MASS EFFECT CHASM: CHAPTER 10
The four-eyed batarian in front of them was a lighter shade of brown and his complexion revealed him to be a bit younger than most that Shepard encountered on the station. The confusion on their faces as they walked into his apartment irked him. "Let me guess. Aria didn't tell you that I was a batarian," He casually walked over to his table to grab a duffle bag to pack some of his things.
"Thought you were a salarian," Mordin spoke out first.
This stirred a snort from him. "That's a first. Usually, it's a damn human or turian name."
"Why hide it?" Garrus was perplexed.
"Why the fuck not? You think you come running to snatch me up if she told you what I was?" He was guarded, but not hostile.
"What's the real reason Aria is handing you over?" Zalena questioned, still not trusting the gesture of kindness. She really didn't know much about the ruler of Omega, but Garrus was on the station longer than Shepard and he didn't like the idea either.
"To save somebody," The batarian gave a haphazardly shrug. "Some shit like that."
Shepard cringed by his uncaring attitude. "Humans." She reminded him, knowing the backstory conflict between his race and humanity.
"Yeah, that," He agreed as he finished packing and hoisted the bag's strap over his shoulder. "I'm ready."
"Aria said that you were quite the shot with a sniper rifle," Vakarian joined in the inquisition. He too was not satisfied with the limited answers they were being provided with this guy. "Combat training?"
"Batarian Army. Defected two years ago," He flatly answered.
"Defected?" Shepard raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "How come?"
The alien's face in front of her grew darker by her prodding. "Let's just say the Hegemony doesn't like abandonment. Can we get the fuck out of here now?"
"At least he's sensible," Garrus muttered under his breath, he tossed a shrug to Shepard. He couldn't read this guy. If he lived up to everything that Aria bragged him out to be, then he would be very useful in their fight against the Collectors. Vakarian had a batarian teammate in his crusade against the mercs that plagued Omega. A good tech expert as well. He fell to Sidonis' betrayal when the Suns slaughtered everyone that helped him. Some of them could be trusted.
"Not common," Mordin nodded his head in agreement. "Real name?"
"It's Dratin Ges'sark. Are we done with the damn meet and greet now?" He was itching to leave. More eager than most. Was this guy paranoid about the Hegemony? What was his story? If this guy was marked, would that make her a target as well?
"Aria wants you to come back," Zalena reminded him.
"She just wants my skills. All I am good for here."
"What do you want in return?"
"Let's just go."
"The Hegemony has you that spooked, huh?" Garrus was amazed at how distrustful this guy was. If he had that much of a price on his head, why would Aria simply keep him around versus cashing him in?
"Look, I can't guarantee your safety. There may be no return from this mission," Zalena gently said. "Aria didn't say anything about the payment. You managed to stay clear for two years, here."
Dratin sighed hard by the barrier. The interview annoyed him. He was very reclusive and never really revealed what he desired since he fled his homeworld. Shepard didn't seem like she was letting up and this was his ticket to get off Omega, even if Aria knew that he wouldn't come back. Two years was long enough. If he had to play nice to this human and her compatriots, then he would do that. "Look, I'll do whatever the hell you tell me to do. Yes, I'm that good. All I want is after I'm done with this, you drop me off on Aratoht in the Bahak system."
The demand was unexpected. Credits weren't an option to this guy and it was risky for a Cerberus vessel to simply fly into a batarian controlled system. "What's there?"
"My mate and infant son," Dratin lowered all four of his eyes painfully. "They fled there to hide with my brother first, then a week later I fled Khar'Shaan. I haven't made any contact with them since."
"Damn," Garrus was taken back by this disclosure. "Nothing?"
Ges'sark glowered over at the turian. "That's all I say here. Are we going?"
Zalena eyed Garrus for insight. Deception on the front end with the false name that Aria provided. Was his backstory fabricated to pull heart strings to let him come on board or was he being truthful and honest with them? He was hard to read. "Could be helpful," Mordin chimed in as he contemplated the decision.
"I agree. Welcome to the team, Dratin," Shepard smiled at their new squadmate. "Now, let's get off this station."
Miranda Lawson, Shepard's second-in-command, was not happy. She was pissed during the debriefing. She had no qualms in voicing her opinion openly in front of Shepard and the others when the new squadmates came onboard and she could tell by Shepard's expression that the commander was not happy with her outspoken attitude. Still, the dark-skinned woman ignored Miranda's protests and continued to greet Mordin and Dratin to the team and told them to find a place to bunk. Mordin chose the research lab, which was placed for him, while Dratin retreated down to the cargo hold. Now, in the conference room were only Miranda, Shepard, and Jacob. The other Cerberus operative held back too after the dismissal. Jacob was just as shocked as Lawson was. "Shepard," Miranda spoke up as soon as the doors closed behind the others. "What the hell is this? That damn batarian is not on the dossier roster."
"The dossier list is only a suggestion by Cerberus," Shepard reminded her. "I'm in charge. I have the final say on who I want on my ship and who I don't want."
Jacob crossed his arms as he listened in and shook his head. "I have to agree with Miranda on this one, Shepard. I have dealt with batarians recently. Never a good thing."
"I have too," Lawson butted in. "Jacob and I thwarted an assassination attempt on the Council by batarian extremists."
"Look, I understand and appreciate your concerns on my selection," Zalena started slowly as she held up her hand to stop them from speaking further. Approaching this diplomatically may be her best and safe bet. "The Illusive Man trusts me to get the job done and has faith in me. Your boss."
"You trust Aria?" Miranda huffed. She wasn't about to let this go. Using her boss card only pissed her off even more. "You said he defected and gave a false name."
"We provide false ID's all the time, Miranda," Jacob interjected, surprisingly switching sides. "And Shepard had a point earlier during intros. If we knew this guy was a batarian, you think we would talk to him?"
Lawson slanted him angrily. "Not you too, Jacob. Always dutiful."
"Enough!" Zalena raised her voice to take control of the conversation. Butting heads with Operative Lawson was becoming so old. "Thank you, both of you. I will make sure we will keep an eye on him."
"Good idea," Taylor agreed.
"Is that all, Commander?" Lawson coldly asked. She was done and Shepard was too.
"Yes, dismissed. I have a call from the Illusive Man that I need to take."
"Good," Miranda shot back. "You can explain it to him." Her heels clicked on the metal floor as she stormed out of the room first. Jacob gave a salute before he followed her.
Finally, with the doors closed, Shepard let out another sigh of frustration. "This is going to be a long trip." She paused and thought back to where Dratin was going. "EDI?"
"Yes, Shepard?" The ship's AI quickly answered as her bulbous holo shape took place on the call platform to her right.
"Where is Dratin located currently on this ship?"
"Cargo hold," EDI answered.
"Well, for now, he didn't lie," Zalena muttered.
If offices still had doors that you could manually close as they did in the twenty-first century, Miranda would have made sure to slam hers shut. She was pissed. She couldn't fully understand why her boss gave full reign to Shepard. Her psych profile did not indicate any loyalty to their organization. Miranda understood there was a need for their cause, but she didn't trust Zalena. To make matters worse, she brought a known terrorist being there. Shepard crossed the line and bringing up her disproval to the Illusive Man would fall on deaf ears unless she had evidence. Evidence that she could obtain. Sitting down behind her terminal, she placed a call to a good friend. Not one that she had many of. Not even Jacob was considered to be a friend. Not with their past. A few minutes later, the call was connected and confirmation was sent over on her terminal. "Hey, Miranda. It's been a while." A pleasant female answered on the other end.
"Yes, Avery. I need assistance," Miranda's response was short and to the point. There was no time for pleasantries. This didn't offend her friend and the same cheery tone came through on the other end, "I need you to find all the data that you can on a batarian by the name of Dratin Bes'sark." She then rolled her eyes as she thought back to the debrief. "That may not be even his real name."
"You got it. Cross-reference it with anything?"
"He has ties with the Hegemony."
"Understood. Anything up with this guy?"
"Shepard picked him up from Omega. He's going to help us."
"Bullshit," Avery swore coldly. "The only thing those four-eyes are known for is raping the innocent and enslaving them."
"I don't know what the hell Shepard is thinking," Lawson's fury grew hotter as she spoke with Avery. At least her friend had her side. Not like Jacob. He changed. Ever since they grew apart…
"Want me to flag it to the man after?" Avery suggested. This made Miranda smile. The woman was dedicated one hundred percent to Cerberus. That's what she liked about her.
"No," Miranda declined. She needed to go at this alone. She had to show him that she was capable. She was perfect.
The call with the Illusive Man was disturbing. Horizon, one of the colonies, went dark and the Illusive Man suspected another attack by the Collectors. Their time there would be quick from their current position and they would get there before any Alliance ships most likely would. Zalena found it odd that he picked up this well before any updates from the Alliance. This was it. The window to develop a way to get through any of the Collector's offensive measures grew smaller. Could Mordin deliver under pressure? He sure seemed confident in his abilities by just speaking with him. Leaving him alone was the best option right now.
Diverting her attention down to the cargo hold, she decided to continue the conversation where they left off from Omega. Dratin was sitting on a cargo crate in a corner with his stuff just a few feet away. A datapad was in his hand and his eyes were skimming through whatever information he was studying. "Have everything you need way down here?" Zalena spoke up to alert him of her approach. A gentle reminder that he didn't need to be isolated.
"I brought all I need," He slipped the datapad down under his legs to prevent prying eyes. What was he hiding? "Where to now?"
"Horizon. A human colony that went dark an hour ago. I don't know what we will face there."
"Mercs," He stated matter-of-factly. "That's all you see out there. Mercs or slavers."
"It could be the Collectors. Was thinking of bringing you along. You up for it?" Zalena was interested to see how well he could handle against a fierce foe. "You and Grunt. No hate for krogan, right?"
He lifted his eye ridge by her remark. "You think I'm a racist?"
"Lighten up, "She chuckled. "It seems like most of my team has to get through some type of conflict with someone. Years ago, Wrex and Garrus didn't like each other for a bit. They finally got past it." Her eyes grew sad. "I wonder what Wrex is up to now."
"Your lover?" Dratin asked, not sure where she was leading with this conversation.
This aroused a burst of laughter from Shepard. "No way. He was a great friend like a brother. Hell, he had my back many times. Kaidan…. he was the one that I lost."
The next three words from Dratin almost made her pass out from shock. "I am sorry."
Zalena was moved by his kindness. Even when she wasn't too sure how legit this guy was, there was a spark of sincerity in his words. "Thank you." There was an awkward pause in the air as his words threw her off. She then decided to use this to her advantage. "I know you don't like talking about your past and this won't leave the room. I can have EDI turn off the monitoring if you would like." A beat. "You said you defected from the Hegemony. That must have been rough."
"A risk that I had to take," He slowly confessed. A thin smirk spread across his lips from a private joke. "I guess you could say that you were the cause of it."
Shepard blinked. "Me?"
"Balak's wrath following the failed attempt at Terra Nova changed things. With him being the highest-ranking official of the Hegemony and his brother Ararn, right behind him, he cranked everything into overdrive. Extreme propaganda swept through. A lot of projects were pressing workers to breaking points. No time off and barely any time to take a piss. It was getting worse."
Zalena tilted her head with interest. "Projects? Like what?"
The batarian stared at her with all four of his obsidian dark eyes. "I'm in enough shit as it is. I'm not going into detail. I was done with the violence. I was tired. In a lot of missions, I kept having to tell my mate that may not come back. Cold truth."
"Were you on Terra Nova?" Shepard asked. His appearance was not striking so she couldn't say he stood out from the rest of the batarians she encountered. She didn't want to be discriminating by saying that a lot of them looked alike. She was slowly gaining this guy's trust and he was opening up to her more than she expected after they debarked from Omega. She recalled the mission to the asteroid. A distress call from a research team flagged her attention. The asteroid was being driven by fusion torches towards Terra Nova. The apocalyptic object was large enough to bring the entire colony to dust. Balak and his team rounded up the researchers as hostages and were going to make sure that they pummeled the human city to the ground. Countless lives would be lost, but they would only be human lives. A stinging message to humanity that this was only the beginning. Balak was angry. Very angry deep inside. Zalena could sense that just by hashing it out with him at the main compound before their firefight. The four-eyed alien was cunning and he had a way out. He planted bombs throughout the facility on a timer. The Spectre had a choice to make: Let Balak and his men escape to cause harm another day or kill him and his men along with the hostages. Zalena couldn't stand there and let someone die that day. Not on her watch. She allowed him to leave and saved the hostages along with the colonists. She revered in their rejoice; not knowing the consequences down the road. Balak was not done. He accelerated everything on a larger scale by the sounds of it.
Dratin shook his head. "No, I was part of the batarian army that was tasked with security detail for one of the Hegemony's pet projects on Khar'Shaan. Balak wanted to declare war on everyone when he crawled back. He was fucking crazy."
"I'll say."
"My sector was targeted as a priority and they wanted everything damn thing done right away. Sometimes, I didn't go home for days. I saw many bad deals. My brother works at the prison on Aratoht and has a family of his own. I sent my wife and child there with the hopes that they would be looked after. I know how the Hegemony treats those who abandon their posts. I had to chance it. Two weeks after they left, I defected and fled to Omega for sanctuary. There, I offered my services to Aria T'Loak. She was uninterested in my past and I know she wouldn't offer me protection, but I was on her payroll and she does look after those that suit her."
Zalena's heart sunk by his sad tale. She never in a million years would pin a batarian to be so protective of his family. "Have you spoken with your family since you left?"
"No," Dratin shrugged. "I wouldn't dare to. The Hegemony could be still be seeking me out. Watching transmissions. I've always known not to trust anyone. I hope they are still alive."
"Look, after we leave Horizon if my mission allows it, I can find a way to get you there."
"No," He refused. "Aria gave me to you. I'm sure she secretly had my back, which is why I never ran into any trouble there. I'll owe her that. I'll finish this mission with you first."
"Agreed, but after I'll send you to your family."
He chuckled at this notion. "Alliance protection? That's ironic."
