Chapter Three: She Glows Blue
"Looks like it's shut down," Kaidan voiced as they stood outside Chora's Den. It was a gentlemen's club located on the lower Wards, owned and run by Fist. C-Sec officers were called into the place almost daily in regards to fights, threats, and other unsavory means. It was practically a hub for crime specifically. Sadly, it was also one of the best places to go in regards to gathering information. The clientele was usually involved in shady dealings and so it was easy to stick someone inside, and have them report back on what they heard. He knew for a fact that a fellow turian detective had a human woman posing as a bartender for his investigation into illegal arms dealing. Garrus had always dreaded being called down to the place, there was always a foul stench within that in his mind no amount of alcohol or lap dances from scantily-clad women could get rid of; the smell of decay.
"Fist knows we're coming," he repeated, seeing that Kaidan was correct in his initial observation. The club's outside lights were off, and there was no pounding of loud music from within. Shepard removed a weapon from her back, inciting everyone else to do the same. Garrus felt slightly redundant holding his pistol, (it was the only weapon C-Sec officers were allowed to carry) compared to those around him; Wrex with his shotgun and the Alliance soldiers with their assault rifles. He'd just have to make every hit count. As soon as the door opened, gunfire broke out. Gone were the Asari dancers and drunken clients, only thugs and goons on Fist's payroll. The group dispersed upon entering the club, finding immediate cover under the bar or behind an overturned table.
Shots rang out every which way and upon seeing the two snipers located above on the circular overhang, he let out a few precise rounds into both before they could snipe any of them in cover. Garrus moved to the right of the room, taking out three more assailants in the process. Despite the amount of men Fist had hired, the fight was over almost as quickly as it had begun. They were no match for the combined force of Shepard's group. When it was clear that it was safe, they all removed themselves from cover and headed towards the back room of the club. On the other side of the door were two men who immediately raised guns at them, their hands shaking slightly with fear in their eyes.
"Stop right there, don't come any closer!" one of them said.
"Warehouse workers. All the other guards must be dead," Garrus said upon taking in the sight of the boxes they had been organizing.
"Stay back or we'll shoot!" the other attempted to threaten but it did not remove the terror from his face.
"This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work." Shepard lowered her weapon, speaking patently. To Garrus' surprise, the two men agreed before hurrying past them with a 'never liked Fist anyway'.
"I would have never thought of that," he muttered aloud.
"It would have been quicker to just kill 'em," grumbled Wrex, put out with having lost an opportunity to fire his gun.
"Shooting people isn't always the answer," Ashley chastised, though Garrus noted that she too seemed shocked by the outcome. Without missing a beat, Shepard continued with her gun now raised again, leading the group past a set of weapon's lockers and towards the doors to the boss's office. Inside, Fist jumped from where he was sitting at a desk pressing a button in the process that immediately triggered two floor panels to open. Defense turrets were activated and they opened fire. As he dove to cover behind a wall, Garrus raised his omni-tool and released an overload attack onto the nearest turret. Its shields fried and temporarily unable to fire, it was dismantled with a few quick hits. Kaidan followed his lead and did the same to the other, while Shepard weakened Fists' own shields. He toppled over and Ashley kicked his gun away as they moved in.
"Wait, don't kill me I surrender!" he begged from his place on the floor. Rather than lower weapon, Shepard held it firm pointing at his head. The man turned his head away, wincing as he prepared for death.
"Where's the quarian?" her tone was cool and Fist looked back at her to answer.
"She's not here, I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" he exclaimed. Despite being so close to death, Garrus felt that he knew more than he was saying. Shepard must have thought the same as she didn't lower her weapon but continued to stare down at him hard.
"He's no use to you now, let me kill him," Wrex's deep, throaty voice rumbled.
"Wait, wait!" Fist panicked, "I don't know where the quarian is but I know where you can find her. She said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."
"Face to face? Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent," the krogan muttered.
"Nobody meets the shadow broker, ever," Fist agreed. Shepard lowered her gun and motioned for him to stand up. "Even I don't know his identity," he said as he did so, "but she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up it'll be Saren's men waiting for her. The Commander's hand flew out, gripping the neck of Fists' armor and yanking him to her.
"Give me the location. Now!" she demanded with pure authority, it reminded Garrus of when she's reprimanded him for having risked Dr. Michel's life.
"Here on the wards. The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry," Fist hastily said. So much for not knowing where the quarian is. Before any of them could react, Wrex's shotgun was raised and fired. Fist's body dropped to the ground, dead.
"What are you doing?" Garrus shouted the moment his mind registered the hit. Kaidan and Ashley both turned their weapons on the krogan with demands for him to drop his weapon.
"The shadow broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done," his response was blatant and unapologetic. The Commander had whirled on him, her grey eyes burning, teeth gritted, her entire face one tight mask.
"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners!" she drew the words out, her voice just as brazen and fierce as the krogan's, in an effort to penetrate his thick skull with her mandate.
"How many people died because of him? He brought this on himself. Besides, we have more pressing concerns." Garrus didn't know of anyone who wouldn't have at least slightly buckled under that display of conviction, but apparently krogans were the exception. Or at least this krogan.
"That quarian's dead if we don't go now!" Kaidan reminded the group.
"Let's move," she responded with an angry shake of her head before storming out the door. The rest of them were right at her heels, but as they reached the main part of the club, they found that Fist had obviously called for reinforcements, which had only just now arrived. There seemed to be a wild frenzy in Shepard's demeanor now, rather than duck to cover she charged through the assault. She fired her weapon in one hand while a blue glow fizzled over her and was released in the form of a Warp by the other. She's a biotic! Despite the turbulent dash she was making, there was still a composure to her actions. It was as if she was in complete control of not only herself but her surroundings. It was a contradiction which he couldn't quite grasp. Changing his thoughts from the Commander, Garrus focused on keeping up and staying just a few steps behind her. He never missed a target even in his own sprint and managed to take out a few who were in the process of targeting her too. With a quick glance back as they left the club, Garrus saw that Wrex had stayed behind to finish any that were left. His krogan blood meant it was impossible for him to walk away from an ongoing fight but judging by the sound of his husky chuckles, he didn't seem to mind.
Thankfully, Chora's Den was in the general vicinity of the Ward's back alley. Over the bridge and before the markets, off to the left was an entrance. The only light above glowed red, creating what might be considered to some an eerie environment but to Garrus it always reminded him of the hull of a ship. Up ahead he could see a few figures standing about.
"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" a female voice was asking.
"They'll be here, where's the evidence?" The voice that replied had a familiar flanging to it; turian.
"No way. The deal's off." They arrived just as the assassin's drew their weapons. One of the figures, the quarian, dove behind some nearby crates as her assailants turned and opened fire. Garrus let off multiple rounds, alongside the others, and the bodies of the turian and what appeared to be two salarians littered the ground. When the shooting had stopped, Shepard moved towards the crates and the girl came out.
"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" the quarian shouted, her voice giving away her anger while her face remained shrouded underneath the enviro-suit's mask. The only sign of life under it was the glowing of white eyes.
"Were you hurt in the fight?" the Commander asked, her concern evident in the manner she addressed the person in front of her.
"I know how to look after myself. Not that I don't appreciate the help," she uncomfortably wound her fingers together; three, just like him. "Who are you?" she asked a bit more cautiously, the fire in her dimming slightly.
"My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor."
"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life. But not here. We need to go somewhere safe," she glanced around warily.
"The ambassador's office," Kaidan spoke up, "it's safe there. He'll want to see this anyway." Shepard nodded her agreement just as Wrex meandered towards them.
"That quarian dead?" he called in greeting. Garrus briefly covered his face with his hand, exhibiting an immense feeling of shame over being seen with the lout.
"Um…," the quarian started, a hand clutching the pistol at her hip while she looked back and forth between the others. He assumed she was expecting the krogan to attempt to 'finish the job' based on how the barely visible white orbs had grown larger in what had to be alarm.
"he's with us—er, her," he rethought it midsentence, gesturing to the Commander.
"Let's not stand around here chatting, let's get to Udina's office," she said as if she hadn't noticed the exchange. The quarian fell into step with Garrus as they departed towards the Presidium.
"a krogan and turian working together?" she queried, barely above a whisper (most likely to remain out of earshot of Wrex).
"Yeah, who'd have thought?"
"You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den?" Strangely enough, there was one thing that seemed to be universal among all species': rants. Garrus had heard enough throughout his life, whether from his father, military leaders and officers, not to mention people he arrested tended to go off on a tirade possibly to cope with being apprehended, that it was clear the human ambassador, Donnel Udina, was just getting started. He had graying hair, though it had been brown once (he still didn't know why the color changed in humans as they aged) and a sour expression which had always been on his face in the few chances Garrus had witnessed him before then. It must be stuck like that. He'd had very, very, limited encounters with the ambassador whose only interest was getting the human race a seat on the council and therefore didn't concern himself with anyone but those of his own species. He knew for a fact then when dealing with C-Sec, Udina would only cooperate with a human officer. Yet something about him had always made Garrus feel apprehensive—tense and uneasy. Udina seemed to have all the traits of petty criminals the turian spent his days trying to put away—shady, deceitful, underhanded, to name a few and this was the person who was supposed to represent the human race! No wonder no one really likes them.
The ambassador continued, either ignorant or purposefully ignoring those of other species within the room. Commander Shepard stood where she was, just watching the man without registering a single expression to relay what she was inwardly thinking. "Do you know how many—who's this?" he suddenly stopped, his face taking on a look of surprise as he focused his attention on the individual decked out in a purple accented enviro-suit. "a quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?" I guess he really was unaware of our presence.
"Making your day Ambassador," the Commander casually responded as if she had merely been waiting out of politeness just for him to get around to asking that very question. "She has information linking Saren to the geth."
"Really? Maybe you better start at the beginning Miss…?" The quarian had everyone's attention, specifically the ambassador who Garrus had never heard of being so civil toward someone not of his own species.
"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." The turian knew quite a bit about quarians. Of all the races in the galaxy they were probably friendliest with the nomadic people (next being the Asari of course), it most likely stemmed from the fact that of all the races quarians and turians were the only ones to share the same dextro-protein. Being able to consume the same food had its advantages. No wonder the romance film Fleet and Flotilla had been so popular. Listening to Tali introduce himself he understood that 'Rayya' was the name of the ship she lived on, and that 'Zorah' was her family name.
"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina asked. It was true, quarians didn't visit the Citadel much seeing as they did not have an embassy – it had been stripped as punishment for creating the geth who turned on them.
"I was on my pilgrimage, my right of passage into adulthood." He knew of this as well, that it was a tradition among the quarians that when they were of age, they were to leave the flotilla and search for something of value to bring home. It had something to do with proving they could be an asset to the community through the contributing of resources, rather than draining it.
"Tell us what you found," Shepard nodded to her. The quarian told them of how in her travels she had heard about geth leaving the Veil, to her knowledge for the first time since driving her people into exile, and out of curiosity tracked a patrol to an uncharted world.
"I waited for one to become separated from it's unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."
"I thought the Geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism." It was Captain Anderson who had spoken, a darker skinned human who stood beside the Ambassador. He was well known amongst turians, being considered a war hero by the humans for his efforts in the 'First Contact War'. It had always been strange to him the way that humans referred to it as such, in his mind (and just about every other turian's) a conflict that lasted a mere three months could not be considered a war. To them it was just the 'Relay 314 Incident', when the turians and humans first met.
"My people created the geth," Tali continued, bringing Garrus' attention back to the conversation. It was hard to tell from her mask but he believed her to be impressed with the Captain's knowledge of the geth. "If you're quick, careful, and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salavaged something from its audio banks." She lit her omni-tool and began to play a recording for all to hear.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
"That's Saren's voice," Anderson exclaimed. Garrus recognized it as the turian's as well. "This proves he was involved in the attack!"
"He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit? Any idea what that means?" The Commander looked between the group assembled for an answer but no one was able to give one.
"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology…like a weapon," the Captain finally said. Beacon? Prothean? I'm confused. He knew of the Protheans, they were believed to be one of the first species to achieve spaceflight. They were the creators of not only the Citadel but the mass relays that allowed interstellar travel, but they had all died off some half a million years ago. He believed he'd heard of a connection between the Protheans and beacons before but he couldn't quite remember it at that present time.
"Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't working alone," Tali announced as she continued to play the recording.
"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." It was a female who had spoken.
"I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about Reapers," Udina stated.
"Are they some kind of new alien species?" Shepard asked, as puzzled as the rest of them.
"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished," Tali spoke as if she was telling an elaborate bed-time story. "At least, that's what the geth believe."
"Sounds a little far-fetched," the Ambassador muttered no longer interested in the quarian now that she had given her evidence.
"This vision on Eden Prime," Shepard started, "—I understand it now! I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers." Vision? What vision? Garrus glanced to Wrex in some deluded belief that he could provide an answer, but the krogan didn't seem to be paying much attention (although if he was, he was doing an excellent job at hiding it).
"The geth revere the Reapers as ancient gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life and they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." I guess that explains why the geth are working for Saren? He still wasn't quite sure as he listened to the quarian, trying his best to keep an open mind.
"The council is just going to love this!" Udina huffed, evidently displeased with the development.
"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them." The Commander was adamant.
"No matter what they think about the rest of this, these audio files prove Saren's a traitor," Anderson reminded. This was true, here was finally the evidence that Garrus had needed for his investigation. Despite finding out that his original belief in the turian held fast, he couldn't shake a sullen feeling festering within. He would not be the one to present the evidence.
"The captain's right, we need to present this to the council right away." It's as if Udina can read my mind.
"What about her? The quarian?" Kaidan asked, skeptically.
"My name is Tali!" she immediately shouted. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you." Had she fought in the alley? He couldn't remember.
"I'll take all the help I can get," Shepard answered with a small smile. Tali thanked her.
"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us in the Tower," the Ambassador told them (well, really the humans) before he and the Captain departed. Garrus watched as Shepard rubbed the back of her neck, stretching out her arms.
"Anyone mind bringing me up to date? Visions? Beacons?" His question was directed towards any of the Alliance soldiers.
"Right," Shepard replied, moving to scratch her head. She leaned back against a nearby desk and took a deep breath before speaking, "There was a beacon on Eden Prime. It's what Saren was after. We," she stopped to motion to herself and the Lieutenant, "—were sent in to retrieve it when it was discovered. But Saren and the geth were already there."
"I would've been toast if it wasn't for the Commander and the LT," Ashely muttered. Toast. He had heard humans use this phrase before. He believed it to be food but its relation to the subject at hand was not clear.
"And a beacon is…?" he was hesitant to ask.
"Ancient prothean technology, very few are found intact," Kaidan clarified.
"The Prothean ruins found on Mars are what helped us achieve FTL drives, so you can bet when the beacon was found on Eden Prime, the Alliance was all over it," the gunnery chief said the words rather brashly, as if Garrus should have already been aware of all of it.
"The beacon on Eden Prime was damaged, and when I neared it—it put images in my head. Visions, I guess you could say," Shepard's voice had grown quiet.
"What kind of visions?" Wrex was the one to ask. It seemed he had been paying attention.
"Not good ones," her expression was solemn, her eyes appearing darker and she cast them away as creases settled on her forehead. She was momentarily lost in thought before saying, "I couldn't—can't understand them but hearing about these Reapers…," she glanced in Tali's direction, "It's beginning to make more sense." A hush had fallen over them all, no one knowing how to respond next when the Commander was suddenly on her feet, back straight and a carefree attitude present as she said, "we'd better not keep the council waiting."