Recap: 'After this I'm coming for you personally. I don't like people who attack colonies for no good reason.' Shepard thought as he watched the hologram wink out.
Now
After the trial, all the human party had left discussing details on what to do next.
"I must ask Shepard was that bareface comment on purpose?" Udina asked curious.
"Maybe." Shepard said grinning.
"What exactly did you mean when you called him bareface." Kaidan asked.
"Well did you notice that most turians have markings on their faces?" Shepard asked with everyone nodding.
"The reasons turians have those markings is to signify the colonies they grew up on. If a turian committed a crime, the markings would show which colony the turian came from and would reflect badly on that colony. So they remove the markings so that their colony's reputation isn't harmed or to hide where they may have come from. Unfortunately, that is pretty much a way of showing that they can't be trusted." Shepard explained.
"How did you know that the turian councilor knew Saren well enough though?" Anderson asked.
"To be honest it was just a hunch. With the way he was acting I couldn't help but get a feeling that he may have known Saren well enough." Shepard confessed. Then he grinned.
"Besides, the trial was getting boring and Saren was making me mad so I decided to kick the hornets nest." Shepard with a smile.
"Shepard, if your little stunt had ended with the Council disbelieving us and messing with us I would have had you arrested for such disrespect, but since it actually got us some time I'll ignore it. You should go find any evidence that you can." Udina said.
"So we should hurry and find any evidence we can get." Anderson said.
"Wait Anderson you can not be part of this. Your history with Saren almost jeopardized us, if Shepard had not talked during the trial we may have lost." Udina said.
"Whoa Udina, I know Anderson has some history with Saren and all, but I don't think he deserves that." Shepard said trying to defend Anderson. Anderson stopped him with his hand raised.
"No, Shepard Udina is right. If I get involved the Council will definitely question our motives." Anderson said. Shepard couldn't help but sigh.
"Fine then, don't worry we'll figure it out. Anyone got any leads that we could go on?" Shepard asked aloud.
"What about that C-Sec investigator, Garrus? We saw him arguing with the executor." Kaidan offered.
"That's right! He was asking for more time with his investigation. He seemed to be getting close something when he was cut off." Ashley adding her input. That's when Shepard had noticed something. When Pallin left, he said Council's orders. What did that mean? Did that mean that the Council stopped the investigation before the hearing to intentional stop them from finding anything? Yeah they probably had done that! Shepard was taken out of his thoughts when Udina spoke.
"I have a contact at C-Sec that can help track Garrus down. His name is Harkin." Udina said.
"Forget it, they suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I wouldn't waste my time with that loser." Anderson said with a snort.
"Sounds like a typical cop on Omega to me." Shepard said.
"You've been to Omega?" Kaidan asked him.
"Been? I live there." Shepard said casually. Everyone was looking at him in shock.
"You live on Omega?" Anderson asked shocked that the Ghost of Terminus lived on Omega of all places.
"Since I was 16 years old." Shepard said. Everyone was a little freaked out by him now.
"We got any other leads? I'll take Harkin, but I would feel better if we had a more... reliable source." Shepard said trying to get off the subject.
"I have unfinished business that I need to attend to. Captain, meet me in my office later." Udina said walking away. Anderson turned to Shepard.
"Harkin is most likely getting drunk in Chora's Den. It's a little club in the lower section of the wards." Anderson informed.
"Probably tame in comparison to Afterlife on Omega." Shepard mused aloud.
"Afterlife?" Kaidan asked.
"Chances are Chora's Den has a smaller bar and fewer pole dancers than Afterlife does." Shepard said looking at him.
"How many does Afterlife have?" Kaidan asked
"Well I never bothered to count them when I walked in, but I do know you can't turn around in there without keeping 1 or 2 in your sights though." Shepard said. He couldn't help but chuckle at Kaidan's face when he said that. He also couldn't help but notice how Ashley was looking at him with judging eyes and Anderson was smirking at him. Shepard decided to explain things to everyone.
"Look I never decided to stay for the show, not that I didn't take a few glances. I was there for either drinks or to get a job from the boss herself, Aria T'Loak." Shepard said. Ashley's glare lightened a little at least.
"Hey Anderson I noticed that Udina is not on good terms with the Council." Shepard said a curious with how things were. When it was him and Aria things were rocky at first with her trying to manipulate him and him wanting to kill her during the training. Later on they got to know one another and eventually Aria had grown comfortable with how he was and he did not want kill her anymore.
"You noticed huh? He's frustrated. The Council's always preaching that we need to be part of the galactic community. But for them it's a one way street. They want us to expand and settle unstable regions like the Skyllian Verge and Attican Traverse. But when we run into trouble, they don't want to help us out." Anderson explained.
"You can't depend on them for trouble for everything. With the Council, they prefer to talk and wait for the problem to come to them. There is no use to asking them for help in a real fight." Shepard stated his thoughts on the Council.
"Look Shepard, everyone knows it is only a matter of time until we get a seat on the Council. The ambassador just thinks it should happen sooner or later, and I agree." Anderson stated
"Look Anderson maybe they would let you join if you may have been more willing to work with other species." Shepard said.
"Of course they would! If we did everything they told us to, they'd love to hve us on the Council, but it wouldn't be much of a deal for us." Anderson stated. Then he noticed something was off when Shepard said you instead of we, but wrote off as a slip of the tongue.
"I understand their side: They don't want us dominating the Council. It's founded on cooperation, but we have to look out for our interests too." Anderson explained
"Well, you might be able to do both then eventually." Shepard said. There it was again. That you instead of we.
"Hey what do you mean by 'you' don't you mean 'we'?" Anderson asked. Now Kaidan and Ashley were looking at him curiously.
"Well to be honest, I don't see myself as part of humanity." Shepard said startling everyone.
"What do you mean Shepard?" Ashley said looking at him wide eyed.
"Well even though the Citadel is a melting pot of different cultures, you guys still maintain differences in species. But on Omega its everyone for themselves almost. Living on Omega I had stopped seeing the differences with species. Asari, turian, krogan, batarian, vorcha, salarian, and humans, I hardly see the difference there." Shepard explained. Everyone was now looking at him like he had grown a second head.
"Your strange Shepard." Kaidan said.
"That's fine with me." Shepard said.
"Anyway Shepard there is another person you could ask, a volus by the name of Barla Von. He's an agent for the shadow broker." Anderson said.
"The shadow broker huh? Well that or Harkin huh? I'll do both Harkin first, then Barla Von." Shepard said. With a plan now in mind he decided to go to Chora's Den to start his search.
A walk to the wards later
Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley had made to the front of Chora's Den. During the trip they talked for a while.
"Look all I'm asking is why is it called Chora's Den? Did someone named Chora create it?" Shepard asked
"I don't know, why is Afterlife named like that?" Kaidan asked annoyed.
"That's obvious. Living on Omega is a living hell depending on which part of the station you live on which is most of it. Going to Afterlife with the women and drinks will make you think you died and finally went to heaven." Shepard told him. Ashley and Kaidan were now looking at him strangely.
"What?" Shepard asked noticing the looks.
"Nothing." The both of them said.
"Well let's get goi-" Shepard started to say before he noticed 2 turians coming toward them with assault rifles. The others must have noticed cause they went quiet. That was when the turians turned the weapons on them. They were to slow with Shepard using overload on them and their weapons. In combination with Ashley and Kaidan shooting them, the 2 would-be-assassins were gunned down easily.
"Those were Saren's men." Kaidan observed.
"Yeah, they were." Shepard agreed.
"That means that we are on the right trail, right?" Ashley asked.
"Yes, or that Saren believes we are a threat to him." Shepard said. With that they entered Chora's Den to hear the beat of the music playing, seeing the dancers he heard Kaidan talking about how he could understand why the place was so popular.
"Hey Lieutenant, you may want to pick your tongue up off the floor before you trip on it." Ashley said jokingly. Shepard smirked as he saw Kaidan blush at Ashley's comment. Shepard then looked in the direction of 2 krogan who looked to be arguing. One was a regular looking one who was acting like a bodyguard. The other one Shepard knew immediately was someone he did not want to fight. This one exuded centuries of experience, had red eyes as well as a red plate. The one characteristic that Shepard zeroed in on was the scar that went over the krogan's eye and down his face.
"Back off Wrex. Fist told us to take you down if you showed up." Said the bouncer.
"What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here. This is Fist's only chance. If he's smart he'll take it." Wrex threatened.
"He's not coming out Wrex. End of story." the Bouncer growled out.
"This story is just beginning." Wrex finished. Wrex then looked in Shepard's direction and walked towards them, heading for the exit.
"Out of my way humans, I have no quarrel with you." Wrex said as he walked pass them.
"What was that all about?" Kaidan asked aloud.
"Who knows lets just stay out of it." Ashley said not really thinking it was their problem. Shepard had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking. He couldn't believe how naive she was. On Omega, if someone else had a problem, you and others could be dragged into it. That was when Shepard noticed a guy in a C-Sec outfit drinking.
'That had to be Harkin' Shepard thought as he approached the man. Harkin looked at him as he approached.
"Hmph, Alliance military. I could've been a marine you know. Instead I joined the goddamn Citadel Security. Biggest mistake of my life." Harkin said.
"I'm guessing your Harkin. You can tell me where Garrus is then." Shepard said not really liking the man at all.
"Garrus? Ha! You must be one of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring down Saren huh?" Harkin said with a disgusting smirk on his face. Shepard was repulsed by how the guy was acting.
"Yeah I know where Garrus is, but first you have to tell me something. Did the Captain tell you his little secret?" Harkin asked.
"Is there something I should know about Anderson?" Shepard asked in mild curiosity. He was starting to get annoyed by this guy.
"The Captain used to be spectre. Didn't know that did you? Humanity's first spectre and he blew it. All very hush hush." Harkin said chuckling. Shepard was a little startled, but he knew something was off. Anderson was a spectre? No, everyone would have known. He may have been a recruit with a trainer or something though. But who... Saren! That's why Anderson is after Saren so much.
"Yea, messed up his mission so bad, they kicked him out. Of course he blames Saren. Says the turian set him up." Harkin continued.
"If that did happen, why exactly was he kicked out?" Shepard asked.
"Have to ask him yourself. Never got the details, bet it would make a good story though. The hero's fall. Classic tragedy. Ha!" Harkin laughed. Shepard was having enough so he decided to play with the guy.
"Yeah, but at least Anderson never kept making his mistakes, unlike you." Shepard said. That got Harkin to shut up.
"What the hell did you say.?" Harkin said.
"You heard me. Unlike you, Anderson never gave up and always did right. You on the other hand were major fuck up right off the bat. The only reason you are off the force now is because you are no longer useful, not that you were by much in beginning anyway." Shepard spoke his thoughts to the guy.
"I know you were one of the first humans on C-Sec, so the politicians kept you around because of that fact then. Now that they have more reliable humans in C-Sec you no longer have any value." Shepard continued.
"Well you just lost any chance of me telling you anything about Garrus. Leave." Harkin growled at him. Shepard gave a sweet smile to Harkin.
"Excuse me for a minute." Shepard said. Shepard then walked to the bouncer and started talking with him.
"Hey, listen do you care if I were to start a little trouble with that guy right there?" Shepard asked as he passed 2000 credits to the guy.
"What guy?" the bouncer asked pretending not to know who he was talking about.
"No one, nevermind." Shepard said grinning. He then walked back to Harkin.
"Didn't I tell you to leave." Harkin sneered at him. Shepard grabbed the bottle Harkin had, observing it.
"You know, I really need to know where Garrus is and I will find out." Shepard said.
"You won't hear it from-arggh!" was as far as Harkin got when Shepard had busted the bottle against Harkin's head. Moving faster than Ashley or Kaidan could faster, Shepard grabbed Harkin by the neck and had his omni-blade out towards Harkin's balls.
"Now listen and listen well. I don't have a lot of patience today. Now we can do this the easy way in which you tell me what I want now or the hard way where I castrate you here and now with my omni-blade. Understand?" Shepard said to Harkin who was sweating bullets now.
"Okay! Okay, Garrus was somewhere around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the clinic on the other side of the wards. He may have been heading there. That's it." Harkin said frantic to get Shepard to go away.
"Thank you, we'll be leaving now." Shepard said as he and the others left. As they exited Ashley spoke.
"Why didn't the Captain tell us about that Spectre business?" She asked.
"Does it matter? It was his business, not ours." Shepard said. They then continued on to Dr. Michel's clinic. When they got there Shepard felt something was off with how quiet it was in there.
"Hey guys get a weapon out I'm getting a bad feeling, get a weapon out." Shepard told them. Shepard took out his shotgun, Kaidan took out his pistol while Ashley took out her assault rifle. With that they walked in.
"I didn't tell anyone. I swear!" Shepard heard a female voice say. He could see some thugs messing with a woman in a doctor's outfit. Must be Dr. Michel. He also noticed Garrus was sneaking around the corner with a gun out.
"That was smart Doc." Shepard noticed one of the thugs speaking.
"Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" The thug said until he noticed Shepard and his crew. The thug grabbed Michel and held a gun toward her head.
"Who are you?" the thug said with Shepard and crew pointing their weapons at the thugs. That was when Garrus moved out of cover and shot at the thug holding Dr. Michel and scored right in the head. Thinking quickly Shepard used stasis on Dr. Michel. While she was paralyzed it also formed a biotic field around her so that she would be protected. He then joined in with Ashley, Kaidan and Garrus in mopping up the rest of the thugs. When the fighting was over, Garrus spoke up.
"Perfect timing Shepard. Gave me a clear line of sight on that bastard." Garrus said.
"Garrus nice shot and all, but seriously you could have shot her. And the fight that started she's lucky I used stasis to protect her." Shepard said worrying for Dr. Michel and Garrus' way of doing things. Sure he did things fast and lose sometimes, but he never put other people at risk unless there was no other way.
"There wasn't enough time to think. I just reacted. I didn't mean to- Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?" Garrus said realizing what could have happened.
"No I'm fine. Thanks to all of you." Dr. Michel said.
"Why were those men threatening you? Who were they working for?" Shepard asked her.
"They work for Fist. They wanted to keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian." Dr. Michel explained.
"How does this link with the investigation to Saren?" Shepard asked confused.
"A few days ago a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was frightened, probably on the run." Dr. Michel informed them.
"She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to exchange information for a safe place to hide." Michel continued on.
"Where did she go then?" Shepard asked confused.
"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker." Dr. Michel explained.
"Not anymore. He works for Saren now and Shadow Broker is pissed." Garrus said.
"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That was stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer." Dr. Michel stated.
"Meaning that quarian must have something Saren wants. Something-" Garrus said.
"Worth crossing the Shadow Broker for." Shepard finished for him.
"She must have some pretty damning evidence on Saren then. Did she mention anything else?" Shepard asked.
"She did mention the information she had was something about the geth." Dr. Michel mentioned in thought.
"She must have been able to link Saren with the geth. There is no way the Council will be able to ignore this." Garrus said realizing what could happen.
"I think its time we paid Fist a visit, don't you think?" Shepard said aloud.
"Shepard, this is your show now but please-" Garrus started to ask.
"You want to join? Fine by me. We could use an extra gun or 2." Shepard said.
"Okay, hey I heard the Shadow Broker had hired a bounty hunter after Fist." Garrus said.
"Yea we saw him in Chora's Den." Ashley said
"We could use a krogan in a fight." Shepard stated.
"Last I heard, he was in the C-Sec academy." Garrus said.
"Why is he there?" Kaidan asked.
"Fist accused him of making threats. We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If we hurry, we can catch him before he leaves." Garrus said.
"Well lets go." Shepard said ready to go find anymore information on Saren. In doing so Fist stood in his way, and chances were he was going to need Wrex to help him. He and everyone then made their way to the C-Sec academy.