I do not own Mass Effect or Bioware
Chapter 4
A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned. Xun Zi
I left the dreary tram behind as I arrived at my stop. People passed by to enter the tram with dreadful faces. It was as if a wave of gloom washed over me as I made my way through them. No one smiling, no one made contact. They continued to shuffle on with their existence not caring for anything.
It took sometime to locate the utility district office. There were no distinguishing signs or characteristics to identify it. Maybe poor navigation on my part or the lack of a pin point location from my omni tool. Like most things on Omega (I was beginning to catch onto a theme) the office was understaffed, broken, and gloomy. An uninterested Batarian staffed the only reception desk. His attention was currently occupied by the newest edition of Fornax as I approached.
I paused for only a second waiting for him to acknowledge my presence.
"I got a problem." as soon as I say it I quickly wish I hadn't supplied him with such a vague opener.
"We all do. Unless you got an emergency I suggest you get the fu-" We both jump as an enormous crash rattles the entire office. The resulting quake violently knocks everything free standing to the floor.
"What the hell was that?" I ask.
The Batarian violently erupts with anger and faces the wall to my right ."If you two numb nuts destroy anymore of my business I swear I WILL SAW YOUR BODIES IN HALF WITH THE EDGE OF AN OSD! AND THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" After taking a deep breath he looks over at me. "If you want your damn problem fixed speak with Niseer, he handles the domestic problems, I just work here." he gestures to his left to another wing of the building.
The hallway is short in length probably twenty meters, but with high ceilings. The first room is to my right. The non-illuminated broken label reads "Mechnica."
I discover the source of the impact as two young and angry krogans are engaged in a brawl just inside. One has the other pinned to the wall with his head and shoulders jammed just below the others abdomen. The other tries to break the hold by elbow smashing the other ones head.
"Get the hell off me you moron!" he screams as he lands his blow squarely on the others head. The strike hit perfectly as the other falls to the ground grunting in pain.
"I guess I was wrong, you actually can hit harder than a little bitch!" one said as he rubbed his head from the others blow.
Against my better judgment I interrupted their dispute, "Niseer?" They both look at each other in genuine puzzlement before replying.
"No… I'm Skrag, and this MORON is Cragg." he gestures to the other krogran behind him now on his feet.
I pause before continuing "Twins right?"
"How'd you guess?" Cragg's eyes went wide with honest child like amazement.
"uh…lucky I guess." I reply in kind with equal disbelief at his own bewilderment. "So, where is Niseer?"
"Oh, sorry Cragg is just a little slow," Skrag gestures over his shoulder again. "Niseer is next door, you can't miss him."
"Thanks, and Cragg," He again looks over with his eyes still wide. "Your heads bleeding. Might want someone to take a look at it."
"Damn it Skrag!" Cragg checks his head identifying the wound. He rages and spears Skrag to the ground and the cycle starts over again.
I leave quickly trying not to get caught in their bloody brawl. I find Niseer's Office which is more akin to a closet than anything else. Inside I find a Quarian picking up parts and manuals that were undoubtedly knocked over during the death match next door.
" Niseer?"
"Yep, unfortunately." he replies dispirited.
"I got a question for you," Niseer looks up at me with exhaustion. "I can't help but notice the severely under supplied power that exist in many of the stations habitats."
"Yeah I've noticed too." he returns sharply. "To be blunt we have a infinite number of more pressing matters to get to. I have broken power turbines in multiple grids throughout the station that are failing to pressurize equally. You know what happens when they fail?" Niseer's frustration was pouring out and I was just unlucky enough to be the receiver of it.
"Yes I am familiar with Turian, Human, and Asari pneumatic systems and what that would mean to a station like this in its current state. Total failure of the exterior hull."
It's hard to read Quarian expressions especially when they are in their environmental suits, but I could tell Niseer was caught off guard by my accurate assessment as he tilted his head in disbelief.
"Alliance military academy, mechanical engineering, heavy kinetic ballistics."
Niseer laughs genuinely at my explanation. "And you come here wanting help from me? I should be asking you for help." He ushers me in " Please, have a seat."
"I don't want to get roped into anything here, I just want the lights in my bathroom to work." I can already tell where Niseer is going next and I hope I'm wrong.
"Like I said, I have a mountain of problems that keeps growing everyday. I'm understaffed and our funding is not enough to even get second rate equipment from any merchants. You can thank that power greedy slut in Afterlife for that one. I don't know how she thinks she will control Omega when it finally caves in or falls apart which it is sure to do sooner than later." Niseer continues to fume.
"I understand your problem-" Niseer Interrupts.
"I have a contract from the Blue Suns. Apparently the Blood Pack have recruited a number of Vorcha and are starting a war in the lower environmental district. Supposedly a plague has broken out and all the blame is on you humans. No offense." Niseer apologizes. I simply shrug in response
"Now, a couple of the higher ups from the Blue Suns have asked me to repair some damaged environmental equipment which unless repaired soon would make the entire district uninhabitable. Someone with your expertise would be invaluable to me because to be honest Skrag and Cragg are just heavy lifters. I'll make you an offer. You help me with this contract and I'll make sure to either repair the power in your facility or have you relocated." The thought of living somewhere else was appealing, for only a moment.
"To be honest Niseer I can probably fix the power myself, but it's not something I want to do." I try to slant the favor on my side hoping he can improve the deal.
"I understand that." his tone almost apologetic "I am asking you. Will you help me?" Unfortunately my moral fiber got the best of me. I knew if I was going to start something here on Omega I would need as many contacts as possible. And from what I have already seen of its locals Niseer wasn't that bad of a candidate.
"So what specifically do you need me to do? You mentioned Blue Suns and Blood Pack. How much violence has occurred, what sort of numbers are we taking about? Are the Blue Suns escorting us to the location? What is our exit plan in case the worst happens?" I rattle off questions fiercely trying to see if there is a plan at all.
"Slow down, slow down. Yes we will be escorted by Blue Sun. they have promised a squad to personally guard us the entire route." Niseer tries his best to assure me. "Cragg and Skrag will be coming along as well, and we have a M.U.L.E. to carry the heavy equipment and parts necessary for the repair."
"Does anyone have any real combat training?" I ask directly.
"No." Niseer does not hesitate with the truth.
"Listen, I just got here today and I don't want my first day to be my last. You got to do something more for me here. Look, many organizations see you for mechanical problems on the station correct?" Niseer simply nods in agreement. "Okay now we're going places. Do you have any contacts with the Eclipse?"
"A couple, but not reliable." he replies doubtfully.
"Do you have any schematics of the area we will be going into?"
"That I can help you with," He reaches for a drawer on his small desk and retrieves an OSD. "This should have all levels of the district we are going to." I quickly download it to my omni tool and began scanning the entire map.
"I'm noticing something here. This is showing that most, if not all the corridors and docks are separately sealed and to be honest quite easy to defend." I look over at Niseer for an explanation.
I notice the highly ornate and striking colors of his environmental suit. I must admit the Quarians are very friendly given their current circumstances. They are nomads in a day and age where you would think that to be impossible given the abundance of our galaxy. It must be a sad world to live in. Your home is a home away from home. Then upon reaching adulthood you must travel the galaxy searching for anything useful to your people. You are despised as vagrants and inferiors by other species who by all means are equals. This makes the Quarians a strong species, they meet adversity on every level with every passing day. They exhibit both strong individuality and community, which would seem hard to balance in any culture. Their military force is highly disciplined and unified, but each member expresses themselves with their varied environmental suits and equipment. Similarly they name each of their space vessels, but unlike the Alliance fleet these names are of families, communities, or individuals. The ability to remain as one and yet retain self independence is admirable especially in today's intergalactic community. If Niseer reflects the qualities of most Quarians here on Omega then I'm going to need more friends like him.
Niseer rubs the back of neck as he tries to remember each section of the station.
"Yeah that section was one of the first to be built on this station for obvious reasons. And that was the only design deemed safe enough in case of an accident."
"Okay, I can make that work to our advantage. Let me check my things." I quickly set my red bag down and open it up searching for anything that could help.
"Here we go. I made this myself. It's a Tech Armor, highly durable and has incredibly fast recharge rate. I basically reverse engineered the weapons systems I worked in in the military. It was part of my task to also make an armor that could counter the weapons we created. Can't say I have anymore like it, but I do have a personal defense pistol, and a couple of other helpful devices. If we can use-" Niseer raises his hand as his desk hologram alerts him of an incoming call. He queues his helmet piece to answer and I can tell by his reaction it is a pressing matter. He hardly has time to get a word out before the transmission is terminated. Without explanation he quickly moves to his storage unit grabbing parts and equipment.
"Skrag, Cragg! Blue Suns need those repairs now. Get the parts ready to move. You two might want to suit up, some kind of plague in the area." Niseer returns his attention to me "Sorry to put you on the spot, but will you be joining us?"
"Can you get me in with the Eclipse?" Niseer reluctantly returns with a nod.