A New Target

In light of my conversation with Javik, I decided to gather all of my other friends together in the War Room and patched Garrus in through the comm. They way that Javik had reacted to the news greatly encouraged me that I would be met with the same reception from the rest of my friends. There was only one way to find out.

"What's up, Scott? Found something new?" Joker asked.

"No," I was uneasy about how this would affect everyone. "I just… I think its time I maybe let you all know something. Maybe I should have told you earlier, but it didn't feel right. It's not the way I wanted you all to find out."

"What?" Miranda asked. I forced myself just to come out with it before I decided otherwise.

"Tali is pregnant."

"Shit…" Joker muttered. The faces of all my friends were ones of shock. They were stunned by this news and it took a few moments before anyone could say anything.

"How far along is she, Scott?" Ashley asked.

"Only a week, at this stage, we got confirmation that her IVF treatment was successful just before we were attacked on Rannoch. I know we're all here to finish the Blades and rescue Tali… but I wanted you all to know why I may have been a bit out of character lately. Tali and I have a child coming that I would very much like to have the chance for us both to hold one day. So there… that's why I've been a bit out of it."

"And rightly so, Scott," Liara said, "all of us have already sworn to do everything we can to save our friend. All we can do now is reaffirm our promises to you."

"You already are," I said. "These weren't the circumstances under which we wanted to reveal our news. Tali was so excited to tell everyone the next time we all met up."

"Tali's important to us all," Garrus said, "we'll do everything in our power to save her, you have my word on that."

Everyone gathered around me agreed with Garrus' statement and their promises of support had me on the brink of tears, but I managed not to embarrass myself. These were special people that I had with me. I should have known, after everything I had been through with all of them, that I could rely on them for anything. They would travel to the furthest reaches of the universe with me if I asked them, and I was eternally indebted to them for that loyalty and trust.

The Normandy and the Tibmius burst through the Mass Relay from Illium's Tasale System and dropped us off in the Parnitha System, which was home to the Asari home world of Thessia. We flew to within visual range of Thessia and stopped until we could formulate a plan of action. There was no point going to ground yet, and both ships drifted slowly through the empty void under stealth. We did not know if the enemy had agents within the agencies responsible for monitoring traffic in this sector. The appearance of two military stealth frigates known to belong to Spectres would instantly alert the enemy that we were following them. I stared out at the beautiful world and was reminded how similar it looked to Earth.

Apart from the obvious differences in land masses, the colours seemed to be deeper than that of Earth's. The oceans were a much deeper blue and the land a denser green. There were no deserts on the Asari world and the ice caps were much smaller than my home world's, despite their diminishing over the years.

"Scott," Liara called to me, "we have a destination."

"Where are we going?" I asked as my Asari friend joined me on the bridge.

"One of my agents contacted me, saying he had a possible lead. Alec Ryder wants to meet us in Armali, in a bar called "Devout". He says it could be linked to Tali."

"Then we don't have time to waste," I said and instinctively headed for the elevator to take me to the hanger bay. That was when I noticed Ashley arriving and beckoning us over to her.

"Alec Ryder is a contact I've used in the past so I want to come with you," she said. I did not see a reason why not and while we headed to the shuttles, I passed a message to Kasumi down on Thessia to head to Devout as soon as possible. We had to be certain to make sure no undesirables were watching, and that we would maintain the strict secrecy we needed.

"What kind of guy is Alec Ryder?" I asked Liara as the shuttle carried us down to the planet surface.

"You haven't heard of him?" Ashley asked with some confusion.

"I feel like I should have, all of a sudden," I admitted. The name did ring a bell somewhere in the deepest recesses of my mind, but absolutely no information was coming to enlighten me.

"Alec Ryder was one of the earliest Alliance military officers to successfully pass N7 training. If David Anderson was the first, then Alec was not far behind him. A highly talented and resourceful man. He was among Admiral Jon Grissom's staff when they passed through the Charon Relay for the first time. He was there when Humanity first met the Turians and he fought in the First Contact War. I never found anything solid, but I believe he and David might have met on Shanxi. He was assigned to the Citadel as a military attaché for a few years before everything went wrong."

"What happened?" I asked. If Alec had fought in the First Contact War against the Turians, then he must have at least been in his sixties by now.

"He got caught researching AI, that's what," Ashley said. "He wanted to use AI to bring Humanity up to speed with the Asari and Salarians, who he considered to be hundreds of years ahead of us. Unfortunately, after he made his pitch to the Human Ambassador, word soon got out and he was fired. He was stripped of his rank and was shunned by his peers."

"Why?" I asked before I remembered that this was long before AI became legal after the Geth had been brought into the galactic civilisation proper, and helped us destroy the Reapers.

"Never mind," I quickly moved on, "how did he become one of your agents?"

"He continued working on his AI in secret until he started to run out of money and resources. He contacted the old Shadow Broker, who promised to fund and supply him as long as Alec was willing to use his skills to carry out a few missions now and again. Since I took over, I've kept up a similar arrangement. Only, the missions are much more… ethical."

"So… he's done some pretty bad stuff for the old Broker?"

"As did all of my agents," Liara came to Alec's defence, "but they serve with integrity now. Alec is a supremely driven man who does not stop at borders when he reaches them… he keeps going, no matter what. His motivations for creating his AI are still unclear to me, but I believe it has something to do with his wife's work on biotic implants for Humans. In any case, he has never turned down a mission and has proved to be one of my most efficient agents. During the Reaper War, he was one of my most potent weapons against Cerberus. He took out numerous installations that the Alliance either could not get to, or could not spare the forces to deal with. You can trust him, Commander."

"If he can help us track down Tali and her captors, that's good enough for me," I said.

We landed the shuttle about a mile from Devout and walked the rest of the way. We were in plain clothing now with a handgun hidden away somewhere that we could reach them fast. The last time I had been to Armali, I had witnessed the near destruction of this incredible city. I had watched Kai Leng make his escape from the Temple of Athame and had been left looking out over a city ablaze and Reapers tearing it pieces. Millions of Asari had died in its defence. From Samara's accounts, nearly the entirety of the Justicar Order had been wiped out fighting for this city.

As the most advanced race in the galaxy, the Asari were primary targets for the Reapers alongside Humanity and the Turians. They had shown no mercy, and large parts of Thessia, and indeed most Asari worlds, still lay in ruins. Armali, however, had always been held up as the "Crown Jewel of the galaxy", the "Apex of Democracy" and the "Beating Heart of galactic love". The Asari, and all those of other species who had come to help, had endeavoured hard to bring Armali back to life. Their work showed.

Some semblance of the city's former prestige and glory had indeed been recaptured, and I found my eyes wandering as I took in the exquisite architectural designs, the amazing feats of engineering and the pride of the people who lived there. The newest addition to Armali since the war had ended was the Victory Plaza, where there stood great statues honouring every single race that had fought and sacrificed to defeat the Reaper enemy. No species had been overlooked. Beside the Krogan statue was one of equal size of the Rachni. Beside the Turian statue there stood a proud Geth. Beside the Human one stood a testament to the great losses suffered by the Batarians.

The centrepiece of the display on the plaza was two great statues standing back-to-back. One of the Crucible and one of a Prothean. It was known by all that the designing of the Crucible was not the achievement of this cycle alone, but of the countless civilisations that had come before us and had fallen, one by one, to the Reaper genocides. The Protheans were honoured for this and all the civilisations that had come even before them, though we knew nothing of them, were given thanks for the gift that we had inherited from them.

Unfortunately, we were not there as tourists and bypassed the Victory Plaza to avoid the busiest places. Taking numerous back streets, we found Devout and went inside. It was far from a dingy little place. It was actually one of the better, cleaner and friendlier bars to go to. This was exactly what we wanted, as getting lost in the crowd would only aid us. Ashley and I did not stand out too much as there were just enough members of other species present in the bar to make the arrival of another two Humans seem insignificant. I even saw a Geth in the company of a few Asari and a Salarian, so Humans seemed a bit boring in comparison. We found a booth for ourselves and Liara informed me that Alec would join us when he and Kasumi had verified that no one had followed us.

We ordered a few easy-going drinks and were soon joined by another Human man. He was in his sixties, with a headful of grey hair that had been slicked back. A strong jawline and piercing eyes that let nothing slip by them gave Alec a very imposing appearance. Sixty was not too old by Human standards in this day and age, and this was only proved by Alec who still looked fit, strong and primed for anything. Here was a man who looked like he could give a twenty-year-old Olympian a good bit of competition in fitness terms, yet it was backed up by an experienced and knowledgeable mind that could outstrip that of an Asari Matriarch. He sat down with us and said hello to Liara and Ashley, both of whom he had met a few times before. He then turned those sharp eyes on me, and a smile appeared on his wisened face.

"Commander Scott Gardner. It's a great honour to finally meet you. David Anderson always said you were destined for greatness! That grim old man was usually wrong about that kind of thing. For all our sakes, I'm especially glad he was right about you."

"Good to meet you, Alec," I greeted him warmly.

I instantly had a good feeling about this man and could tell that, despite his chequered past, he was a man of good intentions and honour. He was an N7 after all. "I don't mean to offend, but David never mentioned you."

Alec laughed to himself,

"My name isn't one that was brought up in polite company after I got kicked out of the Alliance. But… he was one of the few who kept in touch, occasionally. He was a good man. I… struggled when I heard he had died. You were there with him?"

"Yeah," I recalled sadly, "we watched the Crucible dock and fire from underneath the Citadel Council Tower. He lived just long enough to see the Reapers be destroyed, just long enough to see that it had all been worth it."

"I wish he could have lived to see the galaxy put itself back together," Alec said, "but if I know David, and I did for a long time, I know that if he could choose a way to go, that was it. But, we're here for quite a different job today. So maybe we should get to it."

Alec ordered a drink, not quite as mild as ours, and he produced a data pad which he passed to Liara first. When it came to me, I saw a holo of a Salarian with a few notes that Alec had added himself.

"That," Alec started, "is Tolan. I've been tailing him for a while now, ever since the troubles with the Blades of Retribution started. I found evidence that he supplied the terrorists with much of their heavy arms that they used during the bombing here in Armali and tried to track him down. Unfortunately, he disappeared and I found no trace of him, until now."

"Who is this Tolan?" I asked, "what's his history?"

"Good thing you ask," Alec said, "you and he were very close to crossing paths at one point."

"Really?" I eyed the Salarian again. He was starting to get on in years, which by Salarian standards meant he might have been in his thirties. However, I had no recollection of ever meeting him.

"He used to be in the Salarian STG, but got dishonourably discharged not long before the Reaper War began."

"How'd he manage that?"

"You remember the fertile Krogan females you went to retrieve from Sur'Kesh? He was part of Major Kirrihe's team that found them on Tuchanka. As I hear it, he wanted to shoot the females as soon as they found them. It became quite clear that he was opposed to any notion of curing the Genophage. He was ordered to stand down, but apparently attempted to take matters into his own hands. He tried to murder them but was apprehended before he could carry it out. Once they got back to Sur'Kesh, he was promptly given the boot."

"So, he's anti-Krogan," I already hated Tolan, "but how does that tie him to the Blades and why have you brought us here?"

"As I said, he supplied them with weapons, although I don't think he's actually a member of their movement. I caught wind that another attack was pending and suddenly Tolan reappeared, and he led me here."

"He's in Armali?" Liara asked him.

"Yes, and I believe he's on his way to meet with one of the Blades leaders."

"Then we should be going after him instead of sitting here," I said. Alec calmed me with his confident expression.

"Your charming friend Kasumi is already on it," he said smoothly. "She's following him as we speak and will report back as soon as she has something. So, our objective is to find out what Tolan and the Blades have planned, and stop it. That's self-explanatory. However, there is something else that might interest you, Scott. In an intercepted message, I heard mention of a "special prisoner" that they were moving somewhere in this system."

"Tali? Did they say her name?" I almost jumped out of my seat.

"No, but I don't imagine that they could be referring to anyone else other than Tali. Kasumi knows to listen out for anything regarding her and give us all the relevant data. Once Tolan has met with the Blades and Kasumi has… done what she does, she'll give us his location and we'll snatch him as quickly as possible."

"Wait…" I interjected, "if Tolan goes missing then the Blades will know that something is up and they could cancel their moving of Tali, send her somewhere else or… something worse."

Liara and Ashley looked on with concern, they knew how desperate I was to find her and knew of one more reason for this than Alec did. All three of them knew I was right, and there was a pause while some consideration was taken.

"If Kasumi were to plant a tracer on Tolan instead," Liara said, "that way we would be able to track his movements and he could possibly lead us to more members of the Blades leadership. We need to document everyone he speaks to."

"Kasumi already suggested doing that, so that's taken care of," Alec said. I was proud of Kasumi. She may have been a career thief, but in her heart, she knew when a cause was important enough that she had to do her part. That was probably the reason that she joined up to fight the Collectors. Not typically a job a thief-for-hire would take on.

"It's decided then," Alec said, "Kasumi plants a tracer on Tolan and whoever it is he's meeting with. If we find any actionable Intel, we need to be ready to act upon it immediately. If there is any reference to Tali, you'll be told as soon as I get it, Scott."

"There's a safe-house that my agents use nearby, we should get to it and set up a monitoring station," Liara said.

"Already taken care of," Alec said, "it's ready for you all. We'll get these guys before they can jeopardize any more innocent lives."

"Is there a long-distance comm at this safe-house?" I asked.

"Of course," Alec replied. "You bringing in more reinforcements?"

"No, but I want to call an acquaintance and find out more about this Tolan. It's clear he hates the Krogan, but what would he be doing associating with a group that is targeting Asari Matriarchs?"

"My guess is he's just an arms dealer who's found a buyer willing to pay big money," Alec said.

"Though there is always a chance that there is something more going on," Liara said thoughtfully.

"Anyone who allies themselves to people like the Blades deserves to be looked at," I stated. "Nothing good can ever come from shady types dealing with destructive ones."

I caught Alec throwing me a strange look as I said this and I instantly knew what he was about to say, so I went first.

"I know I worked for Cerberus, but this is different. I had good intentions and the bad guys were, unfortunately, the only ones who had been paying any attention to my warnings. I got what I needed from them, completed my mission and then deserted them faster than the Normandy goes at FTL. Me and my team were serving a purpose greater than ourselves… Tolan's not the same. From what I'm hearing… we need to watch him too."

"If you think it's necessary, then I will make Tolan a priority target alongside the Blades," Liara said as she typed up an order and sent it to her respective agent.

"Good," I said "let's get to that safe house. Liara, can you find a call address for Kirrihe? We need to get information on Tolan. Like you said… there's something more going on there."

The safe house was in the sort of area that one would expect people who wanted to hide to head for. We ventured farther away from the centre of Armali and into an area of the city that was not nearly as glitz and glamour as the rebuilt part of the polished city. It was a temporary safe house in a sector that had been set up in haste to provide some kind of shelter for less fortunate Asari who wanted to come back to live in the Asari Capital of the galaxy. Families or individuals would move into this area for a short time until they were able to find a far more desirable residence in the city, so no one became attached to the area or stayed long.

This made the comings and goings of random people quite a regular occurrence, which made it easier to move about without drawing any kind of unwanted attention. Inside the safe house, however, it was clear that someone had spent time making the space a bit more comfortable and pleasant to be in. Handy if one of Liara's agents needed to lie low. On the other hand, it was tight for space as there was all kinds of high-tech equipment that was needed to monitor investigations and missions that may have been underway. When all of us entered, it became an even tighter squeeze but we managed. I headed straight for the long range comm and placed my call to the Salarian Major.

"I hope he's in," I muttered to myself as I waited for an answer. The address Liara had obtained placed Kirrihe on the Salarian colony world of Nasurn. Though still with the STG, he was going through a transitional period between jobs as he prepared to join a security team assigned to the Citadel Council.

I was about to give up and get back to the task at hand when, finally, the ringing stopped and I heard a Salarian voice on the other end. From the sound of him he had ran to answer the call, perhaps just getting back from somewhere. When he answered, he sounded very unsure of what to think as I was sure the caller ID was showing that the channel was highly secure and encrypted.

"Hello," he said warily, "who is this?"

"It's true what they say," I said light heartedly, "spies never get out of the habit of suspecting trouble around every corner do they?"

He hesitated, but I sensed that he was trying to figure out where he knew my voice from. I decided to end his anguish.

"It's Scott Gardner, Major. Good to speak to you again."

Kirrihe instantly perked up and I could hear it in his tone as he replied.

"Ah Commander! Pleasure to hear from you. I trust things are well? I've… heard some troubling reports."

"Yeah, well there's definitely plenty going on," I said, "You'll know who the Blades of Retribution are by now?"

"Of course," Kirrihe said, "the STG is assembling quite the task force to track them down. Though I guess that you are already ahead of us in that regard. I heard about the attack on Rannoch, but the details are sketchy."

"Well, in short, the Blades attacked my home and kidnapped Tali… we haven't found her yet, but we're going after them with everything we have!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, Commander. For what it's worth, you can ask anything you want of me, I need to do something to pay you back for saving us all. And I owe Tali the exact same."

"I appreciate that, Kirrihe, but all I need is a bit of information from you. Would you be able to tell me about an old colleague of yours called Tolan?"

"Oh him," I heard the distaste in Kirrihe's voice. "A troublesome sort! Make no mistake. Yet he was a highly skilled operative. Spirited, passionate about our people, quick minded even for a Salarian. He lost STG's tail soon after he was fired and all but disappeared during the Reaper War. Has he shown up? What is he getting himself into these days?"

"Nothing good, Major," I said plainly. "We have reason to believe he supplied the Blades with weapons, including the ones that they used in their big attack on Thessia that killed Councillor Tevos. There's talk of another attack coming that he might also be helping to enable. In fact, we've got an agent following him right now."

On the other end of the comm, I could hear Kirrihe fussing about and I heard the occasional clunking noise of drawers opening or the faint beep of a data pad being turned on.

"Apologies, Commander," he said when he came back on the comm. "I still have some old records on Tolan and will give you whatever you need."

"Start with him as an agent," I said and prepared to note down anything Kirrihe told me. "You said he was good at what he did?"

"Very," was Kirrihe's instant reply. "Even at an early stage in his training for the Salarian Military, he was highlighted as a potential STG Operative. He was training as a technical engineer and gained skills in hacking, explosives as well as achieving excellent scores across the board in all his tests. With STG training behind him, he quickly climbed the ranks and became an officer in a very short space of time. However, this was also where he began to run into trouble."

"How so?"

"He took his first mission to Tuchanka, and it became immediately clear that he took his pride in Salarian civilisation to the point of actively detesting the Krogan. He once vocalised his belief that the galaxy should have exterminated the entire Krogan race once they had finished off the Rachni. His career was harmed for a couple of years after that, but he once again started to gain favour with his skills and devotion to his duty."

"STG didn't keep an eye on him? Even after saying something like that?" I asked.

"Speech and actions are two different things, Commander," Kirrihe said, "though I share your view. Careful tabs were kept on him, but after two years of exceptional conduct, the watch was severely slackened and he was allowed to undertake front line duties."

"And he ended up going with you to Tuchanka. Walk me through what happened when you found Urdnot Bakara and the other Krogan females," I said.

Major Kirrihe was silent for a few moments as he recalled that mission.

"There isn't much to say really. STG received an anonymous tip that there were fertile females in the Weyrloc camp that were being experimented on and that, with the progress on a Genophage cure, they should be rescued for study… and their own safe-keeping, of course."

"I think I know who might have sent that tip, Major," I smiled to myself.

"As do I," Kirrihe said in turn, "the very same scientist who appeared out of the blue to lead the project and take care of the Krogan. Mordin always did struggle after the deployment of his improved Genophage went ahead. I saw it eat away at him year by year."

"He rarely let it show," I remembered, "but it weighed heavily on him. He always took action based on what the most pressing issue at that present time. Going from upgrading the Genophage to curing it was such a radical change… I don't think many minds could have survived that."

"He always did have an incredible mind," Kirrihe said in a fond tone.

"And he never let anyone forget it," I laughed slightly. "But Tolan didn't see it that way?"

"No. As soon as we found the females, his rifle was primed. I had to put myself in between him and the females to stop him opening fire on them. I know you never saw them as they were then, Scott… such sorry sights. I had never known what an ill Krogan would look like up until that point, I still see them in my memories even now. So frail… so desperate for help that they literally begged us, Salarians, for aid."

For a moment, I tried to put myself in Major Kirrihe's shoes and pictured the Krogan females on the ground pleading for help. Urdnot Bakara had by no means fully recovered from her ordeal by the time I arrived on Sur'Kesh to get her with Wrex. But I remembered feeling a great sense of shock at seeing a mighty Krogan so weak and strained beyond the limits of their incredibly durable physiology. If I had been on Tuchanka that day with Major Kirrihe, my first instinct would always have been to do whatever I could to help the poor Krogan females. The fact that Tolan had gone for his gun without any hesitation stirred up a deep hatred that I had quickly developed for the man. If we were going to catch this racist scum, then I had to know all of his capabilities.

I got the full rundown of his skillset from Major Kirrihe, and could not help but be impressed. After being fired from STG and the Salarian Military, Tolan had been able to give the best spy and espionage organisation in the galaxy the slip. Tolan was highly intelligent and adaptable. With the mind of a spy, he knew all the tricks to watch for, while at the same time had an impressive array of ways with which he could keep Intel on anyone he wanted. He possessed computing and hacking skills that would make a Quarian jealous, and a paranoia to match that of Aria T'Loak. When I told Kirrihe of our plans to attach a tracker to him, he fervently warned against such an action.

"Tracers and any other kind of bugs are always at the top of his list of checks. If he finds a tracker on him, then you will lose him faster than a Salarian losing a head-butting contest with a Krogan," Kirrihe said. "And if he is indeed tied up with this Blades group then they will also be tipped off."

"Roger that," I said and immediately updated Liara and Kasumi on the news. We quickly decided that Kasumi simply had to stick with Tolan at all times and no tracers were to be used at all. In fact, to be completely safe, Kasumi was instructed to go into a communications blackout. If she needed to make contact, she was to get away from Tolan in case the transmission was picked up by the wily Salarian.

There was one more question that I had to ask Kirrihe before I let him go. Alec had expressed his opinion that Tolan was supplying the Blades for the simple reason that he was an arms dealer who had won the jackpot of a rich client. However, we all knew anything was possible.

"What about the Asari, Major?" I asked. "Did Tolan ever display any kind of grudge against the Asari? Or the Council in general?"

"Never!" Kirrihe said with confidence. "He was, possibly still is, a proud Salarian and loved that his people were one of the bigger voices in galactic politics. Even when you Humans joined the Council, he did not seem to care. So long as the Salarians were still up there among the most powerful races, he was content. If you're asking whether he has joined the Blades because he harbours a deep resentment towards the Asari, then I'm afraid to tell you that there must be an alternative motive driving him."

"I agree with you," I said. "We don't think he's part of the Blades, just supplying them. That doesn't mean he doesn't have plans of his own though. I'll let you know if we find anything, Major. Thanks for your help."

"I wish you good fortune in stopping him and the Blades, put an end to their madness. But… if I may Commander… if you catch up with Tolan, do not make him suffer. Despite his deeply flawed hatred of the Krogan, he was once a proud and capable member of STG and saved many lives at great risk to his own. I will not be upset to hear of his demise, but show him a small mercy and finish him quickly. Please."

"I promise you, Kirrihe," I told him.

The call ended and I headed back through to the operations room where Alec and Liara were waiting for an update from Kasumi. For what Tolan was helping to enable, I wanted to hand him over to Wrex and Grunt to do with as they pleased. However, I was a man who kept his promises. For Major Kirrihe, I vowed that Tolan's death would be swift indeed. I smirked as I thought of my Black Widow rifle having something to do with it.