The Citadel and the Quarian

Allers: So I take it then that you didn't immediately bond with either of your two superiors?

Ashley: No not really. At the time I thought Anderson was just another Alliance brass with a stick up his ass and Shepard well I didn't know what to think about her. She definitely wasn't easy to understand.

Allers: But you were at the Citadel now, surely it was going in your favour.

Ashley: Well yeah it did seem to be, I'd never been to the Citadel before at that point and I definitely wasn't looking forward to seeing Udina. He was just another politician, they'd never done anything before so why should he this time.

Allers: But if it wasn't for Udina you would never have met your team mates.

Ashley: That is true; still he was a politician that turned nasty in the end. But to begin with he was just a pain in the ass.

"Anderson I see you've brought your entire ground crew."

"Only Shepard's team, they were the main ground crew."

"Shepard meet us at the council chambers."

With those words Udina and the Captain left us alone. Another typical politician always scheming with the best of them. We now had to go to the council chambers, no doubt so that the council could tell us the exact same thing that Udina had. Another cab ride later and we were stood outside the council chambers. Walking up the stairs towards Anderson I spotted a Turian having an argument with another Turian. As we walked past I managed to pick up a bit of the conversation, something about not following orders, to stop gathering evidence about something that didn't exist and something else about a Turian Spectre.

"Commander, that Turian we just past."

"What about him Chief?"

"He was having an argument about a Turian Spectre, from the sounds of it he's been gathering evidence against him."

"Did you catch his name?"

"Garrus Vakarian."

"We'll have to chase down that lead afterwards the council is waiting for us. Good work Chief."

Anderson was waiting for us outside the chamber. The council and Udina were already under way, and next to them was a huge hologram of a Turian, who could only be Saren. It didn't take long for the council to decide not to help us as there was no proof of anything against him.

"We warned you against colonising in the Terminus system. Out of the reaches of the council what do you expect us to do." The Turian Councillor accused.

At that the councillors departed the room and the hologram of Saren disappeared. Leaving us with Udina.

"We need proof to prove that Saren is guilty."

"We came across a Turian before who was talking about looking for evidence against Saren, which could be a good place to start."

"That's a good idea Commander; you'll need to talk to Harkin."

"Harkin?"

"Former C-Sec operative. He'll know where to find this Turian. You'll find Harkin in Chora's den. No doubt drinking himself into oblivion."

"Okay, we'll start there Anderson."

And like that our new objective was given. It was up to me, the Lieutenant and the Commander to find some new evidence. And our first port of call is Chora's den. It didn't take us long to reach the club, before we even managed to reach the door we were being shot at. Two Turians were waiting for us outside the club with assault rifles. As we took cover the Lieutenant threw a biotic grenade in the direction of our assailants. The grenade took down both of the Turians, leaving us to clean up the mess. As the Commander called in the attack to C-Sec, I searched the bodies for clues on who had attacked us. It couldn't have just been pure coincidence that as we arrived they were waiting for us. Only one of the Turians had an omni-tool on him, but even this didn't help the only message on it was badly damaged.

"C-Sec are on their way, lets go."

As we walked into Chora's den you could easily see why men would love this place. Asari dancers everywhere even some human dancers. If you wanted company this was definitely the place to be. Harkin was going to be trouble to find. In a room full of men trying not to be spotted by official looking people it was going to be hard. The Commander led the way around the central bar with no luck. Even asking the patrons of this fine establishment wasn't helping they weren't going to betray their fellow patron. There were Turians, Humans, Salarians and even one Krogan all partaking in the debauchery of the club. Well apart from the Krogan, that one Krogan was looking directly at us.

"Uh, Commander. That Krogan in the corner hasn't stopped watching at us the entire time we've been here."

"Good spot Chief. Let's go have a chat with our Krogan observer."

I looked at the Lieutenant and the look he gave me back confirmed that we both weren't looking forward to having to deal with a Krogan if it came down to it.

"You've been watching us, why?"

Human, Alliance. The name's Wrex. I'm here on a job just making sure you're not the competition."

"Only if you're after Harkin."

"You mean the little fellow over there. He's not my quarry, he's all yours."

Harkin was only a few tables away, it was time to go have a chat with him and of course he was expecting us.

"Commander, what took you so long?"

"Harkin I presume."

"Would you and you friend like to join me for a drink? I could do with the company."

That pervert, drooling over us like we're pieces of meat. If it hadn't been for the Commander quickly replying I would have swung for him.

"No thanks Harkin. We need information. Mainly where can we find Garrus Vakarian?"

"Him, you'll find him in the Wards at the medical centre with Dr Michel. But that's not what you really want to know. You want to hear about Anderson and Saren. Did you know he was a Spectre?"

"Oh shut up Harkin. No one wants to hear you lies."

So we were off to the medical centre. At least we didn't have to face the Krogan just a Turian. The medical centre was on the opposite side of the markets to the one we were on. Luckily we managed to grab a sky car there and miss all the traders trying to sell you all their rubbish. Traders they're almost as bad as politicians. We reached the medical centre without a hitch, it wasn't until we walked in that we were under fire again. Immediately we had to find cover, the distraction that we had caused meant that the Turian who had been hidden from view was able to shoot the man who had a gun to the doctor's head. At least the doctor had the good sense to hide when her captor fell, and allow us to save her ass. It didn't take long for us to finish the remaining men of and as soon as we did it was time to address a certain issue.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have hit the hostage."

"I wasn't thinking. Dr Michel are you okay?"

"I'm fine thank you."

"Who were those men doctor?"

"They were Fist's thugs."

"What did they want?"

"Information on a Quarian that I was treating. She had information concerning Eden Prime and a Turian Spectre."

First we're looking for a Turian who could help us and that Turian unknowingly leads us to a Human Doctor, who then lead us to find a Quarian. No doubt this Quarian would then lead us to something else, eventually ending up with us never finding out what we need. And undoubtedly more gun fights. It looked like we were heading after Fist.

"Chora's den."

"What about it Vakarian?"

"That's where you'll find Fist. He owns the joint."

"So back where we came from then."

"Seems like it Chief. Vakarian, we could use you. The Chief overheard your conversation with your superior earlier; you've been compiling evidence against Saren?"

"I have been but I haven't got anything concrete yet. If what the Quarian has is any good, it should be able to back up my evidence."

"Vakarian you come with us, Lieutenant you stay here and make sure the Doctor is safe. We'll radio you once we've seen Fist."

We managed to take the same sky car back to Chora's Den. By the time we'd got there it was clear that Fist was expecting us. The first time we were there you could hear the music blaring out, but as the Commander parked the sky car there was only silence greeting us.

"Something's wrong, I have a feeling we're going to be walking into a trap. Be ready."

As the doors opened we found ourselves greeted by a hail of bullets coming in from all directions. On the opposite side of the door two overturned tables granted us immediate cover. The Commander was first into cover and I followed her. Garrus on the other hand had taken cover by the side of the door and had his sniper rifle out and trained on the assailant on top of the bar. The fight was short but bloody. My shields were completely drained thanks to a Krogan who had come charging out of the back area. It was only thanks to Garrus that he didn't do any more damage. The Krogan's charge had knocked me to the ground and it was only Garrus' precise shooting that had stopped him from carrying on. From the sounds of gunfire on the opposite side of the room I could only presume that the Commander was still under fire. One more round from Garrus' rifle ended the fighting. Then he came across the radio.

"All enemies are down Commander."

We all joined up again at the back entrance to the club. My armour had new Krogan shaped dent in the breast plate and it was rather noticeable.

"What happened to you Williams?"

"Krogan."

Was all I managed to say, my body still coming to grips with the impact of the Krogan and the floor. But that didn't matter I had to keep my mind focused on the goal ahead. As we pressed onwards further into Fists compound there was less resistance. Presumably some of them had heard the gun fire getting closer and decided to run. The Commander opened the next door and I stepped over the threshold and brought myself up against the wall, as I brought my head out of cover I saw a man stood behind a desk, who could only be Fist. Signalling to the Commander I told her what I could see. As she signalled her orders I could hear two machines start to work. A quick look round the corner showed me everything I needed; two automatic turrets had been brought forward and were searching for movement. I moved back to the Commander and told her about the turrets. This complicated matters.

"We've got a problem Commander; two automatic turrets have just come online. With Fist stood in the middle of them."

"That's a problem. Garrus how are your tech abilities?"

"Basic, but I can overload them."

"Do it, we'll keep the turrets of you."

I led the way back out to Fist's office. Upon reaching the same position as before I quickly ran to some more cover on the opposite side of the room. As I did this the Commander opened fire on one of the turrets making sure they didn't rip apart my shields again. Upon reaching safety I quickly caught my breath before leaning out and opening fire on the turrets. Whilst we kept the fire upon the turrets Garrus was using his omni-tool in order to overload the turrets. Slowly but surely the turrets were destroyed, both of them exploding and showering Fist in mechanical parts.

"Fist, you can come out now."

"What do you want Commander?"

"The Quarian."

"I've already sent her on her way. She thinks she's meeting an agent of the Shadow Broker, when in fact she's meeting an agent of Saren."

"Where's the meeting Fist?"

"On the Wards, I'll send the exact position to your omni-tool."

Such a nice guy, selling the Quarian out to Saren. But why would she want to pass the information on to the Shadow Broker. It didn't make any sense, everything that I had heard about the Quarian's was that they stayed with the fleet, yet here was one who hadn't. We had to get to the Quarian. Before we could leave the door flew open and in walked the Krogan from before.

"Do you have the information you wanted human?"

"Wrex, this is your prey."

"It is, answer the question human."

"I have what I needed."

"The Shadow Broker passes on his condolences Fist."

The Krogan picked up his shotgun and levelled it at Fist, with one pull of the trigger Fist was splattered along the back wall.

"Was that entirely necessary?"

"Was that necessary what you did? I saw the bodies littered in the club."

"They fired at us."

"Heh heh. How many times has this happened since you reached the citadel?"

"This will be the third time by my reckoning."

"Carnage follows you and so do I. I'm yours Shepard."

"Welcome to the team then. Now we need to find that Quarian."

And now we were four. A Krogan, a Turian and two Humans all after a Quarian. Sounds like the beginning to a bad joke. But here we were all heavily armed moving through the wards in search of a Quarian. Luckily the program that Fist had given the Commander was making audible beeps every time we got closer. The program led us to an alley behind the wards where we could see the Quarian talking to a Turian and two Salarians. It didn't take long for their conversation to fall apart. With a quick movement the Quarian had thrown a grenade in the Turians direction and turned away to take cover. As soon as everything went south we opened fire. Before Wrex could even get an edge in the Commander and Garrus had both taken out the two Salarians with simultaneous head shots and the Turian quickly fell to well timed rifle fire. Thankfully it was over quickly the only person who looked annoyed about this was Wrex, typical Krogan.

"Disappointing Shepard."

"Yeah well, you'll get used to it Wrex. Now Miss..."

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance. This is Gunnery Chief Williams, that's Wrex and that there is Garrus. We've been looking for you."

"What! Why?"

"We've come to the understanding that you have information that is vital to our mission."

"Which is?"

"We're looking for information that can discredit the Spectre Saren. He attacked one of our colonies in the Terminus System, Eden Prime."

"I have the information that will help you."

"Will you come with us?"

"Lead on Commander."

"Chief get in touch with Alenko. Tell him to meet us at Udina's office."

It didn't take me long to bring Alenko up over the radio.

"LT we've found the Quarian. Do you remember that Krogan from earlier, well he's with us now as well."

"You have been busy. We've had a bit of trouble here as well. A Salarian named Morlan has been trying to black mail the doctor, but I sorted it out. With no guns as well."

"Very funny LT, meet us at Udina's office."

Having just reread this chapter I found a rather obvious mistake. I didn't know you could brink Alenko up over the rainbow. Hopefully that will be the last mistake like that, but if my mind wanders it wanders. Hopefully I'll have more Wrex for you later, I like writing Wrex especially his speech. The Krogan such a wonderful race.

Once again any comments or views let us know. Anything you'd like to see happen next let me know and I'll see what I can do.