Authors Note: Okay, this one took my brain and ran away. It did get away from me a bit and I will tell you it is part one of two. I'm quite proud of this one and its buddy that I'm working on right now.
I'd like to thank Ipander for the continued encouragement and support. You've been awesome. Really.
Thank you to all the favorites and follows and thank you all for being patient with me as I follow the game and set things up. I know this is what you all have been waiting for, this one is 100% original. Enjoy and as always, reviews are helpful and very much welcome.
Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"
Chapter Five: The Not So Simple Plan
Joker's voice carried through Sidda's quarters; she was busy sleeping off a rough mission on some frozen icebox that had a minor lead on whatever the 'Conduit' was that Saren was searching for. It was said the planet had a Prothean ruin or two but it turned out to be a fruitless venture. Running around on the planet that was a frigid environmental hazard was not her idea of fun and she nearly throttled Liara when she found nothing worthwhile on the planet. There was another fun and exciting excursion in the Mako with Sidda at the helm but that was a tale for another day.
"Commander?" Joker questioned and got no response from her. "Commander? Hello?"
Sidda groaned and pulled the blankets off her face. "What?" she snapped.
"You have a message coming in…its coded in with a Turian scrambler." Joker stated and Sidda sat up, sharply regretting it immediately while putting her hand on her still sore ribs.
"Oh, son of a bitch." She hissed and got out of bed. "Put it through here." She was slow to get up as the past few weeks had taken a toll on her body.
The screen at the desk changed to the face of one specific Turian, her Turian. She knew it was him calling on a scrambled Turian channel so didn't bother to put a shirt over the black sports bra. Her bruised side was clearly visible and that was the first thing that he saw. "Sid…are you okay?"
"Yep, Krogan…me…bad combination." She stated and smiled looking at him.
Victus narrowed his expression. "Everything alright?"
"No." she replied simply and sighed. "God, it's good to see you."
Victus' tone told her something was off. He was happy to see her as well but he had something she needed to see. "You too..." he said and sighed deeply. "but this isn't a social call, Sid, I have some information for you and you're gonna want to see it."
Her eyes narrowed to his tone. "What is it?"
"I'm not going to say over the comm even if the line is scrambled." He stated. "I'm transmitting coordinates with this, I need to see you there…as soon as possible."
"What's the problem?" she asked.
"Just meet me, Sid, please." He said and Sidda nodded.
"Be there as soon as we can." She said and Victus lingered a moment as she saw him look her up and down.
"One more thing." He said and she cocked her head to him.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Take that top off." He stated and if a wolfish smile had a tone Victus' was it.
Sidda blushed a little and leaned forward on the desk giving him a nice cleavage view. "When I see you." She said and heard Victus purr. "You can have all you want."
The Normandy appeared out of thin air as its mass effect core spat them out only a few 100 kliks off of where Joker had intended it to be. With Sidda standing behind him he almost felt like he was under a microscope, Kaidan in the navigation seat snorted as the pilot kept glancing over his should trying to see if the Commander was still there. Sidda wasn't interested in Joker's piloting skills, she knew he could jump them across the galaxy and everything would be fine, she was more interested in the cryptic things Adrien had said. He said he had information for her but didn't want to share it over a totally scrambled Turian comm line. That was the odd part, whatever he had was big.
Joker piloted the nose around and the forward view ports filled with familiar Turian frigate. Easily twice the size of the Normandy, the Lante dwarfed its hybrid cousin. She may have outsized and out gunned the Normandy but she definitely couldn't out run her. The Tantalus core was a prize to have but not very cost effective to install.
The Normandy shook as the Lante docked with it. Victus' message said he had some information on Saren that she might want to see. After what happened to Nihlus and being made a Spectre her emotions were all over the place. There was no doubt in her mind Victus would be a welcome sight. In truth, the crew of the Lante was going to be a welcome sight…except for Rajin. She'd married Nihlus less than a year ago and Sidda wasn't looking forward to facing her.
The airlock cycled and opened revealed Victus' towering figure. Sidda smiled, she was so happy to see him. "Adrien…" she stated with the biggest brightest smile she could muster. "you have no idea how good it is to see you."
News about what happened to Nihlus, Saren's disgrace, and the subsequent galaxy wide manhunt for him spread through Turian space. "I can imagine." He replied stepping forward to her observing her body language. "You alright?" he asked and she minded her surroundings. The CIC, the cockpit, lots of people watching.
She maintained her professionalism. "You want a tour?"
Victus maintained the professionalism as well and straightened, like he usually did when there was something important that he had to do. "Later. We need to talk. Maridus will be along soon to join us."
Sidda nodded to his directness, she always loved that about him. He didn't beat around the bush or hum and ha over things. He was typically short, sweet, and to the point. He'd done that with her when they'd met. He saw something he wanted and went for it and now they had a stable relationship that wasn't popular with everyone. She led him through the CIC and to the Comm room that doubled as the briefing room.
The door closed behind them and she felt his arms scoop her up and turned her toward him. He pressed his forehead to hers and held her tight against him. "Are you okay?" he asked noticing that she wasn't acting like herself. He'd heard of the flurry of things that happened all in the span of a few days and hoped that it didn't overwhelm her. She already looked like she was barely hanging on and he wanted to do everything he could to help her.
Sidda really wasn't okay but she didn't want to get into that right now, there was too much for her to do to fall apart now. She stroked his left mandible with her right hand and stretched up as far as she could to kiss him. He helped the short human and bent down so their mouths met. She felt better now that he was here but it was only a stop gap. She broke from the kiss by returning to a flat footed stance. "I don't want to get into that now…let's take care of this first." She stated and turned away from him leaving him slightly confused by her actions, pulling away from him wasn't like her. "So what's the secret information?" she asked spurring the conversation on and Victus went with it for now.
He walked up to the far console and input an OSD. "Desala was able to track odd shipments to Rothla." He stated and Sidda narrowed her eyes.
That name rang a bell. "Rothla. Why do I know that?" she asked.
"In the Krogan DMZ." Maridus chimed in joining them. "Nice ship, Sidda." He greeting as she gave him a hug. "How are you doing?"
She took a step back from him and snorted. "Tired of people asking me that." She replied.
Maridus nodded to her tone and moved past it. "Rothla was the site of a mystery weapon built by the Krogans during the rebellions. Whatever it was it blew the ice dwarf planet into pieces but no one knows what it was because it killed everyone on the planet as well. To appease the galactic community it's a no fly zone for anyone. CDEM maintains a strict quarantine of the debris field."
"So when Desala's intelligence contacts found odd shipments she did some more digging and found and found this." Victus said and showed them on the briefing display. "Palaven Intelligence shows a base on one of the larger chunks is fully functional."
Sidda's eyes narrowed. "So how do you know this is connected to Saren?" she stated. "Those shipments could be for CDEM…and the Council is just sneaky enough to put a base in the middle of it to keep an eye on everyone."
"Rumors mainly according to Desala." He said. "Listening posts and spy drones have captured images of Geth, somehow able to get in under the nose of the Council."
Sidda blinked; there was an obvious question that she had to ask. "Wait, wait. If this planet is supposed to be demilitarized by the Council and the Turians are the enforcers why haven't you done something about it before now?"
"Command doesn't know I'm here with this. Desala found this and this image of Saren in the Rothla field a week ago. Palaven Intel probably thought it was Spectre related but given recent events with Saren on Eden Prime...it's likely this is a base of his because he had no other reason to be there." Victus replied and Sidda pressed a button to start flipping through the data.
"We'll need a little more intelligence on its specs on the ground before we do anything." Sidda said and Victus looked from her to Maridus and then back again.
"You'll need to." He emphasized and she cocked her head confused, he read the expression and preempted the question. "If Palaven Command knew I was here giving you this information I would be court martialed, but I want that bastard caught same as you."
Sidda leaned on the console away from him and thought a moment. She understood that his hands were tied and appreciated the lengths he went to give her this. "We can use the stealth drive, get in, take some detailed scans, and get out."
"I can't go in with you but I can give you some help. Two men and any support aid we can give you, name who you want." Victus said and Sidda appreciated the help. She had a chance to strike at Saren, if in fact that this was good and current intelligence.
With the first-hand knowledge of the Lante's personnel she thought a moment about who she wanted. Victus was her first choice. The seasoned General was second to no one but she got the feeling that there was no way in hell he would be able to come along even if he wanted to. Maridus was a top choice also. The tech infiltrator was a well-rounded operator and he was skilled with a sniper rifle, but the issues with picking the both of them was that would exhaust the Lante's commanding officer and executive officer leaving, in all likelihood, Cerrus in command maybe Ruvio. "I'm going to assume you two are off limits." She said and they both looked at each other. Maridus was flattered that he was among her first choices. Victus nodded and that was what she figured. With the elimination of those two there was one name she knew she wanted and one name she needed but could do without. "Nov and Cerrus then."
Victus could have bet money on Nov being a name she wanted. Those two were like two peas in a pod regardless about how he felt about it. Victus managed to keep his hackles down while thinking about Sidda and Nov working together and trusted the woman he loved. Her selecting Cerrus was a little surprising. She was either tactically brilliant or a glutton for punishment since Cerrus would probably fight her every step of the way. "You sure?" he asked confirming her choices.
She nodded confident in who she wanted and the reasons why. "I need a planner if we wind up assaulting that base and you said it yourself…Cerrus is the best and Cal can handle anything I throw at him."
"Are you recruiting new members to our rag tag band, Shepard?" another Turian voice said from the door to the briefing room. Maridus recognized it immediately and snorted.
"Well, she must be desperate for help because she's got you here." Maridus shot back making Garrus chuckle. The two clasped their right hands together in a grip that was all the way up to the others elbows. "It's been too long, Garrus." Maridus greeted his best friend in the whole wide world.
Garrus nodded to that. He hadn't seen his childhood friend in about two years and that was too long for either of them. Garrus had no brothers and Maridus was an only child, together they were brothers. "Yes it has. How's Solana?" he asked.
"Good. Very good." Maridus answered. "Did she tell you the news? You're gonna be an uncle?"
That took Sidda by surprise and she blinked and Garrus nodded to Maridus. "She did. Congratulations, Dad." He replied making Maridus chuckle.
Sidda folded her arms across her chest as Victus stood behind her left shoulder. "The last time I talked to you I asked you if there was anything new going on…you didn't think 'Damar is going to be a dad' qualified as news?" she asked and Victus dropped his head.
"I forgot, I'm sorry." He replied and Sidda snorted letting him know that she wasn't mad.
"Congratulations, Damar." She stated and Maridus nodded to her appreciating the sentiment. "So this is the infamous duo I was warned about; Garrus Vakarian and Damar Maridus."
"You're looking at the two best snipers the academy has ever seen." Maridus stated and Garrus scoffed.
"Actually, I'm the best…he is a distant second." Garrus replied and cocked his head.
"Distant second?" Maridus questioned. "Distant second, that's what you're going with? You missed the measly 800 meter shot, your greatness."
"But I still won the tournament." Garrus stated and Maridus turned toward his lifelong friend leaving Sidda and Victus forgotten.
"Because you cheated." Maridus replied bluntly.
"I didn't cheat, I just bent the rules." Garrus shot back with a smirk as Sidda snickered.
"Bent? Bent? Try broke, Vakarian."
"So which one of you two is the better shot?" Sidda asked and Victus looked down at her sharply nearly scolding her for fanning the flames.
"I am." They both replied in unison.
"I am the best shot, Garrus. A pretty girl yelled your name and you missed…consistency amid distraction is kind of important for a Sniper." Maridus prattled on and Sidda chuckled at the thought of Garrus missing a simple shot because of a girl.
"My record at the academy still stands as does the one at C-Sec." Garrus stated proudly. "Even your mother says I'm a better shot than you."
Maridus eyed his friend. "Well, she always did like you more than me."
"And the great debate continues." Garrus stated and looked to Sidda. "I'm sorry, Commander, General."
They both waved off the childish display and Sidda found it quite amusing. "Damar, can you get Nov and Cerrus onboard please?" Victus asked as they all headed out of the briefing room, now that they had a general plan of what they were going to be doing.
As they left the briefing room and walked passed the galaxy map they heard a commotion coming from the airlock. "Ma'am, you do not have authorization to come onboard." She heard one of her marines say, and when she got closer to the scuffle she recognized the Turian female arguing with one of the Alliance Marines.
"Hold on. Hold on, Corporal, it's okay." Sidda stated and the soldier immediately backed off.
Sidda looked the Turian up and down, the tall figure with the black hand print face markings and silvery eyes…this was a meeting Sidda had been dreading. "Deliah."
Rajin punched Sidda in the mouth so hard it knocked Sidda off her feet. She fell back and felt the back of her head bounce off the deck. Rajin's hit stunned her but she heard Maridus bark at her.
"Hey! Get your ass back to the Lante, Lieutenant, now!" he barked at her.
"No." Sidda managed and sat up with the assistance from Victus on the right and Garrus on the left. Her hand went to the back of her head and she hissed in pain but felt no blood. "Deliah-…" she began but was cut off.
"You were supposed to watch his back!" Rajin barked.
Sidda wiped the blood from her mouth. "I tried, Deliah, I reall-…"
"Not hard enough!" she roared taking a step toward the smaller human and Maridus stepped in the way. "He was proud that the Council accepted his recommendation and you let him die!"
Everything Rajin was saying was the truth; it was her fault that Nihlus was dead so she didn't blame Rajin for actions right now. She said nothing and just listened but Victus saw the expression on her face. He turned his attention from her to his subordinate, Rajin was hurting right now and he honestly couldn't blame her. "Get back to the ship, Lieutenant, I'll deal with you later." He stated and it took a moment for Rajin's cold glare to shift from Sidda and up to him.
"No. No." Sidda stated and she looked to Garrus. "Garrus, could you take her down below so she can go through Nihlus' locker?"
Garrus nodded and gestured for Rajin to come with him. The Turian female was angry and hurt and probably emotionally distraught.
Sidda's anger was reaching the breaking point and that was something that Victus could see plain as day. If she was pissed off before with everything that was going on she was even more so now since she'd been flattened by Rajin and accused of allowing Nihlus to be killed whether it be intentional or accidental. Her mouth was bleeding from the hit, and even he'd heard her head smack the deck when she fell, so she probably had a major headache now.
He followed her into her quarters as she moved with angry purpose. "Sidda, are you alright?" he asked again this time trying to get an answer out of her.
"No." she snapped back as the door to her quarters closed behind Victus.
"Then talk to me." He said in a tone that rang more of a plea.
Sidda finally snapped as she picked up a cloth to dab at the blood that was still leaking from her mouth. "I told Nihlus to wait!" she barked. "The stubborn bastard ignored me."
Victus stepped close to her and put a hand on her arm. "It's not your fault." He said. "Nihlus was a soldier…a damn good one-…"
Sidda shook his hand off her arm and stepped away from him. He'd never seen her so angry, this beat out the tantrum she threw when Cerrus disobeyed an order she gave him. "And shot in the back by someone he trusted because he didn't have someone there to watch his back!" She snapped sounding angry with herself. "Me. I wasn't there to help him!"
Victus replaced his hand on her arm and Sidda tried to shake it away again, angry and upset but Victus didn't let her go. "Sidda…it's not your fault."
"It is my fault! Who else's fault would it be?" she barked back and Victus answered.
"Saren's." He answered firmly. "Not yours."
Sidda composed herself, a little embarrassed that she came unglued like that. The rage burned so deep within her, she'd never felt like this before. She'd been angry and upset but this was completely different. "I have never wanted to kill someone more than I want to kill Saren. I've never wanted to reach down someone's throat and rip their heart out as badly as I wanna do right now." She stated calmly and Victus hand a hand on both shoulders trying to get her to calm down.
Victus quietly observed her; he couldn't help the sense of worry. "You'll get him, Sid, and I'm gonna help you do it."
Sidda let herself fall into an embrace and he was more than happy to wrap his arms around her and give her all the comfort and support she needed.
A few hours later Victus had returned to the Lante to scold the hell out of Rajin for acting entirely unprofessional and for slugging his girlfriend. He could understand how she was feeling but he still expected a certain level of decorum from his officers. Sidda felt a little better, being comforted by Victus in more ways than one helped relieve the stress to a point. Rajin's words still rang through loud and clear. She was responsible for Nihlus' death; she was supposed to watch his back not let someone put a bullet in it.
She had hashed out a few mission details with Joker and Pressley and had decided not to tell the Council that she was about to invade a Krogan DMZ no fly zone, although the look on Sparatus' face would have been worth it. Joker, of course had no problem using the stealth system to spy on Rothla, the site of one of the biggest urban legends in the galaxy, but Pressley was decidedly against it. That man followed the rules to the letter but he was decent first officer.
Sidda and Garrus' discussion about her Mako driving skills carried through the Bay loud enough for Ashley to join in. The vote was unanimous; Sidda was a terrifying Mako driver.
"This thing is a tank, Sidda, not a Skycar." Garrus stated and Sidda passed it off.
"Then maybe we should get a ground vehicle that can keep up with me, Garrus." She replied.
"Or, you could let one of us drive…you know…someone who has a license to drive not a license to render the occupants into organic goo." Garrus stated and Sidda turned her head toward him.
"Are you saying I'm a bad driver?" she asked and the Turian stammered.
"Not at all…" Ashley chimed in. "We're saying you're a horrible driver." She stated and Sidda glowered between the two of them. "I've never been carsick a day in my life, Skipper, one ride with you…"
Sidda scoffed to them. "Fine…next time we go out ya'll get to fight over who gets to drive."
Ashley and Garrus looked at each other sharply. "I do." They both said in unison.
"So, besides voicing your displeasure of my driving skills, Garrus, how is the Mako?"
"As I said before…you damn near broke the front axle launching off an 800 foot drop but other than that…it's fine…would be better if you'd let someone else drive."
"You sound like a mother hen." She retorted and Garrus cocked his head.
"I don't know what that is, Commander, and I'm not sure if I like it."
Sidda continued to banter with Garrus and Ashley about the condition of the Mako after she drives it or launches it off a mountain. Her conversation carried on as the elevator door opened, Sidda was locked into the conversation she was having and paid the door no mind. Garrus and Ashley saw two Turians step off the lift. One with bright red paint on his face and the other with subtle purple markings, they were from the Lante, Garrus knew that. The one with red paint held his right forefinger to his lips telling them to be quiet as the other one seemed uninterested in what was going on.
The red painted one crept up behind Sidda and snatched her up with the quickness of a cat. Sidda yelped, startled, and was slung over the left shoulder of the Turian. "Hi, I'm looking for Cdr. Shepard. She's got brown hair, about yey high, have you seen her?" Nov asked indicating her height his chest.
She stifled the grimace in her tender left side. "Cal, put me down." Sidda said figuring out almost immediately whose shoulder she was slung over. "Hi, Cerrus."
"Commander." He replied simply.
Nov bent forward and set her back on her feet with a chuckle. "Oh, there she is."
Sidda couldn't help but giggle to the class clown that was Callus Nov. "Well, I see your shoulder's better." She stated patting the once shattered shoulder. "How ya doing, Cal?"
Nov dipped his head to her respectfully; she was the one person he dreamed of seeing for a year. "Better now, how are you?" he replied and Sidda's smile remained but her cheeks flushed a little. She spared him the truthful answer about how she was doing and turned toward the others.
"Guys, this is Capt. Cerrus and Lt. Nov from the Lante. This is Chief Williams and-…"
"Garrus Vakarian." Nov finished. "I remember...you're Solana's brother."
"Callus Nov…I remember you too." Garrus replied and they shook hands.
"And it's 'Captain' Nov now." Nov stated and Sidda looked at him surprised.
"A promotion…congratulations, Captain." She stated shaking his hand.
Nov nodded to her and was elated to see her again. He was screaming inside and had been since being told that they were meeting up with her new ship. Outside he kept it all under wraps, he had to act professional. "Thank you." He replied kindly, he wanted so bad to get the download from her. Where she'd been, what she'd done, how she was in the past year but that would have to wait. They were here for a purpose and that needed to be tended to first.
"Garrus, can you take them to the briefing room. Chief, help me round everyone else up." She said and they both nodded disbursing to all congregate in the briefing room. Nov and Cerrus knew why they were there but the rest of her crew didn't know that they were about to spy on a debris field right under the Council's nose."
The Briefing Room was at capacity, with Sidda and her team present she was also joined by Cerrus, Nov, Maridus, and Victus. Even Joker made his way from the cockpit to the briefing room to be present for this. Sidda allowed Maridus to conduct the briefing and leaned on the wall next to Victus. She still wasn't herself, the more she stood idle the worse she got, she wanted Saren dead and she wanted him dead now. She had plans for Saren's head and preferred it on a pike in the CIC. Victus was worried about her, the rage made her determined but also careless.
Sidda listened quietly as Maridus explained the Intelligence they had gathered and that its location made it worth investigating. She had seen enough, Geth had been sighted and Saren as well.
"Rothla?" Tali questioned. "Is that even considered a planet?"
"Technically no. Not anymore." Maridus answered and caught the look of the Krogan in his audience. He was surprised to even find a Krogan minding his manners in a room of Turians. It was odd, really odd. "During the Krogan Rebellions it was the site of a mystery explosion that destroyed nearly all of the planet. The majority of it is now a giant debris field but almost an eighth of the planet surface is intact, curvature and all…that's where this little base is located."
"What destroyed it?" Kaidan asked. What happened to Rothla was one of the biggest mysteries in the galaxy. It was fun to speculate over it but the truth was no one really knew, not even the Krogan.
The entire room seemed to look at Wrex who looked back at them and held his hands out to the side with a shrug. "What the hell are you all looking at me for? The Clan on that planet was killed when the planet was destroyed."
"Theory is it was some planetary super weapon that backfired during a test and destroyed the planet." Nov stated and now it was time for the archaeologist to weigh in.
"Another theory was the 'super biotic'." She stated and Maridus nodded with a snort.
"That one's my favorite." He stated. "The Krogan breeding a super biotic army powerful enough to destroy the Turian fleet and turn the tide of the rebellion." He recounted, now getting drawn into one of his favorite legends. "There was a novel written by Maleen Sevrus called the Rothla Experiment, it's my favorite you should try it." He said to Liara.
The Asari scientist smiled to him and nodded excited that someone else saw this type of history just as fascinating. "Oh I have, it's a fascinating piece of fiction." She replied. "You should try The Event by Leandra Taine."
Sidda rubbed her forehead as she saw various members of the crew start to fidget. "Could we get back to it, please." She asked and the 'please' was there merely for formality as her tone reflected her impatience.
Maridus had to admit he got carried away by something that had fascinated him since he was little kid. "Sorry, Commander."
"Nerd." Nov muttered loud enough for the room to hear causing several snorts, snickers, and stifled laughs.
Sidda was growing more and more impatient with each passing minute. "So if you know where the base is, why hasn't the quarantine garrison picked it up? Obviously it's not supposed to be there." She huffed trying to move this along.
"Could be just an oversight." Victus answered. "The Quarantine is meant to keep people out not keep tabs on the debris field beyond looking for rogue ricochets."
"Palaven Intel found it and they didn't even know what they were looking for." She challenged and Victus looked down at her, her tone was harsher than normal.
"Desala's theory though, and I suggest you operate under this, is that Saren had paid the garrison to look the other way." Maridus added and Sidda felt the urge to kill Saren surge within.
"Regardless, we're going to need more information. Confirm what's down there before we go in." Garrus stated and the majority of the room agreed.
"We can use the stealth system to get into the field." Joker stated and looked at the holo image of the Rothla Field that Maridus had input into the system. "But the trajectory of all the debris…we might need an erratic flight plan to look like a chunk of debris. Depends on how close the CDEM is looking."
"Why don't we just jump in, blow the base and get out, be done with it." Sidda stated and the room fell silent.
Cerrus' eyes narrowed. "Because you need intelligence, Commander." He stated. She was a smart commander he knew that. She knew the value of information and given that from what he understood of what was going on with Saren, the Geth, and the Reapers they needed all the intelligence they could get.
"He's right." Kaidan agreed. "Saren is searching for the 'Conduit' we don't know what that is." The biotic said and Victus could see Sidda's temper starting to reach its peak. "We need to get down there and plug into their computers and see what data we can capture."
"And we don't even know if Saren's here." Garrus put in. "This could be a secret base of his or a secret listening post for the Council that none of us are supposed to know about."
"I agree." Maridus said. "You definitely need more intelligence before you do anything, Sid."
Sidda stood up straight sharply losing her cool. "Alright!" she barked and then calmed her tone realizing that she just snapped at all of them. Apologizing would be pointless so she just moved on. "Joker, can you get us in without being seen and keep us hidden long enough to gather more information?"
There was only one answer to that. Whether he could or not, Joker's ego wouldn't let him say no. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Fine." She said sharply. "Draw up a plan with Pressley, when you're ready we'll execute. Dismissed." She said and walked out first leaving the rest of her crew a little confused by her outburst. Nov and Victus locked eyes, they both could tell she wasn't herself right now.
Victus jogged after her as she power-walked down the steps, presumably heading to her quarters. "Sid." He called and increased his speed to duck in front of her mid-way down the steps. "Sid, wait." Sidda stopped sharply and looked up at him. She wasn't angry or upset with him in any way, it was actually a relief to have him here but she couldn't help herself now. There were too many emotions jockeying for position and she couldn't tell what ones were hers and what ones came from that damn beacon. "Are you okay?"
Her eyes narrowed. "I swear, if someone asks me that again I'm going to punch them." She threatened and he straightened his posture.
He got right to the point with her because he sensed that fencing with her was likely going to get him shot. "You are not acting like yourself. Now you can try to punch me but I'm going to ask you this anyway and I expect an answer." He said firmly. She was stubborn just like him and he was reasonably confident that she wouldn't try to kill him because of her shorter than normal temper. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She replied but he didn't believe her and she saw that. "Adrien, I'm fine. I just want this to be done. I want to find Saren, kill him, and I want his head decorating the galaxy map."
Victus blinked. "Well, that's brutally poetic but you need to calm down." He coaxed and she looked down away from him. He put his hand on her left shoulder trying to figure out how to help her focus on something beyond killing Saren.
She nodded to him knowing full well that he right. "I'll be okay, Adrien, I promise." She said and stepped close to him hugging him tight a closing her eyes. Victus responded by doing the same and held her there.
"I don't want to see you hurt, okay." He said and stayed there for a moment before bottling up all her issues and took a step back with a deep breath.
"You and Damar might want to get back to the Lante. When Joker is ready we're going to execute this little flyby and see what we come up with." She stated and Victus nodded. He almost didn't want to leave, he was worried enough to risk a court marital but knew she would fight him every step. She was as stubborn as he was but he also knew that she could handle anything the galaxy threw at her. The part that worried about her was trumped by the part that was exceedingly confident in her.
Joker was more than capable to handle the recon while acting like a chunk of debris to fool the patrol. Sidda left Pressley and Joker in charge of the recon and joined Nov and Cerrus in the Cargo Bay. Cerrus' job was to plan, he knew that. Whatever the recon came back with would start his task, but first he needed an inventory of what the Normandy had on hand. The ship had been stocked at both the Citadel and Pinnacle Station so its arsenal was enough to make any gun bunny cheer. His problem was getting around Ashley, who trusted the Turian no further than she could throw him. They were already snipping and bickering and Sidda did her best to ignore them both.
"Hey," Nov greeted as he approached the gun bench she was hunched over. "we got some time to kill…you wanna spar?"
"No." she answered, flatly and Nov was caught a little off guard. She was always up for a spar with him, or at least she had been in the past.
"Oh, come on…bet you haven't had a decent sparring partner since you left." He encouraged and she let out a loud growl.
"I said no, Cal, what part of that don't you get?" she barked and the tall Turian cocked his head to her very peculiar attitude. Her voice carried over the Cargo Bay and everyone fell silent.
Nov took a half step back from her reading her body language, she may have been occupied with what she was doing but he still didn't want to be in striking distance. "Sid, are you okay?" he asked and she snapped slamming the tools down on the bench and spun to face him.
"Would people stop asking me that!" she roared. "No, I'm not fucking okay! I got my friend killed and I'm chasing another Spectre without a clue on where he is! I got this alien shit downloaded into my brain and I can't even make sense of it! All I know is that I'm responsible for what happened on Eden Prime and I want Saren dead, NOW, while everyone else is walking around like 'aw shucks, a Spectre died in the process and you missed Saren on Eden Prime, no problem catch him next time'. It is a problem, a big fucking problem. I got Nihlus killed and they made me a Spectre for it, so don't fucking ask me if I'm okay!" she yelled at him. Her heart was racing, and she could feel her cheeks flushed and hot with the rage that finally found an outlet.
She had gained quite the audience as her voice carried loud enough to be heard clear into the Engine Room. Tali and Adams stood in the door way observing as Garrus, Ashley, Cerrus, and Wrex all stopped what they were doing to do the same.
Nov eyed Sidda trying to figure out how to force her past the misplaced responsibility she felt for Nihlus' death. Her attitude was seriously starting to get on his nerves as he knew exactly what type of solider and leader she was. He could understand the guilt as he still felt the guilt of losing two of his own men. "It's not your fault, Sid, none of this is."
Once again he said what she didn't want to hear. Honestly, she didn't know what she wanted to hear from anyone. Was it her fault or wasn't it? Rajin's stance was pretty clear and that hurt her on some level. She cared about Nihlus and couldn't help but blame herself for the error in judgement that sent him off on that planet alone. She put all her weight into a violent shove into Nov's chest making him stagger backward a few steps.
Nov had enough of this. This wasn't Sidda. "Alright, fuck this, get over here." He ordered and his tone surprised her a little, she didn't know why after taking her rage out on him.
"What?" she growled in a tone of 'how dare you take that tone with me'.
He pointed to the center track in the cargo bay that clear and flat. "Get over here or I'm gonna drag you over here myself." He snapped sternly making her realize that he wasn't playing.
"I am not in the mood for your games, Cal." She hissed and Nov growled, he stormed over to her and roughly snatched her left wrist doing exactly what he said he'd do.
"This is not a fucking game." He growled and yanked her along into the middle of the cargo bay.
Sidda struggled against his grip, Nov would never hurt her but she honestly wasn't sure what he was doing. "Let me go, Cal." She barked.
"No." he barked back. "Not until you start acting like the Sidda I know." Sidda's temper spiked and she swung at Nov. He released her arm and blocked the strike easily and took Sidda down hard on her back. She grunted as she felt the impact in her head and shoulders. "You need to start acting like the leader you are or Saren is going to beat you." He snapped in her face and Sidda flared her biotics to knock him back and toss him off of her.
"I'm gonna put Saren in the fucking grave." She growled and got to her feet quickly as Nov recovered. He stalked toward her and got inches from her face. She was a stubborn woman and the angry wallowing was pissing him off.
"Then do it!" he yelled. "Let Nihlus go and do your fucking job!"
She ground her teeth and shoved him back sharply. "Let Nihlus go? He died because of me."
Nov mirrored her aggressive posture. "What happened to him was not your fault."
"It was my fault, I was in command…I should never have let him go alone."
"No, you shouldn't have, but you can't control everything, you know that and so did he."
"Don't you dare blame Nihlus!" she roared.
"I'm not but he knew the risks and accepted them. Things happen, Sid, let it go."
"Let it go?" she questioned barely tempering her furious tone. "You're one to talk…have you gotten over Zek and Tobius?"
That was below the belt, relevant or not and his own temper flared. He gave Sidda a solid punch to her already bruised mouth. "That's different and you know that." He growled. "I killed them by my own hand…last I checked you didn't shoot Nihlus in the back of the head." Sidda tasted the blood filling her mouth and closed her eyes to the familiar pain. That was meant to hurt her. She wiped the blood from the reopened wound from Rajin and her gaze narrowed to him as if marking her target. "Come on, Sid, take it out on me." He said quietly.
As they clashed together Ashley took a step to go a stop this but found Cerrus' arm blocking her. She shoved the Turian's and away with an evil glare. "Get your hand away from me."
Cerrus let the snarky humans tone go. "Leave them be." He said and she sneered to him.
"That may be how Turians do it but I'm not going to let him try to beat on her." She stated in a condescending tone.
"Just leave them alone. He won't hurt her." He assured as Nov blocked Sidda's enraged attacked. "He never would."
She was normally more precise; this made it easier for Nov to see her attacks coming and block them. That didn't mean this was one sided, enraged and inaccurate or not she was still holding her own against him. He was making sure that he didn't hit too hard or hurt her…that was not the intention. He blocked a right hook and found she had left her left side open for a counter and he punched her low on the ribcage. Sidda dropped to one knee with a cry of pain putting her left hand over the tender ribs that couldn't catch a single break.
The cry of pain was real and he worried he actually hurt her. "Sid-…" he began and she muster the last defiance she had taking another swing at him. He caught it and trapped her arm behind her back pulling her into what looked like a hug. He had both of her hands trapped behind her back and looked down at her find her rage filled hazel eyes staring back at him. "That's enough, that's enough." He said quietly loud enough for only her to hear. Her anger fizzled as the rage finally met an outlet when she'd erupted on him…next to Victus he was the last person she wanted to see her like this. "Calm down."
"Cal, I-…" she began as he let go of her arms and she felt him clasp his hands together holding her in a close hug.
"Shh…it's okay." He cooed and saw the crowd start to disburse, receiving ire from Ashley as she was herded out of the cargo bay by Cerrus. He felt her hands come under his and grip the back of his tunic as she buried her face in his chest knowing what was coming. He got the rage now it was time for the guilt, he heard her begin to sob and then scream into his chest. He said nothing and just stayed as the outlet for her, he'd done this before with Shala but this was nothing like that. Sidda needed to move on and if kicking her ass and then letting her cry was how that was going to happen it was fine with that. Victus might kill him but his priority was Sidda. She was the leader, the person tasked with finding Saren and if she was going to do that she needed her head on straight.
After the blowout in the Cargo Bay things seemed to return to normal but no one had seen or heard from Sidda after she vanished from Nov's presence. She only rematerialized when Joker indicated that they had all the information that they needed and jumped out of the Rothla Field and back to the rendezvous point with the Lante. The Normandy didn't dock with the Turian frigate, instead she sat at idle as Sidda gave Cerrus all the gathered information and asked him for his specialty; a plan that wouldn't fail. The ill-tempered Turian was happy to oblige and took over the briefing room to plan the assault on the secret base that was definitely not where it should be. If they crashed a Council base they'd apologize later but all signs pointed to Saren. Where better to hide then right under their nose?
Sidda was unusually quiet as she watched Cerrus work. She knew he had a zillion other things he'd rather be doing right now but she needed him. After the display in the Cargo Bay he figured she was quiet due to embarrassment but the more he observed her the less he figured that was the case.
Cerrus looked up at her and could see that something was really bothering her. "Need something, Commander?" he asked and took a minute to actually look at her. She was still favoring her left side with the sore ribs and her mouth was bruised from the punch by Rajin and then repeated by Nov.
"Can you do this?" she asked and Cerrus straightened. "I mean, really…can you do this?"
For once Cerrus wasn't offended by her question. "Yes." He answered simply.
"Then can you do me a favor?" she began. "I want this base a smoking crater by the time we're done. I want a raging inferno that Saren is going to run from and remember that it was us that did it."
Cerrus looked her up and down and nodded. "One smoking crater…coming right up."
Sidda quietly walked toward Nov at the Mako. He was helping Garrus set up the Mako for the mission for whenever Cerrus was finished planning the operation. They hadn't really spoken since Nov made his opinion clear about her attitude and took it upon himself to set her straight. She felt embarrassed by her actions and then crying on his shoulder, she'd never live that one down, and worse it was in front of half her team and Cerrus.
"Hey." She greeted and leaned on the Mako watching him work.
"Hey." He replied and kept working.
She heaved a sigh and smiled to him. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier." She stated and he kept working but listened intently to her apologize. "I've been upside down…inside out…I don't know." She continued and Nov kept working. "I'm sorry I took it out on you."
He continued to work but was paying attention to her. "You didn't but someone needed to jar you out of whatever you're in before you got the rest of us killed." He stated. "You're too good of a leader to fall apart like that."
"I just don't know what's what anymore…not since that Prothean download…" she said and he stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "It wasn't just the random horrific images…it was…it was the emotions too. It was so attached to what happened to Nihlus I can't separate the two anymore."
He dropped the tools he was using and stood up to his full height. He wasn't sorry for what he did but he was sorry if he hurt her in anyway. He looked at her bruised lips and felt sorry for his part in making Rajin's punch worse. "I'm sorry if I hurt you." He said honestly referring to the injury to her ribs that he hadn't known she'd had, if he had known he never would have hit her there.
Sidda shook her head not blaming him for anything. "I've survived worse, Cal, you know that." She stated and Nov chuckled.
He snorted and turned away from her and went back to what he was doing. "If there's one thing we taught you it was how to take a hit." He said and Sidda returned to watching him work.
"You need any help?" she asked and ordinarily Nov would have said no. Unless it was another tech specialist he didn't need the help but since it was Sidda who asked he more than welcomed the help.
"I'll teach you to be a techy yet." He smirked and Sidda giggled, she liked flirting with him it was fun and he always knew how to make her feel better no matter the situation.
She scoffed. "Yeah, good luck with that." She stated. "I'm really good at blowing stuff up, it's much easier."
"It takes a truly talented person to be good at both." He prodded and Sidda chuckled.
"So, tell me about the past year." She said. "I see the shoulder is healed."
Nov reached into the exposed panel and pulled out the interface. "Yep, military docs know their trade; I'm partially synthetic now so go easy on me." He stated. "Taught at the academy for a few months while doing the therapy and more surgeries."
"Oh, God help us, you taught at the military academy?" she asked with a laugh. "How many Nov disciples are there roaming the halls of Turian vessels now?"
"Hey, I am a good teacher." He defended. "Students like me and let's not forget I'm the best."
"Yeah, of course the students like you, you're just like them." She sniped and he chuckled as he activated the Omni-tool to run the checks on the Mako's systems.
"I heard you taught also." He replied and Sidda cocked her head to him. "General told us. What class?"
"Biotic Combat Tactics and Close Quarters Combat." She answered and Nov could see her teaching both those classes, hell, he'd take the class. "You seeing anyone?"
Nov pulled a few disks from the Mako's brain and gestured for her to hand him the tool off the box. "Uhh…sorta…sorta not." He said.
"Gee, that's vague." She replied. "How about a little more details."
He let out a chuckle and answered her question. "No one specific, reconnected with Shala a while back…and one of the doctors on Palaven." He stated and Sidda cackled.
"You're a scoundrel." She snorted and he chuckled.
Nov admitted he was and didn't really care, he liked women and everyone knew that but he'd give it up in a heartbeat for her. "I can't help it if the girls like me." He stated with a chuckle and Sidda shook her head with a laugh.
"You are incredible." She stated and Nov chuckled looking over at her, his eyes lingered on her for a few minutes before taking his eyes away from her. She was incredible, she truly was.
He eyed her and decided to ask a question that he'd wanted to ask since he saw her. "Can I ask you something?" he asked and she grunted a conformation. "Funny thing happened the day you left." he stated as he surveyed the work he was doing to the Mako. Sidda was silent letting him talk. "I discovered that my knife had legs and somehow managed to find its way back to my quarters."
Sidda paused and decided to be honest with him. "I didn't want any issues with Adrien. He was threatened by it so I gave it back."
That wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear no matter how true it was. "Uh huh…" Nov muttered and she narrowed her eyes.
"What?" she asked, not sure how to take his tone.
"Nothing." He replied but she didn't buy it.
Sidda could see he was lying; she saw something a year ago and guessed that he had a crush on her. Seeing Victus so damn bent out of shape was another indicator. She flirted with him heavily and he did the same but to her it seemed harmless, unless it wasn't and she spent all this time leading him on. "Why did you give that to me?" she asked and Nov visibly recoiled from her. "If you knew it was going to spark that kind of reaction, why?"
"It was a gift. That's all." He stated but she still didn't believe him. "You gave it back."
"It's not that simple, Cal…"
"Just drop it, Sid." He cut her off and his tone made her narrow her eyes.
"Cal, come on-…"
"Sidda, I don't want to talk about this." He said in a sterner tone. He wanted nothing more than to tell her everything but it really wasn't in him to try to steal another man's woman. As much as that pained him he'd suffer in silence until something changed.
"Talk about what? Cal, what is wrong."
His temper flared and he turned on her getting inches from her face. "Just leave it alone!" he roared. He immediately regretted his tone and sheepishly backed off. "I'm sorry." He said ducking his head away embarrassed by his outburst. "I didn't mean to yell."
Roaring outbursts seemed to be contagious on this ship today. "Cal," she began and he read her mind knowing she was going to push him for more. "please…just-…"
"Sid…stop." She stated and locked eyes with her. Telling her three simple words would cure most of his problems but he couldn't do it. He couldn't adequately explain why but he just couldn't do it no matter how much he wanted to. There was a moment, a few seconds that felt like an eternity when his feelings actually won and decided to tell her. "Sid, I-…"
"Commander," Kaidan called interrupting Nov who let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Capt. Cerrus is ready."
Nov steeled himself and brushed past them both. "Perfect timing, Lieutenant." He stated heaving a heavy sigh on the way by.
Assembled in the Cargo Bay was Sidda's entire drop team, including Cerrus and Nov. Everyone was suited up for combat and toting their favored load outs. Sidda checked Vidinos' pistol and returned it to its place as the pre-mission brief began. The lengthy one had already taken place in the briefing room; this one was assignments and teams.
"Okay, so we're dropping in the Mako, all hands on deck. Now to do this and not be detected by the base or the CDEM we're going to have to drop in a…let's just say a wild trajectory." Sidda stated as Garrus and Ashley looked at each other both feeling their stomachs turning already.
"Because this base is trying to stay hidden under the nose of the Council there are no obvious signs on the ground. No signs of Comm towers, sensor towers, nothing so our approach should go undetected. Once the teams are inside find the main computer and plug in, we need data. We need to know what this base is and why it's there. Any information we can find on Saren is gold, the Conduit, Reapers, Geth, plans, anything get it." Cerrus added and Sidda nodded in agreement. Nov added this to the handful of times these two agreed on anything.
"We're dropping into an asteroid field?" Ashley confirmed sounding a little concerned and Sidda nodded. "Who's idea was that?"
"Mine." Cerrus answered simply.
"What are you crazy?" Ashley challenged and Cerrus straightened a little eying her.
Nov looked from them to Sidda and then back down to Ashley. "Yeah, he probably is." Nov stated and could hear Cerrus grumble about his comment.
Sidda was done with the interruption. "It's what we're doing, Chief. Now, if you have visual contact on Saren you shoot to kill, if you bring him in wounded that's great…dead is just as good." Sidda continued and made sure that she made that clear. "Teams are as follows: Wrex, you take Kaidan and Liara. Garrus and Nov will be with me. Cerrus, you take Tali and the Chief."
"I am not taking orders from a Turian." Ashley snapped harshly. "It's bad enough I have to listen to Vakarian and Wrex, I'm not gonn-…"
"Hey, can it!" Sidda barked. "You do as I say or you get left behind. Stow the attitude and follow my orders and his." She stated firmly pointing to Cerrus.
Ashley grumbled and nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Alright, get your gear ready and lets go." She stated and turned away from them.
Nov looked from Ashley to Cerrus then turned to hover over Sidda's shoulder tapping her shoulder armor with one finger making her look at him. "What's her issue?" he asked gesturing to Ashley, she and Garrus bickered over who was going to drive since they agreed that Sidda should never be behind the controls of that tank.
Sidda sighed and straightened her armor. "Her grandfather was the garrison commander at Shanxi during 314." She stated simply and Nov raised his brow plates.
"Oh this'll be good." He laughed and Sidda's brow furrowed. "What?" he asked. "You know about Cerrus right?"
"Know what? The man's more likely to shoot me than speak to me." She replied. She liked this, having Nov around her made her comfortable. It hurt like hell to get to this point but she understood why he did what he did.
"He told you about his mate." Nov reminded and she remembered his confession and then him using her as someone to talk to. Both events were downright strange. "What's the big deal?"
"Tyr's dad was killed on Shanxi." Nov stated bluntly and it was Sidda's turn to raise her eyebrows as she looked over to them getting filing into the Mako.
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun." She agreed. "No wonder he hates humans."
Nov chuckled. "Sure you don't want to stay behind?" he asked and she gave him a sardonic glare.
"And let you run the show?" she asked with a chuckle.
Nov gave her a mock hurt expression. "Hello, Argo Unit Commander."
"Get in the Tank." She droned and Nov chuckled as he moved along.
The Mako had a maximum seating capacity of 10 but with everyone in their full armor and Wrex and everyone armed to the teeth things got a little cramped.
"Gonna be tight." She commented as she squeezed into the seat between Nov and Cerrus. Even clad in armor Nov still took the time to check out her ass as she fit it between him and Cerrus. He shifted his gears and found someone else to shine to.
"Well, Tali can sit on my lap." Nov flirted with the little Quarian, who was fitting her tiny frame between Wrex and the bulkhead across from the notorious flirt.
Tali paused before sitting down completely, despite his obvious sexual innuendo. Nov could see some subtle features under the purple mask. Quarian females always peaked his interest; it was the mystery of what was under the helmet. "No. Thank you."
"Don't know what you're missing." He continued and Sidda shook her head to Nov's constant flirting, she even heard a snort from Cerrus to her left.
"We are about to be dropped out of a ship, into a planetary debris field to make a controlled crash onto what's left of a planet to a secret base and you still have time to proposition a girl." Sidda stated in sheer awe of his appetite for flirting.
"That's because he thinks he might not get another chance." Cerrus chimed in; he knew Nov well and could accurately say he knew his MO.
"Well, if you're scared, you can sit on my lap, Princess." Wrex needled, aiming his comment at Nov.
Nov cocked his head; Krogans with a decent sense of humor were few and far between. He cleared his throat and batted his eyes at the battlemaster. "For a Krogan you are quite handsome…with the scars and all but I think I'll pass…but thank you for the offer."
Sidda's row of Cerrus and Kaidan failed to stifle laughs, herself included as Liara looked on not sure how to deal with the sniping going back and forth.
"Ha!" Wrex laughed. "Now, I'm friends with two Turians who think their funny."
"I could switch seats if you two want to sit together." Tali assed and Nov laughed with the rest of them.
"Next mission, Wrex, I promise." Nov stated in his best feminine tone.
Sidda was surprised to the friendly bantering that was going back and forth, it helped that Nov was easy to get along with but she really didn't expect to see Turians and Krogans to be getting along.
"Chief, how are we doing?" Sidda called.
"Pre drop complete. Good to go." She replied.
"Weapons are good, Commander." Garrus added after checking the main gun.
"Alright, get me Joker." She ordered and Ashley opened the Mako's comm. "Joker, it's Shep, how's it look?"
"It's a debris field, Commander, it looks like shit. I think I've gotten out of the way from the big ones…should be clear enough for you."
Everyone else heard the 'think' and 'should' and wore the same expression she had. "What do you mean 'should', Joker?"
"Well, if I'm wrong and you collide with a giant asteroid you won't be able to yell at me." Joker replied and Sidda dropped her head with a groan.
"And who's idea was this?" she asked rhetorically.
"His." Liara answered pointing to Cerrus and Sidda shook her head.
"Alright, Joker, stand by to drop." She ordered. "Helmets on."
The Mako shook as the ramp dropped and the tank rolled forward. "Yep, because that's gonna help us when we're splattered all over a rock face." Ashley muttered donning her helmet as the Mako launched from the cargo bay.