Chapter 35: Meet Alison Gunn

The Normandy jumped from the Citadel into the Boltzmann system which was within the Serpent Nebula. They were here for Kasumi and the gray box. While Shepard had dressed in her formal wear she had EDI brief her on the system and more spastically specifically Bekenstein. It was more out of habit of wanting to know all she could about a system or planet where a mission commenced.

Travel agents describe the world as 'More glittering than diamonds, more expensive than surgery,'

The Alliance codex stated: when humanity was given leave to colonize planets after the First Contact War, the Systems Alliance chose Bekenstein to be their trading arm, producing commercial goods to be sold on the nearby Citadel. One of their major exports - legal ones that was - were binoculars.

It was a difficult challenge to crack the vast galactic marketplace - the first human products sold on novelty alone, then lack of demand hit Bekenstein's economy hard. Only in the second generation of colonists did the planet find a sustainable niche in high-quality entertainment and luxury goods. Once brand awareness sunk in, aliens flocked to Bekenstein's many spaceports. The planet today boasts more millionaires and billionaires per capita than any other human colony.

Was it any wonder Donavan Hock chose this system to live? White-collar criminals thrived here. It had its dark side too; comparable to other worlds Bekenstein's suicide rate and inflation was extremely high. Unemployment was artificially low even amongst the population of 5,425,000 humans living there because few people immigrate to the expensive planet without having a job lined up. The cost of living was so great that unemployed workers typically left for kinder planets after just a few months.

Like Illium, Bekenstein was Omega but with better shoes. Of those that live there see themselves as tougher, sharper, and more skillful than the rest, as well as capable of getting respect and employment on any lesser planet. As a popular song says, "If you can make it on the Bek, you got 'em by the neck."

EDI commented that the system was named for an Austrian physicist named Ludwig Boltzmann while Hock's planet was named for Jacob Bekenstein, a theoretical physicist who had contributed to the foundation of black hole thermodynamics and to other aspects of the connections between information and gravitation.

"Looking good Miss Allison Gunn." Kasumi greeted the disguised Shepard as she approached the shuttle. The dress was the definitive of what the Spectre had said to her bondmate about it being a 'come fuck-me' dress. It hugged her every curve snugly, showed off her cleavage...hell it made her appear generously ample. "Donavan won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Kasumi was having a difficult keeping her eyes off the Spectre, her eyes lingering on the leather clad breasts.

"I assume Allison Gunn is my cover?" Shepard slid into her seat in the shuttle's cockpit. Typically she would grab the lip of the roof at the door's threshold and swing her feet in first. It was one of the things thought you back in basic, take advantage of every efficiency. You exited the shuttles the same way by grabbing rail at the door and swing out feet first, so as soon as they hit dirt you were on the run.

Kasumi claimed second pilot's chair as silently as a shadow in a dimly lit room. "You run a small but talented band of mercs The Foxhound Chargers out of the Terminus Systems. Precisely the type of person Donavan Hock respects. I took the liberty of giving you a reputation, papers, witnesses, an article in 'Badass Weekly.'"

The Commander snapped her fingers as couple of times as thought suddenly dawned on her. "I saw that issue! There was a store where I bought Jack's gear from that were selling issues of it. I didn't pay much attention to it. But the name Allison Gunn was in bold print next to a photo of Aria."

"Yeah our Pirate Queen pal on the cover almost all the time. Oh and I'm Major Motoko Kusangai. Your XO."

"What's 'her' story."

Kasumi turned to Shepard. "I snagged her from another source. Don't worry, its not like Hock will get the reference.

"A figure from history, then?"

"Yes and no." Kasumi blushed a little at the admittance. "You remember when I told you I like retro stories? One of them is from an old anima and manga series back in the late twentieth – early twenty-first centuries. Had a cult following. I love her. Anyway she was wizard-class master hacker, stealthy, acrobatic, very cunning and talented and sly as they come."

"So...nothing like you." Shepard teased gaining a smile from the Japanese woman.

"Well she was a warrior too. Well more a special ops type cop. Like a Spectre. Sooo...yeah there's a bit of a difference. She's also a major...and a cyborg a very sexy one."

"May have to borrow a few of your graphic novels or vids. She sounds intriguing. So back to the mission."

"Right. When you're with Hock just make sure don't talk business with him and you'll be fine."

"No kidding." Shepard shifted uncomfortably in the dress. "For the record this get-up is so not me."

"You'd look really out of place in armor at a society party don't you think?" Kasumi looked the sullen woman up and down, her eyes lingering on the swell of her breasts. "You look great! You should wear this stuff more often." the thief smirked

"Liara might appreciate it, but ...give me BDUs any day. Besides did you see the way the crew were all staring at me?"

"I don't think they realized just how much of a woman you are under that uniform."

"I need them to see the uniform, Kasumi. They need to respect the uniform. If they start seeing anyone else then the Commander it sets a dangerous precedent. Joker already teeters on the edge of insubordination. Hell he could do with a little more deference. Who are we kidding? He needs a lot more deference."

The whole ship had turned to stare at their commander when she walked though the halls. No one could believe their eyes how well she 'cleaned' up. The crew already had a major case of hero-worship for their commander, there were more than a few crushes, seeing her in an extraordinarily sexy dress had tongues wagging or so to speak. In addition to the leather dress, a few of her tattoos had to be covered, those depicting the Alliance, N7s and Spectres respectively. The others of course could remain, what merc leader didn't have ink?

Shepard tried to ignore the unpleasant unfamiliar sensation of being seen as some sort of sexual object. She had never seen herself as such. She thought about channelling her wife, but another asari popped into her head. The very woman's face appeared next the name of Allison Gunn. Aria T'Loak was sexy and she flaunted it, deadly and she made sure everyone knew it. Okay...she wasn't Commander Samantha Shepard-military born and bred, she was Alison Gunn. She could be sexy and deadly. Play the part. Play it well.

Kasumi of course didn't look like her typical self either. A hooded quarian inspired cat-suit would stand out just as much as armor at a society party. She didn't have to wear much of a disguise as Kasumi took great pains not to be seen. Still she took a few precautions. Instead of her regular garments she wore a skin tight white body suit. Jeans that she had hung low on her hips and had the fly unbuttoned. Over all of it she wore a short deep purple jacket that hung mid-waist. Her white leather boots were thigh length. It was an outfit that screamed sex but also 'don't fuck with me.' Not unlike Aria T'Loak's choices of outfits. Shepard reasoned it was probably completely inspired by this Major Motoko Kusangai character.

"Remind me, what sort of man are we dealing with?" The Spectre redirected the line of questions as Kasumi piloted the shuttle past the traffic of colony's capital.

"He has a vast estate just outside Milgrom. He's a weapon's dealer, smuggler. He stole my partner's gray box and killed him. After all that he's not so bad. He's charismatic, willing to crack open a person's skull to get to the information inside."

"So deal with him like Aria." Shepard nodded. "Now would be a good time to fill me on the details."

Kasumi grinned. "You have been patient. Donavan Hock will be hosting a party for his closest friends, a couple of dozen of the worst liars, cheats and mass murderers you'll ever want to meet." the thief scrolled through several images: showing Hock's estate, a few of the faces of the people in attendance, the last was a golden face, Shepard knew well. All will bring gifts as tribute to the man himself." she closed in on the golden life-sized statue of the fallen Spectre. "Our tribute is the likeness of your old friend Saren—rendered in loving detail, filled to the brim with our weapons and armor." she showed a diagram of the false bottomed plinth the statue stood upon. The specs had been custom designed to hold their gear.

"So that's why you wanted the specs of my armor and weapons."

Dentists had easier times pulling the eyeteeth out of a krogan then getting the specifics out of the Spectre about her armor. It came down to a show of trust between Spectre and thief. So in the end Kasumi had all the details.

"Yep." Kasumi looked to her companion. "You can keep your pistol as long as you keep it concealed. They won't hassle you over a side-arm. "

"Half-expected that you keep a hold-out weapon." Shepard concluded. "I'm sure they'd' be disappointed if I didn't have one."

"Exactly." The Thief confirmed. "Once inside we make our way to Hock's vault door, somewhere in the back of the ballroom. Then we case the security and start peeling away the layers. The statue should be there waiting for you to crack it open and arm up." Kasumi had gone to the trouble of creating an animated scene of Hock's guards moving the statue just where she said it would be. "We then just walk into the vault and take back Keiji's graybox." the cocky grin turned down at the corners as her voice became much softer, almost distant. "And I'll finally have a chance to say goodbye."

Shepard picked up on the tone swiftly. Her own voice matching that of the thief's. "You've worked really hard on this. Keiji must have meant a lot to you." That closeness was something Shepard understood all too well.

An emotional shield slid down hard on the younger woman's face. "Was I that obvious?" Kasumi half asked half accused for being outed. "Keiji's graybox holds everything from all the codes and plans he stole to all the time we spent together. It has a lot of priceless personal memories. It's all that remains of who he was. Wrapped up in those memories is the secret he stole. Kaji never told me what it was, but the information cost him his life. It's very dangerous." Her tone shifted—just a little. Colder perhaps. "I wouldn't bring you here if it wasn't!"

"I know you wouldn't have. Kas…if it was Liara…if she was taken from me but a part of her remained behind…there was nothing that would stop me from reclaiming it. I'd move the stars themselves to get her back. I declared war on the merc guilds because they dared to try and take her as they did my daughter. You'll learn something about me if you haven't already figured it out. If I say I'm going to do it, I do it. I told you I'd help you with this heist." She inclined her head, "This should be interesting."

Kasumi smiled at the lighter tone the conversation had taken. "That's what I'm hoping for." She circled the shuttle around to land at the Hock's landing port. Below them was the golden statue of Saren currently being unloaded by mercs wearing a black and white version of the Eclipse armor. "This is our stop." the shuttle touched down. After they climbed out the two made the way towards the door. "After you Miss Gunn."

Shepard's face had a ghost of a smile as she readjusted her mind to accept the new alias.

The women watched as the loader with the statue was stopped as one of the merc Lieutenants began scanning it with his Omni tool. "Hold a moment." The LT. said. "There seems to be an issue with the statue."

Shepard shot Kasumi a worried look, she knew the thief to be extraordinarily careful when planning heists. She would not make sloppy mistakes like allowing a secret compartment to go unshielded.

New movements caught the trained N7's eyes as well as those belonging to the thief. A man in a white 2,000 credit silk suit came out of the house proper and strolled down the steps with sublime confidence. He could only be Donavan Hock. He didn't give Shepard or Kasumi a second look but kept his attention fixed on his men and the statue.

"Is there a problem?" A very strong Afrikaans accent demanded. The man speaking with it had the same hair cut and beard style of Elias Kelham. Obviously the style was the human male civilian's fashion of the year. On a military ship one grew accustomed to the tight pony tails, buns, crew-cuts and flattops and close-cropped hair styles. Clean and functional.

Hock's man answered quickly as he ran his omni tool over the statue's plinth a second time. "Just doing a scan."

Only then did the crime lord turn to Shepard and Kasumi. "I don't believe we've met." He clasped his hands behind his back, his head lifted imperiously. "Donavan Hock."

Shepard stepped forward, took a micro second then held out her hand, "Allison Gunn, My XO Major Motoko Kusangai. A pleasure."

Hock looked at the hand offered to him as if it was caked in dog shite a worse snub came when he turned his back on her giving all his attention to Saran's statue.

"Sir the scanners aren't picking anything up."

Donavan hurumped and kept his hands clasped behind his back. "I don't think our friends would come all the way from Illium to cause trouble, do you?"

The lieutenant didn't know if question was rhetorical or not. His answer came in the form of a hapless shrug.

Donavan continued to stare at the golden icon. His lips curled into a sneer, the expression was so reminiscent of those held by Udina. For a moment one could have mistaken them for twins. After the moment passed the arms dealer turned back to Shepard and Kasumi.

"You may pass through Miss Gunn. You were invited after all." He looked past her to Kasumi. "But I'm going to have to ask that your companion remain outside. I hope you understand."

Shepard almost questioned him as to why, what reason did he have for excluding 'Motoko Kusangai' Instead she returned, "If you feel more secure with my major out here, then she stays."

"Good to see we're not going to have a problem." his voice remained imperious. "Enjoy the party." He said nothing more to Shepard supposedly attempting to make her feel insignificant, to knock her down a peg. Clearly he was pressing his dominance, a necessary tactic when dealing with the people he commonly associated with.

It was not so dissimilar to how Aria first greeted her on Omega. Aria had displayed a complete indifference for Shepard's status as a Spectre or her war hero reputation. The Pirate Queen utterly ignored her and Shepard's teammates, a nonverbal signal that despite being heavily armed and talented biotics their presence was of no relevance. Any threat Shepard held was of no concern. Now Hock was doing the same. Of course he had to.

Shepard turned to Kasumi, both walked over to the walled garden area just off the landing port. The only others within the area going by their very casual attire seemed to be the grounds keeping staff. "Well that didn't go as planned."

"Any idea why he'd send you away?" Shepard asked.

"None." Kasumi shook her head. "We've never seen each other in person and the Motoko look…he couldn't have seen that. I make sure no one knows what I look like." Kasumi shrugged her shoulders. "Just watching his ass I'm sure. Well I can't blame him."

Shepard agreed with a tilt of her head, "So this is your show 'Miss Kusangai,' what do we do now?"

"Go on with the plan. You'll just have to do all the talking. I'll stay out of sight and stick with you the best I can."

"Good thing you can still move around in that outfit. Your Kusangai was at least a practical woman when it comes to action." Shepard said as she and Kasumi watched the statue being moved off towards the rear of the estate presumably the servant's entrances or perhaps one used for delivery. They walked up the flight of stairs.

"We'll keep radio contact in case something goes wrong."

"You just had to go and say that didn't you?" Shepard scoffed.

"What?"

"Never ever say just a routine mission—a milk run or 'what could possibly go wrong?' It's an automatic jinx."

"You believe in those things?" Kasumi snickered

"As much as I do the mother's curse."

"Well yeah, but that one is real." Kasumi agreed. All mothers in all of history have the power of one curse. 'I hope you have a child just like you!' It's absolutely guaranteed to work. "Why do you think I don't want any kids?"

"Well with my girl I know what I'm in for."

"Really?"

"A nerdy stubborn adventure-seeking accidentally heroic N7 archeologist." There was a definitive coyness to the older woman's words. "As for adventures …let's get this one started."

"Right behind you, Shep." there was a faint staask-visst hum as Goto activated her stealth-generator. After that there was no other sound coming from the thief.

Shepard strolled into the foyer, peripherally aware of the conversations going on around her. She paused not to hear what it was the other guests were saying but to remind herself not to walk like an N7 marine. Miranda had even altered one of her shoes by shaving off a tiny fraction of the heel to give her more of a wiggle to her hips. Apparently an actress from vintage 1950's Hollywood named Marilyn Monroe had done the same. Shepard admitted it did give her hips a definitive swagger.

Before approaching the host of the little shindig the Spectre took the opportunity to 'case the joint' as it were. There was a certain feng shui vibe to the layout of the estate's architecture. There were two galleries off the main room both of which seemed to be subdivided into smaller alcoves by the spiral staircases. Shepard noted the left handed gallery had a secured door. She surmised it was the security office. In the gallery's mirror image off to the right there was another room. This one was marked as important for the single guard posted outside of it.

"You think that's the vault?" Shepard whispered into her ear piece. "If it is we're both going to have to wear those stealth belts."

*No the vault is under us. That's probably his private quarters.*

The main room where Hock was talking to a few of his guests held a small koi pond which was overlooked by a strange bit of modern art. Behind that were great bay picture windows which served as the western wall. No doubt they were bullet proof inlayed with kinetic barriers and polarized should the need arise. Behind the glass wall was a spacious balcony overlooking the manmade lake of the estate. There were several more koi ponds on the balcony that kept the balance of the feng shui design

Going outside Shepard heard two guests talking about an adjacent wing, as she had speculating about the guarded door. The female guest remarked that it was Hock's bedroom. The man naturally of course asked who the architect as the place was impressive. The woman casually retorted that the place was at the very least large.

That explains the guard in front of the door. Private rooms. We'll have to get in eventually.

*We're going need to get in there if we're to get the DNA samples.* Kasumi said echoing the Commander's thoughts.

Shepard raked a hand through her red mane as she looked at the private wing assessing the best way to infiltrate. A small fraction of her mind flashed to how alien it was to see the ember locks even as she registered a possible access point. She could scale the balcony down using the garden shrubbery as cover. Any opposition she could take out in swift succession with her Eagle. Kas could scramble the surveillance.

*I see it too. But how 'bout we save that as a last resort. We want to keep this real quiet like. You know the thief way,*

"Fine…the thief way. You do of course realize that as an N7 I'm very good at black ops. And I'll try to restrain my tendency to blow things up."

She heard laughter at the other end of the radio. The Spectre returned to her recon. She took notice of something completely out of place amongst the planters. One of the guards had set down a data pad.

"Sloppy." Shepard muttered under her breath. She activated it scrolling down hoping to see orders, but it was just chatter from a Pvt. Reems to a guy named Samuels:

No way we can sneak out of that party. The place is locked down tight and Security Chief Roe's in charge. No way Roe would let that get past her. I'd rather stand around bored than face her wrath.

*Chief Roe huh? She sounds like a real hardass.*

"I get that. Most merc superior officers have to be if they want to maintain order in their troops that don't have proper military discipline."

* If we can tap into the guards' communications I can probably use this information.*

"Good idea. If they fear her we can use that fear to our advantage. Keep alert in case we get name drops. We don't know the sex of either Reems or Samuels. I guess I should mingle as not to look too out of place." She walked past one of the wandering waiters and snagged one of the champagne flutes from his tray and took a small sip. Emulating Aria T'Loak movements when they first met—the coyness, the allure, the smugness made being Allison Gunn a great deal easier.

There were more than a few people looking at her, talking about the article in 'Badass Weekly.' a few even recalled or thought they recalled seeing her on the Citadel though they couldn't recall from where. That of course was due to Gunn's likeness to the new composite recruitment posters the Alliance were now implementing. .

Shepard spotted the stairwell leading down to where Kasumi said the vault was most likely located. Just as she was about to take it, two asari in immaculate dresses approached her. One of purple skin the other the more dominant blue.

Frack.

"Allison Gunn, isn't it?" the blue asked with a smile that reminded the Commander of a fox or better yet a weasel. It set Shepard's teeth on edge.

"You seem to have a familiarity with my name." Shepard said. It wasn't a question.

"Your face is not one to miss, my dear." Blue's voice dripped poison honey. "It's rather pretty…for a human. I've seen your name a few times."

"Referring to that article in 'Badass,' I assume." Shepard said in a very passable lower London accent. Camouflaging her voice seemed to be the more prudent measure, considering the lengths Kasumi went to disguise them both.

"I was remarking to my companion here, how a relative unknown even with a talented band such as your Foxhound Chargers warrants an article in 'Badass Weekly 'and an invitation to Hock's little social gathering. I wasn't aware the smaller syndicates had been offered charity work."

"Boggles the mind doesn't it?" Shepard smiled back maintaining the accent. "And yet here you are making a poor attempt of slighting one you deem insignificant. What does that say about you? And at least you know my name whereas you…you don't ring any bells."

*Nice! Asari so love to play their Great Game. Just ran the rogue's gallery facial recognition on Madame Snippy-pants. She's Nadu Deavers deals primarily in Red Sand and smuggled pharmaceuticals out of Illium with her sister. Little Miss Violet here is her lover. She has controlling interests in Nashan Stellar Dynamics but she actually deals to black-market shipyards. I'll give you three guesses where she gets her skycars and starships from and the first two don't count. Name's Peii'jia Ullerup. Both have deep connections to the Eclipse Sisters.*

That's just great. Shepard's hindmind cataloged the information. Hock apparently had deep connections to the Eclipse merc guild as well, going but the 'black tie' version of the black-and-white hardsuits the security forces were wearing. Her foremind however turned to the other asari.

"You Miss Ullerup however I do know. Or at least know of you. Some of my people purchased a few ships from your little 'organization.' They were adequately serviceable, though their main gun-batteries are substandard as they are always seem to be in need of constant calibration. Fortunately I have a turian in my command that has an absolute obsession with such things. It keeps him happily and tediously entertained for hours." She turned her head as a predator studying her prey; circling the asari as a shark in the water. "Now if you will excuse me I have to be…not here." she turned for the right-hand gallery

*Wow that was impressive Shep! I didn't know you could throw accents like that. And you played The Game like a pro. I didn't think you knew that kind of subtlety. *

"Pft. I've picked up a few things from Tevos and Aria, hell even Liara. I can tell you this for free, I appreciate Samara's more straight-forward approach. The whole 'tell me what I want to know or I'll biotically throw your ass out the window', works for me. As for the accent." The Spectre easily slipped into it once more. "It was a silly game we played as kids back in high school. I got very good at it. I can do a pretty good French accent too."

*Really? Loved to hear it.*

"Not a chance."

*Ohh let me guess it's something you only do for your blueberry girl and she goes wild for it. A linguistic aphrodisiac! Kisses you all over. Makes her want to make wild-passionate-biotically-enhanced-tear-your-blouse-off love with you.*

"Kasumi, I realize you're not military but you know that line a subordinate isn't supposed to cross with their commanding officer?"

*Coming up on it, huh?*

"Oh no. Look behind you."

*Sorry Shep.* the thief only got a grunt in response.

The stairs down to the vault entrance was unguarded at both egresses as was the tunnel that ran the length beneath. Neglected? That didn't seem likely, not with the careful scrutiny security made over the statue before they were even spoken to by Hock. Flagrant display of indifference and self-importance—perhaps and a more plausible reason for the lack of guards stationed at the vault's threshold.

As soon as they came to the main entrance, Kasumi decloaked. "Very nice. There is more here than I expected."

Shepard paused mid-stride as she looked upon the visage of Saren. A mix of revulsion and pity crossed her face as she gazed upon the golden visage of the fallen Spectre.

"Password protected voice-lock, kinetic barrier, DNA scanner. Looks like an E-X 700 series. Everything a vault needs to be impenetrable." Kasumi stood before the glowing orange barrier her hand poised before her mouth in as her mind was lost in thought.

So that was the reason for no guards. Overconfidence.

"This going to be a problem?" Shepard asked.

The thief almost chuckled as she strolled around the room pointing to the various security devices as she began to explain. "Please! Remember who you're talking too. We'll need to get a voice sample for the voice lock; you'll have to go chat up Hock for that. We'll have to find a password too, probably in that security office we saw. DNA? Child's play. We should find plenty of DNA samples in Hock's private quarters. And the barrier? Cut the power. Never fails. If we can find it.

"Keiji could get through a system like this in his sleep." her voice became softer as she spoke of her lost lover. "And I'm better. Let's get to it."

As they left the vault entrance, Kasumi pointed to the wall and a bit of cabling. "Looks like the barrier's power cable runs under the floor here. I'll set your omni tool to scan for electromagnetic fields." It didn't take long for her to adjust that.

"Won't it look strange for me to have an active omni-tool on?" Shepard asked.

"Won't be activated. At least not visibly. I can set it so you can see it with your cybernetic optical implants." It only took a few seconds for the thief to enter the commands into the Spectre's omni-tool to give the visual cues to cybernetic eyes. Almost immediately the cables glowed a brilliant orange.

"Follow the yellow-brick road?" quipped the older woman gaining a chuckle out of the thief.

"Just don't break out in song and dance and we'll be fine."

"No fear of that." Shepard took the stairs and heard rather than saw Kasumi's cloaking shield activate. No doubt she'd be far above the party-goers heads in no time flat. The thief might be invisible but that invisibility still had mass. And anyone accidentally running into her because they couldn't perceive her through the light-bending shield would know the thief or rather someone to be there and then the jig was up.

The cables led Shepard to the in-wall bookcase and inlaid fireplace in the left gallery. Shepard's mind flashed to a very old vid called the 'Maltese Falcon.' It was worth a shot wasn't it? she pulled down a bust of some-sort of South African icon casing the fireplace to slide down into the brick work Indeed there was something behind it, not a safe but the power grid.

Fortunately there was no one in the particular area of the gallery and looking up there seemed to be a strange lack of CCTV cameras. Or if they were there, the thief had already hacked them. "One sec." Kasumi said coming out of cloak. Shepard turned her back to watch for anyone passing through as her partner took care of business. "There, that should take care of the barrier.

One down, three to go.

*There he is,* Kasumi's voice came over the earpiece. No doubt she had returned to the shadowed alcove hidden from the public view of the common room. *All you need to do is to keep him talking long enough for me to get a voice print.* there was a smirk behind the voice. *Pull out the charm on this one, Shep.*

Shepard strolled confidently up to her host upon seeing her, his demeanour had radically changed from the man she had met outside. In fact he eagerly took her hand and shook it. "Miss Gunn, glad to see you, that scene at the door hasn't soured your evening I hope."

Shepard made an indifferent gesture. "I understand the security, but who would dare break into Donavan Hock's home?" she shook her head in the same dismissive manner.

He narrowed his eyes a bit as if chastise her for her naiveté. "Come, in our line of work we attract a certain element. Few understand the pains we make to keep the barbarians at bay." he turned away from her to point with outstretched arms at the great picture windows as if grandstanding. "People these days want entertainment, comfort, love." he turned back to face her. "They don't see that the galaxy is fragile." He now seemed to be studying the woman he believed to be Allison Gunn. "I only have to worry about simple luxuries. Why? Because people like me and you are doing the terrible things that keep the galaxy spinning." his voice shifted. Now he was addressing not just 'Gunn' but the whole of his guests. "This party is for us: the cleaners, the support structure for the galaxy's gleeful delusion of peace."

My gods, he actually believes that. Thought Shepard.

"May there always be a market for the things we do!" He toasted causing the room to burst out in spontaneous applause

Almost as if scripted Hock took his bows with a slight tilt of his head, basking in the admiration faked or otherwise from his guests.

"*I said get him talking and you got him talking.* Kasumi praised the Spectre. "We've got enough of a voice sample, let him go.*

Shepard nodded making it appear as if she was agreeing to Hocks little speech.

"Enjoy the party, Miss Gunn." it was a dismissal.

Shepard smiled, raised her flute of champagne and slipped away from his company. Two down two to go. What to collect first? DNA or the security code. Kasumi didn't seem to have a preference, just as long as it was done under the cover of stealth and subtlety. Since they were already on the same floor, and it was the closest target the security room seemed to be the wisest choice.

*I'll take care of the lock in the security room. Once we get the password we can get past the voice scanner, it should be in here.*

"Roger that." Shepard turned her back to the now unlocked door watching the crowd. Most were in small little groups talking about several topics some of which centered on the missions of the Normandy. She heard more than a few of the guests talking about Commander Shepard and her crew.

"…at least her little war with us seems to be over."

"It was a complete frack-up. The Shadow Broker calling an assassination on T'Soni. You knew that would come back to bite us in the ass. The money being offered-that was way too much to be real. We would never have been paid."

"I never sent my people in. Waste of time taking down a hero at the height of her popularity. And I thought it was Cerberus footing the bill."

"Can't be, isn't she now working for them?"

"I heard she only stole their recreation of the Normandy SR1, even took some of his top people and converted them to the cult of Shepard."

"…I heard it was that displaced swit Udina that called the hit on T'Soni and their kid."

"Pft. Doubtful. I heard he's being reinstated. There's even talk about him replacing Anderson as the human representative on the Council."

The other guests effectively distracted, Shepard used the window of opportunity presented to her and slipped passed the door. Fortunately there was a small hallway between the door off the common room and the security room. Their actions were still going unnoticed: for now. Shepard doubted their good fortune would last much longer.

As soon as the outer door closed, Kasumi came out of cloak and was already hacking the secondary door. Shepard had her N7 Eagle pulled and aimed, her body hummed with biotic energy.

"We've got company." Kasumi warned needlessly.

The Spectre didn't hesitate. Her first shot shattered the monitoring screen; the second, third and fourth shot ripped though the surprised sergeant's head like an overripe melon even before he reached for his assault rifle from his back.

The second man got off one shot before Kasumi rushed him in a shadow strike. Her omni dagger slipped into the back of his hardsuit rendering his kinetic armor inert allowing Shepard to slam him with a biotic charge. The bald man spiraled into the wall; at such a close range the kinetic force snapped his spine the wrong way round. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Shepard returned her firearm to the hold-out holster, walked over to the desk of her first target, grabbed hold of his limp shoulder and casually pulled him away from the controls. His body clunked unceremoniously to the floor alongside his comrade.

As for the thief she turned her attention to the monitors and computer rack on the back wall. "Hang on, a sec Shep I've got an idea."

The Spectre chortled. "That's usually my line."

"I steal from the best." came a glib riposte filled with humor. "Why don't you have a look around, see what you can find?"

Shepard nodded her wordless consent to the suggestion; this was still Kasumi's game, besides she would have done that regardless. The first objective was to look over the monitoring devices behind the shattered glass. Despite the silencer on the pistol there was a slim chance the firefight however brief had not gone unnoticed. But all the monitors showed no movement from the posted guard stations. In fact they looked bored; if there had been an alert all those slack-jawed dreary eyed troops would have rushed the security station for want of something to do. So far the only thing out of line was one of the guards near entrance Hock's private quarts sneak a canapé off a passing serving tray.

Stacked near where the first man had been killed were blood spattered data pads. Picking one of them up Shepard read a familiar name, it seemed who ever this Samuels was, was not only sloppy but absentminded. This pad was addressed to someone named Nance. Was she the same person as PVT Reems or another hapless soul Samuels was trying to hook up with?

"Samuels and his little girlfriend have memory issues." Shepard announced. "We're in luck, he wrote tonight's down. It's Peruggia."

"Huh. That was the name of the man who stole the Mona Lisa. Nice." Kasumi sounded as if she actually approved of the password. Shepard only thought it rather ironic. If she didn't recognize the name from history she highly doubted these hired goons would have any clue over the irony. "I hacked into their communications, I think we can get past that private room guard. Just tell him Chief Roe sent you."

"If not we have an alternate route in the gardens." Shepard stated. "Always good to have a back-up plan in case the first one goes to hell. which generally is the case."

"Have a little faith Shep." Kasumi smiled. "We're up three, one more to go and we're in. I just have to use the voice sample from Hock and the rework it to use the password…" she fussed around with her specialized Omni tool for a few moments before declaring her success. "And got it, we can crack that voice scanner."

"This close to the wire is what I'm talking about. Don't get complacent."

"You're expecting the worst." The thief half accused the other woman.

"Of course, expecting the best is a waste of time. Come on, we should go."

"How pragmatic of you, Shep." the thief trailed after the Spectre then stopped. "Wait…."

"What?"

"Shiny." Kasumi went to the wall safe, hacked it easily, she almost seemed offended it wasn't more of a challenge. Still there was a bit of satisfaction when she pulled out a few credit chits. She held up her prize like a street-magician with a deck of cards before an easy mark or rather more like a child gaining the toy at the bottom of a cracker-jack box. "Not bad. Had better."

Shepard simply shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You done?"

"Yep."

The young Blonde at the door of Hock's personal chamber was the same man who had scanned the statue of Saran.

He had the expression he wanted to be in a bar guzzling down several pints of brewskis rather watching the nobility of the Underworld sipping bubbly and nibbling canapés. He perked up when he saw the red-headed beauty approach him.

"Mr. Hock's private quarters are off limits without security clearance." He said robotically.

"I have authorization." Shepard said in her British accent.

That got an immediate near hostile reaction Blondie got right up into Shepard's face, "On whose authority?" the word was unsaid but Shepard heard 'bitch' in tone.

Shepard had seen plenty of little shits like him rising up through the ranks of the military. Plenty of them started out as schoolyard bullies and made bullies as soldiers gave the typical jarhead a bad rep.

Calm as you please as she hadn't heard the belligerence in the challenge. "On Chief Roe's authority."

He took a step back, "Alright, one sec." the man activated his comm-device. "Chief Roe, Samuels, Have you given access to Mr. Hock's private room to Miss Gunn?"

Shepard hid the smirk when she head Kasumi's voice intercept the communications. *They have access, Samuels. Now stop bothering me.*

"Got it. Sorry to bother you ma'am." suddenly his tone changed complete politeness. "Okay you're clear to go in."

Shepard wasted no time; even in heels she took the stairs swiftly. Despite this being an operation led by the thief, Shepard command experience took over. Her eyes searched for any other egress into the chambers. There was only the one exit / entrance.

"Look for anything we can get useful DNA from. Just make it quick and quiet." Kasumi said coming out of cloak.

The private quarters as large as some of the apartments found on Omega, in some case much larger. there was a common area, an office / library, a miniature trophy room and an extra large king-sized bed

Shepard let out a low whistle of appreciation. The crime lord sure knew how to live. The first thing the Spectre scanned had been a sofa placed up against the facing wall of the door. She smiled when she found a credit chit in the sofa that must have fallen out of Hock's pockets at one time or another.

The obvious place to get hair or skin flakes was the bed but it came up empty which meant the housekeepers were thorough. One thing that might not have been dusted was the alarm clock which of course went off embarrassing both Commander and Spectre.

"Quick and quiet!" Kasumi reprimanded

"Sorry. I thought I might have had something. You know you hit the damn thing every morning—bound to be something."

Kasumi shook her head. Her own idea about scanning ashtray that was on the den area's coffee table came up empty. It was too bad a cigarette butt would have been a good source. There was however a wine glass, not enough but if they found other sources it could be pooled together.

The thief stopped when she saw a data pad near the glasses and ashtray. "Hmm…Looks like Hock has been trying to crack Keiji's graybox. Looks like he's missing something. He hasn't hacked the encryption yet. He even went into researching the Okuda family can you believe it? Man's desperate, words and phrases in 4800 galactic languages hasn't produced any matches."

"It's a graybox right?" Shepard said still scanning, "Probably a memory then. One he shared with you, I'd wager."

Kasumi smiled. That was Hock's assumption as well. The crime lord also surmised that the key could very well be a smell or an emotion. Cracking graybox technology was near impossible for the permutations were infinite. However there were other alternatives to breaking through graybox security, though those alternatives risked the viability of stored information.

"We can probably get Hock's DNA off the data pad." Kasumi suggested. "He seems to have obsessed over this." the anger was back in her voice. "but I'm not sure there is enough. Let's keep looking."

Shepard nodded thinking it best not to comment on what her companion found on the data pad. Instead she wandered into the miniature trophy room. Surely there was something here amongst the antiques on display. A moment later the soft padding of Kasumi's footfalls followed her.

Shepard's omni-tool ran over ancient katanas mounted on the wall. The Spectre couldn't begin to appraise their value but knowing Hock's expensive tastes, they had to be authentic dating as far back as the Japans Muromachi period that stretched from the mid twelfth to the late sixteenth centuries.

"The cleaners don't dare touch treasures like this." the thief said "we can get some skin cells from the dust. It's probably contaminated though."

"But if we combine it from what we extrapolated from saliva samples on the wine glass and skin flakes off the data pad I'd think it be enough." Shepard said. "Or you want to keep looking?"

"Couldn't hurt to find another sample."

"Wall safe? You know the 'shiny'" Shepard nodded towards the oblong safe on the trophy room's wall.

"Good call." Kasumi agreed. Again hacking the code was mere child's play. She pocketed the chits and took a sample from the inside of the safe. "There, that should be enough. Lets' get out of here."

"Agreed." Shepard placed a hand on Kasumi's shoulder before the thief could activate her stealth device. "Time to reclaim those stolen memories, Kas."

ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME

AN1: Shepard using English and French accents is homage to Jennifer Hale's extraordinary talents playing Bastila Shan and Satile Shan of SW: KotOR as well as her Twi'lek from the SW: The Clone Wars: Jedi Master Tala Secura (yes the name for Sam and Liara's baby that was killed) Gorge Lucas always wanted his Twi'leks to have a French accent.

AN2 the Foxhound Chargers …. I know the name is not that imaginative but I wanted some sort of name for Allison Gunn's merc group. Chargers yes for The Bull's Chargers from another wonderful Bioware game Dragon Age Inquisition and Konami's Metal Gear Solid's FOXHOUNDs where Miss Hale voices another named character Naomi Hunter. No copyright or intellectual infringement intended on either franchise.

AN3: No copyright or intellectual infringement intended on Ghost in the Shell ( Stand Alone GIG series ) or Major Motoko Kusangai which belong to Manga's Shirow Masamune. I can see Kasumi liking GitS quite a bit. If nothing else she and the Major are both wizard class hackers, acrobatic like running around in stealthy tight form fitting outfits and very femme-fatale I could never figure out why Kasumi was never in disguise during the heist. Shep being 2 years dead might get away with it. But not Kasumi in the quarian like hoodie that just screamed 'I'm up to no good' despite the fact she takes great pains not to be recognized.