MASS EFFECT: WINTER EYES

CHAPTER 12: ARCHANGEL

Her shoulders were rigid as Raven stood in front of the video communication terminal located on the pilot's console. The lens was just large enough to capture her standing there at the doorway. She couldn't see Erinyes on the other side but could pretty much guess at her facial expressions when she bared the bad news. The mission to the New Citadel was a failure. Her second failure. During her training days in the N7 program, she recalled a few test operations to not go accordingly. There would be a debrief with the officers and then she would be graded: Pass or Fail. They had different objectives in each mission. Achieve most and you would still pass. Here, there were no such options. Either you achieved your target, or you didn't. Remaining silent, she awaited her commanding officer to reprimand her. Raven struggled to recall her achievements that made her such a great soldier before her untimely falling out from reality. Everyone she interacted with in Charon spoke highly about her work; especially for humanity. She began to doubt herself. Was the damage to her mental strength more damaging than Charon detected? What about her physical health? Was she slower than she remembered? She recalled being the top of her class upon graduation. The radio was silent as Erinyes seemed to mull over what was fully disclosed from her report. The pilot in the craft remained diligent at flying them to their designated area: Amaranthine. An internal conflict stirred within Shepard. This was the second time that the turian interfered. Something about him just didn't settle right with her. Especially when he spoke about Archangel. She knew that the term itself for humans with religious beliefs portrayed an angel of higher rank. A turian with a human label was very odd indeed. This was a matter that she wanted to explore further personally.

"Your mission report was very detailed. Thank you, Raven." Erinyes finally commented, easing the tension in the air. "I will have transport for you shortly. Standby for your contact." The line disconnected.

The conversation was a lot shorter than Raven anticipated, but Erinyes was very careful. Lengthy conversations gave ample time for hackers to tap in and trace them. Charon had one of the best tech teams, but assumptions were deadly. Still, there was a hint of unpleasantness to her words. Moving out of the doorway and back to the private passenger hold, Raven pulled up her mobile terminal. Typing in the keyword "Archangel" found no results. Grimacing, Raven closed her terminal station at her side and sighed while cupping her face. What was going on?

A few seconds transpired before Erinyes was on the comm again with one of her other operatives. "Avery?"

"Yes, Lady Erinyes?" The younger female promptly answered.

"Raven is on her way to Amaranthine. I need you there to pick her up. I expect only a two-hour layover there for her. Is that clear?"

"Of course."

"Wait." Erinyes held the connection. Raven's report was troubling to her. She knew Raven's psych profile front and back to the very last detail. The dedication that Macha had before her transformation showed that she never gave up. She was determined and focus. She listened to archived recordings of conversations she had with the Illusive Man. He recorded every call with encryption locks. Passwords were only given to her. His passing revealed that he planned for his death long before she became aware of what was going on. A man filled with contingencies. She often wondered if she was replaceable should she have an untimely death? Did he already have a suitor? Raven Shepard should have protested her failure. Instead, she was passive and accepted it. She couldn't delay the possibility of an infection any longer. She had to get Raven back to her and complete a thorough neurological scan. Shepard was one of her top invested assets. Still, if Raven was slipping away, she couldn't let Shepard go back to her old team or even the Alliance. She had to keep the turmoil going in the galaxy, she had to put humanity as the top spoke of the wheel. "Keep your sidearm at the ready at all times, Avery. If Raven shows any sign of betrayal, kill her."

"Yes, mam." The line ended.

Switching over to another screen, she placed another call. Seconds later the image of a striking dark-skinned man who was ten years her elder displayed on the screen. "Lady Erinyes." He greeted her warmly.

"Colonel. Things are going too slowly. What do you have for me?"

"Our intel shows a small turian colony on Carborix in the Castellus System. It's far from any turian military fleet."

"Perfect."

"I have translators going to feed intel to Tuchanka to inform them that the turians are stationing a garrison there with a fleet inbound to launch another attack on a krogan colony. The fleet has not yet arrived. The krogan will see this as vulnerable. Due to the attack on Korlus, they should rise to this bait."

"How soon can you get this out?" Erinyes seethed at the mouth, desiring it like someone would at a buffet who hadn't eaten in days.

The man returned her response with a smile. "I can send it in five minutes. I was doing all the final checks now."

Satisfied, Erinyes ended the call and basked in the afterglow. Even if Raven should defect, the war she would spark would continue to thrive. Not even the famous Commander Shepard could restore the harmony that the feuding species had since the Reaper War. The whole ideal of peace was a farce to her. The constant effort was in vain and a waste of resources and manpower. No more human lives would be sacrificed.

Dressed in smugglers attire, Raven disguised herself as she exited her ship at the port on Amaranthine. Within minutes, her ride left and exited the atmosphere, leaving her there with the melting pot of mercs, pirates, smugglers and thieves. "Slaver's Bay" was the name of a rundown bar on the outside of the dock. Most jobs and meet-ups took place inside. Her information provided to her that the bar was run by a three-eyed female batarian named Brachia Pas'fador. She lost one eye during a fight when she was ambushed on Camala when she ran a slaving gig. The injury was an insult to her kind since they believed that the soul escaped the body through the eyes. The attackers assumed that her soul would forever be trapped in her body upon death and would rot with the corpse. Brachia didn't care, and her usual trademark statement was "Piss on them." To her, now was the time to live. She didn't care about the afterlife. Cigarette smoke and laughter filled the large room that housed at least thirty beings of varied species. Upon entry, to her left was a table surrounded by two pirate turians and an elcor client. On her right was a group of four batarian slavers that eyed her suspiciously as she walked in. She ignored their looks and continued inside to spot the bar's selection of pay terminals at the counter. Brachia was manning the bar and noted her approach. "If you use these machines, you need to buy a drink," She grunted to her.

"Easy enough. Give me something strong." Raven swiped her chit to pay the terminal allowance fee.

Brachia grumbled about her vagueness and reached under the counter to retrieve a shot glass along with a bottle of batarian ale. Pouring the strong smelling green liquid, she set the bottle down and lifted an eye ridge at her. "Drink one shot only if you don't want to die." She noted Raven's payment on the terminal. "Access is for an hour only. If you're looking for work, I can find you something."

"I have a ride out." Raven switched her attention to the terminal. She noticed that Brachia was still eying her. Reaching out with her left hand, she grabbed the shot glass and downed the liquid quickly. The contents burned her throat and her chest. Her eyes watered slightly, but she restrained herself from coughing. She never drank something so strong in her life!

Brachia snickered in amusement. "Humans always think they are better."

"We are." Raven smirked. "Pour me another."

The bartender's jaw dropped by the remark. Catching herself, her three eyes slanted at Raven. "I'm not a damn waitress. The bottle's right there. These assholes in this place will rob you if you pass out…some may rape you. I'm not responsible just to be clear."

"You always this talkative to your customers?" Raven shot back to her. "Piss on them and your advice."

Shocked even more that the human got in her trademark statement, Brachia's top lip curled as she snarled before stomping away. Satisfied that she was completely alone, Raven ignored the bottle of ale and returned her attention to her task. She had to test out something. Using the database search engine, she keyed in "Archangel." Before her query could display any results, a pair of drunk turians bumped into her, causing her to knock the bottle of ale on the floor behind the bar with a sickening crash. "Hey!"

"Sorry, sweetheart. Didn't see your sweet little ass standing there." The first turian apologized with a sadistic smirk on his face. Alcohol smell fumed from his breath.

"You spilled her drink." The other commented to his friend who was also having trouble standing still.

"Oh, I did?" The first turian moved to her right side to lean over the countertop to see the broken bottle with the fluid inside leaking all over the floor. He took his left hand and lowered to where the palm was touching her right buttock lightly, rubbing softly. "I'll make it up to you."

Irked of the audacity of touching her, Raven growled, spun to grab his left wrist, twisting the ligaments in an unnatural position. The turian screamed in pain as he collapsed onto his knees at her mercy. Tightening her fingertips, Shepard grinned down at him. "What's the matter? You don't like it rough?" She ignored his useless attempts of trying to get free as he wailed.

"Hey!" His friend stammered as he moved towards her recklessly to defend the wounded.

Raven easily maneuvered while keeping her fingers locked around her prey's wrist and delivered a hard punch to the other's abdomen. The turian doubled over with the breath knocked out of him instantly. He stumbled back before retching all over the floor. Finally releasing her hold, she delivered a hard kick in the center of the turian's torso. The momentum made him stumble back into his sick friend and the both collapsed in the other's puddle. Looking at the two failures, Raven kept her fists clenched as she panted from the adrenaline rush.

Brachia laughed surprisingly in amusement despite her lost product. "You amuse me, human. Fuck it. Forget the ale. I'll charge their tabs. Your next drink is on me."

The disturbance caught the attention of many patrons who broken away from their conversation to watch the skirmish. Not liking all their eyes on her activity, Raven moved away from the terminal to a table by herself. Grabbing a customer's bottle along the way, she ignored their protests and moved to the back. Taking a swig of the drink, she allowed herself to relax as she felt the eyes moving away from her. It wasn't like this was the type of place where fights normally didn't break out at. A Blue Suns batarian merc stopped her as she passed their table. "Thanks for the amusement. This place has been dull for the past three hours."

"Yeah. Seems like it is," Raven tried to fit the clientele as she made the small talk short and took a swig from the drink. It seemed to be a human ale and much sweeter than the batarian kind. Her head was already spinning from the first drink, but she wouldn't let that catch on.

"You looking for work? We could use someone like you."

Figuring that her being solo may spark more interest on her, she decided to accept the invitation now and sit down at their table. She could kill a little more time until her next ride arrived. "Yeah? What kind of work?"

"Sit down." The batarian motioned to the chair next to him. "The name is Ogam Pagdeh."

Raven glanced at their attire and picked up instantly on their insignias. The oval shape and bright blue was hard to miss. "I didn't know that the Suns were out this far."

"Work has been rough for a while. We go where we are paid. This place is a hub now for the slave trade." He explained. "I know you humans are against that shit…well some of you." He took out a cigarette from his pack and offered her one.

Raven rejected it as she privately took note of their armament. Each merc at the table had a side arm to him. Nothing too heavy or damaging against her armor's shields, but good in close combat. Only a fool would have a lax conversation in this place. "Quit dancin' around. You asking me to be a slaver?"

The others at the table chuckled. "What if we are?" Another spoke up. He had a deep scar on the left side of his face. "You going to tell Council Space on us?"

"Why would the Council care?" Raven countered pointedly. "They have bigger things to deal with."

"Heard about that shit." Ogam nodded as he took a puff from the cigarette in his mouth before exhaling through his nostrils. The smoke surrounding the table.

Raven decided to test her query another way. She knew she would sound stupid in asking, but she figured she could come up with some quick lie if it drew no results. "Ever heard of Archangel?"

The batarians nearly choked and the entire table became silent as they eyed each one carefully. Ogam snubbed his cigarette on the table. "Yeah, I heard about him. You from Omega, too?"

A ping! Shepard held her breath. She wanted to ask them everything they knew as her time was running out, but she couldn't let desperation make the ordeal disastrous. After all, she wasn't in the best of situations. "Nah. Thought he would be here. Heard stories though. What about Omega?"

Ogam looked at her quizzically. "He's dead. The turian bastard. Heard he hit up the Suns there hard along with the Eclipse and Blood Pack. Tried to police us. Omega has no law enforcement and it just pissed everyone off."

As he spoke, Raven listened in carefully. She could almost recall hearing her call out to Archangel on the asteroid station. Suddenly, the image of Garrus Vakarian looking at her in blue armor crept in her mind. The memory didn't appear recent at all. In fact, he didn't look threatening, but as almost he was having a friendly conversation with her. He could hear his words in her mind, "Good to see a friendly face." As the imagery dissipated, a sharp pain struck her head like a sudden migraine. Her eyes hurt so much to even stay open. Crying out, she held her temples with her hands as she squinted her eyes tightly as they could be.

Her sudden behavior alarmed the group. "Hey! You okay?!" Ogam shook her arm.

Taking a few breaths to calm herself down, Raven slowly reopened her eyes to see them staring at her with confused looks. "What the hell is your problem? Do you have a mental issue?" Ogam asked.

"No…just damn migraines." Raven set back in her chair some as she tried her best to ignore the pain that was slowly fading. She wouldn't try to recall the memory too much until she learned more. Giving the opportunity, she had to press more. "Whatever happened to Archangel? How did he die?"

Ogam shrugged. "Dunno. Heard one of the groups got him."

Another one shook his head. "No. I heard that he ran off Omega with Macha Shepard and died later on. The mercs were going to fry his ass. Too bad she showed up."

"Who?" The words fell off her trembling lips.

"The Spectre. She came on Omega and then was gone. He was gone too. I think Aria was in on it." The batarian continued.

"Aria was annoyed. She didn't care who got Archangel off her station." Ogam countered.

"What Spectre?" Raven's focus was at their disposal and she seemed to be disinterested about the real reason she was there.

"You shitting me, right?" Ogam gaped at her. "What planet did you come from? The humans had a Spectre named Shepard. Some Alliance soldier. Don't know much else and don't care. She was messing around our business."

"She's dead now too." The second one chimed in matter-of-factly.

"Good riddance."

Raven felt her entire body quake inside as she listened in. Dead? Macha Shepard? Spectre? Feeling nauseous, she quickly sprung up from the table. Her heart was racing rapidly. Her sudden outburst alarmed the aliens. "What hell is wrong with you? You okay?" Ogam looked up at her.

"I feel sick." Raven rushed to the bathroom. She felt the bile coming up her throat as their words played back over and over in her mind. After a few minutes of disposing what was left of her last food intake in the toilet, Raven used water to clean out her mouth and her face up. Her watery red shot eyes stood back at her in the uncleaned, finger smudged mirror. The atmosphere of the bar never changed as the layered sounds of idle chatter, glasses clanging, and laughter could be heard outside the bathroom. She was the only one in there. She looked at herself more. "Who the hell am I? What the hell is going on?" Her mind spun and the more she tried to think things through, the more the migraines came up and the sicker she felt.

A rough tap on her shoulder made her break from her thoughts. In the mirror's reflection she eyed the two drunken turians that she beat up earlier. One had dried vomit all over his clothing in the front while the other nursed his severely injured wrist. Their beady avian eyes glared sharply at her like knives. "We weren't done with you," The sick one hissed through his tightened mandible.

Raven glared back at their images with her clenched teeth. "I was." She retracted her omni blade and spun on her heel quickly. She blocked one's attack with her left upper arm while she drove the blade's tip sharply in the gut of the first one that lunged at her. The blade pierced his flesh, tearing into vital organs. The turian groaned as blue blood trickled out from the corners of his mouth. Pulling the blade out, Raven side stepped and slid her foot to the side allowing her arm extension to move in parallel rotation. The blade slid through the air, cutting it and finally connecting with the other turian's neck. The fatal swift motion decapitated him, and his head crashed to the floor along with the body. Panting, Raven stared down at their bodies as a large puddle of blue blood spilled onto the floor. Collapsing her blade, she stepped over the turians to enter the bar once more. She knew that nobody would care about two dead turians in the bathroom, but eventually, word would get out and she would get noticed. Seeing that the Suns were gone, she exited the bar to try to meet up with them.

Spotting the group walking towards the docks, she jogged to their location. "Hey!"

Overhearing her approach, Ogam turned to see her. "Better?"

"Yeah. Where you off to now?"

"Omega. Need to pick up a new contract. Maybe a bounty. We normally don't recruit off the streets like this. I guess you can tag along. You look like you can fight."

"I can." Raven smirked, not wanting to disclose what she just did at the bar just yet.

Following the group, Raven kept her pace back as she activated her omni tool. She would send a delayed message to Erinyes. She just didn't want to disappear. If Charon was hiding something, they would be on her. She had to make them think everything was fine. She would set the response to be sent within the next hour. Time for her to get off the planet and on the way to Omega before anyone came here to look for her. She didn't know just how many of the operatives were coming to her location for the pickup. "Erinyes, this is Raven. I think I have a lead. Belay the pickup. I'll find my way." She ended the message at that. It would still be out of place for her, but it would have to do for now. She needed more answers and it seemed like the Blue Suns, Omega and Aria T'Loak could fill in the gaps on her loss of memory more than terminals. Was Charon fully not disclosing all the facts to her?