.

After a little while I heard the Turian's voice once again,

"Did you get it?"

"I did," I responded without looking round, "I've fulfilled my end of the bargain, I expect the same back."

"Don't worry Commander. Give me six hours and I'll make good on my word."

"Six hours! I'm not sure I have as long as that Lorik. What's going to take you that long?"

"I have to go through official channels with this, Commander, if I want to take Anoleas down. I'm asking you to trust me once more. You'll get what you want; your team, Peak 15, Matriarch Benezia."

Without a word I turned in the direction of Lorik and then continued to walk past him and out of the hotel again. I got a decent look at him; his scales were a darker colour than most other Turian's that I had seen and, like most Turians, he wore face paint to show where he was from and from which family he was descended, not that I could make them out at all. His paint was white and very finely done in elegant swirls and curves. I had an image of him in my head, so if I found myself betrayed, I knew exactly who to go after.

With nothing else for it, and also to stay under the radar, I returned to the Normandy and gathered the crew in the comm room to explain what was going on. Though my trust in Lorik was still questionable, I tried to make it seem as if I had complete confidence in him in front of my friends.

"When Lorik pulls this off," I explained, "we'll have freedom to go where we want. We go straight to the transport hanger and get to Peak 15. They have specialised vehicles here that can deal with these weather conditions, Anoleas did not explain that of course."

"What do we know about Peak 15?" Ashley asked.

"That Matriarch Benezia is there," I replied, "our mission is to find her. Not one person on this station could tell me anything about the research facility; what goes on there, how big it is, nothing. All I learned from Anoleas is that she has a guard detail of Asari Commandos with her, so we're going in equipped and ready for a fight, understood?"

They did, and Liara especially so.

"Good, then check your equipment, get some food and rest and make sure you're good to go in five hours' time."

I ate alone in my cabin, scanning the extranet and Alliance intelligence databases for anything on Peak 15, and grumped and groaned when I came up empty. There was still four hours to go, and they seemed to be crawling by. My equipment was cleaned, checked and ready to go, standing to attention in my wardrobe. I became lost in my own thoughts and sat in silence at my desk, memories of Elysium starting to creep in, when there was a knock at the door.

"It's open," I belatedly said. When I turned, I saw Tali at the door and stood to go over to her.

"Hey," I said, "sorry I was somewhere else there. You ok?"

The door closed and she said,

"You said that if I found myself with some time on my hands I could come up. Is it a bad time?"

"It's never a bad time to see you Tali, come here," I embraced her closely, "I'm just worried about leading you all into Peak 15 blindly. It's my duty to make sure we're as prepared as possible and I can't get anything on this facility."

"We all believe in you Scott," she looked up at me, "I think that sometimes you dwell too much on the mission and don't relax enough. A clearer head works better."

I laughed a little with her,

"You're right. Let's do something normal for a change. I know you're a movie lover, I can get anything you want on my computer here."

She perked right up at that and went over to the computer and started flicking through the extranet pages,

"Wow you really can. How about… no. What about… hmm seen it too much…"

Tali kept flicking for a while before she moved the cursor over the "Human Movies" tag and clicked.

"I've not watched any of your species' movies before. I mean I've watched vids about Humans but not the story kind," she sounded excited, "what's your favourite?"

I leaned over next to her and scrolled around,

"It's a fantasy trilogy based on books written back in the 20th century, over two hundred years ago. The Lord of the Rings. We could put the first one on if you want?"

"Sounds good!" she said and went over to relax on the bed, propping herself up comfortably on the pillows.

"I'll go get us some food and drinks," I said as I pressed the enlarge button on the side of the monitor, causing the projected screen to double in size and giving the room a more cinematic feel.

As I went to the mess to get some food, I spotted Liara sitting at the dining table with a few of the ship's crew; they were trying to teach her how to play poker. On the opposite side of the room, I saw Kaidan and Ashley chatting together; Ashley was the most relaxed that I had seen her since I had met her, and Kaidan had his smitten face on that I usually only saw when we had been on drunken nights out. I received a few curious looks as I headed back to my room with drinks for both me and Tali, and a bar of dextro-chocolate for her as well.

Tali was immediately caught up in the whole fantasy of Middle-Earth and the struggles of the Fellowship. I had seen the movies plenty of times before and found myself being entertained more by Tali's reactions to epic or sad moments in the film. We lay together on my bed close to each other, and when Gandalf fell to his "death" in Moria at the hands of the Balrog, she reached for me and I shuffled over and wrapped my arms tight around her. We geeked out to the fantasy tale and I loved explaining bits that she did not understand or telling her about the lore that tied into the story playing out in front of us.

While it was wonderful to relax, especially with Tali, my eyes were constantly flicking over to the holo-clock on my bedside table. Despite managing to enjoy myself, the mission was always nagging at the back of my mind. Three hours of movie greatness came to an end and she turned to lie facing me,

"I wish we could watch the others."

"Me too, but… if Lorik's true to his word we won't have time."

"Oh well, it'll just make them even better when we do get to see them," Tali said happily.

"Exactly," I replied with a smile, "but that doesn't mean we can't lie here for a bit longer. If you want?"

She propped herself up slowly and her hand reached for her mask, but I put my hand around her wrist and stopped her,

"Tali, what are you doing?"

She stared at me longingly,

"I just want to try…"

I shook my head,

"But what if you get sick? I don't want to risk your health," I said, concerned at what might happen to her if she took off her mask; her lifeline. Her hand retreated from her mask a little,

"I know, I'm sorry," she started. But I sat up to draw level with her, placing my hand gently on the side of her head and running it down her neck,

"Don't be. I want to as well, but I would never forgive myself if you were hurt or became sick… if you…"

She placed a finger on my lips,

"I want to be with you Scott, for real. I don't want to rely on nerve stimulation programs and such to be with you like all Quarian relationships are. I want to feel you with my own hands, my own lips."

I agreed with her entirely, but I still had to control myself and think of the bigger picture,

"We'll find a way Tali, we will."

That appeased her for the moment and we lay down again, silently enjoying the feeling of the other next to us. Her suit felt so smooth and soft it was like silk against my hands. The way her leg rubbed against mine and her soft breaths beside me. She placed her hand over my heart and felt it beat in my chest,

"That's something you could never do to a Quarian. The suit masks it too well to feel it," there was something sad in her voice.

"I bet that's not true," I said as I rolled her slowly onto her back and ran my hand from her mask and down to her chest, stopping just where her left breast began to fill out.

I behaved myself and went no further. Then it occurred to me that I did not even know if Quarian hearts were located in the same place as Human ones. Feeling like a bit of a muppet, I asked Tali where Quarian hearts were and discovered that I was in the right place. Another curious similarity between to completely different species from opposite sides of the galaxy. I kept my hand still and focused on trying to feel her heartbeat, and as she lay there she gazed up at me, meeting my eyes with hers. Tali was right; I could not feel her heart, but I knew that Tali had a big one, a pure one. I leaned over and kissed the forehead of her mask and said quietly,

"We'll find a way Tali."

I woke up to the sound of Joker's voice on the comm,

"We've been contacted by a Turian named Lorik'Quin, Sir. Your guy says you and the ground team are clear to head ashore when you're ready."

"Great, thanks Joker," I said as I got out of bed, Tali stepping off with me. She pressed herself into me,

"Back to business then?" she quipped.

"Yup, another one of Scott's fun adventures."

Tali laughed,

"Hope you get through this one as well, we still have the other two Lord of the Rings to watch."

"Well then, I'll just have to make it back. I'll see you all in a minute Tali."

"I'll be ready, Commander," she said as she left.

Just like that, I was "Commander" again. Scott, the normal guy, friend and possible boyfriend, took his backseat once again and Commander Gardner took the reins. For the first time since I had joined the Alliance, I wished that Scott the civilian could have had just a bit more time, more time with Tali. I was suited up and armed to the teeth, and the added weight felt comfortable on me, a sense of belonging came with it as I stepped off of the Normandy at the head of my squad. Passing through the now unmanned security checkpoint and heading back to the main floor of the spaceport I spotted the pale Salarian that had handed me the modded pistol. I went over to him and offered the pistol back to him.

"Thank you, Spectre," he said quickly as he took possession of it and waved over towards the Synthetic Insights office, "Lorik'Quin wishes to speak with you if it will not be of bother to you."

Lorik'Quin was indeed waiting for me just inside the doors and threw his arms up in celebration as I entered.

"Commander Gardner! I apologise for the song and dance I had you perform, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for going along with it. A more honourable Human I have yet to meet. And…"

Lorik produced a passkey and handed it to me,

"Your promised reward. I grant you absolute freedom here on Noveria; this will open any door and all guards will allow you past them if shown it."

I took the card and shook his hand,

"Thank you, hopefully this will all be worth it. What happened to Anoleas anyway?"

"That scumbag will spend the rest of his days in prison and everyone will be free of his extortion. As for the position of Administrator; I will be getting quite comfortable in Anoleas' old office by this time tomorrow."

I knew that Lorik would no doubt benefit greatly from our work together, but at least he was far more cooperative with me.

"Just make sure I don't have to come back here and bring you down after all this," I joked, kind of. The delighted Turian chuckled and clapped my shoulder,

"No worries there my friend. And whatever you are looking for at Peak 15, good luck. I've never heard anything but dark tidings about that place in the last few years."

I bid Lorik farewell and left to head for the transportation hub where we gained access to a heavy hovercraft designed to plough through any depth of snow and heavy enough to endure all but the most destructive of storms. The seven of us fitted in and when the engines roared into life the huge blast doors covering the hub opened wide for us and I drove us out into the white gale that engulfed us.