The Starheld Compendium - Down to the Thieves Below

Chapter 4

Fayneer T'Lees – 2179

Nos Astra, Illium

Edsonn's relaxed sneer slowly sank into an irritated frown. "Business?" He smirked. "Fine. If you want to talk then talk."

T'Lees sat up straight. "You are a decent businessman, no?"

"Decent? I'm damn good," he snapped.

"Hmm." She smiled. "I will concede that point. But with that in mind you must know that I am much better than you."

Edsonn opened his mouth to reply but held his tongue.

"I had the highest growth and profits in Antarian's organization by a wide margin, as I am sure you know," she continued.

"Yeah, yeah." Edsonn crossed his arms. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't know you were a good at the game, T'Lees."

"Then you are intrigued by my offer?" The asari asked.

The man shifted in his seat.

This was almost too easy, T'Lees thought to herself.

She knew damn well that Edsonn had bought his way into Antarian's organization with reliable intelligence on the Alliance and barely scraped by with his own ventures. He was not a good businessman and never had been.

"A two hundred percent ROI in the first year seems almost too good to be true," he said bluntly.

"You are a smart man," she said, trying not to sound overly pandering. "That figure was… inflated to spark your interest. The figure is around one hundred and fifty-five percent."

He nodded. "Still good."

Of course it is, she thought. Goddess, you are easier to manipulate than a copper wire.

"So you are interested?" T'Lees asked once again.

"Of course, if you have something to show for it," he answered.

She lifted her omnitool and tapped in a few messages. "I am forwarding you the basics. But you should know that I am also meeting with a number of potential investors here on Illium." T'Lees leaned forward. "If you want to be a part of this I would not hesitate on buying in. There is quite a sizable chunk of ownership up for grabs."

Edsonn lifted the holopad in front of him to give the documents a once over. He nodded slowly and agreeably at each major point.

"Interesting. Weapons manufacturing again, hm?" He asked.

"It is my forte," she replied smoothly.

Edsonn raised a brow. "These prototypes you plan to reverse-engineer… how did you obtain them?"

"I cannot expose all my secrets," T'Lees teased. "Not yet at least. I will say that they come from a number of informants and moles I have within the Armali Council's research and development team."

"Very interesting. And you've begun work on breaking down these prototypes already?"

"With my own portion of the funding, yes," she bluffed. "Your contribution, along with anyone who can invest quickly enough, will go toward the boring but essential items." She began counting off on her fingers. "Facilities, labor, materials, distribution, and so on."

"You have buyers lined up?" He asked.

T'Lees nodded. "Yes. I still have a number of connections there that are quite eager to do business with me again."

"What's the catch?" He finally asked.

The asari chuckled. "Edsonn, please. There is no catch. You know quite well I am an honorable businesswoman."

He grinned as his eyes flicked up. "You're a charmer, Fayneer. And a hell of a salesman."

She gave him a horribly fake smile. "You flatter me." She raised her chin. "Can I consider you my first official investor?"

Edsonn chuckled. "I've got the twenty million ready to go, but my volus needs to look over this proposal first. Shouldn't take him more than a few hours."

T'Lees kept her calm. "You have it ready? Here?"

"Not on a chit," he snorted. "Put it in a… special account for now." Edsonn raised his wrist to show her his omnitool bracelet.

"I see. And may I view the funds?" She inquired.

Edsonn smirked. "For a second I thought you weren't going to ask. Wasn't sure if it was really you."

"Please, I may have lost an eye but I have not lost my common sense," she mused.

He pulled down his sleeve and tapped the button to activate his omnitool. After a few quick taps on the holographic screen he held out his arm to show her the balance on an account sheet. She stared down the account for a long moment before looking up to Edsonn with a satisfactory nod.

"Well, that was not so bad at all, was it?" T'Lees smiled. "Who said business is difficult amongst friends?"

"Amen to that," he grinned. "I'll send this over to my guy. While he takes care of that we should take a look at that drink menu, eh?"

"Indeed," she replied.

Her omnitool chimed softly. She looked down nonchalantly to see a new message from Callon.

The account is good. I should be able to get access in the next few minutes and prep the transfer.

The tiny camera they had implanted in her eyepatch had captured everything Callon had needed from Edsonn's omnitool. For all she was concerned, this mission was already over. She paused for a moment and stared down at the table as Edsonn began reading through and narrating the lounge's drink menu.

Was the mission really over already? She asked herself. It could not have been this easy, could it?

"Ahh, twenty year," he noted. "Glass for both of us to celebrate the tentative deal?"

T'Lees blinked and looked up from the table. "Oh, yes. Yes, of course."

Perhaps it could be this easy. T'Lees looked to the side. Edsonn had always been easy for her to manipulate when necessary, but if he could be so easily swayed by anyone he would surely be broke by now.

"I'll be honest, I hadn't expected to hear from you after everything with Antarian went tits up," Edsonn remarked.

T'Lees snapped out of her thought. "Mm, well, I always bounce back."

"So it seems," he said with a wink. "Even heard rumors that you were dead or arrested by… someone."

"Rumors?" She asked curiously.

"Just from a few other people we used to work with," he said with a shrug.

The waitress appeared and set two wine glasses down on the table. She presented the bottle to Edsonn, who nodded in satisfaction, before lifting each of the glasses and gently pouring them a generous portion of wine. Edsonn grabbed his and set the glass under his nose as he took in the aroma of the liquid therein.

"Smells good," he said, clearly happy with his choice.

T'Lees reached to take the other glass in her hand when her omnitool chimed. She accepted the message and activated the screen to see an alert from Seelyn that had been sent out to the entire team.

We may have trouble.

T'Lees kept her concern completely hidden from Edsonn as she transferred the glass to her opposite hand and took a small sip. A message from Ram followed up immediately afterward.

What kind of trouble?

Before anyone could reply T'Lees glanced over her shoulder to see half a dozen asari clad in black commando armor filing into the lobby. She snapped her head back to the table and raised her omnitool.

"Everyone converge on me." She ordered into the mic.

T'Lees looked up to see Edsonn eying her with the ghost of a satisfied smile on his lips. She snarled and leaned forward to point an accusatory finger.

"You son of a bitch!" She snapped, trying to keep her voice down. "Why?"

"Last thing I want is you getting back into the game," he remarked. "Even if this investment worked out it would only be empowering you to challenge my markets in the future."

Ram, Seelyn and Lognus hurried up the steps into the lounge as T'Lees rose from her seat and looked back to the lobby. The commandos had spotted her and the team and were entering combat stances.

"We need to get out of here," T'Lees said as they approached.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Ram agreed. "Come out, out the back."

T'Lees looked down to Edsonn and snarled. "Damn you!"

He shrugged and took another sip of his wine as T'Lees and the others began to dart through rows of tables. Half way across the lounge, however, the door at the far end of the room pinged and slid open to allow another four commandos to come storming into the room. T'Lees cursed and turned back to see the first group was already stepping into the lounge from the main entrance.

"Don't take another fucking step," shouted the commando's leader.

The few patrons still left in the lounge screamed and ran toward the exits. Surprisingly, the commandos let them by without a second glance. It seemed they knew exactly who they were after. The bartender turned and darted through the swinging kitchen door behind the bar, leaving the lounge empty save for the commandos, T'Lees and her mercenaries, and Edsonn.

"Shit," Seelyn growled. "This is bad, very bad…"

"Where is Callon?" T'Lees asked.

"Security room, probably," Lognus replied. "That's where Ram sent him."

"Weapons up," Ram ordered.

He grabbed his sidearm and held it out to T'Lees. She took the pistol as she and the others brought their weapons to bear. The commandos ducked into cover while their squad leader lowered her rifle and shook her head.

"Really, T'Lees?" Her voice was familiar. "You can't get out of this one. You don't have a Spectre here to bail you out this time."

"Captain Lintarith," T'Lees called in return after putting a name to the voice. "I am flattered that you came all this way just for me."

"Can it," Lintarith said with a thick air of loathing.

"Glad to see someone is putting her in her place," Edsonn chuckled as he sipped his wine, still sitting at their table.

Lintarith turned her attention to the man sitting in the center of the room. "Ah, yes. Edsonn, thank you for your cooperation in all of this." She chuckled. "I'm sure that'll help with your plea bargain. Zaera, secure him."

Edsonn jumped up from his chair, spilling his wine to the floor. "What? We had an agreement!"

"And I altered it," Lintarith remarked. "Two crime bosses in one op? Damn good numbers by my book."

Two of the asari commandos from the first squad began to move forward with their weapons trained on Edsonn's position.

"We had a deal!"

"Don't you fucking move!" Lintarith growled.

He turned and ran toward where T'Lees and the others stood near the bar. As he approached them T'Lees narrowed her eye and hit him square across the jaw with the bottom of her pistol grip, sending him stumbling back.

"Disobeying my orders is not how you get on my good side," Lintarith yelled. "T'Lees, drop your damned weapon! The others, too!"

T'Lees glanced around the small group. Ram stood at her side, holding his rifle toward Lintarith and her three commandos. Seelyn and Lognus did the same, but held their weapons on the six commandos that had stopped near the lounge's main entrance. Edsonn slowly rose to his feet to stand at their side, cradling his bloodied chin. T'Lees let her eye flutter shut for a brief second as she concentrated on bolstering her biotic barrier.

"I said drop it!" Lintarith repeated. "I'm not saying it again!"

"I'm not going to prison," Seelyn muttered.

"Neither am I," Ram added.

"My wanted record is longer than this place's wine list," Lognus growled.

Seelyn took a deep breath. "Can we… can we take them?"

"Not sure," Ram answered. "They outnumber us three to one. And they're fucking commandos."

"I can cut that number in half," Seelyn remarked as she turned her palm over to reveal the detonator in her hand.

"Drop your weapons!" Lintarith shouted as she raised her own.

"Do it," T'Lees ordered.

An explosion ripped through the entrance of the lounge, throwing three of the commandos at the entrance into the air and the others down to the ground. Gunfire erupted immediately as Ram and Lognus flipped tables forward and dove behind them for cover. T'Lees winced as her barriers were impacted with shot after shot, almost giving way until she jumped down next to Ram. Something came slamming to the ground next to her with a heavy thump. She snapped her eye toward the noise to see Edsonn laying face-down on the floor, bleeding from an errant gunshot wound to the head. She reached her arm out from cover to rip his omnitool bracelet from his wrist and tuck it into her pocket.

"We can't hold them for long!" Lognus bellowed.

"Follow me!" T'Lees shouted. "Into the kitchen!"

She closed her eyes and concentrated once again on bolstering her barrier before jumping up and turning to sprint the few meters to the bar. T'Lees jumped up and over, knocking drinks to the ground before crashing down to the floor on the other side. The others came jumping over shortly after. A biotic throw caught Ram as he made the jump, throwing him into the shelves that lined the back of the bar to send thousands of credits of liquor crashing to the ground. Lognus and Seelyn jumped up to continue spraying covering fire as T'Lees crawled along the floor to where Ram had landed. He slowly pushed himself up and shook his head.

"Fucking hell that hurt!"

"Biotics often do!" T'Lees remarked. "Come, everyone! Into the kitchen!"

She jumped up and fired off a few shots from her pistol as she ran down the length of the bar toward the swinging doors at the far end. Seelyn, Lognus and Ram followed, all spraying their weapons at the converging commandos as they strafed toward safety. T'Lees jumped through the doors into the large kitchen and stood just behind the wall as she fired back to cover their retreat. Ram made it through first, followed by Seelyn, but just as Lognus turned to head through a biotic singularity ruptured the space where he stood. T'Lees jumped back instinctively, barely avoiding the biotic attack.

"Log!" Seelyn shouted as she turned and ran back toward him.

T'Lees grabbed her arm. "No!"

Another biotic attack struck the batarian, warping the singularity and throwing Lognus down to the ground with a sickening crunch. His body was twisted from the detonation, leaving him stiff and motionless.

"Lognus!" Ram shouted. "Damn it all!"

"No, no!" Seelyn shouted as she backpedaled.

"We must leave!" T'Lees begged as she turned and ran.

They weaved through prep stations and industrial cooking equipment toward a door near the far end of the room marked with the image of a stairwell. One by one the commandos began to file into the room behind them. Bullets shattered the wall paneling around them as she reached the door, only to find it locked.

"Callon!" Ram called into their comms. "Callon, do you hear me?"

The three of them turned and took cover behind a set of stoves before returning fire. The influx of gunfire sent the commandos into cover as well, temporarily halting their advance.

"I hear you," the drell replied calmly. "I'm watching from the security center, trying to unlock that door for you."

"Hurry, damn it!" Ram snarled.

A biotic warp struck Ram just before he could kneel down behind cover, sending him stumbling back into the wall. He fell to the ground but somehow shook off the disorientation and pain before taking up position behind the stove a few seconds later.

"I hate these bloody biotics!" He yelled.

Seelyn laughed happily as one of her shots pierced a commando's helmet, dropping her to the ground. "T'Lees, do some biotic shit back at them!"

T'Lees fired her pistol until it hissed from overheating. "If I do that I will not be able to concentrate on my barrier," she answered in a shout to break through the gunfire. "In case you had not noticed I am not exactly wearing military-grade armor!"

"There! The door's open!" Callon called.

"You're a saint, Cal!" Seelyn gasped. "Come on!"

She jumped up and ran for the door as T'Lees and Ram turned to follow. However, just before she could reach the stairwell a lift struck the turian in the center of her mass, tossing her up to the ceiling.

Ram yelled in anguish. "Claws!"

The commandos concentrated their fire on the turian as she tumbled to the ground. She slumped against the wall beside the door, bleeding from the numerous bullet holes in her torso. T'Lees grimaced and turned her eye away as she rolled through the door and looked back to see Ram slide to the ground beside his fallen comrade.

"Ram!" She shouted.

The commandos peppered him with bullets as he roared in anger and grabbed Seelyn's bloodied rifle before scrambling toward the door. His shields flashed and failed, allowing a burst of bullets to rip into his leg. One or two managed to puncture his armor, sending blood spraying to the floor as he dove through the doorway and into the stairwell. T'Lees reached up and slammed her fist onto the door's control panel to lock it.

"They will break through," she said immediately.

Ram pulled off his helmet and mumbled incoherently as he rolled into a sitting position and applied a dose of medi-gel to his leg wound.

"They're approaching the door," Callon chimed in solemnly. "It is locked but they will most likely separate it from the security grid and force it open within a minute or two."

T'Lees glanced over to Seelyn's rifle as it lay beside Ram. She gritted her teeth and closed her eye to stave off a wave of grief as she reached up to wipe the moisture that had welled up beneath her eyelid.

"Goddess," she mumbled while opening her eye. "Ram, I am so sorry."

He winced and shook his head. "Don't… don't be sorry. Couldn't have seen this coming."

"Of course we could have," she rebutted. "We discussed this ourselves! But we thought we could stand against anything Edsonn might have up his sleeve. Damn it. Damn it!"

"We didn't consider him luring a dozen commandos onto us, did we?"

"I did not expect him to be stupid enough to try to broker a deal with Thessian Special Services," she lamented.

Ram growled as he prepped another dose of medi-gel. "Damn leg won't stop bleeding."

Blood poured from his thigh and onto the ground beneath him and T'Lees.

"I don't mean to rush things, but they're try to hack the door now," Callon said. "You should probably start moving."

"If this fucking leg would stop bleeding," Ram snapped angrily.

"Ram, we must move," T'Lees said as she stood.

His blood had soaked and stained her pants and the fringes of her jacket. She held out a hand to the human who took it and attempted to pull himself to his feet. He shook his head and came falling back to the floor.

"My head," he muttered. "I'm just too…" Ram clutched his leg and paused as a realization settled over him. "Femoral artery," he deduced. "I'll be gone in... five minutes at the most."

T'Lees swallowed hard and shook her head in denial. "No, Ram, no, we can make it out-"

"Stop wasting time and run," he barked. "I'll try to buy you some time."

Ram slid to the wall facing the door and propped himself up. T'Lees did not try to deter her tears now as she dropped down to her knee and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ram…"

"You're still wasting time," he told her. "Go on."

He grabbed his rifle in one hand and picked up Seelyn's in the other, aiming them both toward the door.

T'Lees leaned forward and pressed tear-dampened lips to his forehead. "Thank you, Brandte."

Ram's eyes looked up just long enough to give her a nod before returning to the door.

"They've got it!" Callon shouted.

T'Lees turned and ran to the stairs. The lower stairwell was accompanied by a sign reading "No Exit," and so she took those leading upward. Around the fourth flight up a roar of gunfire echoed from down below, lasting for about ten seconds before coming to an abrupt stop. She closed her eye and paused for just a moment until the thundering sounds of boots on the stairs below kicked her back into action. She climbed just over a dozen floors of stairs before finally coming to a landing that led to a door reading "Roof Maintenance Access." The door unlocked, opening into a dark room full of machinery and maintenance equipment. Pipes and wires weaved their way across the ceilings and walls, while dozens of heavy metal contraptions that resembled generators lay scattered throughout. On the far side of the room was a short set of the stairs leading to a door that could only open to the roof, and seeing no other options for escape, T'Lees trudged onward.

A few meters from the stairs the door opened behind her. "Stop!"

Lintarith's voice cut clean through the noise of the machinery. T'Lees spun on her feet and began firing blindly as she backpedaled up the stairs toward the door. Lintarith fired in return. Somewhere in the crossfire a pipe on the ceiling was punctured, sending oil spraying out onto Lintarith and another commando that was just catching up. With her visor obstructed, Lintarith ripped off her helmet and charged forward as T'Lees let out a weak biotic throw to send her stumbling back. T'Lees fired off a few more shots into the ceiling and, as she had hoped, pierced one of the bundles of cables to send sparks raining down into the room. She turned and ran for the door as the sound of fire erupted in the oil that had begun collecting on the floor.

T'Lees burst from the door into the blinding sunlight and stumbled out onto the roof of the hotel. Tall building surrounded her on all sides, including one close enough that could be reached if she used her biotics to dampen her fall and glide across the gap. That would, of course, leave her defenseless as she could not possibly sustain her barriers at the same time. She looked over her shoulder once before stepping up onto the edge of the roof and leaping forward with a mighty grunt. Blue and purple biotic energy flared around her as she floated over the street some fifteen stories below. She raised her gun and fired off a few shots into the approaching window, shattering it and presenting a landing spot in what looked like an office.

Somewhere behind her she heard a shout. "Raaah!"

She had just enough time to look back over her shoulder to see Lintarith leap off of the building behind her. But instead of igniting her biotics to slow her fall, the commando captain blurred into a ball of energy and charged toward her. T'Lees gasped and braced herself for the impact, her biotics retracting into a barrier just before the commando slammed into her and brought them both through the broken window and smashing into the floor of the office. Disoriented and in severe pain, T'Lees rolled to her feet and stumbled back with her pistol drawn toward the asari commando.

Lintarith righted herself. With her helmet gone and a clear burn from the fire on her torso armor she stared T'Lees down with an animal-like ferocity.

"I do not want to hurt you," T'Lees pleaded. "Half of the crimes you have accused me of are false, the others-"

"Are still crimes!" Lintarith growled as she raised her gun. "You're a fucking criminal and a murderer."

"That... that is not-" She shook her head. "I am not a bad-"

"Listen to yourself," Lintarith said, her voice dripping with venom. "Are you honestly this deluded? You think you're somehow undeserving of punishment for the things you've done? Or that you're somehow innocent?" She scoffed. "Somehow, I don't know which is worse." The commando captain shook her head in disgust. "You're a disgrace to every fucking asari on Thessia."

"Please," T'Lees said again quietly. "I do not want to hurt you."

Lintarith took aim. "Well I do."

T'Lees covered her eye and whipped her hand up. A biotic throw blasted forth and tossed Lintarith back toward a support column which she impacted with a heavy thud. Fully expecting a retaliatory attack, T'Lees attempted to bolster her barrier. A pain drove through her mind and body as it fought back from the strain of her repeated biotic exertion. She gasped and opened her eye to see the commando unleash death upon her.

"Goddess," she gasped.

Lintarith lay motionless in front of the column, her neck twisted unnaturally and broken. T'Lees stumbled backward and activated the comms on her omnitool.

"Callon, are you safe?" She rasped.

"How in… you're alive?" He replied.

A pain tore at her heart. It wasn't physical, but something equally as debilitating. She turned and looked for a door.

"Barely. I need a way out of this building."

"Get to the roof. I just got out of the hotel, but I'll get a skycar and come to pick you up."

She took a deep breath and tucked Ram's pistol into her jacket. "I am on my way."


T'Lees and Callon sat silently in the passenger compartment of the cheap transport vessel they had chartered for their ride off of Illium. Callon typed away at a holopad while T'Lees simply stared at the deck with her face in her hands. Lintarith's words clawed at her. Was she really delusional? Had she merely proven it by killing Lintarith? It had not been intentional, or so she told herself, but what about all the others?

"It was not supposed to end like that," she mumbled. "How did-"

"Shit happens," Callon answered quietly. "Seen more than a handful of setups like this. Some of them turn out okay, but most of the time… well, this happens."

"They did nothing wrong," she lamented. "They were only there to help me."

Help me steal. Said a haunting reminder in the back of her head.

Callon chuckled ruefully. "They've done plenty wrong. Just like I have and I'm sure you're no angel either. There's a reason they were willing to take on a damned commando squad to avoid getting caught and investigated."

Seeing that his words were of little consolation, Callon sighed and crossed his arms.

"You can't be upset that it finally came back around on us. You just have to appreciate that we made it out."

"I know that," T'Lees snapped. "I am hundreds of years old, and I have been in this business for many centuries. I cannot remember all those who have died fighting my battles." She looked up to the drell. "But most of the time I do not know them well enough to feel this much grief when they are gone."

Callon smirked. "Warlords aren't supposed to feel empathy for their grunts, you know."

"Then I suppose I am a terrible crime lord," she replied.

Goddess. Is that all I am? Selfish, semi-conscientious, very lucky thug? The thought nibbled at her until she bared her teeth and forced it into the back of her mind.

The drell set the omnitool down on the table between them. "Does this make things better?"

T'Lees looked down and read over the account summary. "You got it all?"

"Most of it," he answered. "The fact that you snagged Edsonn's omnitool made things easier. I'll funnel it through a few more accounts before transferring it to wherever you want it."

"I owe you far more than what I promised," she admitted.

"I'm already taking the cuts that would have gone to Ram, Seelyn and Lognus," he informed her.

"Even so," she said. "You could have simply left me and the others to die after everything fell apart."

"So… double it?"

T'Lees gave him a small smile. "Please."

This doesn't make you a good person. She clenched a fist and suppressed the thought once again.

"Won't argue with that," Callon remarked. "So what now?"

"I will have to find a new place to establish my business," T'Lees said with a sigh. "Invictus is at the top of my list. And you?"

"With this much in the bank I doubt I'll need to work for a while," Callon laughed. "If ever again."

"If you ever get the urge, I could find you a place in my organization," T'Lees offered.

The drell leaned back. "I'm not really a 'steady job' kind of guy."

"Perhaps contract work, then," she suggested. "I am sure I will have a variety of options available."

"Alright, I'll think about it."

She looked down at the account summary again.

Was it worth it?

"Good. But for now, we should rest." T'Lees closed her eye. "We always have tomorrow to worry about details."


Author's Note

That's the end for this little story. I'm aiming to write one of these every other month or two. Hope you enjoyed it!