6/5 2183
SSV Normandy, on route to Tuntau.
A yawn escaped Mads' mouth as he realized he had fallen asleep in his chair, which was bad news for his back. His magnum was still clutched in between his fingers, like he was holding on to it for dear life. He stood up and placed the magnum where it belonged; In his holster. As he stretched out, he figured now was a good time to take a cold shower and shake off whatever was left over after his late night session of drinking.
The cold water gave him the reality check he needed. It brought him back into reality. When he looked down the bottle, everything disappeared. There were no one to judge him, no one to call him out on his mistakes. When he was awake, they were with him. They always wormed their way into the gray matter of his brain. They always taunted him, made him look like a fool.
Not now. Not in this moment. He took the time to shave the five o'clock shadow he had formed overnight. He always had good beard growth, sometimes too good if regulations said you had to be clean shaven at all times. The joys of being a senior officer.
He got dressed quickly, and found his way to the table in the mass. Hardly anyone was there, expect Ashley, who appeared to be enjoyed a late breakfast, just like Mads had intended to do. So, he sat down in the chair. "What's for breakfast?" He asked.
"Standard MREs, or you can get some bland cereal. It's your choice." Ashley replied as he continued eating the MRE she had taken.
"Lucky me, so many choices." Mads remarked as he went to get the cereal and some milk to go with it.
"For a favor?" Kaiden asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. If you give this coffee to the Commander, then I'll owe you a favor. Now, will you do it or not?" Garrus asked. It was a small plot he had cooked up since Romanov made a fool of him down in the cargo bay.
Of course, it was all fun. Nothing serious. Garrus just wanted to see a little revenge acted out on the Commander. He would take whatever punishment would come afterwards.
"Sure, I'll do it." Kaiden replied as he took the coffee from Garrus. It looked normal, it smelled normal. But Kaiden knew it was anything but normal coffee. That look in Garrus' eye meant that Kaiden should probably stand well clear once he had served it to the Commander.
The cornflakes were shit, in every sense. But at least it was different from the usual MREs that the Alliance served. How those MREs weren't a breach of the human rights declaration, Mads had no clue. How could anyone serve such a shit thing and call themselves a good person?
It didn't matter as Mads chewed away at the cornflakes, of which might as well have been cardboard. Ashley seemed to look behind him at something, so Mads turned around to see what was going on. It was none other than the lieutenant, Kaiden Alenko, coming over to the table.
Kaiden placed a coffee cup in front of Mads. "Figured you could use something to freshen up a bit." Kaiden remarked.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. That's very kind of you." Mads replied as he took the cup. It looked alright, a bit brighter than he was used to, but Kaiden might have overdosed it with cream or something like that. Little did Mads know, in the shadows a certain Turian crew member looked on in pure satisfaction as his plan played out exactly like he wanted.
As soon as the coffee hit Mads' tongue, he knew something was very, very wrong. This wasn't coffee, it was anything but. It tasted like actual shit, and so he spat it out within a second of drinking it. It went all over the table, and Ashley attempted to dodge the over spilling of coffee.
"What the fuck is this!?" Mads asked as he looked to Kaiden.
"Don't look at me!" Kaiden laughed as he raised his arms in the air. Mads had a sudden realization. It could only be one; A certain bird looking motherfucking had taken the piss on him.
"Garrus fucking Vakarian." Mads muttered as he got up from his seat. "Where is he?" Mads asked. Kaiden shrugged his shoulders. Right, he was conspiring with that Turian, of course he was. Mads could hear the unmistakable sound of Garrus trying to run away to hide.
"GARRUS! GET BACK HERE!" Mads yelled as he began to chase after the prankster. Mads chased the Turian all the way to the cockpit, where space was little and there was no escape nor mercy for Garrus.
Mads slapped Garrus on that small of unprotected skin on the back of head. Not too hard, of course. But enough to get his point across. "I believe there is something you want to say to me." Mads demanded.
"What?" Garrus asked back with a confused look as he rubbed and nursed the sore area.
"Something along the lines of: I'm sorry Commander. I am and forever will be a grade A, fully rigged, Ocean-going IDIOT." Mads suggested.
"Oh come on. You know I had to do it to you." Garrus replied with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah. Real fucking funny. Now I have to go get cleaned up, and I'll be sending you the cleaning bill in the meantime." Mads promised as he pointed a finger at Garrus.
"Yeah, I'll change my address." Garrus smugly replied.
"I ought to break a couple of ribs, just for good measure." Mads remarked.
"You don't mean that!" Garrus said.
"No… But it felt good to say." Mads replied in a fake sad accent. That was why Garrus knew they had a good relationship… At least in Turian standards. They could mess around a bit, and they would still be some what friends. "Go on, get back down to the Cargo bay, and suit up. We're going on another mission." Mads ordered.
"Mission? What mission?" Garrus asked confused. This was the first he had heard about it.
"It's more of a favor than anything else. We'll go and reclaim something that belongs to Wrex." Mads informed.
"I see. Well, call me when we are ready to go." Garrus said as he began to make his way back down to the Cargo bay. Of course, not without mocking a defeated walk.
"When are we ready to go, Joker?" Mads turned around and asked.
"I'd say about two hours. But… Tuntau, really? You could at least have picked something interesting." Joker remarked.
"Come down with us, and I promise you: You will see interesting." Mads suggested.
"I think I'm fine just where I am. With my feet kicked up and ready to get your ass out of trouble." Joker replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. Ping me if there is anything. Otherwise; I have make sure the mass area is cleared of any Turian coffee." Mads remarked as he too began to make his way down towards the lower levels. "Unbe-fucking-lievable." Mads muttered.
Luckily, Kaiden and Ashley had taken it upon themselves to clean up the rather unfortunate mess created by Mads and Garrus. So, which that in order, Mads went to change his shirt and pants, and hoped to God that his clothes could actually be cleaned. Otherwise: Garrus might not make it out of this in one piece.
"Good work." Mads remarked as he came back out of his cabin. He took the time to light up a cigarette enjoy the nicotine it so selflessly provided.
"No worries. Did you kill Garrus?" Kaiden asked jokingly.
"I wanted to… But no, he is too useful." Mads replied as he took another drag of his cigarette.
"So that's how we avoid death by you, Commander? Just make ourselves useful?" Ashley asked smugly.
"Oh, you thought this was a democracy Gunnery Chief? You people seem to be forgetting that I'm royalty." Mads answered. Still in a joking manner. They all had a small laugh at that. "Anyway, I'll speak with you guys later." Mads said as he made his way towards the elevator that would take him down to the Cargo Bay. When he came down, he saw what he usually saw.
Nothing ever really seemed to move in the Cargo Bay. Granted, Ashley wasn't there at the moment, but Garrus had resumed his work on the MAKO, probably to make sure it was ready for their next deployment. Wrex was still leaned up against the wall, like he always did. Mads wasn't sure if he had ever seen the Krogan do anything else beside that… Did he sleep there as well? Probably for the best; Wrex would probably break the sleeping pods if he attempted anything of the sort.
But… Mads did kind of like the routine of it. He liked to do his normal rounds and speak with the crew, no matter what rank they may hold onboard the ship. There was something good about having everything as it should be. Things were always where he might expect to find them. It did save him an awful lot of time.
"You ready?" Mads asked as he came up to the big Krogan. Wrex looked back at Mads.
"I'm ready to reclaim what is mine, if that's what you're asking." Wrex replied.
"It is. Let's just hope it goes smooth, I'd rather not start a blood bath." Mads remarked.
"If it comes to it… So be it." Wrex was serious about getting his family's armor back. But it came as little surprise. A family heirloom was a thing to protect and hold dear, no matter how insignificant it would appear to be. Funny how sentimental value could make even a piece of junk priceless to some people. "I wanted to-… I mean, I wanted to say-..." Wrex was trying to express some sort of gratitude. Mads didn't know if it was taboo to say Thank You in Krogan culture, or if the matter simply rested within the fact that few Krogan ever did.
"Come on, you can do it." Mads encouraged him, in a friendly playful manner.
"Thank you. For doing this. It's more than my family ever did for me." Wrex said.
"Ah, It's no worry. Who knows? One day, you might help me reclaim the Russian royal jewels." Mads joked, though it seemed that his joke went straight over Wrex's head.
"Humans are weird creatures. You're either egotistical… Or you're so eager to help. Not many Krogans are like that." Wrex remarked.
"Well, humans are very different from each other. We're as likely to help each other, as we are to betray each other. We're certainly not the saints of the universe, not if you count in all of us." Mads replied. He found Wrex's point to be interesting though. How humans really don't have a collective outlook on life. "Anyhow, we should probably start to get ready for the mission. We'll be bringing Garrus with us. I think three capable soldiers should be more than enough to get the job done." Mads suggested.
Wrex nodded in sort sense of agreement or understanding. Mads decided he might as well go chat with Tali a bit, since the engineering department was just besides the Cargo Bay. As he entered the den of grease monkeys, he was always amazed at how anyone could understand how such a thing worked. The drive core was big, bigger than most things Mads had seen on vessels before. It looked so complicated, and yet somehow Adams and Tali knew it inside and out.
Mads went up to Adams and engaged in a conversation. Adams told Mads what was new and what was not in the engineering department. Compared to the rest of the ship, the engineering department kept coming up with new to improve. There wasn't much to report at that moment, things were quiet for now. Only the lord knows how fast that could change. Finishing up his conversation with Adams, Mads decided to check in on Tali, who once again was completely devoted to the terminal in front of her.
This time though, she seemed more observant than before, because she turned around just as he came up to her. "Romanov!" She exclaimed, like she was really excited to see him.
"Tali." Mads greeted back. "Everything alright?" Mads asked.
"Yes. Everything is well, and you?" She asked back.
"Oh, I'm quite alright… Apart from the fact that Garrus took revenge for what I did to him the other day." Mads replied.
"Really? What did he do?" Tali asked in a concerned tone.
"He served me Turian coffee. Can you believe it?" Mads asked. He tried his best to sound hurt.
"Hardly." Tali said teasingly.
"Anyhow, I'd rather not spend my time discussing Garrus and his endeavors. There was something I wanted to ask:… So, how is the Quarian government screwed together?" Mads asked. It might have come out of the blue, and it might appear as a weird question, in fact-
"That's a weird question." Tali replied, as if on cue. "Why do you wish to know?" She asked.
"I'm interested and curious about it. Your people live on ships, and it's not the biggest population out there." Mads said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Not… It isn't. We're only about 17 million strong. It's hardly comparable to say… the Turian, Human or Asari population. As for our government; We are still under martial law from the Morning war. But, every ship has a captain. That captain is elected by the ship's crew. The Captain is therefore responsible for all the lives onboard that ship, and he is also our representative to the Conclave. It's like our… Parliament? Is that the right word?" She asked. She probably being rhetorical.
"It makes sense at least." Mads remarked. "So, does that mean that a Captain has final say on a ship? Or is it up to the Conclave?" Mads then asked, still curious.
Tali was loving this. Even though she preferred talking about her people's culture rather than politics, it was still nice to speak with an Alien who was genuinely interested in her people. They talked for a while, and Tali explained her government in as basic terms as she could; How most issues are handled in-house, how Captains still have advisers, how that in extreme cases the Admiralty Board could override decisions made by the Conclave. And then she made a slip… She told him that her father was on the board…
"So you're practically royalty!" Mads proclaimed, and that was met with a fierce punch to Mads' arm.
"No I'm not!" She replied. Her tone sounded almost offended.
"Well, you're the admiral's daughter. That's as good as being a princess in Quarian culture, isn't it?" Mads asked, trying to tease her a bit.
"Well, no- But-" She didn't get very far.
"I can't speak of course. I come from royal blood as well. It added some extra requirement of me. Did it do that for you as well?" Mads asked curiously.
"Well… Yes, yes it did." Tali admitted. "I received more rations, and more training before starting my pilgrimage… But now, I can feel expectations growing each and every day for the gift I shall return with." Tali explained.
"Don't worry Tali. We'll find something that you can bring home with you. If we find something during our travels, I'm sure we can come to an agreement." Mads promised.
"I-Thank you, Commander. That's very generous." Tali replied sincerely.
"It's no problem. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get ready for the next assignment." Mads said as he turned around.
"Of course." Tali almost whispered. She almost couldn't better happier at her luck of getting such a nice Commander as her leader, and the opportunity to be a part of this team.
Few hours later.
Cargo Bay, SSV Normandy.
"Okay, this should be a simple mission. We roll in, kill any fuckers within the compound, we pick up Wrex's armor… And then we get the fuck out. Are we clear?" Mads asked. The other two nodded. "Then let's get moving." Mads ordered as he gestured to the MAKO.
They all squeezed into the MAKO, which didn't really offer a lot of room for maneuver. Wrex had it worst, since Alliance personal carriers weren't really designed for huge Krogan. But he managed, but not before Mads suggested they invest in some butter to smoothing the process.
"Get ready for deployment in… 3… 2… 1!" Joker proclaimed as he hanger doors opened, and Mads drove the metal beast out into the great unknown. "Remember to drive safe and bring back a postcard!" Joker jested. Mads cracked a smile as he put on the thrusters and made sure they didn't crash into the planet.
The planet in question, Tuntau, was nothing to speak highly off. It was mountainous and rather dull to be honest. Why anyone would store up their private collection here, Mads had no idea. But this was a Turian collector they were talking about, maybe that had something to do with it.
Anyhow, the ride there was rather uneventful. It was quiet in the MAKO, Wrex seemed more focused than he ever was before, and it was quite a frighting look. It looked like Wrex was trying to think of all the different ways he could use the armor, and all the different ways he could kill the Turian collector.
"His name is Tonn Actus." Wrex said, as if he could read Mads' line of thought.
"Come again?" Mads asked.
"The Turian collector. His name is Tonn Actus. He is a pirate and profiteer. I want to have some fun with him before we kill him." Wrex requested.
"We'll see. Personally I don't care." Mads replied. "How far?" Mads then turned around and asked Garrus. Garrus looked at his omni-tool to determine the distance.
"Not that far. Maybe a click or so more south. If this Intel is any good." Garrus answered.
"It is." Wrex coldly assured them. It was straight forward at least. They continued the last stretch towards the structure that was on their map, and when they got close enough they could see the few snipers that stood guard outside the building.
Their weapons couldn't penetrate the armor of the MAKO in anyway, but it was rather annoying to sit and listen to those small bangs that sounded each time a sniper round made a dent in the armor. Garrus looked visibly upset, probably because he knew he would be the one to fix those dents.
It only took a few shots with the cannon, and those snipers were history. That also meant that the way inside was pretty much cleared. Neither Mads nor Wrex knew how many guards would be inside, but the warehouse didn't exactly look like the largest in existence. Everything seemed like a cakewalk for now. But things could always take a turn for the worst. They all got out of the MAKO and went towards the front door.
"This is the place. I can feel it." Wrex confirmed. Mads wondered if it was just a hunch feeling, or if the Krogan had a sixth sense that no one spoke of. In the end, it didn't matter.
"Plant the charge." Mads ordered, and Garrus dug up some explosives from his backpack. He quickly planted it on the front door. The stood at a safe distance as the explosives did their job. The door practically went flying. Mads was the first inside.
Tonn had a fair amount of guards with him inside. They all looked unprepared for a firefight, even though they had plenty of warning. Wrex took the lead on this one. He ripped through the guards like they were nothing but paper targets. Mads and Garrus landed a fair amount of kills, but it was nothing compared to Wrex.
Suddenly, a new person appeared in the midst of guards. His armor was of higher quality and he was Turian. "That's him!" Wrex proclaimed as he pointed to the figure. Mads pulled out his magnum and took aim. With a single shot, Mad kept Wrex's wish in mind as the Turian was wounded in the stomach. The yelp that was heard afterwards almost deafened out everything else, along with the screaming that followed it.
As Wrex finished off the last guard, Mads looked over to see Tonn crawling his way across the floor. "Where do you think you are going?" Mads asked as he kicked the Turian in the stomach. Another high pitched scream emerged from the Turian, and Tonn quickly leaned up against the nearest crate.
"Where is my armor?" Wrex asked as he shook Tonn by his collar.
"Armor? What armor?" Tonn laughed, and that was enough to send Wrex into a fit of rage as he began to kick the absolute shit out of Tonn.
"Did that brighten up your memory?" Wrex asked. His voice was furious, and he surely was as well.
"The Urdont clan armor? It's in the safe upstairs." Tonn finally told them. Wrex kicked the Turian one last time for the heck of it. All three of them headed upstairs to the safe in question. It wasn't an expensive or advanced model, but it probably did the job okay.
Mads and Garrus set to work on cracking the thing open, while Wrex paced around impatiently behind them. His footsteps seemed to get just a little louder each time. Mads fiddled with the interface, and mentally cursed how technologically illiterate he was in this new world.
"I wish I had brought Tali along as well. She would have had this safe open in no time." Mads remarked as he continued his crusade to get the damn thing open.
"You really like, don't you?" Garrus asked, too smugly for Mads' likening. Although, it was a point Mads hadn't really thought about before now, but now that Garrus mentioned it… Mads wasn't sure if he felt anything, but he admired Tali almost to the moon and back for her competent and useful skills…. And she was rather cute.
"As a friend and sister-in-arms, sure." Mads replied after a few seconds of thinking. Then, mercifully, the safe opened and allowed for a much needed conversation changer. Inside, there was a set of armor. Mads carefully removed it from the confines of the safe to study it, but before Mads could even get a good look at it, Wrex snatched it out of his hands.
Wrex looked at it with a thoughtful expression, like he held something really important in his hands… Which he kind of did. It was rather weird how easy and how hard Krogan could be to read at times. Their eyes could say a million different things, and then the next moment they say nothing. And just like that, Wrex was back to himself as he put the armor inside a box and began to walk downstairs with it.
While Wrex would be busy with loading that Armor into the MAKO. Mads decided to take a peak at what other goodies that Tonn might have collected over the years. The safe only contained the armor, so Mads went downstairs to look. Tonn hadn't left the position where they left him. He was bleeding pretty rapidly as well.
"Ouch, that must hurt." Mads remarked as he looked down at Tonn.
"Fuck you human." Tonn replied. Mads tsked at Tonn in disappointment. Mads then went over to a rather big crate and he then popped the lid off to see what was inside.
"God damn! Looks like I hit pay dirt!" Mads exclaimed in excitement as he took up what he found inside. It was a AA-12, semi auto shotgun, and in good condition as well. "Did know you were a fan of old human weapons." Mads remarked.
"I'm-" Tonn paused to cough. "-I'm branching out. Old human weapons are beginning to be worth some real money nowadays." Tonn explained.
"Good choice. You won't mind if I take this, would you?" Mads asked as he aimed down the sights of the beast. It felt good in his hands and he had always wanted to give it a try. There was no answer from Tonn, so Mads placed it on the ground and looked deeper into the crate in the hopes of finding more goodies.
And find goodies he did. "Woah! A Desert eagle? I always wanted to own one of these!" Mads said, and he felt like a kid in a candy shop with too much money and too many options. There was little answer from Tonn this time as well. Not surprising. Mads figured he needed a back up pistol as well, so this would suit him just find. As he dug a little deeper, he even found a new leather holster to go along with the Deagle. "Excellent." Mads remarked as he tried it on for size. It was a nice fit as well to his belt.
"What else do you have in store for me?" Mads asked with a cheeky smile as he looked deeper. The last thing that was held with the confines of the crate was an AK. And not just any AK, it was an AK-15. The latest and the greatest from Kalashnikov… In 2017 that is. That was a long time ago now. He had never actually used it in the field, but he was invited to test in when it was first made… That seemed like such a long time ago now.
"This is awesome!" Mads said as he ignored the grunts that come from the dying Turian. "You know, these weren't even enrolled in the army back in my day!" Mads happily remarked… Until he realized what he had said.
"Sorry what?" Garrus asked.
"Erh… Nothing, I'll tell you later." Mads quickly excused, and it seemed he had gotten away with it as well. Mads studied it, and remember a certain detail. "Russian soldiers used to engrave their AKs with their name back in day. There was a small spot underneath the bolt guard." Mads explained as he began to take the piece of to see if this ever had an owner.
As it turns out, it did. And not just any random soldier either, it was a name he knew… One he hadn't seen in a long time.
Victor Bespalov, Alpha squad, Spetsnaz GRU.
Mads was in shock, no other word for it. He looked at the engraving for perhaps too long. Garrus took notice.
"Commander, are you okay?" Garrus asked concerned. "What is it?" He asked further.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?" Mads demanded as he came face-to-face with Tonn. Tonn just laughed as he spit some of the blood in his mouth at Mads.
"The supermarket." Tonn laughed.
"Oh, you want to be funny? I know a fun game we can play!" Mads said with pure hatred in his voice. He pulled out his magnum and took out all the bullets expect for one. "We're gonna have us a fun little game of Russian roulette. Unfortunately, you'll be the only player." Mads said as he pressed the magnum up against the Turian's head. Tonn's breathing became more rugged.
"There is one bullet loaded, and yet there is five unloaded chambers. That means there is one in sixth chance of you dying right now. Every time you refuse to tell me where you got this gun, I'll pull the trigger. So, let's see just how lucky you feel." Mads explained as he cocked the hammer back.
"I ain't telling you shit!" Tonn said, but with less confidence in his voice. Mads pulled the trigger and Tonn closed his eyes. Just as the gun clicked, Tonn yelped in sheer terror.
"Where. Did. You. Get. This. Gun?" Mads asked, with a pause between each word.
"I found it!" Tonn said.
"ерунда!" Mads said, clearly not buying his story. As Mads was torturing Tonn, Garrus picked up the gun and looked at what had caused all of this. His translator couldn't give him a proper translation, because it couldn't pick up what was written.
Another click, and a small scream from Tonn was heard. "Who gave it to you?" Mads asked. His voice didn't leave a whole lot up for debate.
"Please, I don't know anything!" Tonn almost cried.
Click, once again.
"Empty." Mads commented.
He pulled the trigger again. That click sound once again was heard.
"Empty again. What are the odds?" Mads asked himself. "That leaves you a 50/50 chance of getting out alive. You still got nothing?" Mads asked.
"Elanos Hailat gave it to me! Please! That's all I know! Please don't kill me!" Tonn cried, oh he cried. That name was too familiar to Mads.
"Elanos Hailat? The same fucker who organized the Skyllian Blitz?" Mads asked roughly.
"Yes! That's him! He is on Agebinium! That's all I know!" Tonn was weeping and begging for his life at this point.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Mads asked as he stood up and holstered his gun. Tonn was still in shock.
"You aren't gonna kill me, are you?" Tonn asked, like the pathetic mess he was.
"Me? Oh no." Mads remarked. "But he will." Mads said as he pointed to Wrex, who loaded his shotgun. Tonn cried right up until he died by the hands of Wrex. It was so quiet in that warehouse as Tonn breathed his last. Mads picked up the weapons and went out to the MAKO. He was done there.
It was quiet on the ride home.