"This is a private sanctuary. Outsiders are not welcome here." A voice came over the intercom as we reached the door.
"I'd like to talk to Father Kyle, if that's okay."
"Father Kyle wants nothing more to do with the Alliance."
"I'm Viridian Shepard. I'm not with the Alliance." I rolled my eyes, making sure I was in full view of the camera.
There was a pause.
Then, "The first human Spectre." Another pause. "Father Kyle will speak with you. Head to the building at the far end of the compound. He'll meet you there."
"Thanks." I nodded my head toward the camera. "C'mon." Lowering my voice. "Remember: best behavior."
Garrus and Tali nodded, keeping their mouths shut.
It was easy to find the room he was in.
"I know you." He didn't elaborate, but I recognized him immediately.
"So, you're Father Kyle. Huh. I'm not usually surprised." I gestured around us. "You've gathered a lot of followers."
"And if you intend to take me to the Alliance, they will stand in your way."
I chuckled. "I'm not here for that."
My companions shifted, and I could imagine the looks on their faces. Good thing I'd told Garrus to keep his helmet on. And Tali, well. She wouldn't take hers off for anything, anyway.
"I'm just here to talk. You know, sooner or later, they will send someone from the Alliance to apprehend you. You killed Alliance officers, Father."
"They wanted to take me away from here! They wanted me to abandon this place. Turn my back on my family. They spoke blasphemy! I did what I could to make their end quick and painless. I had no other choice. It was necessary to protect my children. Only I can keep them safe."
I tapped my chin, thoughtful. "And what will happen to them when the Alliance comes? They'll die. Even if they're all trained soldiers, they wouldn't stand a chance against the force the Alliance will bring. And what kind of father lets their children die?" A hand on his arm, a consoling gesture. I donned a sympathetic smile. "They'll end up paying for your crimes, and I don't want to see good people die. Isn't there another way?"
"This... this was... My children are innocent. Pure." He buried his face in his hands, overcome with emotion. "Please... I never meant for this to happen. I'm... I'm sorry."
"Do you need time, Father? To tell your children what you're going to do?"
A slow nod, raising his face to me. "Yes. If my children see you taking me away, they won't understand. They will attack, and you'll be forced to kill them all. Thank you. For showing me the error of my ways, Shepard." He looked around the room, at the followers milling about. "Please, give me one hour. After that, I will meet the Alliance authorities at the gates of my compound and surrender without violence. I give you my word."
"That's good enough for me." I reached out, and we shook hands. "Be safe, Father."
After we were clear of the compound and back in the mako, I sent a message to Admiral Hackett, letting him know Father Kyle had surrendered and would be waiting outside his compound for pick up after an hour from now had passed.
I drove a little ways away from the place, stopping at the top of a mountain ridge and getting out. Waiting for Joker to pick us up. Stretched my arms over my head.
"That was something." Garrus commented.
"I really thought you were going to let him go." Our quarian added.
"Nah." I shook my head. "Sometimes, you have to lead people to ideas and let them think it's their own. And sometimes, you've got to give them a sympathetic face to relate to, to get that done. Some would argue he's not a bad guy, just got caught up in what he'd done and couldn't see a way out of it."
He let out a hum and she nodded, both of them taking it in and really giving it some thought.
The Normandy picked us up without incident, and I picked Hades Gamma as our next destination. Choosing the Antaues system first. Scans of the planets revealed our missing survey team from ExoGeni was on Trebin.
"Alright, Liara, now you can come along." I smiled apologetically at her.
"Good. I am ready to help."
"Just meet us down in the cargo bay when you're ready to go."
"I will walk down with you, if that is alright?"
"More than alright!" Looping an arm through hers, I dragged her to the elevator. Coming out, I called out to the others. "Everyone ready?"
Various "yes" and "yeah" met my words.
"Good. Let's go see if we can find the missing team."
First, we hit scavengers, which was always a good sign, when we came across a crashed probe. So, a fun start to the mission, for sure.
Then, we found a satellite transmitting signals into orbit that could disrupt GPS satellites, potentially causing ships to crash on the planet's surface.
I had a good idea of what had happened to the missing team, but I still wanted to investigate their base of operations, to make sure.
Once we were there, we found some data that told us about how they'd uncovered some kind of alien technology. That they weren't sure what it was or what it did, and were going to study it.
I had a bad feeling. Taking a minute to turn around, digging through the lockers at the far end of the room, I fell into a vision.
Husks. Ah, man.
We went to the site a little ways off.
"Keep your eyes peeled. I think we're dealing with husks."
People exchanged glances, mostly confusion at why I thought that, no doubt.
The fight was easy, with everyone prepared and how many of us there were. And then, they spilled out of the two tunnels, nearly overrunning Kaidan, Liara, and Ashely, who were standing the closest to the doors.
Without thinking, I threw my arms out, creating barriers around the three of them. Yanking them back with all my strength with one hand, I threw several grenades out with the other. The husks blew up, sending chunks raining down all around the small space.
Once they were all dead, I took stock of everyone those three specifically. "You guys alright?"
"I'm alright." Liara nodded.
Kaidan pulled Ashely to her feet, both of them saying "Yes, Shepard."
There was a beat of silence, and I knew it was coming.
"I didn't know you were a biotic, ma- Shepard." He looked at me.
Ashely and Tali looked at me, too. The humans' expressions disbelieving, and I couldn't tell with the quarian. Wrex and Liara already knew. Missions with Wrex, one of our girls' nights with Liara. And Garrus, well, he just studiously kept his gaze wandering. Like he didn't want to be here for this conversation. I didn't want to be here for it, either.
I shrugged. "Short of wearing a neon sign, how would you know? I tend not to use it."
"Why not?" Said the person who used it all the time.
"When I woke up this morning, I didn't think I was gonna get the third degree." I joked. "I've just never really have a reason to. Don't get me wrong, it comes in handy every once in a while. Like just now. But most of the time, I'm going for secrecy, and flinging people around with biotics isn't exactly Stealth one-oh-one."
Suddenly, Garrus broke in, motioning toward the strange device that reminded me of the geth. "I think we know what happened to the missing team."
The subject officially dropped, we left the site. And ran right into another thresher.
I just wanted the day to end.
Luckily, it was late enough, all things considered, that I could get away with heading straight to my room after the mission. After sending out a little message to one of my contacts, who happened to be high up in the chain of command with ExoGeni. Sure, I couldn't stand them and what they did, but I made the contacts within the organization so that I could keep an eye on things, when it came to them. I found missing teams of theirs, and they slipped me intel. Things like that.
I finally got around to unpacking my things, setting my med cases at the bottom of my wardrobe and placing an invisible barrier over them, so no one would find them, should they choose to go through my things.
With all of that done, I flopped down on the bed. It wasn't a terrible bed, which wasn't a surprise. It was a captain's bed, after all. Nothing like the cots that the crew slept on. It was a nice change of pace. I was used to sleeping on said cots, even while on missions with Nihlus. Because most of the time, I was invisible. To keep an eye on things so nothing got too dicey, nothing surprised us.
...
"Shepard." Helena bowed her head to me as I stepped through the door.
"Blake."
"I owe you a debt of gratitude. With my former partners dead, this syndicate is now mine." I could feel the eyes of my companions burning a hole in my head. "I could not have done it without you."
"My pleasure." I gave her a smile, waving back toward the way I'd come. "They deserved to die."
"I'm glad that you can see that I am, by far, a lesser evil than those men." At my nod, she continued. "Under my leadership, this organization will restrict itself to gambling and smuggling illegal technologies."
Someone shifted behind, and for a moment, I was worried one of them would open their mouths. Thankfully, they all stayed silent.
"There will be no drugs and no slave-taking for the batarians. Those days are over." She gestured, as if waving away the past.
"Helena." I stepped forward, touching her shoulder. Looking her in the eye. "We both know this gang has a bad reputation. If you want to continue your work, I suggest creating a new one. Working from scratch. If nothing else, that way the authorities can't pin you for anything those men did in the past. I'd hate to hear you were arrested."
A shudder. "I would die before going to prison. I would most certainly kill before going to prison." She touched her chin, thinking. "If I walk away right now..."
"You'll be a free woman. To do whatever you want." A chuckle. "Just keep in touch, yeah?"
"I will." Bowing her head again, she turned and went deeper into the building. To tell her people she was disbanding the group. Send them on their way.
The blow up happened after we were back in the mako.
"You just let her go?" Alenko wasn't happy.
"She is a murderer, Shepard." Tali sounded like she was frowning behind her mask.
"How do you think she's going to get a hold of illegal tech? It's not by doing things legally." Williams was seething.
Was half a team enough for a mutiny?
I sighed, letting my head drop back against the headrest. "Listen. She's not going to restart her gang. I know her better than that. We've worked together for years. After I really got to know her, she told me her dream growing up was to be a social worker. I'm gonna spend the next while pushing her that way as best I can. Besides. We're all murderers, if you think about it. Just because we have the law on our side or you're hanging with a Spectre, it doesn't suddenly mean you're not taking lives. In their and their loved ones' books, we're the murderers." A shrug. "It all depends on who's telling the story, really. Also, well, I don't exactly do things legally, either. Even before being made a Spectre. I'm a damn fine hacker and a pretty good assassin. Those don't exactly fall within "legal," do they?"
"You're an assassin?" Williams asked in disbelief.
I nodded, staring up at the ceiling. "Yup. Trained since I was a kid. Part of why Nihlus kept me around, in the beginning."
"How old were you?" She leaned forward, trying to catch my eye.
I raised an eyebrow but turned so I was facing them all. "I was fourteen when we met."
"How'd you meet?" Alenko popped in with his own question.
"You need to spend more time with me to unlock that dialogue option." A small grin to soften blow of shutting him down.
Just then, the Normandy appeared, ready to pick us up. Saved by the ship.
My omni-tool lit up once we were onboard, a message coming through from Jahleed. He wanted to talk about something, without Chorban knowing. I frowned.
"Joker, take us to the Citadel." I ordered over comms. "You guys can do as you please after we get there. There's something I have to do."
