MASS EFFECT: WINTER EYES

CHAPTER 10: YOU FIGHT ME

Raven stood off to the side of the docking area of the New Citadel ship. She was dressed in a C-Sec uniform which hid her Charon tattoo. Her name was dyed to a deep purple and placed up in a ponytail. Her identification badge showed her to be "Officer Celeste Adams." A valid form that granted her easy access throughout the ship if needed. She appeared to be standing there, working her normal daily beat. She managed to get on the station a few hours ahead of schedule. This gave her enough time to get settled in. Charon hackers tapped into C-Sec's files to create her a fake profile should someone else scan her card for verification. A perfect ploy for her current mission. The transport ship from Palaven docked ten minutes ago and she waited to address them while they were finished being cleared by Citadel Control. It was standard protocol that an officer at the dock check in the ship and scan their manifest. No one would think twice.

A dark toned turian baring no facial markings, dressed in formal attire walked down the ramp from the ship to greet her as she approached. "Good evening, sir." She said. She hoped this conversation would be quick and smoothly. She needed to get onboard and remain there until her query arrived. "You have your manifest?"

The turian obliged by handing her a datapad. "Pickup only. VIT for High Command." He bluntly said. He seemed perturbed by the check-in. "Has Garrus Vakarian arrived?"

"I will check for you. I need to finish this first." She glanced up at the ship. "You the only passenger so far?"

He shook his head. "Pilot is onboard."

"And who is the turian you are waiting on?"

"Garrus Vakarian. Did he arrive? It's urgent that we get back to Palaven, Officer." He took the datapad back from her.

"Easy." She glared at him as she pretended to check her omni on his request. "Not yet." She had to get this guy away just long enough to get her on the ship without detection. "The emissary check-in is down at the entrance. You would need to place the acquisition there. Once he arrives, they will flag him for you."

The turian grunted in frustration as he muttered under his breath and moved past her to his now determined destination. The check-in counter was well out of sight and it would give her enough time to get onboard. She watched him disappear in the crowd before she glanced back at the ship. She debated on taking out the pilot then and there. If she did, then it could spark suspicion if there was communication with the ship without answer. For now, he had to remain alive. The manifest download revealed the ship's layout to her. The representative was not lying when he said that they were not carrying anything else. Smuggling was still notorious after the war. The cargo area of the ship was far away from prying eyes to where she could seek refuge until her target was there. No one would walk by and she would have the element of surprise. A path on the ship would give her access without being seen by the pilot. That's if he remained in his seat. She had to take that chance. Making sure that no one was really looking her way, she quietly stepped inside, her hand remained on the butt of her pistol. Her breath quickened as she anticipated an incursion with the pilot. She could hear him down the hall, still in the cockpit, doing landing checks. There was no notification that he was onto her. Keeping her ears out for any change, she made her way to the cargo hold. Once inside the desired room, she crouched behind some crates of supplies and checked her ammunition. She tapped ear piece to check in on communications from C-Sec Control. Now she had to remain there and wait.

Hour later…

A white face female C-Sec turian with light blue facial paint on the crest of the fringe greeted Liara and the others after they exited their ship on the New Citadel. "You must be Dr. Liara T'Soni."

"Yes. I have Miranda Lawson, Tali Zorah vas Rannoch, and Garrus Vakarian with me."

"I am Captain Destitana Kandros. I am here to personally escort you to Councilor Sparatus' office."

"Excuse me, Captain. I am not going with my friend. Palaven has sent a transport for me." Garrus quickly interjected before the group moved.

"Yes, I did get a message about that. Your ship should be in the Argos Quadrant Sector."

"Thank you."

Liara looked over at her friend. "Please be careful, Garrus." Worry flooded her words.

"I'll be fine. This place is still not safe." He reminded her.

"It's been years since I have visited the ship." Miranda observed as she looked around. "I never thought the old station to be safe."

"I know my way around. I'll protect them." Tali reassured Garrus.

"I'm counting on that, Tali." A disheveled smile appeared on Vakarian' s face before he turned to head to his new designation.

"Shall we proceed?" Kandros called to the group.

"Yes. Right." Liara quickened her steps to catch up to their guide. It felt odd not seeing Bailey there to show them around, but his life was lost among the rest of the habitants when the Reapers took over the station. Luckily for the Council, they decided to move back to the Destiny Ascension after Cerberus' failed coup. If they chose to remain there, they would have been one of the lost as well. The name caught Liara's attention and she struggled for the placement. "Kandros? I have heard that before."

"Probably from all the wrong people." Destitana didn't look back at her as she walked through the security checkpoints to the elevator. "My family name was tainted when my cousin Nyreen, decided to become a pirate on Omega. I was proud of my brother's achievements, but then he decided to join the Andromeda Initiative. He left with the arks before the Reapers struck." She shook her head. "All foolishness."

"I heard of the Andromeda Initiative." Liara replied, deciding not to disclose her personal connection with one of its leads, Alec Ryder. "It is…very ambitious."

"Stupid." She shot back angrily. "I barely got off Palaven when the Reapers attacked. Many of my friends and family were slaughtered. Where did my brother go? Off to go hide in another galaxy while my cousin didn't show her face."

"Shepard met your cousin on Omega." Miranda spoke up with a hint of anger in her voice. "Her report said that Nyreen died while trying to protect some of its citizens from the adjutants."

The captain stopped suddenly and turned on the balls of her feet to look at them quizzically. Her mandible twitching as she processed the obvious unknown news. "Adjutants?"

"Creatures created by Cerberus. They attacked Omega and infected many of its citizens. Cerberus unleashed them. Hundreds died." Liara continued.

"She died?"

"Yes. I'm sorry to bring this up at the wrong time."

"At least she died honorably." Destitana pivoted back around to continue. "I'm glad that you got here when you did. The krogan ambassador is up the Council's ass and she refuses to back down. Particularly Sparatus'. I think she wants him to personally apologize for what has happened and pay reparations.

"Like what?" Miranda scoffed.

Kandros stopped at the elevator that would lead them to the embassy level. She looked back to them once more. "She wants Palaven."

"Palaven?" Tali gasped through her helmet.

"Wrex would never ask for that." Liara shook her head.

"I know it sounds absurd. She alleges that the krogan are being punished for an unknown crime and that they deserve more territory. A whole planet to be exact. They want the turians to suffer like they did and take their homeworld away."

"I will talk to Wrex. He can make her calm down." Liara assured her.

"I don't know, Liara." Miranda reminded her. "Wrex was pretty pissed."

"If you make any sense to the krogan, please do. The turian fleets are mobilizing." Kandros led them into the elevator once the doors opened.

"This place doesn't feel the same. It's not as homey as it was when I first came here with wanting to speak with Saren." Tali commented sadly inside.

"I know. I miss the old faces like Dr. Michel and Captain Bailey."

"And even…" Tali chuckled light-heartedly. "Conrad Verner. He was such a bosh'tet."

The doors to the elevator opened seconds later to reveal the embassy level. "At least the elevators go faster now." Liara noted out loud as she followed the others out.

Kandros groaned lightly when she saw the krogan ambassador Weyrloc Pandok outside the Councilor's office. "Spirits help me…"

The female krogan looked their way suspiciously. She was dressed in traditional female garb with colors mixture of green and deep red. "I have been waiting for over an hour." Her reptilian eyes glanced at Liara and the others. "Who are they?"

"Easy now. They are friends." A familiar male voice called over to her from the right.

A troubled turian greeted Garrus at the transport when he arrived. "What's the matter?" Garrus asked.

"When we arrived, a C-Sec officer told me to go to the check-in to look for you. When I walked all the way down there, they told me that I didn't have to do that. You would think with turian leadership, the officers would be better trained than that."

"C-Sec will never change," Garrus chuckled.

"Making final preps now, sir." The pilot called out to them from his location.

Garrus looked back at the ship's door sadly. He debated silently if this was the wise move right now. He knew that the krogan were on their doorstep, but he didn't like leaving his friends. What if Charon was coming after them? How much security would they have at the Citadel? Tali was lucky that Dr. Chakwas saved her life. He never thought he would have another war with the krogan in his lifetime. Not when Shepard cured the genophage and Wrex seemed to be their voice. The krogan leader now snapped and he had every right to. What was going on? It all felt like a nightmare. He sat back in his seat and listened to the others talk amongst themselves in the front. Closing his eyes, he tried to get some shut eye before they reached Palaven. He didn't know how much of actual sleep he would get after his arrival.

Kaidan Alenko approached the group, dressed in blue armor. A thin layer of stubble black hair outlined the sides of his face, around his mouth and chin. Pandok turned on him quickly from his interference. "The krogan will not stand for this, Spectre!" She hissed threateningly.

"With all due respect, ambassador, you need to calm down. I will use force if needed." He sternly reminded her, flashing his assault rifle.

She laughed. "I will kill you with my bare hands if needed, human."

"Easy!" Destitana rushed ahead to grab their attention. "We need a few more minutes, Ambassador Pandok, and then we can go on with the hearing of your petition."

"It's not a petition. It's a demand." The krogan barked.

"We will make it quick. I promise." Liara spoke up.

The female eyed her carefully and then bared her teeth. "I will be awaiting outside the chambers and I expect you to be there in ten minutes."

"Fine." Kandros agreed quickly to ease the tension. She then turned to look at Alenko. "Spectre, you have things under control here?"

"Yes."

The captain then nodded her head. "The Councilor is inside. Please take only ten minutes. I have a ship to run and I can't deal with this all day." She hurried her steps back towards the elevators.

Alenko grimly smiled to the team. "Hey, gang. Surprised to see you here. Didn't realize that Spectre was debunked to guard duty."

"It's always good to see you, Kaidan. It's been too long." Tali broke free from the group to hug their old friend. "You look well."

"Yeah?" He chuckled as he rubbed his stubs. "I know my appearance is not as tidy as it once was. I guess sometimes away from strict Alliance life makes you laxed."

"Glad you didn't give up the Spectre life despite what happened with Udina." Liara smiled at him. "Macha would have been proud."

"Yeah. I bet she would be. I miss her." He frowned. "This place is not the same without her." He noticed Liara cringing up at his words. He cocked his eyebrow at her. "What is it?"

"Remind me to talk to you when we are done. I can't keep the ambassador waiting." She moved inside the office with the others in tow.

Sparatus stood up quickly from his desk at their arrival. His gaze upon them was in confusion as if he was hoping there would be more there. "Where is Garrus Vakarian? C-Sec flagged him on your vessel as well."

"Garrus was called to Palaven as soon as we landed."

"I would like to have him here for this meeting." Sparatus sighed as he sat back down. "I'm out here in the dark. There has been no word yet. At least if he was here, then- "

"You would have a turian perspective?" Miranda cut him off sharply. She seemed to be irk to the idea that he didn't want to talk to them. "Maybe, that's your damn problem."

"I have an angry krogan at my door night and day, Miss- "

"Miranda Lawson."

"Ah, yes, one of Shepard's people. I wish Shepard was alive to control the krogan. She surpassed my expectations when we went up against the Reapers. I never thought I would see the day of us working with the krogan."

"And without them on Palaven, many more would have perished." She reminded him.

The councilor hung his head sadly. "The numbers were still staggering."

"You should have listened to Shepard in the beginning!" Tali snapped.

"We're not here to place blame on the past!" Liara broke in to remind them of their true purpose. "Councilor, we have a very angry, heartbroken friend right now."

"I heard what happened on Korlus." Sparatus stood back up to look around his closed-up office. Their old offices had large open windows that showed the exceptional scenery of the Presidiums. These lacked that kind of luster. They were a third of the size and no windows at all, just metal walls. "The turian navy denies any involvement in the attack. The krogan need to back down until we can complete this investigation."

"I don't think it will be that easy…" Tali wrung her hands nervously. "Wrex seemed very convinced that the admiral had orders from the top."

"That ship was missing for quite some time. They marked it off as a tragic lost. The admiral never would have turned like that. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Did your scouts find anything?" Liara asked.

"The ship's remains were found on the planet's surface. Thousands of pieces. We couldn't land to inspect further due to krogan fighters entering the sector. It was presumed that their planetary defense systems brought the ship down. If there were survivors, we couldn't find any with the life scans from orbit and the krogan are not talking about it."

"And you're certain it's the same missing dreadnought?"

"Without a doubt. I don't know where she has been all this time, but it's her."

"This doesn't make any sense." Alenko joined the conversation as he approached from the back. "Councilor, you're certain that the turians were not planning something? I mean I know that Wrex has been a pain in the ass over the years about payment."

"He was always stubborn." Liara frowned.

"He got his planets as he wanted. I thought it would settle this." Sparatus addressed his concern.

"There were no hostile interactions between the two before then. Why suddenly this?" Kaidan shook his head.

"The turian people do not want any more bloodshed. We lost too many already from the Reaper War."

"Alenko is right. It doesn't make sense." Liara sighed. "How can we explain this to the krogan? Maybe we should inspect the salvage?"

"Doubtful. The krogan government has that place on lockdown and they are not responding to any messages." Sparatus reminded her.

"Worst possible time." Tali sighed sadly.

"What do you mean?" Kaidan turned to her.

Liara grimaced and then looked at her old friend, then to the digital clock. They only had two minutes left. "We don't have much time."

Sparatus looked at the clock as well. "Make it five minutes. I can make the ambassador wait."

"Of course. We have been investigating a new group called Charon. We believe that they are somehow linked to Cerberus."

"I thought they were taken out?" Sparatus asked.

"All remnants of the old organization were, and we confirmed it. This group was placed so well hidden that only certain individuals must have knew about it. There were no documents in the Cerberus data that identified Charon. They have hacked numerous key places like the archives and have assassinated many.

"I heard of what happened to Dr. Chakwas." Kaidan shook his head sadly. "Tali, I'm glad you're okay. I didn't know what came of that."

"It's good to be wanted, but not like that." The quarian said.

"I was next." Miranda flatly brought up. "Luckily, Liara and the others were onto them too."

"They seem to be targeting individuals associated with Macha Shepard. We believed they were drilling down to the squadmates. We just don't know who their next intended target is." Liara decided not to divulge what Garrus witnessed on Elysium in front of Sparatus. She didn't want the unknown Shepard to be the scapegoat of the war between the krogan and the turians. She prayed that Kaidan wouldn't pry too much until they were alone with him.

"You think this Charon is somehow involved in what's going on now?" Sparatus carefully listened in.

The asari could see the gears in his head turning. Just like Saren, protocol would be to have C-Sec do an investigation into the group. He needed confirmation first. "I'm not sure," She admitted. "It's possible, but I don't understand their motivation behind it. It's very chaotic to jump from targeted individuals to open war."

The room fell silent as everyone mulled over her words. "Wait a minute!" Kaidan shouted enthusiastically as he looked at all of them. "How many targets were a miss?"

"Three so far we believe." Liara glanced over at Miranda and Tali for silent confirmation.

"Aria, myself and Miranda." Tali added.

"And you're sabotage?"

"Two. Chakwas was an anomaly. Keelah." Tali sighed sadly.

"No idea on next target?"

"No. What's your point?" Miranda was becoming impatient with all the guessing games. Sparatus listened in carefully as he remained poised at his desk.

Kaidan looked down at the floor to gather his thoughts before lifting his head once more. "My point is. Charon must know something is up if they are suddenly failing. They must know that you or some of you are on to them. I suspect that Garrus or Wrex must be their next target."

Liara's eyes became wide by his revelation. "Goddess…and they are both separated from us…"

"You said Urdnot Wrex went back to Tuchanka. Only a fool would go there with that many krogan around." Sparatus spoke up with doubt in his voice.

"True. Where's Garrus?" Alenko asked.

Liara looked over at Tali with fear in her eyes. "Leaving this station…."

Raven peeped down the small corridor to see Garrus sitting alone in the passenger cabin with his head propped against the wall with his eyes closed. The other two turians had their backs turned to her and Garrus' direction as they sat behind the pilot controls. The engines were humming as they were warming up for takeoff. She had to move now. She couldn't risk being confide in the vessel with three turians in space. If it went wrong, she had nowhere to go and she always had to have an out. Going straight for her target would be unwise. One misstep and the others would be alerted to her presence. They were at the controls and could instantly alarm C-Sec. She had to get to them first. She could square up against one turian easier than three. Activating her tactical cloak from her omni, she moved from the storage room to the controls. Her presence oblivious to the others.

Raven glanced over at Garrus who didn't move from his position as she walked by him, getting her pistol ready for the assault. A few professional taps to the back of their crania could do the trick with her silencer.

A familiar scent caught Garrus' nasal passages. The aroma would never be foreign to him. He recognized it to be Macha's. Lifting one eyelid slowly open, the room appeared to be empty. Was his sense playing a trick on him? He remained calm and glanced towards the pilot cabin. Suddenly he saw a disturbance in his field of vision. He seen it way too many times in combat. Normally, that only occurred when someone was cloaked. Springing up from his seat, he took out his pistol. "Hold it right there! Close the cabin door and lock it!"

The surprised turians became alarmed and looked his way just as Raven uncloaked herself to confront him. Garrus instantly noted that she changed her appearance yet again and was donning a C-Sec uniform. Mostly likely to get to him. She extended her omni blade as she faced him, her eyes narrowing to slits. Garrus gulped when he saw her, still shocked by her new appearance and demeanor overall. "S-Shepard…"

"Vakarian, sir!" The pilot called over to him.

This brought Shepard's attention to them. She moved to aim her pistol at the pair. Garrus rushed her, knocking her down, and causing the pistol to fall out of her hand. "Lock the door! Don't alert the authorities!" Garrus yelled to them again. This time, the door closed by command.

Raven glared as she kicked him swiftly to knock him off her. She then jumped back onto both of her feet. She lunged at him, knocking him onto his back with her blade moving towards his throat. "Goodbye, Garrus Vakarian!"

"Shepard, don't!"