The Omega Chronicles -8- The Citadel
The Citadel was nothing less than breathtaking. It was the first time that Shepard set foot on it and she was impressed. She was making her way out of the docking bay with Tali in tow when she spotted a squad of blue uniforms, all Turian, seemingly waiting for them. As they approached, the one who looked like the senior officer stepped in front of her with a severe look on his face. "Commander Shepard?"
"The one and only."
"I am Executor Venari Pallin, head of Citadel Security. We were warned of your arrival."
"Have I broken any laws?" The Commander sported an innocent smile on her face, but her irreverent undertones were loud and clear.
Pallin was not amused. "Not yet. But we know where you come from and who you associate with. Not that it wouldn't be noticeable from the insignia on your ship anyway... In any case, since it is our job to prevent any trouble, I hope you won't be against one of our agents accompanying you while you are on the Citadel."
"What if I -am- against?"
"This doesn't have to become complicated. I'm sure you have better, more important things to do than debating such a small detail of your stay." Pallin's voice had dropped an octave.
The Commander's smile turned into a smirk, she was enjoying this. She wanted to see how far this stuck up Turian could be pushed, just for her own amusement at this point. "All right. I will allow one of your officers to accompany me. On one condition, though. I get to choose which one."
The Executor couldn't believe his ears. This human was trying to dictate conditions? He was fuming, but he did know who she associated with, and Pallin didn't want to be at the top of Aria's shit-list. Not now, not ever. He reluctantly conceded with a nod of his head, too angry to speak.
Shepard looked at each of the C-Sec officers behind him. She raised her hand and pointed at one. "Him."
Pallin followed her finger and couldn't believe his eyes. Ah well. They'd probably end up being a match made in heaven. He called the agent to step forward. "Commander Shepard, may I introduce to you Garrus Vakarian. Enjoy the Citadel." He turned around and walked away briskly, followed by the other officers.
The Turian stood in front of her, the blue markings on his face made him look quite striking. His voice was harsh and booming. "Why me?"
The human gave him a grin. "You were the only one who seemed more interested in checking your weapon than in keeping a nervous, alert eye on my every movement. The only one relaxed enough to do so. I don't like jumpy police officers, they tend to be trigger happy, and that in turn tends to create trouble. And, on the contrary of what your boss thinks, I don't want any trouble."
Garrus looked at her in silence for a moment. He knew it was wrong, but he instinctively liked this human. She seemed to have very clear ideas, a good dose of common sense, and more than enough balls to stand up to the Executor and make him helplessly furious. Yep, he liked her. "Then I'll make sure we don't run into any. Where do you need to go?"
"I need to speak with someone named Barla Von. His office is in the Presidium."
"Follow me."
After an elevator ride that took forever and a ride in the city transport, the trio finally reached the Presidium. As they stepped out of the vehicle Tali looked around, slowly. Shepard was sure that her eyes were wide with awe behind her visor. The human put a friendly hand around her shoulder and joined her in taking in the view. "Impressive."
Tali turned to face her. "Oh boy. You really are one for understatements, aren't you, Commander?"
Shepard smiled. "'Do not be blinded by the elegance of the buildings, for they will crumble eventually. It is in the heart of the people that the strength of a nation will be measured.'"
The Turian's eyes widened. "Desik Lynn, our greatest Primarch. How do you know him?"
The Commander slowly turned around to look at Garrus. "Military history has been one of my interests, for quite some time now. And for quite some time I was working hard to become part of it."
The Turian's eyes widened even more, if possible. "Damn. The Butcher of Torfan. That's why your name sounded familiar. That's why your face looked familiar. That's why you felt familiar. The Butcher of Torfan. Wow."
Tali's head was shifting between their two faces. "Ok, can one of you bring me up to date too? Do you two know each other or something?"
"You mean you don't know who this human is?"
"She's Commander Shepard. That's enough for me." The Quarian shrugged.
The Commander shook her head at Garrus, mockingly. "Sic transit gloria mundi. One day I'm on every piece of news, and the next day..."
"I... I have always wondered... always wanted to ask you... why?" The voice of the tall alien was low, almost a whisper.
Shepard looked at him squarely. "Because some things need to be done, and you cannot trust the system to do them properly. Had I let them live, they would have been out of prison in a few years and back to their ways of killing and selling people into slavery. I sacrificed 38 soldiers that day, out of a unit of 50. But I believe I have saved countless people by doing so. Was I cold? Yes, I was. It was war and I'm a soldier, not a fucking boy scout. Yes, I acted as judge, jury and executioner. I. Was Right. And I can see it in your eyes that you understand exactly what I am talking about." She felt that she had given enough to think about to the officer for the time being. "Let's move. I don't plan on being here any longer than necessary."
Tali walked behind, by Garrus' side. She asked him in a low, fast paced voice. "What is this all about? I hate being left in the dark. Talk to me!"
The Turian looked at Shepard walking a few steps ahead of them in sure strides, then he lowered his face and told Tali what she wanted to know.
According to Aria's intel, Barla Von was not just an agent for the Shadow Broker, but also a double agent for any highest bidder, a very careful one at that, as was proven by the fact that he was still alive and still in business.
The Volus stared at the Commander for a few long seconds before speaking.
"I see. I can understand why the Shadow Broker would be interested in this kind of thing, Earth clan. I advise you to steer clear of his interests." He handed her a padd.
She read it. 'Every single place is bugged here, he has eyes and ears everywhere. Tell Aria I will send her what she needs on a secure channel two days from now.' She erased the message and handed him a credit chit.
"Thanks for your time, Barla Von."
Garrus and Tali were waiting for her just outside. The Quarian wasn't happy that she didn't get to talk to a Volus, but she had agreed to forego the experience in exchange for a visit to a place she had read about on the extranet. Her voice sounded quite excited. "So, are we done here?"
"Yes, Tali. We can go see this 'Consort' you are so curious about now. Vakarian, lead the way."
"With pleasure!" His reply came out a bit more enthusiastically than he had planned to.
Apparently the Asari Consort was quite sought after and even just the chance to see the inside of her... offices was considered a very high profile exclusive. Garrus himself seemed rather eager to go there. It was around the corner anyway, so no big detour was necessary. As they stepped in they were greeted by a young Asari receptionist who was all smiles and good manners.
"Hello. Are you here to see the Consort or do you have an appointment with one of her assistants?"
Shepard smiled back in a polite way. "Well, I've been told I should definitely make it a point to see the Consort so..."
"Oh, so you would like to make an appointment. Let me check for you when she will first be available... That will be 14 months from now."
The Commander was trying to stifle a laugh. She had understood the kind of services that were being offered to the hoi polloi by this Matriarch as soon as she had set foot in the door. She really couldn't care less. Her own Asari was waiting back home and she could make a safe bet that -her- services were more mind blowing than anything that could be offered to her by anyone else. She took a step closer to the desk, just to have some fun with this young, pretty thing. That's when she saw the expression on her face change. The Asari took a step back, unconsciously, and her mouth opened. Whatever it was that was such a surprise, she did not have the time to say, however. Her comm got her attention. She listened for a moment.
"Yes, Sha'ira."
She looked at the human again. "The Consort would like to see you now. If you'd like to proceed inside, take the stairs to the right at the end of the waiting room, please. She will be expecting you."
'Ah, Asari. You'll never guess what's up next.' Shepard thought to herself with a hint of amusement. Nevertheless she walked in and followed the directions given to her. At the top of the stairs she stopped just inside a room decorated in flawless taste, and an equally flawless Asari was looking at her as she elegantly closed the distance between them. She sure was beautiful. And classy. She stopped at arm's length and the Commander noticed that, ever so slightly, she seemed to be... smelling the air? Her voice was quite pleasant when she spoke.
"Would your companions like to wait outside?"
Shepard nodded to them and they left, slowly walking backwards out of the room, Garrus' mouth hanging open, Tali's breathing a bit faster than normal. As soon as they were out of range she went on.
"For the life of me, I thought I would not live to see the day... so tell me, young human, how long have you and Aria been bonded?"
Shepard masked well her surprise. There was no point in denying that the Consort was right. But she couldn't help asking. "How do you know that?"
The Consort gave her a smile. "And she hasn't told you. Tsk. How typical." She motioned for them to take a seat by a low table. She elegantly crossed her legs and rested her hands on her thighs, so prim and proper. No wonder people were nigh killing each other in order to have an audience with her, the woman exuded all the things that made Asari universally appealing. "You see, when an Asari bonds, whether she likes it or not, she sort of... marks her bondmate. We have glands, in specific areas of our bodies, which produce very potent hormones, since we have to be able to elicit a response in any species we encounter. And these hormones lock themselves onto our bondmate, mostly by... physical contact. Now to any nose they may pass undetected, but to another Asari the message is extremely clear. It says: this is mine, so hands off. Basically. Our sense of smell is refined enough that if we ever smell the hormones of a specific Asari, we always remember who they belong to."
"And how have you... experienced Aria's hormones before, if I may ask?"
Sha'ira smiled again. "Oh, it was a very, very long time ago. Even more than now, she couldn't help it. She was still a Maiden back then, and their hormones are particularly active, even when they do not bond. It takes very little to set those glands off at that age I must say."
"You haven't answered my question."
"No. I haven't."
"-Will- you answer my question?"
"That depends. What is it worth to you?"
Shepard could swear there was something awfully familiar in all this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "What do you want?"
"I'm having a little problem because of a... situation that has gotten out of hand. An old friend of mine is trying to soil my reputation. He had been my guest several times, and one day he offered... more. The kind of more that I couldn't possibly accept. Ever since then his behaviour has been less than gentlemanly. He is a military man, very proud. Perhaps you could talk to him in his own language, so to speak."
"And where can I find this culprit?"
"He spends a fair amount of time in Chora's Den, down in the wards. His name is Septimus."
The Commander slowly got up to make her way out. She grinned at the Consort. "I'll be right back."
Sha'ira nodded her goodbye gracefully.
"And to think I was planning to be home for dinner. Damn it."
Shepard was walking fast towards this infamous Chora's Den. She felt a small pang of guilt at her need to satisfy her curiosity, but in her conscience she just couldn't let this go. She knew it would bother her for the rest of her days if she didn't find out what the Consort was keeping from her.
Garrus and Tali were hot on her heels, even though the expression on the human's face had prevented them from asking any questions as to where they were going and what they were going to do once there.
As they came around the corner to the bridge that led to the entrance of Chora's Den, the human could smell in the air that something was wrong. She didn't have the time to utter a word that a shot rang out and a bullet missed her head by a couple of inches. She dived into cover and her hand closed around her Carnifex.
"It's an ambush!" The Turian blurted out, half in surprise, half in anger.
"Yeah. No shit, Vakarian." Shepard sprung out of cover to hit an assassin right between his eyes. As she crouched back down she started sliding, step by step, along the bridge to get to the farther end, she had no intention of letting those thugs flank them. Garrus shot one of the thugs dead in his tracks. The Commander reached the end of the bridge and put her head and pistol out around the corner, she took down another merc as she heard Tali's shotgun going off a couple of times, taking care of the remaining assassin. It was over as quickly as it had started. The human approached one of the bodies. No uniform, no insignias, no tags. They didn't seem to belong to any of the known gangs. This only led her to one conclusion. They must have been sent by the Shadow Broker. It looked like she had made an enemy.
"Nice shootin', Shepard." Garrus was suddenly by her side, he latched his assault rifle to his back and took a look at the four bodies on the floor. Two of them had a hole right in the middle of their brows. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Shepard grinned at him. "I don't think I'll ever need to do that."
"Keelah, what do you think they wanted?" Tali joined them.
"I know exactly what they wanted. And I can make a safe guess that they won't be the last ones trying to take it from me. The sooner we get back to Omega, the better it is. Let's get this done with."
Chora's Den was like a smaller, bluer version of Afterlife. Or at least it tried to be. Shepard passed by the bar and ordered a drink as her eyes panned the place looking for Septimus. She spotted him right away. Even just the way he was sitting betrayed the big stick up his ass.
She approached him casually. "Septimus?"
He looked at her for a moment. "That's -General- Septimus Oraka."
The human smirked. "You're certainly not behaving like one these days. Aren't you?"
The Turian had an annoyed look on his face. "Whatever are you talking about, human?"
It took all of three minutes to make the disgruntled General see the error of his ways in dealing with Sha'ira's rejection. Thankfully. Shepard literally grabbed Garrus from the seat where he was enjoying an Asari dancer on her way out and she decided to pass by the markets in the Wards. There was a new mod out for her pistol and she wanted to put her hands on it as soon as possible.
As they were walking through a back alley leading to the Wards market, Garrus stopped and took a good look at a group of three humans just standing and chatting a bit too loudly a few yards ahead of them. The Commander was standing at his side. "Problems, C-Sec?"
"Potentially. I have run into those mercs a few times before, and they are never good news. They only show up here when they're looking for high paying jobs, and as they wait they like to get drunk and cause any sort of trouble. Let's just pass them by with an air of indifference, shall we? It might work."
"Got that Tali? Put an indifferent look on your face."
The Quarian giggled at the obvious joke. Everything was exciting to her, a new adventure behind every corner. "Got it, Commander."
They walked on, and lo and behold, the air of indifference didn't really work, much as Shepard had already imagined. One of the mercs practically x-rayed her as she was passing them and let out a low whistle. "Nice jacket. Hey guys, do you think it'll fit me?" The other mercs laughed. He stepped right in front of her, blocking her way.
She sighed. Then she held his gaze, her jaw clenching slightly, getting ready for the inevitable fight. The merc sounded positively ecstatic. "Will you look at that, this one's got balls, boys. Ok, I'll tell you what, leather princess, you hand over the jacket and we'll call it a day. If you don't, I'll take your jacket from your raped body when I'm done with it. And your friends can watch. So, which'll it be, sugar?"
He was standing so close, the Commander could make a safe bet about what exactly he had been drinking. She took full advantage of the proximity. Her knee hit him between his legs so hard, he didn't even have enough of a breath to moan in pain, he just collapsed to the floor holding his crotch and fainted. Tali's shotgun was already pressed against the nose of another merc, while Garrus simply picked up the third as he was sprinting to reach Shepard, dangling him just an inch from his flaring mandibles, his tight fist grasping the neck of the thug's short jacket. "Going somewhere, sugar?" The voice of the Turian, coupled with the expression on his face, was threatening enough to make the man stutter.
"N-n-no. Nowhere. N-n-nowhere."
"Good." He put him down. "Scram."
The merc grabbed the sleeve of his fellow and they both ran, looking back every few steps to make sure they weren't being followed.
Shepard approached the one that was still unconscious on the ground. "Turn around, Vakarian. I don't want to put you in the difficult position of being the witness to a crime. But I have to do what I have to do, and you know you can't stop me."
Garrus looked at her for a moment, and the human could see a strange spark deep in his blue eyes. She couldn't be sure yet, but she had a feeling this Turian understood her better than he let through. More than that, she had a feeling he shared her views and was not put off by her methods in the least. He rather seemed to be ready to back them up, actually. Maybe a tad too much for a C-Sec officer. She made a mental note to talk to him about it when they were done here. Garrus turned around and gave her his back.
Shepard raised her boot and in one stomp cracked the human's neck, audibly. She just left the body there and she strode towards the shops sporting an air of indifference indeed. Tali walked by her side. "Well, you have to admit, Commander, you -do- wear a beautiful jacket. I especially like the red symbol of Omega on its back, it looks... oh, what was that human expression that engineer McDougal told me the other day? Ah, yes! 'Badass'."
Shepard gave her a smirk. "Badass, mh? Yeah, you could say that."
The upgrade she was looking for was a retractable silencer, and it was readily available. Shepard thought it was about time they had put one on the market, she could definitely see the need for it and she was sure she would have plenty of occasions to put it to good use in the future. She paid the Salarian vendor, very satisfied with her purchase, and she decided to treat Tali to some badass-ness of her own.
As they made their way to more reputable levels of the Citadel she stopped by a clothing store that claimed to make bespoke garments within the hour. She made the two aliens wait outside as she ordered a new outfit for the young Engineer, unbeknownst to her. She found a simple yet beautiful Quarian design from their extensive catalogue, choosing a fine black silk for the hood, decorated with intricate designs that sparkled in a dark, almost luminescent grey as they caught the light from different angles. The details on her neck, underneath her chest and around her waist were to be made in black leather, and she uploaded the Omega symbol to their computer, so that it would be proudly displayed on her back, obviously in a dark crimson red matching the colour of it on the wings of the Inanna. When she was satisfied with everything, she joined her companions and they quickly reached the Consort's chambers.