2185
Normandy SR-2
Illium
Garrus looked up as the door to Port Observation slid open and Shepard walked in. Liara stood instantly from where she'd been sitting on the couch, beaming at the Commander. "Glad you could join us," she said, slightly teasing. "It wouldn't be a 'first Normandy' reunion without you."
"I can spare as much time as you can," Shepard said with a grin. "You were about to protest when the Doctor unceremoniously brought us here. I'd think you'd want to get back to work quickly."
"Now that I'm here, I'm finding I don't want to rush back," Liara replied, sinking back onto the couch between Tali and Garrus.
"So, Shepard, what is this Doctor's story?" Dr. Chakwas asked. She was sitting on the other couch, next to Joker. Garrus had been surprised to see Joker out of the flight deck, but he'd said that this was worth it. Besides, they were still docked, so he wasn't needed at the moment.
"I heard a little bit about this police box, but - man! Talk about unbelievable," Joker put in.
"Oh, it gets crazier," Shepard said, taking a seat next to Joker. "He's from another universe."
"Get. Out." Joker said, the first to break the silence. "Commander, are you sure this guy isn't just completely nuts?"
"Joker, he showed up in a magic blue box," Shepard said dryly. "You're balking at 'another universe'?"
"Well, when you put it like that…" Joker said.
Shepard sighed. "Let me see if I can simplify this. The box is a ship that can, theoretically, travel anywhere in space and time, although theoretically is the key since this universe plays by different rules than his own. The universe is very different from ours, no similar species except humans. He's called a Time Lord, and his people are all gone, except him - he killed them at the same time he killed his people's enemies, who were kind of like Reapers. Oh, and his ship is alive in some way. He wasn't clear on that." She paused. "There was a lot he wasn't clear on."
"This really does seem rather unbelievable," Dr. Chakwas said.
"I saw inside his mind, Karin," Liara said. She was one of the few people to actually call Dr. Chakwas by her first name. Of course, they'd spent a lot of time together on the first Normandy. "I don't have any doubt."
Dr. Chakwas shook her head. "I suppose I can believe you, at least."
"Having traveled inside the aforementioned magic box, I find it easier to believe," Garrus said. "Nothing I've ever seen is even remotely close to it. So the 'other universe' explanation fits as well as anything else I might try and come up with."
"Wait - you said space and time?" Joker said. "So, time travel is possible?"
"I said theoretically, didn't I?" Shepard replied.
"Aw, man, that would be so cool!" Joker exclaimed. "You could go and actually see all the important events in human history. Oh, and Liara, you could actually go talk to a Prothean!"
"Joker…" Shepard began.
"Come on, Commander. You're trying to tell me you can't think of something cool you'd do if you could travel through time?"
"I'd want to see the end of the Unification War," Garrus said. "Major turning point in turian history."
"You already know where I'd go," Tali said wistfully. "The homeworld, before we had to leave it."
"Neil Armstrong," Dr. Chakwas put in. "I'd want to see him land on the moon."
"I admit, I would like to see the Prothean empire," Liara said.
"See? Everyone can name something off the top of their heads," Joker said triumphantly. "Well, Shepard?"
Shepard put her head down. "I'd try to find my parents," she said softly.
Garrus felt like cursing Joker. Of course that would be what she'd think of. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, offering support. Shepard reached her hand up to cover his, the warmth of her bare skin seeping through his gloves. When she lifted her head, she was back to being her usual unflappable and solid self. Very like a turian, in fact.
"Right," she said. "You all may have time to sit around and discuss flights of fancy, but I've got an assassin to recruit. Garrus, Tali - suit up."
"I'm already suited," Tali quipped.
Shepard grinned. "You know what I mean. And I'm sure it's time for Liara to get back to work."
"You should stay with us," Garrus said. "Forget this information broker thing. You belong on the Normandy."
Liara rose. "I can't. I have work to do on Illium. But I will miss you all. It was good to be back here for a little while." She looked over at Shepard. "I may have something else you can help me with. Drop by after you're done tracking down this drell."
"I will," Shepard promised. "I'll meet you all in the airlock in five."
Shepard was seriously annoyed with Nassana Dantius. Her first dealings with the asari had left a sour taste in her mouth - she'd bought the sob story of the captured sister, and had kicked herself afterwards for it. Reporting Nassana's actions to some appropriate asari authority had been on her list of things to do after she'd taken care of Saren - but she hadn't gotten to it in the month following. The month before the destruction of the first Normandy.
Working her way through the second Dantius Tower had lowered her opinion of Nassana even further. Every salarian worker that she encountered had raised her blood pressure. She had been glad to help them when she could - they deserved better than they'd gotten from Nassana. Shepard resolved to ask Liara about ways to help the salarians, especially the brothers Telon and Chesith.
She'd been skeptical about the wisdom of fighting through defenses set up by a paranoid asari just to get to one guy - but it was turning out to be a pure joy to demolish the defenses. They were worth demolishing. Shepard had yet to meet a mech that had been on her side (except for the sabotaged YMIR back on Omega) and this was only the latest in a long line of instances where Eclipse mercenaries had been in her way.
Shepard took point as they headed to the roof. She ducked for cover when the LOKI mechs started shooting, and a moment later she heard the fizz and crackle of the mechs' power being overloaded and them falling over, courtesy of Garrus and Tali. Then they ducked for cover as Eclipse mercs came out, surrounded by biotic blue glows that always indicated trouble ahead. Shepard switched to her pistol and focused fire on one of the mercenaries, taking out her barrier, then unleashed a series of shockwaves that knocked her off her feet - and kept her there. Tali had deployed her combat drone, and Shepard resisted the urge to grin as she heard Tali talking to the drone. It was unbelievably cute, and unbelievably Tali. Garrus was doing his best to take down the barriers and shields, paving the way for Shepard to use her biotics to charge forward, knocking them down before using her shotgun to finish them off. Of the new biotic tricks she'd picked up since being brought back from the dead, she liked it the best - though she had to be careful about not just putting herself in the midst of well-armed, uninjured enemies.
The three of them made short work of the mercs and pushed forward, picking up supplies from a med-kit that someone had left lying around. Shepard took point again as they passed through an opening around the corner. She saw a mercenary talking on the radio, not paying attention to his surroundings, and signaled for Garrus to take him down with a concussive round. The merc's cry of surprise was cut off as Shepard slammed into him, still glowing with biotic energy. There were two more mercs nearby, but they didn't have barriers up and she heard Tali encouraging her drone on. Shepard vaulted back over the concrete barrier and crouched, letting her amp recharge before she got back in the fight. She heard the mechs moving forward only to be stopped short by Garrus and Tali, and figured it was safe. Shepard popped back up to shoot at the container near two of the mercenaries, which exploded and finished the mercs off.
There was one mercenary left, sporting both a biotic glow and the orange-yellow of tech shields. Tali's drone took the first strike, and once the barrier was extinguished both Tali and Garrus overloaded the shields down to nothing. Shepard reloaded her shotgun and charged in, knocking the asari down and filling her with pellets before she could recover.
"Almost to the bridge," Shepard said as they strode forward. She noticed a submachine gun lying around and scanned it with her omni-tool. "Hm. This looks useful," she said.
"How is it that you find these useful things wherever we go?" Garrus asked.
Shepard grinned. "Just lucky, I guess."
As they approached the bridge, they were met with gunfire. Shepard saw a handful of mechs before she ducked behind an exhaust vent, Tali and Garrus joining her.
"I don't care what you do, no one gets across that bridge!" Nassana yelled over a speaker.
"Like this is going to slow us down," Garrus said, shocking one of the mechs.
"Hasn't so far!" Shepard replied before popping up to send a series of shockwaves towards a group of mechs and mercenaries, knocking some of them over the edge.
"Watch the biotic!" Tali called, sending her combat drone in that direction and following it up with a couple of shotgun blasts.
Shepard noticed that the biotic's barrier had faded and that she was the last one standing - which meant it was time to charge forward, knock her down, and follow that up with a shotgun blast of her own. She ducked behind another exhaust vent, anticipating that there would be more resistance before they got to the other tower. Sure enough, more mercenaries were running for them, trying to take down Garrus and Tali as they pushed forward.
"Pick 'em off and keep pressing," Shepard directed, switching back to her pistol to take down the barriers of an asari merc coming towards them.
"Rockets!" Tali said, ducking out of the way of one coming towards her.
"Garrus, can you take them out?" Shepard asked.
"Glad to," Garrus replied, switching to his sniper rifle and chambering a round.
"Good. We'll keep the heat off of you," Shepard said, switching back to her shotgun and charging towards the next exhaust vent. She heard the rocket fly past above her and was glad she'd gotten the timing right. Another rocket launched as she dived for cover. She looked across the roof to see that Tali had also run forward, and nodded to the quarian. The rockets fired again, and Shepard popped out to shoot the nearest merc.
The next time, only one rocket fired. "Scoped and dropped!" Garrus crowed in triumph.
"One more," Shepard said, ducking out to shoot at the mercs again. "Tali, focus on the asari. Take their barriers down."
"Got it," Tali replied, deploying her combat drone. More mercs were coming forward, and Shepard had to trust that Garrus and Tali would use their best judgment, because she fell into a rhythm that blocked out everything else: duck out, empty a thermal clip, duck back in, reload. She ran through the ammo on her pistol quickly and switched to the shotgun - the mercs were getting close enough to do some real damage. She didn't even notice when the second rocket stopped firing. What did get her attention was Nassana Dantius' voice.
"I'm sending in reinforcements! Finish them off!"
Garrus dropped into cover besides her. "Just a few left, Shepard. Asari, mostly."
"Good. Let's finish them," Shepard said. She'd picked up a few ammo clips and reloaded her pistol. "Like we did before. Target one and bring them down." She looked across to make sure that Tali had heard her instructions, and got a nod in response.
Shepard, Garrus, and Tali made short work of the rest of the mercenaries. "Now for Nassana," Shepard commented as they walked towards the penthouse door.
When they walked inside, Shepard surveyed the situation. The asari was surrounded by Eclipse mercenaries that would be easy to take out. Nassana's face was a mixture of horror and shock, which was quite satisfying under the circumstances.
"Shepard? But … you're dead!" Nassana exclaimed.
"I got better," Shepard replied. Behind her, she heard Garrus snicker.
Nassana moved forward warily. "And now you're here to kill me."
"You really are paranoid, aren't you?" Shepard asked.
"Don't patronize me, Shepard," Nassana said, turning her back on Shepard. Not really a smart move.
"Charming as ever," Shepard quipped.
"I'm sure you find this all very ironic," Nassana said as she paced. "First you take care of my sister, and now you're here for me." She paused, then turned back to face Shepard. "Well, you made it this far. Now what?"
"You really think I'm here to kill you?"
Nassana sounded exasperated. "Do you have another reason for destroying my tower? Decimating my security?"
When you put it that way… "I'm just looking for someone."
"You expect me to believe that?" Nassana continued to pace. "Is it credits? Is that what you want? Just tell me your price. We can make this problem go away."
"All the credits in the world can't make this problem go away, Nassana."
One of the Eclipse mercenaries was waving her gun around. "What?" Nassana asked, annoyed.
"I heard something," the merc said.
"Damn it," Nassana said. "Check the other entrances."
Really paranoid, Shepard thought. But not without reason.
"You-" Nassana pointed at Shepard. "Stay put."
Shepard folded her arms and gave Nassana her best don't-mess-with-me stare. Behind all the mercenaries, a graceful figure dropped from the air vent to the floor, recovering in a moment. So that's what a drell looks like, Shepard thought, watching him move. Green skin, patterned like an iguana's, large round eyes, and what looked like gills on his neck. None of the mercenaries had noticed him, and he started moving to dispatch them. Shepard was content to just watch.
"When I'm finished dealing with this nuisance, you and I are going to…" Nassana trailed off as she finally noticed that her bodyguards were being taken down. "Who-"
The bodyguards were dead, and Nassana had a pistol pointed squarely at her gut. The gun fired, and the drell caught her before she fell to the ground, laying her gently on the screens behind her. He crossed her arms over her chest. It was the oddest kill Shepard had ever seen - quick, efficient, and apparently also compassionate.
The drell took a step back, examined his work, and then bowed his head with his hands clasped together. Was he praying?
"Impressive," Garrus noted. "You certainly know how to make an entrance." Both he and Tali still had their weapons pointed at the newcomer.
Shepard stepped forward to get a better look at the drell. "I was hoping to talk to you," she said.
"I apologize," the drell said in a gravelly voice, "but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."
Really, at this point, I shouldn't be surprised by how weird the folks I'm supposed to be picking up are. "Do you really think she deserves it?" Shepard asked aloud.
The drell lifted his head, shaking it gently. "Not for her. For me."
Suddenly his behavior made a lot more sense. Didn't stop it from being weird, but it gave Shepard a bit of extra perspective she'd been missing a moment ago.
"The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone," the drell continued, starting to walk around. "Take you, for instance. All this destruction … chaos." Shepard's gaze tracked him as he moved around to the front of the screens Nassana was laying on. "I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me." He paused, squarely in front of Shepard. "Well … here I am."
And we're back to confusing. "How did you know I was coming at all?"
"I didn't," the drell replied. "Not until you marched in the front door and started shooting." He walked past Shepard to inspect Garrus and Tali. "Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her. You," he said, "were a valuable distraction."
Shepard felt irrationally angry at him, all of a sudden. "You used me. So you could kill her."
"I needed a diversion; you needed to speak with me," the drell replied calmly.
Shepard felt like sighing and shaking her head. Instead, she nodded to Garrus and Tali, who put their weapons away.
The drell - Thane - turned to face Shepard. "You certainly fulfilled your end of the bargain. What would you like to discuss?"
The explanation was getting easier to give all the time. "Someone's been abducting entire human colonies. We're going to stop them. We already know the culprits - a race called the Collectors."
"I've heard of them," Thane said. "Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."
Shepard still got a twinge whenever someone said that aloud. Having died once, she wasn't particularly eager to do it again. She'd improve her odds however she could - work with anyone who would help her - but that was always in the background, that she might not make it. That she had no reason to expect to cheat death twice. But she wasn't about to let any of these strangers see that. She straightened herself up and said calmly, "They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos, too."
"A fair point," Thane acknowledged. "You've built a career on performing the impossible." He turned back to face the sunset, lowering his head slightly. "This was to be my last job. I'm dying." He left a pause there, as if it still weighed on him. "Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."
"I hadn't heard that," Shepard said softly. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Giving me this opportunity is enough." Thane paused. "The universe is a dark place. I'm trying to make it brighter before I die. Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for that." He turned to face Shepard, and extended his hand. She grasped it. "I will work for you, Shepard. No charge."
"Welcome aboard, Thane," Shepard said. "Let's get back to the ship."