Chapter Four
We took the Naglears only shuttle to the coordinates Salvador Crux gave Captain Hermean. While in transit, I took a moment to soak up the view. We travelled in from from the direction of the lighter sun facing side towards our destination. Parts of this world could be mistaken for your average hot jungle world, save perhaps for the massive storms, but as we approached the central band of habitability and the land of perpetual sunset came into view things began to look far more alien. Lorek's sun Fathar casts a dim red light across the landscape. The planet is mostly water, but what land it has is thick with vegetation, most of which is very dark or even black in colour, presumably to better absorb the poor low frequency light of it's parent star. Our destination is a fair way from the central city area of the planet, an isolated Asari outpost mostly used as a communication hub. As we approach I notice a thick fog across the landscape, presumably a side effect of the water migration between the light and dark sides of the planet. Great, like visibility wasn't already going to be a problem. As I switch my visor to infra-red mode it occurs to me that any native wildlife on this planet would probably need to see naturally in the infra-red spectrum or have some other form of navigation than standard vision if it is to thrive in this environment. So far I hadn't had an excuse to use that suit modification, but now I am suddenly glad I had it installed. I figured at the time it was probably more useful than Nerve-Stim-Pro, not much need for that one in combat situations.
The Asari outpost was visible now. A thin metal needle sticking out of the fog, clearly Asari in design (smooth, tall and with a broad arched base). I could see the cool surface of a small lake through the fog thanks to my now enhanced vision. It seemed this was a rockier area with less vegetation. Good, I'm not keen on jungles, too many insects. I couldn't see the heat signatures of any warm blooded life forms down there, though I doubt I would see them if they were inside the structure anyway. At this point it occurred to me that if there were active Geth down their they probably wouldn't be giving off a lot of heat. That thought sent a shudder down my spine. One day I hope to test my combat skills against those metal bastards, but I was really hoping to do it with a platoon of fellow Quarians at my side. That and perhaps a rocket launcher. I didn't fancy my chances against our synthetic nemesis today.
Hermean set the shuttle down a short way from the station, next to a small jetty on the lake. "Your stop" he said. I think he was grinning but it's always hard to tell with Turians. Not that he could tell what my facial expressions were either, which is probably for the best. I quickly checked to make sure the communicator he gave me was functional and leapt out of the shuttle, which departed almost instantly behind me. Time to get to work.
First of all I made a quick sweep of the area surrounding the large arched base of the structure. There were a number of metal crates scattered around both outside the facility and by the jetty, none really looked large enough to store a dormant Geth. I dug around in a few of them anyway, doesn't hurt to do a bit of salvaging while I have the opportunity. There wasn't much of value, some old Asari food ration packs (no use to me), a few bits of circuitry and some power cells. I felt a little disappointed, though it's not like I was expecting to find an arsenal of weapons or a big pile of credits. I made my way around to the front entrance, which opened automatically to welcome me as I approached. Strange, I would expect a structure like this to be locked. I made the wireless connection between my Omni-Tool and the door's computer system. A diagnostic report suggested the door would indeed normally be locked, but that someone had utilised a brute force hacking program to disable it. Crude, but effective providing you don't wish to lock it again in a hurry. It didn't seem like the kind of thing an Asari would do to gain access to an Asari comm station. I drew my Stinger IV out of it's holster and cautiously made my way inside, keeping an eye out for both heat signatures and anything else that may be moving around in here.
The main hall inside the station was a large domed affair with a two tier structure, the higher level surrounding the lower in an arch with stairs leading up to it. The upper tier seemed to be filled with computer consoles and a railing ran the length of it partitioning it from the level below. A couple of tall arched pillars supported the hall and two passageways lead off somewhere else at the rear of the room, either side of the stairway. There were a few artificial plants scattered around to make the place seem more welcoming. This effect was damaged somewhat by the obvious signs of a small battle. Singes of weapons fire marked some of the white metal walls, dried blood stained the floor and one of the railings on the upper level was bent and twisted out by what I would guess was a biotic explosion. Right now things didn't look very good for Monata T'Mar. The lack of bodies and the current air of silence around the station suggested the likely outcome was that whomever had attacked, had taken her alive. It's possible this had nothing to do with the merchandise in her possession and there was a chance it could still be here. Too much of a coincidence perhaps, but sometimes people are just unlucky. Even Asari.
My search of the station turned up very little else. No dormant Geth and no clue as to who may have taken the Asari. A whole lot of dead end. I hacked into a console in the entrance hall and dug up the stations communication records. I located the files but the encryption was too heavy to break easily, so I uploaded them to my Omni-Tool for later. Then I hacked the station security cameras to see if I could dig up any footage of the attack. It was a simple system and I didn't expect anyone but amateurs to leave evidence there. Sure enough all the archive material had been wiped and the cameras had been set to stop recording future material. All that could be accessed was the current feed. I watched this for a moment, wondering what my next move would be when I noticed movement on one of the external cameras. Ground vehicles approaching the station and at high speed! Hard to tell the numbers in the fog via the camera feed, but it looked like two. I had to move fast and hope the fog would give me adequate cover. I made my way outside and positioned myself behind one of the larger crates by the jetty. Seemed to be a good position to scope out whoever was approaching. It's possible they are friendly, but I would very much doubt that. It's also possible that whomever was responsible for the fire fight inside has returned and perhaps have both the Asari and the Geth in their possession. With luck I can get the jump on them and then find some answers.
As the vehicles drew closer I could see that it was indeed two, heavy duty multi-terrain vehicles of some kind. I couldn't see any markings on them to give away anything about who was inside. They were noisy beasts of vehicles though and that put my nerves on edge. I am taking quite a risk here, if they are equipped with infra-red sensory equipment they could possibly spot me back here and I'll loose my one advantage. The vehicles stopped, though they left their engines going and I could hear loud shouting over the roar. Not many species can shout that loud and I could feel my nerves were way past the edge and now hanging off the side of a cliff face. My fears were soon confirmed as I say the unmistakable outline of Krogan through the depth of the fog. This wasn't going to be a fight I can win. My only option was going to be staying hidden and I didn't like my chances behind this crate. As quietly as I could I backed away from the crate and slipped down into the lake. My suit can sustain me without air for a considerable amount of time and hopefully if they do have heat sensing equipment the cool waters of the lake will help mask it.
I sank down to the depth of the lake, looking up I could no longer see the Krogan or their vehicles, just the dim red of eternally setting sun. I could still hear the vibration of the engines and hoped that would be enough to inform me for their departure. Why would Krogan be here? Perhaps they are mercenaries, but if they are I doubt they're the ones responsible for the mess inside. That would suggest, including the Shadow Broker, at least three groups are after this dormant Geth or whatever information it has in it's memory core. With the Brokers resources you would think he could keep such a thing quiet or at least pay off the local mercenaries to look the other way. I spent a long time considering my next move should I not be discovered and wondering how many Krogans I could take out by myself with just a heavy pistol if I am. I watched time tick away on my chronometer, focusing on it so as to not get too disorientated in this state of virtual suspended animation down in the depths of this lake in a land with no day or night.
Eventually I heard the increased rumble of the Krogans vehicles. They must be preparing to leave. Perhaps not all of them, but if any are left behind at least now I may have a reasonable chance and perhaps may even get some answers. I decided to give it a few extra minutes to be sure, and for the first time I noticed something that had been at the edge of my vision the whole time – A faint heat signature. Neither warm nor large enough for another person and it hadn't moved the whole time I was down here. I made my way towards it and as I drew closer to it, I saw through the murky water that the heat was coming from an Omni-Tool. The detail in my vision cleared as I got closer and I could make out more in the visible colour range. The thing I saw before me was the blackened a bloated remains of something that used to be an Asari. It seems I found the Shadow Brokers contact after all. She was weighed down by several metal harpoons that perforated her body. One appeared to have hit her directly through her eye and her head was distorted in an expression of sheer horror that was visible even despite the bloating. As horrrible an image as this was, it did answer some questions. This was the work of Batarian mercenaries and that meant Blue Suns. There was more information to be gained here and only one way of getting it. I drew my boot knife and began to cut away at the arm of the former Mrs T'Mar to free her Omni-Tool. You can store a lot of information on one of those things if you have a mind to, perhaps this can give me more of an idea what I am up against. What little blood was left in the corpse oozed out through the wounds adding streaks of blue into the murky grey waters under the dim red sun.
The made my way to the surface and the air was silent now and very still. There were no Krogan left behind at the station. No doubt they found as little as I had, less perhaps. Were they Blood Pack mercenaries I wondered? Technology isn't really their thing and it's rare for two mercanary groups to be involved in the same deal. It didn't feel right. Still, I have one lead and perhaps more depending on what information I can extract from the Omni-Tool. I contacted the Naglear via my communicator. Looks like Captain Hermean was going to have to make another trip to get his pay. There is one place in the Terminus Systems you can be sure to find mercenaries and that is where I had to go, right into the hornets nest. Next stop – Omega.