Chapter 11

Command Decisions

As the hologram faded, Lady Scarlet murmured, "May you walk in eternal light." Noir bowed his head as well, out of respect for the long-dead salarian.

Looking back at her crew, Scarlet said, "Any questions?"

Silence followed for a few moments before Auren asked, "So this treasure ... pretty big haul right?"

"I'd imagine so." Scarlet told her. "You heard what he said; artifacts, prototypes, credits ... more than enough to make us rich for the rest of our lives, as long as we get to it first."

A smirk on her face, Violet commented, "All the fancy dresses and sparkling shoes you could possibly want."

Auren gave Violet a dazzling smile. "And all the drinks I could possibly want. Sounds good to me."

"Can we really find it?" Amber asked, a little less sad-looking now. "I mean, we know Goto's after it."

"Not just them." Scarlet said as she sat back down. "Are any of you familiar with the Saints?"

"The Saints?" Noir repeated, raising an eyebrow. "You don't mean the Third Street Saints, do you?"

Scarlet nodded. "The very same. They've risen in popularity in the past few years, ever since they overthrew the Tongla Syndicate on Eden Prime. Now, they're considered one of the bigger criminal organizations in operation. From my own research, they have two medallions as well."

"Criminal organization?" Amber asked, sounding surprised. "I thought you said ..."

"They took out the Syndicate to take over themselves." Noir explained.

"Mind you, it's still worlds better than the Syndicate." Violet said, sounding thoughtful. "Word is, they're fair and even look out for the little people. Bad place to be a business person, but a good place to be otherwise."

"Be that as it may, they are but one group who may pose a problem." Scarlet placed her hand on the table. Moments later, the projector produced a harsh-looking red symbol.

Violet let out a low whistle. "That's the symbol of the Blood Pack. They're after the treasure too?"

"Not yet." Scarlet admitted, "But I've no doubt they'll be getting involved once we reach Tuchanka."

Everyone looked up at her immediately. Amber rose to her feet, her voice sqeaking in fear as she said, "Tuchanka?! Are you crazy? That's where the krogans live!"

"You can't be serious, Scarlet." This came from Violet, who for the first time in Noir's life, actually seemed shocked.

Scarlet raised her hands for silence, but there seemed little chance of that; Violet began to expound the dangers while Amber started talking about how big and strong and oh-so-scary the krogans were, and what they'd do if they caught Siren's Call. Never one to be very helpful, Auren actually started laughing as though at some massive unseen joke.

Noir watched as Scarlet tried with increasing frustration to calm the situation. Seeing them ignore her like that bothered him. It bothered him a lot.

"Would you all just shut up?" He shouted loudly enough to be heard over the din. Now everyone was looking at him with shocked expressions. Gesturing to Scarlet, he said, "At least let her finish explaining before you freak out. I mean, she's got us this far, hasn't she?"

Auren gave him a look of gratitude, while Amber and Violet blushed in embarressment. Her cheeks dark, Lady Scarlet let out a polite cough and nodded at Noir. "Thank you. As I was going to say, my analysis of the medallions hidden in the artifacts we've been picking up has allowed me to narrow the location of the League's Sanctuary to somewhere on Tuchanka."

"I trust we have more to go on than that." Violet said, having recomposed herself. "Tuchanka's a big planet."

"Filled with krogan." Amber added.

"Each medallion makes it that much easier to pinpoint the exact location; they're old, and my decryption program still doesn't have enough information to decode the security protocol the League put on them. Still, I believe we are getting close; we just need one, maybe two more to finally break the code. Fortunately, there is one on Tuchanka."

The hologram changed again, this time showing an image of a dark red gemstone.

"Is that to scale?" Noir asked Scarlet, who nodded. "By the ancestors, it's bigger than the Creator's Tear!"

A small smile graced Scarlet's lips. "It is called 'The Blood of the Krogan'. It was recovered a few years back from ruins predating the Krogan rebellions."

Sensing that the other shoe was about to drop, so to speak, Noir asked, "Where is it now?"

Scarlet's smile faltered. As she pressed her hand against the table, the image of the gemstone shrunk again. Details appeared around it, encasing it in a krogan headpiece worn by a particularly grizzled-looking krogan with red head-plating and a scar across his face.

Jake whined and hid under the table as Scarlet said, "This is Urdnot Wrex, Primarch of the Krogan."

"The Primarch." Auren repeated, her eyes wide as she laughed again at the absurdity of the situation. "Of course it's the Primarch; who else would it be?"

"Let me get this straight;" Violet said, her eyes down as she slowly stood up and laid her hands on the flat surface of the table, "We have to go to Tuchanka and steal the jewel in the Primarch's headpiece to uncover the location of the Sanctuary of the League of One."

Scarlet nodded. It looked as though she wanted to say something, but after nothing came out of her mouth for a few moments, she simply closed it and slowly sat down.

Violet glanced at the other members of Siren's Call before finally nodding. "Okay. I'm in."

Scarlet looked up, surprised. "You ... really?"

"Me too." Auren said, laughter in her eyes. "If you're gonna fail, fail big; that's what mom always told me."

Amber still looked uncertain, but she eventually nodded. "I trust you, Scarlet. Just ... are you sure there isn't another way?"

"There might be more medallions out there." Scarlet conceded. "But I wouldn't know where to start looking for them; I was lucky to find the first message pointing out the medallion hidden in the Breath of the Forest on Neukaara, but it took me years to find out about the two. We are almost there, I am sure of it. If we wait too long, we might lose it to someone else."

"Someone else has medallions?" Noir asked.

"I've confirmed that the Saints have found two. From Mkrobi's story, it's fair to assume whoever was hunting the League back in the day has at least three, assuming they're still around."

"That's nine, ten counting Wrex's headpiece." Violet commented. "So just two more left floating around out there."

"There's no guarantee that those two have remained hidden." Scarlet sighed and said, "Or the possibility that they might have already found it."

Noir snorted. "I doubt it; the Saints aren't much for subtlety; if they found the haul, the entire galaxy would still be recovering from the epic scale party they'd throw. As for whoever was hunting them, maybe they didn't manage to recover all the medallions; I'd imagine the League would have destroyed them before letting them be taken, if possible. If they had already found the place, wouldn't the relics have shown up by now?"

"Fair point." Violet conceded. "Even if they were sold to some rich ponce, word would have leaked out eventually."

"I agree." Scarlet said, standing again. "We can do this, I'm sure of it. We've come this far. Trust me just a little longer, and we'll be set for life ... all of us."

Auren rose from her chair, stifling a yawn. "Well, like we said, sweetie; we're with you. Just let us know what we need to do."

"I'll get to work on a plan right away." Violet added, already heading for the door.

Amber stood up. For a moment, she looked as though she wanted to say something, but she just nodded at Scarlet and headed for the lift with the others.

As Noir started to join the others in the lift, Scarlet called out, "A moment, Noir, if you would."

"O-of course." Noir narrowed his eyes at Violet as she gave him one final smirk before the lift doors closed, leaving Noir and Scarlet alone.

After a few moments that seemed to stretch forever, Scarlet said, "Thank you."

Surprised, Noir asked, "For what?"

"For stepping in earlier. I knew our destination would cause some arguments, but I didn't realize just how opposed Amber and Violet would be to the idea."

Noir rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks growing warm. "Well, no problem. I mean, you got us this far; if you think we can do this, then we can do this."

"Thank you. Your support means a lot to me." She hesitated a moment before saying, "I know this hasn't been easy for you."

"On me?" Noir shook his head. "I've just had to fix the ship and set the stage; you're the ones who do the singing and dancing ... and pull off the heists."

"And we wouldn't have done nearly as well if it wasn't for your technical expertise. It's more than that, though."

"I ... oh." Noir could feel his blush burning over his whole face.

"Violet and Azure both told me how close you and Viridia were. I must admit, I was surprised when you didn't leave with her."

Noir let out a nervous chuckle. "What can I say? Staying here seemed the better option."

Another tense silence passed between them. Coughing, Noir said, "Well, if that's all, I-"

"I'm sorry."

Noir felt his heart drop. Trying to sound normal, he said, "It's okay; you don't have to say anything."

"No, I do. You've stood by me loyally from the first day you were on board. You've given your best to Siren's Call, and to me, and I just ... I want you to know that." Now Scarlet's cheeks were dark. Sighing, she said, "Amber just confessed to Azure. That's why she wasn't at the meeting."

"Really?" Noir replied, feigning surprise. "Well, it was only a matter of time, I guess. From the look of her, Azure didn't respond well."

"I don't know. She's holed up in her room right now, and Amber refuses to talk about it." Scarlet started fidgeting with her hands. "It's just ... I don't ... I don't want it to be like that. You're not just my partner in this; you're my friend."

Seeing her so bothered on his account was painful for Noir. "It's okay." He assured her. "I understand."

"No you don't." She said, giving him a kind smile. "You're just saying that so I don't feel bad."

He looked at her, startled for a moment before letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Maybe I am. I'm the only brother of five sisters; they brought so much drama into the house that I felt bad making even a little complaint."

"I'll bet." Scarlet said, smiling a little wider. "I can only imagine what it was like growing up with them."

"It wasn't always so bad." He told her. "Viridia ... Kyra and I looked out for each other. I guess it's normal for twins."

After another moment of silence, Noir coughed and said, "Well, I'd better get back to the engines, in case we-"

"I'm not really engaged." She said quietly, her eyes latching on to his like energy grapples.

Noir's mind came to a screeching halt; whatever he had been about to say vanished from his mind, leaving him in stunned silence with his mouth still open.

"It was a way to ward off suitors … at least, I keep telling myself that." She rose from her chair and approached Noir. What little speech he had left died as she stood in front of him.

"Noir, you're kind and caring, and when people talk, you actually listen. You've always been there since we were kids, even when things weren't going so great for you. I think ... I'd like us to become closer."

Her cheeks went a shade darker. "But this isn't the time for that kind of thing. It could complicate our mission."

"Ah." Noir said. To be fair, 'ah' was probably the only thing he was capable of saying at the moment.

His heart leapt as she brushed a hand against his cheek tentatively.

"Give me a little more time." She said, her voice almost pleading. "Please. Then, once we've secured the League's treasure ... maybe ..."

Unable to voice a reply, he put his hand against hers on his cheek. Her sweet, small smile returned as she whispered, "It's been a long time since Mustrum Valley, hasn't it?"

"I haven't forgotten my promise." He said, his voice almost startling him.

"I know." She smiled at him for a moment longer before slipping her hand from his and stepping back.

Taking it as his cue to be on his way, Noir bowed his head respectfully and said, "I'll just ... uh, go work on the engines."

"Very good."

Noir patted his leg. "C'mon, Rolph."

When Jake didn't respond, Noir sighed and tapped the K-9 Unit on its head. "That's you."

"Hmm? Ah, woof!" Jake leapt to his feat and pranced over to the lift. As Noir stepped inside, he saw Scarlet still looking at him. Blushing, he gave her a little wave as the doors slid shut.

With a sigh, he fell back against the side of the lift. "By the ancestors." He murmured. "Could this get any worse?"

Jake looked at Noir, his head cocked to the side in askance. "I don't get it; I thought you liked her."

"Yes, but I'm supposed to be going with you guys!" He let his head fall into his hands. "I feel horrible. If only she had said something sooner!"

"To be fair, if she had, you'd probably still be tied up down in the cargo bay."

Noir looked at Jake for a moment before letting out a small laugh. "You're probably right. What am I going to do?"

Jake sat down beside Noir. "Look, I know this is none of my business, but me and Finn have this deal; I give him advice on things he has difficulty dealing with, whether he wants it or not, and he reserves the right to tell me to get lost. You mind?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Go ahead."

"Right. If you want to stay and start a relationship with Scarlet, then do it. Believe me, man, Finn will understand. I'm guessing there's a bit more history there than you let on before, and you'd have to be some kinda idiot to say that her feelings don't change things."

"But how can I work with Finn and the others if they don't know if they can trust me? If they know I might end up staying with Siren's Call?"

Jake shifted uncomfortably. "Well, for the moment anyway, they don't know. I may have accidentally shut down my communication link with Finn during your and Scarlet's little talk."

Noir stared at Jake with unabashed amazement. "You did that for me?"

"It seemed kinda rude to eavesdrop. Besides ..." He batted Noir's leg with his metal paw. "I always got my friends' backs."

Noir smiled gratefully at Noir. "I see why you and Finn are such good friends."

"Yeah, we're practically brothers, which is why I'm gonna ask you this; if you do stay with Siren's Call, please don't betray Finn and the others. Even if you aren't going with us, we were willing to let you join us on our mission against Cerberus, and that's gotta count for something. We gotta deal?"

Noir smiled as he shook the robot dog's paw. "Deal."