Garrus, Shadow Broker's Ship, Exterior, Hagalaz
"Why do i let you talk me into these things Boss," Garrus growled, pulling back as mass rounds blew sparks off the ship plating he had ducked behind.
The back of a fist swatted at his shoulder playfully as his partner settled behind him, reloading. "Because I spent a lot of time and money putting him back together," Miranda's voice was sing-song cheerful. "Fenris mechs, I'm on it!"
Garrus could imagine her smile behind that helmet. And...it made him feel, against his will...good?
He watched Miranda's ass-er….her...as shifted to her knees, facing away from him. Leaning out, her waist tapered so nicely to that heart shaped...biotic...field….
Blue energy rippled over her and she thrust out a hand, her fingers wide, and a circle of blue power swirled under the mechs. Her hand became a fist and the energy flashed up around the mechs, and dragging them together with a crash. Her arm swung up, the mechs struggled futility as they followed the arc of her fist. Her quiet, dark chuckle in that short pause sent a small shiver up Garrus's spine. Her fist came down and struck the deck in front of her hard enough to put a small dent the metal as the mechs smashed into the deck plating with bright flash of power that was more than a hundred tons of force.
"Uh…" Garrus blinked as he lowered his rifle, sparing Miranda quick glance. She was staring at the mess she had made, not moving. "Miri?"
"Huh?" she jumped slightly, spinning to look at him almost uncomprehendingly for a moment before a shake of the head brought her back to herself. "Garrus...sorry…"
'So You Want To Date A Human', chapter four, skimmed through his head as he considered the proper response. It was a silly book he had ordered. He couldn't really deny his near complete ignorance of humans. Shepard aside, they were confusing hairless primates with too little patience and not enough discipline. Chapter four was supposed to help with what to do with 'When your human is having a bad day.' A glance at the pile of fused robot dogs told him all he needed about how useful that book was with the humans he hung around.
"Ah, hmm…" Garrus's mandibles clacked to his jaw a couple of times before he gave a simple shrug and clicked his comm. "Miranda spectacularly crushed the entire advancing force into a neat little ball, so I suppose west side clear."
"Oh, nice!" Jack came back. "Didn't think you had it in you, Princess!"
"Bit gruesome, but effective," Thane sounded approving.
"What?!" Miranda grabbed Garrus by the collar of his armor shaking him back and forth. "Why would you tell them that?!"
"Oh..wait…" Garrus gave her an open grin. "I see a little leg sticking out...it's twitching a little...feel a bit sorry for that one…"
"Oh, come on, could you skip the detail? That's disgusting!" You could almost hear Tali pale. Assuming quarians could pale.
"These are enemies that seek to defend an evil being, but one should give them as quick and as painless death as one can," Samara sounded disapproving.
Shaking a bit as she shoved Garrus away, Miranda slammed her fingers into her omni tool as if she just remembered she had it. "Mechs!" she almost shouted. "They were mechs!"
Solana, Palavan, South Archology, West
"Would you care for a drink?" Solana smiled as she led their guest into the central family gathering area. Her human colleges called it a living room, or something. "I have a few non-dextro soft drinks for guests."
"Sure," the human male shrugged. He was different from most of those she worked with. About her own height, just as broad. Waist was, or course, significantly wider. It was a bit unseemly, but she was proud of her waist curves. This male, however, was noticeably rounder than most humans she had met, other than the Palavan ambasador.
"Here you are," Solana passed the drink to the man as she took the cloth he had been using to clean the blood off the gauntlet of his armor. He seemed to be wearing it casually, as if he was used to it, even if it seemed to not be quite sized right for him. "And whom might you be?"
"Hmm?" the human turned back from the closed curtained window as he took a drink from his bottle. "Oh, sorry. Gerald Fallwyn, at your service." He bowed slightly, with a small flourish.
"To sound skeptical, why are you here and why did you kill those other humans?" Castis growled, not quite lowering his shotgun.
Gerald's eyes flicked from the gun to Castis, then to Solana, who also held her pistol lightly in his direction. "Right… Fair question. Gonna bring something up on my omni tool alright?" Slowly he set the bottle on the nearby table and held a hand up.
"Carefully," Castis nodded.
A small nod of his own, Gerald glanced at Solana, who gave him a small wink. She saw the ghost of a smile tug at his lips as he glanced at her waist. Crosses species, Solana chuckled internally.
With a careful tap the human's omni tool flared as it projected an image of Garrus. "Hello father and sister," the little Garrus said seemingly exasperated. "Shepard is sending this sterkre-:
"Hey!" Gerald snorted indignantly. "I know what that means!"
"-to help you guys out. We are having a bit of a tiff with the Shadow Broker and he might make a move on our family and loved ones. Sorry you get Gerald, I pulled the short straw.
"Jokes aside," Garrus's image turned serious. "He's one of the most capable men I've worked with, you can trust him. Stay safe."
As the image finished, Gerald dug the toe of his boot into the floor," Aww, big is a softy afterall."
"Well, if Garrus vouches for you, your help is welcome," Castis lowered his gun as he stepped forward with his hand out, the way humans greeted each other.
Solana smothered a chuckle as she set her own pistol on the table. She knew her father liked humans more than he would admit. "I'm Solana," she opened her mandibles in a wide smile as she took his hand in turn. "The rude old man is Garrus's father, Castis."
"I'm your father as well, rude daughter," Castis frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a flat glare.
"Well, I'm glad I can help such a distinguished gentleman," Gerald smiled at her father before turning back to Solana. Then gave her hand a little squeeze as he held it slightly longer than what, in her experience, was standard. "I'm also amazed that I get to meet such a beautiful woman."
Solana's smile turned a little embarrassed, despite herself. Despite her bravado the idea another species could find her attractive, even if he was just having fun with her, felt like being dumped in a hot bath.
"You know I have a gun right?"
Castis's growl, shocked Solana out of her daze. As she quickly took her hand back shrugged her shoulders slightly and turned to the window. "I..umm...I'll take a look and see if I can spot the ones in the next building…."
"Sounds good," Gerald clapped his hands together and started for the front entrance. "I'll pull the visitors from your hall before your neighbors come out and have a heart attack."
Hestalia Shepard, Eclipse Transport Shroud, Shower Room
Yalla staggered back, gagging on the bar of soap lodged in her mouth, her fingers sliding off Hestalia's soap slicked skin. Her back hit the wall of the shower as Hestalia's elbow stuck her in the center of the nerve cluster just under her sternum, her eyes bugging out as her body's reflex swallowed around the soap bar. Hestalia almost contemptuously turned away to face his next target, as Yalla clawed frantically at her throat, no longer a threat.
Krasha roared as she came in with a flash of her overly ornate knife. The strike was so sloppy Hestalia barely had to shift his body for it to miss him by several inches. In fact, he had enough time to note that the knife was narrow and long, maybe a foot in total. Instead of a point, it came to a curved tip. The back of the blade flattened just after the curve itself and was inlaid with gold filigree.
With a casual slap, Hestalia spun Krasha halfway around and hooked his foot under her boot, tripping her up enough to crash heavily against the wall of the shower opposite Yalla.
"Sad," Hestalia sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on her left foot. He was sure he struck an interesting figure, naked, wet and covered in soap bubbles. Still, even if these morons thought they could take her with a surprise attack in the shower… Her crew needed some serious training.
"Grahh!" was the only rebuttal Krasha could bring as she turned, swinging the knife in another wide arc. At least this time she brought up her biotics and gave the attack extra strength and speed.
Not that it was much help.
With another sigh, Hestalia pushed forward off his back foot and ducking forward under the glowing blade. The fingers of his left hand came together in a blade of Hestalia's own and jabbed forward under Krasha's armpit.
With a scream, Krasha's biotic field flicked and burst in a shower of blue sparks as pain exploded through her torso. She collapsed to the ground, her knife spinning away forgotten as she wrapped her arms around herself as if she was keeping herself from exploding. Her back bowed as she thrashed in such a way it was a wonder it didn't snap.
"What...what did you do?" The last of the three asari asked around the fear that knotted her throat.
"Crushed her leggas nerve," Hestalia answered as he looked over this last one. "You don't seem to be with them."
"N-No!" Sorma shook her head so hard Hestalia was almost afraid it would come off. "They said they just wanted to talk to you! Said that they wanted me to be here when 'it was over'!"
"Ah, I see," Hestalia shook his head and squatted down to pick up the dropped knife. "They probably intended for you to take the rap for it."
"What?" Sorma swallowed heavily as Krasha's screams quieted. Not because the pain ended, but because her vocal cords couldn't stand the strain.
"Kill me, then kill you and take the glory of taking out my murderer," He tossed the knife lightly to Sorma who caught it despite the surprise. "Good catch."
Sorma stared at the knife for a moment in confusion. "Why would they do this? We just got here a week ago!"
"I'm going to guess it's an order from the Shadow Broker. My boy warned me this may happen," Hestalia squatted in front of Yalla and took her jaw in his hand, forcing the choking woman to look into her face. "I don't appreciate having my shower interupted. You're lucky I'm not in my maiden years. I would have pasted you the moment you walked in the room. Ah, well."
Hestalia narrowed his eyes as his light purple biotics cut a sharp outline over the hand not holding Yalla's jaw. He extended his fingers and the energy forced Yalla's mouth open. A small wiggle of the fingers and purple tendrils snaked into the woman's mouth and latched around the bar of soap choking her. He made a 'come hither' gesture and his beloved lavender soap jumped into his hand.
As she was released, Yalla collapsed to the ground gasping deep breaths of sweet air. Hestalia chuckled as Yalla coughed up pretty little bubbles of soap.
"Sir," the cold anger in Sorma's voice slightly surprised him as he stood and gave the girl a questioning look. Sorma stood over Krasha's writhing body and held the knife tightly, as if she were prepared to plunge it into the other's body. "What should I do with this….one?"
Sighing, Hestalia stood and walked over. "I suppose I should bring her out of it. It'll be hard to question her like this….."
Jacob, Shadow Broker's Ship, Exterior, Hagalaz
"What did I do to deserve this?" Jacob sat and tapped the top of his SMG against his helmet.
'Oh, stop being a baby!" Jack laugh like a maniac as she ripped plates from the ship and smashed them together. The resulting...mess, that had started the day as a turian was… "Ha! Looks like when you push down an overstuffed jelly sandwich!"
"Oh, come on!" Jacop groaned. "There go PBJ for me forever…."
"You okay?" Jacob looked up to see Grunt standing over him, a struggling merc in each hand. After a moment he lifted the salarian he was holding by the throat and held it out toward Jacob "My score's kinda low today, but you want one?"
"Uh...no?" Jacob blinked then chuckled. "Thanks though. I can get my own."
"Okay," Grunt shrugged before grinning. "I know! Watch this!"
Planting his feet, the krogan thrust the salarian high over his head and held it there. Jacob looked on confused. Just as he opened his mouth to ask what he was supposed to watch, a bolt of lighting shot out of the storm perpetually around the Broker's ship, and stuck the hapless merc. The flash was bright enough that Jacob's helmet automatically darkened his visor, but was still enough to outline Grunt as the electricity arced through the salarian's body, through Grunt before dissipating into the ship.
"Neat, huh?" Grunt laughed as he looked over the blackened armor of the very dead salarian.
"Are you okay?" Jack actually sounded concerned as she jumped over a low section of ship decking. "What the actual fuck?"
"Eh?" Grunt blinked in surprise. "Of course. Like a little lightning is going to bother me!"
"As per rules, Grunt gets ten extra points for style," Edi calmly announced.
"Goddamn! Mother fucking… Cheating!" Jack spat punching Grunt in the arm with enough biotic power to rock the krogan a bit.
"Ow! Is not!" Grunt slapped at the biotic with the limp body of the salarian. "Jacob! You're in charge of this side! Just because I have an insulated nervous system isn't cheating, right?"
"It so is! Right?!" Jack turned to him even as she slapped back at the flailing body.
"It IS your prerogative," Edi added, unhelpfully.
"Our side is secure, Commander….."
Turian Lexicon
Sterkre- Turian for a piece of shit.
AN: I dunno. It's short