The Diplomat and the Mercenary

Allers: Surely there must have been another way?

Ashley: Not that we could see. It's not like we went out there with the sole purpose of destroying some Protheon ruins.

Allers: Very true. What did you really think of Liara T'Soni when you first met her?

Ashley: When I first met her, I thought she was a bit of a wild card. She was the daughter of the enemy and when we met her, there were Geth and she was behind a force field. You couldn't get any more protected then that really.

Allers: Really, you thought she could have been the enemy?

Ashley: Sure at first I did. But that feeling went as we tried to leave the dig site. And it completely dissipated when she found out about her mother.

Allers: What came next?

Ashley: Nassana Dantius.

"Did you really do that Ash?"

"Sure it was fun Tali."

"How long did it last for?"

"Depends on who you ask Liara."

"What are you three talking about?"

"That's none of your business Garrus, we're on downtime."

"Not any more you're not the Commander wants to see us all in the cargo bay."

"Why is it whenever we're on downtime we're always needed to do something?"

"Because the world is cruel towards the feminine race."

"That's hilarious Garrus you should try stand up."

"Alas I sense I'm following the wrong path."

A Turian with a sense of humour, even if it was a really bad one was just what we needed. Regardless of that we followed him to the comm room where the Commander was waiting for us. She looked troubled.

"Good everyone's here. Sorry to interrupt on your downtime you three. We've got a new mission. I've just been contacted by a Nassana Dantius an Asari diplomat situated on the Citadel. She's requested my presence on the Citadel in a matter of kidnapping. So that's where we're going. When we get there Alenko, Garrus you're with me. The rest of you are entitled to some shore leave. When we get to the Citadel you have one solar day of shore leave then we leave on this mission. Crew dismissed."

As we all got up to go Garrus and the LT remained seated and got the full brief off the Commander for the meeting. At least the mission brief didn't take that long we still had some downtime left to enjoy.

"At least that didn't take too long. You going to finish your story now Ash?"

"I think you've had too much excitement for one day Tali. I'll leave it for another time. I'm going to get some sleep, you think on what you want to do tomorrow for your shore leave."

"Oh, shore leave. Come on Liara."

Tali and Liara left me at our quarters. Since Liara had come onboard the Commander had ordered that another bunk be placed in our quarters to accommodate her. She didn't spend much time there, instead she could normally be found in her lab in the medical bay. Either working or asleep at her desk. I closed the door to our quarters and just fell onto the bed and caught up on my sleep.

I was woken up when the Normandy begun docking procedures on the Citadel by a very excited Tali. She wasn't just going to be a Quarian this time; she would be in the company of an Asari and a Human, able to do what she wanted. It was shore leave so there was no need for the dress down uniform of the Alliance. As the Normandy finished docking we were all assembled at the airlock as soon as the light turned green we all departed. We all took the lift down to the Presidium and went our separate ways. Leaving just Tali, Liara and myself.

"Okay then ladies where first?"

"I've heard there's a shop that caters to Quarians."

"That sounds wonderful Liara. Can we start there?"

"Lead the way."

We spent the rest of our shore leave going round the different shops getting anything we could think of that would help us on our mission. We also spent our evening meal at some Sushi bar that had just had its grand opening a couple of weeks back. We had a good time eventually we had to make our way back to the Normandy our one solar day was up. Upon returning to the Normandy we found the Commander waiting for us at the docking bay.

"Meeting in comm room asap, that is once you've put all your new belongings away."

She had it coming standing their smirking at our purchases. But regardless we followed her orders it didn't take us long to place everything in our quarters and get to the comm room.

"Everyone's here. Nassana Dantius has been contacted by a group of mercenaries who have kidnapped her sister. They've requested money which has been paid and she still hasn't heard from her sister. We are to go rescue her. She's been tracked to Sharjila in the Artemis Tau cluster, which Joker has already set a course for. We expect to be there in twelve hours, I'll be taking Garrus and Ash, on this one. Crew dismissed."

Garrus and I both waited for the crew to be dismissed and receive further details that always came next.

"I don't think this is a simple kidnapping. Something doesn't sit right with Nassana Dantius, she played me. When we get there we need to be extra vigilant, this isn't going to be straight forward."

"What makes you say that Shepard?"

"It's just what she said Garrus, everything was placed perfectly to want me to say yes to her request. Either her sister really has been kidnapped. Highly unlikely or something else is in motion here."

"We'll be careful Commander."

"Dismissed Chief."

Twelve hours later we found ourselves in the Mako plummeting towards Sharjila. Apart from landing the Normandy this was the quickest way to go and it definitely got your adrenaline going. Upon landing the Commander immediately sped the Mako off towards the coordinates given to us. It wasn't that far thankfully since the Commanders driving wasn't what you would call good. As we got into visual range of the coordinates a mercenary base was in front of us, with what looked like the entire facility armed and waiting for us. The Commander moved the Mako into cover and got out with her sniper. We followed her out of the Mako and took up positions either side of her. Garrus and the Commander both with their snipers pointing towards the mercenary base.

"Williams, I want you back in the Mako and start a run towards the base, we'll cover you from here. Just concentrate on evading fire and distracting them. Once your clear head into the base, Garrus will cover you from here and I'll make my way across."

I nodded my agreement and got straight back into the Mako and set a course directly towards the base. It didn't take long for them to spot me and start opening fire, as I dodged most of the weapons fire including some rockets the Commander and Garrus started to pick of targets. One by one they fell to sniper rounds by the time I got close enough for the turrets to engage there wasn't anybody left. The Commander and Garrus having taken them all out. Pulling up to the entrance of the base I stopped the Mako and headed towards the door. As I moved to open the door I could feel Garrus' sights resting on my back, just watching in case of trouble. Before I even recognised the danger that was in front of me it was over. Garrus had been quick on the draw. The door had opened before I could get to it and behind it had stood a mercenary with a mean looking shotgun. The shot had made the Commander double time it to get to the base. She reached me as I stepped over the threshold and headed into the complex. Side by side we made our way through the complex removing any resistance we found. Once the ground floor was clear we made our way to the second floor where the office was. It took a couple of seconds for the omni-gel to crack the door code. Once the door was opened we raised our weapons and walked in, behind the desk was an Asari.

"That bitch, my sister sent you didn't she. She just couldn't leave me alone. Nassana Dantius' sister the leader of a mercenary outfit. Once I've dealt with you then she's next."

"You talk too much."

Without hesitating the Commander fired one shot that hit the Asari in-between the eyes. As that blank look of death crept upon her she slowly fell to the ground.

"Check the body Williams; we need some proof to back up what she said."

As I searched the Asari's body the Commander radioed Garrus and gave him a quick update. Searching the body proved pointless she had nothing on her, so I moved to the desk that she was stood behind. On it there was a data pad which detailed every job they had pulled and the current extortion ring they were pulling on Nassana. From the details provided there was no way that she thought her sister had been abducted. The messages were clear if she didn't pay then her sister was going to give away her secret.

"Commander you need to see this."

"What've you got Williams?"

"Details on every job this crew pulled including the extortion of Nassana Dantius. There's no way she thought that her sister had been abducted. She had paid though and it seemed her sister was content for the moment. Clearly Nassana wasn't."

"Good find Ash. Bring that back to Normandyit's time to go see Nassana."

It worried me that the Commander would just shoot this woman in cold blood. No warning not even a fair fight, she just fired. Bored from the conversation it seemed.

"Commander I have to ask. Why did you kill her in cold blood?"

"Simple Williams. It was going to be me or her, she'd seen and heard what we had done to everyone else, we had her cornered and she wasn't going to go down without a fight. So I saved us the trouble of a fight. In these close quarters one of us would have been injured. In situations like this you've got to judge the person in front of you, it sounds cold and calculated because it is. If we had delayed who knows what she could have done. Keep that in mind Williams."

It made sense, it was a judgement call not like she wanted to kill her, just a judgement call. With the Commanders words I placed to the back of my mind and moved on. We met Garrus by the Mako and radioed into Joker that we were ready for pickup and to set a course for the Citadel as soon as we were on board. It was another twelve hour journey back to the Citadel which of course went by agonisingly slow since we wanted answers. In those twelve hours the Commander filled everyone in on the mission. People were angry, we had been manipulated into doing something that we might have agreed to if she had told us the truth. As a typical Krogan Wrex was telling everyone what he thought we should do to her, all of which ended up with her dead with her head on a spike...

...Twelve hours later and the Commander had asked the ground team to go with her as she went to confront Nassana. We found her in a bar by the embassies.

"Commander any news?"

"Yes, but we want answers. Why didn't you tell us the truth?"

"I did tell you the truth."

"So you just missed out the part about your sister not actually being abducted and her being the leader of a mercenary group."

"Ah, that truth. The reason Commander was because if I had told you the truth you wouldn't have done anything. My sister being a mercenary was none of your problem, but with your history I thought you might have been susceptible to a kidnapping."

With the Commanders history, what the hell did that mean?

"And you were right. But because you lied to us, you put me and my team in danger. We did our job and that's it."

"That you did Commander. Here's your payment for a job well done."

With the payment received we left Nassana to herself. As soon as we were back on the presidium the Commander gave Garrus the data pad with the evidence.

"Garrus take this to Executor Palin, tell him what you know. Make sure Nassana pays for what she has done. Then meet us back on the Normandy"

"Straight away Shepard."

Garrus left straight away to give the Executor the evidence, leaving just me and the Commander outside the embassies.

"I did the right thing didn't I Ash. Giving the evidence to C-Sec."

"You did the right thing Commander. C-Sec needed to know what Nessana had been up to even if it was unknowingly. Her money helped fund raids across the galaxy, even though the mercenary group is now gone, she needs to be dealt with. Hopefully the Executor will see that."

"Thanks Ash. We'd best head back."

"Lead on Commander."

It didn't take us long to get back to the Normandy when we arrived Garrus was waiting for us by the airlock.

"Commander the Executor wishes to speak to you and Ash, he's in the comm room."

With a nod of her head she led the way towards the comm room. Just as Garrus said the Executor was waiting for us.

"Commander, Gunnery Chief."

"Executor, you wanted to speak to us."

"I did Commander. The evidence you had Garrus bring to me, we're not going to be prosecuting."

"What? Why?"

"Orders from Councillor Tevos. The evidence has been given to the Councillor for her to do what she sees fit with it."

"That's it. The fact that she had been paying a known mercenary group and funding their criminal activities across the galaxy is going to go unchecked. More bureaucratic bull. Did she tell you why?"

"The Councillor didn't see fit to tell me why, which is her prerogative and I didn't want to jeopardise my career by asking questions. But you are right Commander it shouldn't go unchecked, if it hadn't been for the Councillor intervening she would have been prosecuted. Clearly Nassana Dantius is in a position of power back on Illium. Good day Commander."

With that the Executor left and Nassana Dantius was a free woman, no longer going to be prosecuted for the crimes that she had committed. If she had sway of the Asari Councillor then she must have a lot of power back on Illium. It still wasn't right.

"Commander, we can't let this happen."

"What do you want me to do Ash. If the Asari Councillor has personally gone and cleared her, then its high above my pay check."

"But you're a Spectre. Who would argue with what you'd say?"

"The Council would, to them I am there pawn so if the Councillor has stopped the prosecution then what exactly am I supposed to do."

It's been a while, or maybe not, not too sure really. But I've struggled with this chapter. Trying to remember the exact locations of the mission and the details of what happened, without resorting to playing Mass Effect, but here we are a new chapter mostly canon but hey who's story is it anyway.

As always comments and views are more than welcome, and any suggestions in what you want to read next are welcome. Whilst you read, I'll write. And who knows I might have another chapter for you soon.