*NOVERIA, PORT HANSHAN*
Commander Kraven M. Shepard always considered himself a reasonable individual. Granted he had a very quick temper, and generally despised needless delays when administering justice. He never let preconceived bias color his perceptions of anyone. Everyone got a chance to make an impression, whether good or bad, without his own perspectives dictating what he would think about them beforehand. This was his own conclusion upon numerous occasions of self reflection. All of those conclusions swiftly blasted straight out the nearest window once he'd met Kaira Stirling.
Speaking to the woman was tantamount to rolling in razor blades before showering in lemon juice and scrubbing with a sandpaper luffa. Her completely abrasive personality was made all the more infuriating by the fact that she demanded he, and his team, disarm. The nerve of her request just about caused him to snap and lose his shit on the entire security detail. Fortunately, a quick intervention by a Ms. Gianna Parsini was enough to diffuse the situation. She had then granted his motley crew access to the port's inner sanctum.
Once inside, his team had set about procuring a ride up the mountain to the Peak 15 research facility which, rumor had it, was currently occupied by a certain Asari's lunatic mother. This had been somewhat troubling news given that they had only just met Liara, but at the same time it afforded the Commander a rare opportunity. Either her mother, Matriarch Benezia, would be grateful for the timely rescue or she would attempt to punch all their tickets. Either way, he stood to gain a great deal of insight regardless of how the scenario played out. That of course was contingent on the assumption that he, and his squad would actually be able to reach Peak 15.
His patience had been tested yet again after meeting the Salarian administrator of Port Hanshan; a Mr. Anoleis. He wouldn't have imagined that anyone would have been as unbelievably irritating to speak to as Kaira Stirling. He was mistaken. The pompous little toad had sniffed indignantly about being interrupted before outright insulting the Commander's intelligence multiple times. Kraven was seething by the time he'd exited the office which solicited muffled snickers from his crew. They knew his anger was a force to be feared, but not when it was aimed at someone else. He took some comfort from their high spirits, but what really made him feel better was a mental image that kept playing through his mind. His hands pulling off Anoleis' stumpy little horns before punching Stirling's teeth straight down her neck.
"Commander?" Tali asked as she noticed his wicked looking grin.
"Hmm? What's up, Tali?"
"Did you think of something funny?"
His grin widened. "In a manner of speaking. Parsini said there might be someone at the bar that can give us a hand getting out of here. Care to join me?"
"I guess I don't have anything else going on." She answered mischievously.
He was taken somewhat off guard by her unusually buoyant response, but couldn't deny that it suited her. He smiled again. 'Ha. Suited her. Classic.'
Together they headed for the only watering hole in Hanshan while the rest of the ground team milled about the terminal, passing time until they got the green light to leave. The only one who seemed ill at ease was an extremely worried looking Liara. Her trepidation was naturally expected and understandable given the potential unpleasantness that might occur shortly. As he and his Quarian escort were stepping aboard the lift heading to the bar, Ashley quickly slid past the closing doors.
"Mind if I join you, Skipper?" She didn't so much as nod in Tali's direction.
"More the merrier. Didn't have much luck chatting with the Hanar, huh?" He was keenly aware of how their Quarian companion's body language closed once the Chief arrived, but wasn't in much of a position to ask about it without embarrassing her.
Ashley snorted in disgust. "I could barely understand what it was trying to say. I'm pretty sure it was trying to sell me something."
"This one thinks the Chief should keep an open mind." Shepard replied, imitating the jellyfish's extremely precise, and polite tone as heard by their translators.
She shot him a glare of pretend venom. "Don't you start."
He turned to Tali. "This one appears to have struck a nerve. What does the esteemed Tali'Zorah nar Rayya think?"
Tali folded her arms across her chest, but couldn't mask the playful tone brightening her voice. "This one thinks the venerable Commander Shepard is entirely too good at imitating Hanar."
"Touché and likewise." He chuckled.
"Guh, how long does this thing take?" Ashley griped, suddenly regretting trying to sneak a little 'almost alone' time with Shepard.
Once the lift ground to a stop, Kraven had almost entirely forgotten his roiling anger. Almost. The trio waded through several knots of patrons who were busy chasing away the ever-present chill with all manner of colorful libations. As they did, Shepard caught sight of the man Parsini had mentioned. A lone Turian sat at his own table nursing some kind of greenish, steaming liquid. Shepard unabashedly approached and seated himself as though the two were good friends.
"Um... Is there something I can help you with?" The Turian inquired awkwardly.
Shepard leaned forward and placed his arm on the table. "Possibly. I was told that you may have a means to leave the port?"
"Ah. You must be the Spectre, Commander Shepard. Lorik Qui'In. Synthetic Insights." The Turian introduced himself, and extended his taloned hand. "I do indeed have a garage pass, but there is an... oh what was that delightful Human phrase? A fly in the lotion?"
To the Turian's surprise, the Commander craned his neck to speak to his cohorts. "See? I'm not the only one that does it." Both simply shook their heads as he returned his attention to Qui'In. "What's the trouble?"
"My garage pass is in my office in the Synthetic Insights suite. Unfortunately, the entire wing has been shut down, and Anoleis' people are currently tearing it apart." Lorik explained.
"What are they looking for?"
"I have an OSD containing incriminating evidence of the Administrator's involvement in several fraudulent ventures. An OSD I would very much like to have in my possession again. Most of the enterprises operating here have been chafing under his corruption, but what I've uncovered would give them concrete proof that he's broken Noveria's number one rule."
Shepard raised a curious eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
Qui'In paused for dramatic effect. "He took their money."
Shepard seemed unimpressed by the revelation. "Well not to sound too self absorbed, but that sort of thing is a bit below my pay grade. I can't promise anything, but I'll keep an eye out for it just the same."
Qui'In nodded. "I'm sure the compensation me and my associates can offer as gratitude would make it worth your while."
Kraven extended his hand again. "Fair enough. I'll come find you once we're done."
"I look forward to it."
With that, the Commander and his entourage of two headed for the bar's exit. On the way to Qui'In's office he considered informing the rest of his crew what they were doing, but in the end decided against it. His team was already causing quite a stir just by being present in the port. He didn't want to draw any more unwanted attention than was absolutely necessary. That, and the two women accompanying him seemed to have an affinity for holding down the back lines during combat. If things went pear-shaped in the office he looked forward to seeing how they handled themselves with minimal back up.
As soon as the door whispered opened to admit the trio the sound of papers flying, OSD's cracking on the ground, and drawers slamming reached his ears. "Think we're too late to help with renovations?" He snorted sarcastically.
A pair of fresh faced security officers turned the corner with guns drawn after hearing voices. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The Human woman barked.
"Hanshan security. We got a tip that there was a party going on up here so we're here to tell you damn kids to keep it down."
The woman seemed confused by the Commander's sarcasm. The Turian was not. "Funny. Get your asses out of here."
Shepard raised his hands in surrender. "Whoah now. We're not here to cause trouble. We're just lowly health and safety inspectors trying to keep everyone safe and cozy." Both officers raised their weapons. "Not buying it, huh? Ok then how about this. I'm a Council Spectre who hates the snow and everything about this ice cube of a planet. I'm already having a bad day, so if you even remotely value your lives you'll get out of my way, and pretend like we never met." His tone shifted from light hearted kidding to a menacing growl.
Both guards stood on the edge of indecision for several seconds before choosing discretion over valor. They stowed their weapons, and cautiously shuffled past to the exit.
"That worked pretty good." Tali observed.
"Better than just killing them." Ashley agreed.
Shepard slowly exhaled. "Honestly? I didn't think it would. It just made me feel like a badass to finally play the Spectre status card."
Both women looked at him in stunned silence. He pretended not to notice. "Anyway, let's get what we came here for, and see who's running this show."
As one, the three moved further into the multi-story office toward where noises of messy searching emanated. After climbing a set of stairs to the right they came face-to-face with exactly the person Shepard was hoping not to meet a second time.
"Ms. Stirling. What an absolute… pleasure it is to see you again." He didn't hide the contempt that dripped from his words. "What are you doing in here?"
"I ought to ask you the same thing. I thought I made it clear there'd be trouble if you didn't clear out of Hanshan." She sneered as her cohorts sidled up beside her.
"Oh there's going to be trouble alright. Captain Matsuo know you're up here tearing apart a corporate office?"
"No , and that's the way it's going to stay."
Shepard crossed his arms with his right hand almost brushing the grip of his pistol. "If you expect me to just walk away then you're dumber than you look. If you're threatening me then you're just a walking corpse and this conversation is already over."
She gritted her teeth. "Shut your mouth you piece of shit! You know what we did to cop killers where I come from?"
Kraven looked around in pretend bewilderment. "Cops? Where? I've only seen hired thugs that think they're hot shit and are about to find out they're not."
"That's it. Open fi…" She couldn't complete her last snarled order before the Commander's hand snatched the pistol from his hip, swung up, and sent a projectile flying. Pain didn't have time to register in Stirling's brain before his bullet rocketed through it.
For several seconds, the office erupted into chaos as her shocked compatriots recovered enough to start fighting back. Shots fired in all directions as grenades went off, and Tali's drone zapped whoever was unfortunate enough to get in its way. Through the uproar, Shepard heard three shouted words that made his blood boil. "Go go go."
Ashley heard it too. "Crap. Shepard, don't!"
"Kkeeeeeyyyaaaaa!" He couldn't contain himself as he vaulted over the desk he'd upended to take cover behind.
As he barreled forward toward the speaker, a woman stepped out from behind a wall with her rifle leveled and shouted. "I will destroy you!"
He didn't deviate from his singular focus, but he did turn his head just enough to scream in her face and launch a biotically-assisted fist into her chest as he passed. Both Tali, and Ashley followed in his wake to put down the confused thugs so none could shoot him in the back. At last he made it to the bewildered man who had zero idea of what had sparked the suicidal charge. Without breaking stride, Kraven grabbed the man's collar with both hands and wrenched him close.
"There's nowhere to 'go', and they already knew we were fighting you son of a bitch!" He hollered before smashing his head into the man's nose. As the man crumpled Shepard whirled somewhat drunkenly looking for another poor schmuck to vent his irritation. Unfortunately, his squad had done their jobs too well.
"Keelah, Shepard. You're in a bit of a mood today." Tali giggled.
"Yeah you seem a bit more unhinged than usual, Skipper." Ashley concurred.
He shook his head to clear it, but only succeeded in worsening the spinning. "I don't like being cold."
"Ha. Is there anything you DO like?" Ashley laughed.
"Meat, sunshine, warmth, women, kittens, and a cold beer. Not necessarily in that order." He snorted. He was starting to sway uneasily.
"Um… Are you ok?" Tali asked with a tinge of worry.
He tried to wave away her concern. "Peachy. Just forgot that nobody wins a head butt." He started to lose the battle with gravity.
Both Tali, and Ashley jumped forward to catch him. They both swung an arm over their shoulders to help keep him upright. "Should have thought of that before going full psycho and bashing someone's skull with your own. Didn't you just come off bed rest for a concussion?" Ashley reprimanded.
"I was caught up in the heat of the moment." He argued. "I just need to sit down for a couple minutes."
"I'm sure the doctor will understand. Tali I'll take care of him. You go find the pass, and OSD."
Tali'Zorah didn't move for an almost awkward amount of time, and looked like she wanted to say something. Before she could, Shepard broke the growing tension. "Both of you go ahead. I'll wait here." Without waiting for permission he withdrew both of his arms and sank down to sit in the middle of the floor.
He thought he caught slightly frosty glares both women gave each other before stretching out on his back to look up at the gray, metal ceiling. As they both stalked off he wondered to himself what the heck that was all about.