I don't own Mass Effect. Bioware does.
Two days have passed since Jane's previous lesson and the Council found a chance to relay the details of the next mission to her and Saren. The Blue Suns noticeably stepped up their game recently in the criminal underworld since Vido took over Zaeed. Saren read over the mission details in his omni-tool while he was in the midst of preparing his breakfast. At the same time, Jane followed through the instructions she found while she prepared a cup of kava. Saren felt some grogginess in his head, considering he woke up late that morning and slowly stumbled out of their bedroom. By the time he finished preparing his breakfast, Jane poured some kava into his mug and met up with him at the kitchen table, catching his interest.
"Shepard?" Saren paused.
"I thought I'd make your kava the way you like it," Jane replied.
He picked up the cup and took a long chug.
"Thanks," Saren complimented, "I need that."
Smiling, Jane returned to the kitchen counter to grab a cinnamon roll and pour herself some coffee she brewed some time ago.
"So, what's the mission?" Jane asked.
He groaned as his mind attempted to work through the sleepy fog still enveloping his mind.
"The Council wants us to pursue an issue concerning the Blue Suns."
Jane took a moment to think over the mission while she took a bite out of her cinnamon roll.
"I asked another to join us to help him with his own personal vendetta. I hope you don't mind that," Saren added after another sip.
Jane tilted her head sideways and raised her eyebrows. He explained his brief encounter with Zaeed and how the former Blue Suns leader vowed revenge on the co-founder who had wronged him of his place in the organization.
"So you encountered him while I was in the hospital?" Jane clarified.
"Yeah," Saren nodded, "he'd probably be long dead if I didn't intervene when I did. Not sure if I should've, but it's what happened."
Jane gave Saren a soft smile before she took a sip of her coffee.
An hour later, the two geared up to head out. Quickly messaging Councilor Sparatus to inform him they would be leaving shortly, the two left for the Spectre docks. Once they reached the docks, their shuttle had already been fueled and repaired, ready for departure. They boarded the shuttle and settled into the cockpit before Saren turned on the ignition and took control of the shuttle, hovering it out of the Citadel. Finally, the two were heading to Omega deep within Terminus Space. It was still up in the air as to whether it would happen, but their current objective was to eliminate and/or apprehend the current leader of the mercenary faction. Once the shuttle emerged from the Mass Relay, it continued its trek through Omega space, heading closer to its destination. En route to the station, Saren continued to look over a profile of a merchant the Blue Suns were meeting that day. The details the profile covered felt disturbing enough that he allowed Jane to examine it as well.
"I'll have to ask Captain Anderson after this. Whoever this man is, he doesn't show up on the Citadel records," Saren sighed.
After she finished reading the profile, Jane shut off her omni-tool and relaxed into her seat.
"Perhaps he…looks familiar by chance?" Jane asked.
Saren took a moment to examine the mugshot.
"Strange," Saren muttered to himself, "the last time I saw this picture…"
Saren pulled out Jane's genetic profile and found a matching image from who her potential father could be.
"Shepard," Saren asked, "are you ok with tracking this man down and taking a sample from him?"
"We won't know anything about him until we get down there and confront him. For all we know, he's a removed uncle," Jane sighed.
"That's a good point," Saren agreed.
Their shuttle quickly docked, allowing them to board the ancient station. It was as how the Spectre academy simulation depicted it: dank, dark, ugly in design, plenty of exposed machinery, a subtle feeling of claustrophobia, and the constant sensation something was stalking them. While Jane took in her surroundings, she couldn't help but shudder in nervousness, so Saren gave her a reassuring glance.
"Just stay close," Saren advised, "we'll be fine."
"Right," Jane nodded.
They first walked down to a large marketplace to meet up with Zaeed as Saren had agreed earlier. Walking into the open, they saw him down at a small bench at the other side. He wasn't too different since Saren had last seen him. His armor was still the same set he had as the Blue Suns leader now with yellow as the primary with a large white stripe, no arm protection besides the suit body glove, and a heavy right shoulder pad.
"Arterius. I was starting to think some thug got the better of you," Zaeed greeted.
"Last time I was on this station, I made quite a bit of ruckus. I'd rather not gain back unwanted attention," Saren returned.
Zaeed let out a small chuckle while he stood from the bench.
"Also," Zaeed asked, gesturing to Shepard, "who's she?"
Jane and Saren exchanged glances before returning their gaze to Zaeed.
"This is Jane Shepard," Saren answered, "and she's my apprentice."
"A human in the Spectres? Interesting," the former Blue Suns leader replied in contemplation, "anyways, come along. Vido's set up new protocols, but I've been keeping an eye on where he sets up his establishments."
With that, Zaeed led Saren and Jane farther through the station. They stopped a block away from a well-lit apartment building. The Blue Suns had booted out the previous inhabitants to make way for their base of operations. Jane scanned their surroundings for any patrolling guards.
"I want that bastard dead like nothing else, but I know I should defer to you, first," Zaeed started, "we taking this quietly, or loud?"
"I prefer to do this quietly," Jane answered.
"For now, hang back and contact us if trouble comes," Saren told Zaeed as he gave his omni-tool contact information, "stick to the shadows, and try to avoid being recognized."
"Eh, Santiago's done all he can to erase me from Blue Suns records. Few but him will recognize me by now," Zaeed hummed.
Upon cue, Zaeed started to keep watch for any adversaries while Saren and Jane snuck closer to the apartment building. Climbing on top of a dumpster and onto a small roof, they broke and entered through a small window overlooking another alley. From there, they crept through the corridor and kept an eye out for any Blue Suns.
"We won't need to fight much, right?" Jane asked.
"Right. Just anything that could help us triangulate where the meeting is taking place," Saren answered.
They stopped at a corner and scanned their surroundings to check whether the coast was clear. They exited the room into a small corridor with windows overlooking the workhouse below. From there, they snuck past any Blue Suns on patrol. Cautiously keeping crouched, the two slipped into another office before quietly closing the door behind them.
"Go and check that terminal, I'll keep an eye on the door," Saren ordered, opening the door back open a crack to get a look outside.
Upon cue, Jane went to work hacking into the terminal. The terminal's security setting was just easy enough for her to worm her way through. She quickly logged in and began to search the direct messages, looking through name after name.
"Remind me, who is the guy the Blue Suns are trading with?" Jane asked.
Saren sent the profile in question to Jane's omni-tool, allowing her to read it. He quickly received an incoming call from Zaeed shortly after.
{Guys, you might want to hurry up. A large group just showed up outside of the warehouse. They've also got a bunch of guys I don't recognize.}
Saren peeked out the door as the warehouse doors creaked open, watching at least a dozen Blue Suns walk in with four in some unidentified squad. By then, Jane just found the name she sought after in the terminal. After looking into what this Ivan Barnes had been involved with, she quickly downloaded his files.
{I'm keeping close behind. Can you hear anything from where you are?} Zaeed informed.
"Barely," Saren answered, watching below.
The four strangers brought in a pair of reinforced crates.
"They're in good condition and fresh from the archaeological sites," a man with a thick accent below explained, "all you need to do is touch up on their condition and they should be ready to use without malfunction."
It didn't take much longer for Jane to finish downloading the files into her omni-tool.
"Good, let's see them," Vido demanded.
The strangers set off to undo the latches securing the crates tight. Jane and Saren could barely see into the crate what looked to be bronze-colored 'modern' sculptures in. The leader of the four, Ivan, picked up one like a rifle.
"Here," he said, "four Prothean particle rifles as promised. Now, remember they are rather heavy for the firepower they promise."
Vido plucked the sculpture out of Ivan's hands and examined it.
"Very good. Still set on a two hundred thousand credit price-tag?"
"Per gun," Ivan added.
"Of course," Vido nodded, "I'll pay in full."
Vido began to transfer the credits to Ivan and his gang.
"Zaeed, have any flashbangs?" Saren asked.
{Just incendiaries,} Massani answered.
"It'll do. You'll know when to toss one in."
Pulling a concussion grenade from his belt and tossed it into the center of the crowd. Catching on faster than the others, Ivan dove out of the way as the grenade went off and Zaeed followed up with his own incendiary grenade. Seconds later, flames started sprouting all over the room.
Zaeed quickly domed Vido while his shields were still down, and gunned down as many Blue Suns as he could while they still recovered from the temporary blindness or crawled out of the flames.
"Quick," Saren urged, "let's get down there."
Putting his legs over the railing, Saren jumped for a number of shelves opposite to them to attempt climbing down quickly to box the other Blue Suns in. Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated the shelving unit being top-heavy, resulting in him and the shelf falling to floor, and knocking down the other rows like dominoes. Anxiety surging through her veins, Jane climbed down just as the Blue Suns caught attention of the loud noise from the falling shelves. Shepard reached the floor and sprinted towards Saren.
"Are you ok?" Jane tried as hard as she could to keep herself from panicking.
Saren yanked her down onto the floor and fired back upon the Blue Suns assailants as they began firing upon her.
"I'm…fine…just give me a moment…" he painfully groaned, stepping back to his feet.
Saren pulled Jane to her feet before he emitted a biotic shield, stopping any bullets from hitting her. In offense, he tossed some of the fallen crates at the Blue Suns troops and incapacitating much of the remaining offenders, including two of the unidentified crew members.
With the Blue Suns focusing on the turian Spectre, Zaeed found his chance to strike. Tossing one more incendiary, the last of the Blue Suns were consumed in the flames. Barnes had kept low for the firefight and had crawled off just out of sight behind a crate away from Jane, Saren, and Zaeed.
"All right, you bastard!" Zaeed yelled out, "come out and show yourself!"
Zaeed trained his gun at where Ivan crawled off to, turning on a laser sight to let him know he meant business. Ivan slowly stood up with his hands above his head, turning to face the group. He squinted at Jane in particular for a moment, analyzing her.
"Hannah?" Ivan paused.
Jane shook her head.
"That was my mother's name," Jane corrected.
He continued to stare.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Jane Shepard," Jane answered while she placed her hand on her chest, "my mother died when I was eight."
"I…but that…how…" Ivan stammered.
Questions circled him as the flames continued to roar. Her eyes also seemed to flicker with flames as she stepped closer to him.
"So what? The last I'd seen her was years ago. What'd you expect?"
Anxiously, Ivan glanced around the room for any escape.
"Why don't you tell us where you got the contraband?" Jane pestered.
"Well, I'm sorry if you expected a better fatherly figure, but that's not how the galaxy operates. Not anymore."
Debris fell from the ceiling, drawing their attention long enough for Ivan to bolt to the other side of the warehouse to make his escape. Jane thought fast and pulled Zaeed from a piece of falling debris.
"Christ! For a girl your size, you pack a punch. At least we got Vido, that bastard," Zaeed cursed as he climbed back up.
"Conversations can be saved for later, Massani," Saren reminded.
Without hesitation, the three sprinted back outside as the warehouse behind them continued to burn. Saren glanced at Jane.
"You alright?" he asked.
"I'm ok," Jane reassured, taking Saren's hand into her own.
"I can understand if your family history isn't exactly savory," he sighed.
Jane lifted Saren's hand and pressed her cheek against it. Zaeed simply stared at the two before clearing his throat.
"Anyways, I really appreciate this opportunity, Arterius. Thanks for calling me in."
Saren and Jane shifted their gaze towards Zaeed.
"Anytime," Saren replied.
They parted ways and made for the shuttle they arrived on with the confiscated Prothean weapons in tow. He set the vessel to return to the Citadel when he turned to look at Jane.
"How do you feel?"
Jane leaned back and tilted her head towards Saren.
"I'm not surprised my dad turned out to be a dick," Jane answered, "many of my mom's clients also tend to be asshats."
"At least you're the better person," he sighed, watching the shuttle jump through the relay.
Jane smiled as she relaxed further into her seat.
"So what now?" she asked.
Saren glanced at the crates behind them.
"For now, let's just head back to the Citadel," he suggested, "I'll file the mission report and hand your father's identity off to Anderson. Maybe he'll know what to do with him."
After a few hours of flight, Saren and Jane returned to the Citadel and the turian Spectre landed his shuttle in the Spectre docks. The two carried the contraband weapons to the Spectre academy before Saren sent a call to Anderson.
{Arterius. I didn't expect to hear from you.}
Saren took a moment to clear his throat.
"I had an encounter during a mission with Ms. Shepard," he explained, "I'll be sending you his profile, and I thought I could get maybe a few more answers from your side of things."
Saren wasted no time as he sent the files over his omni-tool.
{Him? We don't have much on him outside of vid feed from security cameras and pictures from intel agents,} Anderson replied.
His reaction still piqued Saren's interest.
"So you've heard of him?"
{Yes, he's been targeting archaeological dig-sites throughout Alliance Space,} Anderson nodded over the com-link.
Saren sighed while he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Thank you for the information, Anderson," Saren acknowledged, "I'll look into it later."
It didn't take much long before Saren hung up. Saren decided to keep one of the Prothean rifles for possible future use as the two traveled back to their apartment. Once inside, the Spectre and his apprentice changed out of their armor and slipped into their casual outfits.
"So, how do you feel about your…father?" Saren hesitantly asked.
Jane sat down next to Saren in the living room.
"I doubt he's redeemable," Jane shrugged.
He continued to look over the Prothean rifle, only having actually held one a couple of times before.
"So, even as estranged family, you wouldn't mind if ill fate befell him?"
"Sure," Jane nodded.
He took time to reflect on Desolas as he repeated Jane's answer in his mind. If anything, it would help her feel better about her past. After making up his mind, he turned his attention towards Jane. She responded by brushing her hand against his mandible, eliciting purrs out of him.
"Why? You had troubles with family before?" Jane returned.
He sighed.
"It's…complicated."
Jane blinked twice.
"Do you need more time before you're ready to talk about it?" Jane replied.
"It's something I've buried for a good long time now. But, if it'd help you at all, I'd be willing to disclose my story," Saren mumbled.
Jane rested her hands on her lap.
"Well, I guess it's better late than later," she nodded.
"I'll spill, just give me some time to think it over, alright?"
Spectre profiles were classified, and he felt comfortable with living on life with the knowledge that very few knew about his past. A question he started asking himself was how was he going to explain it to his protege? Not that there was anything to be ashamed of. He wasn't nearly as invested in his tier as others in the Hierarchy were, but those were years of dust and pain he hated being reminded of. Perhaps it would give him relief about what happened with Jane around as someone he can relate to. A calm expression in his face, he placed his arm over her shoulder.
"I used to have an older brother," Saren explained, "and we were both born from lower tier clans."
"Oh? What was he like?" Jane asked curiously.
"We didn't exactly get along, if that's what you're asking," Saren added, "our parents were both mechanics, worked on a shipping freighter, keeping the damned thing intact. They were hoping that if they worked for long enough, they could find a place on one of the colonies."
"So were you…born on Palaven?" Jane couldn't help but let her curiosity run rampant.
"No," Saren shook his head, "my brother and I were both born on that ship. They were supposedly really worried when I came onto the scene, about finances and all."
Jane kept paying attention as she leaned her back into the couch.
"By the time he was six and I was two, a bunch of pirates boarded the ship and attacked the crew," Saren continued, "our barge had a large crew, so fighting them off wasn't too much of an issue when they had too many to shoot at. However, both of our parents got caught in the crossfire."
"I guess you're fortunate you're still alive," Jane replied.
"Desolas didn't think so," he sighed, "he was six, had two-cycle old me to deal with, and no other family to look to. He took me for granted and made no effort to hide it. A few months after the attack, it was clear no one on the ship wanted to take up the slack, so they dropped us off at the next colony on the fringes of turian space they came across at a foster home."
Jane placed her finger on her chin.
"And yet I didn't end up with foster parents in my youth," Jane added.
Saren's eyes met hers.
"Neither did we," Saren said, "we both continued in that rotting building for another nine years for Desolas and another thirteen for me. Everyday of our time at that foster center, he basically saw me as the heart of all his problems."
"You know," Jane commented, "I never thought of what it'd be like to have a sibling, and now I can see why."
"I don't know what you'd be like having an older brother to grow up with," Saren hummed, "anyways, later in life, he saw me as an obstacle, something to be disassociated with. We both attended mandatory military service, and he became a general from there."
"So how did you end up becoming a Spectre?" Jane asked.
"During my first year of service, I caught the attention of my superiors," he explained, "soon enough, word climbed its way to the councilor at the time. I was young, but I did look good on paper. Seeing it as escape from my brother, I took up the opportunity as soon as I received it."
Jane nodded in agreement before she leaned closer to Saren.
"A few years later, the Relay 314 Incident…er, First Contact War…? The Turian-Human War started and we were both drafted in. I was about to start Spectre training when the war broke out."
"That was because humans didn't know activating Mass Relays without authorization was illegal, right?" Jane recalled.
He nodded.
"Yeah, that mess," Saren answered, "he died towards the end of the war when his unit was ambushed by a squad of Alliance commandos when they baited him in with a Prothean artifact that was on Shanxi at the time."
Well, that was enough for Jane to understand why she didn't hear much of his relatives. Maybe her earning his trust did make some changes for the both of them.
"So, my story isn't far too different from your story. We've lived the threat of our ruinous pasts to end up here, right now," he said, barely holding back a whimper.
Again, Jane brushed her hand against his mandible in an attempt to soothe him. Their eyes locked for a moment, with his cheeks in her hands.
"Since we have some things in common," Jane admitted, "that helped me earn your trust. That might've been…why I fell in love with you, Saren."
Jane leaned forward and tapped her forehead against his.
"I…I…" he trembled as he felt her against him.
Saren took a moment to examine the compassion in her eyes before he felt his expression soften.
"I love you too, Shepard," he replied softly.
Saren pulled her into a passionate kiss, calmness passing in between them.