Shepard stepped out of the skycar, followed by Mordin and Garrus, and headed to the precinct. There, she asked Detective Enyala, "Do you know where Samara is?"
"The Justicar? She's in the nearby alley, past the police line. Why are you asking? Did she kill someone?"
"Not that I know of." Shepard replied, "I need to recruit her for a mission."
"Justicars don't usually sign up for missions from random aliens. No offence."
"This mission is different. I'm going to be taking a ship through the Omega 4 relay so that we can drive them extinct."
"That's a suicide mission if I ever heard of one. But, Justicars are drawn to impossible causes. Who are you, human?"
"The name's Shepard." she replied, "So, can we go past the line?"
"Sure. Just tell anyone who tries to stop you that I said you could."
"Got it, thanks, Detective."
"No problem, Shepard." she said.
Shepard and the others walked out of the precinct, and into the alley. Soon, they were under fire by three Eclipse mercs, and had to get into cover. She said, "Mordin, incinerate that front one! Garrus, concussive shot the one in the back. I've got the one in the middle."
"Understood." The turian said.
Mordin said, "Flammable. Or inflammable. Forget which, doesn't matter!" as he incinerated his target. At that moment, Sarah vaulted over her cover, and tackled the last merc, pulling out a pistol, and killing the asari with three rounds to the head.
"Move out!" she said, walking down the path to the door. As she opened it, she saw Samara grab a merc, and hold her up by the throat.
"Where is the asari you smuggled off world?" the Justicar asked.
"I'm not going to tell you. She could do far worse to me than you ever could, Justicar."
"Is that so?" Samara asked, slamming the asari into the ground, and crushing her neck.
"Nicely done." Shepard said.
Samara flared her biotics again, and asked, "Are you working with Eclipse, human?"
"No. My name's Shepard. Formerly a Lieutenant Commander in the Alliance and a Spectre. You may have heard of me as the Savior of the Citadel."
"Yes. But, reports were that you had died. Yet here you are."
"I got lucky."
"And how could one get lucky enough to come back from the dead."
"There's this human terrorist group called Cerberus. They spent two years and over four billion credits to revive me."
"Impressive." Samara said, as Detective Enyala walked in.
She said, "Sorry about this, Justicar, but I'm under orders to take you in."
"Very well. Be aware that I can only be detained for twenty-four hours, and then will have to fight my way out. And, if you attempt to contain me in a cell or cuff me, I shall be forced to terminate you."
"Damn." Garrus whispered in Shepard's ears, "This asari could teach Miranda how to be an Ice Queen."
Shepard replied, "Are you really going to go there about her, Garrus?"
"Just kidding, Shepard. I'm sure Miranda's perfectly warm towards you."
She shook her head, and followed Samara and Enyala back to the precinct. Inside, she said to Samara, "I'm gathering a team for a mission. Cerberus gave me a dossier on you, and suggested that I recruit you. I've seen your record, and it's impressive. It said you were here hunting a criminal. What'd she do?"
"The criminal I am hunting has been travelling across asari space committing thousands of murders for over two hundred years. I received report that she was here on Illium, but by the time I had arrived, she had already been smuggled off world on a freighter by Eclipse. I need the name of that ship. If you find it, I will work for you, Shepard."
"Fair enough. We'll be back when we get it." she said, walking away. She walked over to Pitne For, and said, "I don't care about your business practices of selling Eclipse a deadly chemical agent that temporarily increases biotic abilities. All I want is the key to their base. I know you have a copy, so don't try telling me you didn't. I also know that you have been smuggling in Red Sand. So, don't try to argue. Just do as you're told, and there will be no problems between us."
"Red Sand is legal on Illium." the volus said.
"On Illium, yes. On the Citadel, Horizon, Palaven, Earth, Bekenstein, and Sur Kesh, not so much."
"Fine. Here's the key. Just, please, don't get me arrested." he said as he handed the key to Shepard.
"Why don't you quit smuggling drugs, and start working on something actually legitimate? Then I won't have to turn you in."
"Please don't turn me in. The Illium authorities will kill me! There's only one punishment for smuggling, death!"
"I know. So, why don't you make me feel like it's my job as a Spectre to turn you in." Shepard said, as she walked away.
-=0=-
Ashley sat down, and said, "I don't think Shepard's going to show up today. Just like yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that."
"Hmm. Well, around this time Samara was getting arrested on Illium, so she could be handling it."
"Who's Samara?"
"Another member of the team. An asari Justicar who's been hunting a very dangerous criminal for a few centuries." Kasumi explained.
"What's this criminal done?"
"Oh nothing much. Just murdered a few thousand people."
"Damn. How has she gotten away for so long?"
"She's really smart, and knows how to manipulate those around them to enable her escape."
"You think they wouldn't trust a murderer. I mean, how twisted do you have to be to do that?"
"Well, the way she kills is... unique."
"What do you mean?"
"She's got a rare condition among asari. When she melds with others, her nervous system overwhelms theirs, and kills them. Makes it look like a hemorrhage. The asari call her an Ardat Yakshi. It means Demon of the Night Winds."
"How do you know all this?"
"Well, I heard Shep and Samara talking about it one day while wandering the Normandy."
"Okay. So, is she going to show up this week? Ashley asked.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Don't know what order she's planning on doing things. But, I would say odds are in favor of her showing up. Then, we'll get to board the Collector Cruiser and learn that TIM's a backstabbing sonofabitch."
"TIM?"
"Nickname for the Illusive Man. You know, the big boss of Cerberus?"
"No, should I?"
"I guess not." Kasumi said, shaking her head.
-=0=-
Shepard stepped out of the Eclipse base, covered in orange chemicals. She stumbled, and said, "This shit is potent."
"Yes. Does appear to have had significant effect on you, Shepard. Would suggest cleaning your armor immediately." Mordin said.
"I'll be sure to do that when we get somewhere I can." she said as they walked into the precinct.
Samara asked, "Have you found out what ship it was she left on?"
"Yes." Shepard said, "It was the AML Demeter."
"Thank you, Shepard." the asari said.
-=0=-
Morinth stepped out of the cramped cargo container she had been travelling in, and grabbed the surprised turian guard by his throat. She crushed his windpipe, and as he fell to the ground, she walked away. Soon, she was standing outside the docks of Omega. Thinking, 'This should be an excellent hunting ground. So many deaths that occur normally will make my hunt disappear into the white noise.' before walking into the Afterlife Club. When she entered Aria's private booth, she stabbed one guard who tried to stop her.
Aria said, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"The name's Morinth. I'm an Ardat Yakshi. I just thought you would want a warning."
"An Ardat Yakshi on Omega? You trying to bring Justicars here? I don't need that kind of shit on my station."
"Don't worry. I believe your station is the ideal place to lose any Justicars chasing me. They'd never be able to tell that some of the deaths here are my work. Especially if you help me keep it on the down low."
"You want me to help you hide from Justicars? I think I'd rather survive."
"If Justicars come here, they'll try to kill you anyways. The Queen of the Mercs isn't exactly an innocent soul." Morinth said.
"True." Aria said, "I'll help hide you, in exchange for two things."
"What?"
"You leave my employees alone, and are willing to occasionally hunt people I view as, how do you say it, disruptive elements? I think that with your special set of... abilities it would prove a profitable venture for us both."
"Sounds fair to me."
"And, of course, our business will be kept a strict secret. No paperwork or anything, but if you cross me, I have methods of dealing with people who break my rules."
"Alright. I'll be sure to leave your people alone." Morinth said, "But I'll also need a place to stay. You know anywhere?"
"I'll arrange lodgings for you." Aria said, "Now get out of here, and take that corpse with you."
Morinth nodded, and walked away.
-=0=-
Shepard stepped out of her shower, rolling her stiff neck. After putting on a shirt and t-shirt, she entered the elevator, and headed down to the CIC. There, she walked up to her position by the galaxy map, and after examining the short list of notes on it, lit up co-ordinates for the Citadel.
"Aye-aye. Exiting dock now." Joker said.
"Normandy is aweigh." EDI said. A few moments later, she added, "We have exited Illium's atmosphere. On course for the mass relay. ETA two-hundred minutes. Time to final destination, twenty-eight hours."
"Good. Make sure there aren't any complications on the trip." Shepard said, heading down to deck three. There, she saw Jack and Thane fighting. "What the hell is going on in here?" she asked.
Thane said, "Training."
"Why are you training Jack in your fighting style? Don't you think that she's dangerous enough as is?"
"It is always good for a warrior to have just one more tool in her belt. That way there is a greater chance that their foes will not be as likely to be able to defeat them." Thane replied.
"If you say so." she replied, looking at the crew gathered around. "Don't they have something to do?"-
"We put in bets on who would win."
"Really?" Sarah said, shaking her head, "Don't you guys have something better to do with your time?"
"Not really. We work the night shift, so don't really have anything to do right now."
"Fair enough. Just make sure you get enough sleep."
"Will do, ma'am." they said.
She then turned to Thane and Jack, and said, "Continue. I'll fight the winner."
"Got it." Jack said.
Thane simply nodded,and turned to Jack. "Get ready. Shepard, if you would initiate the battle."
"Alright. Three, two, one, FIGHT!" she said.
Jack and Thane began circling around each other. It was slow at first, then, while Jack clambered onto a table, to Gardner's dismay, Thane charged, biotically kicking at the Con. Jack ducked under it, and struck at Thane's neck. He caught her hand, and flipped her over his back onto the ground. Jack gasped, and rolled away from Thane, as he attempted to kick her while she was down.
She kicked at Thane again, but he simply sidestepped it. As her foot moved down, she raised her other and attempted a roundhouse kick at the assassin's head. He ducked, but was still slightly too slow. Her foot grazed the top of his head. He rolled backwards, and as she punched at his gut, he again rolled to the side, and rapidly punched her first in the back of the knee, then the middle of her spine, then hit both of her shoulders. She collapsed, and as he was about to pin her to the ground, she wrapped her legs around his, and headbutted him. He started to stumble backwards, but Jack's legs made it so that he fell over instead, and as he fell over, she was back on her feet.
He rolled away from her, and punched her with his left arm. She took it easily, and kneed him in the chest. He stumbled backwards, then tackled her into the wall. She groaned, and collapsed. As Thane pinned her to the ground, she flared her biotics, and flung him into the roof. He landed to the ground on his feet. He swept Jack's feet out from under her, and pinned her to the ground. She struggled, headbutting him. He maintained his grip on her, and said, "Yield."
"No thanks." Jack said, continuing to struggle. She managed to get one of her hands, and punched him in the face. She drew a small amount of blood, and when it connected with her skin, she started to see colors. And, in the corner of her eye, saw a group of turians fiddling with pistols upside down on the roof. She shook her head, and focused on Thane. She roundhouse kicked him in the face. He stumbled backwards, and then as she attempted to punch him again, hopped into the air and landed on Jack's arm, which caved under his weight. He punched her twice in the stomach, as she was again looking at the turians, who now were fiddling with a high caliber sniper rifle.
She looked at Thane again, barely managing to block a pair of punches. Then she tackled him, and started punching him over and over again. As he bled from her punches, she saw the turians were now messing with what looked suspiciously like a Thanix cannon. Then, Thane tackled her, and said, "Surrender."
"What's with the turians?" Jack asked.
"Oh great." Shepard said, "Jack, go see Chakwas. Exposure to drell fluids can make humans start tripping balls."
"Oh fan-fucking-tastic." Jack said, as she got up, and walked into the medbay.
"Well, look like it's you versus me, Thane." she said.
"Indeed, Commander. Though, I would suggest that you make sure you get completely covered, so that you don't also start hallucinating."
"That's not really necessary." she said, "My upgrades make so it's impossible to get me high."
"I see. That is very thorough work."
"Yeah, I can't get high, drunk, sick, sore, poisoned. You name it, the nanobots in my body repair my cells and remove dangerous substances before they can be absorbed into my blood stream."
"So, what would happen if these nanobots were deactivated?"
"They are what makes so that I'm stronger than the average human. If their synthetic material were destroyed, I would be a normal human again. Well, not normal. Miranda also did serious gene-therapy for me. I'd be about as above average as she is."
"It seems her work was quite thorough."
"Yes. I was always tough and healed quickly. Now, when my bones break, they're back in perfect condition in under five hours."
"How?"
"Well, with improved natural healing, and the nanobots repairing the organic material with an advanced form of medigel that replicates organic cells kinda like how omni-gel works."
"How is it produced?"
"Well..." Shepard said, looking around, "I doubt you've noticed, but I've been eating a lot more than before I died. They take a small fraction of the food I eat to produce the stuff."
"I see." Thane said.
"Anyways, let's get this started." Shepard said.
"Yes." Thane said, charging at Shepard.
-=0=-
A few minutes later, Miranda stepped out of her office, and when she saw Sarah and Thane sparring, she said, "You know, we have a sparring arena down on deck five. That way people can spar without risking damaging the ship."
Sarah ducked beneath one of Thane's punches and caught his roundhouse kicked, and after pinning him to the ground, said, "We should probably stop."
"True." Thane said. "We do not wish to cause trouble. And, there are some things that I need to look into."
"Have fun, Thane." Sarah said, turning to Miranda. "How are you, Miri?"
"Nervous. Come with me." Miranda said, walking to the elevator."
Sarah nodded, and followed. After it reached deck five, Miranda got out, and after walking into a small corner, she said, "We have to get rid of 'John.' I caught him sneaking into EDI's AI core. After he left, I went in and investigated what he'd done. He's been messing with her systems. What I've seen, it looks like he's trying to change EDI's personality core."
"How?"
"To hate you personally."
"That fucker. What is he trying to do?"
"What is who trying to do?" John asked, as he dropped down from the rafters.
"Miranda, get behind me." Sarah said, glaring at John.
"What is your issue, Commander?" He asked.
"I don't like or trust you, 'John'. So, why don't you get the fuck out of here. I'm having a private conversation with Miranda."
"The Illusive Man..." John began, but Sarah interrupted,
"can go fuck himself right up the ass."
"You should show your employer more respect."
"I'll show him all the respect a crazy, indoctrinated, dumbass deserves." she growled, "So, why don't you fuck off, John? And, I'm guessing your last name is Harper. A big daddy's boy."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you don't know the Illusive Man's name is Jack Harper? Learn how little other people know every day. Go away now, or I will kill you like the piece of shit you are."
"Are you threatening me, Shepard? I could crush you like a worm."
"Is that a challenge, John? If you're so confident that you can kick my ass, bring it!"
He laughed, and pulled out a sword.
"A sword?" Sarah asked, "Are you fucking kidding me? What, are you Kai Leng or a gender-swapped phantom?"
"What's a phantom?" John asked.
"Still in development." She said, "Bring it."
"In the sparring ring." Miranda said.
"Not really fit for this kind of encounter." Sarah said, glaring at John.
"Do you want to break your own ship?" Miranda asked.
"This won't last long enough to hurt the Normandy." John said.
"Not how you think." Sarah said. Biotically charging into John. He tried to block with his sword. But, it shattered on contact, and he felt Shepard's foot hit his throat. He stumbled backwards, and fired three rounds at her. The first two hit her barrier, and the third missed. She turned around, and saw that it had hit Miranda on the left side.
"Bad fucking move, John." She growled, as she tackled him. She ripped the pistol from his hand and fired three rounds into his head. His shields blocked all three rounds, and Shepard turned to Miranda. "You alright?"
"Yes. It didn't hit any internal organs."
"Good." Sarah said, turning to John. "I want you to get the fuck off my ship when we dock on the Citadel. If the Illusive Man objects, give him this message from me. I am the CO of this vessel. This operation may be funded by Cerberus. But it is not controlled by the organization. This is a Spectre operation. If he objects to my methods, then I will have no choice but to sever all connections to Cerberus and turn to the Council and Systems Alliance for funding. I would rather remain on civil terms with Cerberus that way your organization can be of assistance when the reapers arrive. But, if he insists on interfering, I will have no choice but to end contact."
"You can't be serious. Without Cerberus funding you would still be dead. Without our funding, this ship would not exist. You still have a sizeable debt to work off, Shepard."
"Really? I thought that being the Savior of All Organic Life meant that the entire galaxy owed me their lives. So, if you consider that, I don't owe TIM jack shit. He's just paid off his debt to me."
"Your arrogance will be your undoing." John said.
"Oh really? You seemed pretty confident in yourself, John. So, why don't you just fuck off to some corner to mope in. Maybe bitch to your boyfriend about what I'm doing. Because he's the only one who gives a fuck."
John tried to kick Sarah, but she simply caught it and he growled, "I'm no filthy homosexual. Unlike yourself."
"I bathe quite regularly." Sarah replied.
"She does." Miranda said.
"You are no better than she, Lawson. All of you queers should be locked away where you can have your deviance to yourselves."
"Wow." Sarah said with a smirk, "Homophobic much? What, afraid we'll take all of the girls for ourselves? Don't worry, we'll leave the fugly ones."
He punched at her, and said, "Not afraid of you. I merely would rather live in a pure galaxy."
"Oh, you going to go on about how there should be racial cleansing too? Because if so, we are not looking at good mental health."
"Fuck you." he said, and walked away.
"That's right. Go whine to your wife who beats you."
"I'm single." he replied, "And if I were married, and there was one spouse beating the other, I would not be being beaten. I'm an N7, after all."
"Yeah, well I'm basically an O7."
"What?"
"Special ops numerically go up to 7, but they alphabetically go up to N. O comes directly after N, so she is saying she is quite a bit better than N7." Miranda said.
"Oh shut up, you useless..." John started, but felt himself fly into a wall.
"You really didn't want to finish that sentence." Sarah said, with a faint biotic glow around her.
He shook his head, and walked away.
Miranda asked, "Are you trying to alienate the Illusive Man so fast that he suffers whiplash from the sudden shift from wanting you back alive to wanting you dead again?"
"If that could happen, I would be trying it." she said. "He's a pain in the ass."
"Yes, but maybe don't try to alienate him too much yet. He could still cause serious trouble."
"Alright. I'll try to get along with him. But, I'm not going to let him keep 'John' on my ship. Seriously. What the fuck? Messing with EDI?"
"Don't worry about it. I fixed her."
"Good. We don't need more trouble." Sarah said, "But, we should get you to medbay. Get that shot cleaned up."
"Yeah." Miranda said, following Sarah.
-=0=-
When Sarah and Miranda walked in, Chakwas asked, "How did Miranda manage to get shot on the Normandy, when she doesn't get shot when in a firefight?"
"There was a bit of an altercation with TIM's local spy." Sarah said. "He drew a pistol and tried to shoot me. He fired three rounds. Two of which just hit my barriers, the other one missed, and hit Miranda."
"Is he still alive?" Chakwas asked.
"Yes." Sarah said. "Hopefully barely."
"That's a terrible thing to say about someone you work with." Chakwas said.
"Well, he did try to shoot me in the face. I think it's safe to say that he's not exactly going to be on my Christmas card list."
"I suppose so." Chakwas said, as she finished patching up Miranda. "Alright, you're good to go, but do what you can to stay out of the crossfire of any fights Sarah gets into on the Normandy. Or, if you refuse to do that, at least have your barriers up. I don't want to have to be stitching you up every time she gets into a fight with a member of the Cerberus crew."
"I'll be sure to do that." Miranda said.
As Sarah and Miranda walked out of the medbay, the Commander's omni-tool blipped, and it showed a message from an unknown sender. She opened it, and it said, "Be careful, Shepard. If you permit 'John' aka Kai Leng, to remain on the Normandy or leave it alive, he will cause far worse damages to the war effort than he did before. It would be wise to terminate him immediately."
"What's that message say?"
"Where is John currently, EDI?" Sarah asked, ignoring Miranda's question.
"Operative John is currently in the main armory, speaking with Garrus."
"Got it. Send Garrus a message to have his guard up. Don't give 'John' any information." Sarah said as she entered the elevator. When it opened to the CIC, she ran into the armory, and pulled out a suit of Kestrel armor from the armor locker and grabbed her weapons. With her Mattock in hand, she said to Miranda, "Gear up. We have an assassin to terminate."
"Alright." Miranda said, grabbing her smg and pistol. The two quietly rode the elevator down to deck three, where they walked into the main cannon room, where Garrus lay on the ground, bleeding from a sword wound.
Sarah turned to 'John' and said, "Bad move, Leng."
He was quiet, then asked, "How did you figure that out?"
"Well, there was the sword. The racism, the stabbing a member of my crew, the arrogance to think you could beat me, and a few other things." she said. "So, I'm going to give you two options. You can either step out of the airlock right now, and make so I don't waste part of a thermal clip, or you can fight me and die that way. Your choice."
"I'll kill you." Leng replied, charging at her. She caught his sword in one hand, kneed him in the stomach, and fired five rounds from her mattock into him. The first four took out his shields, and the fifth hit him right between the legs. He didn't fall to the floor.
"You're tough." Sarah said, shooting him there again.
"Actually," he said, "I just have very strong armor plating there. Just in case a bitch like you tries to take me out like that."
"Fair enough." she said, shooting him in the head four times.
He stumbled backwards, and said, "Also extra durable armor plating."
"Paranoid, much?" She asked.
"Necessarily so, Shepard." he said, as Miranda warped him from behind. He turned to fire on her, but Shepard flipped out an omni blade and stabbed him in the back. He tried to kick Shepard while firing on Miranda, but failed in both, as Shepard dodged his kick, and Miranda shot his pistol out of his hand. Leng glared at both, then slammed his hands into the ground, sending out a shockwave that sent both of them flying.
While they slid down to the wall, he pulled his sword out of Garrus, and turned to Shepard. He said, "Well, it's a good thing that broke your back. Otherwise this would be much more difficult as he stabbed at her. She then caught the blade, pulled it out of his hand, flipped it around so she was holding it by the hilt, and rammed it into his chest.
"Actually, not broken. Self-repairing metal reinforcements took the brunt of the hit. So, you just fucked yourself." as she twisted the blade, so that it broke inside his torso. He started coughing up blood, until she pulled out a pistol, tore off his helmet, and fired five rounds into his head. "You'll get the floor dirty like that." she said coldly.
"We should get Garrus to Chakwas. What do we do about his corpse?" Miranda asked.
"Yeah. As for Leng, we do have a very convenient airlock."
"Opening the airlock while in FTL could tear the Normandy apart."
"Alright, fine. I suppose the airlock can wait." Sarah said, picking up one end of Garrus while Miranda picked up the other. EDI opened the door,and the two carried him quickly to the medbay.
Chakwas asked, "Is this everyone gets hurt on the Normandy day?"
"Nope. Just had a traitor on board. He stabbed Garrus, and had to be terminated."
"Let me guess, John?"
"Yeah. Had to kill him." Sarah said, putting Garrus on the bed. "There anything we can do to help?"
"Yes, get out while I operate." Chakwas said, looking at him. "I've already patched him up from worse. So, I should be able to get him back on his feet again in no time. If you two get out of here."
"Alright, we'll leave." Sarah said.
By Leng's, Miranda said, "That went well. Now, how do we handle that corpse?"
"Hmm, we have an incinerator, right?"
"No. Unless you had one added." Miranda said.
"I didn't. So, would he fit through the trash compactor? That's okay to use when in FTL, right?"
"Yes. It's got a system that compensates to prevent any issues. So, yes. But, he's a bit big."
"Well," Shepard said, walking over to the elevator. A few moments later she came back carrying a large axe.
"Please tell me you aren't planning what I'm thinking you are."
"Sorry, no can do." she said, raising the axe and bringing it down on Leng's arm. The first hit bounced off his arm, and Sarah said, "guess we're going to have to use the other tool." before once again walking to the elevator. And came back with a chainsaw.
"Why do we have those in the elevator?" Miranda asked.
"You didn't know? It's for situations like this." Sarah said, as she brought the chainsaw down on Leng's arm. Well, she was about to when Miranda stopped her.
"That's really fucked up." she said, "I'm sure there's a more... humane method of making him fit. Not to mention cleaner."
"We could lay down some plastic." Sarah suggested.
Miranda laughed, and said, "God, you are determined to cut him up, aren't you?"
"Only because it's necessary."
"Or, we could simply... actually I don't have any better options. But, you shouldn't just slice someone up like that. It's brutal"
"No one said I wasn't brutal."
"True, but this is also gruesome."
"Alright. I guess we can ask Zaeed." she said, going into the elevator, dragging the corpse. Miranda followed, silently shaking her head. On Deck Four in Zaeed's room, she asked, "How do we fit this guy into the trash ejector without butchering him?"
"Well, we could fill him with some good old fashioned black powder and detonate it. That'll blow him up into small enough pieces that he'll fit."
Miranda said, "We were hoping for something a bit less messy than butchering him."
"We could just put him into the trash compactor. That will crush him to the point where he'll fit out." Zaeed said.
"Wouldn't that be like squeezing a really juicy orange to the point where it explodes?" Sarah asked.
"The compactor captures stray fluids and reintroduces them to the cube of... garbage that it came from." Miranda said. "That is a possible solution, but is there anything that leaves him in normal human shape?"
"No. Why do you even care?" Sarah asked.
Miranda whispered, "I still technically work for the Illusive Man. If I support crushing one of his top lieutenants, it'll cause trouble."
"Alright. Zaeed, let's get him in there. Miri, you might want to go elsewhere."
"Yeah," Miranda said, yawning. "I'm going to go get some sleep. See you in the Loft."
"Alright." Sarah said, as she and Zaeed picked up Leng's corpse.
After Miranda was gone, Zaeed asked, "So, what did this motherfucker do?"
"Not much. Just stabbed Garrus. He also would have probably killed Thane, seriously hampered anti-reaper war efforts, and kidnapped a couple of VIPs." Sarah said thinking back to when they rescued Oriana from Sanctuary.
-=0=-
Flashback. Shepard's POV.
I step out of the elevator to Miranda's father's office. He stood there, holding Oriana in a choke hold. I said, "It's over, you sonofabitch."
"Actually," he said, "now that you have taken care of the reapers, it is safe for me to leave. Oh, and I should thank you for letting Miranda die. Otherwise this would have been far more difficult."
I glared at him, and said, "I didn't let her die, you motherfucker. I'll let that insult go, if you release Oriana. Let her go, and I will let you live."
He looked at my burning red eyes. Then pushed Oriana away, and said, "There! I let her go! Just don't kill me."
"No can do. I lied. You crossed the line with your comment about Miri." I said, pulling him in, and knocking him to the ground. I pulled a couple of knives, and stabbed him twice. I then pulled them out, and asked Javik, "Do you have salt on you like you always do?"
"Of course, Commander. But, torturing him due to his insult to you is an inefficient use of time." he said, "Just throw him out the airlock when we get out of the atmosphere."
I sighed, and said, "Fine. I'll just kill him now." before firing three rounds into his head.
Oriana asked, "What did he mean about 'Randa dying?"
"I'm not sure what she told you about, but we were going on a mission through the Omega 4 relay." I said, "On the Collector Homeworld, we found out they were making a human reaper. We took it out, but as it fell to its death, it tipped over the platform Miranda and I were on. I tried to save her but..." I stopped, feeling tears form again, as they always did when I thought of Miranda.
"You alright, Shepard?" Tali asked.
"Not really." I replied, looking at the ground.
"So, 'Randa's really dead?" Oriana asked.
"Dead, and no body so no way to Lazarus her."
"Lazarus her?"
"The project which resurrected me was called Lazarus." I said, "But, we need to get out of here. The information we've found should lead us right to the Illusive Man's base. But, first we need to send you to the Citadel."
"I thought it wasn't taking any more refugees. At least, that's what that Kai Leng guy said a couple of weeks ago when he grabbed me while I was about to board a shuttle there. 'Randa said that in case of emergency I should go there to meet her. But, I suppose that isn't going to happen now." Oriana said.
I asked, "You aren't upset to hear that your sister is dead?"
"I talked with her three times total. I hardly knew her."
I sighed, and said, "She always was reluctant for any involvement with you. Said it was better you had no contact."
"She did?"
"Yeah. I had to push her to talk to you." I replied, "But we really need to get going. There's no way to tell what will happen if we don't move quickly. The reapers are getting closer to finding the Crucible, and we have to find the Catalyst before we can end this war."
-=0=-
Current day.
Sarah stepped out of the elevator and into the loft, cracking her neck as she entered. Miranda was already asleep, so Sarah just stripped down to her underwear and lay down next to her.
-=0=-
A/N: Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the longer wait.