Welcome to Noveria, and one of the parts of the story that I am going to add a bit of detail to and not skip around as much. So the next three or four chapters will only be on Noveria. I am taking some liberties with the story so let me know what you think. As always, comments, reviews, and suggestions are welcome. Enjoy!
The winds were whipping well over 200 miles per hour outside the docking bay as the Normandy glided into port on Noveria. Luke sat at the equipment table tinkering with a few pieces of tech. Claire came up behind him and sat down looking over what he was doing.
"What are you doing Luke? This is just a quick investigation. Find out what sparked the reports of geth activity in the area then come back to the ship to gear up if necessary."
"Claire, the people that move their company's research and development programs to Noveria are the type of people I use to lock up. Corporate espionage and smuggling are a major source of income around here, not to mention kickbacks and bribes. If they decide to get hostile, I don't want to be caught unarmed and unprotected." Luke grabbed as leather jacket from the side of the table and placed a shield modulator between the lining and the back, where it would normally be on armor.
"Might as well just where your armor, Luke." Claire advised.
"People don't talk around people that where armor. It shows a type of authority that makes people squeamish. Dressed like this, I could probably pick up more eavesdropping in an hour than you will get from straight questions all day."
"Well, you're the cop Luke. I trust you…but once you're done sniffing around, you will slap on your armor and join the ground team right?"
"If there is a need for it, sure."
Claire nodded and stood patting her brother on the shoulder. She was glad she hadn't tried getting into the sealed file, yet her curiosity was nagging at the back of her mind.
"Oh, Claire, I need you to do something for me before I head out." Luke said turning around to face her. Claire turned as well and crossed her arms.
"I'm listening."
"I need spectre authorization to carry a gun on Noveria. I'll keep it discrete." Luke looked up at his sister as she pursed her lips in thought.
"Might as well, just don't shoot anyone without cause." Luke snapped his fingers as if disappointed.
"You take all the fun out of everything, Claire." Luke crossed his arms dramatically and pouted playfully.
Luke pressed his thumb to the identification scanner at the front desk while a security officer stood behind him with his pistol. The assistant behind the desk was a pretty woman with delicate features wearing a long pink dress. She had introduced herself as Gianna Parasini, executive assistant to Administrator Anoleis, but there was something off about her. Maybe it was just the fact that most people on Noveria could be considered criminals and corporate spies, or maybe it was something else entirely.
"Looks like you have spectre authorization to carry your weapon, Mr…" Luke held up his hand.
"I would rather not have my name announced for all to hear. If you have to refer to me as something, call me Agent." Luke saw a flicker of understanding in the woman's face and she motioned for the guard to give him his weapon back.
"Well, we hope you enjoy your stay." Parasini said as she turned to leave.
"Actually there is one thing you could do for me." Luke said as he stashed his weapon under his jacket. "Has there been anyone pass through that is not the usual crowd?"
"Other than a spectre authorized civilian and an asari matriarch a few days ago, no." The woman answered looking through her omni-tool.
"That Matriarch wouldn't have been Benezia would it?" Parasini looked at him curiously before nodding. "Was she alone?"
Parasini shook her head. "She had a group of asari commandos with her and a few dozen large crates."
Luke wet his lips and nodded before heading in toward the elevator. He stopped short of it and opened a secure channel. "Normandy, do you read me?"
"Yeah, this is Joker. You get into trouble already?"
"Maybe, just found out that Benezia is here on Noveria. That's probably the source of the geth signal our intelligence reported. Apparently she came through with some big crates and asari commandos." Luke said glancing back up at the desk.
"This is Claire. I heard the whole thing. I think you might be wanting your armor?" Luke smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, but I think I'm going to sniff round a little. Do my whole cop thing before we go spectre on these creeps." Luke heard Claire laugh a little and could almost see her smiling.
"Alright, Luke. Liara, Garrus, and I are going to be coming ashore here shortly, so find out what you can and do it fast. We'll have your armor and other weapons for you when you're done."
"Got it…Oh and just as a heads up, the security here are major sticklers. They will need to confirm your spectre status before they'll allow you past them with your weapons. Over and out." Luke closed the channel and stepped into the elevator. He said a silent prayer hoping that it might be faster than the one onboard the Normandy.
As he stepped out into the main area of the installation, Luke sighed. The elevator was not as slow as the Normandy's but it certainly was not rapid transit on the Citadel.
Luke made with way through the commons eavesdropping on as many conversations as he could. By the time he had crossed the large space, he had learned that people were chaffing under the current management and an entire division had been shut down for investigation into a turian named Lorik Qui'in. That sounds like corruption at work to me. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.
Luke made his way toward the garage but was turned away by the security since he did not have a pass. "Before I go, could you tell me is Matriarch Benezia passed through here or where she was headed?" The guard looked at Luke like he was crazy but shrugged.
"She came through a few days ago, headed for Peak 15, but even if you had a pass you would freeze out there. There is a huge blizzard that just hit and all shuttle travel has been grounded."
"Fantastic." Luke said turning to head back toward the main room.
"Luke, you read me?" Claire's voice came over the radio.
"I hear you. There is a lot going on in here that you probably need to know. Garrus and I probably are going to have to restrain the urge to arrest these people on sight. I'll tell you what else I know when I see you."
"Alright, we just go to the main floor. Had a little excitement at the door."
"She means she nearly got in a gunfight with the security forces since they tried to take her gun." Garrus cut in. Luke started laughing.
"Okay, I'll meet you in that store that's on the right as soon as you get off the elevator." Luke said making his way across the main floor.
Claire looked over the merchandise in the shop. Garrus made a grunt of approval as he found a scope upgrade for his sniper rifle. Claire could not help but notice the way the hanar was pacing, but whenever a hanar was moving it was kind of hard not to notice.
Luke entered the store and noticed his sister's quiet demeanor as she examined the equipment available. "I thought girls shopped for clothes and pretty things." This earned an immediate glare from his sister as he sat down on a bench near the entrance of the store. Claire sat down next to him as Garrus purchased the upgrade and Liara leaned against the wall within earshot of the two Shepards.
"Benezia went up to a research station known as Peak 15. But thanks to the weather a shuttle drop up there is impossible but we could take a ground vehicle if we don't mind the cold." Luke explained.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Claire responded.
"Well, there is one little hiccup. We need a garage pass to get to the vehicles and the road way up the mountain." Claire sighed and stood up.
"Then I guess we'll have to talk to the person in charge so we can get one." Garrus smirked as he examined the upgrade and joined the group.
"That costs more than what we use to make in a month." Luke exclaimed.
"Claire gave me the money for it." Garrus said plopping down on the bench and retrieving his sniper rifle. He attached the upgrade and started running calibrations through his omni-tool to fully incorporate the piece of hardware.
"Why don't you two boys stay here while Liara and I go try and get a garage pass? You both are more tinkerers than diplomats anyway." Luke looked up at his sister.
"I know. Thank goodness." Luke's comment got a chuckle from Garrus and an eye roll with a smile from each of the girls as they made their way toward the administrator's office.
"Hey, how long is it going to take for you to finish that?" Luke said looking at his omni-tool to check the time.
"Well, I can't adjust it properly without firing it do I'm pretty much done now." Garrus said replacing the rifle on his back and looking over at his friend. Garrus noticed the look on his friend's face. He may not have known all human expressions but he had gotten to know pretty well when Luke had something he was planning. "What are you think of?"
"I think we need to head to the hotel bar for a drink." He wanted to talk to Qui'in about the investigation into him. I know that if I wasn't able to work and under investigation, that's where I'd be.
"I don't think Claire would approve of drinking on the job." Garrus said as Luke got up.
"Probably not, but I never said that that drink would be for us." Luke replied as he started across the main room to the elevator that led to the hotel.
"Oh no. Here we go again." Garrus muttered as he followed his friend.
The two stepped out into the bar and made their way over to a table where a lone turnian was sitting. Luke sat down across from him and smiled.
"Greetings human, you look very comfortable as the uninvited guest. What do you want?" The turian snarled.
"You know, I thought executives under investigation would be a little more curtious. You need all the good favor you can get, right?"
"The investigation is a joke. There are a lot of people that are out money thanks to Anoleis and he seems to be building a healthy retirement fund."
"Sense a connection there." Luke replied.
"Indeed. I have evidence of his dealings on my console in my office at Synthetic Insights which is most likely being torn apart by Anoleis' goons right now."
"As in the security forces?" Garrus asked.
"Captain Matsuo, the security commander, doesn't allow her men to take outside jobs. So I would wager a guess that she doesn't know what they are doing."
"Anoleis must be paying them under the table. Okay, if we get that evidence for you, would you do us a favor in return?" Qui'in eyed the two of them suspiciously.
"I suppose that would be fair." Luke leaned forward placing his elbows on the table.
"We need a garage pass. You get us one and we'll get your evidence." Qui'in smiled and slid an access card across the table.
"That card will get you into Synthetic Insights and this OSD will by-pass the security on my console and copy the evidence." The turian slid the drive over to Luke as well and the human slipped it into his jacket pocket. He nodded and stood waving Garrus to follow him out.
"You know, if Claire got a pass from Anoleis, there might not be any need for this." Garrus said as the two of them stepped into the elevator. Luke chuckled and looked over at his friend.
"Bet you a hundred credits that the administrator denied Claire's request." Luke answered as the doors closed. Garrus shook his head. He knew better than to take a bet like that with Luke. The tone he spoke in was the giveaway that he knew something that would make him right. The doors opened and Claire was standing there with Liara waiting for them.
"Mixing a little business with pleasure?" Claire asked stopping her brother from stepping out.
"All business Claire. I found a way to get a garage pass. Just give me a little while and we will have it." Luke said slipping past her.
"Oh no you don't." Claire grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "I'm nervous about leaving this up to you. What do you have up your sleeve?"
"According to what I've been hearing and a turian named Qui'in, Anoleis is dirty. We get Qui'in's evidence from his office before Anoleis' goons do, he'll give us his pass." Luke explained as he started to walk. Claire smiled and fell in step with her brother signaling the others to follow.
"You know, that assistant, Parsini I think it was, she told me to talk to Qui'in too. What do you think about that?" Claire asked.
"I don't know. Maybe she is wanting to grab the evidence for her boss or maybe she wants it as blackmail herself. I don't know. We just need to keep our heads up." Luke said turning into the hallway leading to the Synthetics Insight office.
The group stepped into the elevator and Claire handed Luke a bag with his armor and other weapons inside. Luke smiled and stripped his jacket. He slipped the armor on over his clothes and locked the pieces in place.
"Liara, are you alright?" Garrus asked. The Shepards turned to look at their two companions. Liara was wringing her hands and watching the elevator move up the levels.
"Hey, Liara?" Luke said placing his hand on hers. "What's wrong?" The asari looked up at him and he could see the fear and anxiety in her eyes.
"Nothing, I…" Liara started, but she could not bring herself to finish the sentence.
"You are worried about why your mother is here, aren't you? You're afraid of what we might have to do to stop her." Luke said softly.
"She is still my mother." Liara said softly.
"We know. We're not sure what's going on yet, so until we figure it out there is no reason to be scared." Liara nodded but Luke could tell that he had not comforted her much. Probably won't be able to comfort her until we figure out what is going on here. God help us if we have to kill Benezia.