DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I have left a hint in the previous chapter concerning what Cipher is doing to Marcus's brain. Sure, everybody saw clearly the triple-meld, but though the Cipher is responsible for it, that was not the hint I left and hoped that people would notice.
And the thing is – these changes the Cipher has caused are a pretty big thing that will drive a big part of the story. I mean, I get it – my desire to make it mysteriously intriguing must've caused me to make it too hard to notice, and I expected most people would miss it but… NOBODY?
See? That was what I was hoping to see in the reviews! I really hoped to see that you guys would notice that fine print. It's all in the fine print.
Well... [scratch, scratch]... if that's the case, I guess I can't talk much, but don't come screaming about "whoa, where did that come from" later on when the thing happens, hehehe... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chapter posted on 15.2.2017.
Main Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.
Additional Tags: Slowly turning AU, Technology-heavy, Geopolitical themes, Economic themes,
Rated M – for mature and adult content.
Enjoy…
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Chapter 17 – Illium
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24 hours later…
Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula;
Private Council chambers, Citadel Tower;
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"Have you seen this?" Tevos asked neutrally as she passed the datapad to Sparatus. "I understand that Spectres have the liberty to do anything, but certain finesse should be expected. I can't but wonder if this is his usual MO."
Sparatus raised the datapad and read the article: "The first human Spectre dispensing justice: sending an ultimatum to the corporate world"
"Ah, yes, I've read all of the reports on this," Sparatus said empathically. "Punish the superior of the one who did the deed. Good. Very good! Shepard is showing some wisdom."
Tevos looked at him in surprise. "You support him eviscerating a defenseless corporate director? The video recording of the execution has leaked onto the extranet!"
"Yes, I've seen it," Sparatus nodded. "And in fact – yes, I do support what he's done. I see exactly why he did it. The human corporations have been becoming increasingly bold as of late. Secret government agencies performing unethical tests is an evil that will never be eradicated, nor must it ever be, but corporations cannot be trusted with the same thing. With this, Shepard has punched the corporate world in their noses, and told them to thread carefully." He raised the datapad for emphasis. "You may not realize this, but this will send tremors through all of the corporations in the Galaxy, be it human or not. They will see a Council Spectre not being afraid to be as brutal as it gets. This benefits our authority greatly."
"I agree with you, Sparatus, when it comes to putting the wily corporations in their place, but this was a major blow," Tevos said bitterly. "It is already rocking the Galactic economy. The shares and stock index values have already dropped over the board, and the science oriented corporations are registering as far as a two percent drop. Two percent!"
"I understand that you're worried, Tevos, but this is not a problem," Valern spoke for the first time. "I have my people doing statistical analysis, and this economic instability is nowhere near the critical threshold for a true economic crisis. This is just a… wobble."
Tevos clenched her teeth and calmed down.
"You are correct," she said. "But I still don't like it. Blame me for being asari, but we do not like an instability of any kind." She signed and decided to change the subject. "That aside, what are your thoughts on Shepard's report on the Relay Monument?"
"Unsubstantiated," Valern said with a shake of his head. "I've sent a small covert team disguised as tourists to do some unobtrusive scans of the Monument, so as we don't raise the public's suspicion. Nothing had come up on the scans."
"I know salarians have advanced technologies, but a few scans with small tools cannot possibly determine anything for sure," Sparatus said with a frown.
"I agree with Valern," Tevos said. "We have been on the Citadel for millennia now, and the Monument has been an object of intense and focused study many times before. We would have picked something up by now."
"There is a lot of Prothean technology that we still do not understand, Tevos," Sparatus said pointedly, "and mass relays are the foremost in that. I do not feel comfortable to just ignore the potential threat of this magnitude."
"I understand your concerns, Sparatus, but I implore you to think about the bigger picture," Tevos said with her calming voice. "If you start deploying heavily armed personnel around the monument, citizens will start to get worried. And whenever citizens on the Presidium start to become worried – the people who control the Galactic economy, by the way – then, that economy begins to destabilize. It could be the factor to tip the balance with this so-called wobble already in place."
"I have a solution," Valern said, disarming the argument. "I suggest we openly organize a team of experts with heavier research equipment to perform studies of the Relay Monument with "the new technology" in search of clues for knowledge on the Protheans. While I know that nothing new will come up, we can use the distraction to increase C-Sec density on the Presidium – and if someone asks, it is just for science team's security purposes."
Sparatus did not look happy, but he ultimately nodded.
"Good. I will organize my people, then,"Valern said. "Now, what else do we have of importance?"
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Marcus stepped up to the console in Normandy's comm room and pressed the blinking button. All three of the Councilors appeared before him.
"Commander Shepard," Tevos greeted him with a nod.
"I hope we're not interrupting any important assignments, Commander," Sparatus spoke up, seeing Marcus wearing full armor.
"Not a problem," he replied. "What can I do for you, Councilors?"
"We have read your intel on the possibility that the Relay Monument is an actual miniature relay," Valern said. "However, none of our scans had shown any clues that would substantiate it."
"You desire proof on my end," Marcus stated.
"On the contrary," Tevos stated. "We have decided to believe you. But while we understand that you would want us to secure the Monument, we are unable to do so. The presence of the troops on the Presidium will –"
She trailed off when she saw Marcus raise his hand to stop her.
"I understand what you're doing," he said, disappointment directed at their actions clear in his voice. "You think this will cause panic among the population."
Tevos spoke up calmingly: "You must understand that –"
"I said I do understand, Councilor," Marcus interrupted her again. "There's an old saying on Earth: money makes the world go around. You are worried about destabilization caused by the worried citizens and have decided to do nothing. I never did expect anything else in the Galactic politics. My job, however, has become a lot harder."
"We have increased C-Sec patrols on the presidium, Commander," Valern pointed out. "We have done some maneuvers to cover the increased density of the C-Sec up, but we now have twice as many men – majority in the gunshot range of the Monument."
"Let me put it to you like this, Councilors," Marcus started. "You may place ten times as many C-Sec on the Presidium and it won't matter. The Conduit exit – the Relay Monument – is less than one hundred meters away from the Citadel Tower. Once the Geth army drops through the Conduit, there will be nothing you can do short of having heavy armor up there. Since you are obviously disinclined to do anything like that, having more C-Sec will only mean more lives lost."
"That's only if the Geth army gets here, Commander," Valern said. "That's why we sent you to stop them."
"One frigate against a fleet of synthetic death machines?" Marcus demanded gruffly.
His words were met with awkward silence from their part. He spread his arms widely.
"I do not understand what you want me to do here, Councilors. Relays cannot be destroyed, and Saren might already have all the info he needs to determine the location of the Mu relay that leads to Ilos. And I have no information whatsoever on where to search for him."
The Councilors looked amongst themselves before Valern spoke:
"Unfortunately, we have come upon a solid wall in that regard and a lot of dead ends. It turns out that Saren had liquidated all of his assets and possessions within the Council Space – some of them months in advance."
"Nobody noticed because his former Spectre status enabled him an unprecedented level of clearance in covering it all up," Sparatus growled. "Right now, it's as if his assets and contacts had simply ceased to exist. We know that he has assets outside of the Council Space, but since he used his Spectre credentials to cover it up, those assets are next to impossible to find."
"To be honest, nobody ever expected that a Council Spectre would want to invest in things that are not in the stable regions of the Citadel," Tevos said. "It was simply… well… preposterous to think." She narrowed her eyes at Marcus. "You don't seem moved by any of what we're saying, are you, Commander?"
"No," Marcus replied mirthlessly. "I expected every single word you had said thus far. What I hope to hear next from you is what is being done about it?"
"Our investigation is doing everything it can to trace Saren's assets that lie beyond Citadel Space," Tevos said. "I assure you, Commander, you will be the first to know if there is a development."
"Work harder," Marcus said succinctly. "I don't need to tell you what will happen if Saren pops through the Citadel backdoor and takes control of the Tower. Meanwhile, I will begin some investigations of my own. It might not be as any good as anything of yours, but a different point of view might provide a tipping point."
The Councilors looked significantly at each other.
"Very well, Commander. We will take your input under advisement," Tevos said, then ended the comm.
Marcus turned around and leaned back against the console, crossing his arms in front of him.
"Are those pyjacks that stupid?" Wrex rumbled.
Marcus raised his eyes and looked around the briefing room, where the rest of his team of specialists sat.
"I had hoped for more from them when it comes to the Relay Monument," Jaina said annoyedly from where she stood leaning against the wall in full armor and gear.
"I hoped too, but I knew it wouldn't happen," Marcus replied grimly. "I knew exactly how they were going to react."
"But why?" Tali asked. "They are the leaders of the Galactic community! They should be responsible for protecting the people."
"They're not leaders, Tali," Jaina replied. "They are politicians. A leader doesn't care who he offends when the job needs to be done. Politicians do just the opposite – they care not to offend anyone." She then addressed Marcus: "Let's just hope that your little speech had scared them enough to actually do something about this whole mess, for a change."
"The best we can hope for is for them to tighten up the security inside the Citadel Tower itself," Marcus replied. "But that won't stop Saren. When he comes, he will come with overwhelming force."
"He doesn't even have to come with full force," Garrus said. "The C-Sec didn't have to deal with major assault anywhere on the Citadel for the past twenty years, and even then it was one merc gang. They're as prepared for a full-blown invasion as kittens are against a pack of rabid varren. It will be Eden Prime all over again."
"You really think it's going to come to blows on the Citadel itself?" Kaidan asked.
"That's the only place where Saren will expose himself that we know of," Marcus replied. "In any other case, he will have Sovereign watching down on him from orbit, unless he is already in the Reaper itself. And based on the images of the beacon imprint, not even Prothean dreadnoughts could stand toe-to-toe against such ships, which means our Normandy cannot do much for it."
"Yeah, but what if we could confront him somewhere where the Reaper cannot use its might against us, lest it kills Saren as well?" Ashley proposed. "Like on one of his outposts maybe, while he's there?"
"Precisely," Marcus said, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. "That is the manner of thinking that I hope to hear from all of you. See, there is not a doubt that Saren has established one or more hidden bases somewhere in the Traverse or the Terminus. As you've seen in the conversation, though, it appears that the Council has big trouble finding Saren's assets outside of the Citadel Space. Being a Spectre, Saren had used his authority to cover his tracks. Using only Citadel Space information assets isn't going to cut it."
He tapped the button on the console next to him and the holo-projection of a planet popped up at the center of the room.
"That's why we're heading here, to Illium," he finished, motioning at the holo-image of the garden world with several hovering images depicting the bustling cityscape.
"Illium?" Garrus asked right back, frowning. "That's on the whole opposite side of the Traverse. Besides, I don't think Saren could hide there. There's too much traffic for him to stay unnoticed."
"Yeah, I think his gigantic AI squid friend would be noticed," Tali said dryly. "S-so… why would we be heading there in any case?"
"Information gathering," Jaina replied simply. "Since the Council seems to be incapable, we need to find intel on Saren on our own. So, yes, while Saren might never go to Illium himself, Illium is still a hub of commerce, mercenary activity, private armies, and well as industry."
"That," Liara spoke up, "and being the world with very lax laws and regulations, it is a prime galactic hub of information pertaining to all sorts of illegal activities that are happening all throughout the Traverse and the Terminus systems. I've spent a part of my life there while I did archaeology expeditious in the Terminus. I've witnessed how it is. Enormous amounts of data are being traded on an hourly basis by numerous information brokers. The cutthroat business ensures that the huge money is at stake and that virtually anything can be found out one way or another."
"What she says is right," Wrex said. "I've been there many times. Never stuck for long, though. Illium is one fucked-up and dangerous place, alright."
"Really?" Ashley asked in bewilderment as she glanced over the photos of the capital, Nos Astra. "Looks like a pretty classy place."
"Well, looks can be deceiving, kid," Wrex growled. "The corporations of Illium like to keep up the classy appearances and pretend they try to keep their business on the 'morally high ground', when in fact, they do backdoor business with the most ruthless of killers of the Galaxy on a regular basis – and it's that duplicity that makes them so dangerous. So, don't kid yourself, Williams. Illium is like a high-class whore. She may look great, and she may give you a great ride, but in the morning you will wake up in a tub of ice with a missing wallet, missing kidney, and your signature on an indentured servitude contract. That's why I took extra care when I went down to Illium, and always packed my guns – it may look like elite, but at its core, it's as rotten as Omega."
"Jesus," Kaidan muttered. "Isn't Illium an Asari world?"
"Technically, no," Liara spoke up. "While it was originally colonized by asari, and we represent by far the majority of its citizenship, Illium is not technically a part of the Asari Republics. It is an independent world. It has its own laws, its own police, its own government. It works as a gateway to Terminus, and as such, many of its laws and regulations are relaxed, allowing for many things that are illegal in Council Space: drugs, illegal technology, medical services, augmentations, unethical research, even legalized slavery; they call it indentured servitude."
"You're kidding, right?" Ashley spoke up in annoyance. "High and mighty asari allowing for such a thing?"
"Ash…" Marcus spoke with a warning tone.
"It's alright, Commander," Liara spoke up, just as Ashley sat a bit straighter in her chair. "What Chief says is very much true. This is the ugly part of asari society. While our homeworld, Thessia, is a beautiful world, it has made others pay for its beauty; Illium is one such world whose practices are needed in order to ensure both the stability and economy of the core asari worlds. There is no sugarcoating it. The Matriarchs may try to hide it in a beautiful wrapping, but the fact is that they very much support everything that is happening on Illium."
Garrus hummed pensively. "So, do you intend to find the info on Saren through one of the various information brokers on Illium?" he asked.
"No. That'd cost too much money for too little possible info," Marcus said. "Saren has covered his tracks too well. If ordinary brokers could find the intel, the STG or another Spectre would have intercepted and relayed it to the Citadel by now. Shadow Broker might know where he is, but I don't like relying on him one bit. He is a too powerful of a player for me to feel comfortable working with him; it could easily leave us compromised in the long run – just like what happened to Saren."
"S-so… how exactly do we go about?" Tali asked slowly.
"Through me," Liara said. When everyone turned their attention to her, she continued:
"Having spent several decades on Illium, I have established a number of personal contacts there. Nothing lustrous, really, but many of them are personal friends, old associates, and even soitaeos to T'Soni family – sort of a generational debt, roughly speaking – which means that they are very reliable. I even have some other contacts – namely, people who I had previous profitable ventures with, people who I had scouting the Terminus for ruins, as well as groups of people that deal in the personal security detail. They may help as well."
"What is an extent and nature of the help all these people can give us?" Garrus asked interestedly. "What are we talking about here exactly, for that matter?"
"We're not talking about directly knowing where Saren or Benezia are," Liara said with a shake of her head. "None of the people I'm talking about know that. But they are the kind of people who, because of their own business ventures, have a lot of contacts, and their contacts have contacts. Someone along the line can find out something that, in turn, may be cross-referenced with another piece of information, which may ultimately lead to Saren's location."
Ashley shook her head as if fighting off vertigo.
"Whoa, that's a lot of circumstantial info gathering, Doc," she spoke up, motioning away with her hands. "How can you expect to find anything of value like that?"
"Such is the information gathering, Chief," Liara replied apologetically.
"Maybe, but do you even have experience with information gathering, kid?" Wrex queried with his eyes narrowed.
"Some of my best archaeological findings were attributed to information gathering, right here on Illium," Liara declared victoriously. "The Terminus and the Traverse are teeming with unexplored ruins – far more than the core worlds. They are also teeming with pirates, mercenaries, freelancers, and prospectors, many of which quite frequently stumble upon those ruins in their ventures. I used to pay for information on archaeological finds. Later on, I even began trading information for information without anything costing me a dime. Catching this information early, before the newfound ruins could be robbed bare, was of paramount importance; and I have become quite proficient at it."
Wrex harrumphed. "Well, that may be a start," he said. "But these things may take a lot of time until feelers tap their way where they have to. There's no way we can hang around Illium for that long."
"We won't have to," Liara said, then turned to Marcus. "With your permission, I wish to set up a comm node on the Normandy for the purpose of maintaining this small network of people."
"It shouldn't present any strain on the ship's bandwidth," Jaina offered her opinion. "We're designed to operate on STG levels of comm priorities."
"Alright," Marcus nodded. "After you've made your contacts, go procure the equipment you need. Make sure it is military grade; we'll take care of all the expenses. I assume that lots of money will be needed to pay for all the intel swapping? We will use my Spectre funding to set you up with whatever you need."
He took a deep breath as he thought some more on it.
"We'll separate into two teams," he said. "One team will go with Liara, and another one will go with me."
"You do not need to send anyone with me, Commander," Liara said. "I've lived on Illium; I know how to take care of myself here."
"Your abilities and experience with Illium's lowlifes are not an issue, Liara. The problem is that you are hunted by a much bigger fish," Marcus stated. "Your mother may have her own people here, just waiting for you to show up, and if that happens, it won't be just a few punks this time around."
"I see your point," Liara muttered disconcertedly, looking down at the ground in intense thought.
"What are you going to do in the meantime?" Jaina asked Marcus. "You implied you want to do something on Illium, too."
"There are some projects that I wish to do, and I need some special items," he said. "I want to see if Illium has what I need."
"I may be able to point you in the right direction," Wrex said. "I know where to find custom weapons, armor, mods – anything that deals with war, anyway. What are we talking about here, exactly?"
"Vehicle parts," Marcus said. "Heavy-duty vehicle parts. Something that can take a lot of punishment."
"An armored vehicle," Garrus spoke up in realization. "You want to do some modifications to the Mako."
Marcus shrugged without saying anything
"Why, though?" Garrus asked further. "The Mako is a good IFV as it is."
Marcus inhaled deeply through his nose, thinking before he spoke:
"As a regular army troop transporter – yes. But for the types of missions that we need to be performing – not by a long shot!" he declared. "I saw its performance on Feros and I didn't like it one bit. It is mobile and all-terrain, but it lacks the control for that mobility. Its differential is such that it makes it prone to veer off by as much as 90 degrees if you try to scale an obstacle – worse if the mass effect fields are active; it can downright flip it then. I can't work with that. The manner in which Jaina and I tend to do our missions requires the speed and flexibility that the Mako simply does not have as it is now. I need to change that to suit my needs. Otherwise, that thing is just a glorified box on wheels taking up our cargo space."
"Hmm… I see," Garrus said, nodding. "Well, count me as interested in helping you then!"
"Good," Marcus said, then looked at Wrex. "What remains to be seen is whether Illium has what I need."
Wrex nodded slowly. "It can be found; especially on Illium. I know just the place, actually, and it offers parts for both ground and hover vehicle types, from racers to trucks, as well as shuttle crafts! If it has 'vehicle' in its name, this place has parts for it."
"You sure?" Marcus asked. "I'm looking for military grade assortment of machinery."
"Trust me, they have it," Wrex said, making a sideways cutting motion with his hand. "With the number of mercenary armies around Illium, they'd go out of business if they didn't."
"Alright, then," Marcus said, then tapped the comms. "Pressly? How long until Illium?"
"Fifteen minutes, Commander," the man replied.
"I advise we use Trella docking pier," Liara said.
Marcus nodded and alerted Pressly, receiving a confirmation right back.
The Normandy flew purposefully through the approach and pierced into the atmosphere of the lush planet. It glided slowly across the expansive bay, straight toward the skyline of Nos Astra skyscrapers, before touching down onto the designated docking bay.
The eight fully armed and armored professionals filed out of the airlock, drawing mildly interested looks from the docking technicians and administrative personnel from the control observation room.
Marcus scanned his surroundings with a look of a military man, not bothering in the slightest about whether he was projecting an aura of a first-comer.
The cityscape was an organized forest of elegant and sharp-looking skyscrapers, with numerous lower buildings interspersed between, and numerous domes visible among them. The whine of flying traffic was omnipresent, and only brought forth the sense of busyness that permeated this place.
There was something about it, Marcus realized; something alluring and bewitching that called to you, begging you to be immersed into everything this place had to offer. Just the thing Wrex spoke of: the elite high-class whore that could spin any man or woman's brain. Where the Citadel had an air of royal class to it, dignified and above earthly matters, Illium was the place where earthly matters were very much the core of things. He should know it the best; he grew up in just such a city on Earth.
"Gather 'round," Marcus called as he turned to face everyone, the people readily coming together in an informal semicircle around him. "We're doing this as we said: two groups. I need Wrex, Tali, and Garrus. Jaina, you take Ash and Kaidan along with Liara. That way we have people in either of our groups that have significant experience with Illium. Objections?" There were headshakes in the negative. "Good. Now, Liara, is there any final advice you wish to convey?"
Liara nodded, then addressed them in general.
"The area we'll be moving to is generally safe, and considered upper-class business district," she said. "Still, we best stick together. If separated, stay out of the alleyways, since there may be mercenary groups or hostile gangs – they're not inclined to cause trouble in districts as important as this, but better safe than sorry – and whatever you do, do not sign anything, and do not consent to anything! We do not need any legislative hassle once it turns out to be a nasty scam."
Wrex snorted. "Not that anyone would try to scam us," he said, then pointed to his back where the Devastator machinegun was holstered. "We're packing enough firepower to blast them back to krulzh!"
"Yeah, about that," Ashley spoke up, "wouldn't it be weird to see a bunch of fully armed people walking casually around?"
"This is Illium," Liara said gravely. "It is expected."
"Huh… well, I won't say no to that!" Ashley declared happily.
The two teams separated after they exited the port, each grabbing a skycar taxi and heading in roughly separate directions.
The car with Marcus's team had a short ride from the port. They went low toward the waterfront, speeding across numerous shipping warehouses and some manufacturing plants – a real working grindhouse – until they landed on a parking lot in front of a non-descript looking building. A large holographic sign was the only thing that marked it specially.
"This is the place," Wrex said as the four of them filed out of the skycar.
"What are you looking for, exactly, Shepard?" Garrus asked as they filed out of the car.
Marcus turned to them and activated his omni-tool, bringing up a 3D projection of an odd-looking combat vehicle. Garrus frowned, looking closely at it.
"Looks a bit like the Mako in the main body section but…" he said, trailing off, and then he shook his head. "I've never seen a vehicle like that. What is it?"
"A prototype hover-tank I wish to build," Marcus said. "I call it the Scorpion – an arachnid species from Earth – because the design makes it resemble one."
There was silence for a couple of seconds as the present people examined the vehicle.
"I had been under the impression that all you want to do is improve the Mako's suspension and drive," Garrus said, then shook his head. "But this is a major overhaul you're trying to do here, Shepard. I can understand you rigging all those rifles for us; with a military-grade omni-fabricator that ships are equipped with, you have yourself a high-grade manufacturing plant right there. But rigging up a whole tank?!"
"It's far from impossible," Tali chirped, drawing both his and Wrex's attention. "You should see what we do in the flotilla. The few ground vehicles we do have are all different from one another."
"Maybe, but this thing would require a lot of time to finish," Garrus pointed out, nodding at the 3D projection. "Those side-mounted turrets at the front and the long gun going all the way from the rear are going to present a whole array of issues. It's gonna be a nightmare to calibrate."
"Well, what the hell do you think you're for, turian?" Wrex barked amusedly.
"It's far from impossible, Garrus," Marcus said. "Russians are still notorious for what they did during World War II with their own vehicles in the middle of the war, and we are even better equipped than they are. Like you said, we have our ship's heavy fabrication plant in the cargo bay. It will melt down and rebuild the armor panels where needed, as well as fabricate any type of subsystem we'd need. We're not trying to build an assembly line; we're making a pair of prototypes. We'll basically be rigging the parts in, and setting it well into overcapacity. I'm not looking for finesse. I'm looking for effect."
Garrus made a slight groaning sound as he shook his head. "The turian doctrine of precision engineering would have a thing or two to say about that."
"You intend to make it as an addition to the Mako?" Tali asked, ignoring Garrus's grumbling.
"I intend to supplant it completely!" Marcus replied. "We had picked up the Mako from Feros. I intend to rig both."
He gave them a moment for it to sink in.
"Well, alright then!" Wrex declared. "Are you three gonna stand there and talk all day, or are we actually doing some work?"
"You're just eager to make a new toy," Garrus commented.
"Damn right, I'm eager!" Wrex barked, sporting a krogan grin as he led them into the large building. "I haven't had an opportunity to play with new war vehicles for a while."
He led them toward the building's main entrance – a large cargo entrance – and the crew cast a broad look around the huge hall that was its interior. The scent of machine oils, lubricants, and coolant fluids permeated the place, along with the distinct smell of hot welded metals. The noise of metalworking and flashes of welding could be noticed in the distance as large cranes and lifters whirred around, transporting large pieces of machine parts across huge shelves that went three stories high. Engines, suspensions, hover-systems and thrusters, chassis and shells – everything was there. Just as Wrex said. And Tali seemed to be enthralled by what she was seeing, in particular, looking up and about like a little kid in a candy store, her hands clasped in front of her chest.
Wrex led them further in, with Garrus dragging Tali along, and went straight toward another krogan who seemed to be in the middle of work, checking something up on his datapad as he directed the other workers. Just as the krogan dispatched the men off to work, the group reached him, with Wrex throwing a wide hook around the other krogan's back, scooping him up in a bear hug.
"Charr, you lil' runt!" He bellowed as he rubbed the krogan's headplate roughly with his fist. "When are you going to start watching your back, like I told you to!"
"Wrex!" The younger krogan bellowed right back, jovially as he extricated himself from Wrex's arms and pushed the old krogan back roughly. "You old man! How've you been?!"
"Good," he nodded, then motioned toward Marcus with a wave of his head. "Found a job for the very first human Spectre. Been having some fun smashing and blasting geth throughout the Traverse."
"Oh, yeah," Charr spoke as he looked back at Marcus, and shook hands with him. "I've heard about that on the news. So, what brings you all here?"
"I'm rigging an armored hover vehicle," Marcus said. "I need a heavy-duty hovercraft system, thrusters, power plant, as well as enlarged eezo core."
"What kind of requirements are we talking about here?" Charr asked, his tone shifting from joyful to one of an experienced professional, quick and brutally efficient.
"I need the system to be able to fly forty tons of armor through ten-G stress, in all six degrees of freedom of movement. I need thrusters and a mass effect field projector system that enables shuttle-grade mobility beyond atmo, and a stabilization system that will combat one hundred mega-newton of gun recoil force."
"Now, that's some heavy duty," Charr said with a happy evil grin, his voice gaining a low, sinister-like tone. "I assume the size constraints fall into general IFV category?"
"There is a bit of flexibility," Marcus said with a nod. "But we'll have to see."
Charr looked across the hall, then nodded. "Come with me. I've got a few things that would be just perfect for your needs."
He stalked off with a quick step, others moving to follow him.
"What did I tell you, Shepard," Wrex said. "Ilium caters to mercenaries and private armies throughout the Terminus. Everything you need, you'll find right here."
Marcus nodded, then motioned toward Charr with his chin. "He seems like an unusual fellow – for a krogan."
"That's an understatement," Tali spoke up dryly. "One minute he's all fun and joy, and the next, he's talking in a tone as if he wants to slit your throat in your sleep."
"Bah, that's just Charr," Wrex said dismissively. "He's actually as harmless as a drex rhino. He's an Urdnot as well, by the way. Was a little runt when I was still on Tuchanka – this small! I used to play bowling with him before I left."
"Bowling?" Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow. "There is bowling on Earth, but that can't be the same thing."
Wrex chuckled. "It's a game where the little krogan rolls itself into a ball, and then an adult throws him to roll along the ground, smashing everything in its path! Hahahaha! Ah, those were the days. Hey, Charr, remember when you kegged Drunt's entire krantt when we bowled that one time?!"
"I have a scar on the back of my hump to prove it!" Char declared evilly from up front. "They didn't know what hit 'em!"
Wrex clarified to others, "As he rolled at high speed, he bounced off a piece of concrete on the ground, flying high and straight into Drunt's mug. Nearly ripped his head off. As the guy flew backwards, he took down the three of his krantt's buddies. And to top it all off, Charr here barfed all over his face! Next thing you know, the lil' runt's running all over the place, shouting Borvol's Battle Hymn as Drunt's futilely chasing him around the settlement! Hey, Charr? How's that dream of becoming a Battle Chanter going for ya?"
"I'm a little busy earning a phat paycheck here rather than singing war songs in a radiation-clouded warzone," Charr retorted.
"Heh. Smart kid. A pity, though; you were always good at it." Wrex then turned to Marcus. "He always knew how to make the rimes on the spot, and for them to actually make sense in the given situation. Like:
We shall sing the songs of old wars,
Once our armies come with thundering storms,
And –"
"No, no, no, no, NO!" Charr interrupted annoyedly, turning on his heel and getting into Wrex's face. "You're doing it all wrong! Bah! You were always hopeless when it came to war songs. You can't sing the rhymes in couplet but in quatrain! And it needs to be a nine-syllabic! A stichic, nine-syllabic quatrain – Like:
Songs of olden sang shall be again,
When the fallen brothers rise from earth,
Eat the guts of enemies we shall,
And grind their bones into ashen dirt!
"Do you get it now?"
Wrex chuckled evilly, turning to Marcus.
"See? What did I tell you, Shepard? The kid can rhyme on the spot!"
Charr groaned in defeat. "Ugh! I shoulda realized he was baiting me into singing. Well, whatever. Are we here for my singing or do you actually want to see the merchandize? That's what I figured. Come, now, it's just over here."
Charr led them around the corner and waved his hand at a large section of neatly-arrayed mechanical parts of various sort.
Tali immediately advanced toward a set of hover suspension system and began pawing all over, around and under it, ignoring everyone and everything else as she got her hands on the first piece of a quarian candy.
"This is a Rhinok 550-Heavy," Charr said as he slapped the superstructure with his palm. "This is the system installed in heavy lifters that work in helium mining on gas giants. Now the 550-H was designed specifically to be used on the Jovian-class gas giants where the lifters need to combat gale-force winds of up to 1000 kph at several times the average atmospheric pressure. This thing here is exactly what you need."
Marcus nodded, then called, "Tali? How does it look like?"
Tali's head popped up from a gap from inside the machinery.
"This is a very sturdy piece of machinery, Shepard," she said enthusiastically. "Very simple in its design, too. This would be able to endure many shock impacts, and if damaged to be repaired with incredible ease!"
Marcus activated his omni-tool and sent the data of the Scorpion to her.
"Do me a favor, and check the volumetric comparison," he asked of her.
Tali nodded, immediately crawling out and digging into analyzing data compared to the system that was in front of them.
"What would you have for me when it comes to shuttle-grade thrusters?" Marcus asked Charr. "I need both high-G maneuvering and afterburners."
"The best thing would be the Systems Alliance Trailblazers – the ones used on your UT-47 Kodiak," Charr replied. "Other types could be used, but due to size…"
"Inefficient," Marcus nodded. "Yeah, I know, that's what I thought, too. The increased mass effect core should give it a lot more maneuverability."
"I have a Martelix 1200-series eezo core," Charr said as he led him a few paces away, up to the piece of tech. "This holds a lot of eezo, but as you can see, it is very compact; comes with the mass effect projector array. It is used in courier runner ships. Good enough for any armored vehicle if you ask me – unless personnel transportation is the goal here since this piece takes almost three cubic meters of space."
"No such thing as transporting infantry personnel," Marcus said with a shake of his head. "This is a frontline battle tank we're talking about here." He nodded toward the eezo core system. "Any compromises this core had to have in its design?"
"None. This is a turian tech. They don't do compromises. It's just that the system is very expensive because of the materials. Double the cost of the system that ordinarily holds the same amount of eezo."
"Eezo core is the one thing I never skimp out on," Marcus replied.
"Good," Tali spoke up as she approached them, and looked over the core appreciatively. "Because the Martelix is the greatest bang there is when it comes to courier ship cores. I can make some serious barriers with this. By the way, the Rhinok hover system is compatible. There is a bit of an offset as opposed to what you placed in the model, but it's correctable with minimum rigging."
"What else do you need?" Charr asked.
"This," Marcus said as he showed him a projection of a set of joints on his omni-tool, along with their dimensions and the additional specs. "That, or an equivalent."
Charr frowned as he looked closely. "These smaller ones are not a problem, but this big one… hmm…" his face suddenly lit up with an idea and he turned to move. "I think I have exactly what you need. It's right at the –"
He suddenly trailed off when he saw an incomer several paces off – a pretty asari girl in a long dress, striding toward him, with a coy smile on her face.
"Ereba!" Charr spoke as his face lit up. The sinister-looking krogan mechanic disappeared, and… something else took his place as Charr stepped forward with a goofy grin and an airy, almost soothing tone of voice, completely uncharacteristic for a krogan.
"My beautiful little Blue Rose," Charr gushed as he stepped up to her. "What are you doing here?"
"My shift finished early, and I thought I'd surprise you – maybe persuade you for a date tonight," the woman replied with a smile as she hugged him.
"Ugh, there he goes again," Wrex murmured so only Marcus and Garrus could hear, Tali being too preoccupied with gushing over mechanical parts.
"I take it Char is a bit of an oddball among the krogan?" Garrus queried under his breath.
"You could say that again," Wrex grumbled. "Give him a shovel and point him to the enemy, and he'd charge straight into a rachni nest, singing our battle songs with fervor to move mountains! Point him to a woman, though, and suddenly you get romance and crappy poetry. Ugh," Wrex shook the chills off. "And he seems very fond of asari for some reason."
"Oh, don't tell me you've never had an asari in all your centuries!" Garrus chided.
"Bah, it's not that," Wrex said, then made grabbing motions with his hands. "It's just that they're so… squishy! I'm always afraid I'll break the damn thing. And even if I didn't, how is a man supposed to get a decent grip?!"
They looked back at Charr, who had a smitten look about him as he watched after his asari girlfriend saunter away. The krogan turned and approached them with a face-splitting smile.
"Ah, Ereba," he said. "Such a beautiful, cultivated flower. She deserves a dozen poems!"
"Why don't you stick to battle hymns, runt," Wrex stated. "Those ones at least are not as bad as your love poetry."
"Piss off, old man," Charr told him off. The professional mechanic had returned. He turned his head to Marcus and asked, "So, do we continue, or what?"
"By all means," Marcus replied before his omni-tool chimed. He tapped the incoming call and spoke:
"Hey," he greeted his wife. "How's it going on your end?"
"We're being followed," she deadpanned.
Marcus threw a questioning look toward Garrus, who had all this time acted as their watcher.
"Not on our side," the turian stated with a shake of his head. "Yet, anyway."
"I think it was Liara they were watching for," Jaina said. "The setup they're operating on was here for a while; there's just no way Saren would have known we would be heading to Illium; we didn't broadcast it to anyone outside of the ship. But he might have left this here in case Liara returns to Illium."
"What about the contacts Liara needed?" Marcus asked.
"We're nearly done," Jaina said. "I know, it was surprisingly quick. There were a few of her friends and contacts that worked in the commercial district, and the rest were contacted via public terminal. It's pretty much foolproof. We're heading to her apartment now for her to call up a few other contacts and to finish the setup of this small network before we transfer it to the Normandy. How far along are you at your end?"
"Just about," He replied. "We'll head immediately your way."
"Take care, Marcus," she said. "This thing seems awfully organized to me." And then she ended the comm.
"Charr, we need to finish this quick," Marcus said as he lowered his omni-tool. "The joints are just about the only remaining thing I need. You said you have them?"
"I sure do," he replied. "You need two medium class and one for big loads for that long gun you plan to install. To spare you the details, the best medium class of the joint I have for you is rated for standard IFV main gun stresses; judging from what I'm seeing, I'm pretty sure you'd need it. The big one, though, can handle the hundred mega-newton force with quite a bit more to spare, while not exceeding the size requirements you showed me. As for the stabilization system for it all, you need this," and there he tapped a button on his datapad, and showed it. "This one is a bit more expensive, but –"
"Not a problem," Marcus interjected.
Charr shrugged. "Alright then. Anything else?"
"Everything I ordered comes in pairs," Marcus said, then gave him the address of the dock where the Normandy was. "How soon can you have it delivered at this location?"
"Soon enough," Charr replied assuredly with a nod.
"Good," Marcus said, then transferred the substantial amount of credits. "Alright people, let's hustle! We need to get to Liara's apartment ASAP!"
.