Chapter 5: A Glimmer of Hope
CR70 Corvette Sayara
Orbiting the nightside of Tatooine
Eighteen hours later...
Considering Tarkin's less than subtle implication that they were dealing with dangerously clever prey, it was almost a disappointment when EDI announced that she had discovered Joreeson's ship within minutes of making orbit above Tatooine. The patchwork scout craft was practically flooding the nightside orbit of the desert world with radiant power and heat signatures. Using these, EDI was easily able to detect the offending vessel and get a positive identification thanks to Traynor and Liara's combined efforts. That and it didn't hurt when Kale Joreeson had come racing to them almost the moment they had dropped out of hyperspace, having mistaken their weaponless corvette as easy pickings. Of course, Shepard knew better as she looked to her immediate right, where EDI sat in the copilot's chair. She was all the weapon they needed against an overconfident bunch of thugs.
"You really have a death wish don't you?" Kale Joreeson chuckled darkly on Joker's video screen. The togruta male was well muscled and had the scars to prove he'd been around the galaxy a few times. "You have no weapons, and your ship looks like it was pulled off of a trash planet. Couldn't afford anything better human?"
"Keep him talking." EDI whispered in Shepard's helmet comms. "I have already begun seizing control of his vessel's rather primitive computer network. Estimated time to complete control of all systems, two minutes thirteen seconds."
Shepard nodded before glaring daggers at the pale orange brute in front of her. "I've faced worse odds and come out the other side without a scratch Kale. You're just a glorified pirate with an axe to grind. What happened, mom and dad didn't give you enough attention as a kid?"
"My you are a fiery one aren't you? What say we forget about all this silly bounty business and share a romantic dinner in my cabin. I'd much prefer that to blowing you out of the stars." Kale licked his lips and leered, his blue eyes shining as he no doubt imagined how their evening would go if he had his say.
Shepard wasn't interested, even as she mentally wondered what it was that had every sentient being with a pulse wanting to get into her pants lately. She had never had that problem back home. But in order to keep EDI's efforts undetected, she had to play along, for about another minute and forty seconds. "Hmm, what did you have in mind? Gotta say, I might be too much woman for you to handle Kale."
"That's what they all say, but I'll admit you tough soldier types are a rare specimen. I think I can handle you just fine. Especially once I slap a shock collar on that pretty neck of yours." He said with a malicious grin that sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine.
It took a considerable effort of will on Shepard's part not to reach through the screen and strangle Kale where he stood. Joker gulped when he felt the back of his headrest start to give way under Jessica's augmented grasp. "You're into the kinky stuff huh? Sorry, but I'm the one that always ends up on top."
Kale was oblivious to the warning signs of Shepard's impending wrath and leaned forward, all too interested in what he thought would be a fun night of debauchery. "Hmm, well I do pride myself on being flexible. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, first I'm going to board your ship and capture your crew. Alive preferably, it's more of a challenge that way. Then I'm going to take my time pumping you for information. I like to make it last."
"Well...gotta say, my interest is piqued." Kale coughed, surprised by Shepard's apparent forward nature. If he had seen the rage boiling over in her emerald eyes, he'd have been swallowing a blaster bolt instead.
"I thought that'd get your attention." As soon as the words had left her mouth, Shepard was grinning from ear to ear when Kale's ship decided to go berserk for no apparent reason. Blast doors slammed shut, the ship's weapons and energy shields deactivated, the engines shut down, and the sleek scout ship began to slowly drift unpowered through the void of space. The only systems that were still functioning were the comms and life support. "And now I've got your ship without having to fire a shot you son of a bitch. Ashley, you are a go for insertion."
"Assault pod's primed Commander. We're on our way. Let's move it!" Hefting her assault rifle to her shoulder, Williams waved Jack, Grunt, Vega and Samara into the open pod's hatch before following after them, a grin plastered on her face. "'Bout damn time too."
"No shit Williams! Let's kick some ass!" Jack roared in agreement.
"I don't suppose dinner is still on the table?" A worried looking Kale Joreeson asked as he floated aimlessly about Joker's monitor.
"Personally buddy, I'd eat my own gun if I were you. It'd be a lot quicker than what Shepard has in mind." Jeff grinned triumphantly, having been quiet long enough. "And in case you're curious, my girlfriend in the co-pilot chair's the one that killed your ship. Say hello EDI."
"If you resist in any way, I will remotely disable your life support long before our assault team boards your vessel Mr. Joreeson. And that is not an idle threat."
"Outsmarted by a drecking droid and her Sithspawn CO." Kale hissed hatefully and glared at EDI.
"I am a fully sapient artificial intelligence. I am not a mere droid." EDI hissed, a note of rage audible in her synthetic voice. With that, Kale's face disappeared from the monitor as he blasted his comms in annoyance. "Shall I terminate their life support Shepard?"
"Are you kidding? I'm more afraid of what Grunt and Jack will do to this ship if they don't get a good fight out of this." Shepard said before a grin appeared on her face. "Gotta admit though, it felt pretty good to see the look of surprise on that arrogant bastard's face when you took out his ship from under him."
"It indeed does give me a certain sense of satisfaction. You should allow me to do that more often."
"And this is how we all become batteries for our robotic overlords. Could be worse though." Joker deadpanned as he smirked towards EDI. "I wouldn't mind being your personal battery, if you get my drift."
It was all Shepard could do not to cringe in discomfort at the awkward place Joker had taken that joke and ran with it as she turned on her heel in a dignified tactical retreat. "And on that highly disturbing note, I should go. It just got real weird in here."
Onboard Joreeson's ship...
If not for the fact the artificial gravity had been disabled, the violent shaking that rocked his vessel when the assault pod slammed into the hull, breaching it just enough to allow the boarding party inside, would have knocked everyone off their feet. As it was, he could only float uselessly in the middle of the cockpit, his arms crossed and his head hung low while his subordinates tried their best to restore the ship's systems, so far without any success. He had a feeling even if they had had all the time in the galaxy, they wouldn't have been able to undo whatever their weird droid had done to them.
"Status report." Kale angrily barked in his comlink. The impact had been audible throughout the entire ship and he wanted to know what was going on right now. This must be their assault team. He thought darkly, looking forward to the chance to vent his anger and frustrations, even if it ended in his death. While he was puzzled how a droid had so easily broken through his ship's internal security, having never heard of such a thing being done without first being boarded by an astromech and accessed directly, he had other things on his mind, largely how he wanted to skin and collar anyone that had dared to board his ship uninvited.
The radio silence wasn't helping his already frayed nerves as he slammed at his commlink. "Is anyone alive down there?! I said give me a karking status report!"
He recoiled in shock when the comlink abruptly started working, but he couldn't make out anything aside from the sounds of rapid blaster fire and the dying screams of, judging by their terrified voices, his own men. On top of that, there was something else in the background, weapons fire he wasn't familiar with, and what sounded like...amused growling and roaring. Like a rampaging rancor had gotten loose in engineering.
For some reason, the silence that soon followed was more frightening than the fire fight. When it was broken, Kale almost breathed a sigh of relief when a distinctive human sounding voice filtered through his commlink, until he heard what she had to say. "Sorry Kale, your boys are taking a nice little nap right now. Wanna leave a message?"
"I'll kill you for this you stupid schutta! If you're very lucky that will be the only thing I am gonna do to you." Joreeson growled into the comlink, this wasn't the first time that the judicative department had sent someone after him nor would it be the last if he had something to say about it.
"Sounds like a challenge to me Williams. Want me to break the door down?" Another woman asked, this one sounding far more feral than the last one had. Something about her made Kale wonder if she hadn't raised a little Hell herself, but he wasn't looking forward to meeting her in this particular situation.
"Be my guest Jack." The first woman replied, an all too clear amused note in her voice. "Shock and awe their sorry asses. Hey Kale, ya might want to float away from the hatch. Or not, that might be more interesting."
A much more masculine, male voice spoke up next. "Nah, if he doesn't move we'll have to put what's left of him in a bucket, makes identification one hell of a mess."
"Crink me..." Joreeson wiped at the sweat pouring off his brow, flicking the hovering droplets free of his hand as he rapidly kicked off from a bulk head by the bridge's main hatch.
Had they brought some kind of Force sensitive freak with them? He had heard rumors of Jedi who didn't get inducted into the Order and instead traveled throughout the galaxy simply to hunt down scum like himself, provided they didn't go crazy or whatever it was they did. Who knew with those freaks? He soon had his answer when the door was smashed open, as if it had been hit with a thermo shaped charge, but there was no backblast of smoke and flames that accompanied such an explosion. What did follow was a... was that a blue glowing woman covered in tattoos?
He decided to ignore his astonishment for now and lifted his blaster at the door, confident that his men could handle one blue glowing woman by themselves. What followed was another woman, this time clad in tight, form fitting blue armor. She was attractive as well, but she was the enemy he aimed and shot first. Unfortunately for him, he had never learned to fight in zero gravity conditions, so his shot went wide and hit her in the shoulder instead of the head.
The force of the impact spun her around and made her lose her footing, but didn't otherwise impair her. Another side effect was that she was now looking directly at him. "That was a bad idea asshole." Before Kale could recover, she had snapped up a strangely shaped blaster rifle and pulled the trigger. What came out was no concentrated beam of energy as he was used to, but it didn't hurt any less when his gun hand was blasted apart, as well as part of his lower arm. Staring at his new stump in shock as pieces of his hand floated around him, Kale had all of two seconds to jerk his head back to the approaching soldier before he saw she and the blue glowing freak weren't alone.
"Nighty night." Growled the large man before he brought his foot down on Kales face. For a second he felt the pain, after that only oblivion.
"Well fuck. That was just pathetic. I'd had better fights against twelve year olds." Jack muttered with a sneer as she slammed her boot into the unconscious man's ribs.
"The sad part is I believe you Jack." Ashley growled as she rolled her damaged shoulder gingerly, and was satisfied the hardsuit had taken the worst of the damage. It stung like a son of a bitch, but otherwise it didn't bother her too much. "Note to self, invest in better shields if we're gonna make a habit of this."
"Gotta admit Ash, that was a bit sloppy." Vega chuckled, even when the second human Spectre slammed her elbow into his armored stomach. "Just kidding."
With a small glare thrown at Vega, Ashley raised her hand to her ear and activated her comlink. "EDI, the target is secured. You can reactivate the gravity now. We can dock and take everything of value with us."
"Of course Commander Williams. Preparing docking procedures now. Standby." No sooner had the words left her mouth, the power was restored to Kale's vessel and they were able to walk around freely. It had also had the effect of dropping everything to the deck that had been free floating before. Ashley and her fellow teammates were ready as they landed on their feet if they weren't already magnetized to the floor, but Kale and the few survivors they had left in their wake weren't so fortunate.
"Commander." Ashley jumped when Samara put a hand on her shoulder. Jerking her hand back, the asari apologized before nodding to Kale. "Are you certain you wish to bring him back onto the Sayara? It might be more prudent to eliminate him here, as Tarkin has ordered no less."
"I take orders from Shepard, not a sleazeball political lackey. She wants him alive, we bring him back alive. End of discussion. Besides, your Code might demand he and his boys be killed here, but we're not in our home galaxy anymore, and I'm not about to start playing the part of judge, jury, and executioner."
"Commander Williams, no matter where I am, I must obey the Justicar Code. However, since I am currently following Shepard...I am willing to let them live on these terms. Besides, I am in no hurry to face her wrath either." A slight, wry grin tugged at the asari's lips which had Ashley chuckling in response. When she turned her gaze, encompassing the ship at large though, the Spectre was surprised by what came out of the Justicar's mouth next. "As repugnant as the thought might be to me, we might be able to make use of this vessel. I am sure there are….people on the planet below that might be willing to trade for better armaments for the Sayara."
"Did the holier than thou Justicar just suggest what I think she did?" Jack asked, just as surprised as everyone else was. Even Grunt seemed surprised, or he simply didn't care as he kicked one of the crew's prone forms. "Well shit! Looks like we got a volunteer to hock this bucket of bolts."
"I doubt the outcome would be very desirable if I am sent into one of the various hives of scum and villainy which Tatooine is apparently known for." Samara replied, making it abundantly clear her tolerance for injustice and worse went only so far.
"I doubt the Commander would allow anyone of us to go down there without backup. But I like the idea Valerosa." Vega replied, before nodding to Grunt. "What do you say big guy?"
"Why you botherin' me with this stuff? I say we just blow the hunk of junk apart and save us the trouble altogether. Hehe, even got the charges with me." The krogan super soldier patted the heavy pouch on his side for emphasis. No one was at all surprised he had brought bombs along. It was just his way to bring along the biggest weapons that made the biggest mess.
"Grunt, if we sell this hunk of junk, then we can get the Sayara cannons to blow stuff apart whenever we want." Ashley explained, making sure she used small words for Grunt's benefit. He was smart when he wanted to be, but he was still 'young'.
"Heh, good point. I like the way you think Williams. I say we wring every credit out of this piece of crap if it'll get me something big to kill things."
"Least someone's easy to please." Jack chuckled darkly just as she and the others felt the ship vibrate when one of the Sayara's airlocks made hard lock with the vessel's own. "Guess that means we can't stand around with our thumbs up our asses anymore. So, who gets to carry tall, dumb, and fugly?"
Grunt heaved the comatose pirate without any effort onto one broad, armored covered shoulder, before cocking his head plate towards the hatch. "Maybe if I'm good, Shepard will let me use the new guns first."
"Smart man." James told the towering krogan with a grinning nod. "So, who gets to tell Lola we want to sell this rust bucket?"
James winced when he heard an amused snort right behind him. "You just did Vega. And I approve if you want the truth." Shepard said before nodding to Ashley's burned shoulder. "Need the doc to look at that Ash?"
"Nothing a little medi-gel and some scotch won't fix ma'am."
"If you're certain." Nodding, Shepard made a mental note to jab hard at Ash's injured shoulder the next time they sparred. Maybe then she won't bitch about getting a little medical help once in a while. "Good job leading the assault." She said out loud instead, truly proud of Ash's performance in taking over Kale's junker.
"Thanks ma'am." Throwing Shepard a quick but perfect salute, the only other Spectre started to walk away.
Shepard had since turned to the rest of her crew. "Alright, let's get the survivors locked down and strip everything of value off this scrap heap before we send it down to the surface. We'll find a buyer and go from there."
"Battlemaster-"
Shepard already knew what Grunt was going to ask and put a gauntleted hand over his mouth. Anyone else would have likely lost the hand. "Yes Grunt. I'll find you a shiny new turbolaser cannon or three, as well as a few asteroids for you to shoot at once they're installed. For the practice of course."
"Heh. Heh. Heh." Grunt laughed and clapped Shepard on her back with is free hand, which sent the human woman almost to her knees. "Thank you Battlemaster."
"Don't 'cough' mention it." Shepard gasped out before she turned to the rest of her assembled crew. "Alright people, let's get this done. We're burning daylight."
"Already on it Skipper." Ashley shot back before she and the rest of the team began to move every piece of equipment that looked valuable back to the Sayara, while Grunt carried Kale and the survivors down to the makeshift brig before joining them in carrying out the rest of the goods. At first there didn't seem to be much to find, until Samara tapped at the floor, revealing several hollow spaces that contained quite a treasure trove of weapons and other goods that were likely very illegal.
"I have hunted down every kind of criminal Commander. Smugglers however, while clever, all use the same tricks." Was the Justicar's simple, direct explanation when questioned about her knowledge of Kale's formerly secret boltholes.
"Kinda figured that out already, Samara. But for now, let's focus on getting this ship sold. I'm sure we can get ourselves some teeth, so to speak, once we find a buyer."
Vega's eyes lit up as he pulled out a huge, nasty looking cylinder that could only be some sort of glorified rocket launcher. "I call dibs."
"Better hide that before Grunt sees it Vega, or you might not get to keep it." Shepard chuckled before glancing through the pile laid out before them. Her eyes zeroed in on a long barreled sniper rifle, or what she took to be a sniper rifle if the elongated scope was anything to go by. "Hello beautiful, where have you been all my life?"
"Assault rifle's mine Skipper. At least I think it's an assault rifle anyway." Ashley stated as she picked up a large, sleek blaster rifle, much like the ones Kale's men had been trying to kill them with only twenty minutes ago. "Decent rate of fire, accuracy might leave something to be desired, or it could have been their lack of actual experience, but give me time and I'll make her sing my favorite tune."
"What the hell?! No shotguns? Fuck it, this will do." Jack groused as she grabbed a heavy blaster pistol for herself. "Who the hell puts a scope on a pistol? Meh, might be fun."
While Samara took nothing for herself, she did spot a matching holster for Jack's new sidearm, and tossed it towards the former criminal, much to both her and Shepard's surprise. Still, Jessica recovered quickly and nodded to her team. "Alright ladies, let's get this done. I'm sure Steve would appreciate the opportunity to fly something from this galaxy."
Tatooine, Mos Eisley Spaceport.
Fifteen minutes later...
"Remind me why we're here again Commander?" Joker groused as he and EDI followed Shepard and the surface team down the Sayara's ramp. "'Cause I'm thinking it's not to enjoy the tropical weather. Doesn't say a lot about the people that live here, on purpose. Or us for visiting for that matter."
"Try being in heavy armor in this damn heat Joker." Ashley huffed as she wiped her forehead clear of sweat for the tenth time in as many minutes. "Let's get this over with quickly Shepard, I'm already picking up a bad vibe from the locals." With a nod, she directed her gaze to a group of short, brown robed, yellow eyed humanoids that were jibbering excitedly to themselves. Until Ashley raised her gun menacingly. It was enough to send the things running, even if she had had no intention of actually shooting them, but she breathed a lot easier all the same now that they were gone. "Might want to consider keeping some of the team here, just in case someone gets the bright idea to steal our ride."
Shepard was already thinking along those same lines as she looked to Grunt, James, and Samara. "Stay with the ship. I don't want to start a firefight unless we have to. Jack, Ashley, Garrus, you're with me, we're going to negotiate. Tali, Kasumi, look after the rest of the crew until we get back. I know they can handle a weapon, but I would feel better if someone with a lot of experience would watch them."
"Hey, what about us?!" Joker waved his arm around before nodding to EDI and himself. "We're not exactly poached varren you know."
As much as Shepard would have preferred Joker stayed on the ship, she also knew she couldn't honestly keep him cooped up forever. "Just...stay out of trouble Joker. EDI?"
"I will keep an eye on him." The synthetic replied and gave a short nod of her head.
"I thought that was my job?" Joker asked as he and EDI started down the busy, sandy thoroughfare before them.
"At least take Anderson with you." Shepard called after them, to which Jeff sighed heavily.
"Great, there goes my shore leave." The ace pilot groaned. "Can't we just leave the old man behind EDI?" The synthetic only shot Joker a lopsided smirk in response. "And you already sent a message to him didn't you?"
"She didn't have to Joker. I'm already here." David growled from behind Joker. "If it makes you feel better, I was getting a little stir crazy with nothing to do."
"Uh, good to hear that you feel better now sir." Joker replied with a painful looking grin. "That's...good news."
"Joker, do me a favor and shut up. Just follow my lead, I'm trying my damndest to find something more interesting than sand dunes on this planet and you're not helping."
"Well, you did lead a pretty kickass resistance back on Earth sir, so I'm cool with you taking point. I officially yield control of our shore leave to you. Just don't complain if we end up inspiring the locals to revolt against their sand overlords or something."
"And Shepard puts up with you on purpose. If you were still under my command, I would have already made you eat that hat." David grunted as his brown eyes scanned the dusty settlements spread out around them for any sign of the local nightlife. "Can you make sense of any of these signs EDI? My translator is worthless down here." Before EDI could reply, David pointed to a large domed structure with locals going in and out at a regular pace. More than a few of them looked a bit unsteady on their feet, confirming his suspicions. "Screw it, that looks like a cantina to me, good enough."
"Watch, with our luck it's probably a tourist kiosk." Joker muttered as he and EDI did their best to keep up with David's rapid pace, no easy feat with his brittle bones.
"Joker. Shut up. Consider that an order." Anderson's smirk said otherwise as he led them into the dimly lit interior. Like the exterior, the interior was an elongated oval of sorts, with a place for the band against the far wall and a number of privacy booths that were along the walls of the cantina. The long bar that dominated the center of the cantina wasn't unexpected, but everything about the place just screamed criminal and lowlife to Anderson. "God I haven't been in a place like this since I was younger than your ungrateful boyfriend EDI. You can do better by the way. A lot better."
"Hey!" Joker exclaimed indignantly.
"I am quite content with Jeff, but your advice has been noted Admiral." EDI replied, even as she put an arm around Jeff's waist.
Anderson waved her off with a smile as he turned to head for the bar. "We're on leave, call me David."
"You paying David?" Joker asked and leaned on Anderson's shoulder, before he scurried back under the glare he received for his actions.
"I'm still your superior officer Joker. Don't push it. EDI's classified as your 'personal assistance mech' last I checked, that makes her a civilian, even if we know better." Anderson said lowly, his glare never letting up once until he was sure that Joker got the message.
"Considering that I had a warship for a body for over a year and a half, I have to disagree with you David." EDI replied, her synthetic voice holding an all too clear note of amusement.
Anderson rolled his eyes at the response and turned towards Joker and EDI. "Alright people, tonight there is only one rule. Let's have some fun shall we?"
"Good rule. I can get behind that sir."
Leaning against the scratched up bar, Anderson glanced over his shoulder with a grin. "Finally, a rule you're actually willing to follow."
"I have my moments."
"Bartender! Two ales for me and my buddy over here. Um, I'm not exactly sure what the lady would like."
"I am able to use high proof alcohol as a redundant fuel source. Anything one hundred and eighty or above would be quite sufficient." EDI offered with a grateful nod to the grizzled bartender.
Anderson's eyebrows shot up in surprise and more than a little admiration. "You heard the lady."
The frowning bartender was less than impressed with David's opinion as he jerked his head towards EDI in disgust. "You blind old man? That ain't no lady. Droids ain't welcome." When some of the patrons started grumbling along the same lines, the bartender waved his hand towards the door. "Droid waits outside or you can expect trouble. We don't serve their kind here."
"Is that so?" David made a point of slapping a pile of credit discs on the bar top.
Much to his surprise, the bartender didn't take the credits. Instead, he shoved them back towards Anderson. "Won't change my mind about your pleasure droid." The older man said with a leer at EDI's smoothly curving metallic figure. "But... you let me have a little alone time out back with her, two... no, three rounds of drinks on me. Whaddya say?."
"The hell you say?!" Jeff made a move to pull his sidearm, but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him. He was more than a little surprised EDI was the one that was holding him back. "Lemme go! EDI, the guy's a total sleaze! You should rip his balls off and sell them to Grunt!"
"Take it easy son, I got this." Anderson stated calmly before rounding on the bartender. Before the man could move away with a huff of disgust, David had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed his face into his own bar, hard. The music that had been playing when they walked in stopped seconds later while the patrons closest to the bar took a step back, having seen few people move so quickly, and they weren't in any hurry to get on David's bad side. "Now, my friends and I would like three ales. If that's not too much trouble for you. Or I could start with the other side of your face and then work my way down. Might be hard to pour drinks with ten broken fingers."
"Droid loving scum!" The bartender yelled, but made no further move to anger Anderson once the officer let him go. "Here!" He shouted, sloshing three dirty mugs of dark ale in front of Anderson with a hate filled glare.
Anderson's only response was to lean over the bar and stuff several of his credits in the man's shirt pocket, pretending not to notice when he flinched. "Keep 'em coming." David ordered before leading EDI and Jeff away to one of the empty booths, far from the bar. "And I thought people back home hated synthetics." He muttered darkly once they were seated.
"That was not necessary Admiral, but I appreciate your efforts on my behalf." EDI stated before looking to Jeff, her brown eyes shining with approval. "Yours as well Jeff, although threatening to sell his shriveled reproductive organs to Grunt might have been a bit much."
"No one talks about my girlfriend like that and gets away with it EDI." Was Jeff's simple response before his frown disappeared and he looked up, his usual grin firmly entrenched on his bearded face. "But at least that asshole had good taste."
Two hours later...
After exchanging several war stories of the early days of the first Normandy, each getting more and more exaggerated as the ale continued to flow, David had finally relented in his quest to best Jeff at trying to impress EDI. Whatever it was that kept them together, EDI had bonded with the sarcastic pilot much the same way Liara and Shepard were hooked at the pelvis. Regrettably, that meant her opinion was biased and he gave up after Joker's successful tossing the Mako onto a twenty meter strip of dirt somehow managed beat out decking the late Ambassador Udina.
Quickly conceding the game, Anderson had soon moved on to another, a lively form of gambling called Sabacc. He wasn't the only one as EDI and Jeff also watched the nearby table of four players, until David looked away only to see Joker getting to his feet. "What are you doing Joker?"
"Living dangerously. Relax sir, I'm a pretty good card shark. I think I can beat four drunken idiots if I can play against Liara and still keep most of my clothes." Joker said confidently and wiggled his fingers a little in 'preparation' for the upcoming card game.
EDI wasn't so easily convinced however. "I do not believe retaining your hat, underwear, and socks constitutes 'most' of your clothing Jeff."
"Whatever." Jeff had since hobbled over to the next table over and plopped himself down in the last available seat between a giant hammerhead looking creature and a fur covered….thing. "Mind if I join in fellas?" He barely managed to keep a confident smirk off his face as the other players took in the decent pile of credits he laid out on the felt covered table with greedy eyes.
"Deal him in." One of the more humanoid aliens grunted before nodding his bug eyed, dark green head towards Jeff. "What's your name stranger?"
"Stop wasting my time rodian. Let's just play already." The wrinkle faced humanoid barked in annoyance as his black eyes sized up the competition. Judging by the way he narrowed his gaze when he looked at Jeff, he wasn't impressed. "Let's get this over quickly."
"Oh it will be Wrinkles. It will be." Jeff chuckled darkly as he picked up the cards the rodian had put in front of him. "Huh, are these good or bad?" He asked, showing the table his hand. "Sorry, never tried this before."
"RRRAARRHHAA RRHHAAA? RRRAAHHRA?" Maybe you should try another game? One for children perhaps? This time it was a rather huge and hairy alien that growled at Joker in annoyance. At least he thought it was annoyance.
"Huh? I didn't quite get that." Joker said slowly, far more confused by the animalistic sounding alien than actually intimidated.
"Narkara's asking you if you're a complete moron." The aforementioned rodian deadpanned as he took Jeff's useless hand and dealt him a fresh one without needing to be asked.
"I...actually kinda got that impression." Joker replied, blinking in surprise that he had understood the giant fur covered creature at all before shaking his head and glaring up at her. "And no I am not a complete moron….usually." The hammerhead got up from the table with a snort of derision. "Screw you too pal." Joker muttered under his breath.
"RRRHHRRARRA." I find that hard to believe. Narkara growled at joker with obvious doubt in her voice.
"Yeah...I might surprise you lady." Joker retorted, getting more the general impression of what Narkara meant rather than the actual comment.
"Enough. Are we here to chat, or are we here to play Sabacc?" The man with the wrinkly face butted in, annoyed at the delay.
Joker leaned back in his chair and smirked at the wrinkled alien across from him. "Why not both? I'm a chatty guy."
"In that case, I look forward to hearing you complain as I claim the last of your credits." Wrinkly face man replied with an unfriendly grin. "Maybe you want to bet your droid? She'd make a fine scullery maid."
"Hah! I'd love to see you try Wrinkles. Trust me, she's nobody's maid. Well, except that one time she helped out after Shepard's party, but that's different."
"You are a very strange man." The rodian stated as he blinked his giant eyes in a mixture of confusion and a measure of respect for Jeff's foolish bravery.
"I get that a lot." Joker replied with a small grin.
As the night progressed Jeff, unsurprisingly, managed to lose most of his pile, but the amused look on EDI's face alone as he relentlessly irritated his fellow players was worth it. She also knew something they didn't. Joker was an ace pilot because of his daring and calm under pressure demeanor true, but no matter how good the man behind the helm, it also took a lot of high level math to plot a course from point A to point B. Just because his luck against Liara hadn't been up to snuff didn't mean he was a bad card player. Out of most of the games they had ever played together, Jeff usually came out ahead more times than not. And when it came to using actual cards from a real deck, no one was better.
And despite his losing streak, Joker had been learning the ins and outs of Sabacc this whole time. So EDI was not surprised when he decided to change things up. "You know what, enough with the pocket change, anyone mind if I raise the stakes a little?" Oddly enough, no one complained when Jeff tossed a hefty bag of credit discs on the table.
"Jeff... I believe that is your entire stipend provided by Senator Amidala... and the rest of the crew's if I am not mistaken. If you lose, I will not be able to protect you from their collective wrath." EDI said, uncertain if she wanted to run the risk. At least that's what she was going for. She'd run the numbers, and was pretty sure he'd pull a win out of his hat.
"Oh live a little EDI! What's the worst that could happen?" Joker asked sarcastically, knowing full well what awaited him should he lose.
"You end up in a body cast?" David helpfully offered, as he stood to Jeff's left, leaning against a chair that was pushed into the next table over. "I don't suppose most of my share is still in their as well?"
"I'm crazy, not stupid sir. I didn't touch Shepard's either. Kasumi's, Jack's, and the rest of the crew though? Well…. I'm just borrowing from them for a few minutes." Jeff hesitantly replied, and gave both EDI and David a half hearted grin.
"I get the idea… you better not lose son." Anderson grunted as he crossed his arms over his chest, frowning down at the slightly less confident looking pilot. "EDI, if this doesn't end well-"
"I am already prepared for that eventuality sir." The synthetic replied before tapping at her hidden side arm in her upper thigh.
"Now that that's taken care of..." The annoyed looking weequay across from Jeff rolled his pitch black eyes as he dealt out their hands. "I will ask the gods to give you a quick death once your crewmates discover your treachery. Ah, a man after my own heart. It will pain me to be the cause of this horrible fate. Almost. Your credits will help with the guilt."
"Don't get ahead of yourself Wrinkles, this isn't over yet until the fat Reaper sings." Jeff retorted and let the subtlest of smirks tug at his lips. "I don't see a tenth as many credits on your side of the table. As my awesome mother used to say, shit or get off the pot."
A crude saying, but a saying that holds more wisdom than at first appears Joker. The wookie roared out, earning her an amused grin from the pilot. Very well, if we are putting all of our credits on the table, then who am I to refuse this challenge? With a flourish, she dug into a satchel by her side and placed a datapad on the table. The deed to my ship, since I won't have enough credits to repair it if I lose, I might as well take the chance. The giant female alien said with a shrug of her massive furry shoulders.
"Heh, always wanted a ship of my own. Alright, since we're laying it all on the table." The weequay grinned darkly as he tossed a datapad of his own on the growing pile. "There, I guarantee that is worth far more than whatever scrap heap the wookie is flying." The menacing growl from Narkara only earned her a crude laugh from 'Wrinkles'. "Yeah yeah, I'm sure it's a very nice scrap heap."
"Oh dear, I fear I must decline. Thank you for a pleasant evening, but my wife would never forgive me if I dared to bet more." The rodian chuckled nervously and wringed his strangely shaped fingers together, his cards forgotten on the table.
"Oh, I see, so you have been already neutered by your mate. Good, we wouldn't want you having any cowardly children now would we?" The wrinkled guy said and roughly hit the rodian on the shoulder.
"Lay off Wrinkles." Jeff growled before nodding to the rodian. "If you gotta go, it's cool bud. I don't blame ya for wanting to leave anyway, this guy's been stinking up the table the whole night."
Unfortunately, Jeff's words fell on deaf ears. "Fine!" The rodian clumsily slapped a scroll on the table. "The deed to my shop, I believe that should suffice."
"You sure buddy? Listen, I'm happy to let you reconsider." Jeff reached out to hand the scroll back to the local merchant, but his hand was slapped away before he could touch it.
"Ah ah ah. I don't think so, our daring friend here has already made up his mind. Unless you want to fold like a coward? After all that talk, it wouldn't surprise me if that was all it was, human." Wrinkly said with a glare in Jokers direction.
Narkara shook her head when Jeff started to stand to his feet, prepared to jump over the table and strangle the weequay, but instead he glared daggers at the bastard. "Deal the cards." He growled out instead.
"Ha! Tonight is my lucky night my friends, Sabacc! I win. Better luck next time eh?" The weequay taunted with a laugh as he reached for his prize.
Jeff scratched at the back of his neck, barely hiding the smirk on his face as he glanced down at his cards and turned them around so everyone could see. "I'm sorry, guys, wanna help me out here?" The three sharp gasps around the table only made Jeff's grin widen.
IDIOT'S ARRAY! The gods really do favor the foolish... Nakara growled in astonishment.
"Well done! Um, I don't suppose you'd consider letting me to run um, your new medicinal herb dispensery, would you?" The rodian asked meekly, if the human wanted he could utterly ruin his business and thus the much needed income for his family.
"Tell you what buddy, promise me you're not going to throw your shop on the table next time some idiot pushes your buttons, and you can have it back. But..." Jeff held up a finger, desperately trying not to smile at the sliver of hope in the man's large eyes. "You have to make me believe it."
"Oh yes, yes I will never do such a foolhardy, stupid, moronic-" The rodian would have most likely continued to insult himself, but Joker decide to take pity on him.
"Good enough." With a flick of his wrist that he just knew he was going to feel tomorrow, Jeff tossed the rodian's scroll back to him before turning to look up at Narkara. "Now, Nari, what do you have to say for yourself?"
You know that it's not wise to upset a wookie, yes? That said, maybe you could use a good engineer? Nakara asked, he won fair and square but she was determined to leave this dust ball, and if it meant working for the human who defeated her then so be it.
"Already got a few friends that cover that end. But it turns out I have this little problem, see I can't fly two ships. There's only so much Joker to go around. From one pilot to another, never risk your baby. It's just not worth it." With that bit of somber advice, Jeff held out the data pad and wiggled it in his fingers. "Go on. Go tell your baby you're sorry, and you missed her."
I will do so my friend. If you ever find yourself on Kashyyyk, you will be welcome among my clan. Narkara said with a small nod, surprised by his unexpected kindness.
"Sounds like one hell of a party. Maybe I'll swing by one time." Before he could hand over Narkara's deed to her ship, there was a very loud bang as the weequay pirate slammed his fists onto the table.
"You cheated! There is no way that stinking pile of poodoo pulled an Idiot's Array out of his exhaust port!" He roared, his hand moving to grip the pistol at his side before three heavy pistols and the dangerous end of the bowcaster were aimed at his head. When he continued to draw with a snarl of rage, three blue kinetic rounds slammed into his chest and head, just as a bolt of plasma blew him clean over his chair.
"Sorry about the mess." David said before putting his weapon back into its holster on his side while EDI sheathed her own sidearm in the hidden holster in her thigh. He nodded to Narkara in approval, to which the wookie huffed what he took to be something akin to 'don't mention it'.
"I think she likes ya sir." Jeff chuckled as he collected his earnings before pausing when he picked up the pirate's part of the pot. "Uh oh….this is going to get me killed." Without another word, Jeff held up the datapad in front of EDI. "Please tell me it doesn't say what I think it does."
"Do you want me to lie, Jeff?" EDI asked after she looked over the datapad.
"No...that just confirms I'm a dead man." Joker groaned before slamming his head into the table hard enough to jar the cards and the credits still spread out across its surface.
"Let me see that." David quickly grabbed the pad and skimmed it over, glancing at Jeff with a stunned expression on his face. "Funny how the Senator never even mentioned we might run into this sort of thing..." With a look of utter contempt, David knelt over to rummage through the dead man's pockets, sighing as he glanced down at the small control pad he had found. "Come on, looks like we need to head down into the basement."
"I am so screwed. I mean, this is slightly worse than the time I lost Shepard's hamster... and I thought I was going to end up in the med bay for sure. Might want to get yourself a new boyfriend before she finds out EDI." Jeff told her with a weak laugh as the pair followed Anderson down into the back of the cantina, completely ignoring the bartender's annoyed yelling as he pondered his soon to be grisly fate.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the only sound that could be heard in the almost pitch black darkness was the clinking of chains as Anderson slowly walked over to the bound zabrak woman in the far corner of the damp basement. "Damn. This is bringing back a lot of bad memories." He sighed as he slowly knelt down, his hands out and open. "It's okay child, you're safe now. Your friend upstairs... he isn't going to hurt you anymore."
"My M-master is dead?" The former slave asked, though she sounded more scared then relieved by the prospect.
"I think four smoking holes in his face would say as much." Even facing possible execution, Joker just couldn't keep his sarcastic humor in check as he meekly waved to the girl, flinching as she darted back into the shadows. "Shit...this isn't going well at all. Any ideas Anderson?"
"How about not scaring her to death for starters? Slowly turn around and walk back up those stairs. Then call for backup, we're going to need Doctor Chakwas. Better get Shepard too, might as well get that over with now." While Jeff and EDI made their way out of the basement, Anderson reached for the controller he had put into his shirt pocket. He already knew what it did, even if the symbols beneath the buttons were about as legible as the signs outside. "Better wait until the cavalry gets here before we mess with this thing huh?"
His suspicions were only confirmed when the horned girl cowered and held her bound arms up in front of her face in absolute terror. "No, no please, don't punish me. I'll be a good slave for the Master."
"Hey it's alright, everything's going to be fine child. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm nothing like that bastard upstairs. I'm putting it away, see?" David said in a soothing voice as he could muster and put the collar's controller back into his pocket. "I just want to make sure... oh hell." His brown eyes widened as a glint of light from the stairway caught the side of her face, showing him the long jagged scar that ran along the right side of her face from the middle of her forehead, across her frightened green eyes, and down to her cheek. "It seems I might have been a little too quick on the draw. I should have aimed lower." David growled, half tempted to go upstairs and unload a thermal clip or two into the pirate's body, just to vent his frustration and rage if nothing else.
"What? I-I don't-" The young zabrak stuttered clearly afraid of him and his wrath even if it wasn't directed at him.
"Nevermind that child. All you need to know is that your life is going to be a whole lot better starting today." David said soothingly, though it took an enormous effort on his part not to sound angry.
No sooner had the words leave his mouth did David look up and see Shepard coming downstairs at a brisk pace before she slowed down to an exaggerated walk once she reached the bottom. Like him, she had seen enough slavery back home to know how to handle this delicate situation. "And he really means that. I know you probably don't believe him right now, or me for that matter, but we'll prove to you we're worth trusting soon enough." Jessica's emerald eyes flicked to David for a moment before turning back to the terrified girl laying on the floor in front of him. "Don't worry sir, I haven't killed Joker yet. Honestly I'm tempted to give him a damn medal for this one."
"Fine by me Jessica, now do me a favor and tell me how to get that damn thing off her." Anderson quietly asked as he handed the control pad to Shepard and nodded towards the collar on the girl's neck.
"Right….okay, this can't be too hard right?" Shepard said as she tried to sound more confident than she actually felt as she looked over the dials and knobs in utter confusion. "Shoulda kept that pirate alive so we could torture him for the information." She muttered darkly before running a hand down her face. "Alright, just hold tight for one minute." Not daring to poke at the controls herself, Shepard slowly walked back to the stairs before charging up into the cantina above. "EDI, where's the release control on this damn thing?"
Taking the device from Shepard's grasp, the synthetic started a scan of the device. "One moment, it seems to be password protected."
"Oh that's just great, how long is it going to-" Shepard muttered, slightly annoyed by the delay.
"I have unlocked the device. Press the triangular button for five seconds when you are within three meters of... the victim. The collar should release immediately." EDI interrupted her gently, knowing that slavery was a sensitive topic for the commander.
"Thanks EDI. Remind me to get you and Jeff something nice when we're on a more civilized rock." Turning her deadly emerald gaze on the pale looking bartender, she marched up to the bar, jumped right over the obstruction, and grabbed the man before he could slip away. She immediately slammed him into the drink dispenser by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the floor. "I'm only going to ask you this once before I start cutting off fingers. Where are the keys to the chains?" A shaking hand held out a set of old fashioned metallic keys that Shepard snatched out of the air before slamming the man's head into the side of the dispenser hard enough to knock him out. "Consider every breath you take from this day on a gift from me asshole."
She was just jumping over the bar when Chakwas ran in, medical kit in hand. "Shepard, what's wrong? I came as fast as I could." She took one look at the terrified patrons and the unconscious barman before turning her disappointed gaze on Jessica. "I see you're in rare form today. Do I dare ask who killed that man over there? Or why the bartender is bleeding on the floor?"
"That wasn't me….for once. The bartender was, but he'll live. Your patient's downstairs doc, and she's pretty shaken up. Former slave as of ten minutes ago, until Joker 'won' her the dead alien over there." Shepard replied quickly knowing better than to anger the good doctor.
"Oh dear. Keys, pad." Shepard instantly handed over the requested items to Karin, following alongside her as they quickly headed downstairs. "I know what you must be feeling right now, but I need you to do exactly as I say, is that clear?"
"Anything Doctor." Jessica replied immediately, not about to argue with the veteran CMO.
"Took you long enough Karin." David softly joked as Chakwas slowly approached and knelt next to him.
Ignoring David, save to shoot him an amused glance over her shoulder, Karin turned her full attention on the horned, scarred young woman before her. "Hello young lady, let's see about removing that dreadful collar shall we?" With a soft click of metal, the heavy collar around the battered girl's neck parted. When Karin went to reach for the shock collar, the girl pulled away. "Shhh, it's alright, just let me-" Karin wasn't surprised to see the alien girl scramble away from her, her shaking back now pressed against the wall. "Hmm... this could be trickier than I thought."
"Let me try." Shepard said before nodding for Karin and David to take a few steps back. She didn't get any closer, not that she needed to since there was nowhere for the girl to go, and reached around to the back of her hardsuit. Undoing the locks on the back of the shoulders, Shepard proceeded to remove the upper half of her heavy armor a piece at a time. The girl had since looked away from her corner, her terrified green eyes taking in the sight of the woman removing her intimidating armor. "Funny thing about seeing her like this… reminds me of myself, I was just as terrified and helpless before those that had wanted to break me when I was about the same age." Pulling down the more flexible collar of the fabric underlayer around her neck, Shepard sighed as she lifted her head and revealed the old burn scars on the back of her neck. "Honestly, I'd have preferred a collar."
"Wh-what?" The former slave stammered out.
"Batarian souvenir kid. They don't collar their slaves, they implant them with control devices that serve pretty much the same purpose. Luckily for me, they didn't have time to finish the job before Alliance forces broke through their lines. Unfortunately, they had already cut into my neck by that point. You never forget the smell of burning flesh, especially if it's your own." Letting her own collar fall over the scars, Shepard cautiously reached out to grasp the thick metallic shock collar and gently pulled it free of the girl's neck before she had time to react. "There, that's better."
Thankfully Chakwas had already used the distraction Jessica had provided to unlock the chains binding the girl. The moment she had, neither she, David, or Shepard were surprised when she held up her hands in utter shock. "No... no trick?"
"No trick kiddo. You're free, and you'll remain that way." Shepard softly replied, and held firm when the girl slammed into her chest. She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around the alien woman, letting her sob her heart out against her. "It's okay, you're gonna be alright. I had pretty much the same reaction when I woke up in an Alliance hospital instead of a batarian slave pen." A look up towards David said everything that needed to be said. His had been the first face she had seen upon waking up. The rest had been history after that.
"Hey Commander... everything okay down there?" Jeff meekly asked from the stairway as a concerned looking EDI quietly slipped in behind him.
"We're fine Jeff." Karin called up to the pilot before standing to her feet with David's help. "I believe our strange little family has just expanded."
"Oh, good. Um, just for the record, I wasn't trying to win her. That just sort of happened by accident... Wait, now I sound like a total jerk, let me start over-" Joker blurted out in an attempt to explain in his actions, and failing spectacularly to do so.
Shepard looked up and smirked over her shoulder. "Jeff? If I wanted you dead, you would have already had an 'accident' coming down those stairs. Relax, you did good. Real good." Looking back to the girl in her arms, Shepard smiled when she saw she had fallen asleep. "And history repeats itself. Guess some cycles can't be broken."
"You know, gracious benefactor or not, I think I'm going to be having a chat with the Senator about this. A heads up would have been nice." Anderson said lowly and glanced briefly at the recently freed woman.
"Honestly sir? I think she was hoping we wouldn't find out so quickly, because she didn't want to crush what hope we had left. That's just how she strikes me anyway." Shepard shrugged as she did her best to cradle the alien girl in her arms as she stood up to her feet, nodding her thanks when EDI came down with a blanket and gingerly wrapped it around her. "Not to be rude, but can we save this conversation for later? Kinda have more important things to worry about."
"Right. Go on ahead with Chakwas, there's something I'd like to take care of upstairs." As Shepard nodded and carried her precious cargo out of the cantina, giving the patrons a withering death glare on her way out, David paused by the dead weequay. The bar's raucous atmosphere had already returned to normal, except for the fact the bartender was angrily wiping at the blood splattered on the floor. "Excuse me..." When the drunken crowd simply ignored him, Anderson frowned and fired another round into the dead slaver. Once again, the music from the band stopped, and the conversations around the cantina fell silent. The tension also mounted as David cast his furious gaze on them all. "I'm not gonna waste my time getting into a morale debate with people that willingly ignore a girl being dragged around in chains. My point is this, if I ever hear of it happening again, I'll be sure to let each of you know exactly how disappointed I am."
One of the patrons spat on Anderson's boot and glared at him. "You Republic kath hounds are all the same. Coming from your Core worlds and thinking that you have the right to decide how we should live. Some people take pride in their traditions, unlike you 'civilized' scum."
"Actually, I'm not from any world you know, but you're right, you're entitled to your ignorant opinions." Anderson replied with a casual shrug before he turned and shot the man in the leg without the slightest hesitation. "Doesn't mean I have to like them." With that, David threw a few credits at the bartender and marched out of the cantina, leaving him to clean up the most recent mess on the floor.