Sitting back down I didn't even realize I had stood up. 'The Citadel… from Mass Effect… how in the hell' my mind was running a million miles per minute, I mean I kinda figured I was going somewhere new when I blacked out but… that voice, it told me to do something… to find someone "'Find him!'" that is about all I can remember about it. Staring out the window onto the Citadel I feel a small lump in my throat, a thing I haven't felt in a long time. 'Just what the hell am I supposed to do here?' my mind ran towards helping Shepard but I don't see the point, I don't even know when I am right now for all I know I am staring at a Citadel that has never seen a human before… 'And if I stepped on they still wouldn't see one'. Leaning back in my chair I start staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out a path of action to take… better start with cloak.
"Eva, engage Cloak and start moving towards the Citadel, also get me the date"
"Understood Operator… Searching"
Eva is my ships VI, she has been with me for almost a hundred years, I still think she is an AI and is just holding back on me in fear of me erasing her, but that is her irrational fear to deal with. Glancing back out onto the Citadel that is slowing getting closer my mind drops towards Shepard once again and I start entertaining the question of whatever it is a man or woman.
"Search Complete, the current date is 2182. Anything else Operator?"
"Search for any information on Commander Shepard"
"Searching…"
'2182… so at least a year until Mass Effect even begins, this leaves me a little time to get familiar with the world, might even give me a chance to figure out what I want to do in this world' The potential is great, I could help Shepard beat the reapers or I could just do it myself, I know where everything is and a few good nods here and there and we can have the crucible build in half a year if not less. But doing this would also put everything in jeopardy, after all without the events of the games taking place a lot of peace treaties will never be signed, and who the hell knows what will happen with the Collectors?
"Search Complete. Commander Sarah Montez Shepard, born and raised on various spaceships due to her parents' constant reassignments. Excellent service record, decorated with the Star of Terra for holding off a Batarian assault alone during the battle for Elysium. Multiple other military actions have earned her high praise from her superiors, and she is apparently being considered for the first human Spectre"
"Thank you Eva"
Spacer, War Hero and "Montez"? You learn something new every day. For now the focus is going to be on surviving until then, I need to acquire a place to sleep besides my ship also I need to familiarize me with the standards of this world as well as the weaponry, much more so than what I already know from the games.
"Eva, is there any viable place to set down the Shadow in cloak?"
"Searching… … … Search Complete. One suitable location found, a high end apartment complex in the area known as "The Presidium", the roof holds nothing and only a single entrance accessible through the pent house, this would make an ideal hiding location. This is a temporary measure and the Shadow should be moved again within a year"
"Good, start heading there Eva, avoid anything you deem a detection risk"
"The population will be a problem… two hundred and twenty centimeters tall, and pale as a ghost… that will draw attention. My clothes will stick out as well, I need to find a suitable set of clothes as soon as possible once I have landed, the way I look should eventually be ignored by the majority of the Alien population, I highly doubt anyone of them know enough about human culture to find my looks shocking". I watched as we approached the Citadel and entered their airspace, I was surprised by the sheer size of the Citadel in reality this place is huge and I am not surprised by the fact that someone could probably live their entire life on the citadel and still not have seen all of it. As we made our way into the Presidium I noticed a lot of places I knew, like the giant Krogan statue and the Citadel tower that houses the Council 'Bunch of Idiots'.
After a while we finally arrived at the apartment building that Eva had told me about, and as we landed on the roof I noticed what she mean about high end, this place was elegant and even the roof looked like it cost more than your average apartment. Setting down I waited for the doors to pressurize and open up, when they finally did I stepped outside and got my first real look at the Citadel. A wave of nostalgia hit me like a hammer, for some reason I felt slightly at peace looking out over all the buildings and ship hanging by their docks, and if you looked towards the end you could see it, empty space. Turning towards the stairs that would lead me down into the pent house I start going towards it, as I reach the door I wait a few seconds before activating it and walking through 'No password? That's… convenient' stepping down the stairs I eventually reach another door, figuring this led into the apartment I leaned against the wall and started to focus.
Now have you ever heard of people being able to sense others in the room? It's common among martial arts people, you know that feeling you have that someone is either staring at you or is in your near vicinity? Yeah I have that too, only a lot stronger. For me it goes beyond just sensing I can feel people that are near me, when I first found this out I figured it was just from the large amounts of combat experience I had acquired, but when I asked Arck he said he had heard of people being able to sense others yeah, but actually feel them and be a hundred percent sure they were there? He had never heard of that. The way it works is simple really, when I focus I start picking up this feeling around me, try and picture a completely dark room and then imagine you have a set of heat vision goggles, now you can see roughly the outline of everyone in the room yeah? Well so can I. When I focus enough inside my mind these pillars of energy appear and they represent people, using this I have been able to determine how many people have been in any given area, as long as they were within fifty meters of me. So far vision has not been a requirement for me to feel someone. The ability has a lot of other uses too, just like a martial artist I too can feel anyone in my close vicinity, and it doesn't even have to be that close if you come within fifty meters of me I know you are there, I can't tell exactly where you are, but I know you are there and you can't hide from it, at least so far I have met no one who could.
Inside the apartment I could feel seven people, now funny thing about this ability? The "feeling" is different depending on your species, explaining what I feel is quite difficult, so just imagine it as each different species feeling like a different material, you know Infested feels like fur, Grineer like Metal and Corpus like water, that sort of thing. Inside I felt seven people, but there were three distinct signatures of energy, meaning I am facing three different species in there. As far as I can sense none of them are anywhere near the door, so I try and open it and much like the upper door this one isn't locked 'Who the hell leaves doors unlocked?' As I enter the small room I instantly see something that makes me back out of the door again, 'Blue Suns armor… Not good, if this is a Blue Suns base then I have a problem, staying here would only attract negative attention… Well killing them would help the general public and gain me a residence and an omni-tool' Agreeing with my own idea in my head I went back to my ship and put on my Alpha-frame. Now this frame is not much to look at, it looks like an Excalibur frame with a more square head and no face, it's completely black except for the joints that glow red, to be honest I look like the Stalker when I wear it. Grabbing my Nikana from the locker I take it out of its sheath and look it over, it still as sharp as ever.
I decided against changing the Alpha-Frame into anything else, figuring that I didn't need it to deal with a group of Blue Suns, if they even managed to react before most of them were dead. Stepping down in front of the door I closed my eyes and focused once more, all seven were still there and from what I could tell four of them were in the same room while two were in another and one was alone, I opted to go for the one who was alone. As I stepped out through the door I noticed the one who was alone was behind the door right in front of me, I walked over and stood next to the door and waited. A few seconds later I heard a toilet flush and the door opened, the guy who turned out to be a batarian didn't have time to react before I impaled him through the throat with my blade effectively silencing him, he dropped down and blood started pouring out of the wound, the batarian was already dead before he hit the ground. Moving over to another door I felt the presence of two behind that door, going for a surprise I opened the door and waited until one of the individuals in the room decided to speak
"Hey, who is there?" When no answer came "Jared I swear if you are pulling one of your stupid pranks I will shoot your dick off!"
I looked behind me and wondered if it was Jared lying there on the ground, I didn't care really I just wanted the other guy to come out here, and he did. As he stepped through the doorframe I brought my Nikana to his neck and took his head clean off, letting the blade fall down behind me I dashed into the room, before the last guy could react to my presence and the sudden beheading of his comrade I drove my blade into his stomach, when he grabbed it in an attempt to pull it out I grabbed both side of his head and snapped it to side breaking his neck with an audible crack. Looking over the two corpses I noticed that the one now missing his head was also a batarian and the one in front of me with a broken neck was human. That took care of two of the three different energy types I felt, meaning from what I know of the Blue Suns the last one is probably turian. Standing in front of the final door I closed my eyes and concentrated on the last four individuals, I felt two with the unknown energy signature (presumably Turian) and one with the signature of a batarian, and one human. 'Knock out one Turian for questioning, kill the remaining three… Engage Warframe: Rhino' I feel the Alpha-frame shift around my body, taking the form of the chosen Warframe. As the transformation finishes I move around a bit to check that everything is as it should be 'Everything feels right… Engage: Iron Skin' slowly a small layer of silver substance covers the Rhino in a protective coating which will hopefully absorb the majority of the shells I will be at the end of. Breathing in a few times I open the door and walk into the room, the silence in the room is thick enough for my Nikana to cut. Before anyone manages to react I knock one of the turians unconscious with the hilt of my blade, as the first shot gets fired I swing around and use the momentum to cut the second turian in half, as more bullets make contact with my Iron Skin I notice that they are already breaking through the rather thin layer of protection 'A thing to note for future use' stepping up to the batarian I simply bring my sword up and take off his head, now only the lone human remains. He didn't manage to do much more then stutter a few weak sentences and a few whimpers before finally blacking out from fear 'One hell of a Blue Suns member he is…' I place my blade right above his heart and drive it through.
Walking around the apartment I am trying to find something to bind the Turian with; eventually I do find a bit of metal coil that should function for my short term needs. After I finished binding the Turian with the metal coil I simply wait for him to wake up, it only took about five minutes. At first he was just mumbling all sorts of random things, then I realized that I didn't understand what he was saying at all 'Omni-tool translator… right…' walking over to the dead human in the room I remove his omni-tool and place it on my own arm.
"Eva, combine the two types of tech for me real quick, just make a raw combination nothing intricate"
"Understood… Done"
Walking over to the turian who was half awake I grabbed one of his fringes and pulled it to the side to the point where I thought it was going to brake, it woke him up.
"ARGH! What the hell are you doing?!"
He finally looked at me and I swear I thought I saw his scales lose color for a second. When he finally looked around the room and realized his position I started to speak.
"Answer my questions and maybe you will get to live. How many other Blue Suns know about this base?"
He looked skittish for a few seconds before he decided to answer
"None, me and the boys rented this place for ourselves for when we weren't on duty, we didn't tell anyone because those rats would come and try and take the place for themselves"
"How many months have you paid for?"
"Three more after this one, why?"
Bringing my Nikana to his throat I pushed the blade through and severed whatever held his head to his shoulders.
"No reason"
Wiping my Nikana of blood I started gathering the corpses and put them up on the roof, cleaning the blood from the floors would be done another day, for now I needed to go see whoever the landlord was and inform him of his new tenant.
I had dropped of the Alpha-frame, figured walking into the landlords office covered in blood was not such a good idea. Entering the office I saw a Turian sitting behind a rather large desk, he was busy messing with his Terminal, he didn't bother looking up until I made a not so polite coughing gesture.
"What do you want human?"
A small smile played across my lips, 'haven't been called human in a while' he seemed like he held the same reservations against humans that any other species does, but it also gave me a little hope that my pale skin didn't present much of a problem to other species, only other humans.
"Are you aware that your pent house was leased out to seven Blue Suns mercs?"
"What of it? They paid six months in advance; they can do whatever the hell they want for all I care"
"I see. I am here to inform you I have taken over their apartment, and will be staying there for the remaining three months they have paid for"
His eyes opened slightly more at my statement.
"And they won't have a problem with that?"
"Dead people rarely complain, and before you think of contacting C-Sec, let me tell you that you will be dead before they get here, so for the next three months I will be living in the pent house. Complaints?"
"None. Planning on paying rent once those three months are up?"
He asked with a little shaky voice, probably thinks I am going to kill him.
"Of course, I merely intend to make good use of the three months' worth of credits that have already been spent, at the end of those three months I will pay rent"
The landlord simply nodded and I turned and walked up to my new apartment. Time to clean.
8 Months until Eden Prime
Waking up in a real bed is… nice, preferable to waking up in a cot. I have been on the Citadel for almost two months now, for the majority of that time I have been staying in the apartment and using Eva to gather bits and pieces of information on various things, it seems the Blue Suns have quite the presence on the Citadel as it stands right now, as for the previous tenants of this apartment? Cleaning out the corpses was easy enough, dumping them somewhere down in the wards where no one would look for them, and if they were found then who even cares if seven Blue Suns are found dead?
Today I was planning to go acquire some new clothes; Tenno uniforms do stick out quite a bit. My earlier suspicion turned out to be correct as I walked on the streets I turned a few heads, but most of those were human, barely any of the other species decided to look at me. Of course the clothes were going to cost some credits, but that isn't a problem, the seven Blue Suns mercs had plenty of credits to their names on their accounts which Eva decided to "borrow" since they wouldn't be in any need of them. But there is simply no good clothing store anywhere on the Citadel; they all carry the same uncomfortable looking clothes that you see everyone in the game wearing. I was nearly ready to give up when I happened upon a small shop with the sign "Earthly Commodities"; it seemed like a better chance than any of the other shops. Entering the shop I noticed there was a lone cashier who turned out to be a young dark skinned girl with black hair held in two ponytails, she didn't look to be much older than eighteen. Much like my landlord she was deeply absorbed in something else, only for her it wasn't a terminal with possible business plans, her head was deeply burrowed in a copy of the rather explicit magazine "Fornax", now how the hell an eighteen year old human even got a hold of that I will never know, but stealing it from her parents seems like the most likely choice. I decided that the best way to get her attention was the same way I got the landlords attention, I coughed quite loudly. The magazine was back under the counter in a split second 'Good reflexes' the girl was looking somewhere near a tomato at this point.
"Y-Y-Yes? C-Can I help y-you?"
She didn't look me in the eyes, she didn't even try to, either from embarrassment or out of fear that the man that was reaching two head above her would kill her.
"I am looking for a set of clothes that fit a rather tall individual such as myself"
Her arms were shaking as all hell when she pointed over towards the corner of the shop, I nodded my head and thanked her and walked over towards the clothes. Standing over there I was surprised to find a set of jeans and some t-shirts and jackets that actually looked like they came from earth, I smiled a little to myself as I remembered the old times when I used to wear this kind of clothes every day. The price was a little steep but from what I understood it had to do with this being clothes that was only manufactured on earth now, and it was quite pricy to transport it to the Citadel. I made my purchases and changed in the shops changing rooms, the new set of clothes consisted of a classic combo, blue jeans with a white blank t-shirt, and a small black jacket to go over, all with a little modern twist so it didn't look completely out of place. Stepping out of the shop I started making my way towards my apartment. Walking down the street I placed my Nikana on my back, since I got the blade all those years ago I have taken to bringing it with me just about everywhere and walking around the Citadel is no exception, though I am quite surprised that C-Sec hasn't come looking for me over these two months, I mean how do they see someone carrying a sword around these days? Turning the corner that led me to the street where my apartment was at I stopped in my tracks.
"Took you long enough to catch up Officers, you have followed me since the clothes shop"
I can imagine the two officers' faces; they probably didn't expect to be caught, much less by a "human"
"I am sorry Sir, but we need you to turn around and face us" I did as they asked, they didn't even blink when they saw my face or complexion "The weapon you are carried will have to be handed over sir, we have no registered humans with a sword carrying license" The left turian with black clan markings put his hand forward in a Hand it here motion. I took out my Nikana from it scabbard and pointed it in their direction.
"Anyone who tries to take my sword from me will find it stuck in their throat"
The reaction was immediate and understandable; both officers pulled out their guns and started to shout something about me having to put my hands up and get on the ground, I ignored them and simply side stepped and went behind the left turian before he could react and took my blade to his throat.
"Now I am under arrest, that much I am clear on. But as I said, try to take my sword and you will find it in your throat. So here is a deal, I will follow along to C-Sec and in turn you leave me with my sword and you don't lose a partner"
The last bit was aimed towards the other turian who shared the same black clan markings as the first one, meaning they were either brothers or something of the same arrangements. I noticed something in the eyes of the second turian though, when I threatened to take the first one's life more than just concern flared in his eyes, there was anger, fear, hatred and love?
"Or lose a lover, seems that would be more precise wouldn't it?"
I put my sword a little closer to the throat of the first turian, close enough so that if he moved a single muscle I would be drawing blood.
"Wait! Fine! If you come along peacefully then we will let you keep your sword! Just don't hurt him!"
"Forgive me if I don't trust you completely on that" He looked panicked as I brought the blade even closer, and then I lowered it and pushed the first turian into the other ones arms "But I will trust that you keep your word. Be warned though, if you try to remove this blade from my side, not even death will stop me from taking from you that which you hold most dear" I pointed my sword at the trembling turian in his arms. He nodded at me and made a gesture towards a street that would lead us to C-Sec.
'Over three hundred years old… and my patience is still paper thin' I had spent a total of perhaps ten minutes inside the interrogation room at C-Sec before I was ready to get up and kill my way out 'Grand Master of the Tenno order… I am definitely honoring the title right now…' when the door finally opened I breathed a sigh of relief, then I noticed who had actually stepped through the door and that relief got replaced by annoyance.
"Mr. Vakarian"
I nodded to the ever so famous Turian with the ever so recognizable blue clan markings; he looked just like he did during Mass Effect, which was what I expected. I did however not expect to be meeting with Garrus at this point in time, or any point in time prior to the events of the games taking their beginning. He does look a little surprised that I know his name, but that doesn't surprise me. He walked over and placed my Nikana on the table, I had reluctantly given it up for registration when we arrived, though not without a warning that if this wasn't returned to me then C-Sec would be looking to hire a lot.
"Call me Garrus, Mr. Vakarian is my father, and you are?"
The smile on his way looked way too much business like for it to have ever been genuine; I imagine he was pulled in here by Pallin.
"Call me Echo"
Garrus let a scoff escape him
"Echo… alright, so care to explain why you threatened to kill a C-Sec officer, and why you are carrying a sword with you? Oh and before I forget, why we have absolutely no files on you what so ever?"
I shrugged
"I am new to the Citadel, and I didn't wish for anyone to know of my presence so there is your reason for lack of files, as for the sword? Well that is personal and I have no reason to tell you. And the C-Sec officer tried to take my sword from me, so I simply told them that anyone who tried to take it without consent from me would find said blade stuck in their throat"
Garrus stared at me for a good thirty seconds before he let out a long sigh.
"We are going to be here a while, want some coffee?"
'Heh… there is the friendly Garrus I remember'
"From C-Sec? You want me dead that badly?"
Garrus actually gave me a proper laugh at that and shook his head.
"I see what you mean, water?" I nodded "I'll be back in a minute"
He returned after a few minutes and placed a cup in front of me and sat back down, I guess he will want to know a few pieces of information, and he said we were going to be here a while, so that means I will not be allowed to leave until they get too bothered by me, I escape or I tell them what they want to know.
"So let's start with the sword itself, so far we haven't been able to even get it out of its sheath it seems to be locked, care to explain?"
"DNA Locked. It will only unlock once it is in my hands, this prevents the sword from being stolen"
Garrus nodded simply and glanced over the blade for a few moments, he then looked at me a little before pushing the sword over to my side of the table. I glanced down at the sword, knowing full well what he wanted me to do, I looked Garrus in the eyes and looked for permission, and he nodded in response. Gripping the sword the sheath recognized my DNA and released its locks, allowing me to bring out Nikana. Garrus looked like a kid at Christmas when he saw the blade itself, can't blame him really the thing is a work of beauty.
"Amazing craftsmanship, what is it made of?"
I put the blade back in its sheath and looked intently at Garrus.
"Sorry Garrus can't say, trade secret"
Truth is I don't even know completely myself, I have been able to forge something that was close to the Nikana in strength but I have not been able to match it completely yet, from what I understood it is because I am missing a rare element that can only be found in the very edges of the galaxy. Meaning it is completely out of my reach now. Right before Garrus was about to ask his next question an alarm started screaming across the entire C-Sec office.
"What is going on?"
I was the one who asked, and no sooner did the door open and a frantic Pallin stepped through.
"Vakarian leave him! The Turian councilor has been kidnapped by the Blue Suns!"
"What?!" Garrus yelled.
"Spirits Vakarian, get your ass moving!"
Garrus was out the door with Pallin within seconds, leaving me alone in the interrogation room. 'Sparatus was taken by the Blue Suns? What could they possibly gain from this?' once more removing Nikana from its sheath I placed the blade on the table and simply ran my restraints over it, cutting clean through the weaker metal. I walked out of the room and started making my way out of C-Sec 'Saving that idiot of a councilor would allow me to help Shepard later, perhaps even make him owe me a favor'. Right as I reached the door I bumped into someone, that someone turned out to be Garrus, before he could say anything I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall and held him still, leaning next to his head I whispered.
"Listen to me Vakarian; I am going to save the councilor. If you want him to be safe then contact me on my Omni-tool and tell me where they have the councilor I will take it from there, if you don't want my help then that is fine as well, just remember this is your only chance for cooperation, I walk out that door I will take down C-Sec and Blue Suns alike to save the councilor, got it?"
Garrus looked at me angrily for a few seconds before nodding, I tapped a few things on my Omni-tool and send my information to Garrus, we then went our separate ways, I had to go get my Alpha-Frame.
It has been an hour since I left C-Sec, and I have yet to hear anything. From up here on the roof it is very obvious that there is something going on, there is too many Sky Cars flying around sporting C-Sec colors and alarms for someone not to notice. Eva informed me that a statement have already been given to the people about what has happened. 'Leave it to the council to somehow making the kidnapping of one of their own seem like a minor nuisance' I was almost ready to jump over the edge of the building just to do something when a Sky Car stopped right at the edge of the roof, the door opened and revealed Garrus inside.
"Get in, we have the councilors location, he is in a warehouse down in the wards"
I jumped inside and Garrus almost stepped on the speeder enough to step through the car itself. He seems more agitated by the thought of me helping, then by the fact that we have a kidnapped councilor on our hands.
"Fancy armor, missing a helmet though aren't you?"
I chuckled a little as I gave the command inside my head; a second later a helmet had formed over my head and a HUD was visible inside my helmet. After Garrus was done staring I disabled the helmet once more.
"Makes it easier to lead a conversation when I don't have a helmet on. So give me the details Garrus, what are we facing?"
Garrus gave a low growl.
"20 Blue Suns, all heavily Armed, the Warehouse is separated in two different sections, the councilor is held on the top floor in a closed room with only one entrance, if we attempt to go in through the roof we will be found out and the councilor killed, so far they haven't given any demands… What do you plan to do?"
I engaged my helmet when I saw the cluster of C-Sec cars in front of us gathered around a large building, I opened the door and looked down, the drop was far enough for my dampeners to take effect, right before I let myself drop out of door I turned to Garrus.
"Kill them"
I heard Garrus yell something as I fell, I blocked it out, I blocked everything out as I fell I barely even felt myself impacting with the ground, when I did I was already moving 'Engage Warframe: Loki' I felt the entire Warframe shift as I ran, the transformation synching with my movements so it changed the parts of the Warframe that wasn't touching the ground as I was running.
"Eva, give me a plan over the warehouse"
A few seconds later a map popped up at the side of my vision allowing me to maneuver inside the warehouse without getting lost. I reached the Warehouse after about a minutes worth of running, when I got there I had to bring all my focus on my ability to not get overloaded with the amount of people present, I felt too many different forms of presence in the surrounding area, it calmed down as I made my way to the backside of the Warehouse. Reaching the back wall I reached out and felt for any presence, I only found three who were on the level above me, everyone else was out of my reach, which meant they were most likely at the front of the warehouse.
"Eva, how thick is these walls?"
"From the blueprints the walls are ten centimeters thick Operator"
'Would take too long to cut through with Nikana… Fuck this is going to drain me of energy. Warframe Switch: Excalibur' I felt the entire Alpha-Frame strain as it went from the Loki frame, back to neutral and then transformed into the Excalibur frame.
"Warning: Energy levels at 50%"
'Fuck' looking up I estimated we were talking about thirty meters or so to get to the windows up there, breaking through them would be idiotic and counterproductive since I would like for them not to know I am here.
"Eva, any alternate entrances?"
"On the east side of the building there is an opening from a ventilation shaft"
I sprinted to the side of the building and found said vent, it was a good fifteen meters in the air, close enough to the ground for one super jump to reach it if I put a lot of power in it. Charging the jump I stood directly below the went and took out my Nikana, as the charge got ready I released the energy propelling myself into the air, as I reached the vent I grabbed hold of the bars and steadied myself. Getting in was simple enough, I cut through the bars with my Nikana and crawled in; the ventilation shaft was quite spacious, most likely due to the use of the warehouse. After crawling for a few minutes I stopped and closed my eyes, I can feel three people above me, but only two distinct forms of energy signature, meaning that it was two of one race in this case human, and the last one was Turian I recognized the signatures from earlier. 'The councilor and two humans guarding him, not too much trouble' a small sound rang through my helmet, indicating I was receiving a call, I closed off all sound from inside my helmet effectively soundproofing it before I accepted the call.
"Echo Responding"
"Where the hell are you!?"
'Garrus…'
"Inside, find a good spot where you can get a good shot, don't contact me again"
I disconnected the call and shut off my communicator. As much as I would like to think that twenty Blue Suns is just another set of bodies, we are talking weapons that my armor has never been hit by before, I don't know if my shield will even register the mass accelerated rounds they fire. After debating with my own mind for a few minutes I brought up the blueprint and found out that this ventilation shaft leads up to the next level, I made my way there though it proved a little more of a challenge then I originally thought, to crawl directly upwards in a closed duct without making sound, it proved an interesting challenge.
Crawling through the upper vents I eventually found myself above what I suspected to be the councilor and his two captors. In front of me was another vent opening leading into the room, I crawled forward and stuck my head out through the opening, 'Guess I was right, two humans and the turian councilor, both of them facing the door…' dropping down from a vent without making a sound? One of the easiest things I have ever had to do. A small plan jumped into my mind, and I started to charge a small Slash Dash after a few seconds I was ready and moved to the side of the two guards, when they both turned and realized I was there they raised their guns and I released my Slash dash. Now the way a Slash Dash works? You build up a small amount of energy in your legs and feet, and release it too propel yourself forward at high speed, utilizing a bladed weapon to cut anything directly in front of you, or to the left or right of you. In my case I needed to cut the two guards on my left, so I simply held my Nikana to the left of me and let the released energy propel myself forward and propel my Nikana through the two unfortunate victims. The dear councilor was sitting with his mouth agape; I'll bet a few credits that he hasn't seen anything like that before.
"Who *Cough* Who are you?"
Turning towards the councilor I turned on the voice distorter in my helmet, this little addition was added to the Tenno when we first started making deals with Corpus, though most "deals" ended in us killing them and taking whatever we were sent to "buy" from them, but the distorter was designed so that one Tenno could never be distinguished from their voice.
"That does not concern you Councilor, all you need to know is that I am here to bring you out alive. Stay here until I or C-Sec comes to get you"
I opened the door to the room and stepped out, closing and locking it behind me so the Councilor wouldn't get any stupid ideas about escaping on his own. Making my way down the stairs I come by two more Blue Suns guarding the entrance to the upper floor, neither got to react before their heads and bodies were separated. 'Two on the top floor, and two down here, that leaves sixteen more Blue Suns in the warehouse' Making my way down another corridor I came to a door, standing in front of it I focused on the room beyond, I felt sixteen distinct signatures, too many for me to tell who was what race, but I felt all three present, Batarian, Turian and Human.
"Garrus"
"Finally! What the hell is going on in there?"
"The councilor is safe on the upper floor, there is only the sixteen inside the warehouse itself, the office part has been cleared, tell C-Sec to come in firing once they see a bright light"
"Bright Light?"
"Trust me, you'll know"
I closed the com and made my way inside the big storage area of the warehouse, hiding behind a few crates it was easy to make out their composition, about four guys close to the doors, then a group of six and another group of six, a simple setup without any major strategic plan in mind. 'Sneak along the side, enter in the middle and gather their focus on me, fire a Radial Blind, in the chaos kill the six in the back and then escape through my point of entry, leave the rest to C-Sec'
"Garrus, is C-Sec ready to breach?"
"Yeah they just finished setting the charges, whatever you are going to do, do it fast"
I didn't need more incentive, sneaking along the wall was easy enough, the Blue Suns are not known for their detection skills. Reaching the point where I had the fastest route to the middle I breathed in three times and stormed forward, the six at the back saw me instantly and started firing, which then brought the attention of the remaining ten, when I knew that at least twelve of them looked at me and raised my sword in the air and released the built up radial blind, which depleted my power cells down to 5% 'More than enough for this' under the guise of the blinding light I heard the explosion go off and C-Sec started their breach, I stormed to the back and went for the first visible enemy, that being a turian I cut off his legs and used the momentum to spin around while going forward, allowing me to take off the head of the human or batarian next to him, keeping my sword in motion I brought it over my head and slashed downward, removing the arm of another human/batarian, with the helmets it really wasn't to tell. This left three more enemies standing, lucky for me two of them were shoulder to shoulder, allowing me to pierce Nikana through both of their middle sections, from what I felt I snapped the spine of the one in the back and ruptured the stomach of the first one, the final one had started firing at me after regaining his senses, before I could even act on the gunfire his head exploded, moving past the corpse towards the upper floor I could almost hear Garrus "Scoped and Dropped!". Getting up to the councilor I didn't stop moving towards my exit while I spoke.
"C-Sec will be here in a second Councilor, you are safe now"
And up the vent I went. When I finally got back out and landed on the ground I was met with twenty pairs of weapons pointing in my direction.
"Stop! Drop your weapon!"
I placed Nikana back on my hip and put up my hands, the first C-Sec agent who came over and tried to put me in cuffs I recognized, the Turian with the black clan markings. When he was close enough and reached out with his hand I grabbed a hold of it and turned him around, putting his head in a lock that easily allowed me to snap his neck.
"Are we really doing this again?" I looked over the crowd and found his partner "Hey you! You know how this goes, get these idiots to stand down or you are one partner short!"
I could see the realization in his eyes when I spoke, and just before he had a chance to retort, a voice rang out through all the C-Sec units.
"Lower your weapons! This man helped save the Councilor"
It was Pallin, apparently the Turian councilor had been quick to point out that I not be captured, simply brought to the council chambers so he could speak with me. Everyone did lower their guns, but I didn't release my hold on my turian hostage, looking down I could see that this time the fear in his eyes was more evident that when I was holding him at swords length, his partner walked towards me slowly.
"We lowered our guns, now release him!"
"Funny. You seem to think you are in a position to give orders, one wrong move from anyone here and I crack this one's neck. You want him safe? Bring a Sky car around driven by Garrus Vakarian, if I am going to the Council chambers it's with someone I trust, however miniscule that trust is"
A few eyes shot up when I mentioned Garrus name, but I figured that would be the case, a man who just killed nine Black Suns on his own suddenly ask for Garrus Vakarian? A Turian known for breaking the rules to get the job done. After a few seconds most everyone backs off, looking down on the Turian in my grip he seems a little too relaxed.
"You do realize I will kill you the second I smell something funny right?"
The Turian started shaking wildly, no one was within hearing range of us, and the Turians even with their advanced hearing would only be able to hear whispers.
"What is your name?"
I looked down at him and saw he was looking at me with confusion in his eyes.
"M-Mettik"
"Mettik… interesting name, and your mate?"
"Aralak"
"Hmm. Been together long?"
The more I spoke the more confused he got.
"Why are you asking me all of this?"
"Because Pallin is stalling with the Sky Car until he realizes that there is no alternative, so I am simply making conversation and since this is the second time I have your life in my hands I figured I should know the man I could potentially be killing"
The statement was accompanied by a shrug that lifted Mettik up along with my shoulders.
"We've been together almost ten years now"
"Admirable. Met at C-Sec?"
"Yeah, started on the same day and we just kind of stuck together"
"I see, and as far as I remember in Turian culture there is nothing wrong with two males being together am I correct?"
"Yeah"
"Family?"
I saw his features soften as he looked over at his very scared and confused mate.
"A little girl, we took her in a few years ago"
I don't know what it was, but something inside me spread across my entire body and my own memories went back to Sivra and the life we once planned on building together… after a few seconds I pushed Mettik towards his mate, as soon as he had regained his footing Aralak was holding him in a tight embrace, a few seconds later they broke apart and Mettik turned towards me, a questioning look on his face.
"I will not rob a child of her parent"
Mettik looked like he wanted to say something, but he got interrupted by the arrival of a C-Sec Sky Car 'C-Sec patrol car, of course…' stepping over to the car I waited for the door to open, when it did I was somewhat relieved that it was actually Garrus behind the wheel. He made a gesture for me to get in and I complied, after a few seconds we set off and where one our way.
"What the hell are you?"
I disengaged my helmet and looked over at Garrus.
"You have to be a bit more specific Garrus"
Garrus growled and looked at me with a slight bit of anger in his eyes.
"I mean how one guy took down nine Blue Suns alone with only a sword?! And what the hell was that flash bang you set off in there?! If I hadn't used a special scope I would have been blinded!"
Staring straight ahead I shrugged.
"Thanks for that last shot by the way" Garrus grunted in reply "As for what I am? I think it is quite clear what I am not" Garrus eyes widened as he looked at me.
"You are not Human are you?"
I shook my head.
"Only part of me is, I trust this information will stay between us? For now I believe it is better for everyone if they either don't know what I am, or just think I am human"
Garrus nodded silently, he seemed to be turning the information. After a good ten minutes of silent flying we arrived at some big complex close to the Citadel tower, I figured this was where I would be meeting with the Council. As we landed I looked out the windows and saw plenty of guards and security, something doesn't seem right. As Garrus was about to open the door I grabbed his shoulder.
"Garrus, when you get back to C-Sec start investigating this a little deeper, something is not right. Kidnapping a Councilor? That is a job for way more than 20 Blue Suns, someone had to have been pulling the strings, and also may I suggest putting a shadow guard on the councilors?"
Garrus was silent as he only nodded, realizing that we shouldn't be speaking for too long. As we both stepped out a few of the guards escorted me inside a rather extravagant room, from the looks of it I would suspect this is where the council entertains their more important guests, like the leaders of each race. A few minutes following my own arrival the door opened once more, and in stepped the three members of the council whom could very well be dead in a few months, or moments depending on how they behave. Sparatus was the first to react, he walked forward and put his hand forward for me to shake, I stared at his hand for a few seconds before turning on my distorter and shaking his hand.
"And here he is! The one I have to thank for my safety that was a brave thing you did back there"
I glanced over at the two other council members who were slowly approaching as well.
"It was nothing Councilor; I merely lend my aid to C-Sec whom did most of the work"
The Asari Councilor Tevos was next to speak
"It may have been so, but from what Sparatus have told us then you were to thank for his original rescue, and C-Sec merely secured him?"
"That is true, but do not be so quick to discredit C-Sec, without their presence I would not have been able to sneak into the warehouse like I did"
Looking over at the Salarian Councilor it was quite obvious that the more I spoke, the madder he would get, and from where I was standing it looked very much like he was ready to explode at a moment's notice, when he finally looked in my direction and saw my head turned towards him he apparently had enough.
"Enough of this! What is with your voice? Why do you hide it from us? Also I highly doubt you saved Sparatus out of the good of your heart, it is quite obvious you are neither Turian, Asari or Salarian so that begs to question as to why you would help one of us, because from your structure all that is left is Batarian or Human and neither would be the first to help any one of us"
Both Sparatus and Tevos looked at their colleague with a bit of anger, and a stare that almost screamed "Watch what you say" I personally didn't care much, the Salarian Councilor has always been the suspicious type.
"That is none of your business Councilor. As for my race? What does it matter, I chose to help and that will not change however much you distrust my kind" I turned around and started walking towards the door when Sparatus spoke up.
"Wait, there must be something I can do to repay you for saving my life?"
As the door in front of me opened I turned around and looked Sparatus in the eyes.
"You owe me one"
And out the door I went; back out to the Sky car and Garrus, whom took me home to my apartment.
5 Months until Eden Prime
Three months has passed since the events with the Blue Suns, and thanks to the quick thinking of Garrus my location remains a secret he managed this by coming up with the quick lie that he "dropped me off somewhere seemingly random in the Presidium. I have also begun paying rent, a simple thing really when I stole every last credit that the original tenants had on them if I don't spend any credits at all besides paying rent, and I have enough food rations in my ship to last me until everything takes off. But these past two months have been strange, I am being followed but the method is strange. It is never the same person, but their search grid is still the same from what I have been able to gather with my own investigation these people have been trying to find my apartment, but they always report back after following me for four hours and then there is a ten minute window for me to return home before the next person starts tailing me. Last week I managed to follow one of my stalkers back to whoever it was he reports to after the four hours are up, to my surprise the person he reported back to turned out to be none other than Miss Miranda Lawson herself, truth be told I was close to flying off to Cerberus HQ and rip the head of The Illusive Man when I found out but I figured that would produce a little problem in the future when we needed Shepard resurrected. 'The great joy of knowing everything, meaning I also know what can go wrong…' I let my mind wander far and wide for a few hours before I came to a reasonable conclusion, a message to dear old TIM would serve both to get him off my back but it could also potentially give me an enemy I really don't need right now, but I can't keep going around with Cerberus spying on me.
I started following more agents back to Miranda until I was comfortable that I could evade them and follow Miranda at the same time. It took a few weeks but eventually I found out where Miranda stays, another high end apartment complex a few minutes away from me in the Presidium. She lives in the pent house unsurprisingly, but she doesn't have any security around the place, and from what the landlord told me (He was very helpful…) she never gets visitors but also only shows up once a week 'So even the "great" Miranda Lawson needs a day off…'. The following Friday I followed her wearing the Alpha-Frame, my plan is simple enough I am going to sneak in while in Loki mode and simply take the elevator along with her, the door won't close before I make my way inside. Unsurprisingly it went just as I had expected, I followed her into her apartment in cloak and went inside the elevator with her. 'Her ability to detect others is severely lacking' as we arrived in the pent house I walked into the living room and looked around, the place was most likely filled with bugs and cameras, they needed to be taken care of. A minor EMP should function just fine, I created the minor blast by simply releasing raw energy from my Warframe, I knew it had all worked when most of the electricity in the apartment (which meant just about everything) sparked for a few seconds and died. I switched my Warframe back to neutral while I was waiting, and during the transformation I heard footsteps behind me, signaling the arrival of Miranda.
"Miss Lawson, I hope you do not mind I let myself in"
I must admit she was remarkably quick to put on a very businesslike face, and the smile on her face clearly indicated that she expected me to be standing here one day.
"Not at all, we have been looking for you for a while in fact; you are incredibly good at hiding your location"
"Yes I am aware, your agents were getting quite disturbing and may I suggest you pull them all after today? If not then you will have to start explaining to The Illusive Man why you are sending so many body bags back to your headquarters"
Her face faulted when I spoke of TIM, she is a woman who prides herself in secrecy, so someone figuring out who she works for was probably not on the top ten things he thought anyone would ever find out.
"You know of my employer? Good, that will speed up the process, I am here to follow on the confirmation of the rumors of you being human, my boss would like to offer you a job he has a very generous offer in mind, one that only requires us to look over your armor and then get a blood sample from you, and the pay is good, very good"
She spoke with conviction and a spring in her voice that indicted that she really believed what TIM was telling her, I of course know better and have nothing but disdain for the man.
"Tempting Miss Lawson, but I don't work for terrorist; also would you kindly open up a holo communication with your boss? I too wish to speak with him"
"The only way that is going to happen is…"
"Is with Orianna's corpse hanging inside your private quarters?"
A little morbid I will agree, but sadly Orianna is the only thing that at this time could potentially get Miranda to do what I want, and the effect is instantaneous. All color drained from her cheeks and slowly I saw the fear in her eyes start to spread, and then before I knew it she had drawn her pistol and fired… big mistake when she kept firing and the damn thing overheated. When she was finally done I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Miss Lawson… Are you sure that is the smartest path of action? I must assume the rumors about me being human started after the Blue Suns incident?" She nodded "Then you are aware of what I am capable off, that aside you now know that I at least know that Orianna exists, and as such most likely I also know her location and you still think it is a good idea to discharge a weapon at me?"
It is quite odd how three hundred plus years can make it so easy to be a cold blooded bastard. Miranda simply started shaking and looked at her weapon realizing it was no longer overheated she pointed the gun at me once more but hesitated, she seemed to be thinking it through for once. After a few minutes of me standing with my arms crossed and Miranda trying to figure out whatever to try and shoot me again or not, she finally spoke.
"You promise that if I let you talk to The Illusive Man you won't hurt Orianna?"
I nodded and she gestured for me to follow her. We went into a little room that had the same kind of table that is on the SR2, Miranda turned it on and stepped up and waited for the call to be received, when I heard a voice ring out through the room.
"Miranda, don't you usually take this night off?"
Before she could answer I planted a strike at the back of her neck which caused her to black out, I dragged her out and placed her next to the table and then stepped inside the holo communicator myself. When I finally got my first look at TIM I must say I was impressed, the man radiates and aura that demands respect, too bad for him that I don't have any to give.
"I see… You must be the one we have been tracking, am I correct?"
"Your assumption is correct Mr. Harper"
Now Mr. Jack Harper is notorious for never showing any emotion, but as soon as I used his last name his face faulted, it turned into a very interesting grimace, as if I had sprouted the biggest secret in human history.
"How do you know that name?"
"My knowledge extends to a great many thing Mr. Harper. As for the reason I wanted this call, I simply wish to present a deal to you. From now on you will stay out of my business and in turn I will stay out of yours, does that sound agreeable?"
He fell into silence as he kept drawing on his cigarette; he seemed to be in very deep thought. 'I hope he doesn't do something stupid, I don't have the time to go deal with him'
"I assume this means that you wish for me to withdraw my agents?" I nodded "And for as long as we do not interfere with anything that you might be doing, you will then not interfere with any Cerberus projects you happen to come along?"
"Not completely Mr. Harper" I saw his eyebrow twitch for the shortest of moments "I will leave any Cerberus projects alone that will not interfere with my current mission, should one of these projects interfere with my mission I will however take it down"
He went back to thinking, probably trying to find a way to get me to work for him. I was getting slightly impatient with the man after standing for a good minute or so 'There is a limit to your thinking…'. When he finally looked ready to speak I almost cracked a smile.
"This is not the outcome I expected, but I guess this is the best I will get from you"
"No Mr. Harper it is not. The best you have gotten from me is your life, I have already had plenty of opportunities to kill you but have refrained from such, and you will play an important role in my future plans Mr. Harper so I will see you live until then. Your final words Jack?"
When I finally used his real name his demeanor changed completely, where he before had been sitting in his chair emitting this aura of respect, he now stood up and dropped his cigarette to the floor, anger clear in his eyes.
"I don't take threats lightly, remember that"
He disconnected the call. Looking down in Miranda I felt a small sense of guilt, she isn't that bad of a person really, she just needs to get her head on straight in regards to Cerberus. I bend down and lifted her up in my arms and carried her into the bedroom (after I found it) and placed her on her bed, I found some paper and a writing utensil in her apartment and left a note.
Orianna's location is safe with me.
Don't trust anyone when you need to move her, not even Niket.
Only move her yourself.
-Echo
I walked out of the apartment the same way I came in, this time I didn't bother with the cloak since there was no need. 'Hopefully that note will keep Orianna safe' as I finally reached my home I went inside and got to bed 'I made a powerful enemy today…'. That night was one of the few where I wasn't plagued by nightmares.
1 Month until Eden Prime
Two months have passed since my encounter with TIM, and he has been trying to prove his point of "I don't take threats lightly" by sending more agents to follow me but that seized about one week ago, when he finally got the message. All it took was eight of his agents to die, and a few warnings left carved into their corpses. But TIM is low on my list for now this is mostly due to one particular presence I was feeling constantly of late, it is the same presence I used to feel back in the other dimension, the feeling I would get when The Stalker was close by and when I felt that feeling for the first time I froze in place and nearly killed everyone in my near vicinity to find him, but I cooled down after a while and eventually put that idea in the back of my mind, but I kept feeling the presence and I kept looking out for it but nothing was ever there.
Today I had decided to calm my mind with a walk around the Presidium, most people would look a little oddly after me because of Nikana, but most everyone else just ignored me like I was another part of their daily lives. Passing over the bridge that was between the C-Sec elevator and towards the Consort Chambers I actually entertained the thought of going inside and getting an appointment, but knowing her fairly long waiting list and my own lack of will to sleep with an Asari I chose to move on and continued toward the shops. When I finally passed most of the various shops that was in the Presidium I eventually found myself in front of a familiar door 'The shop of Barla Von, agent of the Shadow Broker… I don't really need to deal with him yet, but it couldn't hurt to inform him that he cannot hide from me either' with that in mind I stepped inside the shop which turned out to be rather plain, there was a desk with Barla Von behind it and a file cabinet behind him, that was it. When I approached Barla Von he looked up and even though I couldn't see his face I knew he was smiling.
"Ah Mr. Echo! *Wheeze* How splendid to finally *Wheeze* see you in my shop!"
The little guy was wheezing more so than usual perhaps because he was exited or perhaps it was something else.
"Mr. Von I assume from your enthusiastic greeting that your employer has already heard of me?"
"Yes indeed *Wheeze* he has been wishing to give you a formal message *Wheeze* for a while now, I must say I am grateful that *Wheeze* you arrived when you did"
"I see. I assume I have not acquired your employer's ire just yet?"
"My of course not Mr. Echo *Wheeze* your small scuffle with the Blue Suns and Cerberus *Wheeze* my employer on the other hand thanks you! *Wheeze* He has acquired good business since your endeavors with both organizations *Wheeze* But this leads me to the first part of the message which is a request *Wheeze* for information regarding yourself and the armor you wear"
'The Shadow Broker wishes to know about me and my armor, unsurprising'
"My apologies Mr. Von but that information is classified and will not be shared with anyone"
"Ahh… and from your personality I must assume *Wheeze* that no amount of credits will change your mind?" I shook my head "A shame really but in that case, my employer then simply wishes to extend his greetings *Wheeze* and hope that you will consider him for your future information needs"
"Well Mr. Von, you can pass a message along to your employer for me then." He nodded "Good, the message is simple it is but a sentence and a word. The sentence is "I know" and the word is "Yahg" and that will be all for now Mr. Von have a pleasant day"
"You as well *Wheeze* Mr. Echo"
I walked out the office with the knowledge that I just potentially made the worst enemy one could make or perhaps the greatest ally, at least until he is killed and replaced by Liara.
I spent the remainder of the day walking around the Presidium, taking in the various sights and simply enjoying the lively feeling that was present, lord knows it will be gone in a few months' time. As I passed by a row of shops a smell stopped me dead in my tracks as I inhaled the scent a memory danced across my eyes.
==Memory/Flashback?==
It was dark and the only light I could see in the sky was the fireworks on my left stood two older men; one was only three years ahead of me, while the other was thirty years ahead of me. We all stood in silence and watched the fireworks light up the sky in all manner of colors and shapes, the older one of the two men, my father, was standing with a cigar in his hand and the smell of it had spread across the whole balcony I enjoyed the smell, it was only once a year my father would smoke a cigar and it was on new year's eve, he always claimed that he wouldn't end one year without smoking one and so far he had held on to that tradition. My father passed the cigar to his right into the hands of my older brother who took a few draws and exhaled a smoke ring, my father and I laughed at his antics while he proceeded to hand the cigar to me, I didn't smoke nor would I ever start but I had taken to enjoying the one cigar a year alongside my father and brother, when I took my first draw I inhaled by mistake and started coughing violently, my father and brother laughed while my brother slapped my back to help with the coughing and once I could breathe again I joined them in their laughter.
==Memory/Flashback? End==
The memory was a pleasant one, one of the few memories I have that still make me smile. I glanced into the store a few times before agreeing with myself that it was a tradition that was long overdue to be revived, as I entered the shop I saw that the sole worker of the shop was an elderly man with a full with beard and a pair of half glasses, he was reading a book while drinking what smelled like extremely strong coffee. As I approached the man he looked up at me with eyes that matched his age.
"Can I help you Sir?"
I smiled slightly
"Yes I think you can, I need a small case of cigars, around twenty should suffice for now though I must admit I have no knowledge on the subject so an expert's opinion would be most welcome, and thank you sir"
The elderly gentleman stared me up and down before nodding sagely a few times.
"Ever smoked a cigar before?"
"Five if my count is right"
"I see… strong lungs?" I nodded with a small smile "Very well, then I think I have just the thing"
He moved out back and returned a few minutes later with a small box and opened it up, revealing twenty cigars neatly packed together.
"Here you go sir. Mild with a bit of an after taste, also all the necessary things needed"
I nodded and took the box and looked it over, at the bottom a word was etched into it, it was very old so I couldn't make out the word, and glancing up at the elderly man he saw what I was looking at
"Care to know what it says?" I nodded "It's a family name, you see that box is especially old it was made in 2015 by a young man after he too started smoking cigars, his name was "Kim *********""
I gently put the box down on the table and stared at it, my mind was racing along with my heart if my tears hadn't dried up many decades ago they would surely have fallen now, that name… that was my older brothers name. My mind refused to believe it and I looked at the elderly man with great confusion
"W-Why do you have it then sir?"
A warm smile spread across the elderly man's features as reached over and patted me a few times on the shoulder.
"Well it's a family heirloom, I am the last decedent of Kim *********"
"Why would you sell me your family's heirloom?"
The elderly man laughed and looked me over once more
"Because I have no children to pass this on too, and I feel like it belongs with you so make an old man happy and use it well?"
I took the box in my hands once more and nodded silently; the elderly man accepted my payment and sent me off on my way, but before I exited the shop I turned around
"If it is not too much sir, what is your name?"
The elderly man laughed again
"I was named Kim after the one who made the box"
I smiled warmly at him and nodded once before exiting the store. It took me a while longer than usual to make it home, since I walked much slower than usual. When I finally got inside my home I put the box down and took out one cigar, I prepared it and lit it up, drawing a few times before exhaling the smoke and tasting the cigar I remembered the taste from New Year's Eve 2012, the last cigar I ever shared with my father and brother.
Day of Eden Prime
Funny the way patience works, or at least the way mine works. Today it was exactly ten months to the day sine I arrived in the Mass Effect world, and Eden Prime still hadn't occurred. I was walking down the Presidium Plaza trying to clear my head when I noticed a large gathering of people standing next to one of the huge holo news screens, I stepped up behind them and looked at the latest news something interesting must obviously have happened since the news bothered to report it, however what I read send me running at full speed the headline had read "EDEN PRIME ATTACKED!" that however did not send me into gear, what the anchorwoman said next did "Also a firefight seems to be ongoing down in the wards at the club known as Chora's Den" that had sent me running. I leapt into my ship and almost threw on my Alpha-Frame and grabbed my Nikana and ran out the door once again.
I made my way down a lot of side passages that connected the Wards to the Presidium if one knew which passages to take. When I finally came around the parts of the Wards I needed to be in I turned a corner only to be met with a problematic sight, Tali was standing and talking with the Turian hired by Saren and looking across the ally I saw Shepard and her crew come around the corner. I don't know who saw who first, but I reacted first by drawing my Nikana and using a basic foot technique to speed down the ramp and meet the Turian with a decapitating slash, on my way down I heard Shepard shout a few orders to her team. After the Turian had lost his head I turned around and met one of the salarians with the hilt of my blade knocking him down, looking up to the side I saw Garrus ready a shot so rather than bother with the last salarian still standing I turned to the one I knocked down, I brought my sword up and swung it back down with equal speed and took of the head of the salarian, when I turned to the last one I just managed to catch his head exploding from a well-placed sniper shot. As all three of the would be attackers lie dead at my feet I saw Shepard and her team slowly approaching me, when Shepard came into proper view I was surprised I was expecting the classic red hair and green eyes with a slight pale skin, instead I was met by a tan skinned woman with jet black hair tied up in a ponytail, her eyes however remained a deep green which held that piercing gaze. As they all approached I closed my eyes and focused, I wanted to check if there was anyone hiding nearby but what I felt made my eyes fly open and before anyone could speak or react I brought my blade up to Tali's neck .
"One wrong move and the Quarian dies"
A/N: MUHAHAHA CLIFFHANGER! Chapter 4 will be up as soon as possible, I ran into some difficulties so I can only upload 1-3 sorry. Well for this chapter I am sure some of you have guessed that "total rewrite" isn't completely true, I have changed some events and added some new ones and removed a few others, but that is the way most of the story will go for now, you will be reading a lot of the same just in a different setting and with different outcomes, which I guess does mean you are technically reading something new…