3: Seeing Red
"Keelah!"
Tali could barely sense her surroundings as she writhed in pain. It eclipsed everything else in her mind and smothered her perceptions with its overbearing presence. Her suit alarm, still blaring impotently in her ears as warnings about multiple breaches stamped themselves over her visor, had long been tuned out by her agony. The shadows at her shoulders, half walking and half carrying her toward their destination, mattered not in the face of the burning sensations that surged through her body. She felt herself being led to a table, though lying on it gave her no respite from her throbbing veins. As the shadows released her, she could barely hear snatches of conversation around her.
"Careful... arm..."
"Dear God... Mordin... patches. Quickly-!"
"Shep... attention..."
"No... first..."
"Damn it!" The pain was worse than anything she'd felt in her lifetime as she began to pant uncontrollably. A light began to shine on her as the suit's alarm was suddenly silenced. In its absence, she was finally able to hear the rush of voices around her.
"Suit compromises sealed. Should prevent further infection."
"Help me strap her down, we can't risk her doing that again."
"Understood, pain and toxin causing uncontrolled spasms. Correcting."
"Watch out for her left arm."
Tali's right arm, which she hadn't realized was flailing uncontrollably, was wrested onto the table's surface. Her left was gently laid down as a new wave of pain flared from it. In between the flashes of agony, she dimly sensed as her wrists were bound in place.
"Suit patches holding. Multiple entry wounds on abdomen, left leg, left arm. Need to download diagnostic data from suit, ensure section seals are not compromised."
"I told you this was a mistake, Commander. The signs all said she wasn't ready for-"
"Damn it, Miranda. Don't you think it's hard enough on him as-is?"
"I consider it lucky that the commander's even breathing right now, Vakarian. Once again, no thanks to her."
"Enough! Must insist upon silence. Will need to decontaminate room in order to proceed, please leave."
"Go on, Commander, let Mordin and me help her."
Tali opened her eyes to see one of the shadows hovering over her, blocking some of the light that flooded her visor. The whiteness of the light washed away the details of its face, save for the deep blues of its eyes. The shadow grew larger as she felt a hand wrap itself around her right one.
"Tali..."
"Johnnnaaaaaugh!"
A new surge of pain rippled through her body as her vision began to burn blue. The same aura wreathed the shadow bending over her suddenly vanished. An unearthly scream forced its way out of her throat as she screwed up her eyes, her agony once again refusing to allow her to see.
Oh no...
"Shepard!"
"Chakwas, need sedative!"
The suit's alarm began to blare again as a prick needled its way into her bouts of physical anguish. Her breathing slowed as the ache lulled from its tempestuous fury to that of a mild storm. Tali's thoughts began to slow as a different alarm started going off in her suit.
"Her vitals are crashing. Mordin, get me that defibrillator!"
"Indeed. Also getting drug cocktail used for Miss Oro's injuries, unit of quarian blood. Will need to counter side effects of toxins while synthesizing dextro-appropriate cure."
"Just hurry with that defibrillator, Mordin. Commander, you need to leave."
Cure? Toxins? Leave? Lethargy began to overtake Tali's body and mind as she struggled to reopen her eyes. But... I never told John...
Her eyes slammed shut, and she knew no more.
[The previous day]
Tali paused to absorb the sight of Nos Astra, its many towers gleaming in the light as Illium's sun, Tasale, began its slow descent into the horizon. Streams of aircars wove their way between buildings, occasionally glimmering bright orange as they caught the star's rays. It's so much like the Wards... But she had to admit, having a real star complemented the view much better than the nebula surrounding the Citadel's arms.
"Sure is a nice view."
Tali nodded, taking comfort in the sound of the man's voice. "Not many quarians ever visit Illium. They banned the fleet from visiting the system decades ago, after a dispute over Beregale's minerals." She was initially glad she had taken Kasumi's advice and volunteered to come ashore with Shepard and Garrus, but some of her enthusiasm had been curbed when an asari at the port had met them outside the Normandy.
"Don't let the looks fool you. Turn down the wrong street and this place gets just as dangerous as Omega." Garrus had noticed that his companions had stopped walking. "Come on, we're almost to Liara's office."
Tali stifled a groan as she turned away from the view. Shepard had been in a relationship with the asari back on the first Normandy, one which had lasted until his demise at the hands of the collectors two years before. While she was certain that they hadn't contacted each other since the commander's resurrection, her imagination had gone into overdrive upon hearing the news that his ex had set herself up as a powerful and influential information broker on the planet.
The last time she had dealt with one, the infamous Shadow Broker, the quarian had been cornered by assassins in an alley on the Citadel. Sure, her contact had betrayed the broker, but she was still wary for betrayal. Her mind worked against her as she walked, alternating between serving her thoughts of what the asari would do if she found out about her feelings for John and unbidden visions how Liara would react to seeing John in the flesh.
Liara might want him back. Remember how emotional she was after the funeral? She might be jealous, maybe even enough to consider you a threat. What if she already knows? She always seemed so perceptive back on the original Normandy, and she's got even more resources now. She could sabotage any sort of chance you've got without breaking a sweat, maybe even send people to make sure it doesn't happen. Remember what Quala said about you and John on Freedom's Progress? She said you looked like you wanted to do him right then and there. Do you think she's found out? Actually, forget that. Imagine what Liara will want to do when they're reunited.
Tali shook her head before the train of thought could develop any further.
I'm not looking forward to this.
The aircar came to a stop, allowing a lone figure to exit. He quickly took note of possible threats as he stepped down: three security cameras, a pair of LOKI mechs on patrol, and a trio of FENRIS robots. Not a problem in a straight-up fight, but allowing them to call in reinforcements would be... problematic. His voice carried a low rumble as he spoke, like the sound of a krogan tomkah crunching over gravel in the Tuchanka sun. "Thank you for your assistance Seryna. I'm afraid this is where we must part ways."
"The bitch deserves what she's got coming to her. Tear her apart for me, Thane."
The drell briefly pondered her statement as the aircar took off behind him. No, it is not my place. Inefficient and inexcusable. The drell bowed his head as he considered the task before him. Two towers, guarded by an unknown amount of Eclipse mercenaries, stretched into the sky before him. The nearer of the two was only partially finished, as evidenced by the construction crews laboring several stories above him. His target was bound to be well-defended, holed up in a penthouse within the completed skyscraper next door.
"Amonkira, guide me to her. Let my aim ring true and my senses remain sharp as I seek my target. Arashu, protect these workers from harm as I engage my enemies. They are innocent, and will need your loving arms in the coming hours." He stopped before continuing his usual prayer, neglecting to request Arashu's protections for himself. Even the mother-goddess would not be able to protect him now.
Not that it mattered to him at this point.
"Watch out!"
Detective Anaya jumped away from the doorway just in time to avoid an Eclipse merc, the unfortunate asari literally screaming past her as she was Thrown into the door frame next to her. The body crumpled into a heap at her feet, with spine and arms bent at unnatural angles. She looked to the source of the flying woman, seeing a pair of asari in an office that overlooked the warehouse.
"Ilse, Solana: cover the door. I'm going up to the office." The two officers grunted an acknowledgement as she slowly stepped forward. She could see the two asari in the office begin to pace around the room as they stared at each other. Soon, she was within earshot of the two women.
The first voice was stained with disbelief and uncertainty, its owner quaking as she held her gun. "Those were my best troops."
The other was unnervingly calm, despite the lack of weapons. Her voice was cold and imperious as she spoke. "Tell me what I need to know, and I will be gone from here." The first asari began to back away as she spoke again. "Where did you send her?"
Anaya stopped just outside the door to the office. She knew better than to interrupt a justicar during her assignments; being mistaken for an attacker would not go well for her.
The first asari spoke again, fear now causing her words to waver like tree branches in a tempest. "You think I'd betray her?" She glanced at the doorway, looking right at Anaya for the briefest of moments before shaking her head. "She would hurt me in ways you can't imagine."
The other asari switched direction, slowly closing the distance as she responded. Her next words sent a chill down Anaya's spine, and she knew that her hair would have stood on end if she had any, like humans. "The name of the ship. Your life hangs on the answer, lieutenant."
The merc's voice found a semblance of strength in a final act of defiance, her gun rising as the words grew in volume. "You can kill me, but one of us will take you down, justicar!"
Oh, bad move.
Anaya watched as the Eclipse mercenary was Lifted off her feet. The woman's arms flailed helplessly for a split second before she found herself Thrown out of the office's window.
Damn, that's certainly gonna ruin your day.
The justicar calmly strode to the window, using her biotics to glide down to where the recently-defenestrated merc had landed. Anaya rushed down from the office doorway, signaling to the other two officers as she caught up to the justicar. As she watched, the asari placed her boot on the mercenary's neck.
"What was the name of the ship she left on?"
The answer was coughed, but somehow still audible despite the presence of her shoe. "Go to hell!"
The justicar held her ground as she paused for a moment. "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess."
Anaya knew what was going to happen next, but looking away didn't keep her from hearing the mercenary's neck snap as the justicar twisted her boot. Let's hope I can avoid having her do that to me. She nervously approached as the justicar stepped away from the corpse. The woman's cold blue eyes burned into hers as she approached.
"My name is Samara, a servant of the Justicar Code. My quarrel is with these Eclipse sisters, yet I see three well-armed people before me. Are we friend or foe?"
Anaya resisted the urge to bolt right then and there as she took a calming breath. Just tell her the truth, and she won't hurt you. "I'm Detective Anaya of the Telavi Precinct Security Force, and these are officers Ilse and Solana." The justicar took a step forward, but her face remained impassive. Well you're still alive so far, Anaya thought as she continued. "We're investigating the murder of a volus named Dakni Kur."
Samara nodded. "Our investigations are not mutually exclusive, it seems. A fugitive I was tailing sought refuge with these Eclipse, and I have reason to believe that one of them was responsible for the murder of your volus."
Oh boy, here comes the moment of truth. "About that, my superiors are worried about you inciting an interspecies incident. They've ordered me to place you under our custody until you decide to leave the planet."
Samara's gaze burned through her like a laser through butter, causing her arm to tremble. "I am in the middle of an investigation, detective. They have information that can lead to the capture of a dangerous fugitive and murderer. Are you aware that the Code compels me to bring them to justice, no matter the nature of any opposition that stands in my way?" The asari held up an arm as biotic power began to course over her already-blue skin. "The Code views any attempt to restrain me as hostile action, and I cannot let the trail of evidence grow cold."
Shit, shit, shit! "No!" Anaya reacted before her mind caught up with her mouth. She nervously cleared her throat. "What I mean is, they want you to come to the station while the investigation continues. In the meantime, the highly-capable officers behind me-" Anaya noticed as Solana flinched at the name drop. "-will continue to investigate the murder directly. They can also search for the whereabouts of your fugitive during the investigation."
"You risk a great deal by following your orders, detective." Samara's biotics flared for a moment, but died down as she lowered her arm. "Fortunately, I will not have to resist. My Code allows me to cooperate with you for one day. After that, I must return to my investigation."
"I can't guarantee I'll be able to release you that soon."
"You won't be able to stop me."
The justicar began to walk with the officers back toward the station, though none of the three dared to come within half a meter of her for fear of doing anything that could be taken as "hostile action".
Officer Ilse spoke up, "How long are we talking, in terms of a day? Like Citadel-standard or on Illium time?" The other two officers semiconsciously lengthened their strides upon hearing the inquiry.
"One Thessian cycle, starting from when you stated your intention. However, I can leave peacefully if you can discover the name of the ship that the fugitive was smuggled out on."
Anaya released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. At least I have about 27 hours left to find this ship. "By the way, there isn't any chance I could just not be around when you decide to resume your investigation?"
"Any guard or officer who premeditatively abandons their post is seen as a threat to the safety of the public at large."
"I thought not," Anaya bitterly laughed. I finally meet a justicar, and she just might kill me if this investigation doesn't proceed quickly enough. "Today must be my lucky day."
John Shepard hadn't been sure of what to expect when the door to Liara's office opened, but if he'd had an idea, it definitely wasn't what he sight that was before him.
A hologram of a human male stood in front of the asari, whose back was turned to the door for the moment. The man quelled under her gaze as she spoke, her tone carrying equal measures of honey and venom. "Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have." She grabbed a datapad as she prepared to sever the connection. "I'll make it simple: either you pay me, or I flay you alive." Her voice lost its singsong quality as she concluded, "With my mind."
John took a step inside as the holographic image faded. The footstep echoed through the room, an unexpected quality that the asari had no doubt desired. She turned to face the unannounced guests, her biotics flaring as she raised a hand. However, her face of emotionless determination melted to one of surprise as she identified the visitors. "Shepard?"
"Expecting the Shadow Broker?" Garrus hadn't been able to resist the chance to chip in.
"You have no idea, Garrus," Liara replied, her eyes locked on John's face. "Nyxeris, hold my calls."
John took a step forward as he noted her appearance. Her strides were confident in her formal dress, a far cry from the socially-awkward woman who had appeared so out of place in her combat armor two years before. His mind blanked as she strode toward him.
John remembers the last time he had seen her walk towards him with such purpose, how the flames of his passion had raged into an inferno when she entered his quarters two years before. Her eyes are filled with concern as she speaks. "I do not know what is going to happen on Ilos. I hope we will stop Saren, of course, but part of me fears we are already too late." Shepard notices a tear welling up in the corner of her eye, but she blinks it away as she continues. "There is something I must tell you, in case we fail."
Back in Liara's office, the two of them had closed the distance to each other. She gently grasped his hand in hers, checking it with an analytic eye while her other one found its way around his back. John notices the forgotten coals within himself, still glowing faintly with the ghost of their previous warmth.
She brushed off his reassurance: "Saren might already have the Conduit. It is time to be completely honest with each other." She takes an unconscious step forward as she continues. "These could be our last moments together. Our last chance to show each other how we feel." The asari took Shepard's hand in both of hers, gently coddling it as she gazed into his eyes. "I want this to be special."
She looks up from his hand as she pulls him closer. He can feel her breath at this distance, its warmth bathing John's face in her aroma as he stokes the coals within himself. Her scent pulls him forward, further away from reality.
She kisses Shepard, grasping at the back of his head as her breath suddenly becomes ragged. A thin whimper escapes her throat, throwing untold gallons of gasoline on the blaze. "I have never been more sure of anything in my life. Will you join with me, Shepard? Let our minds and bodies unite."
They come together with a kiss, but there was no more fuel to be found- neither passion nor lust to get the flame back to roaring like it once did. A gust of wind rushed down and killed the last of the embers within John as they broke apart.
Shepard admires her form as she lies below him in the nude, still trying to catch her breath as she continues to bask in the afterglow. Her blue skin seems to glimmer in the low light of his cabin as she slowly opens her eyes. She takes a few deep breaths and manages to sit up, a look of sincere awe and affection in her eyes as she whispers to him. "By the Goddess! That was incredible, Shepard."
Shepard grinned back as he gave her a soft kiss. He whispered back to her as he gazed into her eyes. "You were incredible."
John opened his eyes at the same time as Liara. There were no grins to be shared this time, no lingering sparks that still tried to deny the inevitable. He wanted to say something, but she silenced those thoughts with a soft shake of her head. There was nothing to be said. She looked away as she walked back over to her desk. "My sources said you were alive, but I never believed..." She turned around, her composure firmly in place once more as she masked her sadness with a smile. "It is very good to see you."
Tali fought to remain upright as her mind and body refused to believe what had just happened. No... Between the vertigo that had stricken her head and the leaden weight that had delivered a sucker punch to her gut, it was altogether miraculous that she was still standing. She leaned against the door frame for support as the room tilted under her, attempting to look at anything but the two people embracing one another in front of her. Mercifully, their moment didn't last long; Liara was soon back at her desk, smiling at the commander as she engaged him in small talk about how she became an information broker. The room slowly righted itself, but the pain still lingered in her stomach, stronger than any gunshot she had had the misfortune of receiving over the past three years. Please get me off this planet.
"You know, Liara, you could always come with us," the human said.
The quarian's stomach dropped further down toward her feet. Now she's coming with us. I knew it was too good to-
"No, Shepard."
What?
"What?" the Spectre echoed.
"I can't help you. I've got more important things to worry about here."
What? The quarian started trembling as the source of her stress switched from sadness to anger.
John's face switched to an expression she couldn't recognize. "What is it? Assassins tailing you? Politicians in danger?" He leaned closer. "The collectors?"
Liara shook her head. "If you want to help, I need someone with hacking expertise. Someone I can trust." As the asari sat down, Tali looked daggers at her. "If you could disable security at key points around Illium, you could get me information I need. That would help me a great deal."
That's it? What about helping him? You're not the only one that needs information.
John sat down in front of Liara as he queried the asari, "Hacking a terminal sounds pretty easy. Why do you need me?" Tali nodded in agreement at the sound of his words, but didn't take her eyes off of her as the asari gave her answer.
"I don't know anyone else I can trust," she said as she looked down. "Hacking the security node won't get you the data, it just creates a minor glitch in the system." She met his eyes again as she continued, "You'll have a short time to find a local server left vulnerable by that glitch and upload the data to my system. I'm leaving my own system vulnerable so it can be imported during that short time."
This lazy bosh'tet wants him to run around doing this crap for her? Tali was beginning to hate the room and all it stood for. Shepard however, had no such sentiment.
"If it'll help you, I'll take care of it."
"Like hell, you will!"
Liara was shocked by Tali's outburst, but it was nothing next to the flabbergasted expression on John's face. If she hadn't been so royally pissed, Tali would've fallen over laughing at the sight. However, the asari was far from amused, and began to rise from her chair.
"Ahem." Garrus cleared his throat before Tali could sow more tension into the room. "What she means is that we can take care of the data for you." If it was possible to convey both shock and intense loathing in astronomical measures simultaneously, Tali definitely did so as she faced Garrus. Whether because of her features being obscured by her opaque visor or because he avoided looking directly at her, the turian was unfazed. "A quarian engineer and a former C-sec officer should have no trouble with the task. But Shepard here needs to find two people: a drell assassin named Thane Krios and an asari justicar who goes by the name of Samara."
Liara blinked and sat down. "Yes, that would be best Garrus. The terminals are spread across the commercial district. When you hack one, a server will open somewhere nearby for a short time. You can download the data from there, if you hurry." Garrus nodded as Liara turned to Shepard. "An asari named Seryna downstairs had contact with your assassin earlier today. She left with him about two hours ago, but she should be back-" She consulted a datapad for a quick moment. "-In about twenty minutes. Justicar Samara came back to Nos Astra from Thessia two days ago. Her code dictates that she must check in with a legal authority when she arrives at a settlement. You should talk with Tracking Officer Dara in the transportation hub, she will know where Samara went from there, but I can guarantee she hasn't left the planet yet."
Shepard had also recovered from Tali's outburst by that time. "That was fast. You knew all that off the top of your head?"
Liara grinned, a sly grin all too similar to the one John was famous for. "I'm a very good information broker, Shepard."
That damned asari. Tali stormed out the open door before she could endure any more of Liara's presence while John said his goodbyes.
"Are you okay?" Garrus had also taken his leave fairly quickly, falling into step alongside her.
"I'm fine, Garrus," she lied. "Just point me to the first terminal."
Thane gazed down from the rafters at a trio of Eclipse mercs. One guarded the elevator ahead, the only way up to the bridge connecting the towers without either using a crane or risking getting shot down by rocket launchers. The other two led a group of salarians into a side room. The lone guard turned around, clearly focused on his radio as the others herded the workers.
The drell carefully slunk down to ground level, sneaking up behind the lone human. He hadn't brought silencers for the sniper rifle and submachine gun he carried; they would only slow him down and he didn't expect his stealthy entrance to last for long.
Silent approach from behind. Check shoulder to prevent turning. Grip chin and base of skull. Neck-snap.
The human became limp in his arms as he overheard the man's last directive over a much-too-loud radio. "Kill the workers! We're not taking any chances."
Damn.
He sprinted toward the other two mercs: a pair of asari. He focused on the right one first, who had turned at the sound of his footsteps.
Warp to neutralize barriers. Deliver kick to back of knee. Grab shoulders and place own knee in small of her back as she staggers. Grip chin and scalp. Neck-snap.
The last merc leveled a shotgun as he released its companion's corpse.
Scimitar, eight-round capacity per clip. Dodge first shot with dive. Sprint away from second wild shot and counter with sustained SMG burst to drop barriers. Take cover behind crate to avoid third and fourth shots. Biotic Throw to stun target. Close distance. Biotic-enhanced punch to knock opponent down. Step on hand to prevent further use of firearm or biotics. Double-tap to head.
A female voice then yelled over the radios of the dead mercenaries as the shots echoed around the room. "We have confirmed intruders on levels one and twelve. Take care of it you imbeciles! If you see anything that's not wearing yellow or a mech, then I want it dead NOW!"
Thane looked at the salarians, who had taken cover in the storage area while he fought the mercenaries. One of them emerged from behind the door frame, waving a hand in gratitude. "Thank you, I thought we were-"
Seal and lock door. Install scramble protocol to prevent Eclipse entry. Thane took no joy in trapping them, but he knew it was either that or risk their deaths at the hands of the guards. He entered the elevator, making sure to jump through the service hatch in its ceiling during its long ascent. Only when he heard the sound of gunfire in the car below as the elevator came to a stop did he ponder the finer points of Nassana's order. Who are the other intruders?
Shepard activated his helmet radio as Grunt and Jacob ensured that the mechs were really "dead"; Jacob had noted that the legless ones had a tendency to crawl around and explode if ignored, and there was no point ignoring the potential threat. "Miranda, the LZ is clear. You can bring in the rest of the squad now."
"Rodger that Shepard." A second aircar swung into view, parking itself just above ground level to allow Miranda, Mordin, Kasumi, and Zaeed to exit. It had been hard enough to fit the krogan in Seryna's aircar, but the fact that Thane was taking on two towers full of mercs alone didn't sit well with the commander.
"Listen up!" he barked, getting the group's attention. "We have an unknown amount of Eclipse and mechs inside and a drell to find. Keep a clear head, cover each other's asses, and look out for any of the build crew on the way. I don't want them hurt if I can help it. Mind the exploding mechs while you're at it. Understood?"
The squad drew their various weapons, nodding in acknowledgement.
Shepard hefted his shotgun. "Alright then. Let's find us an assassin."
"Remind me again... why I'm the one... who's doing all the running..."
Garrus' breathing was labored as he slowly walked up to Tali, who had just started hacking the next terminal. She was not amused however; he had unwittingly broken her concentration right before she could crack the last firewall. She looked at her omni tool in dismay as an additional four firewalls were erected before she could recover. She shook her head as she suppressed a growl. "You did volunteer us, remember? Besides, the shopkeepers wouldn't take kindly to seeing a quarian sprinting through a busy marketplace."
"Point... taken..." Garrus panted.
Tali gave a dismissive wave of her hand as she went back to work. They had been going like this for the past few hours, with the quarian hacking terminals while the turian would run off in search of the exposed data and forward it to Liara. Her bad mood from seeing the information broker had persisted, however, and she didn't bother to tell Garrus that she was on the final terminal that the asari wanted hacked. She'd even stopped admiring the scenery, despite the terminal locations being placed all over Nos Astra's scenic commercial district.
"There you are, you little bosh'tet!" Tali tapped a final line of code on her omni-tool's display and was delighted to see the signal data from the exposed terminal somewhere in the area. "You're on, Garrus!"
"Spirits... the one time... I wish... you hacked slower." Garrus took one more deep breath and sprinted away.
Mercifully for the turian, the final data cache was close by. Tali heard her comm beep as Liara spoke to them from her office. "That should be the last one."
"Ohthankgoodness!" Garrus breathed over the line. Tali could see the turian across the courtyard slump onto the console in front of him.
"I hope you got what you needed from that data, Liara." Tali bit her lip, trying to rein in her anger.
"Yes, Tali. This is exactly what I needed. This data confirms my suspicions about the Shadow Broker."
"Hmmm?" Tali didn't trust herself to say anything more.
"He's placed an agent somewhere nearby that's been undermining my operations around Illium. He's referred to only as 'The Observer' though- none of the agents even know what species he is. I have a list of suspects though. This data has helped me narrow the list down to a list of five agents, which are only referred to by their species."
"Mm-hmm?" Tali didn't like where the conversation was going.
"I need you to help me narrow down the list. There's a few more terminals scattered around the area that include messages shared between the suspects and with the Observer. I know you two can help me get to the bottom of this issue."
What are we, your lackeys? Tali silently seethed.
Her thoughts were interrupted before she could vocalize her anger. A long moan was heard over the line, its maker too exhausted to apply syllables to the sounds escaping his mouth.
"Don't worry, Garrus. You won't have to run for these ones," Liara reassured the turian. "Thanks for the help."
A second whine echoed over the comm, though this one was noticeably less discontent than the previous one.
I couldn't have said it better myself, Tali thought to herself as she cut the link. The turian shook himself as she walked over. She sighed at the sight. At least she's not wasting John's time too. "Come on, Garrus. Let's get you some food and an energy stim."
The turian eyed her as if she'd just uttered a grave insult. "That was just for looks, Tali. I just wanted her to stop talking."
She folded her arms. "Bullshit."
Garrus gave an honest, if tired, laugh. "I see Ken's been teaching you some new words."
The squad carved its way through the building's lower levels, overwhelming many of the mercs just by sheer numbers alone. However, the Eclipse had begun to mobilize by the time they reached the third level. Jacob and Kasumi had been injured in a particularly vicious crossfire involving several biotics and an enemy engineer at a choke point on the fourth floor, though Mordin had already seen to them. They limped behind the squad as John trudged onward with Grunt at the front of the pack. The waves of mercs were taking their toll on the injured though; Kasumi had to fire her weapons one-handed and Jacob's burn wounds didn't look pretty. Shepard was beginning to consider sending them back when they hit a stroke of luck.
"Elevator appears to be active. Likely meant to reach upper floors quickly."
John suppressed a "hallelujah", allowing Jacob to fill the role for him as he approached the call button. Wait a minute. His hand paused an inch away from the holographic interface as he turned to face the squad. "Kasumi, you wouldn't happen to have any flashbangs left would you?"
The thief nodded as she took a grenade out of her pocket with her good hand. "Expecting company, Shep?"
"Yes. I want you to toss it as soon as the door opens, then stay in cover while we take care of anything inside. Jacob, you too."
The man winced as he attempted a shrug. "You won't hear me complaining."
"Zaeed, Mordin: I want anything that's not a drell in there to burn. Hit the biggest one in there with a warp too if you can, Miranda."
"What would you have me do, battlemaster?"
John turned toward Grunt. "Whatever the hell you want."
The krogan let out a low chuckle as he touched the call switch. "With pleasure."
They took cover as they waited. A soft ding announced the car's arrival as the door slid open. A loud crack accompanied by a flash announced that Kasumi had done her part, and they rose to see a krogan and two humans stumbling blindly. Mordin and Miranda targeted the krogan with their powers as Zaeed's grenade lit the other two on fire. He lifted his assault rifle. "Suppressing fire!"
The two humans wilted under the fusillade, unable to draw their weapons before they were put down. The krogan began to stand, a guttural roar emanating from its mouth.
"I am krogan!"
Grunt charged in, headbutting the merc clean off its feet. He leveled his shotgun at its head. The fallen krogan's skull erupted into a bloody mess with a pull of his finger.
John shook his head as he called out orders. "Jacob, Kasumi, Miranda, and Mordin: I want you guys in the back of the elevator so the rest of us can take any fire when we get out."
The elevator ride was mercifully quick, and only a single unsuspecting merc had awaited them at the top of the ride. They filed out silently as he looked out the window, clearly in the middle of a conversation with another squad.
"Where's the assassin?"
He jumped at the sound of Shepard's voice. The man cautiously turned around, as if hoping to see anything other than seven guns pointing at his face. He had no such luck. "Damn it."
"I suggest you answer the goddamn question," Zaeed spoke.
"No idea, and I wouldn't tell you if I did."
Shepard had no time for the merc's surprising sense of integrity. "There's only two ways you're getting out of here. Coach." He gestured back at the elevator. "Or express." He stepped forward, causing the man to back into the window. "Your choice."
The man shook his head in defeat. "Last elevator that came up was empty, and we haven't had any contact with him since. All we know for sure is he hasn't tried crossing the bridge yet." He folded his arms. "Not that he'd be dumb enough to try it."
"How far's the bridge from here?" John took another step forward, pressing his advantage.
"Straight ahead and up the ramp. You can't miss it." The merc waved his arms in the air, seemingly annoyed. "I have nothing else to say to you. Are we done here?"
A loud gunshot echoed through the room, causing all of them to jump.
"What was that?" the merc asked as numerous guns pointed his way once more.
John waved them down as he drew his shotgun. "Move it, merc. The lower levels should be safe enough for you."
Thane slowly wriggled his way out of a ventilation duct, grasping hold of an exposed I-beam in the rafters. He eventually worked himself into a sitting position on the beam, allowing him to survey his surroundings.
Six mechs, currently inactive. Two salarians in side room, unarmed. Lone human Eclipse merc, brandishing pistol at the salarians. He carefully drew his sniper rifle then, shifting his body so he could fire without falling. The crosshairs danced around the human, as if magnetically repelled. He took a calming breath, slipping into a memory that allowed him to focus.
Stormy winds tear at my face. Twin discs launch into the sky. A hanaar flashes silver as I gaze down the scope. "Only the red one," he says.
"Only the red one," he echoed, pulling the trigger.
The salarians jumped back in shock as the human's head erupted in a shower of gore before their eyes. The one who had been nearest to the merc simply stared at the cadaver while the other quickly scooped up the fallen pistol, frantically searching for the hidden sniper.
The sound of additional weapons fire filled the area, bringing the stunned salarian out of his stupor in time to seal the side room before the mechs came fully online. Thane looked to the source: a squad of people with what appeared to be customized (or, at the very least, unique) armor components. Freelancers? he thought for a moment. However, their leader, a human whose combat-scarred armor appeared as the embodiment of resilience itself with its well-worn components, soon put that theory to rest. The human barked out a few quick orders, prompting the group to unleash a series of coordinated biotic and tech attacks upon the mechs and their previously-hidden Eclipse backup. They worked like no unit Thane had ever seen, efficiently carving through their enemies better than any group (mercenary or military) that he had come across during his own contracts. Within moments, it was over. He ordered a trio of them to make sure the mechs were destroyed (A wise tactic) as he arranged the rest to cover the door where the salarians had hidden. Thane raised his rifle again, prepared to protect the innocents from this unknown man and his squad. The door opened as he sighted the man's head. Only the red one.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one pointing a gun at the man. There's no clear shot, he realized as one of the salarians hefted a pistol at the man. Thane watched as the man made a hand signal to his squad, prompting them to put away their weapons. This is... unexpected. The man spoke, though the drell was too far away to hear his words. Soon enough, the salarian relinquished his pistol. Most unexpected. The man spoke with his squad some more, eventually directing the salarians back toward the elevator with three members of his own squad: a dark-skinned human, a human in a body suit, and a third salarian.
As the rest of the human's group went upstairs, the drell pondered what he had just seen. The man was efficient, capable, and has an eye for helping innocents. He hadn't seen anyone so willing to help an innocent in such a situation while he was on the job. Or at least not since...
Sunset eyes, defiant in the scope.
The drell blinked, preventing himself from falling completely into the memory.
I must meet this man.
"Get down!"
The squad followed Shepard's order, diving behind crates as a quartet of rocket drones fired at them. He aimed his own rocket launcher as the projectiles flew past him, impacting on the bridge and building behind him. Over a dozen of them had awaited his squad on the bridge, along with a few footsoldiers. He had let Zaeed and Miranda advance, the veteran and biotic tearing through the grunts while his own Grunt helped him down the hostile mechs. The missile he fired took down one as another was taken down by a concussive round from Grunt. He then reached for another missile, hoping to take down the last two drones quickly.
There were none.
"Damn it," he swore as he put away the empty weapon. He spared a glance behind him, watching as a rocket streaked over Grunt's head. Surprisingly, the krogan didn't even need to duck to avoid the projectile.
Wait a minute...
John traced the path of the missile, seeing where it had impacted.
It had torn a small hole in the bridge.
And there were a lot more around that one.
Shit! He frantically drew his assault rifle, firing on the nearest drone without concern for cover. "Everyone, shoot the drones!"
"Goddamn it Shepard, just had to make things interesting didn't ya?" Zaeed said as he fired his own rifle at the drone. It went down in a burst of flames as they redirected their fire at the final one. "Miranda, don't worry about that merc!"
She finally got the hint as a fourth stream of rounds was poured on the drone. It too went down in a cloud of smoke.
Only this cloud came from a rocket.
John fired fruitlessly at the missile as it soared overhead, blowing another hole in the walkway. The damaged section of the bridge fractured, exposing the bridge's steel skeleton. An unearthly screech echoed from the far end of the bridge after the final rocket impacted. He felt a sense of vertigo for a moment, then was jarred off his feet as the bridge shook. He pushed himself off the floor, noticing in horror that part of the walkway had buckled.
"Move it!" Miranda yelled. "The bridge is collapsing!"
John jumped to his feet as Grunt sprinted by him. The krogan fired his assault rifle at a merc as he chortled to himself, "Glorious!"
John fell into step behind the krogan, throwing his own assault back onto the magnetic strip on his back as the pair ran toward the far end of the span. The bridge continued to groan as its surface gradually began to incline.
"Jump!"
He wasn't sure who had yelled it, but he obliged, leaping with Grunt as the floor gave way under them. The bridge plummeted below, leaving them falling through open space as they reached out with their hands. The krogan managed to grab hold of the ledge in front of him, and began to haul himself up. The commander mirrored his movements, reaching for the ledge.
And missed.
No... He reached out fruitlessly, trying to grab the ledge, a pipe, anything that could support him.
A strong pair of hands gripped his wrist as he grasped at the air.
"You always gotta be this goddamn epic Shepard, or were ya just feeling frisky today?"
John breathed a sigh of relief as the man hauled him up. "Just one of those days, Zaeed."
The veteran grunted as John managed to regain his footing. He performed a quick head count as he stood up. Yup, everyone's here. "Thanks for the heads-up by the way."
"What heads-up?" Miranda cocked her head to the side as Zaeed offered a similar look of puzzlement. "Zaeed barely had time to grab you and I just barely made it off that thing before it fell."
"Doesn't matter," Grunt growled. "So long as we can keep fighting, I don't care if it was some flying food-monster that dripped magic sauce on us that got us out." He looked at Shepard. "Besides, the assassin's probably in the asari's office by now, since we killed off all her mercs."
John nodded. "You heard him, let's move."
"The bridge is collapsing!"
The drell froze as he clung onto the unfinished underside of the walkway. He was most of the way across the span, a safe distance from where the rockets had impacted the bridge. I'm not close enough to the far side, he realized. Thane scanned his surroundings, a relatively flat metal surface that ran the length of the bridge and an air vent catching his eye. It'll have to do.
He activated the magnetic soles on his shoes. They were intended for zero-gee however; they weren't strong to oppose planetary gravitation by themselves. He needed to additional help if his plan was going to work.
He mustered biotic energy within himself, quickly gathering strength as the bridge groaned in protest. He cast a Lift field, focusing the dark energy back onto himself. His hands released hold of the bridge in front of him, and he could feel the effort taxing him as he struggled to keep the field active.
Now or never.
He planted his feet on the flat surface, trusting the magnetic shoes to give him the grip he needed as he held the biotic field. He didn't dare take both feet off the bridge, lest he slam into the bridge or release his control on the field that kept him from falling to the streets far below. Instead, he quickly walked along the grate, keeping at least one foot "down" on the bridge at all times. In this way, he made it to the open vent, allowing himself to collapse inside the opening. He looked back, seeing the bridge begin to twist in the wind as it collapsed. He saw the human from earlier, his armor gleaming in the pale light of the coming dawn as he followed his krogan squadmate. However, they weren't moving fast enough to make it off the collapsing span.
"Jump!"
The word had escaped his lips, compelling them to leap as the bridge gave way. He turned away before he could see the result of his lapse in professionalism. This shaft should take me straight to her office, he thought, noting that part of the shaft turned almost vertically upward.
Thane squeezed himself along, trying to keep his moves silent as he climbed. Soon he could see light streaming in from a trio of grates before him. He made his way toward the middle one, peering between the metal panes.
Sure enough, his target was there. Nassana Dantius was speaking to the mystery man from earlier, monologuing about how she had tricked the man into killing her sister years before.
"It's not you I'm looking for," the man said.
The drell closed himself off from the conversation, focusing on the bodyguards in the room. Four. I may actually survive after all.
Thane closed his eyes, tapping into another memory. The door is broken. A slight breeze tugs tattered curtains. Irikah on the ground, her clothes fouled and torn. One sunset eye open, the other replaced with a bullet wound. Kolyat cries in the corner. "Where were you, Dad?"
The drell felt the unbridled rage from that night cloud his senses. His mind became detached from his body, moving without his input. He saw the biotic nudge on one of the other vents that drew the mercs' attention. He saw the surprised faces as he danced across the room, killing with ruthless efficiency. The last of Nassana's bodyguards fell and the room spun. He could see the asari in his arms, shock in her eyes as he drew his gun.
Bang
The gunshot awoke the drell from his battle sleep. He was acutely aware of the surprised humans and krogan before him, as well as the gagging asari in his arms. He gently placed Nassana on her desk. He knew that it was his body that had done the damage, and that she had tried to kill innocents. It still didn't excuse him though. He bent over in a prayer pose. Kalahira, please hear me.
The man spoke to him, but Thane ignored the question. "Prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."
Another human male spoke up from behind the leader. "I doubt she'll be missed."
The drell looked up. "Not for her, for me."
"It doesn't make sense."
Tali looked over at Garrus as he considered the data on the terminal in front of him. The comm line buzzed to life as Liara asked the question that had come to Tali's mind. "What do you mean?"
"The krogan, the vorcha, the batarian... none of them make sense as the Overseer. They're all male, and from what I can tell the Observer is a woman. My gut tells me there's more to this."
The asari sounded shocked. "But my assistant got me the information!"
"Did she now?" Garrus queried. Tali wondered about the strange expression on the Turian's face
"Nyxeris gave me the information... Nyxeris, could you come in here for a moment?"
Tali tilted her head as the asari suddenly cut the link. "What was that about?"
Garrus evaded the question as he began to walk. "If I'm right, then you'll find out when we get there."
She silently fell into step alongside the turian as they walked over to Liara's office. The secretary was mysteriously absent as they walked up the stairs.
"I wonder where she is," Tali mused. "You don't think that some bad intel got her fire- By the ancestors!"
The door had opened at their presence, revealing a body on the floor in Liara's office. A large pool of blood had formed around the secretary's fresh corpse, which Garrus and Tali took care to avoid stepping in. The quarian found her voice once more. "What happened here?"
"Nyxeris was the Observer, Tali," Garrus answered. "Probably placed by the Shadow Broker to spy on Liara, hence her codename."
Liara nodded as she sat down at her desk. "Indeed. She had some rather interesting data on her that was ready to be sent at a moment's notice. She was also very talented, though her barriers needed practice. Practice I'm afraid she won't be getting."
Garrus hummed an acknowledgement as he faced the asari. "I take it you're going to use this info against the Broker."
"Yes. Now I can gather information, peel away layers of lies, and shine light into the shadows. And when I find the Shadow Broker..." She slammed her fist for emphasis. "I hit him with a biotic field so strong that what's left of his body will fit into a coffee cup."
"Is that all you really care about?"
The asari raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
Tali uncrossed her arms, planting them on Liara's desk as she leaned forward. "We're going to help John with what could in all likelihood end up being a suicide mission to stop the reapers, and you're telling me you'll spend the whole time sitting in an office dreaming about revenge?"
"Watch your tone." The asari's lip curled as she growled her warning.
Garrus attempted to intervene. "You know, I think we should check and see if Shepard's back. Don't you agree, Tali?"
She ignored the turian. "Look at what you've become, Liara. This isn't the same person I knew back on the Normandy! What happened to the woman who actually gave a damn about the galaxy, who cared about helping John instead of being tangled up in a quest for vengeance?"
Liara stood up, her skin flashing for a moment with dark energy as she leaned over the table herself. "She died, Tali! She died watching him drift away as that ship exploded. She died protecting his body from the Shadow Broker and the collectors. She died as the Broker kidnapped her last friend and ally to make an example out of him."
"So did he, and at least he still knows right from wrong!"
"Okay, break it up you two!" Garrus forced himself between the two women, sticking his arms out over the desk to hold them back.
Tali spared Liara one last glare before she stepped back. "He doesn't deserve this, least of all from someone like you. Come on, Garrus." The asari was flabbergasted as Tali turned around. For the second time in less than a day, she stormed out of the asari's office. She had barely gone down the stairs just outside the door, however, before a hand grasped her shoulder.
She was soon pinned to the wall as Garrus revealed himself to be the limb's owner. "What's your fucking problem, Tali?" he demanded. "You can't keep doing stupid shit like that, especially around someone as powerful as Liara."
Tali struggled in his grip, wishing that her shotgun wasn't pinned between her back and the wall. She grunted in frustration and yelled back at him. "It doesn't matter anyway!" She quietly cursed her weak immune system for the umpteenth time, annoyed that she couldn't at least try to bite the turian off of her. "Why do you care?"
Despite Tali's shouting Garrus kept his own voice level as he answered. "Because I don't want to see my friend smeared across the floor in an office somewhere. I understand that you weren't yourself back on Haestrom but this was something else entirely." Tali thrashed violently at his mention of the planet, but the turian's grip held. "Now I'm not letting you go until you answer my question. Why are you so pissed off?"
Tali stopped struggling. Her next words were barely above a whisper as she looked into the turian's eyes. "You mean you didn't even see it?" Her voice got louder as she continued, climaxing in a yell that was loud enough to distort the relayed sound from her suit's microphone. "Right there, in front of both of us- keelah, in front of that damned secretary. Don't tell me you didn't see it!" She slumped to her knees as Garrus released her. Tali could tell that some of the people walking by had been bothered, but their interest ended when they saw that the shriek came from a quarian.
At the moment, that suited her just fine.
She could feel a strand of warmth making its way down her face as she spoke again, her voice heavy. "Even now, he'd still choose her. Just look at what she's become: lies, deceit, treachery. She can't even walk down the street without seeing potential enemies... I mean I didn't want to after Haestrom, but some part of me still hoped that he... That we..." Her voice trailed off into a round of quiet sobs. "She doesn't deserve someone like him."
"Oh, spirits. Is that what this is about?" His expression softened as the quarian snuck a slight nod in between her fits of tears. Garrus sighed as he knelt down next to her. "Look, kiddo. Back when I first joined C-sec, I had a stint pulling guard duty at the Larathos facility on Kithoi Ward. You see a lot of faces down in processing, but you begin to see patterns among the departing inmates." Tali buried her visor in her arms, but decided against muting the turian for the moment. "Some are surprised when nobody shows up, while a few have families that stick it out for them. But just because they showed up doesn't mean they'll stick around." Tali half-grunted, half-sobbed at this. She was having trouble seeing how it was relevant. "I've seen hundreds of recently-reunited couples kiss each other exactly like that, Tali. Most of them end up splitting within the month, and we find out when the inmates end up coming right back." He paused for a moment, and the quarian chanced a quick look. "Sometimes they try to make it work, but they never end up happy together." He looked back at her as he continued. "Whatever feelings they had for each other are gone, Tali. There's no point getting bothered about it."
He took a deep breath at this point, prompting Tali to fully surface. She stifled a sniffle. "How do you know that for sure?"
He got back to his feet. "The lucky couples look a little different."
She cocked her head to the side. "How so?"
"They tend to have this one look that really sets them apart from the rest." His eyes flashed for a moment as he reached out a hand. "I believe you mortals call it 'happiness', or some such nonsense."
Tali couldn't help but chuckle a little as he helped her up. She shook her head as she dusted her suit off, trying to avoid making eye contact with the turian. "I suppose you want me to apologize to her then."
He surprised her with a short laugh. "I said it was stupid, not wrong."
Miranda watched as Shepard came back from Tracking Officer Dara's office. The man was clearly tired from the recent raid on Dantius Towers, but he masked his fatigue well as he strode over to the party.
"Samara's at the Telavi Spaceport, about a three-hour trip from here via aircar. There's a public shuttle leaving for there in just over an hour, but I want to make sure everyone who's going can mind their manners." His gaze passed over the people who had participated in the fight, lingering a bit longer on Grunt as he spoke. "This is a justicar we're dealing with, and she won't hesitate to attack anyone who commits crimes in front of her." Kasumi made a mock-pouting face at this news. "I want to bring a small team that's fit for diplomacy here."
Miranda spoke up, "I nominate myself and Mr. Vakarian. His experience at C-Sec makes him invaluable for this sort of operation."
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Garrus I can understand, but a loyalist for a terrorist organization?"
She crossed her arms in response. "I've done my homework, Shepard. Her Code still has allowances similar to our 'innocent until proven guilty'. My history with Cerberus won't be a factor so long as I don't become a threat to the innocent."
Shepard nodded. "Fine, the rest of you can return to the Normandy, but tell Joker to be ready to pick us up." He then held a finger to his ear as he radioed the turian.
Miranda found herself alone with her thoughts as the rest of the squad departed. She contented herself by walking up to the transportation hub's railing, searching the now well-lit skyline for a particular building. She soon found her target, a slim spire that widened near its summit to support an observation deck and lounge. Its antiquated human inspirations clashed maddeningly with the nearby asari architecture, though she took some comfort in its familiarity.
Despite the circumstances where she had first seen the tower's inspiration.
The Pupil watched as her sensei marched in front of her, alongside a man in a slate-gray suit. The two of them led her down the hall, into her training space. The practice mats were already out, spread across the floor. A horrible sensation of deja vu settled in her stomach.
"Her training is complete, Mr. Lawson," her teacher said. "She has learned the techniques faster than anyone I've ever known. Thrown in with her previous experience with boxing, judo, and muay thai, I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to expand her ability to defend herself."
The Pupil stayed silent. She couldn't bring herself to warn the man, despite having heard similar words uttered by half a dozen men before him. The suited figure spoke. "Are you certain?"
The teacher nodded, his eyes confident. "There is nothing else I would be able to teach her."
The man made a quick motion with his hands. "A pity." In less than a second, a pair of men had sprung in and grabbed the instructor's arms, holding him for a moment as a third plunged a knife into his neck.
The dying man mouthed out a single word as the Pupil looked on: "Why?"
The suited man took a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiping a speck of blood that had landed on his shoe. "You said yourself that you couldn't teach her anything else." He looked on in disgust as the instructor collapsed in the men's arms. "Dispose of him, then send the men in."
The Pupil held back a tear as the men carried away her latest teacher's corpse. The suited man then fixed his stony gaze on her as he pointed to the mats. "Miranda, show me what you've learned."
She nodded, trying to push her emotions aside. "Yes, Father." A dozen men walked into the room as she walked to the mats. They all dwarfed the teen, ranging in size and physique from that of a nightclub bouncer to a professional heavyweight boxer.
Henry Lawson pointed at one of them, a man who looked for all the world like a professional bodybuilder. The man nodded, stepping forward to face the girl on the mats. Henry then took a seat on a padded chair. "Begin."
She allowed the man to strike first, his fist flying clumsily toward where she stood as she deftly dodged it. She was far quicker, striking the man in his abdomen. He stood his ground, making to grab her in a clinch. She had none of it, weaving around him as she struck out at the larger man. She caught him with a series of strikes to the face, stunning him. The man was finished off with a low kick, tripping him to the floor as the Pupil struck him a single time in the windpipe. The man rolled away from her gagging as she stood at attention, her eyes on her father.
He frowned, pointing at another of the men. "Again."
The next man was also taken down in fairly short order, submitting as the girl trapped him with an omoplata. She heard one of the other men whistle as she completed the difficult armlock, which put extreme stress on the combatant's shoulder.
Henry remained unfazed, pointing at two more of the men. "Again."
She was becoming tired by this point, but she continued to use her prodigious agility and strength to great effect. It took much longer to take down the pair of attackers, however. Henry's face looked even less amused as he pointed at another pair. "Again."
Her moves were definitely slowing by this point. The pair managed to get some serious hits on her, decorating her sweat-drenched form with several bruises. She emerged victorious nonetheless. The Pupil turned toward the remaining six men, wondering which trio she would have to fight first.
To her surprise, Henry made a beckoning motion with his hand.
All six stepped forward as he spoke.
"Again."
They were merciless with their attacks. While she was able to avoid a few attacks, even using one guy's momentum against him in a throw, she knew it was a losing battle. Her movements slowed as the battle dragged on, collecting several more cuts and bruises. She could no longer tell where sweat ended and blood began as she fought to keep them from grabbing her. As if reading her mind, one of them wrapped her from behind, hoisting her off her feet.
The Pupil glowed blue, Throwing the man back. Before she could turn her biotics against the rest of the group, however, she found herself being Lifted off her feet. The ground rushed up to meet her with a harsh blow. Another set of arms pulled her off the floor, taking care this time to control her arms. The others then proceeded to wail on her, their many blows leaving her barely conscious. She lost track of time as the men struck out at any part of her that wasn't already subject to another's fist. A small whisper whistled through her lips.
"Please... stop..."
Henry furiously rose from his chair as the men backed away from the submitting girl. She had seen such rage on his face only a few times before.
They never ended well.
"Weak," he spat at her.
He delivered a final punch to her stomach, causing her to cough blood. He wiped her blood off his suit with the handkerchief, his face displaying nothing but disgust at the sight before him. He nodded, and the man holding her unceremoniously shoved her back down to the floor. She couldn't tell if it took seconds or hours before she heard his voice again.
"You have been the most promising one so far. But you're still not strong enough to be a true Lawson." The other men walked away at an unseen gesture. "Let Niket in. I need to talk to Mr. Illusive about enlisting his assistance once more."
The doors opened, allowing a young servant to come in. "Oh my God... What happened to your daughter?"
Henry strode out of the room without a backward glance. "I have no daughter."
The Pupil moaned as her servant rolled her over. Through the bars on the only window, she could see a tower glimmering in the distance. A web of cables wound their way around its main shaft, terminating in a golden basketlike structure near its top. "What building is that, Niket?"
The man spared a brief glance to the window as he tended to her wounds. "That's Sydney Tower, the tallest building in the city." He stopped to grab a bandage for the cut that had opened up on her face. "People go up there all the time, to enjoy the view. I've never been though."
She closed her eyes, imagining seeing the world laid out before her. No walls to hold her in. No expectations to live up to except for her own. The pupil opened her eyes again, wishing she could be one of those blissfully ignorant tourists, who could have a hand in deciding their own fate. She looked at her servant and asked him a question: "What's it like?"
He gave her a puzzled look. "What's what like, Miri?"
"Living out there."
Niket paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Harder than you'd think."
She attempted to shake her head, but her wounds protested too much to complete the motion. "Harder than this?"
He had no answer for her.
"Garrus, good to see you."
"Well you know it's not a party without me."
Miranda awoke from her reminiscence and turned around, seeing the turian shaking hands with the commander. However, she rose an eyebrow upon seeing another person walking up. "I thought we were going for 'small and diplomatic'. There's no reason to bring a tech expert here." She crossed her arms as she glared at the woman. "Especially when she could be a loose cannon."
Tali turned and returned her glare, but Garrus intervened before she could utter a retort. "She'll be fine, Miranda." She looked over at the turian. "Don't forget, she's presented to the Council before. Not to mention the times she's been in contact with Anderson and Udina. And quite frankly, you never know when a tech could come in handy."
"True, but that was before her little 'accident' on Haestrom." The quarian hung her head, crestfallen. "Frankly, I'm afraid she'll do something reck-"
"Enough!"
John stepped in before she could continue. "She's a trusted member of the team. If she wants to help, then by all means she's welcome to. In the meantime, I'll ask for your opinion when I feel it's relevant. Do I make myself clear?"
Miranda struggled to keep her face impassive. "Crystal, sir."
Tali looked up at him, her eyes a little brighter than they had been moments before. "Thanks, John."
He spared the quarian a smile as Miranda turned away.
You'd better be right, Shepard.
John walked out of the police station, looking for a particular volus. Samara had been easy enough to find, but her hands were tied; her Code wouldn't let her leave without a ship name, and to have her join in the investigation directly would require a violent confrontation with her unwilling captors. Damned politicians, he thought. He wanted to punch all of them in the face almost as much as the agenda-pushing reporter from the Citadel, Khalisah al-Jilani. Well, almost all of them- Anderson's at least trying to do some good.
By that time, Pitne For had noticed the commander and his entourage. "Hello, Earth-clan. If you're interested in weapons I have a fine selection." The volus paused to take a deep breath, a loud wheeze audible through his vocal microphone. "Unfortunately, I'm not open for business right now."
"Why are the mercs after you?"
"I know nothing about any mercenaries, Earth-clan." He shook his head and his eye-lights blinked out for a moment as he took another breath. "I am merely an innocent merchant trying to make his way in life."
John stepped forward, kneeling down to the volus's level. "The Eclipse are hunting you, and there's a justicar in the station who might get the wrong idea if you keep withholding information. I suggest you start talking."
Pitne gave a defeated shake of his head. "You're right, Earth-clan. I'm desperate. *Wheeze* I've got angry mercs after me and now this asari justicar. *Wheeze* Let's talk." He waved the commander over to a secluded docking area nearby, continuing the conversation while he waddled away from the security station. "I smuggled a chemical onto Illium that boosts biotic powers in combat. *Wheeze* It also is toxic." John glared at the volus as he followed, but Pitne didn't look up. "I may have, um... *Wheeze* forgotten to mention that to the Eclipse. *Wheeze* So they are perturbed and want to kill me."
That's despicable. No wonder they killed his partner. John bottled up his distaste as the volus turned around. "I need a way into the Eclipse base. Help me out and I may think of helping you get out of this alive."
The volus nodded. "Very well. *Wheeze* I do have a passcard they issued me to bring my goods in. *Wheeze* Well, I had to return that one but I happened to make a copy." Shepard took the opportunity to crack his knuckles as the volus drew another haggard breath. "Take it, and be careful. *Wheeze* Each Eclipse sister commits a murder to earn her uniform. *Wheeze* They are all dangerous."
John took the offered card, taking the opportunity to fix the volus in a threatening stare. "So am I."
"Wait, stop!" An asari wearing Eclipse armor came out from behind a console in the service area as Tali and the others drew their weapons. Her hands were raised in the air as she nervously spouted an explanation for her presence. "I didn't fire my weapon once. I only pretended to because the other sisters were watching but I didn't really shoot."
She saw Garrus and John lower their weapons but she and Miranda didn't buy her story. "Why are you wearing the uniform, then?" the human queried.
"I'm not one of them, I'm new!" Shepard began to walk toward the asari but Tali felt that something was still wrong here. "I thought being Elnora the mercenary would be really cool, but I had no idea what they would be like." She saw as the asari's hands drifted down to her sides, one of them reaching behind her back.
"She's got a gun!" Garrus yelled.
Tali didn't share his hesitation, firing a shot from her pistol at the merc's arm as she drew a gun on John. The asari's SMG clattered on the floor as he raised his own pistol. "You chose your side, Elnora. And you lost."
The wounded asari spat as she knelt down. "Screw you, bastard, and your buckethead bitch!" Her body began to glow with biotic power at her words, but the group held no reservations about her hostility by then. The four of them fired, their rounds tearing her apart before she could unleash whatever attack she had mustered.
Tali took a cautious step forward, keeping her pistol trained on the downed asari. The body didn't stir, but she fired an additional round into its head anyway. Nobody points a gun at John and gets away with it.
"Commander, I've got something." The three of them turned toward Miranda, who had accessed a nearby terminal. "You might want to hear this."
The voice of the recently deceased mercenary then played from the console, her tone joyous. "Well it's official, Little Baby Elnora is finally a full-fledged Eclipse merc. I earned my uniform last night when I killed that ridiculous volus." The four of them gave a collective shake of their heads as the recording continued. "Up close, exploding rounds. Blew the little bastard's suit wide open." The woman paused to chuckle darkly. "I can't wait to see some real action. Next time I go home, my friends are going to be so jealous."
Garrus spoke up as the audio log ended. "Detective Anaya will be interested in this."
"Agreed," Shepard replied. "Forward the recording to her and tell her that we killed the perp while looking for the ship name."
"Done, Commander," Miranda stated. "Shall we get going?"
"Let's."
Tali spared a final glance for the fallen merc as the rest of the squad filed out. Your friends won't get the chance to hurt John, you bosh'tet. She drew her shotgun, slotting in a fresh thermal clip.
I promise you that.
Anaya jumped as her omni-tool began to ping. She opened the message, quickly scanning the contents. "It looks like Shepard got the murderer. They even managed to find a recorded confession after they took her down." She looked up at the asari next to her, whose expression remained placid. "Does that mean you can join them yet?"
Samara's answer was deceptively calm. "The Code says that I cannot leave until I know the name of the ship, detective."
The detective looked back down at her desk. "So much for that. How long do we have until you have to return to your investigation, by the way?"
The justicar's expression shifts for the briefest of moments, but her mask of indifference reformed before Anaya could read anything from it.
"You don't want to know."
"Spirits, not again!"
Tali watched as Garrus took cover, a series of heavy rounds tearing into the air around him. The gunship that was harassing him then swooped over the bridge they were standing on, trying to get a clear shot at the squad as she squinted against the light from the setting sun. Rounds from her pistol pinged off its armor as it performed the flyby, unable to find purchase in any weak points.
"Do you have any missiles left, Commander?" Miranda's voice was hurried as she raced to a different piece of cover.
"No joy. I had to use them all on the bridge at Dantius Towers." John took a moment to fire at the gunship with his assault rifle. Surprisingly, the gunship didn't unleash another barrage from its chainguns in response. Tali wondered at the pilot's inaction for a moment, when she saw the turret below the cockpit begin to glow.
Keelah. "John, get down!"
He obliged, just in time for a missile to streak through the air where his head had been mere moments before.
"This isn't working," John said. "We need a new plan."
"Too bad you can't just Pull this one out of the sky too," Garrus called as he fired a sniper round at the ship. "Its engines are in better shape than the one I weakened on Omega."
And get John shot at again? I don't think so. Tali pulled up a command on her omni-tool, syncing the trigger with her suit. A tone from the omni-tool confirmed the sync as a dialogue flashed across her visor.
Execute process?
Tali stepped out of cover, backing out into the open as she fired with her pistol. Come on, look at me. The dialogue flashed again as she fed in a new heat sink.
Execute process?
"Tali, what are you doing?"
She heard the yell, but ignored it as the gunship's machine guns whirred to life. The quarian sprinted away from the fire, keeping her gun pointed at the ship as she burned through another clip. Just a little longer.
Execute process?
The gun stopped firing, and the quarian raised her left arm, her gaze fixed on the gunship's turret. Sure enough, it began to glow right as she pointed her finger.
"Now!"
Her suit activated at the sound of her voice, sending a transmission through her omni-tool that sabotaged her target: the rocket that had just been armed. The nose of the craft vanished in a flash of smoke and flames, consuming the cockpit as the now-driverless vehicle plummeted toward the ground.
Garrus let out a low whistle as Tali holstered her weapon. "I guess that shotgun's not the only ace up your sleeve."
"Since when do turians whistle?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Since you found something to do that lived up to our high standards." He folded his arms. "What can I say? We're tough to impress; it's part of the job description."
Miranda was less impressed. "That was reckless and you know it, Vakarian." She glowered at Tali as she stomped over from her cover. "She's lucky we're not carrying her out of here in pieces right now."
"Funny, I was under the impression that she saved your sorry ass, too." Garrus sniped back.
Shepard stepped between the two, cutting their argument short. Tali struggled to comprehend his expression as he looked at her; it wasn't one she had seen on humans before. Not sadness. Guilt maybe? It doesn't look like surprise. Why am I still learning to read faces two years after my pilgrimage? The soft, low sound of his voice hushed the doubts. "Tali, please don't do that again."
He's concerned about me, she realized, remembering that it was the same look he'd used in Liara's office as he asked to help the asari. Her insides twisted uncomfortably, causing her to momentarily forget about the jealousy and anger for Liara that had plagued her all day. Keelah, I'm such an idiot. She met his gaze with a nod. "Okay, John. I won't," she promised.
His expression relaxed at her words. "Come on, we need to move before Samara has to leave."
The group chanted an affirmative, tightening their hold on their weapons. They moved on, stopping when they saw a lone volus attempting to break into a Tupari machine.
"Never thought I'd catch a volus thieving," Tali wondered aloud.
The volus turned around, staring at her. "Thief? You stand before a biotic god!" A blue aura shimmered weakly around him at his words. "The merc leader's in the next room and I'm gonna wipe the smile right off her blue face." He wobbled uneasily. "Right after I get me an energy drink."
"You're going to get yourself killed," John pleaded. "You're better off just going home."
"You dare doubt my power?"
"Allow me, Shepard." Garrus walked up to the volus, giving him a small nudge. The squat alien fell over with minimal effort on the turian's part. "He's been drugged, most likely with at biotic-enhancing stuff that Pitne For was selling." He shook his head as the volus got up. "Best way to get them to listen is to show them how fucked up they are. Provided their brain still works, of course."
The volus bowed his head. "You're... right... I should go... home."
Garrus shook his head at the sight of the addled creature. "How much do you think they gave him, boss?"
The volus looked at the turian as he waddled away. "About... three grams. Why do you ask?"
The turian shrugged. "No particular reason."
They continued through the door next to the vending machine, guns drawn.
Sure enough, they had another firefight on their hands. Tali took cover, firing at a group of mercs with her shotgun on the way. She had seen an asari standing behind a desk in the midst of the room, but didn't want to attack her just yet. It isn't like she's flinging toxic canisters at us.
She was forced to eat her words as the asari glowed blue. Sure enough, she lifted a canister, tossing it at Miranda. The woman dodged the attack, but the canister exploded into a mist of red dust. I need to stop thinking like that.
She tried to content herself with killing off the rest of the Eclipse mercs, but her attention was drawn away again by the asari. Tali watched in horror as a container flew toward the commander from behind.
"John!"
He heard her yell in time, rolling to the side as he became engulfed in the mist. The man emerged a moment later: coughing, but still very much alive.
That does it, Tali thought as she drew her pistol. This bosh'tet is going down.
Rounds pinged off the asari's barriers as Tali emptied a full clip at the woman. She stopped to slot in a fresh clip. From the corner of her eye, Tali could see a metal crate glowing blue. She ignored it as she continued to fire her pistol at the merc leader.
Just a little longer...
To her dismay, the merc's barrier held as the asari made a motion with her free hand.
No...
Tali pivoted on the spot, seeing the metal crate now speeding toward her face. Her pistol felt slow in her hands as she realigned the sights on her weapon. By the time it was pointed at the container, she could clearly see the human characters "X-3" stamped on its side in bold font.
She pulled the trigger. The shot hit, but the container held together, spraying a stream red dust as it charged forward. It began to slowly fragment near the impact site, and she could see each and every one of the jagged metal shards heading straight toward her. The quarian's eyes went wide as she instinctively raised her left arm to protect her head from the inevitable impact.
"Oh keelah."
Notes from the author:
Ouch, Tali... very ouch... x.o