Chapter 8
They had received a message on the way to the Citadel, a message from Cerberus.
"We know it's you causing us no small amount of grief Jessica. We wish to discuss a truce, you keep out of our hair and we will let you and your team live. To agree to our terms meet one of our agents at the Hungry Varren restaurant on the Embassy level of the Citadel. Come alone and unarmed, so will he. We look forward to meeting you"
"Are they Geth now?" Holi asked snidely
"What's the plan commander?" Cartwright asked as his hand touched his forehead. She gazed at her team, M.T was breathing heavily, but smiling, a smile she knew all too well. Christia was sat at the table in the command centre, looking disinterested, as was Mr Wiggles. Holi was pacing nervously he footsteps causing whispered clanks and clunks to ring through the room. Jedirrass appeared most confused, or angry, or upset, she hadn't quite got the hang of reading Sidae emotions yet.
"We need to introduce Jed and his team to the council, that's most important" The Sidae had brought a dozen in his honour guard, all of them male.
"Thank you Bitch" He bowed slightly the light reflecting off his shiny white scalp.
"But first" She interrupted "We need to make a quick detour" She smiled.
The council weren't very happy when she introduced them to the Sidae,
"They are unevolved" warned, Valern, the Salarian "What if we have another Krogan uprising on our hands?"
"The Sidae aren't nearly as aggressive" she argued,
"They haven't been examined, what if they are diseased?" Tevos, The Asari added
"Then I'd already be dead" She protested
"What can these 'Sidae' contribute to the Galaxy?" Sparatus, The Turian air quoted
"What did the Vorcha?"
"Commander Minnows" Hackett spoke smoothly, "Why have you brought this race here?"
"As a Spectre I must do all I can to accomplish my mission, my mission was to investigate Cerberus. Cerberus in turn were investigating the Sidae. After eliminating my opponents, I made an effort to-"
"You made an 'Effort'?"
"Yes, I made an effort to find out why. This search led me to a hidden vault, protected by the Sidae, containing a Dead Reaper and it's technology. I don't think I need to tell you how dangerous a Reaper is, dead or alive" The councillors glanced at each other.
"Continue" Hackett pleaded
"To access this vault I needed to make a deal with the Sidae, They are no threat to us, they have mismatched armour and weapons scavenged from crashed ships. I promised them weapons, armour, ships and a voice in the galactic community. Prince jedirrass will be that voice." She held out her hand, as Jedirrass stepped forward.
"It is an honour to meet you"
"What do you 'need' Jedirrass?"
"I need you only let me speak, and hear what I have to say"
"We will do as such, but in private, Minnows you are dismissed" Hackett smiled slightly, his words were warm. The Bitch patted Jedirrass on the back before stepping out of the Council chambers and heading for the Embassies.
She couldn't see anyone who looked like Cerberus when she approached, but I guess they were making sure she was alone and unarmed. She approached an empty table, near the balcony, and sat down lazily, she slouched back picked up a menu and looked over the meal deals.
"Jessica?" Someone asked, she looked up to see an unfamiliar human. He was smiling menacingly, he had short black hair and was wearing a very fancy suit, his eyes were a metallic blue, and very off putting.
"Yes?"
"I left you a message" He smiled grimly
"Oh nice to finally meet you" She stood and shook his hand, to his surprise, "Sorry I never caught your name?"
"My name isn't important my mess-
"Man of mystery, I like it" She sat back down eagerly, the stranger joined him and cleared his throat.
"My message is"
"What?"
"What?"
"Your message is what?"
"Important"
"No I got that, Jesus you'd think I was some kind of idiot, What is your message?"
"You cannot-"
"Welcome to the Hungry Varren my name is Valai I will be your server today, can I start you with some drinks"
"No I'm fine thank you" The stranger hissed
"Go on, my treat" She held out a credit chit.
"Fine….uh…water please"
"One water and for you miss"
"Ryncol, wait, half a Ryncol, I'm driving."
"Ok, I'll be right back to take your food order" The Quarian server left
"You were saying?"
"We cannot be stopped"
"Well I seem to be doing a pretty good job of it so far"
"You are just a puppy chasing its tail, there is a plan in motion far greater than you understand"
"Firstly I'm a cat person. Secondly, try me, I'm pretty smart"
"You have been our enemy for a long time"
"Like three months tops"
"We aren-"
"One water" the server placed the drink down in front of the stranger.
"Uh…Thank you"
"And the half Ryncol, are you ready to order?"
"We won-"
"Yes, I'll have the Varren steak, with fries please, and my friend here will have the….oh…you have to try the Cheeseburger"
"I don-"
"He'll have the cheeseburger"
"Do you want Earth blue or Illium red? We're all out of the Fleet White I'm afraid"
"Surprise us" The server took the menus and smiled as she skipped away
"I'm a vegetarian"
"Oh it's ok" She took a sip, "Anyway" she gestured for the Stranger to continue.
"I..uh…we aren't who you think"
"You aren't Cerberus?"
"We were, but we have evolved"
"So now you're working for the reapers?"
"We work for nobody, we serve nobody, we know that the Reapers were false, but they gave new life to so many"
"Husks, Banshees, Brutes?"
"The next stage in evolution, it was sloppy work but with the right man behind it, we can become so much more than humanity."
"And the right man is illusive?"
"Even to us"
"You've never seen him?" The Stranger paused
"He doesn't see anyone, anymore, after Shepard assaulted Cronos station, he won't risk leaving any clues as to his whereabouts."
"But he still exists"
"We still receive his orders and hear his voice"
"Good, so I may have some use for you"
"We may have use for you also"
"How so?"
"We need access that you have, every Spectre is hunting us, all fools on an errand, yet all thorns in our paws"
"You already know my answer"
"Then I have a new proposal, the same one I have offered to every other Spectre. Leave us be."
"And how did they respond?"
"Negatively, but respectfully"
"Well I can do half of that" She took another sip.
"You don-"
"Here's your food, one Varren steak with fries and one Cheeseburger surprise also with fries"
"Thank you, Valai" She smiled once more before leaving. "See, I know her name"
"You don't realise what we are doing, resisting us, means you will die, now or later."
"As I said, try me"
"The Raloi, Vorcha, Sidae, Kilik. Why do you think the Reapers let them be?"
"They weren't advanced enough"
"Precisely, and that was their folly. These are untapped resources, armies in the making, a few augmentations and even veterans like you will be scared"
"Scared?"
"People always fear the unknown. Humans become Husks, Turians Marauders, Asari banshees, you said it yourself. Each of these you have fought and killed but can you even fathom what a reaper augmented Raloi will look like?"
"So you're building an army. What happened to the old Cerberus, who would infiltrate and brainwash? That was more fun."
"Sometimes a fist works better than a handshake, you of all people should know that" He reached for a fry.
"Oh no, you aren't eating"
"I thought I had to try it"
"You lost your chance to" The Stranger paused and reached for his belt
"I didn't think you would be as lenient as the others" He placed a Phalanx pistol on the table in front of him. "I never in-"
"Is everything OK you guys" Valai asked, sporting a whimsical smile.
"Just perfect Valai, Thank you" The Bitch answered, "Oh, Valai, How much do you make a night?"
"Two hundred credits if I'm lucky"
"Here's a thousand" She threw the credit chit at the server, "Let your manager know I'll pay for any damages"
"Dama-?" Valai spotted the pistol and nervously hurried away. The Bitch snatched a fry from The strangers plate.
"You see, the mistake with your message, this is delicious by the way, was the word if. You said if I was to agree terms I should come unarmed, but I never intended to agree so…"
"I watched you, you have no weapons, I wouldn't have sat down if you had"
"On the contrary, I have four weapons." She nodded over to a table, "See that Quarian nursing a milk shake, who looks like she's been stood up? And the little ring box in front of her?" The stranger nodded, "That isn't a ring box, it's a turret, she and my head engineer designed it, now being so small it's not the most powerful, but it'll definitely take out your shields which is when" She pointed behind him "The big imposing muscular looking Drell, he's a mercenary I used to know on Omega, he owes me one, his name is Rellink, cool guy, loves football, you should meet him. Sorry, when your shields go down he….will….move out of the way so that my friend M.T can punch you in the back of the head, M.T's the Krogan by the way." The stranger looked over his shoulder, as M.T waved politely.
"You aren't going to kill me, you said you need me. To tell you everything I know"
"You've already told me, well at least where to start looking, Kilik wasn't it?" She smiled victoriously, "Anyway M.T won't kill you"
"Then what will?"
"Ah but that's where my third weapon comes into play, over on that upper balcony way across from us" She gestured out to the other side of an expanse, "That's where another of my friends, Jesus I'm popular, is waiting with his rifle" She activated her omni-tool. "Where are you aiming Ravinski?"
"At his head"
"I would have preferred his balls"
"I didn't say which head" She looked back to the stranger who was still trying to spot Ravinski.
"Ravinski is a Raloi, one of the guys you failed to recruit, he's an excellent shot, I don't know if you know this but the Raloi don't actually need a scope on their sniper rifles, because to them a normal rifle is a sniper rifle"
"That's all impressive Jessica, but I only count three"
"I stole your gun while you were distracted"
"Oh"
"Yeah" She pointed the gun at his chest.
"What good is that pistol if your friend over there is going to kill me"
"This isn't to shoot you with"
"It's not?"
"This is the signal" She shot twice into the air, the customers and staff from the restaurant began to scatter, a bolt of electricity leapt from the miniature turret and took down the strangers shields, paralyzing him momentarily, Rellink fell sideways to the ground as M.T, biotics charged, flew forward and smashed The Strangers head into the table, The Bitch just managed to move his plate out of the way. A final shot echoed throughout the Citadel as the Strangers skull exploded, leaving a mesh of blood and bone, muscle and sinew across the table and the floor. She grabbed his cheeseburger and took a large bite of the bloodstained meat. "Earth Blue, that is a surprise"
They stepped into the elevator
"You still owe me Rellink"
"Do I?"
"Yes, I'm going to pay you for this job, I might need you later."
"Fine" There was a long pause
"How are things going on the Raloi homeworld, Ravinski?"
"Fine, They are voting next month"
"Voting on what?"
"The new Primeminister"
"New-"
"The King and Emperor agree we need to join the Citadel, that's a start, but we have a long way to go to regain the Council's trust, and they agree on little else. So I suggested we create a third ruling party, elected by the people and speaking for the people, that way a two thirds vote passes a bill, and we can begin to prove ourselves in the eyes of the galaxy"
"Who are the candidates?"
"It's a Ghost vote, everything is anonymous"
"Sounds like Chaos"
"That's just the way we like it" They stepped from the elevator into the docking bay, The Bitch strode along triumphantly, dried blood spattered in her shimmering blonde hair, Holi, M.T and Ravinski were close behind her. At the base of the boarding ramp to her ship she spotted a handful of short pale aliens.
"Hey Jed!" She shouted waving a hand wildly through the air.
"Bitch, it is good to see you, you look….."
"Bloody"
"That too"
"What brings you here?" She folded her arms, and leant back slightly.
"I am here to tell you the good news"
"Whoa whoa wait, good news exists?!" M.T exclaimed
"I thought it was just a legend" Holi added
"Yes Have you not noticed our new armour and arms?" He did a small twirl to show off, the armour appeared Salarian made, Black with white markings across the torso and legs, the weapons were crafted by Turians with geth enhancements, powerful but small and with reduced recoil allowing much more capable dual wielding.
"Fancy, How'd you get them?"
"The other races wished to study us, so we made a deal, they provide us with armour and weapons made to our specifications, three sets for every one Sidae they study and we in turn allow them to study us, we even have a scientific envoy preparing to embark to our planet, with a small escort of mine of course"
"Nice one Jed, you'll make an excellent politician"
"There was one odd thing, all of the Asari I've spoken to are women"
"All Asari are women"
"Ah" He thought for a second, "Please don't tell mother"
"I'm not planning on it" She started to board her ship
"There was one last thing, we have been given permission to colonise a few planets within our system, these are planets that our ancestors attempted to colonise thousands of years ago, the ones we lost contact with."
"So you might find out what happened to your people?" The Bitch commented
"That is the hope"
"Well, be careful Jed"
"I'm not going"
"You aren't?"
"I love it here, aboard the Citadel, the technology, the food, the other races. This is where I am meant to be, and I owe it all to you, Bitch" She was shocked at the accusation. "If you hadn't given me credit for the actions in the vault, I would still be scavenging, one of my sisters may be in this position, or worse yet my mother. If there is anything I can do for you, do not hesitate to ask"
"Cool, I'll think of something"
"Take your time, I am in no rush to die today" He laughed and said his farewells as he and his escorts left the scene. The Bitch and her crew boarded her ship and set out toward the Kilik homeworld.