Recap: "You are amazing." she said with everyone nodding in agreement at him before leaving towards the Normandy. Shepard looked at them as he left. He then noticed the crate of stuff that he bought, along with Chun's supplies, were being loaded onto the Normandy. Shepard then cracked a smile before going onto the Normandy.
Now
Shepard had finally entered the Normandy after staying on the Citadel for a few hours. He finally had some things he could do. He then made his way to Joker and told him to make a u-turn to the Artemis Tau Cluster.
"What? We just came from there." Joker said whining a little. Shepard rose an eyebrow at Joker's reaction.
"We didn't have anything else to do there before and besides, we needed to make a pit-stop to refuel and buy some more gear for Liara." Shepard reasoned.
"Yea, but that doesn't explain why we are heading right back to where we picked her up." Joker retorted. Shepard looked around to see if anyone was listening in. Seeing no one, he leaned down to Joker's level.
"Listen we're going back there for three reasons. 1) We need to test Liara's skills. 2) I found there are some slavers in the system and you know me. Finally 3)..." Shepard whispered before he paused wondering if he should tell Joker about the missing recon team.
"Yes?" Joker asked, noticing that Shepard seemed reluctant. Shepard decided it was okay.
"Admiral Kahoku lost contact with one his recon teams in the cluster. He can't get in, but we can." Shepard whispered, letting Joker connect the dots. Joker nodded silently, all argument gone from him, thinking it could lead to rescue mission. Shepard nodded and told Joker the coordinates that Nassana Dantius gave him thinking the slavers might be the cause or could lead him the team. Shepard then walked towards his cabin as the preparations for takeoff began. When he entered his cabin, he locked the door so no one could get in. He needed some privacy now. Before he could do anything else, he felt the need to scan his room since it was enough time for someone to add 'something' to the Normandy. He took his omni-tool and scanned the room. He found another bug, but unlike the other 2 from the shadow broker and the unknown organization, this one was clearly made from the Alliance and didn't have a self-destruct mechanism in place. He quickly analyzed it trying to figure out how long it was in his cabin. He noticed it was relatively new from the lack of marks on it and polish most new machinery had. He also noticed it didn't have even a little dust. That meant it was only on the ship for a few hours at most, but who...
'Mikhailovich.' Shepard mentally growled realizing who did it. The bastard had used the inspection for a chance to dig into Shepard recent activities. Shepard quickly disabled it and went to repurposing it for himself. He then put it in a different spot where it could see most of what went on. The only place it couldn't get was the bed and the terminal beside it. Shepard planned to use it just in case someone tried sneak in again. On a hunch he had Isaac look through the computer to see if anyone tried to access it while he was out. Apparently Mik was a wannabe hacker too. Fortunately Shepard had the good sense to upgrade the current security as well as install multiple failsafes and firewalls that would take a master thief a good fifteen minutes to crack, that was saying a lot. Shepard didn't save personal files on this terminal, but to a personal OSD. He wouldn't use Isaac as one because he felt as if he using as Isaac as a tool and not treating him as a friend even though Isaac saw and remembered everything on the OSD. Unlike most other OSD's which a plugged in or wirelessly download/upload via omni-tool, Shepard's OSD has a holographic interface that allows Shepard to choose what terminal to use as long as he has access. Normally he would use his omni-tool, but with the presence of Isaac taking up most of the space in both, he decided to use the terminal. (If any of you have seen the amazing spider-man 2, think of the file drive Norman Osborn gave Harry.)
Shepard had a great many things stored on it. He had at first used it as record of the things he took from the slavers: What he sold, kept and used to create. Then he began to add journal entries, credit accounts under false names he and Isaac came up with which included records as well as people of different races. He also had Isaac's record. It didn't say AI, but Isaac Clarke, human, mysterious owner of several businesses that the false identities worked for which were held by him. Over the 5 years between the events of Torfan and Eden Prime, Shepard had managed to get his and Isaac's fingers into several small businesses. That's not all, Shepard had inherited his mother's love for science and combined with his genetically tailored intelligence and high learning capability, he invented various things such as a suit of armor and a compact heavy mech as well as a new energy source he liked to call an arc reactor. Sadly he just has the schematics down on his OSD, not the actual thing. Shepard and Isaac were both in the process of gathering resources for them as well. Shepard and Isaac had taken a laser drill from the slavers, not unlike the one they used on Therum. So Shepard and Isaac looked for a planet out in the relatively far reaches of the Terminus and found one out in the Minos Wasteland, Pietas. They were constructing a secret underground mining facility and factory for making some of Shepard's ideas with the use of mechs they scrounged up over the years. While the planet was used by pirates to lay low, it provided Shepard an opportunity to have more mechs, credits and ships, as well as other components to use or sell. In compensation for all the mechs since Isaac had his limits, Shepard and Isaac created special VI's for different mechs for different jobs that Isaac could regulate. Most of the mechs would do construction. This included making the facility, digging and taking apart the pirate ships to build things with. Other mechs were upgraded with combat VI's trained to use rifles and pistols. They were also armored a little better as well as shielded to take on anyone unfortunate to come to the site. He made sure that innocent civilians would not come around the planet by spreading rumors of some pirate guild being in the system. While some military crafts would come in, the VI operated mechs would take some pirate ships and attack with hit and run tactics to scare off the military units. This had proved invaluable to the operation.
If anyone other than him and Isaac got their hands on his OSD, bad things could happen. Shepard connected his OSD to the terminal and began to look at various things. He ignored the schematics and journal files on it and went straight toward the immediate updated files. This held accounts under false identities, the companies they had, the facility itself, the inventory of resources they had and the amount of money each thing generated along with the total. With the facility under construction, with only a few weeks till completion, it would not generate any thing worthwhile yet. He then looked at the accounts and the credits they generated. Currently, the total amount that was going to be payed was going to be around 400,000 credits. Combined with spectre job with the amount being payed around to 60,000 credits per mission, he had a wealthy amount of income. After looking through it, he logged off it making sure to hid his OSD in his room in case someone came sniffing around and changed into his fatigues. When Shepard was finally comfortable he noticed his spare Karpov pistol. Looking at it he remembered that Liara still didn't use a weapon and from he could sense from her biotic aura, she was an adept. That usually meant that they only use pistols and light armor. It was a good thing he bought her a female version of the Colossus X armor back on the Citadel. Since Kaidan was using his other Karpov pistol, he decided to give her the other one he had. His mind made up,he walked out of his cabin, pistol in hand, over to where Liara was. He entered and noticed that she was reading something on her computer.
"Hey Liara." Shepard said getting her attention. Liara turned to him, quickly shutting off the terminal to prevent him from seeing what she was reading.
"Yes, Shepard?" Liara asked.
"While we were on the citadel, I bought you some armor. It's pretty much the best light armor I could get. I also took the liberty of adding anything on it that may assist you in a fight. If it's too small, be sure to tell me, I'm not that good at judging a person's size." Shepard informed sheepishly. It was true, when it came to judging someone's size he was bad. He remembered one time he tried to guess Lis' size to by her a dress and found out that women had a different scale then men did. When he made the guess, he showed it to her. He was close, kinda, but off about 3 sizes sooo... yea. Short answer: He sucked at choosing women's sizes and paid for it dearly by getting an unholy ass whooping from his girlfriend, coupled with no sex for a week. Well the beatdown happened, but the second punishment lasted for only half a week until she came by and had angry sex with him. Shepard quickly shook his head to get out of memory lane remembering what was going on in the present. He noticed Liara was smiling.
"Thank you Shepard. That was very thoughtful of you." Liara said. She then noticed what was in his hand. She then added, "Uh Shepard, why do you have a pistol in your hand?" Shepard then remembered the second thing he wanted to tell her.
"Oh, the pistol is for you. It's second only to spectre gear, and since you need spectre status to have access, let alone use it, I decided to give you one of my spares. Kaidan is using the other one." Shepard explained handing the pistol over to her. Liara grasped the pistol gently and firmly as she took it from his grasp. She then studied it, noticing that it had modifications that allowed more firing time and damage.
"Thank you, Shepard. You really take care of everyone don't you?" Liara said with a gentle smile.
"Well the way I see it, I'm only as good as the team I lead and I wont them to be as prepared as I can get them. Listen, earlier before we came to get you I did the same thing with everyone else. It wasn't all just armor and weapons, it included upgrades, omni-tools and bio-amps. The best I could find. If you go down there to the crate, you can pick up some other things that you think can help you out." Shepard said. Liara nodded, planning on taking his advice. Shepard then said goodbye and left for the cargo bay. Once again he came into the elevator from hell, and nearly lost his sanity to it. As he finally entered the cargo bay he noticed Garrus and Ashley checking the newly arrived crate, which just happened to be from Chun.
"Hey! Get away from that!" Shepard yelled to them as he jogged over. The both jumped at his yell and looked over at him.
"What Shepard, is it a bomb or something?" Garrus asked a little wary of the crate now since Shepard had to yell at them to get away. Ashley on the other had was now more curious about it.
"Yea Shepard, what don'y you want us seeing?" She said thinking he might have ordered something embarrassing. Shepard saw their expressions and started to connect the dots.
"Look, I met an old contact of mine from Omega on the Citadel and asked him to delivery some stuff for me to the Normandy." Shepard explained to them. Garrus and Ashley's expressions turned serious as they stared at the crate. Unlike most other crates which were iron like boxes, this crate was a pitch black with a somewhat complex lock on it.
"You contacted a criminal on the Citadel and didn't alert c-sec?" Garrus asked in an even tone as he looked at Shepard.
"Trust me, I saved c-sec by not reporting him." Shepard retorted. Garrus looked at him skeptically.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The contact was a very dangerous crimelord from Omega. And he's pretty much madness incarnate." Shepard said.
"And your saying you saved c-sec by not reporting this dangerous guy because..." Garrus said waiting for Shepard to spill.
"Because if I had, chances are the guy would have blown up c-sec HQ, fucked up all traffic on the Citadel and caused all other kinds of hell." Shepard said making Garrus freeze at how serious he sounded. The way Shepard explained the guy, he really did sound like he was madness incarnate.
"Why didn't you just shoot him then?" Garrus asked thinking someone that dangerous should be dead if they can't be locked up. Shepard looked at him incredulously.
"Because as long as someone doesn't overly piss him off, he's good. I've known the guy for years, trust me as long as someone doesn't cross him too badly the Citadel will be fine." Shepard said.
Meanwhile back on the Citadel
Chun was having a nice drink and enjoying the view in Chora's Den after successfully purchasing the rights to it. He was having a good time thinking he could bring his trade to the Citadel, when he sneezed suddenly. On the outside, he looked fine and happy. On the inside however...
'WHAT THE FUCK DID I SNEEZE FOR!? THERE MUST BE SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT ME! WHEN I FIND OUT WHO-" was about as far as he got when two voluptuous asari started 'dancing' on his table together. For a second his mind shut down, then it rebooted completely forgetting his inner raging seconds ago.
'WHOO! BABY YEA! CHUN LIKE, CHUN LIKE VERY MUCH!' Chun thought happily as he made it rain credits for the 2 lovely ladies. And so the Citadel was saved from the wrath of Hurricane Chun by 2 asari strippers.
Back on the Normandy
Shepard shivered for some reason, but it vanished as fast it came. That was when Ashley started talking.
"Okay, but why did you tell us to stay away from the crate then?" Ashley asked.
"Because knowing my contact he probably added a prank or something, knowing him it could be anything from a little kid popper to a severed head." Shepard said making Ashley and Garrus take a few more steps back from the crate in fear. Shepard approached the crate and began to hack locking mechanism. It was password protected. Knowing Chun, Shepard had a good guess of what it was. He typed in ILOVEREDSAND. It was Chun's favorite drug after all. The crate's lock clicked in recognition. Shepard couldn't help but snort and shake his head at it as he opened the crate. He saw everything he wanted, and noticed some type of... grenade! Shepard quickly jumped back thinking it was active. Ashley and Garrus were now hiding behind the mako thinking something would go off. Shepard waited a few minutes thinking it was a delayed explosion. He then slowly crept toward the crate and looked at the grenade. After seeing it, he noticed it wasn't armed and picked it up. He then inspected it's contents and couldn't help but wear an astonished expression.
"That's a huge bitch." Shepard said making Ashley and Garrus look at him like he was crazy. They both walked over to see what he was looking at. What they saw made Garrus want to arrest the guy right at that moment. Inside the grenade was a kilo of pure red sand. Chun probably meant it as a going away present.
"A bag of red sand?" Ashley asked in astonishment.
"It is his favorite drug." Shepard said snickering a little at Chun's little prank. Garrus and Ashley didn't look amused at all. They all then looked at what was in the crate. Inside were a bunch of panels, hoses, circuits, wires, a glass tube big enough to encase a person, and several other things.
"Shepard what is all this?" Garrus asked.
"This? This is what I'm going to use in making a cryotube on this ship." Shepard stated already piecing the things in his mind. The other 2 looked at him.
"Uh Shepard, you do know that we have cryopods on the crew deck right?" Ashley asked, thinking Shepard might have lost his mind.
"Yes, but those are for sleeping, this however is going to be used for transporting prisoners, in case we ever get one dangerous enough that needs to be taken back and not killed." Shepard explained as he began to use his biotics to lift everything out of the crate and towards a corner of the cargo bay, away from the doors. As he sat on the ground and began to assemble it he noticed Tali come out of the engine room. She seemed to be walking towards him, no in his direction but not toward him or anyone for that matter, he kept assembling his cryotube until she walked past him.
"Hey Tali." Shepard greeted without looking up, focused on what he was piecing together. Tali stopped at the sound of his voice and turned to him.
"Oh hey Shepard." Tali said in melancholy tone. The tone of her voice made Shepard look up at her. At this distance he could see that she looked a little saddened.
"You alright?" Shepard asked.
"I don't know. Your ship is amazing, and your crew has been really great to me especially your chief engineer, but I just sort of feel out of place. The Normandy runs so smooth, it feels like we're not even moving and the engines are so quiet, how do you sleep at night?" She told. Shepard looked at her confused.
"The silence keeps you up?" Shepard asked. Tali nodded.
"Back on the Flotilla, the last thing you want to hear silence. It usually means an engines died or an air philter has shut down. I guess you don't have to worry about that here, but old habits die hard. It's more than just the silence though, this ship feels so empty, it's like half the crew is missing. Back home, I couldn't wait to go on my Pilgrimage, to get away from the crowds. Now that I'm out here, I miss them." Tali explained. Shepard nodded in understanding. He felt the same way after he left Mindoir.
"Your homesick. Sometimes we don't appreciate what we have until it's gone." Shepard replied. Tali looked at him understanding.
"That's true. I'm starting to wonder if that's what the pilgrimage is really about. It's given me a whole new perspective on my people and our culture." Tali said.
"There you go. That way of thinking shows that you are maturing into a fine young woman, Tali." Shepard said as he turned his head back towards the components. He failed to see Tali's blush at the word fine.
"*giggles* You know, there's always a few who go on their pilgrimage and never return. I always assumed something bad happened to them, but maybe they just wanted a different life." Tali said. Shepard turned his attention back to her now.
"You do plan to return to the Migrant Fleet, right?" Shepard asked.
"I could never abandon my people, Shepard. I will go back eventually, but we have to stop Saren first. Otherwise, I might not have a home to go back to." Tali said Shepard nodded at her answer knowing she was going to be just fine when she goes home. He then turned back to his components and resumed assembling the cryotube. Tali watched for a minute noticing how his hands moved. Unlike other engineers, Shepard's hands moved gently and firmly with each piece that was in his hand. She then noticed that he used his biotics to hold things in the air or to place something together. Finally she noticed what he was working on.
"Shepard, what exactly are you working on?" Tali asked not knowing what he was making. Shepard didn't stop piecing things together.
"Making a cryotube, in case we have to transport a dangerous criminal or something. Plus I need something to keep me busy for next hour or so." Shepard said. Tali wanted to ask if she could help him, but became nervous about it and started wringing her fingers together when she got nervous. Shepard noticed her silence and looked at her, seeing her state.
"Want help?" Shepard asked as he turned back to things.
"Um yes." Tali said.
"Well, get on that side and start making the touchscreen interface and the connecting wires." Shepard said as he pointed over to the other side. Tali went and quickly sat down, ready to start tinkering. They continued on for the rest of the hour without anymore talking, enjoying each other's company as they worked together to make the cryotube. Everyone in the cargo bay noticed and watched as the 2 assembled their creation at a very fast, but perfect pace. When Liara came down to get her gear she noticed the 2 immediately and began watching as she got her gear ready. Then Kaidan came down wondering where everyone was and saw Shepard and Tali and joined everyone else.
"Is any one else reminded of 2 kids playing in the sand box?" Kaidan asked out loud. Ashley was the only who responded positive since the others didn't really have sandboxes growing up. Well Wrex did, but Tunchanka was a desert, so it didn't count. By the time they arrived in the Artemis Tau Cluster, the cryotube was 48% complete.
"Wow, I did not think we would have gotten so much of it done." Shepard said. He then turned toward Tali.
"Thanks Tali, you helped a lot. You think afterwards you can help me finish it? When you got time of course." Shepard said.
"Sure." Tali chirped, having enjoyed herself. They both then went to where they could put on their gear. A few minutes later the entire gang minus Liara was in the cargo bay.
"What could be taking T'soni so long?" Ashley said aloud. Everyone else couldn't help but nod. Shepard was about to speak when he heard the elevator doors open. He along with everyone else turned and saw Liara. What everyone but Shepard noticed was that her Colossus armor looked a little tight.
"So hows the armor, is it good?" Shepard asked making everyone look at him. Liara blushed a little seeing how dense he was being.
"The armor is fine except it is... well..." She tried to say it.
"What is it, tight?" Shepard asked.
"Yes." She responded. Shepard then got a better look at her figure and noticed she was telling the truth, it was tight on her. The more primal part of himself was admiring her curves and assets while the more in control side was rebuking himself.
"Sorry Liara, I didn't mean for it to be like that." Shepard said sincerely. While his more primal self was going 'you know you wanted it.' He honestly didn't want to cause anyone any discomfort. Subtly, Ashley and Tali were looking at the scene in envy. They could tell Liara kind of liked Shepard seeing it and deep down they too wanted to be in her position, not they'd admit it... yet. Shepard then decided it was time for everyone to get into the mako.
"Okay come on! Everyone in!" Shepard said as he opened the door. Everyone filed in except Kaidan who was distracted by the 'view'. Shepard looked to where Kaidan was looking and blushed a little. Kaidan sights were on not only Liara's form, but also Tali and Ashley's too. Shepard could admit that they looked great, but Kaidan should have more control than that. After everyone else was in, Shepard walked over and slapped Kaidan in the back of the head.
"OWW! What was that for?!" Kaidan asked as he held where Shepard had hit him. Shepard pointed to the mako.
"Because you were staring, dumbass." Shepard said. Kaidan had the nerve to look embarrassed as he quickly got in followed by Shepard. Shepard then signaled Joker that they were all ready. The bay doors opened and Shepard gunned the gas and the Mako flew out.
After the drop
The mako had safely dropped onto Sharjila in Macedon System. Inside the mako had been a little more exciting during the drop though since it was Liara's first drop. On the way down she had somehow managed to bypass everyone and hang on to Shepard while screaming her head off. She held on for dear life, but since she was holding onto Shepard from behind, she was basically strangling him. In fact it was far worse than what Tali had done to Kaidan on her first time. Garrus saw and laughed all the way down. Wrex was asleep again. Tali was hissing in anger at Liara's stunt. Kaidan was watching the show and got a good look at Liara's rear. Ashley was mad at Liara and noticed Kaidan's stare and slapped him. Shepard was desperately trying to stay conscious on the fact his newest crew member had him in a good stranglehold. Finally, the mako hit the ground causing Liara to let go. The shock had woke Wrex up. He noticed a lot of groaning and looked at his teammates to see a particular scene. Shepard was purple and wheezing harshly. Liara was shaking like a leaf. Tali was shaking in anger, and from what he knew of quarian facial expressions, she was pissed considering how narrow her eyes were. Garrus looked as if he was in pain from laughing so hard. Ashley looked very annoyed at Kaidan. And Kaidan looked like he was recovering from a lethal blow of some kind to the head.
"What happened?" Wrex asked.
"Liara's first combat drop. *cough**cough*" Shepard said as he continued to breathe harshly. Wrex only ahhed in understanding. It all made sense to him now.
"Sorry Shepard." Liara said in soft voice still shaking. Shepard only waved her off. A few minutes later Shepard finally got back into a calm state and started driving to the pirate stronghold coordinates. After about 30 minutes of driving, Kaidan decided to speak up.
"So Shepard this girl who broke up with you, what's she like?" Kaidan asked. Tali and Ashley listened in intently wanting to know more about the woman. This was news to Liara so she decided to listen in to.
"Why do you want to know?" Shepard asked not trusting Kaidan.
"I'm just wondering what kind of girl it took to catch your attention considering you live on Omega." Kaidan replied.
"She was not your average Omega girl, if that's what your asking." Shepard said.
"What race was she? Human? Asari? Turian?" Kaidan asked. Everyone turned to look at him, wondering what went on in that head of his.
"Asari." Shepard said making everyone go silent for a minute. Then Wrex spoke up.
"How many times did you 2 mate?" Wrex said with no real interest. Unfortunately that question caused Shepard to slam on the brakes making Wrex hit the dashboard again.
"Dammit, why?" Wrex said getting up. He then saw everyone looking at him.
"I don't think that's any of your business." Shepard said as he began driving again.
"So I'm guessing once a month." Wrex retorted.
"No." Shepard said.
"A week?" Garrus asked getting in on the fun.
"No." Shepard said with his eye twitching.
"A year?" Kaidan teased seeing what the other guys were doing now. The girls couldn't believe what the guys were doing to poor Shepard. Teasing him like that.
"Why the hell are you asking? It's getting on my nerves" Shepard said gritting his teeth.
"Really?" Garrus asked with a turian grin.
"Yes." Shepard said thinking he should flip the mako over to shut them up.
"And how does that make you feel?" Kaidan asked grinning.
"I fell like God is punishing me and if I'm a better person, he'll send down an angel with a chicken-pot-pie and a cupcake! NOW DON"T ASK ME AGAIN!" Shepard growled out at them. The guys were now snickering at him.
"Just tell us and we'll stop." Wrex said.
"Will you?" Shepard said with an accusing glare.
"Yes." Kaidan said.
"3 times a day." Shepard said making them all go quiet.
"Ah krogan do more than that." Wrex said. The others couldn't say anything because they were trying to figure out what kind of person can keep up that pace. Shepard then noticed that they were coming towards the stronghold.
"Hey, enough chit chat. We're here get ready." Shepard said as everyone got serious. Shepard then drove the mako into the perimeter and was immediately fired upon by snipers and rockets. Shepard quickly drove around surveying the battle ground while evading. He noticed that the snipers and rockets were on look-out towers, there were also some pirates on the ground behind barricades in front of the entrance to the stronghold.
"Wrex, get out and hit the guys in the barricades." Shepard ordered.
"Finally!" Wrex said excitedly as he got out. He made a break for it and got behind the barricades and started shooting pirates left and right. Garrus and Ashley used the guns to thin out any enemies on the ground and then turned their attention to ones in the towers. Shepard drove the mako and ran over several pirates, instantly killing them. When it was over the mako's shields were depleted to about half strength and the pirates were all dead. They all got out and began to enter the stronghold.
"That was fun Shepard. I needed to let lose." Wrex said grinning a little.
"Thought you'd like it." Shepard responded. They all walked in and came face to face with a group of pirates.
"Who are you?" The asari in the in the group demanded.
"I'm looking for Dahlia Dantius." Shepard said with a hard stare. The asari then looked at him confused.
"How do you know my name?" She asked. Shepard then looked at her more closely and noticed she did look similar to Nassana. Shepard thought it over thinking it was strange until he finally realized what was going on.
'Nassana played me huh?' Shepard thought to himself. Shepard then took out his assault rifle and gunned down 3 of the pirates making the others jump for cover. Shepard eyes scanned the room to make sure there weren't any people around as he and the others jumped for cover. Not seeing anyone, Shepard let loose using different combinations of powers along with his rifle. He would throw a singularity catching 2 pirates and followed with an incinerate attack causing it to explode, killing the ones caught in it and around it. When the drones came up, he switched to his pistol and used overload on them, shooting them down afterwards without missing a beat. His team was stunned momentarily because they hadn't seen him fight like this. They guessed it was because of the fact it was slavers and pirates. Wrex snapped out of his stupor first and jumped into the fight followed by Garrus and Ashley. Then Kaidan jumper in followed by Tali and finally Liara. Each one fired or supported the others. While Shepard did go out against all the pirates, e did mange to keep everyone in his vision and noticed Liara was pulling her weight by supporting Ashley by throwing a singularity in between 2 pirates in front of Ashley and then casting a warp on an enemy that had snuck behind Garrus and Tali. Soon enough only Dahlia was left.
"W-Wait, I can give you money. I've recently got a huge shipment of credits. It's yours if you let me live." Dahlia bartered while she sat up on the ground, having been knocked down in the fight. Shepard gave her a hard stare.
"Do you know who I am?" Shepard asked coldly. A few minutes passed by when Dahlia didn't answer and only looked at him confused.
"I'm Ghost." Shepard said in a voice that could have frozen the room. Dahlia was so scared now she couldn't speak. She had heard of Ghost, but assumed since he was out in the Terminus, he would never come into Council Space. Yet here he was, the slaver killer himself. Shepard then took his pistol and pointed it at her, right between the eyes.
"And you're dead." Shepard added before pulling the trigger, killing her. Everyone was shocked at how cold Shepard acted with her. It was as if they staring at a different person now. The only ones who weren't really surprised were Kaidan and Wrex. Kaidan because he had met Ghost over the years and had seen his attitude with slavers. Wrex because he had seen it before in his 700 years of life. That didn't mean Shepard's attitude didn't give them chills though. Shepard then moved to where the backroom was. He knew by experience that the slavers and any lose organizations kept the important stuff in the back. Shepard entered the room and then checked the terminal on the only desk inside. He hacked through it easily almost as if in a trance. He then got all of the information on the terminal, downloaded whatever credit accounts were in it and then exited. The slavers had noticed the recon team was somewhere in the Sparta System.
"Come on, we're going back to the Normandy." Shepard said in a neutral tone. The squad looked concerned for a minute before following. What they had just witnessed was the true persona of Ghost.
Later, back on the Normandy
As soon as Shepard got on, he told Joker to go to the Sparta System and start searching it's planets for any unusual signals. Shepard and his team were now in the comm room. His squad had noticed how serious Shepard had gotten as soon as they met Dahlia Dantius. Shepard had just called Nassana and waited for her to pick up. Suddenly her hologram appeared.
"Shepard, did you find my sister?" Nassana asked with supposed worry. It only pissed Shepard off more. This bitch had used his hatred against him to kill her own sister. If there was one thing he hated almost as much as slavers, it was being used and made for a fool. Aria used him for jobs of sorts, but there was no deception. Granted sometimes she would omit certain details, but they were small things like how many enemies are around or the location. This little bitch though played him.
"You can cut the charade Dantius. I know the everything." Shepard said in the voice he used on Dahlia when he told her who he was. He noticed it had the same effect, but not as much. Perhaps she was more composed than Dahlia, or maybe it's because they weren't in the same room. He then saw her worried expression turn much colder and stoic. Shepard stared into her eyes and he could now see the smugness in them. That cold steely gaze made him realize she thought he was lesser than herself.
"So you know then." She stated with an equally cold tone.
"You wanna tell me the real reason you had me go after your own sister?" Shepard asked. Nassana smirked.
"Think of it this way, you helped me get rid of a big embarrassment to me and my family. So here is a sizable sum of money, easily twice the amount I had given my sister." Nassana replied.
"No thanks, I'm afraid I might catch something from you, you trash." Shepard retorted making Nassana's face morph into a visage of fury.
"Don't you dare think your higher than that, you arrogant merc." Nassana replied ferociously.
"Please, I may kill slavers and get paid for certain jobs, but I'm no merc." Shepard snorted out. He then continued on, "Besides what's to stop me from telling people, like say the Council about your connection with Dahlia the slaver." Nassana's enraged face turned smug. While all of this was going down, the team had various reactions: Garrus and Ashley were growling at Nassana's attitude, Tali and Liara looked angry at Nassana, while Wrex and Kaidan were looking at Shepard, wondering why he was dragging this out.
"The Council will never take you seriously. Humanity is nothing more than pathetic upstarts who will eventually be brought fully under the Council's heel." When she said that, Ashley and Kaidan both were gritting there teeth in anger. Shepard could tell the rest of the crew heard it too considering he could hear Joker growling a little in his earpiece. Nassana then continued, "But since I don't want any rumors flying around about this, I'll put you on the preferred client list for a manufacturer of prototype asari mods. Just to ensure your silence." Nassana said as her omni-tool popped up and started typing. Shepard looked at his omni-tool and noticed he was on the list for Armali Council Mods.
"Now is there anything else you wanted to say, human." Nassana said with that insufferable smirk on her face. Shepard had his head down. To Nassana, he loked defeated making her smirk at how she got him. To everyone else in the room, they could see the small smirk on his face.
"Actually yes, who said all the evidence and data on you and Dahlia died with her?" Shepard asked looking back up at Nassana with a Joker (Batman) grin. Nassana's smug expression was wiped off instantly.
"What do you mean?" She demanded keeping her composure though everyone could see it slipping.
"You think I wouldn't check Dahlia's files after I killed her? Your dumber than I thought." Shepard said chuckling viciously. He then held up his omni-tool and said, "I have everything. Birth records, dates, family history, educational history, taxes, everything!" Nassana now had a horified look on her face.
"But I just payed for your silence!" She yelled back.
"And I told you to keep it." Shepard retorted grinning madly at her. Nassana looked like she was foaming at the mouth in rage.
"You misjudged me, you dumb bitch." Shepard said laughing a little.
"What is there to misjudge?! Your nothing more than a glorified human merc who got lucky enough to catch the attention of people so far above you!" Nassana insulted since she didn't have anything else she could use against him.
"I'm no merc. I'm the Ghost. Mercs take their money and go. Me, if I don't like you, I'll put a gun to your head." Shepard replied coolly to her. Nassana had a look of shock and perhaps... a little reflection? Thinking she may have made a huge mistake? Oh yeah!
"And if you ever think of trying to kill me, I have all this data tied to my life signs. So if you try to kill me, you try to manipulate me, or anything like this again, it all goes viral. Not just the corperations and the politicians, the public too. Anywhere in Council space and the Terminus, everyone will see it. You won't be able to walk in the street without someone knowing about you." Shepard said knowing he won. Nassana knew it too if her pissed off face was anything to go by. It must be so humiliating for her, to be outwitted and trapped by a 'pathetic upstart.'
"GRR YOU BAST-" She began to to yell until Shepard cut off the comm. Shepard started laughing at the whole thing. Everyone was looking at how Shepard had handled the situation. If it had been anyone of them, they would've been raging at Nassana, and probably loose to.
"Damn Shepard, you can be cold, but ingenious at the same time!" Joker said having heard it along with the crew. Shepard could actually hear some of them clapping. Everyone of the squad looked at him either smiling or smirking at how he got Nassana.
"If I never see that bitch again, I can die a happy man." Shepard said making everyone laugh. Shepard walked out of the comm room with all the crew members giving him nods of respect or a thumbs up. Pressly was just smirking and shaking his head at how Shepard acted sometimes.
"Hey Joker, tell me when you find anything strange in this system, I'll be in my quarters." Shepard said.
"Right, and nice job putting that diplomat down." Joker said.
"She messed with the wrong guy." Shepard retorted as he made his way to his quarters. He stayed there, having a nap until Joker called him an hour later
"Shepard, I'm getting a signal from the planet below us. Looks like an automated distress beacon. I think we found our guys." Joker said over the intercom. Shepard immediately headed toward the cargo bay.
"Right, get ready to drop us down." Shepard said.
"Roger that." Joker replied. A few minutes later and the whole team was packed into the mako, dropping a few miles an hour. This time though no one was freaking out. In fact they were all serious about this one considering the circumstances. Shepard drove until he came up to wide flat area. He and everyone else could see a Grizzly tank and the beacon itself.
"Does anyone else feel like this is a trap?" Shepard asked aloud not liking the look of the place.
"Yep." Wrex admitted.
"Uh huh." Kaidan grunted.
"Sure looks like one." Garrus said.
"There is something suspicious about it." Liara responded.
"It has to be." Ashley stated.
"Mhmm" Tali added in. Okay so it wasn't just him then.
"Okay people. Be ready for anything. We're going in." Shepard said as he drove slowly toward the tank. Things were going smoothly until Shepard and Wrex felt something they were both intimately familiar with, tremors. Shepard hadn't felt any since Akuze, but he still remembered them well. For Wrex it had been longer, not since his Rite of Passage, but he could still remember that glorious fight he had won when he was so much younger.
"Oh shit." was all Shepard could say with Wrex nodding in agreement. Everyone else was confused until they all saw the ground explode a few hundred feet away. What they saw that rose out of the ground was a growling, drooling thresher maw. The quickly spit acid at them forcing Shepard to hit the thrusters and making the mako jump up. He floored it and hauled ass dodging acid spit barely until he saw the maw go back underground.
'Did it leave?' Shepard thought until something happened. One minute, he was driving great. The next, the maw had shot up from under the mako, causing it to go airborne and landing after a few flips onto the tires. Everyone was very disoriented. Wrex recovered first and noticed something.
"Where's Shepard?!" He roared out. This got everyone to look at the driver's seat. They all then noticed that driver's door was ripped off.
"Oh goddess! He must have fallen out when we were sent into the air!" Liara gasped. Everyone was thinking even Shepard couldn't have survived that. Wrex quickly got in the driver's seat and noticed that the mako was badly damaged.
"Dammit! Kaidan, Garrus, Tali! Start repairing! Ashley take the cannon controls and be ready to fire, Liara take the machine gun!" He roared out taking charge knowing that the mako was their best shot at surviving.
"Uh Wrex I don't think we have enough time." Tali said frightened.
"What?!" Wrex demanded. Tali pointed to the front window. Everyone looked and saw the maw was charging at them fast. They knew it was hopeless. With Shepard dead and the mako torn up all they could do was wait. The maw closed in with only 20 feet to go when a mass accelerator round struck the maw stopping it. Everyone looked at Ashley thinking she shot. All she did was shake her head no. That was when another round hit the maw. This time they saw the direction it came from. The maw then turned to where it had been struck and saw the Grizzly's gun pointed at it. It's top door opened up and out came Shepard. Once more he challenged the thresher maw and used his old mentor's favorite phrase.
"COME GET SOME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Shepard roared as he fired another round hitting the maw squarely in the face. It roared in response and charged at Shepard's direction now.
"Hurry! He's bought some time. Start using omni-gel and repair this damn thing so we can help." Wrex said. Everyone else did what they could, but the damage was extensive.
"Wrex, I'm no sure it'll be repaired in time." Kaidan exclaimed. Wrex could only growl.
Meanwhile with Shepard and the maw
Shepard had fired the cannon continuously at the maw. He could see that had worn its armor down but not any big damage. The Grizzly's cannon then overheated. Knowing it wouldn't stop that maw anymore, Shepard dashed from the Grizzly using Adrenaline and combination of biotics to increase his speed. The Thresher Maw followed after him. He then used his assault rifle and unloaded everything he had until it overheated as he continued running. The maw was now getting close until something had caught its attention. It was Wrex who had ventured from the mako to help Shepard, along with Liara and Ashley. They were helping him distract the maw. He noticed Garrus, Tali and Kaidan weren't with them. He could sense Kaidan was alive in the mako. That meant those 3 were repairing it. They all continued to play cat and mouse until the mako was repaired. Kaidan drove and Garrus was back on the cannon as they attacked the maw. That was when Liara tripped when she was running. Ashley was by her side in a second and pulled her. Sadly the maw saw this and pounced towards them. The mako's rounds were ignored by the giant worm as it charged with it's jaws wide open. Wrex couldn't do anything except watch in morbid horror along with everyone else. For Shepard time seemed to slow down. As the maw closed in on 2 of his squad he could hear his heartbeat. He suddenly saw the people he couldn't protect in his life: his mother, Talitha, the innocent civilians on Elysium, the squad on Akuze, Major Kyle's squad on Torfan and the most of the colonists on Eden Prime. Then he heard a voice shout NO. The next thing that happened was incredible. Shepard was covered in a bright blue biotic aura, his eyes glowing with light making them look like to orbs of pure light. Then in a bright flash, Shepard had somehow moved from his position to the space in between the Maw and Liara and Ashley. Everyone was in shock at the speed and more put into more shock at what Shepard did next.
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THEM!" Shepard roared and stuck his hands out and a Power Strike was made in both hands. This one was different. For one it was huge in comparison to a normal one. While a normal one was the size of a soccer ball, this one was the size of a fitness ball. The other difference is that Shepard created it almost instantly. Then Shepard did something he hadn't done before with a power strike. He shot it at the maw's mouth. From what everyone had seen, Shepard couldn't shoot a power strike. Liara was awestruck at it. What else could be done with it? Then everyone saw the damage it could cause and it terrified them.
The Super Power Strike hit the thresher maw right into its gullet. The explosion was incredibly powerful, but it did not cause the maw's head to explode, though everyone was kinda wishing it did instead of what happened. Instead obliterating its head, the attack had split the maw's mouth in different areas and burned it badly. Instead of an outright kill, it was a slow painful death for the thresher maw as it collapsed and moaned in pain. A few moments later, it died from the new devastating biotic attack of John Shepard.
Shepard's aura went off then along with the light in his eyes. He couldn't believe what he had just done to the thresher maw. Everyone was coming toward him now with questions. Unfortunately as soon as the aura went out, Shepard felt crippling pain in both of his arms.
"AAAAHHHH!" Shepard cried out, which echoed all around. The pain felt like a million needles lit on fire and having electricity surge through them embedded into his arms. Shepard could feel his muscles cramping in on themselves, almost tearing. The pain became to much and Shepard was brought to his knees. Shepard continued to shriek in pain as his team now ran to him to see what was wrong.
"Shepard what's wrong?!" Liara asked as she checked him over, but Shepard's jerking around made it difficult. Ashley tried to hold him down but she almost got hit response as Shepard writhed in pain. Kaidan tried his best to see what was wrong, but couldn't see anything.
"We need to get him to Chakwas." Kaidan said.
"I'm on it. Joker we need immediate evac and medical support. Shepard is down! I repeat, Shepard is down!" Garrus said as he radioed in the Normandy. Tali felt so helpless as she could only watch Shepard writhe in agony and listen to his tortured screams.
"I'm going to knock him out." Wrex said as he got ready. Everyone was trying to stop him until they heard Shepard speak.
"D-D-D-Do it. OHH Dear God! DO IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Was all he could say until he started screaming again. Wrex quickly moved up and knocked him out with a headbutt. Everyone was now worried as they watched Shepard still have a look of pure agony on his face.
Le gasp! What happened to Shepard? Find in the next Chapter of Mass Effect: Ghost of the Terminus.
For the guest who asked if Lis is an Ardat Yakshi; No she is not, she's Aria T'loak's daughter.
Read and Review please. I can't wait to see what happens next!