A/N: I'm not going to bother bringing up anything about the issue i had recently with this fanfic. For those who have no idea, don't worry about it.
Disclaimer: i own nothing of Mass Effect
Chapter 7:
Out Cold
Joker landed the Normandy in Port Hanshan as he closed the files on the icy planet. Founded in the year 2163, population of over three hundred thousand, and of course the temperature is a cozy negative one degree Celsius. "So Joker," started Laura, waiting at the airlock with Liara. "Learn anything interesting that I need to know about Noveria?"
"I have got to stop looking up stuff in front of you, these quizzes really suck," responded the pilot as he stood.
"Come on," teased Shepard. "You know you want to show off and try to impress me."
Joker blushed, "Guilty. All right, all right. In case you haven't noticed, it's freezing out there. The Noveria Development Corporation, otherwise known as the NDC, owns the colony. Those guys are funded by firms that develop new experimental technology, while an Executive Board represents their 'interests.' Needless to say Commander, some of the activities are a bit seedy, but Noveria isn't part of Citadel space. However, your Spectre status lets us investigate and carry our boom sticks." He finished, cocking his pistol.
"Cute Joker," said Laura, as she hit the airlock release. "First order of business is to get you some sort of armor. It's not like you have biotics to protect yourself."
Once outside the Normandy, everybody felt the stinging cold that Joker referred to before. Liara was protected by her jumpsuit and hr biotics, Laura by her armor, but Joker had nothing but a short sleeve shirt and some pants. So I pass the oral exam, but fail in the practical test. You knew it was cold you idiot! The party was almost inside, when a security detail halted their progress.
"I have to confiscate your weapons now," Joker heard the officer say.
"Commander," started Joker. "If you give away our weapons, I'm going back aboard the Normandy."
"Relax Joker. I'm not giving you our weapons, I'm a Spectre, and this is my team."
Another officer took a step forward, "If you don't give us your weapons, we'll take them from you, by force."
These words caused both parties to draw their weapons and point them at each other. What a great welcoming party. "You have until the count of three," the leader said. "One." Crap. "Two." Crap, Crap. "Thr-"
"Stand down officer," said a voice from a PA system. Thank God. "Commander Shepard's Spectre status has been confirmed."
After being let inside and safe from the cold, the shore party was met by Gianni Parasini, who told them that Matriarch Benezia was up at Peak 15. However, they needed a garage pass n order to get there, because all shuttles were shut down due to the blizzard. Joker sighed, "Things are never simple, are they Commander?"
Laura shook her head wistfully, "Of course not."
The party was directed to a salarian named Anoleis. Once out of the elevator, Joker went in the direction of the Administrator's office until he realized that Laura was busy talking to a hanar merchant. Right, armor. After perusing the different armor types, the three decided that a medium armor would suit the pilot best. Nothing too heavy to slow me down, but too light would leave me exposed. The Predator M suited Joker perfectly, and coincidentally matched Shepard. A sign perhaps?
Before they could leave, the hanar inquired if Laura would bring in a package without alerting the guards due to her Spectre status. "So you want the Commander to smuggle?" queried Joker
The hanar visibly flinched at the pilot's bluntness, but consented that smuggling was indeed his intention. After denying the jelly-like alien, the party continued to the salarian's office. After being let into the office of Anoleis, the party was greatly offended at the salarian's bluntness, which bordered on outright rudeness. This guy thinks he a hot shot, when in reality these companies own his ass. After being denied a garage pass several times over, Shepard stormed from the office only to be stopped by Parasini.
"You don't deal with politics very often, do you Commander Shepard?" asked the secretary. "You can't just bludgeon through things with Anoleis."
Shepard replied, "You sure? I've been known to bludgeon pretty damn hard."
"Commander, I believe she wants to help us," interjected Joker.
"There's a turian named Lorik Qui'in, and he was investigating Mr. Anoles for awhile, but got shutdown," whispered Parasini.
"Great more runarounds," sighed Laura.
The pair met the turian who was thoroughly enjoying his drinks. Apparently, the turian had found substantial evidence that proved that Anoleis was skimming off the top for his own profit. As if he really needed any money, the guy runs the entire port here. The files were in Qui'in's office, which was, of course, guarded by the corrupt security force the Anoleis held in his pocket like so many credits.
Getting into the office building was a snap with Qui'in's pass card, but they quickly ran into trouble as they exited the elevator in the form of two security grunts. "You don't have authorization to be in here, leave now," said the female.
"Are you really here legally?" queried Laura. "Perhaps I should contact the real authorities," she threatened.
The male counterpart laughed, "You don't scare us with your politicking."
"Then how about this?" asked Joker, pointing a gun. "Shepard here is a Spectre, and we have deemed that you are criminals. We're authorized to kill criminals," to which Laura cocked her pistol threateningly.
"Hey, uh we were just doing our jobs," hurried the male.
"How about, we didn't see you and you didn't see us?" continued the other.
"Humans, can be smart when necessary," chimed Liara opening the elevator door for the fleeing guards.
Unfortunately, the two hapless grunts were not alone, but instead a substantial unit had been dispatched to search the turian's office. Joker was crouched behind an unnecessarily large planter as the gunshots began to ring out. Joker had honestly hoped that his first actual kill would not be a human. Not much of an option right about now is there? Joker provided covering fire as Liara lifted several unlucky opponents into the air who became easy pickings for Laura. We're running like a well-kept machine. They continued in a similar fashion until they reached a room with a computer that sat alone on a desk.
After entering the pass code and getting the evidence, the three began to exit the office, when a blonde officer that Joker recognized from the dock impeded their path. With two cronies by her side, the woman appeared very smug and confident. She doesn't carry a rifle, so she must be a biotic. But even Liara carries a pistol. When she felt that the silence had gone on long enough, the woman spoke, "Now that you have the evidence, I can't let you leave Shepard. And I don't need my rifle to take you down."
Without warning, the woman let out a wave of biotic power that knocked both Liara and Joker to the ground. Not pausing to rise, Joker began firing from his back at the two grunts with great success. The first cried out in pain and grasped his knee that had received several shots from point blank range. The other was able to avoid the shots from the pilot, only to be caught by Liara's shaky accuracy. Meanwhile, Laura and the woman, whom Joker remembered was named Stirling, were locked in fierce combat. Laura had her pinned down with a shotgun, and wouldn't even let the women shift behind her cover without firing a shot, for fear of her biotics. Finally, Laura took a grenade from her belt, tossed it over the barrier. As Stirling rolled away from the grenade, Laura caught her with a blast that tore through any remaining shields the biotic may have had.
The trio was finally able to exit the building through the elevator. As they waited for the descent to complete itself, Joker rocked back and forth on his heels expectedly. Eyeing her pilot, Laura finally turned and asked, "Yes Joker? Something bothering you?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm just waiting for more crap to go wrong," he said nervously.
"You get used to it," shrugged Shepard.
"You mean you feel like this all of the time?" queried Joker. "Jesus Christ."
Both Laura and Liara giggled at the pilot's dismay, as the doors slid open. Waiting for the Spectre and her team was Parasini. "Did everything go well Shepard?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Laura, holstering her pistol.
"Just meet me at the Mezzanine, before you speak to Qui'in if you will," said Parasini as she turned and left.
"Was there any reason why we couldn't talk to her here?" asked Joker indignantly. "I mean, honestly, it's just us here in an empty hallway. Come on."
"If she wants to be all annoying ad mysterious, that's her prerogative," said Laura, obviously as frustrated as Joker. "But it doesn't mean we have to like it," she finished with a huff.
They re-met Parasini at the Mezzanine to learn that she was actually an internal affairs officer. The plot is so thick it's practically like soup. The goal was to have Qui'in testify against Anoleis, something he turian was loath to do. After some hard negotiating, which involved threats of pistol whipping and financial trouble, the alien agreed. Finally, now we can get out of here.
The shore party informed Parasini of the good news, and then went to the Administrator's office to watch the ensuing carnage. As the salarian was being 'escorted' out of the office he started making demands that Shepard arrest Parasini. When he realized the Spectre was in on the plot, he spat in Laura's direction and began shouting certain choice words. Irate, Joker went over to where Parasini was busy handling Anoleis. "Let me help you with that," said Joker. The pilot drew his pistol and swiftly introduced the salarian's face to the firearm. Parasini nodded her thanks and led the alien away.
Nobody talks to Laura like that. Nobody. I'd do the same to Hackett if I had to.
Laura came up behind Joker and gave a long whistle. "A little hot tempered there Joker?" asked Laura, grasping his shoulder.
"Nobody deserves to be called the things he said to you," said Joker, pulling at his collar nervously.
"So, now that we have a garage pass, who wants to go out into the freezing cold and go to Peak 15 where there are probably hordes of geth waiting to kill us?" queried Shepard, making light of their situation.
Joker mentally raised his hand, I would follow you anywhere.
So i hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and if there are any qualms about my writing, feel free to message me.