Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA. The AvP franchise belongs to 20th Century Fox.
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Consort's Chambers, the Presidium
"It seems you were successful, Commander." Sha'ira smiled. "I just received a lovely message from General Oraka."
"And as you can see, I rushed back, all eager to impress you with my success."
"Yes, indeed. In fact, you seem to impress a lot of people, Commander. Some of them are becoming increasingly curious about your actions and would like to know exactly what it is you hope to achieve. Is there something I should be telling them? If they ask me, that is."
Shepard considered. If Captain Anderson's contact on the Citadel was to be believed, this was indeed the conduit to the Council that they had been trying to arrange. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot to tell. They could present the recording from Eden prime to play against a sample of Saren's voice. That should be enough to cast doubt on Saren. But casting doubt wasn't enough. Perhaps they would be able to add further evidence later on, especially if they could get Fist to turn on Saren, but presenting evidence bit by bit in small chunks seemed like a bad idea. To Shepard, it sounded like what military strategists had once called 'graduate pressure'. It was the equivalent of poking someone over and over again with a stick in the hope that it would make them go away. In practice, it was usually better to wack them hard just one time, or in this case, to dump all the evidence on them at once and rely on the shock value to persuade, where a steady trickle of information would fail. Still, there might be an opportunity to lay some groundwork.
"A Spectre named Nihlus Kryik died on Eden Prime."
The consort seemed to freeze. "I was not aware of that."
"We're not advertising the fact. Neither is the Council. His presence was part of the deal that we struck regarding the prothean beacon."
"And now he is dead."
"I assure you, I didn't kill him. Though, to be completely honest, things were moving in that direction. No, for reasons that we can only guess at, he decided to go off on his own. We followed him, but we just found the corpse. There is some confusion as to how he ended up that way."
Seemingly relaxed again, the consort seemed to study Shepard from the corner of her eye. "If someone dies in the middle of a geth attack, my first assumption would be that the geth killed him."
Shepard nodded. "That would be the first assumption, yes. Except that he was shot in the back of the head, execution style. Now, from what I've seen geth aren't exactly subtle. It's hard to imagine a big clunking robot sneaking up on a Spectre and popping a cap in his skull that way."
"I see." Clearly, the human colloquialism didn't seem to confuse the asari much. "Yes, I see. I assume you have a theory as to what actually occurred."
"A theory, yes. Proving it, especially proving it in a way that leaves no room for doubt, now that's another story."
"And you believe that such proof can be found here, on the Citadel? Wouldn't your time be better spent on Eden Prime?"
Shepard shook her head. "What evidence there was has been either collected or destroyed in the attack. Besides, you may have heard that a, shall we say 'biological problem' now exists on Eden Prime." Sha'ira nodded. "Well, let's just say that noone will be investigating anything as long as that situation exists and the only known decontamination involves large mushroom clouds. No, if there is any new evidence to be found, it will have to be elsewhere. Starting with motive. Now," Shepard hesitated for a second. "Normally, I would assume that there are plenty of people with reason to kill a Spectre. But the individual I'm thinking about isn't one of them; quite to the contrary, in fact."
"Oh?"
"Yes. In any case, I'd like to have conclusive evidence before I make any public accusations. In fact, it would probably be better not to make any accusations at all, until the suspect is either in custody or otherwise incapacitated."
"I understand." The consort nodded. "Would it be safe to assume that if word of your suspicions goes back to this individual it would hinder your investigation?"
Shepard shrugged. "I'm reliably informed that it is inevitable that this person would find out. However, we would prefer to delay it as long as possible and then have them find out as little as possible."
"And... what would this 'as little as possible' be, realistically speaking?"
"That there are humans investigating events on Eden Prime. Which, of course, is hardly surprising. As long as it's only a human investigation, it may not trigger too much of a response. After all, the ability of humans to investigate anything in Citadel Space, or on the Citadel itself, is limited."
"True. And if your investigation proofs successful?"
"Well," Shepard smiled. "It depends on the circumstances. We may simply present the evidence to the relevant authorities and let them deal with them. Or perhaps I'll be authorized to deal with them, personally. Or, perhaps, a more forceful response may be required."
"More forceful than you, Commander?"
Shepard's smile grew, even though it contained little humour. "I'm the government's precision weapon, Sha'ira. I kill targets one at a time. There are other people that can provide more of an, eh, area effect. Personally, I prefer precision."
Sha'ira nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Commander."
-0-0-0-
The Presidium
"Shepard?"
"Yes, sir." It was the second time Captain Anderson had tried to call the Commander. This time the call went through.
"I have Jin and Estanza walking around the Presidium, keeping an eye out, and they struck gold. That krogan bounty hunter that's after Fist?"
"Yes."
"His name is Urdnot Wrex, according to Barla Von. And a krogan matching his description just got hauled into C-Sec headquarters."
"Red armour, twice as big as life and three times as ugly? Well, he was making death threats in Fist's club. Do you think C-Sec will keep him for a while."
Anderson sighed. "I doubt it. According to the embassy people, krogan making death threats are such a common occurrence that it will never get them more than a warning. They may hold him for a few hours, but no more than that."
"I see. Well, it was too much to hope for. I think I'll pay a visit to C-Sec myself and see if I can persuade Mr Wrex to either lay off or cooperate with me. I don't want that walking wrecking ball smashing Fist before I talk to him. Incidentally, the consort's starting to ask questions, so I decided to see if this backdoor conduit actually works. I let slip that Kryik was murdered and that we're looking into it, but I didn't mention any other names."
"How long before she passes on the information?"
"If I had to make a bet, I'd say she made a call the moment I left. I also hinted that they might want to let me go about my business undisturbed, rather than the possible alternatives."
"Coming from someone with your reputation that's more a threat than a hint."
"Yes, sir. I figure they'll take it that way. It might buy us some time."
Shepard was about to put her comm away when it sounded again.
"Yes."
"Shepard, Harkin here"
"Ah, Harkin. I trust everything went okay?"
"Oh yes, the packages were delivered as planned. However, there is a new development."
"Oh."
"Yes. An acquaintance of mine at C-Sec had a little story to tell. One of their detectives is making inquiries after you. A turian named Vakarian."
"I see. Any idea what triggered this interest?"
"No. But it's not an official investigation. Apparently, Councillor Sparatus called him in for a personal project. Shepard..." For the first time since she'd met him, Harkin sounded fully professional. "Is there something I should know?"
"Probably." Shepard thought for a second. "But it isn't for me to say. Ambassador Udina wants this to stay strictly compartmentalized. Tell me, Harkin. This detective, eh, what's his name?"
"Vakarian. Garrus Vakarian."
"Yes, him. Anything you can tell me about him?"
"Yes, I know him." Harkin snorted. "He's a holier-than-thou do-gooder with a stick up his ass."
"Aren't all turians?" Shepard asked. "Serving the greater good of the Hierarchy and all that?"
"Not like this. The average turian cop keeps his head down and does as he's told. As far as they're concerned, that's the greater good of the Hierarchy. Vakarian is different. He thinks he can change the world, or the Citadel at least. And he doesn't always care how he goes about it."
"Really? A turian vigilante? Now that's a new one."
"They exist. Though in Vakarian's case it may well be the end of his career. Executor Palin, the bigshot at C-Sec, isn't happy with him. Still, Vakarian seems to have at least some friends in high places, if the turian councillor himself puts him on your trail." Harkin hesitated. "Unless it's a plot to get rid of Vakarian. You know, send him after the Butcher of Torfan and hope he'll annoy you so much that you take him out."
Shepard chuckled "So, Uria the turian, or Vakarian the Hittite?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Thanks for the heads-up. If you can, please keep me informed about this Vakarian's activities. I may want to have a talk with him before he becomes too much of a nuisance."
"Will do. But, Shepard, watch out. I can make some problems go away, but a C-Sec detective? That's a different kind of problem. Besides, he's got a reputation in C-Sec. Whatever else they say about him, they all agree that he's one hell of a good shot."
"Got it."
-0-0-0-
C-Sec headquarters
"Alright, Vakarian, let me make sure I get this straight," Inspector Chellick, C-Sec undercover division, leaned forward. "Councillor Sparatus told you to investigate the Butcher of Torfan. Then the Butcher and her people go off to visit Fist's bar, and then they get ambushed by a couple of Fist's people, with predictable results. Is that the sum of it?"
"Pretty much, yes," Vakarian agreed. "Look, Chellick, I cannot go into details. Councillor Sparatus was clear on that. The council doesn't want any publicity until they know exactly what's going on. "
"And yet, you're talking to me."
Garrus hesitated. Before talking to Chellick, he'd run his recording of Shepard's conversation with her companions through a language analysis program that could read human lip movements. He hadn't been able to get the entire conversation because their faces had not been pointed toward the camera the entire time, but he'd gotten enough. They thought it was Saren! It seemed like his suspicions had been correct. Shepard was going after Saren, presumably on orders of her commanding officer, and they had initially thought Saren was the one who had set up the ambush. But he could not tell Chellick about that. Chellick was normally close-mouthed, but if he heard that humans were going after a turian Spectre, he'd inform the executor; and once Pallin got word of it there was no telling what he might do. Still, he had to tell Chellick something.
"I don't have much of a choice. I need information, fast. If Fist has another go at it, there may be a public confrontation and the whole thing will be all over the Citadel. Shepard had someone from the embassy clean up the mess-"
"Let me guess, Harkin?" Chellick laughed. "Well, it's not as though I care. Two thugs less for us to worry about. But you're right, this could get very ugly. Between Urdnot Wrex showing up and making threats and the Butcher of Torfan sniffing around his club, Fist has gone to full-blown paranoia. Everyone around him's just waiting for him to snap and when he does, we may end up with a major shoot-out. What does Shepard want with Fist?"
"Who knows? But is it really a coincidence that the Butcher shows up about five minutes after Fist turns on the Broker?"
Chellick shook his head. "Unlikely. Spirits, I always knew that Fist wasn't the brightest crook ever to land on this station, but to sell out the Broker? Even to a Spectre? That's insane. And it looks like the Broker is trying to get that point across if he sends both Urdnot Wrex and the Butcher of Torfan to deal with Fist." He checked his datapad. "Huh? That's weird. Fist seems to have another problem as well. Someone dropped me a message from the club. Fist got a message from an unknown caller. Next thing you know, he sent a couple of his thugs to a med-clinic in the Upper Wards."
"A med-clinic?" Garrus thought for a moment. "That's the one being run by humans, correct?"
"Yes, you think there's a connection?"
"I don't know, but, again, there are just too many coincidences here. And if Fist is so scared, why would he send some of his people on an errand? You know what? I think I'll go check it out."
-0-0-0-
Shepard looked around as she entered C-Sec headquarters with Williams and Alenko. They had come through the place on her way from the Presidium docks when the Normandy first docked at the Citadel but there hadn't been any time for sightseeing. The place was huge; hardly surprising, considering the fact that it not only served as a police headquarters but as a customs and immigration point and a traffic control centre as well. Fortunately, her target wasn't hard to find. In a corner of the main hall, three C-Sec officers stood around one very big krogan. Clearly, the conversation was not going well.
"Wrex, I'm warning you-"
"You should warn Fist." The krogan moved forward, looming over the first speaker. "I'm going to kill him."
"Do you want me to arrest you?" The turian C-Sec officer was clearly trying to sound tough. It was not working.
The krogan made a deep rumbling sound that could, with some imagination be interpreted as laughter. "I want you to try!"
Shepard held her breath. If the C-Sec officers took the bounty hunter up on that challenge it might solve the problem for her. It might also be highly amusing to watch.
Discretion proved to be the better part of valour
"Get out of here!" The turian snarled. "But I'll be watching you!"
"Good. You might learn something."
The krogan turned and stalked toward the exit. Shepard considered blocking his path, then thought better of it. Stepping in front of a giant toad, three times her weight and in heavy armour while it was moving didn't seem like a good idea. Fortunately, krogan had their eyes on the side of the skull, which made it easy to attract their attention from any angle.
"Hey!"
For a moment, she thought he'd simply ignore her, but either curiosity or perhaps annoyance combined with the hope for a violent confrontation won out. The krogan stopped.
"Urdnot Wrex, correct?"
The krogan's eyes narrowed. "What's it to you?"
"I'm Shepard." She paused. She had no experience in reading krogan facial expressions, but she thought there was a hint of recognition in his eyes. "Word is, you're going after Fist."
The krogan's eyes narrowed further. "So, you're gonna try to stop me?"
"I couldn't care less what you do to Fist. Hell, you can 'fist' him to death for all I care." Shepard ignored Williams' muttering about putting images into her head. "My problem is that I have a few questions for him, and I doubt he'll be much good at answering them when you're done."
"Heh heh," Urdnot Wrex grinned. It was not a pleasant sight. "Not much doubt about that. So, what do you suggest?"
"A simple deal. Instead of getting in each other's way, we work together to get to Fist. Then I get to finish my business with Fist and you get to finish your business with Fist."
"A simple deal, right. You'd better have those questions ready because when I'm done, he won't be answering anything." He nodded. "But, fair enough. No point in shooting at each other when we can agree on the same goal. My people have a saying: Find the enemy of your enemy, and you may just find a friend." He held out a giant hand.
They shook on it.
-0-0-0-
"Ma'am, are you sure about this?"
The three of them were standing around just outside C-Sec headquarters, waiting while Urdnot Wrex retrieved his weapons. Apparently, licensed bounty hunters were legally allowed to carry those around on the Citadel.
"About what?"
"I mean, this Fist may be a worthless lowlife, but we're basically helping some alien to carry out a hit on a human and-"
"-and nothing, Chief. Fist made his own choices. He chose to leave the United Systems, he chose to live among aliens, and he chose to screw over one alien in favour of another. Not to mention that he chose to send a couple of thugs to take a shot at us. I'd waste him myself, except that it looks like our new krogan bestie will save us the trouble. Normally, I'd just get a drink, sit back, and watch as he tears Fist limb from limb. The only reason we're getting involved at all is that we need information." She held up a hand when Alenko made to say something.. "And, no, Lieutenant, I'm not concerned about the rule of law here, either. This isn't our jurisdiction and besides, I'm not a cop." She looked up as a giant figure in red armour appeared. "Ah, Wrex. All set to pay a visit to Chora's Den?"
The bounty hunter nodded.
"Good, then let's find out what kind of reception Mr Fist has prepared for us. I figure between the four of us, we should be able to get past his guards, one way or another."
At that moment her communicator sounded again.
"Harkin?"
"Yep. Vakarian is on the move again."
"Anywhere specific?"
"Yes, actually. That's the weird part. According to my source at C-Sec, he's off to a med-clinic in the Upper Wards. One that's human-run."
"And no indication what he thinks he's going to find there?"
"My source doesn't know. But before Vakarian went off, he was talking to another turian, guy named Chellick."
"Another maverick cop?"
"In a way. Chellick is on organized crime. He runs informants, mostly, and there are rumours that he isn't too particular about who he uses and how they get the information. Anyway, they talk, next thing you know, Vakarian is all 'hold my calls' and is off to this med-clinic.
"So, let me get this straight. This Vakarian is asking about me, then he talks to a guy who runs informants in the local underworld, then he hears something that sends him running to a med-clinic? Alright, thanks for the information, Harkin. I think I'll pay a visit to that clinic myself."
Shepard closed the link.
"There is no way that was a coincidence. If this other turian works on organized crime cases, you can bet he has an eye on Fist. That must be why Vakarian talked to him. Okay, let me take a look at the map." She checked her tablet. "If we take the elevators, rather than the rapid transport the clinic is on the way to Chora's Den. We'll drop in and see if we can find out what's going on. The last thing we need is an overeager cop walking in on us when we hit Fist." She shook her head. "Let's hope he's willing to listen to reason."
"Why?" Wrex grumbled. "You afraid of some C-Sec cop?"
"Not really." Shepard shrugged. "But dead cops tend to bring living cops and we don't need that kind of hassle. Besides, according to the rumour, he's a good shot. Good shots are rare and I'd hate to kill one if there's no need. Let's talk to this Vakarian guy and see what we can figure out."
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A/N:
Initially, I thought that Wrex was a bit too quick to agree to cooperate and figured I'd change that. But then I realized, that's actually something of a trend: Despite their reputation for having violent tempers, most of the krogan you meet in the ME games are willing to negotiate. The bounty hunter on Noveria is a typical example, so is Nakmor Morda in ME:A. Krogan may be a grumpy lot, but they're not unreasonable. Even in encounters that will inevitably lead to violence (like with clan Gatatog on Tuchanka in ME2), there is usually a conversation/bargaining phase before the shooting starts. So, I decided to leave things as they are. After all, why wouldn't Wrex cooperate? It can make his life easier and if things go wrong, he can always change his mind later.
N7 skills. Only Shepard is an N7, Williams and Alenko aren't, and even N7s are still soldiers, not spies, and they are behaving like soldiers, quickly disseminating tactical information. It's not just a matter of training, they lack experience in deep cover operations. Send them on a commando raid and they'll do great, but this is something else. They're not going to blab classified information about where they know they can be overheard, and in fact, even in that brief conversation, they didn't give much away, but neither do they have the instinctive habit of a deep cover intelligence operative to not ever saying anything anywhere, just on the off-chance that someone might be able to pick it up.
Guest: For the conversation with Oraka I tried to recreate the tone of the conversation, but wrote the words myself with more emphasis on Shepard's feelings about the marines she lost on Torfan. Oraka cannot live with the fact that so many of his soldiers basically died for nothing, while Shepard seriously doubts that Torfan was worth the price they paid. It's what the two characters have in common and Sha'ira saw it (Nothing magical, it's more that she's doing a form of cold-reading.)
