Chapter 4: The Commander
2 Years later…
Garin Marus, a Salarian dockyard worker on Omega, was not having a good day. Sure he enjoyed the work he did, fixing up navigation tech on passing ships, and most of his workmates weren't complete idiots and to top it off they'd just hit a big score by fixing up a passing mining ship. But now here he was, pinned against a wall, a Batarian mugger holding a wickedly serrated knife to his throat. Normally his high metabolism would've caused him to go through the normal emotions of surprise, panic and fear but in this situation, with the sharp metal pricking at his skin whilst the mugger yelled at him to give him his account details, the intense feeling of fear didn't seem to be going away, he truly didn't have a desire to die at the age of sixteen. As his eyes darted right and left he noticed someone standing a few meters to his right.
The figure was dressed head to toe in black, a hooded greatcoat that fell almost to the floor covering their face. In the dim lighting of Omega's Kanawa district the figure almost seemed a part of the shadows. With the reddish light beaming down on him the golden decoration on the figure's clothes seemed to glow like hot metal. His mind working at a pace he didn't even know was possible he deduced that the figure was either a Human or a Batarian, most likely a Human from the style of dress, male and in his mid to late twenties. Slowly he took a step forward, his boots seeming to echo against the metal floor. The sound of footsteps brought the mugger's face spinning round to face the hooded figure.
"Help!" Garin cried out plaintively, "Help me!" This only caused the mugger to press the blade harder into his throat, causing a few beads of green blood to well up along its edge. Garin flinched at the pain.
"Get any closer Human and I'll open his throat out." The Batarian warned, his tone menacing. It was tone that he had used to instil fear in all of his victims. He virtually ran this district's alleyways and dark corners and one human wasn't going to stop him.
"Fine." Came the reply from within the hood, the voice adopting an almost nonchalant tone. Moving up next to the Batarian the figure looked at Garin, blue eyes sparkling within the shadows of his hood. "Which artery do you usually sever?"
"What?" Garin nearly shrieked "No!"
"I'm warning you human." The Batarian growled, taking the knife away from Garin's throat and holding it in front of the human. "Back off or I'll-"
What happened next was so quick Garin could hardly keep up. The hooded man's left arm shot out, grabbing the Batarian's wrist. With a quick twist and a sharp CRACK he broke it, causing the knife to spin away, sliding across the floor before hitting a wall. As the Batarian yelped in pain the hooded figure's right arm snapped out, blue witchfire coursing down its length. His right hand closed around the Batarian's throat and with a slight grunt, he lifted him into the air.
"Fuck!" The Batarian gasped, his legs moving frantically in the air and his hands struggling for grip on the hooded human's arm. Confidently the human walked over to a balcony, which offered a view of the various spires of Omega that jutted from the huge asteroid's underbelly like harpoons in a whale. Adjusting his grip slightly the human hoisted the Batarian up and over the balcony. Beneath the Batarian was nothing but empty air. Visibly panicking he looked pleadingly into the shadow cast by the hood.
"Please, no. I'm begging you." Garin found it perversely funny how quickly the Batarian's attitude had been changed. He had thought himself untouchable, a veritable god among men. 'Nobody is untouchable.' He had forgotten the principle law of life on Omega "Just stop!"
When the reply came it came with the same nonchalance and an almost casual shake of the head. "Uh…let me think….No." And with that he simply dropped him. The total casualness with which he took a life sent a shiver through Garin, but when the human's hand closed around HIS throat he nearly lost it.
"Please, I… I" he tried to speak but found he couldn't. Fear was totally overriding any locative function. The Human wouldn't even have to use his biotics to throw him over the edge and he probably wouldn't even think about it.
"I, was never here." The words were simple and delivered with a tone of command. It was more as if he was stating a fact than telling a lie. All Garin could do was shake his head in agreement With a bored tone the Human spoke again, his hand falling from Garin's throat and patting him on the shoulder. "Go."
As he watched the Salarian run as fast his legs could carry him, not really caring where he was actually going, Ethan threw back his hood, sighed and moved off in the direction of the nearest shuttle bay. "I need a drink." He said to himself.
3 hours later…
As he walked through the neon filled bar known as Afterlife Commander John Shepard, Captain of the Normandy, First Human Spectre and Savior of the Citadel, wondered what he was doing there. As he walked by one of the bars, which was lined with multicoloured drinks and people of various races downing them like water, he thought of the time he had come here, not so long ago, just after his resurrection by Cerberus. He had come to Afterlife to seek an audience with the pirate queen of Omega, Aria T'Loak and to find out what she knew about Doctor Mordin Solus and the vigilante known as Archangel, who had turned out to be his old teammate and friend Garrus Vakarian. As he looked back on those memories, the meeting with the ambitious Asari crime-lord, the plague and saving Garrus from a massed attack from most of the major merc bands on this filth-ridden station, he found himself unconsciously running an armoured finger along one of his scars, which glowed a faint red. Chakwas said they'd heal on their own and to him they couldn't heal fast enough.
"Over there." The blunt words of the scarred veteran mercenary known as Zaeed Massani jerked Shepard out of his reverie. Following the mercenary's outstretched arm he caught sight of the man. Threading through the crowds of chattering Humans, Batarians and Turians he made his way towards the table in the corner. As he did so he passed just in front of the upper lounge were Aria kept her 'court'. At that moment she happened to be surveying the crowded nightclub that was the heart and soul of Omega, looking down she noticed Shepard who gave her a cursory nod, which she returned, intrigued at the formerly dead Spectre's return to her station.
The man who was seated or, more appropriately, splayed at the table did not live up to Shepard's expectations. He was dressed in a shirt so grimy that Shepard couldn't even guess what color it had been originally. His face, which was as caked with grime as his shirt, was heavily bearded and his long hair hung about it, lank and greasy. He appeared to be asleep, his head resting on his folded arms on the table's surface, which was littered with bottles and various containers, all save one empty.
"You sure this is him Zaeed?" Shepard asked his squadmate, who fixed him with a glare.
"Of course I'm damn sure!" Zaeed responded, annoyance clear in his voice at such a doubtful question. "Hey Farrows, wake up you jackass!" and with that he delivered a kick to the table, sending the bottles on his tumbling.
Slamming out an arm to secure the last full bottle, the figure raised his head to look at the two men through bloodshot blue eyes.
"Ah Massani!" he said, his slurred voice confirming his drunkenness. "Good to see you again! You're not here to kill me are ya?" Laughing, his gaze flicked over to Shepard. "And who's Mr Lightbulb? New squaddie?"
"I'm not here for your head, you drunken fool. And Mr Lightbulb is Commander Shepard, he's here to offer you a job."
The drunkard just stared for a moment, before bursting into a hail of laughter. As he convulsed in his seat Shepard drew Zaeed away from the table.
"Zaeed, you can't be serious. The man's a drunken idiot." Beneath his cool veneer anger bubbled at both this useless diversion and the drunken man's taunt.
"I'm serious. Just trust me on this Shepard, this guy's good." And with that they turned back to the table, where the man was still in hysterics. After a few moments the man settled down.
"Seriously now Zaeed," he asked, wiping tears from his eyes "Who's he and what do you want?"
"You heard me." Came the gruff mercenary's only reply.
"What's the terms and what's the pay?"
"Choose." Shepard replied, his tone cool. Taking out a datapad he slid across the table. "Zaeed here tells me your one of the best."
"Zaeed you shouldn't have." The man said in a coy voice, picking up the datapad reading the terms and typing in a number. Having chosen his fee he stood up, swaying slightly, announcing in a faux pompous voice. "I hereby swear that I, Ethan Farrows, will work for you till either the completion of my contract or my death."
"Good." Shepard replied, still vaguely unimpressed with the man before him. Picking up he surveyed the datapad, noting that the amount the drunkard had requested was a relatively small amount. "The Normandy's docked at the docking port in front of Afterlife. See you onboard."
"Very well," Ethan said, sitting down again and grabbing the bottle. "I will see you in a bit, just have some things to take care of."
"Fine." Was Shepard's only reply.
As he and Zaeed headed back through the club, back towards the Normandy, the grizzled veteran turned his head to look at his employer.
"You won't be sorry Shepard. Farrows is damn good."
"We'll see." Shepard said, still not convinced.
"And it's a damn good job you didn't take offense at the whole 'Mr Lightbulb' thing."
"Why? Zaeed the man could hardly stand."
"You fell for that?" Zaeed asked chuckling. "Shepard that guy was pretty much sober. And what's more is that the entire time he was seated he had a Claymore shotgun, bolted underneath the table, cocked and pointed right at your stomach."
"What? That was all an act?" Shepard replied, coming to a stop at the end of the hallway that led to the airlock. "You're serious?"
Zaeed continued on, but he turned his head back to reply to the Commander. "What else do you expect from Aria's personal assassin?"
An hour and a half later Shepard was stood at his private terminal in the CIC, going over some messages. As he pored through messages from the Illusive Man about new armaments he had shipped o the Normandy, dossiers for potential recruits and the ever-present spam messages promising free credits, expert sex tips or 'enhancements' he heard the airlock open. Sighing he went to meet the man he had reluctantly put on his squad.
What he saw made him pause in shock and surprise. The man that stood before him, a duffel bag slung over one broad shoulder, was completely different to the man he had met in the bar. His face and hair were clean, his beard was gone, he was dressed in an immaculate black and gold greatcoat, vest, trousers and boots and his eyes had lost their bloodshot appearance. Instead they glistened in the artificial light, a deep royal blue.
"Finished your inspection Commander Shepard?" Ethan asked.
"Sorry, I was distracted. It's just that you seem-"
"Different? Well the way I see it, if you're looking for the man that killed your brother while he was making a speech to his mercs, you won't think he's the drunk in the corner of Afterlife. The hair and beard were fake and I have special contacts for the bloodshot eyes."
"Clever." Shepard replied, impressed by the assassin's ingenuity. "So you were Aria's personal assassin?"
"Indeed. If she wanted someone taken care of quietly she contracted a hitman, if she wanted to make a point, to say 'Don't fuck with me.' she used me. It was a good enough job, good pay and no contract. Getting out was as simple as just saying, "I found a better gig." No hard feelings."
"Fair enough, ready to get going."
"Yup, where should I store my stuff? It's just that I'm not a big fan of sleeper pods."
Suddenly EDI's synthesized voice intruded onto the conversation. "There is an empty auxiliary storage room on the hangar deck. It should provide adequate accommodation."
"Ah." Came Ethan's reply, he looked at Shepard, an inquisitive eyebrow raised.
"That's EDI, the Normandy's Artificial Intelligence." He explained.
"And a royal pain in the ass!" Came a yell from the cockpit.
"And that was Joker, the pilot."
"I see. Well if it's alright with you I'll head down to my new quarters."
"If it's alright with you I'd like you to introduce you to the ground crew you'll be working with."
"Yeh sure, lead on."
And with that the two men strode down the walkway that led from the cockpit towards the main body of the CIC. As he passed by the Galaxy Map Ethan found his eyes drawn to a rather pretty redhead, who was bent over a console, sifting through reports and messages. As the commander walked by her head shot up and she turned to talk to him. But as she did she caught sight of the blonde haired stranger next to him. A blond-haired stranger with the most stunning blue eyes.
"Kelly?" Shepard asked, quite bemused at the slightly bemused look on the Yeoman's face.
"Sorry." She said, shaking her head slightly. "There's no new messages for you Commander and the ground crew has assembled in the briefing room."
"Thank you Kelly." Shepard replied, turning to move away.
"I'm Ethan, by the way, Ethan Farrows. I'm on the team." Ethan supplied, dipping his head in greeting.
"I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers. I'm Commander Shepard's Personal Assistant." Kelly supplied in response, extending her hand in greeting, which Ethan grasped and shook.
"I look forward to working with you Ms Chambers." He said, giving a winning smile.
"Please, call me Kelly."
"As you wish." At a barely audible cough from Shepard he released her hand and made to follow the commander through to the briefing room. "See you later Kelly."
"You too, Ethan." Kelly said, just as the door that led to the Tech Lab and beyond that the Briefing Room slid shut.
"Everyone," Shepard announced, walking into the Briefing Room, Ethan beside him. "This is Ethan Farrows, he's going to be working with us." And with that he left the room.
The first to speak was Jack, the tattooed convict. She was leaning against the back wall, ill at ease with having to be around others. She stared at Ethan, sizing him up as a buyer would a new shuttle. "Fine, keep him away from me and we'll be fine." And with that she walked out of the Briefing Room, heading back to her 'quarters' in the Engineering Sub-Deck.
"Something I said?" Ethan asked light-heartedly as the door closed.
"That's Jack, she's like that." Said a woman in white and black catsuit, whose dark brown hair framed a face that somehow looked almost 'too' perfect. "That catsuit really does leave nothing to the imagination." Ethan thought to himself as the woman approached. "I'm Miranda, Shepard's Second-In-Command. I hope you'll prove a valuable member of the team."
"Well I'll certainly try." Ethan replied, keeping his tone neutral. "But tell me, is that line as engineered as you are?"
The shocked look on Miranda's face told him he'd guessed correctly. "How-"
"In my line of work it paid to be observant."
"I'll bet." Came a reply from a dark-skinned man who was standing at the head of the large table that dominated the room with his fists pressed against its surface. From the look in his eyes there was barely concealed hostility there.
"I take it you have an issue with my old profession?" Ethan asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"I have an issue with mercenaries. Assassins are just precise ones."
"And soldiers are just mercs with regular pay." Ethan replied, his voice rising in volume.
"That's enough Jacob." Came a voice that bore the typical flange of a Turian. Looking to his left Ethan noticed a scarred Turian whose blue armor was blackened and broken at the collar. "He's one of us now. You have a problem with him, go talk to Shepard."
"Whatever." Was his only reply and with that both the Cerberus personnel left the room.
"Thanks for that…" Ethan said, unable to finish his sentence due to a lack of a name.
"The name's Garrus. You probably knew me as Archangel." The Turian supplied.
"'Truly?" Ethan asked, taken aback slightly. He'd been told of the plot by the Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack to take out the vigilante. Hell, Jaroth of the Eclipse had even offered him a fortune to do it himself. Everyone had said he was dead, along with the leaders of the Merc groups. "Nice to see you're still alive. Never did like Garm, Tarak or Jaroth."
"Likewise. Saw you take out that Talon leader, what was his name? Ferrun, Feran? Something like that."
"That was a good hit, getting out was hell though. "
"Yeah, fifteen pissed off Krogan bodyguards. No offense but I thought you weren't getting out of that one."
"Coming from the guy who nearly single-handedly pissed off all three major Merc bands on Omega?" Ethan asked, a smirk spreading across his face.
"Fair enough." Came Garrus' reply. "If you want to talk I'll be in the Forward Batteries, Crew Deck." And with that the Ex Turian Vigilante left the room, pausing to clap Ethan on the shoulder.
"Oh, I'm sorry Doctor Solus. I didn't see you." Ethan apologised, turning to the Salarian scientist. He'd known the Salarian from his time on Omega. From what he'd heard he was a good guy: solid, dependable but with a hidden edge, a core of steel. He'd heard the various stories, of how he killed the Blue Suns that had tried to press him for protection money, of how he'd protected his patients and the human refugees that were in his clinic and how he'd cured the plague. Despite the nature of his own work Ethan respected the guy.
"Understand you have many people to meet. Lack of awareness of my presence understandable. Heard of exploits. Impressive record. Look forward to working with you. Will be in Tech Lab if you need me." And so the Salarian also left, leaving Ethan alone in room, Zaeed having not even shown up.
A few minutes later the elevator doors slid open on the hangar deck. Picking up his duffel bag Ethan stepped out. Turning to his left he pressed the access panel on the door. Stepping inside the unused storage room one word came to his mind: EMPTY. There was nothing in the room at all. Four walls, a floor and a ceiling, that was it. Walking inside he dropped his duffel bag in the corner and leant against the wall. "Well I've slept in worse. Much worse." He thought to himself, before sliding down the wall. Drawing his coat around him he closed his eyes and prepared to surrender himself to the sweet release of sleep. Mentally he went over his day, a habit he had picked up to help him consider the consequences his hits could bring about. "Took care of that mugger, why I do not know. Possible repurcussions? Minimal. Went for a drink, bumped into Moklan, knocked over his drink. Repercussions? Also minimal. Weak in close range combat, no biotics, average ability in firearms. Also terrified of Aria's disapproval. Signed on with Shepard, terminated employment with Aria. Repercussions? Non-existant. She was fine with it. Settled my bar tab, much to Hrogan's surprise. Said goodbye to Shairi, Tessa, Naomi, Liana, Maria and Hairina. Note to self: Must create better excuse than "The winds of destiny have blown on my life. I have no choice but to go, but I will never forget you. You are the love of my life." Repurcussions? As long as they never meet, minimal. If they do? Things could get interesting. Paid lease on apartment in full, but still retain safehouse in lower Hanashan District. Introduced to Normandy ground team. Made good impressions with Archa- Garrus and Doctor Solus. Zaeed and I still possess decent relations. Indifference exhibited by Jack, must impove upon. Negative impressions made with Jacob and Miranda. Repurcussions? Unlikely with Miranda, total proffesional at first glance. Jacob? Possibility. Will have to watch my back. And now, time for rest, guns and Kopis within easy reach." With that his breathing and heart rate slowed, slowly his consciousness began to drift off into darkness.
But then his eyes snapped open as an idea that caused him to think: "How did I not think of this?" and knuckle his forehead came to mind.
"EDI?" He asked the empty air.
"Yes Mr Farrows?" came the synthesised voice of the AI.
"I take it that I run all requisitions through you?"
"That is correct."
A smile slowly spread across Ethan's face. "Great, I'm going to need a few things."