Authors Note: I'm sorry this one took a little longer to get out then expected...I think that rapid fire two parter burned out my brain.
I feel like this chapter needs one of those 'previously on' teasers in front of it. This one is a tie in with the ME 1 Cerberus subplot I started in Part One with Proverbial Rabbit Hole and Hellhound.
spectreofslytherin: I hope you like this chapter...lots of Cerrus for you. AlienSinger (Mija002): I am so glad that you're still enjoying this after I bumped off your man. Trust me Cerrus and Ashley are just getting started. Ipander: I know you've been waiting with bated breath so here you go, please enjoy.
Happy reading and as always please keep the feedback coming, questions, comments, its all welcome. Thank you also for the favorites and follows and with out further ado I give you Chapter Seven: Hades' Dog.
Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"
Chapter Seven: Hades' Dog
Saren paced seemingly aimless but he was deep in thought, searching for the Conduit was a slow process when all the information was dead and buried 50,000 years over.
"The station on Rothla has been destroyed." Benezia stated and Saren cocked his head back to her. "The Normandy crew, the same crew from Eden Prime, Cdr. Shepard."
Saren turned slowly to his Asari lieutenant. "How did they find it?" he demanded his tone a low growl that could make any ones skin crawl.
Benezia showed no emotion and stood proud with her hands clasped behind her back. "I don't know." She stated. "We lost the quarantine Garrison as well; the Council pulled them after the base was destroyed."
Saren growled and stalked toward her. "Make contact with the Shadow Broker again and find out how Shepard found about Rothla and kill whoever passed on the information." Benezia nodded to the order but didn't leave. "Have we found the creature?"
"The Thorian? Yes, Feros." Benezia replied.
Saren thought more, he didn't count on Sidda dogging him the whole time, and she could very well undermine him and his plans. Somehow she had a knack for chasing him. After the Council stripped him of his credentials all his files and Nihlus' went to her so she knew everything that he did. Things he covered up and tried to hide she knew. "Go to Noveria. I'll find the creature."
Sidda could hear an argument taking place in the Cargo Bay as the slowest elevator in existence neared its destination. Cerrus and his team had returned with the Mako a few minutes ago and the Normandy shook as it broke the atmosphere of the inhospitable rock Sidda decided to investigate.
"You are the biggest asshole in the galaxy!" Ashley barked at Cerrus as he fought with his armor to get his helmet off.
He yanked the helmet off and spun on Ashley with a growl. "And you are the worse soldier that I've met, Chief!" he snapped back stepping close to her holding his helmet in one hand and gripping it tight.
"You know…I've met some Turians in my time but none of them as big a jackass as you are." Ashley fired back.
Sidda quietly waited observing the exchange between them and Liara was silent as she passed the two arguing soldiers. "What the hell is going on?" Sidda asked quietly to Liara.
"They've been going at it for the past 15 minutes…I really don't think they like each other." She replied and Sidda snorted.
"That's because they're exactly alike." She stated and stepped toward them, they were so heated into their argument they were oblivious to those around them.
You could never call Cerrus patient, but so far the grouchy Turian had done an admirable job at working with those he hated; human, Krogan, Sidda but he was growing very tired of Ashley. Wrex could at least be a team player when it came down to it, he wasn't the friendliest guy but Cerrus wasn't there to make friends so he didn't care. Ashley, however, resisted him every step of the way for everything, literally everything. If Cerrus told her that water was wet she'd argue with him.
Cerrus grabbed the front of Ashley's white and pink Phoenix armor and jerked her sharply toward him. "While we're out there you will damn well follow my orders or I will leave you out there." He growled allowing his temper to show through but also did a fine job of keeping it in check.
Ashley shoved him off her with an equally sharp movement staring him down. "I do not take orders from you!" she barked and Sidda looked from one to the other. "I'll never take orders from a fucking Turian."
Sidda was impressed with Cerrus' restraint, when she first met him all she had to do was look at him wrong and she got her ass handed to her. The Taetrus native had come a long way in regards to his tolerance for Humans but Sidda suspected that his new found patience had a bitter end.
Cerrus snatched the front of her armor again and held on with a harder grip. "You will or I will kill you where you stand." He growled louder but that only served to illicit another outburst from Ashley. She struggled against him but his grip was solid.
"Why wait?" she taunted but he didn't bite and also didn't let her go. "Let me go or-…" she began and he saw her hand go toward the pistol she carried.
Cerrus closed the short gap between them staring down at her. "Or what?!" he barked. "Go ahead and draw it, Chief." There was a pause as he tested her but she didn't move. "Now!" Ashley hesitated and kept her eyes locked in a fierce glare with the huge Turian standing before her. "If you're gonna threaten me, Chief, then you better fucking follow through. Draw the weapon and give it your best shot or follow my orders when I give them."
"Fuck you." She spat and Cerrus had to admit her grit was appealing, she had fire and spirit and had succeeded in pissing him off. "I'm an Alliance solider; I don't take orders from you so get your damn hands off me."
Sidda watched this progress. "That's enough." She intervened and stepped toward them but Cerrus didn't release her. "I said that's enough. Cerrus let her go."
It was hard to decide which the instigator was: Cerrus or Ashley they both appeared to want to knock the crap out of the other. "Get the fuck off me." Ashley hissed as Cerrus obeyed Sidda's order to release her.
"That's enough, Chief." Sidda snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you two? I send you on a mission and you come back like this?"
"Commander," Joker voice piped through the comm. "you might want to come to the bridge. Message coming in from the Citadel and it's not the Council."
Sidda grumbled and looked from Cerrus to Ashley and then focused on Cerrus. "No blood." She warned pointing a finger at him then shifted to Ashley. "No fighting." She stated and walked away. She'd resolve their issues later but now she needed to figure out who was calling her.
She strode into the Comm room and sighed wondering what great problem was about to surface. Maybe the universe was collapsing in on itself so she could forego hunting Saren's ass from one corner of the Traverse to the other. "Go ahead, Joker."
"Commander," an Alliance man appeared and Sidda straightened seeing the Admiral rank. "my name is Adm. Kahoku. I have a problem and Capt. Anderson told me that you would see to it."
Sidda took a deep breath and clasped her hands behind her back. "What can I do for you, Admiral?" she asked more than happy to help.
"I've lost contact with a Marine division in the Traverse. You are the closest Alliance vessel so I ask you to investigate." He stated and Sidda nodded.
"Of course, Admiral, do you know where they were?" Sidda asked.
"Edolus in the Sparta System, Commander." He replied and Sidda tapped a few keys on the console as they spoke.
Sidda really didn't have time to go chasing after a missing squad but she was Alliance so she'd do all she could to help and Saren could wait. "We're near the system." She stated with a nod. "We'll go there next and check it out."
Kahoku gave her a sharp nod. "Your reputation precedes you, Commander, thank you."
"My pleasure, Admiral, I'll find your men." She replied and the Kahoku ended the conversation. Sidda knew Kahoku by reputation only; he fought during the Blitz and the First Contact War, she remembered her father speaking of him when she was growing up but thus far had never met him.
Before she set out to find some wayward Marines she needed to figure out just what the hell happened between Ashley and Cerrus besides the fact they were both as racist as could be against the other. She huffed and told Joker to plot a course for the Sparta System but hold off on going until she sorted out what happened between the Bickering Bickersons. She was heading to the Cargo Bay but found one of her targets in on the Crew Deck fiddling with the empty locker next to hers.
Sidda narrowed her eyes as Cerrus shoved his belongings into the locker. "Thought your locker was downstairs." She stated approaching him and Cerrus grumbled.
"It was." He responded and his tone told her that he was still pissed off. "Now it's here."
"Alright, what happened?" she asked and he straightened his tunic in the mirror inside the locker door. Sidda leaned on her locker and looked the big Turian up and down catching the Taetrus sigil pin he always wore on his collar.
"She doesn't listen." Cerrus stated. "I gave her an order, she disobeyed it…nearly got the Asa-…Liara killed."
"Of course she doesn't listen to you…she's you." Sidda stated and Cerrus glowed down at her sharply.
"Do not compare me to her." He growled.
Sidda lifted an eyebrow. "Why not? You two are exactly alike. You hate Humans as much as she hates Turians."
Cerrus closed the locker hard and grumbled looking down at her. "Exactly what do you want me to do? You drug me here; gave me an Asari with no combat skills and a Human who doesn't listen."
"Train them." Sidda replied and Cerrus blinked.
He stuttered a few times a little surprised by her words. "Liara I can train." He stated. "How do you expect me to train the Chief? At gunpoint?"
By this point Sidda didn't care. "If need be." She replied and Cerrus blinked again. "Train her like you did me."
Cerrus was now more confused than ever. He stepped away from her and paced back and forth once or twice and then stopped looking at her, the confusion apparent on his face. "Who the hell are you?" he asked. A year ago she would never had spoken to him like this…my, what a year and a forced mission had done to change the tune.
She chuckled to his response and unfolded her arms to stand up straight to him. "Someone who wants to complete a mission." She stated. "And I can't do that if I'm worried about you two shooting each other."
Cerrus grumbled. "Fine." He snipped. "I'm willing to work if she is…to expedite this mission so I can get the hell off this ship."
Sidda nodded to him. "You're more compliant then I remember."
Cerrus scoffed. "So are you." He replied. "Makes for a calm ship."
It was Sidda's turn to scoff as she walked away. "Until we go at it and the ship blows up." She stated and heard Cerrus chuckle to that.
"I'm preoccupied with someone else at the moment." He muttered and she shook her head with a smile.
Ashley was still fuming from her fight with Cerrus, she tended to her gear but honestly she took her anger out on it. She stored her gear in her locker with sharp movements grumbling as she did so. Garrus eyed her as he listened to the pissed off Human turn a menial task into a grumble fest.
Sidda moved over to her and leaned on the locker next to hers. "You want to tell me what that was all about, Chief?"
"It's about you, Commander." She hissed and Sidda didn't move from her positon to the obvious insubordinate tone. "You go and serve on a Turian ship for a year and you come back a lover of them all. You've even taken one to your bed. Now you expect me to take orders form one? With all due respect but hell no, Skipper."
"Are you finished, Chief?" she asked not fazed by her words. She'd heard worse and knew that Ashley, like Cerrus, had a reason to hate the other. "What you can't seem to get through your thick head is that you will do as I tell you. If I tell you to lick Cerrus' boots you're gonna do that. On the flipside if I tell him to kiss your ass he's gonna do that." She stated and stood up straight as Ashley opened her mouth to protest like Sidda expected. The hand that went from Sidda's side silenced the Chief. "Because if I see another display like that again from either one of you I'll show both of you what a real ass kicking feels like." Ashley was forced to stand up straight as Sidda got closer to her on purpose. "Do I make myself abundantly clear, Gunnery Chief?"
Ashley was smart enough to stow to attitude right now, she'd been in the military long enough to know when to shut up. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Commander, we're approaching the system." Joker stated over the comm and Sidda grumbled. She had said her peace and was apparently a very popular person. She turned away from Ashley and caught Garrus eyeing the exchange as she headed off to take care of the next crisis.
The Normandy entered the Sparta System and made its way to Edolus. Sidda stood behind Joker wondering they would find by scanning the planet. "You getting anything, Joker?" she asked and Joker took a minute before answering.
"Automated distress call, Commander." He replied. "Alliance…getting a fix on it now."
Sidda nodded and Joker knew what was next. "Prep for a Mako drop." She stated and turned away heading down to gather her team. Now it was time for her to figure out who she was going to take along. With Cerrus and Ashley squabbling she didn't want to take them together without them working out their differences. She really didn't want to be left out in the wind when they opened fire on each other. Cerrus' newfound patience would never last long if Ashley pushed him too far.
As she headed down to the Cargo Bay she found Kaidan. "Kaidan, get your gear let's go." She stated deciding to take him along for one. Kaidan didn't question and dropped what he was doing to go with her.
"Lead on Saren?" he asked and Sidda shook her head as she walked before him.
"A request from Adm. Kahoku." She stated and Kaidan narrowed his eyes, he'd heard that name.
"Kahoku? The Kahoku?" he asked and she nodded.
"Yep." She replied. "One of his units went missing. We picked up an automated Alliace signal from the surface of the planet he sent us to." She explained as she tapped the button on the lift. When they reached the Cargo Bay she found Ashley and Cerrus separate but the tension between them was obvious. "Garrus, get your stuff, we gotta go."
"Go where?" Ashley asked before he could.
"A mission." Sidda replied in a short tone with her. "How's the Mako?" she directed to Garrus.
"Ready to go."
About two hours later Joker got the call for a pick up from the Mako team. Edolus was barely on the scale for hospitable. It was a hot, dusty, desert hell hole. Cerrus crossed the Cargo Bay as the ramp opened and was hit with a blast Edolus' hot, dusty air. He hated deserts, Taetrus was a hot and humid jungle and that he preferred. Deserts were no good no matter how you looked at it; it wasn't the heat that bothered him it was the dry air and the sand. Sand was the worse, it's so coarse and found its way into every little nook and cranny to damaged armor, weapons, and get in his eyes. He sighed heavily, he really hated deserts.
The Mako launched from the ledge and landed hard on the ramp. The ship shook as the giant tank made as graceful a landing as it could. The ramp began to close and the hum of the magnetic track locked the Mako into place. Ashley and Wrex had gathered as well and they all noticed the greenish-orange goop that was splattered all over the hull. His eyes narrowed to several parts that looked melted. "What the hell?" Cerrus asked out loud to no one specific.
"Looks like they had a little fun." Wrex stated as the hatch opened.
"What is this stuff?" Ashley asked beating Cerrus to the question.
"What's left of a Thresher Maw." Garrus replied as he was first to exit the tank followed by Kaidan and then Sidda.
Cerrus laughed loudly and was suddenly a little sad that he didn't get to go along. He'd spent time on Tuchanka and had seen their Thresher Maws. He also knew that that inhospitable rock the Krogan called home wasn't the only place those giant worms were found. "I'm almost sorry I didn't get to go." He stated.
"Yeah, taking on a Thresher Maw in a tank is not something I care to repeat, Captain." Kaidan stated and Garrus snorted surveying the damage to the exterior hull.
"Shepard, only you would go head to head with a Thresher Maw in a Mako." Cerrus stated and Sidda gave him a mock smile.
"Did you find the Marines?" Ashley asked and Sidda nodded with a sigh.
"All ten." She stated pulling a handful of dog tags out of the pack strapped to her leg. "Killed by the Maw."
Sidda broke the bad news to Kahoku, all of his men were killed but Kaidan was right, the massacre was strikingly familiar to a massacre on the planet Akuze. An entire Marine Detachment was killed when they wandered into a Thresher Maw nest. This was too similar and Sidda voiced that to the Admiral but there was nothing to suspect that it was anything more than a coincidence.
Two days after the detour to Edolus the Normandy was back on track, it was powder keg on board with Cerrus and Ashley taking great pains to stay out of each other's way since the threat from Sidda that went both ways. Cerrus honored his word to Sidda and helped facilitate the mission rather than create more issues with an internal feud.
Cerrus was thankful for the card game that was started by Sidda and Kaidan, as he had the Cargo Bay to himself. Even Wrex had joined in and it had lasted through the evening, Garrus had invited him but he declined. He knew how to play cards and he played well but he preferred solace, he was a hard person to get to know and it was damn near impossible for anyone but another Turian to get to know him. In the past year he'd opened up to one person Rekka but he still didn't trust her fully with his deepest secrets and feelings. Of course Nov was thrilled that Cerrus finally got laid but he could have killed his comrade for spreading that all over the ship. Cerrus didn't call Desala his mate or his girlfriend but he did consider her a very close friend. He was frustrating for her and he could see that but she said nothing.
Another benefit to the card game was Ashley had joined in leaving Cerrus free of the human that was worse than Sidda on every level. Since the Cargo Bay was clear he could do as he liked and chose his favorite past time, working on weapons.
It was quiet save for the hum of the ship and the noises his task was making at the weapon bench. He had disassembled the Avenger and modified it. It was a simple weapon but reliable, not as reliable as its predecessor the Lancer but reliable well enough.
The door to the engine room opened and he saw Tali walk in lost in her own tasks. He paid her no mind and went back to what he was doing. As he worked in silence he heard Tali rummaging through some crates and storage. He spared a few glances but kept to his task.
He heard a heavy bang followed by a curse. "Bosh'tet." Tali cursed quietly but his keen hearing heard it.
Cerrus put down what he was working on and walked over to her location on the far side of the Mako. He rounded the corner and saw the little Quarian standing on a crate trying to reach a box in the upper storage. She stretched as far as she could but couldn't get a grip on the crate. Cerrus said nothing to her and simply walked up next to her and reached the crate with ease. The Turian was over a foot taller than Tali and even standing on a crate she still wasn't as tall as he.
"You looked like you needed a hand." He stated as she stepped down off the crate and took the smaller one that he handed her.
Tali's shyness showed through. "Thank you." She said quietly and gave him a sheepish sounding giggle. "It's not easy being smaller than everyone else."
Cerrus actually chuckled to her. "Never had that problem, I'm the tallest in my family."
She chuckled softly. "Everyone's taller than me." She replied.
"You're not playing cards with the others?" he asked and Tali looked up at him shaking her head.
"No…I'm still trying to get through what we found on Rothla." She stated and walked with him back around the Mako. "It had more encryption then I thought."
Cerrus nodded. "Do you need help?" he asked, no really sure why though, he didn't know anything about hacking encryption.
Tali sighed and shook her head. "Umm.. no…just waiting for the program to finish." She stated and glanced over at the bench. "Why aren't you up there with the rest?"
Cerrus shrugged shaking his head. "I'm not the friendliest person, Tali…I just prefer to work on weapons."
Tali didn't see him as unfriendly, she didn't know him that well but so far she liked him, he was quiet and honest and seemed friendly enough to her.
It took time but Tali had finally sifted through all the information that was retrieved from the base on Rothla. It was a long and painstaking process to find something that was worth anything, most of the information wasn't about Saren or why the base was there
While what they had found on Edolus was unnerving with its similarities to Akuze, Sidda returned to chasing her nemesis. Tali was finished with the Rothla data and most everyone had clustered into the briefing room to listen in.
"I didn't find anything specific but I did find pieces. Nothing on what was in the medical wing." Tali stated and sounded irritated with the fact that she didn't find more.
"Seriously, you spent all that time and you came up with only a few pieces?" Ashley scoffed.
Cerrus was leaning on the wall listening quietly. "I didn't see you helping." He stated earning a glare from the Chief. "What did you find?" he asked ignoring her.
Sidda eyed Cerrus, that was an odd comment from him. He was a nice guy under all the grouchiness and it occurred to her that she didn't know him as well as she thought. He defended her once against Nov's drunken rage but maybe she was seeing a different side to him, one that was easier to work with when they weren't trying to kill each other. Ashley glared at him but said nothing with Sidda standing there ready to pounce on the next squabble that occurred.
Tali seemed to be a little timid when confronted by someone like Ashley but she smiled a little hearing Cerrus speak up in her defense. "Umm… not much, a reference to a planet called Noveria. They were sending and receiving shipments but no description on what the cargo was.
"Noveria…" Sidda asked. "Which one is that?"
"Private corporate research." Garrus answered.
"Why would Saren be connected to corporate research?" Kaidan asked and Tali shrugged.
"I don't know there wasn't much to find aside from regular base information and a little bit of shipment information." Tali replied and sounded very dissatisfied with what she had to present to Shepard.
"What about the Feros lead from the Council?" she asked and looked over to Kaidan.
"Reports of Geth sighted at Zhu's Hope." Kaidan stated. "Tiny human colony mostly trying to live on their own but there's a big ExoGeni presence. The colony's located in the giant Prothean ruin which is also why there's a big ExoGeni contingent."
"So why the hell is Saren interested in Feros?" Ashley asked.
"It's Prothean…that's why he went after Eden Prime, that's why we've been scouring as much Prothean tech as possible. Feros is where we're gonna find Saren." Sidda stated and scanned each of the members that had attended. "There's something there he wants…something like a beacon or something. That's the only reason he'd go there."
"So Feros it is?" Cerrus asked and Sidda nodded.
"Yeah, we'll go to Feros next and hopefully we can nab that Turian bastard there." She stated.
"And if it's a dead end?" Ashley asked. "Then what?"
"We move onto the next lead." She stated and looked to Kaidan. "Tell Pressley to plot a course for Feros. How's the Mako?"
"Still repairing the melted parts." Garrus replied. "Two hours…should be in top shape."
Sidda nodded and trusted the rest to make sure weapons, armor, and equipment would ready to roll as soon as they met their destination. The Mako had seen a bit of mileage over the past week so making sure it was going to handle whatever was thrown at it was a bit of priority. What she wouldn't give for a damn shuttle. "Okay, two hours and we go. Cerrus, Wrex, Tali…you're coming with me."
The room nodded and dispersed leaving Sidda standing where she had been and scrolling through the data that Tali had come up with. She was actually irritated that she didn't come up with more from Rothla, as baiting as Feros was she was very curious about just what type of shipments were being sent to Noveria.
"Commander, I've got Adm. Kahoku on the line for you." Joker chimed in and Sidda turned from her pace as she was alone in the briefing room.
"Put him on, Joker." She said. "Admiral."
"Commander, I don't have much time so I'll get to it. I find myself in the position to ask for your help again." He stated quickly, this time he didn't appear on the holo so all she had was a disembodied voice to listen to.
"Name it, Sir." She stated quickly, whatever else she might be doing she was still and Alliance Officer.
"I've done some checking, trying to find out what happened to my men. You were right, it mirrors Akuze to a T and that's too much to be a coincidence. I was able to track down some information that I'm encrypting and transmitting to you now." Kahoku stated and Sidda nodded. She really didn't have time to for the deviation but she was willing to do it anyway.
"We'll have a look at it, Sir." She stated and Kahoku's opinion of her increased.
"Paying for this information has made me…a target, Commander…I believe I am being followed."
That statement rubbed Sidda the wrong way. "Admiral, if that's the case then you need to alert C-Sec and the Alliance. I'll come back to the Citadel and pick you u-…"
Kahoku cut her off brushing her suggestions aside. "I can take care of myself, Commander, you job is to find out who killed my men." He stated and Sidda had been in the military long enough to get his tone. That was the tone of Admirals and Generals clinging to their pride.
"Yes, Sir." She replied quickly and the transmission ended.
Sidda leaned on the comm console and rapidly tapped her fingernails on the casing; she really didn't need another damn distraction. She really needed to find that Turian son of a bitch not go gallivanting across the galaxy searching for leads about missing marines and sinister plots. She said she'd go so Sidda tabled the Saren leads for now, the sooner she took care of this the sooner she could get back to turning the galaxy inside out for Saren and the Conduit.
With a sigh, Sidda headed for the Galaxy Map and brought up the encrypted data that Kahoku sent trying to get a fix on where they needed to go. "Pressley," she called. "set course for the Kepler Verge." She stated and Pressley narrowed his eyes.
"What about Feros?" the navigator asked.
"Feros is on hold." She replied. "Ontarom, in the Newton System."
"Yes, Commander." Pressley replied and Sidda headed out. She stopped at her locker and then in her quarters.
She sat down on her bed, then laid down lost in deep thought; she toyed with the pendant on her dog tags as it had become a habit since Victus gave it to her. She wished she had him right now; she could use his help and his company. So far the crew that she had acquired met the level she had grown accustom to with the Lante. They may have squabbled but they were good at their jobs, Garrus she liked…she liked him a lot and Kaidan too. The biotic was handsome and if things had gone differently for her she could see herself rolling around in bed with him. All this aside…she still missed Victus.
The Cargo Bay usually saw more recreational activity then the Crew Deck did, this time it was no different. Sidda made her way down to find a curious scene; so far it had been a little over a week since Cerrus was yanked on board by the scruff of his neck. In that time he'd successfully figured out how to work with Sidda which was a stark contrast to their previous relationship but he'd also stated a mortal war with Ashley. That being said, one would figure that the person he would talk to was the other Turian on board, Garrus. Not true, aside from mission specific conversation the pair didn't say six words to each other. So when Sidda observed the two Turians sparring, actually sparring, it made her cock her head.
Cerrus was one of the best hand to hand fighters that she had ever seen in either the Alliance or the Turian military. He was third rank on the Lante second to Victus and Nov but he was the most brutal out of them all. From what she saw Garrus was no slouch either.
"Guess I misjudged C-Sec…you guys can fight." Cerrus taunted and Garrus mused.
"Top rank on the Sentinel two years in a row." Garrus replied and Cerrus replied with a snort.
Sidda skirted their chosen sparring area and approached Ashley who was busy going over the weapons inventory. Ashley was aggravated with Cerrus who did the same thing and tended to strip and modify the guns without asking. According to Sidda, that was what he did on the Lante and what he did when he was bored or couldn't sleep. It still irritated Ashley to no end knowing that Cerrus did what he pleased with the weapons.
"This is new." Sidda stated out loud referring to the sparring pair and Ashley scoffed.
"Can you put a stop to this?" she asked sounding irritated. "They've been going at it for the past half hour. That's all I need to hear…two Turians grunting like cavemen." She bitched.
"You should train with Cerrus. Say what you will about Turians but their hand to hand puts the Alliance to shame." Sidda stated and received a disgusted snort from the Chief.
"Maybe you think that." She hissed and Sidda gave the soldier who was bordering on insubordinate.
"Chief, you may not like him but he knows what he's doing." Sidda replied. "I hate him. He's an asshole, he's condescending…did I mention he's an asshole?" she stated. "That man kicked my ass every day for the better part of six months."
"With respect, Commander, I don't care." Ashley replied and Sidda sighed, if she didn't get those two to fight it out the ship would remain the SSV Powder Keg.
She returned her attention to the match going on. From what she was observing Garrus and Cerrus were evenly matched, Garrus was slightly shorter but his stance mirrored Cerrus'. Though she guessed that Garrus was nowhere near as brutal as Cerrus was when it came to fighting, Cerrus was a dirty fighter too, his philosophy in hand to hand was a little basic: nothing is fair about a fight. Period. "Change of plans guys…we're not going to Feros. We gotta make a stop first." The boys weren't finished with their match but they both stopped and turned their attention to her.
The Mako dropped like a meteor onto the planet of Ontarom, yet another inhospitable rock awaited them. Nitrogen rich atmosphere and hot enough to make a Turian sweat, Ontarom was a communication hub for the Alliance, they had a few dish fields set up for both military and civilian use but they were after something hundreds of kliks away from anything like that. They hadn't encountered anything as of yet but they followed the coordinates that came with Kahoku's information. It was odd that they hadn't found anything so far but then again they didn't really know what they were walking into.
They reached their target without a fuss, and filed out of the Mako, the general consensus was that this was way too damn easy. They weren't too sure what this was all about but given the connection to the dead marines from Edolus it was obvious that it couldn't be very good.
The information from Kahoku said this was a science facility of some sort so seeing a few rovers and monitoring items scatter about on the surface was to be expected, but they had so far seen no signs of life. The facility looked like the circular dome type that was common, as they filed out of the Mako Cerrus and Wrex observed their surroundings.
"Anyone else find it odd that they have an armed personnel carrier?" Cerrus asked noticing that Wrex had seen the same thing.
"And fresh tracks…" Wrex added looking at the treads in the mud leading up to the bunker.
"There's more in there than just scientists, Shepard." Cerrus explained as Tali tapped a few keys on the panel quickly defeating any security.
Sidda sighed. "Alright, let's see what's going on." She said and looked to Tali. "Tali?"
"Ready." The Quarian replied as Sidda opened the door and entered followed by her team.
As they entered, the facility seemed as normal as could be, except for the two dead bodies they spied as soon as they entered. Sidda grumbled annoyed with the trail of bodies she either created or followed lately. She could hear Wrex make a noise that probably mirrored her irritation but she suspected the Krogan was itching for a fight.
"Well, this looks promising." She heard Cerrus mutter from behind Tali. "These look like scientists…not mercs."
More gunfire drew their attention telling them that whatever fight that had started wasn't finished. "Oh, good…" Wrex began with a chuckle. "a firefight." He stated with glee in his voice.
Cerrus chuckled, he liked this Krogan. "I like you, Wrex." He stated and Wrex scoffed, that probably wasn't high up on the Krogan's bucket list…winning the approval of a Turian.
"Check fire, until we know what the hell is going on." She stated and they moved further into the facility.
Coming to a door the four separated on either side of it, Tali and Wrex on the right and Sidda and Cerrus on the left. Wrex hit the button to open it and they slipped in hugging the wall on either side, it was a good thing they stuck to the walls hiding behind whatever crates because they had found their adversary. They looked like mercenaries, about a dozen of them and they drew down as soon as they found the open door. Soon enough Sidda's team was embroiled in a firefight.
Sidda could see a pile of dead bodies near the center of the room, they were clothed the same as the bodies they found in the hall. If this was supposed to be a research facility the smart money bet was they were the scientists that ran the place. It wasn't like Sidda could stop and ask what was going on, she would have liked to but the mercs didn't give her that option.
Cerrus expertly took down his targets without much fuss and he kept an eye on those of the team that he could see. He could hear Wrex laughing during his combat and had to snort at the Krogan's approach to battle. He couldn't see Tali though, but could hear the loud bark from her shotgun.
Sidda rolled away from a grenade and made it to a pillar but the explosion made her ears ring. She unleashed a warp into the one that threw the grenade and targeted the one that appeared to her left. The pistol didn't fire when she pulled the trigger and she looked at her weapon in disbelief, Vidinos didn't strike her as the type that would keep a weapon that misfired. "Fuck." She cursed and moved around the pillar to get out of the line of fire. "Cerrus!"
Despite the chaos of the firefight the Turian was able to hear the distress call over all the noise and shifted his focus. Sidda heard the explosion from a carnage shot that effectively eliminated her current issue and started unleashing biotics all over the field. Any attempt to find out who they were went out the window when they opened fire and she was okay with that. Dead people were easier to search.
It wasn't often that Cerrus was taken by surprise. That being said, 800lbs of Krogan rushing him from the side most definitely qualified as a surprise. He thanked his lucky stars for his top of the line and heavily upgraded heavy armor that served to cushion the impact as he was smashed into the wall like a bug. His right shoulder hit first and even through the plate of his armor he felt everything compress to the middle. His grunt was lost under the Krogan's roar as the mercenary tried to blow Cerrus' head off with a shotgun. Cerrus didn't have a whole lot of room to maneuver, the Krogan was stronger than he was but he wasn't about to be done in by an over grown lizard. He blocked the shotgun and was able to push it off from a direct line to his face and turned his head at the last second to avoid the blast. The round discharged into the wall missing Cerrus' face by less than an inch. Cerrus' face stung as the muzzle produced a flame thrower of hot air and gas went into the left side of his face along with a ton of shrapnel. He hissed to the sting of it and planted his right foot as high up on the wall as he could and pushed off with all the strength he could muster trying to shove the heavy Krogan off of him. He managed to get enough to allow him to add his left foot and shove the Krogan into the wall across the hall.
It occurred to Cerrus that he wasn't going to beat this Krogan in hand to hand; he had to get away from him if he wanted to live. The Krogan shoved Cerrus off him and lined up on him with the shotgun again; Cerrus dodged the shot that was fired, but only just. He felt the round hit the extreme right side of his waist and his glare could have killed the Krogan…if only he had that power.
He was finally able to collect his rifle and fired a burst into the Krogan but that only served to further piss it off. The Krogan roared and charged, a charging Krogan was a bad thing, if that pissed off death machine got to him again he was a goner. Cerrus back pedaled as quickly as reverse would allow and lined up again with his rifle. Something hit him as he backed up quickly and knocked him off his feet; he thought it was a warp because of how it made him feel. He landed on his back hard and his rifle clattered away, the Krogan was still charging and he was at a severe disadvantage now. The Turian scrambled backward on his back and drew the only weapon he had left, his pistol, and rapidly fired as many shots as he possibly could. The Krogan dropped after several shots were leveled into his face and head. Cerrus must have capped off over a dozen rounds and his pistol overheated just as the Krogan fell.
Cerrus let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and laid back flat and counting his blessings. "Fuck me." He breathed and felt the sting in his face; he'd check that damage later but he took the time to look at his Brawler pistol tipping the barrel against his forehead. "Baby, you're the best." He stated taking a few seconds before getting to his feet.
Sidda grumbled to her pistol as she eyed it with sheer irritation; damn thing nearly got her killed. The firefight stilled and her team ventured out of the woodwork, wherever it was they landed during the fight.
"Everyone okay?" she asked and saw Cerrus' bloodied face. "Damn, you okay?"
Cerrus waved her off and nodded. "I'm fine." He stated quickly, it was a lie…half of his face hurt like hell. Mostly it burned; he didn't much care about the shrapnel but the burn from the muzzle flash made it worse.
A single gunshot was heard and the four of them swarmed the far door they hadn't checked yet. When it opened Sidda was the first through and saw a man holding a gun on a scientist. This was the time for her to get some answers.
"Drop it." She ordered and the human man in armor holding the gun looked at her sharply but didn't comply.
"Thank God!" the scientist exclaimed. "The Alliance sent help…this man killed my staff and he's going to kill me."
"Drop the weapon." Sidda ordered but he gave her a cold expression, she's seen that look before. That was the look reserved for people who had nothing left to lose.
When the man saw her his weapon remained on the scientist. "You're Cdr. Shepard." He stated and Sidda looked him up and down.
"Who are you?" she asked and the doctor got antsy.
"What does it matter, Commander, shoot him before he shoots me." He barked and Sidda kept her eyes on the man with the gun.
"Shut up!" the gunman barked he noticed Sidda's N7 insignia and eyed her quickly. "My name is Toombs. Cpl. Anthony Toombs; Alliance Marines."
She didn't really want to shoot him if she didn't have to and waved off the other three to make it a little less volatile a situation. "Put the weapon down, Corporal." She ordered.
"No." he replied in a growl. "You don't know what's going on here, Commander, Cerberus is evil. They kept me for so long I lost track. This man led the tests, didn't you, Dr. Wayne?"
Sidda blinked hearing a familiar word. "Cerberus?" she questioned, she'd heard that name before and her brain flipped through the rolodex of crap she'd encountered. The mission to Nebewa, where she first met Nihlus, the woman running the show called themselves Cerberus in her final breath. This was starting to come together but still didn't make a whole lot of sense. "What do you know about Cerberus?"
"They captured me…on Akuze…all those years ago." He replied and Sidda cocked her head.
"The Marine detachment?" she inquired. "No one survived."
Toombs still didn't lower the gun but he seemed to relax slightly as someone was finally listening to him. "I did." He said quietly. "They set it up and watched. When the Maw was finished they found me, still alive but barely. They experimented on me…" he trailed off but didn't lose his focus. "Do you know what happens to people when Thresher Maw acid is injected into the blood, Commander? I do."
Sidda glanced back to Cerrus whose eyes never wavered from the obvious threat in the room. If this doctor was a part of 'Cerberus' she really didn't need him dead. He could answer a lot of questions for her and Maridus but also if Toombs was for real this could be the break that Kahoku was looking for. "Doctor?" she asked.
"I've never seen this man in my life, he's crazy. He just killed my staff!" Wayne stated and Toombs regressed.
"Stop lying!" Toombs yelled and pressed the pistol closer. "You captured me! You tortured me!"
"Corporal!" Sidda warned hoping to reach the soldier in him. "Stand down." She stated and didn't give up on reasoning with him. "Anthony, listen to me. If he's guilty of what you say he is let me take him, I'll drop him at the Alliance." She said and Toombs shook his head. "I've had dealings with Cerberus before they tried to kill two of my friends the Alliance knows about them."
"Of course they do…Cerberus used to be one of their Black Ops." Toombs stated. "They went rogue."
"If you kill him nothing gets solved." She stated and lowered her weapon. "I'm just asking for you to trust me. Another unit was killed the same way yours was…we need him alive. You have my word I'm gonna help you get to the bottom of this but I can't do that if you blow his head off."
Toombs seemed to be weighing his options, he wanted revenge for what happened to him but he also didn't want this to happen to anyone else and he wanted Cerberus to answer for their crimes. Shepard was an Alliance hero and he knew that. "They say you're a hero, Commander."
Sidda edged a step closer to the traumatized soldier. "That's what they say."
"The Hero of Elysium." He said and Sidda really hated be called that but felt proud of it right now if it made him trust her.
"Put that weapon down, let me take him, and come with me, and I promise I won't let you down." She said and Toombs looked at her instead of Wayne. He locked eyes with her and dropped his weapon down to his side before hesitating to hand it to her. When he did Sidda nodded to him.
"Tali, Cerrus, take the good Doctor into custody." She ordered and they both didn't question it. Dr. Wayne however had other issues.
"You can't do this, Commander, this man is crazy!" Wayne protested and shoved Tali away from him but didn't get too far away as Cerrus snatched him up with a firm grip and a growl.
"Until I sort this out, you're coming with me." She stated and Wayne continued to protest. "Tali, get on their main computer and capture what data you can."
Chakwas dabbed a disinfectant to the cuts on Cerrus' face and the Turian hissed. She had cleaned up the left side and honestly it wasn't that bad of an injury, the burns made it feel worse than it was and the shrapnel piece she dug away from his eye caused him to bleed like crazy.
"Your file says you can't use medigel, Captain, I've heard of severe clinical cases of allergic reactions but never seen one." She stated and Cerrus hissed as the disinfectant got deep into the cut by his eye.
"I'll take my shorts off for you, Doctor, then you can see how severe it gets." He stated and Chakwas continued working dabbing more into the cut, it didn't sting this time and Cerrus sat as still as a statue.
"Excessive scarring?" she asked and Cerrus grunted an affirmation. "So you can use it…but only in life threatening situations."
"Yeah." He replied. "I have a pistol shot that looks like I was hit by a shotgun."
Chakwas nodded, it was important information for her to know and while she hadn't worked on too many Turians in her life she was familiar with their biology. "Well, you should be fine with minimal scarring." She stated. "I've applied a topical analgesic so just let be and come see me if you need anything else."
Cerrus stood from the bed rising to his 6'6" height nodding to the doctor. "Thank you."
The Medical Bay door opened and Sidda stepped in just as Cerrus was trying to leave. "Hey, how's the face?" she asked and Cerrus shrugged.
"Fine." He replied and Sidda could have bet on that answer.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked and the Turian's posture stiffened. He never did relax no matter what was going on. He looked down at her as she handed him her pistol. "Fucking thing misfired…like it over heated and I don't know why."
Cerrus took the black weapon and examined it finding it very familiar. His eyes narrowed as he held it in his left hand and ran his right hand across it. "This is Magnus' gun." He stated and looked at her fairly confused. "Why do you have it?"
"Who?" she replied and Cerrus nearly grumbled. There was no mistake he'd seen this pistol enough to recognize it as his academy friends'.
"Magnus Vidinos." He stated.
Sidda had forgotten his first name but nodded. "Oh yeah, he gave it to me after I kicked his ass on Pinnacle Station." She stated and Cerrus' eyes remained narrow. "Wait, how do you know him?"
"He was my best friend growing up and through the academy." He stated. "He's had this gun since our first assignment. I built it for him."
"How did I know that you two assholes were friends?" Sidda scoffed and if she didn't know better she could have sworn he grinned. Vidinos was just like him and he knew that if he and Sidda went at each other it must have been explosive.
"You survived…that's all you need." He replied and Sidda's glower actually made him snort. "I'll fix it." He said and excused himself letting Sidda get on with what she was doing. She needed to talk to Toombs, this former Alliance soldier that may or may not be telling the truth.
"Hey, Doc, how is he?" she asked referring to Toombs sitting on the furthest bed looking whole heartedly uncomfortable.
"Traumatized…I can't even begin to know what's been done to him but there are signs of severe physical abuse. Needle scarring, mental trauma…he doesn't trust me, it took me an hour just to get close enough to examine him." Chakwas stated and Sidda nodded.
"Give me a minute with him, please." Sidda said and as Chakwas left Sidda made her way to Toombs. "How ya doing?" she asked and Toombs looked at her.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Arcturus Station but before that you said you escaped from somewhere…where was it?" she asked.
Toombs eyed her, so far she seemed like she could be trusted but he was still leery of it. "Why? What do you know about Cerberus?"
Sidda hopped on the bed next to his. "Last year I had mission. People had been going missing and it caught the eye of a Council Spectre. Long story short there was a secret facility on a planet called Nebewa run by an organization called 'Cerberus', I didn't have a clue what they were at the time but the Marine unit on Edolus mirrors what happened on Akuze exactly." She stated and Toombs relaxed a little.
"What were they doing on Nebewa?" he asked and Sidda sighed.
"Experiments. They seemed hell bent on dissecting a Turian that was with us." She answered. "I don't know the whole story about what was going on we lost most of the data. I just want to know where you escaped from, if they're responsible for what happened to you and the unit on Edolus I want to shut them down."
Toombs nodded finding her so far the only person he seemed to trust. "Binthu."
"Thank you." She said and left him alone to rest. She couldn't imagine what he had been through but it was confirmed that Cpl. Anthony Toombs was a member of the unit that was lost on Akuze and Hackett was very curious to meet him. Before that Sidda wanted answers and didn't mind putting Saren on hold for this. She'd already tried several times to reach Kahoku but got no response.
True to Cerrus' word, he had the pistol disassembled in front of him. Vidinos' pistol was a heavily modified Haliat Stiletto. Vidinos was as much of a gun bunny as he was so when Vidinos acquired the expensive handgun during their first posting together Cerrus modified it for him. Now it was almost unrecognizable as a Stiletto but Cerrus could pick this gun out of a crowd, he must be slipping…he never noticed this before.
Tali opened her locker and looked over at the Turian hunched over a disassembled pistol. "How's your face?" she asked and Cerrus looked up from what he was doing.
"It hurts." He replied and Tali closed the locker moving closer to him to get a better look. The flash didn't melt any flesh it just made it tender, like a sunburn, the cuts on top of those hurt for the simple reason that it felt like his face was on fire. The deep cut that was created by a chunk of the wall was deep on his cheekbone. "Ouch."
"Believe me the Krogan wanted to do a lot worse." He stated and Tali giggled.
"I'm glad he didn't." she stated and Cerrus looked down at her as she excused herself.
Cerrus paused working and watched her leave with an inward smile and a snort to himself.
It didn't take long for the Normandy to make it to Binthu, instead of going to Arcturus first she decided to just cut to the chase and go to the source. Sidda sidelined Cerrus and took Kaidan and Ashley down to investigate.
"So you've dealt with Cerberus before?" Kaidan asked as the Mako sped across Binthu's dusty acid rain prone surface.
"Yeah, they tried to kill Maridus, Nihlus, and me in one swing." Sidda replied. "They failed."
"So what happens if this turns out to be a wild goose chase?" Kaidan asked and Sidda shrugged.
"It's not…I'll bet you dinner on that." She stated and Kaidan let a grin spread across his face.
"I like Goose." He stated and Sidda couldn't help but snort.
"Funny." She replied and Kaidan chuckled loudly.
The Mako shook as the defenses for the facility found them; Toombs' information was spot on with where it was. Sidda didn't know why but she trusted Toombs, yes he was a little unstable but so far she had no reason to suspect him.
A few turrets and a half a dozen mercs, or guards or whatever they were, squished by the Mako and Ashley's driving skills later they had access to the facility. The security was a little tough to bypass but Kaidan was sufficiently skilled enough to bypass it. Whoever was inside probably already knew they had some uninvited guests.
With Sidda on point they slipped into the 'research' facility with relative ease though it was odd that they didn't encounter resistance until they reached the heart of the facility. As they moved through they found holding cells, large square observation cells cordoned off by a mass effect field. So far two of them were empty but their intrusion had not gone unnoticed, as soon as they set foot in the first holding room they were attacked by an onslaught of guards. Unlike everything they had faced so far, Sidda noticed that they were all human; not a Krogan, Salarian, or Turian among them…not even an Asari.
Sidda knelt down to a dead guard and examined the woman closer. The uniform was familiar, at least the insignia was. "Toombs is right." She stated and Kaidan hovered over her looking down at what she was. "This is the same insignia…I've seen this before."
"What are they holding in these?" Ashley asked and Sidda stood from the guard.
"My guess is one of them was Cpl. Toombs." She replied. "Let's continue on and ask, shall we?"
They kept moving and came across a third holding cell surrounded by more guards and about five scientists. This one was a little harder to punch through there were over 20 armed guards that played ring around the rosy with the holding cell. None of them got out of this without some kind of damage, Kaidan took a sniper shot to the arm, Ashley had to beat a vanguard into submission but got as good as she gave, and Sidda went head to head with another biotic.
By the time the fight was over Sidda had been thrown into the wall at the most awkward angle imaginable, if it hadn't been for her armor she probably would have broken something. "Ow…" she groaned and righted herself looking to Ashley with a thankful nod. She and the Chief may not have been on the same terms about things but she certainly came in handy. "Kaidan, you okay?" she asked and collected her rifle.
The medic grumbled and examined the wound a bit closer for a second. "Yeah…just winged me."
"Commander, you better take a look at this." Ashley said as she stood close to the mass effect barrier surrounding the holding cell. There was a body lying in the middle of the floor, this was the first one that actually had someone or something in it.
"Kaidan." She called and the sentinel didn't need any other orders than that. He activated his Omni-tool and quickly bypassed the security. When the field came down Sidda moved closer with her weapon ready but as she drew nearer she noticed the Alliance uniform then she realized why she couldn't get a hold of Adm. Kahoku. "Oh my God…" she breathed. "That's Adm. Kahoku."
Kaidan knelt down next to his body and checked his vitals but sighed deeply before looking up at Sidda. "He's dead, Commander." He stated and Sidda's jaw tightened.
"He said he was being followed." She stated as Kaidan noticed a needle mark on his neck. "Toombs was right…" Ashley saw her temper flaring as it had before with Nihlus' death. Her jaw tightened and she started to pace a little. "Kaidan, find the main computer and get everything you can."
Toombs slowly approached Sidda tentatively. "Commander." He announced and she twisted to see him but didn't move. The corporal was unstable and dangerous but so far he'd shown no aggression toward her. He was far from relaxed but it placed trust in her.
"Corporal." She replied with a smile, Sidda couldn't imagine the level of torture they put him through the countless experiments he endured. Just hearing they injected him with Thresher Maw acid was enough to make her skin crawl.
"Tony, please." He stated and that sounded odd to him. It had been years since someone called him by his name. Cerberus called him by his rank and occasionally by his last name but that was it. Sidda had listened to him and did far more for him than anyone else ever did. "I wanted to thank you for believing me. I escaped months ago and no one believed me when I told them, they all thought I was crazy."
Her eyes drifted down and she shook his outstretched hand with a nod. "It was my pleasure, Tony."
He let go of her hand as quickly as she sook it, uncomfortable with the contact. "There are more of them out there. You know that right?" he asked as the Normandy shook when it made contact with the Arcturus docking cradle. "They…they do…horrible things to people…it wasn't just me trapped in there. I saw others and heard worse."
"If I find them I'll shut them down…you have my word on that. The Alliance will have everything I have, we will get them." She stated and Toombs wasn't exactly convinced but he actually trusted Sidda. Since the rumor was that Cerberus started out as an Alliance Black Op the idea of them running the show looking into Cerberus didn't give him much confidence. He trusted Sidda; she followed through on Ontarom and again on Binthu and never once looked at him like he was crazy. Now she was going to hand the Cerberus doctor over to the Alliance to be questioned. "If you need me, you call." She stated and the sincerity in her voice was apparent. "I mean it."
For the first time in he couldn't remember how long he actually smiled. "Thank you, Commander." He stated and the airlock door cycled open. Now it was time to offload Dr. Wayne, Toombs, and Adm. Kahoku's body along with a copy of the information they had gathered on Ontarom and Binthu. She was happy to be back on track and hunting for her Turian quarry but she didn't mind helping shut Cerberus down. Something told her that this was bigger than what they had found and it was far from over.
In her quarters she leaned back in the desk chair rubbing her face, she was tired and wanted to sleep but Hackett wanted a complete report on the mess with Cerberus ASAP so she slaved over her computer writing it up. Her silence was interrupted by her comm officer.
"Transmission coming in for you, Commander." The woman stated and Sidda stretched her back.
"Thank you, Ensign, put it through." She replied not really caring who it was from at this particular point.
"Commander, I represent an interested party and I understand you have come into possession of some intelligence that was promised to my employer." a male disembodied voice stated, it was human she could tell that but beyond that it was anyone's guess.
Sidda narrowed her eyes. "And your employer is?" she asked a little surprised by his bold speech.
"The Shadow Broker." He stated and Sidda sighed, that illusive bastard was the bane of her existence so far. Selling secrets to her enemy, facilitating a hit…she really didn't like him. "The Broker made a deal with Adm. Kahoku to turn over any information gained from the Cerberus facility on Ontarom. We are willing to offer you the same deal with an impressive sum."
Sidda's answer was simple and she scoffed. The Broker worked with Saren and damn near killed her and her crew. He was not her ally and he wasn't really her enemy, he worked for himself and whoever furthered his own goal. "No." she answered bluntly and there was a long pause on the line.
"Commander, be smart about this." He stated and Sidda shook her head.
"Tell your Boss to choose his clients better next time and tell him that if he wants this information he's gonna have to run over me to get it. He dealt with a traitor, a Spectre who killed one of his own and tried to kill me." She growled. "Your Boss burned up whatever currency he may have had with me."
"I'm sorry we couldn't do business, Commander." He said and Sidda shook her head.
"I'm not." She stated and could hear the aggravation in the representatives' voice.
"The Broker will not forget this, Commander." He stated and the comm line ended.
Sidda shook her head with a snort. "Yeah…he can get in line."