Shepard's body twitched in ecstasy, breathing in gasps, reeling from her partner's skillful hands; each digit managing to press or graze just where her body wanted them to. She leaned eagerly into the touch, where one of the slender hands gracefully caught her cheek and traced a path to her supple, hungry lips.
"I've been waiting for you, Commander Shepard." Her partner spoke, her voice raw with lustful confidence, her breath hot against Shepard's face. She shuddered out a frustrated whimper as her partner's hands slid sensually down to her lower abdomen, stopping a mere inch or two short of where she longed for them to touch. Never before had she felt so vulnerable, so exposed. It was intoxicating.
"Do not worry, I am here to guide you to satisfy your needs." Her partner whispered sweetly, pressing her body tightly on top of Shepard's, the friction eliciting a guilty moan from her mouth. "I would happily oblige you, if you only asked." She was dripping wet, and the asari's indescribable scent was driving her senses wild as she tried to focus.
Shepard fought to catch her breath as she felt her partner reposition herself, the asari's thigh resting tantalizingly between her legs, her hands having left to cup the commander's face gently. She could hardly take the teasing anymore, having been reduced to a writhing mess by mere touch. She needed more. "P…please…" she pleaded, her breathing ragged from even the minor shifts in position the asari was making.
"Please what, Shepard?" she heard, a smile forming on her partner's face.
Shepard sighed in frustration, tears welling in her eyes from how selfish her request would be. "M…me. Me?"
The asari leaned down, their lips crashing together feverishly, their tongues exploring one another excitedly, their skin tingling with sensation. Shepard's body felt aflame, her mind shattered from the kiss, and found herself frowning when the asari pulled away, a mischievous glint in her partner's eyes.
"It will be my pleasure." Sha'ira said playfully, as her body began to rock back and forth. Shepard arched back, crying out as the asari's thigh ignited her core, her whole being full to bursting with blind pleasure. She bucked against Sha'ira and buried her face into her cerulean neck, holding herself tightly against the asari as waves of ecstasy flowed though her. With each passing second, each perfectly timed motion, Shepard needed it more. As Sha'ira's hands gently kneaded her breasts, she stopped caring about control, and began to accept her desires. She reached up, cupping the asari's face with a shaky hand; she yearned for another kiss, to share in her pleasure, to give back.
A blaringly loud alarm sounded, startling Shepard's body the rest of the way forward, slamming her head into the sleeping pod's ceiling. She took a minute to collect herself; her body was still incredibly sensitive and having spasms from her dream, and her ears were getting abused by the alarm going off intermittently. Fuck. Last night I have fucking horrible nightmares, now I have…aw Christ. That's not an alarm, that's a personal buzzer. It's only been three and a half hours!
Shepard opened the comms in her pod and groggily responded to the incessant beeping. "What is it?"
"Commander, it's Williams." She heard through the comm, making her feel both relieved and self conscious. Well, hopefully they found something, but…I'm really not in any shape to go anywhere without a shower first. Everyone would smell me from a mile away. "Garrus found the quarian, he wants us to meet him down at Chora's Den."
"Alright." Shepard replied, trying to think something up quickly. "Uh, Williams, I know it's urgent, but I realize I haven't showered since…since before Eden Prime. I'm going to need one of those."
"I thought Chakwas cleaned you up in the med-bay…" Williams responded, sounding a bit distant. "Anyway, sure, but you should probably be quick about it. I'll go save some time and grab you a set of armor while you do that."
"You're the best, Chief." Shepard said, before letting go of the comms button. "Christ…this had honestly better be worth it. Last thing I need is to have friggin' crazy, violent, and scary world-destroying nightmares alongside crazy, sexy, mind-destroying dreams about the consort. Get it together, Shepard. You don't need that shit."
She gracelessly stepped out of her pod and shambled toward the communal showers with a change of clothes, hoping they were empty and hoping the spray of the water wouldn't be too much for her sensitive body.
Shepard rapped her fist against her chestplate, unimpressed at the level of protection the armor offered her. Serves me right for ruining my good armor. Still, you'd think they'd have an extra set of armor that fit me, considering my track record. Maybe the Alliance got tired of buying me armor… she thought, sighing at the sheer amount of padding and the ultra-lite shell over it. Been a while since I've worn an infiltrator's armor. This won't hold up well at all under close quarters fire.
"Well, let's hope this doesn't take long, and that there's as few guns pointed in our direction as possible, Williams." Shepard said, wondering what Garrus had learned about the mystery quarian. She couldn't imagine the stress of being hunted by someone like Saren, all alone.
"Would have been nice to have Lieutenant Alenko here, ma'am." Williams stated, looking a little antsy.
Shepard shrugged in agreement, looking over at the young marine. We're going into unofficial combat, probably. Not something she's probably ever had to do before…don't blame her for wanting more backup. "I'm not going to cross Chakwas. Not until I have some kind of rapport built with that classy lady, at least. She wanted Alenko under bed rest, so I can't exactly veto that." Shepard responded. She understood the marine, there was strength in numbers. Going into an unknown situation, it's always best to have more guns on your side.
"While we're kind of on the topic, did you get a good sleep, Commander? I heard a loud bang when I buzzed you…I hope I didn't startle you." Williams asked, sheepishly. Shepard couldn't quite read the marine's expression through the helmet, but there was a tinge of something else there.
"Don't worry about it. Serves me right for not setting the volume levels on the comm. And no, I didn't exactly get a restful sleep." Shepard muttered, wanting to rub the sore bump on her forehead. Didn't get almost any rest…my whole body feels wiped, and that shower was…not helpful. At all. "Anyway, Williams, you just let me know if you need a breather if any dirty stuff starts. I know starting back up after what you've gone through…especially this quickly…"
"I'll be fine, Commander." The marine stated, her voice and gaze steely.
Shepard nodded. "Good. You're a fantastic soldier, Williams, I have no doubt about that. I'm just saying the first time back is tough. I've been there before, I've served with others in similar spots, I know what to expect. I'll be watching your back the whole way. You watch mine, and we'll get out of this in good shape…hell, we'll get Saren's head on a platter if our luck turns out."
"You lost your whole unit before, ma'am? I mean…Torfan was…but some lived." Williams stuttered out, keeping her eyes ahead as the transport made its way to the lower wards.
Shepard bowed her head slightly, letting the memories flow through her. It wasn't her proudest moment; she hadn't been prepared to pick up a gun at that point, let alone lead a number of green recruits into hell with her.
"I was rushed out to a mission right after Torfan. I knew I wasn't a hundred percent, but I set that thought aside, thinking I could make myself ready. There was a slavery ring the Alliance wanted gone…some human slavers had been raiding Tiptree and selling them to this batarian piece of shit mining facility, Morrausq. I was given the orders to destroy the place." Shepard said, her voice calm, low. "They could have brought along a cruiser or two and bombed it into pieces. They could have told me I could save some of the slaves. Or that they wanted the ringleaders killed like in Torfan, but…they wanted us to get in and out, and they wanted it…clean."
Shepard looked over to the marine, her gaze boring into the younger woman's eyes. Williams turned her gaze to the dash of the skycar, resting her hands on it. "I was furious already over Torfan. I was furious about the slavery. I wanted to take my shotgun and make things right but I wasn't ready. I thought I was…I'd been to the firing range, I did an exercise or two, I was healed up physically…but when we got down there…" She stopped and collected her thoughts, censoring what she wanted to say, and leaving the rest. "I wasn't ready, I wasn't prepared. I was surrounded by new soldiers without adequate training. I had nothing to fall back on, and…well, the place was destroyed. Lost the rest of the unit. It was a massacre, on both ends. Would've died, if not for some slaves, and…well, that's another story."
"That…sounds…" Williams stammered, white-knuckled and gripping the dash.
"Thing is, Williams, these things happen. We're never prepared for them when they do, but we have to face the facts afterward. If we hide from it, we let it affect us, control us. You lost your unit, but it wasn't your fault. It was those damn geth and Saren, and your unit commander. It was horrible, but you can't let that define you. You're a damn good soldier, you've saved lives, and I'm not going to let what happened to me happen to you. If you're not a hundred percent, that's fine with me. I need to know that, and it's because I know how that affects us. We put the world on our backs and hate ourselves when we need a breather, or when we drop it." Shepard stated, taking a deep breath and resting her hand on the young marines' shoulder.
"Let me share the weight. Lean on me as much as you need. I only ever ask for one thing in return from people who work with me, Ash. I ask for honesty. That's it. If you're having trouble, let me know. If your gun's overheated, if someone's flanking you, if you've had enough killing for the day… let me know. No one's invincible, no one's an army. We all get hurt, and we all get tired, in more ways than one. If we band together and accept help, we can do anything." Shepard finished, hoping her drowsy ranting and blunt honesty would have a positive effect. "So I'll say it again…if you need a breather at any time, just let me know. That's a positive in my books, that's teamwork. Are we a team?"
Williams paused for a moment and nodded, looking a little more focused. "Yes ma'am. I'll try my best."
Shepard took the skycar's controls and led the vehicle down to the marketplace. "Good to hear, Williams. And seriously, when we're not on official duty, just call me Shepard."
"Alright, Shepard." Williams said, as the transport touched down. "Though I have to say, you're not the best at pep talks."
She couldn't help but laugh at the marine's remark. "I don't really sugarcoat things, Ash. Pep talks have their place and time. This wasn't it. I was given the ultimate pep talk before Morrausq. I needed honesty then, not some blind notion that everything would be fine if we worked hard. We need to work together, we need to be honest. That's how we play our strengths." Shepard stated, getting out of the car and stretching. "So the quarian is in Chora's Den?"
"That's what Garrus was led to believe. Saw security footage of her going in when he sent me to get you." Williams said, leading Shepard through the crowd, toward a corridor on the opposite end of the room. "She was limping pretty bad and didn't look armed."
"How'd he find out about her? Like, that she'd be at Chora's Den? Doesn't seem like a good place to hide a quarian." Shepard asked, a bit confused about the circumstances.
"He visited a contact of his, who happened to treat an injured quarian earlier. The doctor had pointed her there, saying the Shadow Broker had an agent to help get her to safety." Shepard nodded at the explanation, and sped up her pace upon seeing Garrus far off in the distance, checking over a rifle. Damn Shadowy info broker guy has people everywhere, I guess…I wonder if the consort's one…
The two quickly made their way over to the empty nook he was squatting in. A sign hung above an entrance on the opposite side of the room, assuring them that Chora's Den was somewhere close beyond it.
"Commander Shepard, glad you could make it here so quickly." The turian stated, Shepard unsure if he was being sarcastic. Hard to tell with turians, they have really different facial expressions… and mouths…
"Good work finding this mystery quarian, Garrus. Knew you could do it…this could be our big break." Shepard said, deciding to take a neutral approach to avoid hostilities. "What are we dealing with? I assume you've scoped the place out."
"Well, the Den is packed with mercs. So they're in there defending someone…" Garrus started, before his voice trailed off.
"But you don't know who." Williams finished, nodding.
Garrus shrugged and scratched at his hip. "Yeah. Could be the quarian, but I saw two of the mercs that attacked her earlier head into Chora's Den unharmed. So…I'm kind of confused. I wish I knew more."
"What kind of numbers are we looking at?" Shepard asked, opening her omni-tool and looking at the building layout for Chora's Den.
"Probably two dozen. Give or take a handful more. They're probably entrenched and their numbers would make for hellish suppressive fire." Garrus stated.
Shepard nodded and pointed to Garrus' rifle. "Alright. I take it from your rifle that you're more of a long range specialist, I'm a human pinball, and Williams provides top-notch cover fire. But if I go in and start cleaning house, I'm…"
"Uh, Shepard? We have a problem." Williams said, prodding her shoulder nervously. Shepard saw Garrus look up and seemingly grimace, drawing her attention to whatever was behind her. A huge blood-red krogan was stomping in their direction, full of purpose. Well, I'll be damned…what's he doing here? Hrm…
She stood up and moved to block the entrance casually, offering him a wave as he neared. "What brings you to this part of town, stranger?"
The krogan merely grunted and kept trudging toward her. "So you actually might have a quad after all. Here I thought you were a cowardly pyjak for snooping around me earlier." The krogan grumbled, slowing his pace as he reached her. "Out of the way, human."
"Nah, you're going to have to wait in line this time…Wrex, is it? We've got business in Chora's Den to take care of first." She said, hoping the krogan would take the bait and get impatient. She stepped toward him and slipped her hand onto her pistol.
"I have a bounty to collect." The krogan stated, turning his gaze to Garrus. "I'm sure C-Sec would wet themselves if I went on another killing spree, wouldn't they whelp?" Wrex finished, chuckling to himself, pushing the muzzle of his shotgun against Shepard's chest. She just held out her arm, signaling Williams to stay calm.
"Weren't you collecting for Fist?" Williams asked, drawing another grunt from Wrex. Right…good call, Williams!
"He's dead. He just doesn't know it yet." Wrex stated confidently, drawing an amused smirk from Shepard.
"There's about two dozen mercs in there as a welcoming party, Wrex. I'm pretty sure even you'll have trouble there." Garrus mentioned, his hand slowly reaching for his rifle.
Wrex let out a thunderous laugh at the remark. "Bahaha! I let him know I was coming. I'm happy he has so many friends there for the funeral." Wrex said, chuckling.
"So you're after Fist, and we learned a certain person of interest was sent to him for protection, under the guise that he was an agent of the Shadow Broker…" Shepard started, before Wrex pushed her back slightly with his shotgun.
"Not anymore. He betrayed the broker, decided to take someone else's money. No one does that and lives. Not when I'm called for the job." Wrex finished with a notably sinister sounding laugh.
"What are the odds that Saren paid this Fist guy off, Shepard?" Williams piped up, still fully focused on Wrex. "Think that's why Wrex is here?"
"Pretty good odds, I'd say, if Garrus' intel is right. And we know why. Which means our quarian's in some serious danger." Shepard said quickly, pointing her pistol at Wrex. "So, Wrex, looks like you have two options. You go in alone, guns blazing, and get real wounded… where we waltz in, getting what we need off your work. Or, we go in at the same time, do our thing, and give Chora's Den a wake to remember."
"I have more options than that, whelp." Wrex grumbled, aiming his shotgun back toward Shepard.
"True, but those are the smart ones. No way you get through us three alive, let alone going through Fist's men right after. The craziest krogan regeneration couldn't make up for that kind of damage, I've fought enough to know that." She bluffed, knowing that a c-sec officer and two beat up marines would have a dim chance at stopping a biotic krogan. "In the end, both of us need to go in there and do what we need to. Think you could keep up?" Shepard asked, cocking an eyebrow. I don't want a firefight with this brute, not in this state, but… hopefully a little taunting will win him over.
"You've never went up against a krogan battlemaster, Shepard." Wrex growled, before grinning wide. "It would be fun to steal the glory from you three. Let's get moving."
Shepard smiled and nodded, turning to Garrus as Wrex moved past her. She motioned for him and Williams to fall in as she kept close behind the krogan. "Garrus, hang back, I need precision fire from you, and I need it often. Your scope will be limited until we clear out the entrance of the club, so I need you to be as active as possible. Ash, I need you a few feet back of me. Keep to cover on my flanks, only fire where Garrus can't. Wrex should be enough of a distraction alongside me that we should be able to demoralize them quickly, wiping their front ranks. We come in like a wrecking ball, and settle in after they start to squirm. Take as few risks as you can afford to. Questions?"
She was met with the sound of minor weapon calibrations as they reached the closed doors of the club, a quiet affirmation that they were ready. She would have laughed at Wrex's visible excitement if they weren't heading into a nest of mercs, woefully outnumbered.
Wrex entered the club at Shepard's two count, but the trio adapted quickly; Shepard weaved around Wrex's path of destruction, charging from cover to cover, unleashing her shotgun and lifting opponents from cover in the few short lulls. Williams leashed herself to Shepard, covering her flank as the veteran worked her way through the club tenaciously, the young marine keeping the merc aggression in check long enough to reposition themselves with ease. Garrus hung far back near the entrance, picking his shots, scalping the mercs hiding behind cover. In the end, the club was a smoking disaster, corpses piled across the floor.
Shepard checked over her armor as Wrex scavenged the dropped weapons for mods. Two plates fully penetrated and cracked…one cracked, but still functional…I'll just have to make sure I don't lead with my left leg when I charge. Not bad. Though I think I opened up a lot of my shrapnel wounds, my upper body's killing me right now. I think I might be bleeding… She mused, looking over at Williams, who was looking a little spaced out.
"I'm pretty sure that was the whole of the defense. If Fist is here, he's probably hiding in the back." Shepard stated, her shotgun finally cooled down fully.
Wrex grunted and shook his head. "Coward. Should have been out here fighting."
"At least he's not getting away this time. No secondary exits in this place. Slippery bastard's finally caught." Garrus mentioned, sounding pleased with their efforts.
Shepard moved over to Williams and gave her a look over. Hasn't taken much damage, her shields must have held pretty well. "I'm gonna need one of you or Garrus to hold the fort here and watch our backs in case any reinforcements arrive. You want to come meet Fist, or do you want to stay out here?"
Williams wiped some blood off her assault rifle and looked toward the turian. "I…I think I need some air. I'll watch the doors."
Shepard smiled and patted the young marine's helmet. "You did great, Ash. We'll be right back." She said, before turning and heading toward the back doors alongside Wrex, with Garrus in tow.
As the trio entered the back room, they were met with the sight of two shaking, nervous looking, unarmored workers. Probably haul in the alcohol shipments…they have no reason to be doing this…
"S…stop right there! Don't come any closer!" One of them yelled, waving his shotgun in their faces. "We're not fooling around!"
Shepard took a step forward, unimpressed. "Neither are we. We took out over twenty mercs on our own and we didn't get a scratch on us." She said, quickly pulling the shotgun from one of the worker's hands and tossing it to the side. "This isn't your job, this isn't your responsibility. Go home."
The two quickly glanced at each other and ran away behind them, dropping the remaining weapon on the floor in their haste.
"Would have been quicker to just kill them." Wrex grumbled, tromping toward the next set of doors.
"They were civilians, they've probably never fired a gun in their lives… probably never had one pointed at them. No need to kill them." Shepard reasoned. As Wrex made it to the doors, gunfire erupted, forcing the three to the side of the walls. That rate…at least one turret.
"I'm on it." Garrus called out, understanding the situation. He pulled out his omni tool and quickly darted across the doorway from wall to wall, unleashing his overload program on the area. The two turrets quickly fizzled out, prompting Wrex to barge into the room, quickly cornering a terrified looking human in the corner of the office.
"Easy, Wrex, we need to wring some info out of him before anything." Garrus noted, following the lumbering krogan into the room. Shepard was third inside and made her way beside the krogan.
"Please, don't kill me! I…" Fist started to say, before Shepard pushed him back against the wall roughly.
"Tell me where the quarian is and Wrex won't break your kneecaps." Shepard growled, aiming her pistol at him. She heard Wrex grumble something, but kept her focus trained on the sniveling man in front of her.
"She's not here, I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" Fist exclaimed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. She didn't buy his explanation one bit, smacking him in the face with the side of her gun as a warning.
"He's no use to you now. Let me kill him." Wrex muttered, readying his shotgun. Garrus placed a taloned hand on it and gave Wrex a stern look. She swore she could hear Wrex rolling his eyes.
"Wait, wait! Look…I don't know where the quarian is…but I know where you can find her." Fist stuttered out, his voice trembling from the stress. "She isn't here, she said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."
"Face to face? Impossible." Wrex grumbled, shaking his head. "Even I was hired through an agent."
"No one meets the Shadow Broker…ever…even I don't know his true identity…but she didn't know that." Fist explained, his voice getting weaker under the Commander's increasingly harsh glare. "I told her I'd set a meeting up, but when she gets there…someone else's men will be waiting for her."
"Saren's mercs, you mean." Garrus piped up, drawing a nod from Fist.
"Tell me where that meeting is and maybe I won't kill your lying, slaver ass." Shepard growled, menacingly, pressing her pistol against Fist's forehead.
"H…here on the wards! The back alley by the markets!" He cried out, visibly shaking.
"When?" Garrus demanded, though Shepard had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.
"It's supposed to happen around now. If you hurry…" Fist began, before getting clocked viciously upside the head by Shepard's pistol.
"Garrus, get whatever info's laying around in here and catch up, alright? Get C-sec here fast." she asked, making her way to the door. "Wrex, come on."
"I have a contract, Shepard." Wrex protested angrily. She shook her head as she reached the doors.
"You and I both know he's not worth killing." She stated, quickly leaving the area. She was surprised to hear him tromp along behind her.
"You owe me Shepard." Wrex muttered as they jogged through the corpse-ridden den.
"I owe you and the Broker, yeah. I'll make good, don't worry. Might even include a bottle of Ryncol for you." She responded as they reached Williams. "Come on Ash, quarian's in trouble!"
They raced down the entranceway to the den, Shepard hoping they wouldn't be too late. Please, please be alive when we get there…I'm tired of this down to the wire shit!
Tali paced in the small, oddly lit area, constantly checking her surroundings for any sign of activity, unable to stop wringing her hands due to her nervousness. Focus, Tali! You made it this far…and that Fist guy seemed…well, not nice. At all. But he set up a meeting with the Shadow Broker for me…and…and it makes sense that the Citadel's the centre of civilization, and that this Shadow Broker would be here, right? Or…maybe that's too convenient…Keelah! I'm not sure what to expect. Why didn't Fist tell me what the Broker looked like? He said he'd met him often…
A sound to her left caught her attention, drawing her eyes to an approaching turian wearing black and brown garments, and a ghastly white clan marking on his face. Fist said he'd be there with the Shadow Broker…why is this turian here? Keelah, why would the Shadow Broker meet up here, anyway? It's not safe here, just isolated. Perfect for a…trap…
"Did you bring it?" he asked, stepping closer to her.
Remaining still and trying to keep her cool, Tali slowly moved her hand to her hip, taking hold of a proximity mine. Just in case…
"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" she asked, hoping her nervousness wasn't audible. The turian moved up close to her and began feeling her up, trailing a talon down the side of her mask to her arm.
"They'll be here. Where's the evidence?" He stated, but Tali's gut was telling her that she'd been set up. She used her other hand to knock his arm away, and took a few steps back.
"No way. The deal's off." She stated coolly, angry at herself for believing the club owner, and angry at the turian for being so transparent.
The turian spun slowly, grabbing a shotgun, while a few Salarian mercenaries stalked out of their cover toward her. Tali tossed the mine in their direction and sprinted back toward a set of crates, hurdling over them into cover as an explosion rang out. She pulled out her pistol and muttered curses to herself before popping out of cover, firing a few shots into the smoke. As her third shot rang out, a small shiny object grabbed her attention, lobbing through the air quickly toward her. Grenade. Her eyes widened in shock and her body froze, knowing the explosion would catch her behind her cover. She knew her barriers wouldn't hold against that.
She fired off one last round and braced against the crates for impact, but it never came; a blue burst sailed past her, and another body brought her down into cover, lightly holding her there with one hand. Gunfire erupted all around her, and all she could see were a set or half-armored legs beside her as she curled up beside her cover. It's so loud! And…I don't even know who these people are! Are…are they with Fist or the Shadow Broker? I'm just happy they're not firing at me.
She sat there huddled for a few seconds more before the carnage around her subsided. She was sure that if her suit didn't filter out most of the olfactory stimulus around her, it would smell pungently of smoke and death. She took a moment to collect herself and looked up at the human kneeling beside her, looking her over curiously.
"Seems like you've had one hell of a time here on the Citadel." The woman said softly, smiling sadly at her. "Are you hurt?"
Tali scooted backward slightly, wincing as the contusion in her leg flared up. "Are you with the Shadow Broker? Or with Fist?"
The woman dropped her weapon to the ground and sat back against the crates. She looked exhausted, and the padding under her armor looked like it was soaked with blood in spots. "Not really, no, but don't worry. You're safe with us."
Tali let out a groan and shook her head. "That bosh'tet Fist set me up…I knew I couldn't trust him!"
"Don't worry about Fist. We took care of him…I just wish we'd have been able to help you earlier." The woman said, looking at her with concern as the rest of her group began arguing over in the far corner. What's a human doing with a turian and a krogan? This is…weird…wait…is that the krogan that ran into me earlier? Keelah…
"Well, I guess there are two things I have to thank you for, then." She said, sitting upright. "Who are you?"
The woman let out a light chuckle and shook her head slightly. "There's no need to thank me, I'm just relieved we got to you in time." She noted, wincing as she rotated her shoulder. "I'm Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, Systems Alliance. Just call me Shepard though… I'm technically off-duty right now. That other human there is Gunnery Chief Williams, she's with me. The turian is an investigator at C-Sec, Garrus Vakarian. Finally, that shameless scavenging Krogan is Wrex, he's one of the Shadow Broker's hired guns. "
"I…see. If you're off duty, then…why are you here? Not…not that I'm complaining…" Tali asked, skeptical of why such a motley crew happened to show up; her confusion having reached a boiling point after what she'd gone through all day.
"I won't lie, we had an agenda helping you out. There's this Spectre, Saren, that's been hunting you across the galaxy for a while now. I…I'm sorry for your loss, by the way. I heard you had another quarian with you who was killed…" the woman said softly, staring directly at her face mask. "We've been looking at finding dirt on this Saren guy. He's done some terrible things lately. He nearly wiped out a colony on Eden Prime, and he killed your friend…we want to stop him, and we learned you'd escaped to the Citadel. I'm just glad we made it in time to help."
"I might have something to repay you with, then… for saving my life." Tali stated, unable to keep from wishing that these people had been there on Illium when she and Keenah'Breizh were in trouble. That's not fair, Tali. They've helped you enough already. "It's been far too much trouble already, but…you can have it. I'd just prefer to go somewhere safe first." She said, struggling to get to her feet. The human woman quickly scrambled up and offered her hand. Tali took it and used the soldier's body as a crutch, limping as she made it to her feet.
"Easy, now. You didn't answer me when I asked if you're hurt…we have a great doctor on the ship and a pretty fancy med-bay. We can get you patched up, and we can review what you've got while we're there, if you like." Shepard said, frowning at Tali's poor effort to mask that she favoured one of her legs. "It looks like you've got a pretty rough leg injury, we should get that looked at."
"Sorry to interject, Commander, but if she's got information that could expose Saren, we should get it to Udina as soon as possible." The other human woman stated quickly, having moved closer along with the others at some point.
"T…thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine. If I can help you get back at that bosh'tet, and help keep the galaxy safer…that's more important. I'll be running a fever for a few days, and my leg's a bit sore, but I'll be fine." She said, trying to deflect the topic of conversation away from herself. Shepard still looked concerned about her, but nodded.
"Ash, get Anderson to meet us at Udina's office. Garrus, I'd prefer if you could come along to give some credibility to this, but if you've got to stick around, then I won't blame you." The woman stated.
"I'm a witness to what we've done here. I'm sorry, Shepard, I need to stay." The turian noted, looking a little crestfallen.
Shepard nodded at the officer and smiled. It was odd for Tali to see a human ordering around a C-Sec officer and a Shadow Broker agent, but she had a certain air about her. I think I can trust her. "No worries, I'll catch up with you later. Wrex, where can I meet up with you to discuss…well, whatever the cost for this was?"
"Meet me at Flux later. I'll talk to the Shadow Broker, but you owe me a bottle of Ryncol on top of whatever the cost is. I'll be waiting." The krogan grumbled, marching off back toward the lower wards.
"Alright then. I'm sorry…I've been a little distracted and I'm running on next to no sleep, so I forgot. What's your name?" Shepard asked, looking sheepishly at her. Tali blushed with embarrassment, mentally berating herself over not giving proper introductions. Great first impression, Tali'Zorah. Keelah, what would father say?
"Oh…uh, my name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. I should have told you before." She mumbled, casting her gaze down on her feet, swaying slightly off balance.
Shepard let out a light laugh, the soldier's arm adjusting to keep her steady. "Honestly, I'm kinda bad for that. I have a tendency to forget to introduce myself…Williams here went half a battle with me before she knew who I was."
"Alenko told me after we met, ma'am, but at least you did tell me later on." Williams noted, Tali unsure if she was disgruntled or amused due to the helmet and her stiff posture.
"I'm a bit informal at times, I'll admit." The woman said playfully, guiding Tali gingerly back toward the lower wards marketplace. "Anyway, let's get you to a skycar and over to the embassies. I'm sure Udina won't mind us interrupting his beauty sleep."
The two soldiers laughed and led her onward, leaving the turian behind. Maybe…maybe things are looking up…
The look on Udina's face when the three arrived almost changed Shepard's mind on whether meeting with him immediately was a good idea. She still held fast to the idea that Tali needed medical attention; her limp hadn't improved, and she was clearly exhausted. Still, the ambassador's face was contorted into an exaggerated, comical grimace, and she couldn't help but grin guiltily about her prior promise to not cause too much trouble. Well, I don't think I blew anything up, specifically…I think I kind of kept my promise in that regard… she thought, noticing Anderson sitting off to the side.
"You're not making my life easy Shepard! I get a message in the middle of the night saying you have some evidence to show me…concrete evidence on Saren. Then I check my messages and hear you've incited firefights in the wards, and did an all-out assault on Chora's Den! Do you know how many asses I'm going to have to kiss in C-Sec to make up for this?" Udina raged, animatedly pointing his finger at Shepard as if it were a deadly weapon. "Do you know how many…Wait…who's this? A quarian? What are you up to Shepard?"
Shepard would have been more amused if Udina hadn't almost spat out the last bit of what he'd said. She narrowed her eyes and bit back as much of her annoyance as she could. "This quarian can help us bring down Saren. I would have told you that if you hadn't jumped down my throat." She stated coolly. "I'm sorry I interrupted your beauty sleep, and maybe you've got a day or two's paper-work added to your pile, but let's think big picture here, Udina. Saren will be exposed, and I'm sure humanity will gain in some way, and it's because of this quarian here. And she actually has a name, so put on your ambassador hat and act like one."
Udina stood still, looking a tiny bit baffled, before nodding. "I apologize, Commander. This whole thing with Saren has me a bit on edge." He stated, settling into the political form he showed in the council chambers. He turned his gaze to Tali and offered her an apologetic look. "Maybe we should just start at the beginning, Miss…?"
The quarian straightened slightly, pressing a tiny bit more pressure on Shepard's shoulder. "My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." She said, sounding more than a little wary of Udina, but polite nonetheless.
"We don't see many quarians on the Citadel. Especially the presidium. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina asked, a little confused, but Shepard was pleased he was being courteous now.
"I…just started on my pilgrimage... my rite of passage into adulthood. All quarians leave the flotilla at some point, I just found my way here somehow." Tali stated, piquing Shepard's curiosity.
"Pilgrimage? I've never heard of that before. What is it?" She asked, wondering why the quarians would travel so far from home.
"It is a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind." Tali mentioned, wistfully. "Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."
Shepard nodded and smiled. Not too different from what me and Heather did when we joined up…but it was our decision then, and we weren't exactly out finding things to come back with…though I wonder…
"What kind of things do you look for, usually?" She asked, the data core long forgotten for the moment.
"It…could be resources, like food or fuel. Or some type of useful technology, or blueprints, or schematics…or even knowledge that will make life easier on the flotilla. It's all to prove that we can contribute to the community like adults, rather than being a burden on our…well, limited resources. But…this isn't really why I'm here, exactly." Tali said, head cocked toward Shepard. I wonder what her visibility's like, seeing through that mask…I have a feeling I'm going to pester her with a lot of questions…
Shepard nodded and scanned the room. Udina looked surprisingly intrigued, but Williams and Anderson looked bored out of their minds and impatient, respectively.
Anderson stood up from his chair and took a few steps toward the group. "How did you manage to get a hold of this evidence, anyway?"
"During my travels, I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth haven't ventured beyond the Perseus Veil. I was curious." Tali noted, looking slightly apprehensive. "On the way to Illium, I found out about a Geth patrol nearby. My friend and I managed to extract a data core and it…"
"I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism." Anderson piped in, interrupting Tali mid sentence. Shepard knit her brow, recalling her lessons on the geth from years past. I thought it was impossible…but maybe we've just got outdated knowledge?
"I…Keelah…" Tali sighed, and her shoulders slumped forward a little. "They do, but it is not impossible. My people created the geth and we know them better than anyone else, even centuries after the Morning War. If you're quick, careful and lucky, small caches of data can be saved. It's a risk, but it's possible."
"So what's on the core?" Shepard asked, again peering into Tali's mask, a little unnerved at her own reflection being the only thing really visible outside of two small, bright ovals. Those must be her eyes…
"Most of it was wiped clean, but…I salvaged something from its audio banks. I don't really know what it's about, but it mentioned that Prime place you talked about earlier." Tali said, pulling the core from one of her pockets and fiddling with it, one-handed. She handed it to Udina and opened her omni-tool, playing her copy of the recording.
"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit…" the recording was obviously Saren's voice, and Anderson hastily interrupted it, forcing Tali to pause it temporarily.
"That's Saren's voice! This proves he was involved in the attack!" He said excitedly. Shepard wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look so giddy in her life.
"He said the beacon brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit…any idea what a conduit is?" she asked, baffled. It was exciting to know they'd been right, that she'd seen Saren groundside, but the message made little sense to her.
"Must have something to do with the beacon, which means it's probably some kind of prothean technology…like a weapon." Anderson said, his voice grave. She didn't want to immediately assume it was a weapon, but she wouldn't put it past the strange-looking turian.
"Uh…um…there's more. Saren wasn't working alone." Tali mumbled, though it brought the group's attention squarely on her. She tapped her omni-tool again, and the recording started.
"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." She heard Saren claim, a vague metallic ringing in the background.
"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." Another voice stated, this one feminine, sounding regal and well enunciated. Shepard glanced around the group to see if anyone recognized the voice, but all she noticed was confusion.
"Not sure who that is, but what the heck are Reapers? Like, grim reapers?" Williams asked, speaking for the first time in the meeting. Shepard shrugged her shoulders slightly, hoping it wouldn't send Tali too off-balance.
"They don't sound very pleasant, that's for sure." Shepard noted.
"I…well, I might be able to help with that." Tali said, sounding nervous.
"If you know anything that could help, we would appreciate it." Anderson stated, sounding calm for the first time that day.
"Keelah…I…you have to promise me that this does not leave the room. The geth have grouped together with this Saren person, and…well, if they're trying to bring back the Reapers, maybe it's better to share the knowledge. If we can weaken Saren and the geth, it technically is a way to protect the flotilla…" Tali rambled, before Shepard gave her a light squeeze, hoping the reassure her.
"I think we can all agree that what's said here can stay here, on that topic at least. You've given us this evidence, the least we can give you is some confidentiality." Shepard said softly, earning a delayed nod from Tali.
"Right…well, quarian scout teams occasionally go into the veil to see what the geth are up to, if they've made advancements…that kind of activity. We've collected a number of caches and have found more information about these Reapers in recent years." Tali stated, sounding more confident as she went on. "There aren't many secrets on the flotilla, so it didn't take long for me to hear about it, but the geth…revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life."
"Can machines even have the ability to understand faith?" Williams asked, sounding skeptical.
Tali shook her head animatedly. "I don't think so. At least, not in the way we do, but still…they seem to worship them. One scout team found what looked like a shrine, once. I thought it was hard to believe, but…as we learned more, I started to think a little differently. They were apparently a really advanced machine race that existed around fifty thousand years ago, or about that. I can't remember the amount the caches specified."
Shepard felt the world slow for a moment as her vision came back to her briefly, a sharp pain rippling through her skull momentarily before vanishing. "Fifty thousand years ago?" Shepard asked, sounding weary. "That's around when the protheans ruled…or went extinct."
"I don't know much about protheans, Shepard. Just that the reapers vanished, without a trace of data as to why. It's…troubling." Tali mentioned apologetically.
"Maybe that's what I saw in my…vision thingy. Those machines definitely weren't geth, but…they could be these Reaper things…and it was a prothean beacon…if these things took out the protheans…" Shepard rambled, vocalizing her thoughts in bursts, trying to piece her vision together, to make sense of it.
"That sounds a little far-fetched, Shepard. The protheans built the mass relays and the Citadel. These technologies are still here, and I doubt the machines would have let them be, in that case." Udina interrupted, sounding a little antsy. He has every right to be, if what I saw is true…something on that level…that could bring this galaxy to its knees…what the hell have I gotten myself into?
"I'll agree it might be a stretch, but it's the only thing I can think of." Shepard stated, trying to defend herself, despite feeling she sounded like a lunatic.
"It makes some sense. The geth don't venture past the veil, and they haven't been militaristic since the war…now they're teamed with Saren, and fighting battles for this person who wants to bring these Reapers back? Whether the Reapers are real or not, I think that's why this is happening." Tali concluded, looking over to a disgruntled looking Anderson and Udina.
"The council will have a field day with these theories." Udina grumbled, his calm façade now broken away.
"Not if we don't tell them." Shepard was surprised to hear the words erupt from Anderson's mouth. For once, we're on the same wavelength. "We have the evidence on Saren, the rest can come later."
Shepard gave the captain a quick nod. "I'll agree with Anderson here. We leave the Reapers out of it for now. No theories, just evidence. That's what they wanted. We show the link between Saren and Eden prime, and he's out of the Spectres, and loses their resources. Maybe that hurts him a bit. That's our top priority."
Udina rested his hand against his mouth for a moment, thinking it all over before he nodded in agreement. "I'll bring the evidence to the Council at once. The only loose end here is the quarian."
"My name is Tali!" Shepard heard erupt from beside her. Tali leant forward unsteadily, prompting Shepard to bring her back a little, taking some of the stress off of her ailing leg.
"She's nursing some injuries, but Tali's as close to a geth expert as we have available to us. Going forward, I think that experience is invaluable. She's already helped us enormously, and she's proven she's resourceful by eluding Saren for so long. I say we bring her into the fold. Or, at least, if that sounds good with you, Tali." Shepard felt confident that she'd be able to get Tali on-board, and the quick nod the injured quarian gave her only made her more certain. I think it would be great to have someone like her on board…but Alliance regs…that might be trouble. Still, I need to at least get her patched up. Especially with what she's gone through so far. No way I let Anderson keep her away. Not right now.
"What about your pilgrimage?" Anderson asked, Shepard pleasantly surprised that the question wasn't a lot more complicated and based on military restrictions.
"The…the pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? It would be a poor moral choice to not take this opportunity. My people made the geth. With them and Saren potentially placing the galaxy at risk, my pilgrimage can wait. I have a duty to uphold." Tali stated passionately. Shepard smiled at the conviction behind the girl's voice. She looked over to Anderson expectantly, knowing she probably looked a little silly, but it was important to her that Tali be included.
Anderson nodded slowly, a slow grin forming on his face. "I suppose I'll file for an exception. The Normandy was engineered by a team of humans and turians…including a quarian might well be in the spirit of the ship."
"Thank you, you won't regret this!" Tali said, positively jubilant.
"With that issue settled, Anderson and I will go ahead and get things ready with the Council. You will have a few hours to collect yourselves, as they don't open proceedings until morning. Meet us in the Tower at 0800." Udina noted, ushering Anderson along with him.
The three stood there and breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they would have some downtime before anything else happened. Shepard looked at the chrono on her omni-tool.
"So that gives us…six and a half hours." She noted, wondering what she could spend the time on.
"I don't know about you, ma'am, but I'm going to get some well deserved rest." Williams stated, yawning into her hand.
"I think that's a pretty great idea, Williams, you've earned a god night's sleep." Shepard said, smiling at the younger marine before turning her head to Tali. "And I think we should get you to the med-bay. I think I'll need some patching up too." She finished, pressing down on her breastplate and hearing the blood-saturated padding let out a disturbing sound. Williams cringed and nodded in agreement.
"I am fine, really." Tali insisted, but Williams have her way to Tali's other side and used her arm to support Tali.
"Yeah, no. You've got a bad limp at the least, and it looks like you patched one of your arms up recently. The doc should check you out first." The marine said apologetically, understanding the urge to not see medical staff.
"Thanks Ash. I appreciate it." Shepard said, happy that their new acquaintance was burdened less. "So Tali, you a fan of ships?"
Shepard felt that the worries of the future could hopefully wait a few hours, feeling in dire need of rest. The whole walk back, though, her mind drifted off to her vision, and she felt the fear from the dream pulsate through her. She felt it in her bones. She could only hope she wouldn't feel it in her dreams.
A/N: Well, this took a while to complete, and…well, I'm afraid I won't have a lot of time to write going forward. But I'll really, really try to release stuff regularly! I've been outlining like a fiend, and I've got a lot of scenes outlines, I just need to write them. But time is not something I have a lot of these days.
Anywho, hope this was remotely enjoyable. This was written across the span of a week, and while I've read it over a few times, I hope it's not disjointed. I might be blind to it by now. :P
But yeah, I hope it was fun. Still another chapter or two on the Citadel before they depart :D I'll try to make it as interesting as possible!
So anyway, thank you to everyone who's been reading! You're really the prime motivating force at this point. Normally when I outline things, I've thought up the story in my head and I don't feel the need to write it, but…well, you make me want to keep writing and expanding. You're awesome like that. So thank you for all the favs, the alerts, the reviews…they really make my day/week/month!
And a thank you to 'opin' who reviewed, but doesn't have an account. Sha'ira will definitely be a fairly important character in this fic, so you shall see her again :D For real, though. Not like in this chapter. But thanks for that review :)
Anywho, I hope you all have fantastic weekends! I'm getting started right away on the next chapter, but I can only write for the next two or so hours. Probably won't get more than a scene done. Still, fun stuff!
Have a good one!