Acronym:
IFV –Infantry Fighting Vehicle
CHAPTER 9: IMPRESSIONS
"You seemed a bit concerned when you heard Von worked for the Shadow Broker," Williams said to Shepard as they boarded the skycar to return the human embassy. "Who exactly is this Shadow Broker?"
"I've heard a bit of intel about him. He is an information broker, buying and selling secrets to the highest bidder. He doesn't get involved in politics and he doesn't pick sides. We can get information from him, but we have to keep in mind that he will be selling that information to others," Shepard responded. "We don't know anything about his true identity. And…" she paused, "he's not someone you want to cross, or get on his bad side." Shepard then turned to her omni-tool, firing off a quick message to Anderson.
Alenko then paused, wondering how Harkin got information about Saren, and the quarian. He gave a snort of disgust at how the man had harassed his XO.
"Everything alright, Alenko?" Shepard asked from the back seat of the skycar.
He shifted in his seat and twisted his neck to see her. "Just wondering where Harkin gets all his information."
Shepard's expression darkened. "I have no idea, and to be honest I'm not sure we really want to know."
"No argument there," Williams agreed.
The skycar landed in the embassy area, and the three quickly moved off to Captain Anderson's office, navigating the corridors towards the Alliance section only to see the captain in question round a corner and approach them.
Shepard saluted Anderson as he approached, which struck Alenko as very odd, and the lieutenant's quick-thinking mind kicked into overdrive. First, a salute didn't need to be given in this situation. Second, the commander wore the Star of Terra, which, like its Medal of Honor predecessor, required salutes to be rendered to the wearer, regardless of rank. It was the only case where someone of higher rank would salute someone of lower rank. Rank difference and position difference did not matter; the CJCS would salute an E-1 who wore the Star of Terra.
So, even if this had been a situation where a salute had been required, the captain should be saluting the lieutenant commander, not the other way around. Alenko got his answer to the puzzle a moment later when Shepard stated three words.
"Sniper check, sir." The lieutenant could practically hear the grin on her face.
The captain laughed loudly. "Really? You're doing that here? No one gets shot at on the Presidium!" His laughter died down a few moments later and he asked, "You got information from Harkin?"
Shepard glanced around to see who was nearby who could eavesdrop…no one. "We did, sir," she replied, instinctively scowling slightly at the mention of the name Harkin. "There is a quarian who possesses intel that we need, and she is somewhere on the Citadel. We don't know much else, and Garrus has C-Sec looking into it. Garrus had compiled information on all of Saren's finances, but…if we want to figure this out quickly, we'll need to have someone else look into it."
Anderson nodded. "Barla Von."
Shepard's head whipped up to stare at the captain with surprised wide eyes. "Wait what? How…how did you know that, sir?"
"Von's a financial genius. If there's anyone who can quickly comb through money trails, it's him. Though he is an agent for the Shadow Broker," the captain said.
The look on Shepard's face somehow conveyed both amusement and annoyance. "I'm really out of the loop here," she muttered. "Though I do know if Barla Von's an agent for the Shadow Broker, the Broker will learn that we're investigating Saren."
"The Broker already knows," Anderson said with a look that showed his own mixture of amusement and resignation. He opened up his omni-tool, swiping through a couple settings. "There. You have access to some Alliance accounts. You'll need them to hire Von."
"I hear he's expensive," Shepard said.
"Very," Anderson confirmed, then frowned as his omni-tool beeped. "And see if he can provide any information on Saren, too." The captain's face turned into a scowl as he shook his head in disgust. "Off to go brief more idiots," he muttered sotto voce.
Shepard couldn't help but laugh, then led the two marines back into the embassy. "Let's see what Garrus gave us." She walked to a corner, verifying the terminal was indeed isolated from all networks before plugging in the OSD and taking a seat. She opened several of the files, staring mutely for many seconds at the undecipherable list of strings and floating point values. She figured the floating points were most likely credit amounts if large or percentages if small, but the rest of it might as well have been written in Yahg for all she understood of it. She picked one sentence to read and try to decipher. "The RBS had a NFY of 17.2, though when adjusting for AAIG, the AYR is actually"…nope, not even going to try. Wait, maybe some of this information was part of a data structure…Shepard adjusted a couple settings on the terminal, and…nope. Just a bunch of attributes with values assigned, and acronyms that might only mean something to a guy with multiple PhDs in finance. If there even is such a thing.
"What…what is all of that?" Williams asked hesitantly as she too attempted to review the information on the terminal.
"Could be financial records." She shrugged. "Then again, it could be a cookbook, a weird novel, or an even weirder field manual. Alenko, your thoughts?"
"I have no idea either," he replied with a shrug.
She took a couple OSDs from a drawer, plugging them into the terminal and copying the financial data. When it finished, she stood, and the three marines left the embassy complex.
The commander suddenly stopped, and Alenko asked, "What is it, Commander?"
She hesitated a moment before responding. "I just realized…we're off to barter with a Shadow Broker's information, but…I have absolutely no idea how much that information is worth. If it comes to negotiating with Von..." she sighed, then an amused look appeared on her face. "You're likely about to see the Angel of Elysium get swindled out of Lord knows how many credits."
"Anderson didn't mention it in the authorization?" Williams asked.
"No. I think he forgot. But I didn't think to ask either," Shepard said with a trace of amusement, bringing up her omni-tool and typing in something rapidly. "Let's see if he responds," she muttered.
The three slowly walked the several hundred meters to the Financial District, giving each of them time to enjoy the sights on the Presidium. While part of Shepard found the area absolutely lovely, part of thought it seemed too much like a gilded cage, insulating all of the policy and decision makers from the nastiness out there in the galaxy. The commander finally started to realize why many of the galaxy's leaders seemed prone only to inaction. They could just stick their heads in the sand – in this case, the beauty of the Presidium – and ignore everything else around them. Or they stick their heads into a certain other part of their anatomy. That would certainly explain much of their decision-making.
As they entered the Financial District, Shepard encountered yet another surprise from the Citadel. Given the station was the heart of galactic space, the commander was surprised at the lack of people at this hour. She would have expected the Presidium, especially the Financial District, to have more than just a handful of people. Even the ward arm they had been in was fairly empty of people while they were there. She found herself wondering just why the area seemed so…deserted.
"What is it?" Alenko asked Shepard, pulling the latter out of her thoughts.
Shepard then realized that she had slowed down to look around. "I guess I expected the Citadel to be jam packed with people, but…there's practically no one here in the Presidium," came the response from the commander.
Her attention then quickly focused on a man who hurried over to the three Alliance personnel—to Shepard, specifically. The man excitedly exclaimed, "Is that really…wow! It's you! Commander Layla Shepard, the Angel of Elysium! I am so honored to meet you!" The man gleefully offered his hand to her with a wide grin.
The commander paused for a moment before she gingerly held out her hand. He shook her hand with considerable enthusiasm. She asked tentatively, "I apologize, sir, but…have we met?" People often still referred to her as "Lieutenant" by mistake, but this civilian called her by her new rank. Well, she had been on the news frequently and recently, but still…
"Uh, no," the man responded with a nervous chuckle. "No, I'm just a fan. One of your, uh, biggest fans, actually."
Shepard paused for a couple moments, blinking a couple times as her mind had to reset itself at what she had just heard. "Oh. Okay." She paused again while her mind felt like it fully rebooted. "Nice to meet you…"
"O-oh. I'm Conrad. Conrad Verner," he replied nervously. "They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime!" Conrad exclaimed in awe.
"I spent most of the time just trying to stay alive and help the colonists however possible. The marines did all the work," Shepard responded. She felt a bit uneasy, scratching the back of her neck as she momentarily glanced around. To her relief both Williams and Alenko alertly watched their surroundings and this man, though hopefully Conrad turned out to be just some random fan of her. Hopefully…Lord, please don't let him be some sort of stalker or one of those "fans". Ugh.
Conrad barely let her finished before asking, "Hey, I know you're probably busy, but do you have time for a quick autograph?"
"Um…sure," she responded slowly after a long moment's uncertainty, too surprised to say anything else. The man gleefully stretched out his arm, omni-tool ready with a large blank screen. After a couple seconds of hesitation, she signed her name on the man's omni-tool. "There you go."
"Thank you Commander!" Conrad said gleefully. "I really appreciate it! My wife is going to be so impressed!"
Do you actually have a wife? Or does she only make appearances in your dreams? "Mr. Verner, I'm actually on my way to an appointment to take care of some important business," she replied, wanting to disengage as fast as possible, now slightly regretting giving him the autograph.
"Oh, of course, Commander. Thank you so much!" he said with considerable glee.
Layla moved away quickly, moving to a relatively more crowded area…no, just a less empty area…of the Presidium on the way to meet with their next lead, making sure that Conrad wasn't following them. She stopped and glanced in his direction. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he had disappeared. She would have expected to see him down one of the walkways. He must have quickly gone to another level, or else she still should have seen him. The fact she didn't see him actually made her a tad nervous.
"Do you get that a lot? Fans asking for autographs?" Williams asked.
Shepard nodded. "Every now and then. Normally people just stare at a distance, and I don't get many requests for autographs. At least no one asks for pictures." Still, something didn't seem quite right about that guy to her.
They turned a corner and approached Von's office. The commander looked at her omni-tool, letting out a brief sigh. "The captain hasn't responded. Well…" she shrugged.
Williams suddenly looked to her omni-tool and suppressed a snicker. Shepard looked up at the chief in confusion, then her eyes suddenly narrowed into a glare. "No, Chief, you are not going to record me getting swindled out of a massive sum of credits. NO."
"Come on, Commander," the chief pouted theatrically.
"NO," the commander reiterated forcefully, though her face broke into a slight grin. Shepard took a deep breath. "Here goes. Wish me luck," she muttered as the three Alliance soldiers entered the office.
A volus was facing a computer terminal. He saw the three of them approach and said in the trade language, "Hello, earth-clan. It is a great honor to welcome the Heroine of the Blitz."
"You've…got me at a disadvantage here, sir," Shepard replied, assuming this was Barla Von but not sure.
"Forgive me, earth-clan. My name is Barla Von. My job makes it necessary for me to keep informed. I am a financial advisor to many important clients here on the Citadel. When someone as important as yourself arrives on the station, I take notice," he said.
The commander chuckled slightly with a shake of her head. "I wouldn't really consider myself important," she replied.
"You are, Commander. You are one of the most famous people in the Alliance. Many individuals have taken notice of your arrival here. But I presume you are not here to discuss pleasantries. What can I do for you today?"
"We might want to talk in a place more private, Mr. Von," she said, glancing back at the door.
"Ah, yes, of course. Confidentiality is very important in my line of work," he told her. He led them back to his private office.
After the three humans had entered, the door closed behind them. Shepard immediately thought of a trap, and she was about to instinctively charge her biotics…then her mind told her that this was the Presidium. Like Captain Anderson said, no one got shot at or attacked on the Presidium.
Alenko and Williams stood near the door, eyes alert for anything out of the ordinary in the small, surprisingly austere office. Shepard sat on a very expensive-looking couch, sitting up straight and crossing her legs. "Any drinks or refreshments for you today?" he asked, walking by a counter, and Shepard suspected the counters beneath it were stocked with the most expensive liquor in the galaxy.
"No thank you, Mr. Von," the commander responded, placing her hands on her lap. She paused for a moment before continuing. "The Alliance has some financial records on a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. We are looking to have the records quickly and discreetly analyzed."
"Financial files on Spectre Saren Arterius," Von nodded.
Shepard kept her face mostly impassive. "Correct, Mr. Von."
"You are looking to prove his involvement in the Eden Prime geth attack," the volus stated.
Shepard let out a brief sigh, deciding to play one of her own cards. "Correct. Being an agent for the Shadow Broker seems to have its perks."
"You are correct, Commander. I am an agent for the Shadow Broker. And not only am I willing to look at your financial records, I have additional information on Saren," Barla replied, and he didn't seem all that surprised that she knew about his second job.
"I hear your information, and your services, can be expensive," she said neutrally, wishing she had experience or training in financial negotiations. Tactics used for "negotiations" in the Traverse did not at all apply to the Citadel station, the heart of civilized space.
"You are correct. Normally, my information and services, would cost a small fortune," the volus said.
Shepard managed to keep the wince off of her face. Uh oh, she thought, her mind racing through various massive sums of credits that he could ask for. Here it comes…
"But these are exceptional circumstances. So I'm going to give it to you for free," Von told.
Shepard's eyes widened and her mouth opened in disbelief, staring back in silence for a couple moments. "Wait what? Free?" she asked. She blinked three times as her mind tried to process what she had just heard.
Von nodded. "Yes. Free," he told her. Williams wasn't able to see Von's face, but the chief got the sense that the volus found some amusement in Shepard's surprise. "The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now. As one could guess, they used to do a lot of business. Until Saren turned on him," Von said.
"Wait what?" Shepard asked in surprise again, again taking a couple seconds to regain her composure. "Evidence points to Saren being a traitor, but double-crossing the Shadow Broker is just flat-out stupid. Something big must be at stake."
Von nodded again. "You are correct. Saren knows the Shadow Broker is a valuable ally. Turning on him doesn't make sense," the volus responded. "There is a quarian with evidence against Saren. Evidence that the Shadow Broker doesn't want lost. The Broker hired a krogan mercenary named Urdnot Wrex to find the quarian, protect her, and get the evidence to the Shadow Broker."
Aaaand the last couple hours could have been saved if we had just gone to Barla Von FIRST, Shepard thought dryly. We could have skipped a whole chapter of this little Citadel adventure, and I wouldn't have had to deal with that Harkin asshole. Thanks, Fate. Thanks a lot. She kept the annoyance at the thought off of her expression. Well, we did get this financial data and meet up with Garrus, so…partial win? "It seems that both the Broker and the Alliance have the same objectives. Find and protect the quarian to retrieve that evidence," she said.
"Correct, Commander. Which is another reason you are getting my services for free. We both stand to gain from cooperation," Von said.
Shepard kept her face neutral, despite the hint of alarm she had about cooperating with the Shadow Broker. While he didn't pick sides, he still had no problem releasing information that acted against Alliance interests if it suited his own interests. The commander wished Captain Anderson was here to make the call, but…she was here now, not Anderson. And…if this quarian had info linking Saren to Eden Prime… "What does the Broker want with this information?"
"I do not know, Commander. I prefer to keep my distance from the Broker's motives. It's safer that way. But since Saren betrayed the Shadow Broker, I would suspect that the Broker wants Saren taken down. Just like the Alliance," Von said.
"How exactly did Saren betray the Shadow Broker?" Shepard asked.
"I do not know, Commander," Von said.
Sure you don't, Shepard thought dryly. And I suspect it wasn't because Saren leaked secrets on the Broker's mother-in-law's bad taste in interior decorating.
"Like I said, Commander, I like to keep my distance from the motives of the Shadow Broker. Even if I did know how Saren betrayed the Broker, the information would probably not be available for barter or sale, at any price," the volus replied.
So much for that. Worth a try. But this all seems a bit too convenient… An old saying came into her mind at the moment. The enemy of my enemy is not my friend, just my enemy's enemy. She temporized before finally saying, "We will work with you to obtain the information implicated Saren. But the Alliance will need a copy."
"Indeed, Commander. The priority is that the Alliance gets information it can use to take down Saren," Von said. "And I will make it a priority to review Saren's financial records."
"Of course, Mr. Von," Shepard replied with a nod as she stood. "The Alliance appreciates your time and assistance."
"As does the Shadow Broker, Commander."
The three humans had barely left Von's office when Shepard opened her omni-tool, rapidly typing into the interface. Several moments later a turian voice came over the speaker. "Garrus here. What do you have, Commander?"
"We talked with Barla Von. Apparently Saren betrayed the Shadow Broker, and – "
"What!?" Garrus' voice exclaimed over the speaker. "Saren did what!?"
"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too," Shepard replied with a chuckle. "We didn't find out what Saren did to betray him, but we did learn that the Shadow Broker hired a krogan mercenary to also find this quarian and protect her. The Broker wants this evidence, but he apparently also wants the Alliance to have it too. Von proposed to work together."
"Be careful with the Broker, Commander," Garrus cautioned.
"I know," she replied. "I said we would work together since we have a mutual objective. We do not have mutual interests."
"Understood," Garrus replied hesitantly after a noticeable pause. "Who is the krogan mercenary?"
"One Urdnot Wrex," she replied.
"Let me check something…" A lengthy silence settled on the call. "That's not good," Garrus finally said.
"Uh oh. What?" she said in concern.
"Commander, can you send me your armor parameters? I'll need to loan you a set," the turian said.
Surprised at the request, Shepard started to say, "I can go get mine on the Normandy – "
"Commander, I don't know if we'll have time for that. Meet me at Tayseri C-Sec Office Three-Two in ten minutes. We'll pick up Wrex, then we'll need to move."
"Copy, Tayseri Three-Two in one-zero minutes." She paused a moment before bringing something up on her omni-tool. "Here's my parameters."
"Thank you, Commander. I'll make sure a set is ready for you," Garrus said. "If you get here before me, my boss T'Sella will be waiting for you."
"Copy, if you're not there, talk with T'Sella," the commander repeated back.
"I'll see you in a few minutes." The line clicked dead.
Shepard didn't bother looking back at either subordinate, but quickly began walking to a skycar terminal about two hundred meters away. "Something clearly came up," she said. "So much for getting a chance to enjoy the view while we're here on the Presidium."
"Yeah, it's entirely different than that bar we were at in the wards. You looked a little out of place there, but the L-T and I look really out of place here in armor," Williams commented.
Despite the urgency of the situation, a small grin appeared on the commander's face. "True. You don't need armor here – like Captain Anderson said, you're not at risk of getting shot. The wards, on the other hand…I guess it depends on where you are?" she asked nobody in particular, shrugging. "While that bar wasn't in the best area, it also wasn't something you felt like you had to be in an armored vehicle to be safe."
"Yeah, some areas of the wards are pretty nice. Others…let's just say don't go without a full weapons kit and a couple fireteams. Or an IFV," Alenko chimed in.
"Have you been here before?" Shepard asked, glancing to her side to look at him as they walked towards the skycars.
"No," he replied. "But I read up on the Citadel a while ago."
"Then you'll still have to tell us which places to see," the commander told him with a grin.
He chuckled slightly. "I would say that we certainly have the best views here in the Presidium."
"You're sure that the bar didn't have the best views?" Williams asked with a smirk, playfully punching his arm.
He shook his head quickly. "N-not m-my kind of place or thing," he replied quickly. He looked around to take in more of the Presidium views as they quickly walked, careful to not let either of the two women see his face. While the club had indeed not been his thing, as a single straight male he would have been lying if he didn't admit that he had found himself stealing a quick glance at the dancers -
Shepard suddenly pushed Alenko and Williams into cover in one quick motion with a flare of dark energy. "Weapon!" the commander screamed. The open area exploded into noise as gunfire impacted the wall behind the lieutenant, where he was standing just a split second ago. Several rounds impacted Shepard's barrier dead center in her abdomen, and she got into cover after the biotic push just in time as her barrier collapsed. She remained behind the wall for several seconds, charging her barrier to full strength.
Williams scrambled to a crouch and fired her pistol at one of the gunmen from cover, while Alenko drew his pistol and put up his barrier.
Alenko popped his head around cover to see there were four gunmen, one of them dead on the ground from the chief's accurate shooting. They were firing their automatic weapons at Shepard's position behind a wall. Fortunately, all of the civilians were running away from the sudden firefight.
The lieutenant used an overload on two of the gunmen, dropping their shields as he fired his pistol. He hit one of them in the chest armor, but it gave Williams time to drop the second with a headshot.
Alenko aimed again as he saw a… "Grenade!" he yelled as the small object arced towards Shepard's cover. Her biotics flared brightly as she disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing fifteen meters to the side of the gunmen. Both hostiles turned immediately to aim at her and moved to better cover now that she was flanking them, but Williams dropped one of them before he made it behind a low wall.
The last man was entrenched in good cover, and Alenko charged his biotics to pull him out. Shepard's corona flared and she tried to throw him. The only effect from Shepard's throw was that the man staggered slightly for a moment behind the wall. Alenko's pull did little more. Shit, biotic resistant armor. He knew such a thing existed, but it was extremely expensive and traded the biotic resistance for protection from firearms. The man settled down to fire on Shepard as rounds slammed into the wall she was using as cover.
Alenko prepped a sabotage, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that a bright light shone behind Shepard's cover. She emerged a couple moments later, her bright blue corona almost blinding him, only seeing her silhouette. A titanic explosion was followed immediately by the sound of crunching metal, and the man disappeared in a flash of blue and white.
The lieutenant looked around to see what had happened to the fourth man. He looked to a wall about ten meters from where the man had been in cover, and he got his answer about what happened to organics that ran afoul of Shepard's biotics.
The remains of the man had been hurled into the wall, and the armor had formed a large impression in the formerly off-white structure. The sturdily-built armor had been designed and built to protect the user against biotic attacks. However, the impact of the biotic throw and the subsequent impact against the wall had cracked it in several places. Furthermore, while the armor could remain relatively intact after a high speed impact, the wearer obviously could not, as there was a maroon paste behind the man's head on the wall. Red liquid oozed freely out of several of the cracks on the armor.
Shepard used her biotics to propel herself back into cover close to Williams, crouching behind another low wall, biotics at the ready. Alenko and Williams swept the area for any more hostiles. The commander used a biotic pull on one of the dead assassin's rather large rifles, holding it in one hand for the moment like an incredibly oversized pistol while dark energy swirled around her other arm.
Silence fell immediately around their position, as the sounds of panic and screaming were either far away or around the corner at this point. The three humans stayed in cover, still wary of more hitmen. But none appeared.
"All clear," Williams said.
Alenko looked to where he had been before Shepard pushed him to the ground, and where the shots had impacted the wall behind him…his shields would have stopped the first few, but... "Thank you, Commander," he said quietly.
She nodded to him, patting him gently on the shoulder. "I still owe you several, Alenko. I…I never thought that I would be the target for assassination. Guess that means that we're on to something," she said, her voice shaking ever so slightly as the adrenaline rush from the unexpected engagement began to subside.
"I thought civilians couldn't have weapons in the Presidium?" the chief asked as she too started to calm down.
"You're right. They're prohibited," the lieutenant responded. Then he felt a sudden pang of concern for the commander. She walked about the Presidium, unarmored and unarmed. Some of those shots had impacted her abdomen just after her barrier started going up, yet she pushed him to the ground first, using a bit of biotic energy to get him and the chief to the ground – energy that she could have been used to strengthen her own barrier. If they had gotten another round or two off at her…she had quite possibly just saved his life, at the cost of risking her own.
The thought made his stomach churn in horror at how close it had been for her.
Perhaps twenty seconds after the last gunmen fell, Shepard heard a voice saying "Citadel Security!" a decent way off. She strengthened her barrier even more, then peered out of cover to see an asari and salarian in C-Sec uniforms approach. The officers alternated between sprinting and ducking behind cover.
"We're Alliance!" Shepard shouted at them.
"Commander Shepard! We know!" the salarian shouted back. "Are any of you injured?"
Shepard left cover slowly, leaving her bright corona up, holding both hands out in the clear, rifle aimed to the side. "All of us are unhurt. Four dead gunmen." The C-Sec officers approached, weapons still out but slightly more relaxed. They were the only five people in view.
"What happened?" the salarian asked. The three Alliance personnel briefly outlined the attack in the first two agents as more C-Sec officers arrived.
"We could fill in more details at C-Sec headquarters if you would like?" Shepard said. "We were actually going to meet one of your colleagues in a few minutes."
"Certainly," the salarian replied.
They had barely climbed into the skycar when Shepard's omni-tool rang. "Shepard here."
"Commander, are you okay?" Captain Anderson's concerned voice came through the device.
"I am, sir. Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams had my back," she replied, then her eyes narrowed even though it was just a voice call. "Although it is a bit suspicious that four hitmen were waiting just outside of Barla Von's office."
"It is suspicious," Anderson said slowly. "We're sending a couple investigators to speak with him now."
"I suspect C-Sec will be doing the same, sir. We're on our way to a C-Sec office to pursue a time-sensitive lead. And I'm swapping out for armor," Shepard told him.
Anderson snorted. "The ambassador won't like that. It's all about appearances for the embassy – and for PAO."
"That's his problem, sir. He's not the one that's being shot at on the Presidium. And PAO will just have to deal with me running around in public with armor with weapons strapped to my back." Her expression turned into a frown. "They can debate what 'image' that sets with the public later. In the meantime, we have work to do," Shepard said resolutely.
"Agreed." A pause lingered for a couple moments on the line. "Commander, in light of that attack, I'm ordering you to take the necessary steps to protect yourself. Get a good set of armor to wear on the Citadel."
"Sir –" Shepard began.
"Now the ambassador and PAO can get mad at me, not you. Be careful, Commander, and contact me with updates when practical."
"Thank you, sir. Will do." This certainly wasn't the first time that Anderson had covered for her, and she knew it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"Find that quarian and her evidence. Out."
The rest of the very short ride passed in silence, with Shepard contemplatively staring out the window at the Citadel cityscape racing by. Less than a minute after the call concluded, they were at the C-Sec office. Garrus had just arrived himself, and waited at the entrance for them. "I heard about the firefight."
Shepard almost said "Saren's men" but stopped herself – most of C-Sec didn't know about Saren's betrayal. "Assassins from the looks of it. They had biotic resistant armor and firearms tuned to penetrate barriers."
"It seems like you were the target," Garrus said. "I think we can agree who sent them."
Shepard grimly nodded agreement. "And convenient how they showed up right outside of Von's office."
"It was. I've already sent a couple agents to question him." Garrus paused, briefly rubbing his talons together. "It was, uh, a bit hard finding armor your size."
"Not surprising," Shepard said with a hint of bemusement.
"There was one set that fits, and it's on the way. You're going to need it, between Saren's goons and Fist," the turian said. Shepard's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion at the mention of the second name. "A gangster named Fist used to work for the Shadow Broker, but apparently Saren paid him off."
"Wait what? Someone else betrayed the Shadow Broker?" Shepard asked in surprise. "I must have missed the memo for 'let's all go double-cross the big scary information dealer'."
"Yeah, he seems to be having a bit of a problem with that right now," Garrus replied deadpan, bringing a small grin to the commander's face. "Fist will be setting up a meeting between the quarian and the Broker's people. Was to be setting a meeting," he corrected. "Now it will be Saren's men waiting for her."
"Great," Shepard muttered. "Well, the Alliance needs that evidence. And I take it Fist knows we're coming."
"He does," Garrus replied. "Fist fortified his club in the Wards. Make no mistake, Commander, this will be an assault. I'm bringing a few C-Sec agents for support. We also brought Wrex into the C-Sec station – we'll need all the help we can get against Fist."
Shepard nodded. "We agreed to work with the Broker's people. Let's go talk with Wrex."
"I'll take you there. He's, uh, kinda hard to miss," the turian replied as he led them away.
"Does he know about Von's agreement with us?" Shepard asked.
"He's already been informed. Not surprising," Garrus replied.
The three humans followed Garrus through the C-Sec office. "Commander," Williams said quietly, and Shepard slowed down to walk next to the chief. "Are you sure working with a krogan is a good idea?" she whispered.
"I can't just back out of a deal with the Shadow Broker, even though the timing of those assassins was a little too convenient," Shepard said quietly. "Von would have to know that anyone coming after PAO's 'postergirl'…" she made airquotes, "well, the Alliance wouldn't be happy about that, and they wouldn't have any problem splitting his suit open like an aluminum can. I don't think he's involved, but I would guess he's about to receive some pretty tough questioning."
"But what about those hitmen?"
"What would the Shadow Broker gain from assassinating me? The Alliance would start rounding up, or shooting, all of his known associates faster than a salarian could draw a weapon. Besides, the Broker deals in information, not hits."
"You're meeting Wrex before changing into armor?" the chief replied.
"From the sounds of it, we don't have time to waste. I can handle him," came the quiet response.
"Okay," the chief said, not entirely convinced. "And ma'am," Williams said in a whisper, quickly glancing around her before continuing, "Are you sure it's a good idea to work with…Garrus? A turian, C-Sec or not, that wants to bring down Saren is too suspicious."
"Garrus is on our side, Chief," Shepard whispered. "And we need C-Sec's official 'sanction' to go after Fist."
"If you say so," the chief muttered back. "I'll still be watching him."
Shepard didn't respond, sharing a glance with Alenko. While the commander hadn't worked much with other species, Williams never had. While her mistrust towards other species was understandable, the chief would need to put it aside for the moment. "Officer Vakarian, do you have weapons that my teammates could use?" Shepard asked as she walked closer to him.
"Of course," he nodded. "We use the Rosenkov line of weapons for heavy assaults."
Shepard nodded approvingly, and she glanced at Williams to see that the chief's interest had piqued slightly at Garrus' words. "I certainly won't complain about that," she said lightly.
"I've always wanted to try out the Volkov," Alenko agreed. "That power is nice, but the heat generation is a bit too high for my taste."
Garrus laughed nervously. "Yeah, that's, uh, that's the sniper rifle I have for personal use. I, uh, added some mods to mine." He then briefly described the modifications to his sniper rifle.
The commander nodded approvingly. "Now that's a weapon I'd like to try," Shepard said, allowing a bit of excitement into her voice. "What do you think, Chief?"
"Yeah, that would be nice," Williams responded. The response wasn't as quiet or subdued as Shepard had expected from the chief. Good.
Garrus led them around several corners to a door. "I need to get our officers prepped for the assault," he told them as he departed for the armory. After a quick walk, he arrived at his locker and performed final checks on his weapons.
T'Sella arrived just moments later, an angered frown on her face. "Garrus, what the hell are you doing?"
"Trying to get information before Saren does," he replied simply.
"Working with the Alliance and the Shadow Broker?" the asari asked as she began checking out her own weapons. "The Alliance is just looking for something, anything, to implicate Saren. And working with one of the Shadow Broker's mercs?"
"Saren's sent assassins after someone with evidence against him."
"Just from one secondhand source, a doctor in the Wards. No one other than that doctor has talked with this quarian."
She had a point, Garrus knew. "True. But Saren betraying the Shadow Broker? And somehow convinces this Fist fellow to do the same? The Shadow Broker providing information for free? Sorry, but those things alone send up red flags."
T'Sella let out a long sigh. "You're really stretching your neck out on this one."
"But have I ever been wrong?" he replied.
"Yes," T'Sella said immediately.
"But only that one time," he protested.
"And you still owe me for that, by the way," she replied with a smirk.
"And you still owe me for Felcan. So, we're even."
"No we're not," T'Sella replied. "And I'm your boss." Her face then turned serious with a tinge of frustration. "And you provided C-Sec data to this Shepard human."
"The Alliance had the funding to investigate." And the will to do so. "Shepard's leading their investigation," Garrus replied.
"Okay, so she saved a colony and they parade her around for the cameras afterward. That's all she's done. I was with C-Sec before the humans even traveled into space. She's just a kid."
"All of us are kids compared to asari. Well, except the krogan," Garrus told her. "And Shepard seems to know what she's doing."
"But she's not our boss. Remember that next time she pretends she's in charge of all of us," T'Sella replied. "We have processes in place for a reason."
Shepard goes and acts, while C-Sec leaders just gets dragged down by bureaucracy…now THAT would be a nice change for once.
"You and I will be in charge of this operation you dragged us into. Not Shepard, and Goddess forbid not that krogan mercenary," T'Sella reminded Garrus.
We'll see, Garrus thought. I'm going to make sure the job gets done, and not worry about whether the bureaucrats are satisfied with the paperwork.
The three Alliance personnel entered the side room, perhaps ten by fifteen meters in size, to see several C-Sec officers surrounding a surprisingly large krogan.
"Wrex, C-Sec does not tolerate threats against individuals," a human officer said, trying and mostly failing to make his voice sound authoritative.
"I don't make threats," the krogan replied, a gravely, rumbling voice well within the bass register. "I state facts. Fist will talk. Then he will die."
"Wrex, do you want me to arrest you?" the officer asked, his voice conveying exactly what he thought their chances would be for successfully detaining the krogan.
Wrex simply broke into laughter, a sound closer to a low roar than a laugh. "I want you to try."
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm waiting to conduct some business," the krogan replied simply.
The officers' hands went to their sidearms. Wrex noticed it, but did nothing in response. "You're not going to kill anyone in a C-Sec office!" the officer replied. It seemed to Shepard that the man's voice seemed to have jumped an octave at making the empty threat.
"And who would stop me? You pyjaks? Bah!" came the dismissive response. Another krogan laugh followed before Wrex settled his gaze back on the officer. He noticed motion out of the corner of his eye, and looked to see three humans and a turian approach. Wrex turned and slowly strode towards the newcomers, paying the officers no further heed.
Shepard had encountered many krogan before, but never up close. She often ended up fighting them, and usually needed more than a few biotic attacks to finish one off. She had always made it a point to keep her distance from them, but the lumbering form approaching her was a bit larger…a lot larger…insanely larger…than average. He stood well over two meters tall and probably close to half as wide at the shoulders. She knew that a krogan could snap her neck like a twig if he wanted to in melee, and even if she wore armor, it probably wouldn't even make a difference. He stopped a meter from her, and his scarred face looked down more than half a meter to her own.
Alenko put his hand on his sidearm as dark energy swirled around his left hand. This was a bad idea. That krogan was absolutely massive, towering over Shepard, and if Wrex decided to –
"Huh. Commander Shepard. I've heard a thing or two about you. I hear you're looking for a quarian," Wrex stated in a menacing tone.
The petite human nodded once. "We are. She is supposed to have evidence we need, and that we would be working together to protect her and recover the evidence," she responded evenly, crossing her arms. "I take it your employer mentioned that?"
Kaidan's worry soon changed to slight surprise that Shepard seemed both unconcerned and relaxed at the fact she was confronting a massive krogan battlemaster. She just looked so fragile compared to Wrex.
Wrex nodded at her. "He did." After a moment, the krogan said with a small grin, "My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend."
No, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend, just my enemy's enemy, Shepard thought but didn't say for the second time in as many hours.
"I normally work on my own," he continued.
The last guy to tell me that ended up dead on Eden Prime, she thought.
"I hope I'm not making a mistake. Humans are squishy, and you look particularly soft and frail. You better be up to it," Wrex said.
"I can assure you, Wrex, there's more to me than meets the eye," Shepard said calmly, not rising to the bait.
"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it," came the growling response.
Layla said nothing for several moments. Kaidan wondered just what she was thinking, or planning to say. He started to think that he should get his XO out of what could be a potentially dangerous situation with a massive krogan battlemaster. Before he could, however, dark energy began swirling around her petite frame. Kaidan watched the energy swirl around her, and saw to his disbelief that Wrex seemed to actually shrink next to Shepard. No, Shepard was actually getting taller, and it took him a moment to realize she was using her biotics to levitate more than a half meter off of the ground. Her head floated at eye level with Wrex, who stood less than a meter from her. "Does this rectify your concerns?" she asked. Her soprano voice provided a striking contrast to the deep thrum of her biotics, and the hair on the back of Alenko's head rose from the display, sending a tingling sensation down his spine as the dark energy interacted his biotic implant.
The lieutenant glanced over to the chief, who had a wide-eyed look of surprise on her face. Using dark energy to levitate was something that strong biotics could do, but it took concentration, control, and raw power to do. Levitating only served the purpose of demonstrating biotic prowess, which it did very well, but that was all it could do.
A very inappropriate thought suddenly entered Kaidan's mind. Shepard looked really…hot like this. Using her biotics to levitate off of the ground, dark energy pulsing around her lithe form, hair hovering around her head. Stop it Kaidan, his mind snapped at him. She's your XO, and she's SHEPARD. He shook his head slightly to clear his mind of the thoughts. No no no NO NO
The lieutenant returned to focusing on the surroundings. His XO and the krogan battlemaster stared each other down. Not with malice, but each gauging the other. Williams, despite her initial surprise, seemed on a hair trigger, with her hand already on the partially retracted grip of her side arm.
Alenko wasn't sure how much time had passed since Shepard decided to levitate to look Wrex straight in the eye, but it almost seemed that the krogan's expression softened and changed to one of amusement…and possibly even a bit of respect? "It does," Wrex nodded, and Shepard slowly settled back to the ground. Once the dark energy vanished, Wrex held out his hand, and the commander took it after a moment's hesitation. Wrex shook her hand vigorously, and Alenko saw a brief wince appear on her face. Then the krogan's face turned to one of incredulity. "I take it you're not going like that?"
She shrugged. "I'd prefer not to, but I've done it before. There were some assassins a few minutes ago that I had to fight like this. Let's get prepped." She turned and walked purposefully to the door, starting to pull her hair back into a loose bun – her long blonde hair had become somewhat tousled during the biotic display, but Alenko found that she looked just as good even with slightly disheveled hair Stop it Alenko. STOP STOP STOP
Wrex nodded, then his face broke out into a wide grin of amusement a moment later as he looked between the two marines and the turian C-Sec officer. "I like this one."