Chapter 4: Strange Meetings
"Mind if I buy you a drink?" Mal casually asked after joining a hooded stranger at a small table inside the Fringe on Cartagena.
"Be my guest. This is your kingdom." the mystery man replied nonchalantly.
After ordering them both beers Mal took a moment to examine the stranger's carefully concealed face. "This ain't a zoo, Hunter. And I'm not on display." the man gruffly stated.
"Sorry but I can't afford to be too careful, especially after everything we all just went through with the ZEN and nano-machines." Mal replied seriously.
The man simply sighed. "Let me go ahead and save you a lot of trouble, Hunter. My name is Randall Ezno, I used to work for Cerberus and my implants were based on Reaper technology. They were supposed to indoctrinate me but they didn't. So here I am." the man summarized tersely.
"Right…so why aren't you dead? I thought that Crucible thing that Shepard fired during the Reaper War was supposed to wipe out all of their tech." Mal curiously inquired.
"I don't know Hunter. Just like I don't know why the implants never worked on me. I'm just a freak among freaks I guess, not that I'm complaining. I've always liked having the power and it looks like I'll get to live a bit longer than an ordinary human too. Time hasn't slowed me down at all." Randall pleasantly replied as their drinks arrived.
Mal continued to observe him before downing some of his drink. "So, you used to work for Cerberus?"
"Yeah, a long time ago. I was an infiltrator tasked with securing alien prisoners for the research base where I was assigned." Randall explained.
"You're not making a good first impression, buddy." Mal warned him.
"Good, I wasn't trying to. You obviously want to know my history so I'm giving it you, unpolished." Randall replied brusquely. "Anyway, one day after I'd just finished another capture everything went to hell and I realized how depraved my bosses really were. My handler, a friend of mine, was abducted by our superiors and subjected to horrific experiments during an attack on the facility where we worked. I won't bother boring you with the details but the place became a warzone. I killed who I had to and freed who I could before I finally managed to escape with the help of a volus prisoner who was working with the Alliance. I ended up landing on some dustbowl planet waiting for the Alliance to arrive so that I could give them all the intel I had on Cerberus. Then Inali showed up."
"She was the friend you mentioned." Mal surmised.
"Yeah. The director of our base had turned her into…some kind of monster. We ended up fighting and when it was all over I left her there alive in that husked form, I begged her to forgive me before I left and I swore I'd kill the director for what he'd done to her." Randall bitterly continued before downing his entire drink.
"So how'd that go?" Mal curiously asked, eager to learn whether or not Randall had been successful in his quest for vengeance.
"Mission accomplished." Randall casually replied. "I hunted the bastard down, made him suffer, killed him and gave the Alliance everything I had on Cerberus. Some of the prisoners I freed even joined the war effort. After the Reapers fell, I decided to disappear on Benning. I just wanted to be left alone."
"And you chose Benning as your retirement hideaway? The colony that's right next door to Arcturus Station? The nerve center of the entire Alliance military? Makes perfect sense to me." Mal sarcastically quipped.
"Hide in plain sight, that was my line of thinking at the time. I knew they were still looking for me. Probably eager to pump me for more information or maybe have one of their research divisions study me, either way I wanted no part of it. I was done with them once the war ended." Randall explained in a cavalier manner.
"And then another war broke out a couple of decades later, lucky you." Mal joked.
"That insanity." Randall sighed. "I managed to keep a low profile for the most part but once Equinox started deploying their machine modified monstrosities, the Alliance started to get desperate. Desperate enough to try a little bit harder to find me. I guess they thought they could find an answer in my neuronal implants, something that might give them an edge. Too bad for them I'm nobody's test subject, not anymore. So I stole a freighter and left before they could get too close." he explained.
"And met Beth and Grace." Mal quietly added.
"Those two…of all the things I expected to find stowed away, I never pictured a mother and her baby. This galaxy is pretty damn absurd sometimes, Hunter." Randall mused. "I'm guessing Beth told you the rest. How is she?"
"She died a few hours after we met, peacefully at least. I can't imagine how exhausted she must've been or how much agony she'd endured." Mal lamented.
"She was a fighter that one. At least when it came to her little girl." Randall replied solemnly. "So, are you going to honor her wish and look after Grace?"
"Yeah but right now I'm trying to decide what to do about you." Mal replied honestly while eyeing the man.
"If you want to kick me out, fine. Just do it now so I can start planning where to head to next." Randall replied tersely.
"My friend told me you're a real badass and the colonists who came with you agreed. Beth had nothing but good things to say about you too. The fact is you're one-of-a-kind. Leo doesn't hand out praise very often and I trust his assessments more than anyone else's. You're a skilled infiltrator, a powerful biotic and an experienced soldier-that's one helluva package and I'd like to put it all to good use. How would you like to work for me?" Mal proposed.
"The biotics are a result of my implants Hunter and based on everything I've seen, you don't need any extra help. You've already got an army of vorcha, krogan-including a few warlords and battlemasters, asari huntresses, turians, drell, humans of every conceivable discipline and this isn't even counting those superhuman brats you liberated from Equinox." Randall replied with a hint of admiration.
"Let's get one thing straight, I'm not raising those kids to join my army. They'll do whatever they want once they're old enough. If they want to help me, fine but I'm not forcing them to follow my lead. There's been enough of that in the galaxy already. As for your biotics, I don't really care how you got the power. From what I hear, you know how to use it and you have a few techniques that aren't exactly 'standard' abilities. My own biotics could stand to learn a few tricks from you and regardless of what you say, I could always use some extra help. So how bout it? Care to join my Fangs?" Mal persisted.
"I have heard that you pay well and I am looking for work right now." Randall mused. "You'd really trust a former Cerberus operative?" he seriously asked.
"You wouldn't be the first Ex-Cerberus operative to get a second chance." Mal replied placidly.
"I don't know if you're crazy or just plain stupid, either way I guess it works for you." Randall casually remarked while eyeing Mal. "Alright Hunter, you've convinced me. But let's make a few things clear. I'll only answer to you and I'm not teaching anybody unless I feel like it. Understand?"
"Fine by me Randall but I've got a feeling you'll be meeting some hopefuls in a few years who might actually meet your approval." Mal joked. "Welcome to Cartagena and the Fangs." he cheerfully added while extending a hand. Randall accepted the handshake and even smiled a little. If nothing else, accepting Mal's offer would allow him to keep an eye on the little girl that he'd helped bring to the Mercenary King's domain.
"Javik, what's this about?" Ethan asked curiously while facing his prothean mentor. "And why did you want to meet me way out here of all places?"
Both men were standing in a field on the planet of Chasca in the Matano System of the Maroon Sea. It was almost completely isolated and boasted a population of less than a thousand despite attempts by the Alliance to expand colonization on the remote world.
"A moment Lieutenant." Javik replied seriously while glaring at a passing space cow that was rejoining its herd. "These creatures are not to be trusted."
"Don't tell me you actually believe Dad's stupid story about getting robbed by a cow?" Ethan laughed.
"The admiral was not mistaken. I encountered a similar perpetrator sometime ago on a planet you call Ontarom. It escaped after relieving me of-Nevermind. That is not why I summoned you here." Javik irritably continued after turning to face Ethan.
"Wait a minute, did you just call me Lieutenant? That's the first time in my entire life that you didn't just refer to me as 'boy' or 'child,' Javik I'm touched." Ethan humorously replied.
"You are no longer a child, that much has already been proven. You have grown as I expected and earned your title. It is a distinction that I will acknowledge and honor." Javik replied seriously.
"Javik…thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that." Ethan said earnestly.
"We've wasted enough time on sentiment, I called you here to discuss matters of a more serious nature." Javik brusquely continued. "The Leviathans, have you begun preparing for their arrival?"
"I'm doing what I can but most of the Alliance's resources are being focused on reconstruction efforts on the colonies that got hit the worst during the war. We're also trying to rebuild the sixth fleet. I've been using my SPECTRE connections to dig up as much as I can but it's not enough and Dad hasn't added anything new since he told us everything he learned during the Reaper War." Ethan explained.
"I expected as much." Javik scoffed. A few moments later, a strange looking shuttle descended on their location and several beings that Ethan had never encountered before promptly departed. "These are the liberated remnants of the Collectors, the pitiful shadows that remain of my people. The Leviathans freed their minds during the war with the Reapers and your Alliance dubbed them 'Awakened Collectors,' they have much to share." he explained while turning to face the small group of Collectors.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Shepard." their leader politely remarked while staring at Ethan.
"What the-Where the hell have they been?!" Ethan spluttered.
"Hiding." Javik replied derisively. "It doesn't matter now, what does matter is that they may be of use to you in the days to come."
"How?" Ethan curiously asked.
"After the Leviathans severed the Reapers' influence over the Collectors and the war ended, they attempted to gain control of their minds themselves. Their efforts failed and I suspect that was one of the reasons why their plans have been delayed." Javik explained.
"That is correct. Although it was only a brief exchange, we were able to discern a few details about their objectives while they were attempting to subjugate us. They do intend to conquer the galaxy and once again establish their reign. That much is certain." the Collector leader added gravely.
"We can never get a break, can we?" Ethan sighed.
"No, your role is that of a soldier. You should always be prepared for battle." Javik reminded him. "Now let us strategize. We have much to plan."
Ethan agreed. They did indeed have a lot to plan.