The Candidate – 4
Disclaimer:I don't own the ME universe. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am just playing in their world. As usual, all criticism is welcome.
Live Bait
Shepard then spent the next couple of hours in the extranet terminal looking up maps of Caleston, and while Tali busied herself with checking the charter ship services in the Citadel. Having completed the tasks, Shepard returned to the human embassy with Tali in tow. Here, he was confronted by an angry Udina, and a coldly disapproving Captain Anderson. Udina began his attack, "Commander Shepard, can you please explain your actions since you were ordered to return to your old position?"
Shepard replied coldly, "Yesterday, I spoke to Adm. Yehoshua Barzilai, telling him of the events here. Then I spoke to a couple of friends, shopped for a bit in the evening, and stayed at a hotel nearby last night. Then I visited an extranet terminal today and have been speaking with this young lady since." He gestured at Tali. "May I introduce you to Ms. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya?"
Udina simply ignored the Quarian. Indeed, if anything, Shepard's answer seemed to make the Ambassador's anger even greater. "Why are you on the Citadel yet? Why aren't you at your new post?"
If Udina had turned angrier, Shepard was turning colder. His voice was positively dripping ice now "I am on leave, for two weeks, starting yesterday. My leave was confirmed by Adm. Barzilai."
"Shepard, we don't need you to create a diplomatic incident here!"
"I fail to see how I am creating one, Ambassador," returned Shepard. "I am merely on holiday here."
Anderson broke in at this point, his voice soft and firm, "Commander, we ordered you to stop investigating this case. It seems that you are ignoring that order."
"First, I am holiday, so I am free to do what I wish. Secondly, any order regarding my activities must come from my superior, Adm. Barzilai, I am afraid, Captain," replied Shepard coolly.
Udina was now red as a beet with fury, "Shepard, as Ambassador, I oversee Alliance interests in the Citadel, and I cannot allow you to jeopardise them! I order you to cease your investigations immediately, and turn over all the material you have uncovered to us at once!"
"What makes you think that I am investigating anything at all?" Shepard's voice was disdainful.
"Do you play us for fools?" growled Udina "You were calling Noveria and someone on Thessia on the embassy's encrypted channels yesterday! You also beat up a Turian last night! What did you learn from him?"
"Firstly, I did not beat him up," replied Shepard. "He came into my room last night, with the intent of either robbery or assassination. I merely defended myself and handed him over to C-Sec. I also learned nothing from him. C-Sec might know of his intentions more."
Captain Anderson, once more, spoke with his habitual calmness. "Shepard, if you want, I can get you the order from Yehoshua Barzilai. But take my advice and leave the Citadel, leaving this investigation to Alenko and the Ambassador!"
Shepard, however, stuck to his demand, "Let me hear Adm. Barzilai's wishes, and I will comply with them."
-(Scene Break)-
Ten minutes later, Anderson had spoken to Adm. Barzilai and invited the commander to follow him into the briefing room in the human embassy. Shepard, bidding Tali wait for him, followed the captain and the Ambassador, where the hologram of his superior awaited him. Shepard turned to other two, and requested, "Perhaps you would be kind enough to give me and the admiral some privacy, sirs …?"
Udina looked like a child that had just been cheated out of some excellent entertainment, but Captain Anderson beckoned the Ambassador, and the two left the room. Barzilai waited until the duo had left, and then admonished his subordinate, "Johann, I told you to be careful and not annoy Udina!"
"It doesn't matter now, sir," returned Shepard calmly. "My investigations in the Citadel are finished for the time being. I have located Matriarch's daughter. I think she is an important factor here."
"Johann, I don't think you understand!" growled Barzilai. "I can't hold off pressure like this from people like Udina and Anderson. The Alliance isn't pleased with you ignoring their orders, hiding behind technicalities!"
"No, sir, I think it is you who don't understand," returned Shepard quietly. "I cannot leave this investigation, even if I wanted to."
"Just what do you mean by that?" frowned Yehoshua Barzilai.
Consequently, Shepard explained everything he had discovered, how the alibi been faked, how the matriarch had suspiciously disappeared from Thessia, the attempt on his life the previous night, and how he had found the daughter. He finished, "Whoever it was that attempted to take my life last night isn't going to lay off, sir. I'll be safe only when I lay this Saren by the heels!"
Yehoshua Barzilai did not seem convinced. He inquired, "Why would Saren come after you? What makes you so dangerous to him?"
Shepard answered readily, "I was the only one in contact with the Prothean beacon, sir. I think he fears that I might learn what the message meant. He wants no one else to figure out what the beacon contained. That's why he wanted to destroy the beacon, along with the colony."
Barzilai frowned, "That assassination attempt could be a coincidence, Johann! In any case, you've got to abide by the orders of the Alliance! Return to Arcturus station immediately! This way you will also be safer. If this Saren sees you return to your old job, he will see you as less of a threat, since you are not doing anything against him."
"I am sorry, sir, but I cannot do that!" responded Shepard respectfully, but firmly.
Barzilai looked angry, but there was a hint of curiosity in his voice, "Shepard, just why are you being so stubborn? You've been taken off cases before – we all have. What makes this one unique?"
Shepard reminded the admiral, "Plenty of people died in Eden Prime, sir. One of my own subordinates died, sir. The colony was nearly blown to pieces. I owe it to them to discover the truth."
Barzilai stared at his subordinate for a long moment. "You're telling me the truth, but not the complete truth. People have died before, Johann, in cases you have handled, and you have been moved from one assignment to another. Also, Alenko and the Ambassador are handling this job. One would think there was something personal in this for you."
"Perhaps there is," answered Shepard quietly.
"Never let things get personal, Johann!" snapped Yehoshua Barzilai. "Never! Have I taught you nothing? This business is not for people who have personal axes to grind. Get back here now!"
"Is that an order, Admiral?" Shepard was disappointed, and his voice was arctic.
"Yes, that is an order." rasped Barzilai.
"In that case, consider this my resignation from my commission, sir."
"Excuse me?" Barzilai was now flabbergasted, puzzled and offended by his subordinate's obstinacy.
"Yes, sir. I wish to resign my commission."
This threw the admiral into a full surprise. "You mean you're going to throw away everything you've worked for for the last five years over this investigation?"
"If that is what it takes, yes, sir."
Barzilai's voice was earnest and worried now. "Listen, Johann. This is too big for you to handle alone. Saren has been screwing the Alliance for the past twenty years, and no one has been able to do a damned thing about it. Everything we've tried has come to a sticky end. Don't go throwing your life and career away on a whim! What, in God's name, is this case to you, in the end?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot simply quit now."
"Listen, Johann, you've got a splendid career ahead of you. You're our finest operative. In twenty years time, you'll be sitting in my chair. Is this case worth sacrificing all you are, all you could be?"
"Yes, sir. It is worth sacrificing everything, including my career in the Alliance, if it comes to that."
Barzilai leaned back in his chair and gazed in unadulterated surprise at the unsmiling lieutenant commander. "Assuming that I accept your resignation, what do you propose to do?"
"I propose to go down to Caleston, and find this asari girl."
"So you're going to continue with your investigation, no matter what I say?"
"Yes, sir."
"Fine, then!" snarled Barzilai. "Go to hell!"
"I shall begin with Caleston," returned Shepard calmly. "Good afternoon, sir!"
Shepard cut the connection, but the others outside had not heard that he had finished the call. Before he quit the embassy, he made another call on the embassy's securely encrypted connection. The hologram of a tall and slender man answered his call.
"Привет, Константин Ефимович." (Hello, Konstantin Efimovich)
"Привет, Йохан." (Hello, Johann) answered the man in genuine pleasure at seeing the commander.
Shepard recited quietly, beginning their watchphrase
"Как ныне сбирается вещий Олег
Отмстить неразумным хозарам"
His interlocutor smiled as he completed the stanza of the poem
"Их сёла и нивы за буйный набег
Обрёк он мечам и пожарам;
С дружиной своей, в цареградской броне,
Князь по полю едет на верном коне" [1]
Shepard nodded, "Хорощо. Теперь, Я хочу ..." (Good. Now, I want ….). Now he had slipped into rapid, fluent and idiomatic Russian, and he rattled off instructions swiftly. The man listened until Shepard had finished.
"Да, они будут в Калистоне завтра!" (Yes, they'll be in Caliston tomorrow.)
"Хорощо! Спасибо!" (Good! Thanks!)
With that, Shepard cut the call.
When he emerged into the anteroom from his conference with his superior, he was as composed as ever. Udina was smirking with undisguised triumph, while Anderson looked worried. Shepard bowed to both and announced quietly, "I shall leave the Citadel in a couple of hours, sirs!"
Udina's face was filled with pride and gloating. It was almost as if he was savouring the sweet taste of victory over an unseemly and meddlesome underling, who had been put in place. However, Captain Anderson simply nodded, his eyes distant and grave.
Shepard beckoned to Tali, and she followed him out of the embassy.
-(Scene Break)-
Shepard had chartered a small vessel that would take both him and Tali to Caleston, on the planet Therum. While the ship was being prepared, Shepard spread a map of Caleston in front of Tali. "This", he pointed out, "is Caleston." He pointed to a large area several miles north of the town,, "This is the Prothean dig site. Apparently, it is several thousand hectares in area. We will need to find Dr. T'Soni in this ruin."
"That's going to be a big search, Shepard. Can't we just go to her home?"
"I checked with my people in Caleston," answered Shepard, with a sigh. "Apparently, she lives in the ruin itself, in some kind of portable tent, with a sleeping bag. She comes to town for supplies only once a couple of weeks or so."
"So what do we do now?"
"I've made arrangements for us to obtain a rover. We can drive to the ruins and begin our search.
He reached down into his luggage, and drew out a Quarian armour and helmet. Handing it to the Quarian girl, he told her. "Wear this at all times, Tali. It would be safer for you."
The Quarian stared at the armour in surprise. No one outside the Flotilla thus far had ever bothered to care about her well being, let alone spend for it. And here was this human taking enough trouble to make sure that she was safe. She looked uncertainly at the armour and Shepard, before blurting out, "Safer? What do you mean?"
"Someone else is looking for this Asari researcher," answered Shepard heavily. "Therefore, it is wise to be prepared for trouble."
"Trouble? What sort of trouble?" Tali asked anxiously. It was hard to make out under her suit, but Shepard could almost swear that Tali's face was frowning.
"Who knows? If we knew what kind of trouble we would meet, it would not be trouble at all." smiled Shepard wearily.
-(Scene Break)-
The next day, the Human and the Quarian took a shuttle down to Caleston port, and went into the town. They didn't bother to stay for long. Only long enough to rent a rover and to purchase some basic supplies. "Why don't you drive Tali? I'll make sure we're not bothered." Shepard suggested.
Tali looked at her human companion for a few moments, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. In the end she agreed and made herself comfortable in the driver's seat, activated the engines and began driving north.
Once they were roughly three miles away from the local town, Tali and Shepard saw two rovers waiting for them in the distance. Before they could do anything, the two rovers had moved behind and before their own vehicle in an effort to cut them off.
Shepard glanced at them and tried to use the rover's radio system to broadcast a distress signal only to realize that something was jamming his signal. Shepard didn't hesitate for long and grabbed a Very pistol (2) from his shoulder bag and promptly fired a red flare into the air.
"What're you doing?" Tali demanded. She was on the verge of a panic attack and only her own confidence in keep control over the rover prevented her from going over the edge. She sent the rover into a wrenching turn to the left.
"Help is on its way, Tali. We just have to survive until then." Shepard reassured her.
"What?" The Quarian girl cried out over the noise of the engine.
"I'll explain later." Shepard told her calmly. "just concentrate on your driving." Shepard had already drawn a pistol from his shoulder holster and was preparing himself to take the first opportunity to take down their pursuers. Even with his experience as a military man he knew that it wouldn't be an easy shot. Considering the sharp turns and the rough terrain their rover was traversing.
Their attackers had chosen their ambush point well. Shepard and and Tali were forced towards a small hill, where the rough terrain would force them to slow down. It would give their enemy a clear advantage considering their superior numbers.
The engines of the three rovers howled as they were strained to their maximum while they were racing towards the hill. The two rovers were slowly catching up, forcing Tali to crouch as low as she could while still keep proper control over her own vehicle. Powerful sniper shots were bouncing of the chassis of their vehicle.
A shot passed clearly from one side to the other, shattering windows in its wake. Another bounced off Shepard's biotic barrier, forcing him to reinforce it even when he was slowly nearing his limit. Shepard managed to get it going though because he knew that his enemies were getting closer.
Just as they reached the hill, Tali got her first glance of their opponents, who had reduced the distance between their cars to almost half of what it once was. The first was being driven by a Turian, and behind him, crouched three sinister figures, clutching pulse rifles
"They are Geth!" Tali shouted. She could almost swear that there had been a flash of satisfaction on the face of Shepard. But the next instant, it was gone. His biotic barrier flared over both of them, deflecting the first burst of fire from the Geth pulse rifles. Shepard's barrier buckled and swayed, but did not break at the first volley, but it was obvious that they would soon be overwhelmed, if they could not keep out of the enemies' range.
Tali hit two buttons on the drivers' panel, throwing the rover into a full slide sideways, wheels locked, at a breakneck pace, and out of the line of fire of the next volley from the Geth in the rover. The pneumatic brakes screeched and the engine shrieked in protest as Tali straightened the rover, and once more, whipped it to the left.
It was then that she saw the occupants of the second rover, which had closed in during the time she had tried to evade the first and was now less than thirty yards to their left. The sight of the occupants of the rover sent a shiver of terror down her spine. There was a Turian driving, but beside him were two hulking creatures that few had seen. The first was a huge Geth, a creature of nightmares, with a gleaming steel grey body, a yellow stripe running down its armour and a intensely blue flashing light at its face. It also carried a pulse shotgun, instead of a rifle. Beside it, was another she had never hoped to see – a Krogan of gigantic proportions, a behemoth that was carrying a shotgun of matching proportions.
From the glance she stole of Shepard's face, he was perturbed as well. His lips tightened, but otherwise he evinced no other reaction, as both the Krogan and the Geth fired at them with their shotguns. Shepard's biotic barrier flared once more into life, but Tali feared that he would not be able to block the attack this time. Her fears were warranted, but Shepard had played a careful game. His biotic barrier winked out of existence just as the shots collided with it. Tali realised that he had not tried so much to block the enemy attacks as to deflect them. In this he was successful, and both shots flew over their rover. Nevertheless, the effect for the human was fairly severe. He was tossed across the rover like a rag doll, and his shoulder hit the chassis on the opposite with stunning force. Shepard hissed in pain, blood streaming down his nose from the effort it had cost him to deflect the attack biotically as, nevertheless, he struggled back up, and gave her an encouraging smile, when another distraction came, this time from a different source.
She heard a resounding explosion, and just as she snapped her head round to discover the source, she saw that the first rover that had been following them had been blown up along with its occupants, and had vanished in a ball of flame. An intense white brightness and terrifying heat emanated from the curiously smokeless wreckage's blaze, doubtless due to the magnesium alloys in the chassis, that now formed a macabre funeral pyre for both organics and synthetics. Overhead, she saw a Mantis gunship circling lazily in the air, its powerful rocket launcher still belching smoke from the projectile that it had just fired.
Their other opponents seemed to realise that they had been outmanoeuvred and were now out gunned, and immediately, turned tail. However, the gunship was having none of it. It was rapidly closing on the other rover. Shepard placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered sharply to Tali, "Follow that rover, Tali. We need to get that Geth."
"What?"
"We need the data from the Geth. It is doubtful that we can make that Krogan speak, but that Geth is a promising source of intelligence! Follow it ."
Tali nodded and gunned the engines, and the tables had turned now. The pursuers were now the pursued, the biters bit, the hunters hunted. Another shot, the hard crack of a sniper rifle shot, rang out from the gunship, and the Turian who was driving the second car, simply slumped forward in his seat, his head now a bloody mess, dead before his chin had hit the drivers' panel. The rover he was driving careered out of control. The Krogan pushed the dead Turian out of the way, and tried to regain control, but it was too late. The rover had wildly slid out of control and smashed into the side of a small knoll. Spinning several times, the engine still whining wildly, it collapsed half upturned on the ground, coming to a dead halt. Tali gracefully brought their own rover to a halt about thirty yards from the debris of the stricken car. Both Shepard and Tali jumped out, and Shepard held out a hand, restraining the young Quarian from going in too close. Overhead, the gunship was hovering almost still and a huge Krogan jumped out of it, landing on the ground in a paratrooper's roll. He came up smoothly, and growled, "Shepard."
"Wrex", nodded Shepard. Before the commander could speak further, the debris of the broken rover shifted and two figures emerged out of it. Both were singed and battered, but looked little the worse for wear. The Krogan was in front, and he moved with what seemed to be diabolic speed to Tali. He whipped out his huge Claymore shotgun, and fired at the newly arrived Krogan, but Wrex had already rolled out of the way, lashing out at his enemy with his own biotics. Behind the Krogan, the large Geth emerged, but Shepard was ready for this. His omni-tool flashed and the Geth's weapon merely clicked dryly as it overheated and the safety catch engaged, making it impossible for the Geth to use its weapon. The Geth did not lose its head, however. Flinging the weapon down, it rushed its enemy. Tali and Shepard, however, were both prepared for the Geth, and their omni-tools flashed almost in unison. The Geth's shielding simply disintegrated, and it went staggering back. Shepard reached inside his tunic, and brought out a small ball. Unhesitatingly, he armed it and flung it on the Geth. The grenade contained not the conventional explosive, but a cryo explosive that emitted a small amount Bose-Einstein condensate, a mass of super-cooled subatomic particles that snap froze the staggering Geth. Shepard rasped out, "Tali, try to get into its memory banks! I'll keep it occupied." Even as he spoke, his omni-tool was working furiously, as he was hammering the fallen Geth with an immense amount of Gaussian white noise, and overloading its sensors with false data, while Tali got a chance at invading the memory banks.
The young Quarian wasted no time. Activating her own omni tool, she used a powerful decryption algorithm that she had seen working against the Geth, and broke into its memory banks. However, in a few moments, the Geth, which was quite powerful, had shaken off the effects of both the cryo explosive and Shepard's overloading algorithms, and it rose again, charging the human blindly. Shepard flung himself backwards just as the Geth reached him, while lashing out with his biotics, lifting it off the ground, using its own momentum against it to send it sailing helplessly over his own body and smashing into the ground, a dozen paces from him. However, the Geth had taken a lot of damage in the battle, and its self destruct protocols began activating. Shepard once more tried snap freezing the Geth enemy, and hacking it to run dummy processes, delaying the self destruct, but that too was overcome in less than a minute. The self destruct protocol activated, its memory core was frazzled in a blast of electricity, and it collapsed limply, like a puppet with the strings cut.
In the meantime, the duel between the two Krogan was proceeding apace. Wrex and the other Krogan had both fired their shotguns, both had breached each others' kinetic barriers in the armour but little else, both had thrown away their shotguns, since they had no time to reload, and both were battering each other with their fists and biotics.
Battlemaster Onerk – for this, Shepard would find out from Wrex, was the other Krogan's name – had fought innumerable battles, but for the first time, he was not really making an impression on his enemy. Rather, the impression was being made on him. His strength was being worn down, his biotics outmatched, and he was being steadily forced back. Gathering all his strength, he lowered his head and charged, intending to head butt his enemy and knock him off balance, but Wrex rushed forward grabbing his enemy's neck in his own powerful hands, kicking out for the other's knee. Onerk lost his balance and fell heavily on the ground, with Wrex's full weight on him. There was a nasty cracking noise like the shearing of a bough, as the two Krogan rolled on the ground, and when they separated, only Wrex rose to his feet nimbly, while the other was still on his knees, looking dazed and unstable. Wrex lost no time, grabbed his shotgun which had fallen nearby, loaded it in one smooth move, and emptied it, shot after shot, into battlemaster Onerk. By the time Wrex had fired his fourth shot, Onerk was still, as dead as the stones he lay on.
In the meantime, the gunship had landed nearby and two figures emerged from it. The first was a tall and slender human, with pale grey hair and a pair of keen flashing blue eyes, while the second was a small Batarian, carrying a sniper rifle that looked two sizes too big for him. Shepard greeted them all with a question, "Is everyone okay?"
Tali, who had been working on adrenaline until now, felt the reaction hit her as the danger passed and gave a small sob, even as a shudder racked her body. A moment later, she felt a firm, steadying hand on her shoulder and beheld Shepard's anxious face peering at her, "Are you hurt?"
"No," murmured the young Quarian. "No, I'm fine."
Shepard said nothing, but closed his eyes in relief. He seemed to be murmuring a mental prayer of thanks to whatever deity he worshipped.
-(Author's Note)-
[1] – It is the first stanza of Aleksandr Pushkin's poem, `The Song of Wise (Farsighted) Oleg' – a fantastic poem about Prince Oleg, the prophecy he was told and how it came to pass. If you get a chance, do try to read it in Russian, since much of the beauty is lost when you read it in English.
[2] – A Very pistol is a pistol that fires flares.
Do guess where the name ` Константин Ефимович' (Konstantin Efimovich) comes from. Clue: It is a portmanteau name combining the given name and the patronymic of two of Russia's greatest generals.
Shepard's trap setting method and logic will be explained in the next chapter, along with the chat with Liara.