Things go sideways
Friday
Garrus' apartment
Garrus Vakarian
His small and humble abode was clearly not designed to accommodate a krogan.
Garrus' place was nothing more than a small apartment with a living room and a dormitory occupied by the single turian while he had served under C-sec.
He would soon be evicted but he actually didn't mind.
Citadel security may have offered him a stable life with minimal risk but he was tired of the red tape everywhere.
And besides, he had not joined Shepard's mary band of misfits for a comfy and stable life.
Working for a spectre had its… advantages.
…
Wrex and Tali had been 'invited' to rest in his place after they were done with some preparations in order to assault the mercenary fortress where their objective hid.
"So…" Garrus said as his team huddled around a roughly sketched map of the base layout "Lets go over this once more so we can be on our way".
"About time…" Wrex said as he finished the meal he had ordered a while ago "Lets see if these fools have what it takes to stop us" he grinned.
"Let's just make this quick…" Tali said with a tired voice since she most likely could not rest well with Wrex snoring like a truck.
-The hideout consists of an abandoned warehouse with a standard design. Its blueprints have been studied and the probability of success stands at 85.23%- Dot said in a cheerful manner before changing color and speaking with that cold and distant voice.
-Infiltration in their local security network has been achieved. They will never know what hit them- the voice of greed spoke as he began to display in real time the position of every mercenary within visible range of the cameras.
To be honest Garrus still remained conflicted with the addition of their artificial companion but its abilities had come in handy while they made some reconnaissance of their enemies and their capabilities .
Apparently the infiltration skills of the repurposed Ai had been honed for almost 7 years with a lot of experience on the citadel's protocols.
Garrus saw that his digital footprint felt all too familiar.
Adding this to the deductive skills of Garrus, the technical expertise of Tali and the combat prowess of Wrex meant that the odds were stacked in their favor.
It was Perfect.
This should be a quick operation if everything goes according to plan.
Speaking of which…
"So… knowing the location of our target won't be enough in the long run" as Garrus said this his team focused on the map once again"An army of thugs and hired guns are between us and the safest approach" Garrus pointed towards the main entrance to the warehouse they intended to assault and quickly moved his finger to a point on the side of the building "Tali will get us access through this maintenance door. Meanwhile, Wrex will approach the compound as a merk willing to join the gang" Garrus turned to Wrex as he smirked at the prospect of just walking into danger.
To his side he heard as Tali sighed "This will be a disaster…" Dot inched his way towards Tali and bumped into her on the shoulder as a way to reassure her.
"Regardless… Once Wrex enters the premises and gets the attention of most of the mercs we shall infiltrate trough this maintenance door and inch our way towards Wrex. Once we have all been reunited, then we shall spring a trap on the bastard that will likely remain in the main cargo hold as he has not moved from there all day long" Garrus then turned to Wrex "Is our equipment ready?".
"Yes. That little shopping spree from yesterday was a good idea, machine" Wrex and Garrus turned to smile at the floating orb as Tali just covered her visor in shame.
Apparently, spending a small fortune in untraceable weapons was not her idea of using her credits wisely.
Needless to say, her friends had gone for the inventory in the top shelf and with that simple action they had lost the small fortune they had 'inherited'.
"You will thank us one day, little one" Wrex said while placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a warm smile.
"I could have used that to finish my pilgrimage…" the little quarian said as she visualized the credits dripping away from her fingers.
"I'm sorry Tali. But this is too important to be left to chance" she glared at him but Garrus just ignored her "Since Wrex will be walking along with the other thugs, Dot will remain with Tali and I to tell us where he and our target are".
"And once we are inside…" Wrex began "You two will look for the batarian if I can't get to you. Try not to have too much fun" he cracked his knuckles in excitement for the job they were about to do.
"Since Dot… Greed… whatever he was, has gained access to their security network, we will have an easy time navigating the corridors" Garrus said as he nodded to the machine.
Dot began to display warning markers along the drawing of the compound which were signaled by little skulls -This corridors are patrolled on a regular basis by heavily armed soldiers. This leaves a small number of corridors that can be traversed without being overtly detected- he marked the free corridors with question marks -But as stated before by Garrus Vakarian this corridors may be rigged with several traps. Should anyone of them be triggered the probability of success will decrease to a 27.54%-
"Could you remind me why this lowers our chances so much?" Garrus asked since he had forgotten why that little detail mattered.
Dot changed his color, signaling that greed was speaking -Lack of remote access to the facility's doors indicate the possibility of an analog system to control them in turn and it can be used to seal our group in a kill zone- the eye in the orb narrowed -I don't like the lack of control over those organics-.
"Okay…" Garrus ignored that last comment and continued with the plan "Once we have infiltrated the innermost part of the hideout we come through every room and search for the batarian. He must still be a lieutenant of a krogan named Axan" Wrex had reassured the team that he was in good standing with this Axan. So getting in shouldn't be much of a problem for the krogan.
"Ahem" Wrex coughed to get Garrus' attention.
Garrus' rolled his eyes "And once we find this bastard we will get him to return your trophy" Wrex smiled "While also getting the last known location of doctor Saleon" Garrus said this last part in anger.
"Well… no time like now" Wrex said in a flat tone while approaching another table and getting his heavily modded Armageddon shotgun.
His lack of knowledge in the use of shotguns left Garrus alienated while his two teammates argued amongst themselves about their preference in model.
"Let's get this show on the road" Garrus said as he grabbed his equalizer rifle. His new toy was modded with shredder rounds to pack a punch against any thugs dumb enough to get in his line of fire.
"Whatever…" came the tired voice of Tali as she grabbed her hydra shotgun with hesitation and beneration as she continued to examine it. Apparently having one of the most advanced shotgun models was a completely ludicrous prospect to one such as a quarian.
-Lets do this- Dot said with sheerful delight.
-Yay. More work- Greed this time.
Operation deep strike (Idea of Garrus).
As Garrus, Tali and Dot approached the maintenance access they radioed to check in with Wrex "How everything on your end, big boy?" Tali snickered at Garrus' designation for Wrex.
"I'm gonna break your legs once this is over, Vakarian" Garrus cleared his throat at the mention of his name "I'm sorry… bird brain" Tali continued to laugh at the bickering duo.
-I don't get it- Greed said.
-They are nicknames for each other- answered Dot.
"Let's focus, people" Garrus called to attention "Wrex, begin your approach".
Greed had tapped into the mercenary's communication network with little problem. As such Garrus and Tali were allowed to listen to what the mercs were saying in real time.
Static persisted for a moment before the link was established and they began to hear the conversation between the two guards "... And then the Asari screamed as Axan knuckled her lover square in the jaw" laughter was heard "I swear, the face of horror as the human fell flat on his ass was priceless".
"You keep repeating that story as if it was somehow funny" came the distinct voice of a turian as Garrus continued to listen.
"Because it is, Idiot. I mean…" the guard stopped speaking "Halt. Who are you?" Their bait was approaching.
"Did Axan never teach to aim guns at his family?" Wrex said as he approached the front door.
Family?
"He told us to never allow his mother Vraka inside" one guard answered.
"All right, that one is fair… but what about uncle Wrex?" Wrex cotinued
Was he Axan's uncle?
"I don't think you realized what has…" The turian vegan before a distinctly non-krogan voice gave him an order.
"Let him inside" came the weird voice of a batarian "He will never see us coming".
"Move along, Wrex" said the guard as the sound of a door opening was heard and heavy footsteps followed suit.
This was a trap.
Garrus recognized the voice. It was their target.
"This isn't good" said Tali as she began to open the door earlier than they had planned.
Garrus would have reprimanded her if the situation hadn't changed.
-Probability of success: 57…- the orb shuck -Garrus Vakarian, there was a lapse in the network for the duration of an hour just this morning. Probability of usurpation in hierarchy 92%. Urdnot Wrex must be saved-.
"Wrex, did you copy that?" Garrus whispered for the krogan to hear.
"Affirmative" Wrex whispered as he must have been approaching more guards "But I cannot go back. They'll know something is wrong".
"Damn it" Garrus said as Tali finally managed to open the door and they made their way inside the hideout "New plan. Dot, is there a vantage point from where we can follow Wrex?".
The machine processed the request -Affirmative. Walkway identified over the main store house. Analysis reveals a high probability of success if an ambush is placed in that location-.
The orb turned yellow -Route lays in the path of heavy patrol. Confrontation unavoidable- he took another moment -Turian, Quarian. Possibility of devastating ambush within our grasp- the orb departed without saying another word.
Garrus and Tali eyed each other. Despite Tali's confirmation that Dot could be trusted the same could not be said of his parallel personality.
"Let's just hope this wasn't a mistake" Tali's words mirrored his concern.
"Indeed…" said Garrus as they began their approach to the darkly lit corridor that Garrus had remembered as being the quickest route.
Once they were at the far end of said corridor they took cover on each side of the entrance.
On the far end they saw as the other entrance led to an intersection with another three exits.
Without a doubt Garrus knew that they would come from one of the side entrances.
But on the far entrance he saw several barrels without a clear marker in a small room and…
A white light.
Garrus understood what the little machine had planned and he signed for Tali to prepare an overload disk. She nodded and stood at the ready.
They heard as heavy footsteps began their approach from the right and true to its noise, the pack that came was heavily armored.
A krogan accompanied by two Turians and two humans made their approach.
"To the left" one of the humans ordered, that would lead them right towards them. As Garrus began to prepare himself for combat both the patrol and the infiltration team were startled as a container on the far end fell down and began to spill a viscous substance.
The patrol grunted as they entered the room to confront whatever vermin had spilled their precious cargo.
Garrus smiled and signaled Tali to launch her disk at the roof of said room.
Once she did this, Dot exited his cover and made a run for it. Sealing the door behind him as the disk finally struck the roof.
With a simple spark from the electric discharge the whole room was lit a flame as the screams of agony were silenced by the roaring fire that consumed those unfortunate to be inside.
Tali shivered as they passed in front of that room while going to their destination.
Garrus for his part did not feel pity for those criminals.
-Chance raised to 62%. Good- Dot said in a nonchalant way.
"How did you know that substance was flammable?" Tali asked.
Dot took a moment to answer -Recordings of one month ago shows said substance being used in methods of torture- Garrus felt disgusted -They weren't that nice to see…- the machine said in a disapproving tone.
Garrus shivered in turn. Something worse could happen to them should they be discovered.
Urdnot Wrex
Wrex felt that something was wrong.
Not because of the warning that had been given to him.
But for another… reason.
Wrex had not seen his nephew Axan in four centuries. He always felt deep shame in the idiot since he acted like a lumbering moron most of the time.
But…
Wrex felt some pity for the young lad since his brother, the father of the child, had treated the whelp like trash even though the krogan treated every living newborn as a miracle.
The abuse his father had shown to the young lad forced Wrex to spare the young hatchling by sending him and his mother away form Tuchanka.
And as time passed Wrex began to regret his decision as the youngster joined a crew of mercenaries and became a low life in general.
But Wrex still held a soft spot for the young one since he was the only family that Wrex did not hate entirely.
In due time he became the leader of this merry band of idiots.
But something was wrong…
Where Axan surrounded himself with a posy of krogans and a few aliens as he considered everyone else weak, he saw as the mercs that patrolled the base where more aliens than what he originally remembered.
He was weary of this.
After a short trek he finally made his way to a large room that was filled to the brim with containers.
The room laid silent and empty of any intelligent life as it would seem, but Wrex was far more observant than what these fools gave him credit for.
He saw as several mercs tried to hide themselves unsuccessful since Wrex could clearly see them shifting behind their covers.
The sound of scratching metal also betrayed the lack of experience from this gang as they clearly gave their positions away.
"Enough games, Axan!" He bellowed as he entered the trap willingly "I came here to join my nephew in whatever job he had so I could teach him how a true krogan fights. Where are you?" he bumped his fists to challenge his nephew to come out.
Wrex was foolish enough to hope that Axan was still alive.
"Oh… what a pity" came a voice from above "Had you come just a day earlier you might have joined little Axan in his… final job" the shape of a batarian revealed itself as he looked over the edge of the crate.
Wrex growled.
Who was this idiot?
And what had he done to his nephew.
"I apologize. I am or rather… was Axan's right hand man" the cocky bastard said with a smile "Name's Torken. A pleasure" he said with a mocking bow.
Wrex cursed his luck as the bastard he had been hunting was the same that had most likely killed his nephew.
"Tell me what you did with Axan and maybe I'll consider making your death a quick one" Wrex said as he grabbed his shotgun and aimed it at the bastard.
But the batarian just laughed.
His laughter made the krogan angrier than he had been before. After another moment of laughter he stopped "Has anybody told you that krogan meat is a delicacy in Khar'shan?".
That was it.
With a scream of anger Wrex shot at the batarian and made him retreat as his shields protected him from the krogan's fury and as he did this the mercs got out of cover and began to shoot at him.
Wrex ducked behind cover and began to shut at the mercenaries every time they paused. They were stupid if they thought they could withstand the carnage Wrex was about to unleash.
As the pauses between shots became shorter Wrex cursed Torken as he had most likely called the whole base to kill him.
"Get him you idiots!" said the voice of Torken as he ordered his men to kill him.
As a turian got cocky and decided to flank him from the side, his life was swiftly ended by a shot from above.
"Watch your quad, big boy" said Tali as she landed next to him after getting down from the walkway.
"Where's Vakarian?" Garrus answered his question by sniping a human from his vantage point in the walkway.
"Up there, Get him!" a merc said before being killed by the turian.
"In your dreams" said Garrus while moving for cover as his taunt irritated the remaining mercs.
Wrex signaled the Quarian to follow him and with a bellowing roar he left his cover and began to pummel the first thug that got in his way.
Tali followed suit and began to shoot every enemy that dared to creep out towards them.
As the duo continued their rampage. Torken tried to retreat but as he turned around he was surprised to find a strange orb levitating in front of him.
-Hi- Dot said before blinding the batarian with a beam of light and then proceeded to push the batarian down from the crate they were on.
Wrex enjoyed the carnage but it lasted too little for his taste as most of the cowards began to retreat.
What a professional bunch of cowards.
"Where's the rest of the guys?!" Screamed a human before being shot by Wrex.
"They'll never come in time!" Wrex yelled to demoralize the enemy.
Not long after the 'ambush' was destroyed and the trio made their way towards the calling Dot.
"Nice job" said Garrus as he descended from a pile of crates.
-Indeed- Greed interjected as he took the seat from his ally -Now we can interrogate this organic-.
Garrus kneeled and slapped the batarian to wake him up as he had fainted.
As Torken began to regain consciousness he woke up to the sight of a barrel aimed directly at his head.
"Remember me?" Garrus said with a grim smile "I hope you are willing to answer some questions".
He smiled in a cocky way before Wrex grabbed a knife from one of the bodies and proceeded to stab Torken right in the leg.
"ARRRGH" the batarian screamed in agony as Garrus just watched as the wound began to drizzle blood.
"What a pity" Garrus said while watching his omnitool "Maybe a charge of medi-gel would convince you to talk".
"Okay, okay" Torken relented "What did you fuckers come in for?".
"FIRST" began Wrex "Where's Axan?" The batarian looked down in fear as the answer would certainly make Wrex kill him.
"Maybe leave that for last…" Tali interceded as Wrex snarled and turned around.
"Are you letting your bitch talk now?" Tali approached the downed batarian and kicked him right in the crotch.
The legs of a quarian were a dangerous weapon if used correctly, kids.
Garrus smiled at the sight of the batarian recoiling in pain "Let's get back on track…" Garrus aimed his gun at the batarian once again "Do you remember a certain doctor Saleon?".
Torken gulped "Y-yes" he answered.
"Good" Garrus began "Then I am sure you remember what his work was…" the batarian began to show even more fear after that "Fortunately for all of us I intend to spare the galaxy from his existence" he glued his barrel to the batarian's forehead once again "So… mind to tell me where he went?".
The batarian nodded "He… he had contacts in the alliance… they gave him a vessel to continue his research" he shifted a little "I-it was the Fedel… I think".
This revelation came as a surprise to Wrex, he did not think the alliance would be willing to support his kind of work…
In an open manner that is.
"That has to be a lie" Tali said "there's no way the alliance would so freely give resources to a mad scientist" she had been informed of the identity of doctor Saleon the night before andWrex remembered as the graphic description of what Dr Saleon had done left the quarian girl disgusted.
"Not that we know of…" Wrex said as he approached the batarian "Now, before I blow your pitiful brain out I'll ask again… WHERE'S MY NEPHEW?!" the batarian recoiled in terror as Wrex began to lose his patience.
"He… He's upstairs" the batarian pointed towards an office that overlooked the warehouse "Please don…" his pleading was cut short as Wrex aimed his gun and pulled the trigger thus ending the pitiful existence of Torken.
Wrex wasted no time in making his way towards said office.
He found his nephew…
Only his head remained.
With a bellowing roar Wrex made his way to the remains of Axan.
He remembered the first time he held the hatchling as he ran towards uncle Wrex.
He remembered the happiness he felt when the young one passed the trails that made him an adult of clan Urdnot.
He remembered his promise to protect the young as each Krogan born after the curse was precious…
Precious…
Wrex had turned his back to his people and this was the consequence.
Not even the precious was spared.
Wrex wished he could kill that batarian a thousand times over.
But taking back what was his was certainly a place to start.
"By the spirits" Garrus said as he and Tali entered the office and saw the head of Axan.
"The worst part is that I'm probably his only family member that would care if he was gone" Wrex said before he sighed "Let us see what this dump has to offer…".
With as much care as they could muster to not turn towards Axan's head the group began to investigate the small office.
"Here it is" Wrex said as he opened a crate and found his trophy inside it.
Its sight did not bring him any joy.
"Is that… You didn't" Tali said as she realized that Wrex had trafficked the remains of a Zergling.
"Wrex, you idiot!" Garrus said as he turned towards the Krogan "Aren't you worried that thing might have an unknown parasite?".
"Machine?" Wrex wanted for Dot to answer if this alien could hold any parasite.
But as they turned towards the direction where Dot was, they saw the yellow color that indicated that Greed was the one in control at the moment and was interacting with the only computer in the office.
"Greed, what are you doing?" Garrus asked.
-Emptying this operation's funds- Greed answered with… well… greed -Would you take a look at this- the machine said in electronic thone -This criminal has been diverting funds from the group ever since he became the former leader's right hand man -
Dot took control to explain this part -The group rebelled against the krogan known as Axan after he failed to pay them due to the diverting of the group's funds and… oh no…- Dot sounded nervous -The batarian diverted the funds towards an associate of his: Ka'hairal Balak. I don't know the purpose of this but he also sent some schematics from a human enterprise-.
That name did not sound familiar to Wrex and as he looked towards the rest of the group he could guess they did not know the name either.
"Regardless of that ominous detail. This mission has been a-" Garrus' statement was cut short as police sirens began to blare in the distance.
"Could they be…" Tali began to speak before her fears were confirmed as the sound began to grow stronger as the police were approaching the warehouse.
"MOVE IT PEOPLE!" Wrex yelled as he grabbed his carcass and made a run for it.
His teammates followed suit and not long after they were on the run from the police.
Later in the evening
Ashley Williams
If one could stroll through the lower ends of the citadel wards one could find secluded places that lay beyond hidden entrances or remote stores that not many people frequented.
These places were made for the tired and weary people who wished for a moment of peace and to be left alone with their thoughts.
Of those people that knew of these places most understood that the patrons who frequent these spots were the ones who held some sort of criminal record or were wanted by those who held them.
But to the surprise of the most recurrent customers they found the small figure of a human woman chugging away at some of the strongest drinks this little local could offer.
All of those that had been there for some time dared not to approach this lone figure as she had earned her seat in a secluded table by breaking the arm of a local thug.
This figure was Ashley Williams.
And she had fucked up.
She really and truly had fucked up.
The day before she had awakened to a strange bed that was not the same that David Anderson had lent to her in his apartment nor the one she had originally been given in the alliance's barracks.
As the dread of not knowing where she was began to settle in, she was scared even further as she felt a figure steer next to her.
Gathering whatever valor she could she turned around slowly and her fears were confirmed as she found the figure of Kaidan Alenko sleeping next to her.
The shame she felt had not even allowed her to realize that the both of them had their clothes still on and had not done any deed on that fateful night.
But shame is a powerful force for any human.
With fear and regret she gathered her things and sneaked out of the room and the building they were in.
Not turning around to even look back she decided that she needed some time to herself.
Sneaking back into Anderson's apartment she was glad that nobody was present at the moment.
With utmost haste she changed from the party outfit she was dressed in and changed into her alliance uniform.
She did this to find some kind of comfort from her current predicament.
She had been cycling through taverns like this one since yesterday as she did not wish for anybody to find her in this sorrowful state.
Ashley was stirred from the comfort she tried to find at the bottom of the glass in front of her as she heard more customers enter through the main door.
Taking a quick peek out of curiosity she was shocked to see the figures of commander Shepard and David Anderson enter the bar.
Ashley thought that they were looking for her.
But her fears were never realized as they instead made their way towards the bar and took a seat next to the bartender.
Ashley sobered up enough because of the fear that she felt but knew that she wouldn't be able to sneak out without being caught by Anderson and the commander. She instead decided to wait for them to leave so as to not alert his compatriots of her presence.
So she remained in place. Her eyes shut as she prayed for them to depart.
Then she heard sobbing.
She opened her eyes once again and peeked around once more and who she found crying his heart out was not whom she expected…
She saw David Anderson, the former captain of the Normandy and veteran from the first contact war just… crying.
She could not hear the content of the conversation from where she was, but the sight was bizarre to say the least.
To find a senior member of the alliance in such a state resonated greatly with her own state of shame.
Her gaze fell upon the liquor filled glass in front of her.
In her reflection she saw the figure of a woman defeated by her own shame.
This wasn't her.
This was not Ashley Williams.
This was not a person she wished to become or even thought of wanting to be.
She was stronger than this.
With a sigh she left the drink on the table and made her way to pay her tab. Ignoring completely the fact that the commander and the captain were long gone.
With a sigh of relief she left the building and made her way towards the captain's apartment.
Ashley knew that she would feel like shit after this, but decided to accept her fate nonetheless.
Abandoned Tram system
Xiltar
It had been the most painful experience of his life.
But his task was done.
The damaged crystal had been completely replaced and the Protoss felt proud of his accomplishment.
As he analyzed and turned the deep blue crystal and analyzed the fascists of the jewel he had only one conclusion to say.
The crystal in front of him was superior to his previous incarnation.
But the trouble had almost been too much.
As the terrazine entered into his bloodstream and his consciousness was ripped from his body he was subjected to all the heinous tricks and punishment the void could blaster into his soul as he knew that the realm of all creation was not welcoming to creatures of blood and flesh.
The first thing he noticed as his body and mind were separated was how quiet things were on the other side.
Not only because of the lack of sound but rather for the lack of movement or motion in any sense of the word.
Interacting with the void was like reaching into the cradle of creation and moving yourself through a sea as you did so.
You had to struggle all the time should you wish to survive and not have your spirit be ripped into ribbons by the tides of entropy.
It was like the tempests back on his birthworld, Arakyr.
As the tram shook and the protoss was rattled from his thoughts on the state of the void, his focus was once again on the small crystal that glowed in his hand.
Triangular and almost perfectly symmetrical.
A relic worthy of his line.
He continued to ride his secretive transport in silence as he thought once again about how the terrazine had… changed… something in him.
As said before, interacting with the void had always felt like a struggle against the storm.
Your senses being threatened to be overwhelmed, your being at risk of being ripped asunder by your capabilities and those that stand beside you being threatened by your failure…
But the void now was… calm.
This serenity was not normal…
Something had felt different about that realm as if he wasn't looking at it from his own eyes.
Had Amon destroyed the sea of souls that stirred that realm into chaos?
Had a cycle beyond his understanding ended with the death of creation?
Was his victory so absolute?
That such a nefarious substance was abused by his long gone ancestors in the Tal'darim lower ranks was as much of a disgusting notion as well as a grim reminder that even a race as advanced as the protoss could be enslaved through deceptions such as these.
After some more time in transit, the abandoned tramway began to slow down as it approached the station from which he had originally departed and as Xiltar focused on the exit door he finally realized that the announcements weren't written in a language he could understand.
One should not mistake this as him having a lack of knowledge on how to read the text of the greater galactic civilization since he had acquired that skill almost immediately after Eden Prime.
No.
These symbols had appeared before him somewhere else.
Where could it… Ah.
It was prothean.
They must have likely used this tram system in a more extensive manner than the current residents of the megastructure.
Xiltar got up from his seat and exited the tram cart.
As he began to walk up the same flight of stairs that had led down to this abandoned station he began to think that he would most likely be the last person to use this function of the citadel for years to come just like the protheans before him.
He felt a weird sensation as he was now sharing something with a long gone race he knew next to nothing about.
Regardless, he once again surfaced along the metal streets of the megastructure.
Cloaking himself in the powers of the void and basking in how calm its sea had become, he began to make his way back to the presidium.
His time of 'rest' would soon come to an end and his companions would soon resume their hunt for the mad killer who would doom them all.
He pondered what to do in the meantime.
At first he walked towards the vessel in which he now resided since he wished to resume the hunt for Saren as soon as possible, but stopped his trek halfway through his journey as he realized that the work on the vessel wouldn't be done until later and none of its crew would even dare to leave with the vessel in such a state.
That wasn't an option.
(...) Xiltar grunted (So inconvenient).
That the maintenance on a vessel was not a quick affair irritated him to no end.
Maybe there was another thing he could do.
Maybe if he asked the artifact about his extensive memory banks he should be able to look into some of the lost knowledge of his people, but he then remembered he had given the relic to the care of one of his companions.
If he wished to ask for something of the relic, he would then need to search for the quarian and this would take time.
That wasn't an option either.
…
For the first time in all of his life he did not have a clear path in form of him.
This made him feel… conflicted.
As he gazed around the now empty parks of the presidium he began to walk without a clear destination.
He asked himself why he felt conflicted by how things had developed… and particularly due to his own actions.
He had used his time in this station to repair something of his but even that task had proverb to be partially successful for he now had the crystal but no weapon to use it.
And then his thoughts turned to his companions.
He had not shown any interest in what any of them would be doing during this recess of theirs.
Maybe it was because he was too different from them.
True, the life of a protoss was too bizarre compared to that of those around him.
But he felt this as a poor excuse for his behavior.
In all honesty, this universe was more alien to him than what the rest of the galaxy would think of the ever so mysterious protoss after they finally met with them.
He was an anomaly, not as reclusive and arrogant as other Protoss but not as open to this new galaxy as what its people might be.
This needed to change.
Once his people arrive in this realm through whatever means Nebula intends for them to use he shall teach them of a new place to not only survive along this galaxy…
But to live.
For this new task, Xiltar would need to meet all the alien races he could and he would then ask them of how their place in the dance of fate defined them. He would need to know of how they thinked and how they fitted in this tapestry he wished to thread his people upon.
And he intended to do so… In time. But the only thing he could do now was wait.
One may think that with a purpose renewed a young explorer would find himself acting out immediately after such an epiphany.
But Xiltar was observant-
The complete absence of any sentient lifeform from the citadel's most important location betrayed the fact that it was most likely a time of rest across most of the station and he would most likely disturb them should he approach any of them at this moment.
And Xiltar could look for his companions later.
He then approached a particularly open park where he took a seat that overlooked a lower part of the presidium, he began to take in the inherent beauty of the place he found himself upon.
A pristine collection of diverse and extravagant flora dotted the green areas of this park. Most of them were plants the protoss could never fully understand, each a composite design of the processes of life and all from an innumerable quantity of worlds.
In the distance, Xiltar could see the artificial lakes as water sprouts were shot into the sky.
He chuckled at this.
The use of energy to perpetuate such a display was a humorous notion to him.
His civilization did not possess any artistic notion that mirrored this one, and that these young races managed to surpass them in such an useless field made him a little envious.
Maybe after his people had been granted a distant world he would use the artifact to sculpt as his long dead mentor once did.
As he relaxed in this pristine environment his attention was directed towards the sky where he saw the quick figure of some small transports that kept operating despite the late hour.
These small transports moved across the night sky as his thoughts began to move towards what this civilization was truly like.
How could a government that ruled so many different beings function as this one did?
What moved them towards cooperation?
What standards governed them all?
How did their efforts help to move the galaxy as a whole?
All these questions would need to be answered later.
For the moment Xiltar remained in his seat and just relaxed in the beauty of what he saw.
These fake stars sure were beautiful.
…
But why was that particularly orange light getting closer?
It wasn't there a moment ago and it kept growing as it came ever closer and closer.
What could it…
He realized in horror that the approaching object was going to impact right where he was so Xiltar blinked to the side as the flaming object crashed into the presidium.
With his face planted to the floor he struggled to regain his footing as fire from the impact began to spread around the crash site, but once he managed to get up and began to approach the downed police shuttle he heard… familiar minds.
"How can you be so bad at driving one of your own cars, Vakarian?!" A booming voice emanated from the wreck… Wrex?
"Don't blame me. I asked Tali to take the wheel during that last stretch" the voice of Garrus said before he yelped in pain.
"I told you I don't know how to drive, you Bosh'tet!" Tali said as she most likely punched Garrus inside of the vehicle.
-Wayfarer detected. How convenient- the voice of the machine betrayed his presence.
Resigning himself to fate he approached the hatch of the shuttle and forced open one of the side doors.
As smoke began to trickle out of the opened hatch he failed to realize in time as a figure aimed his rifle at him.
"Who the hell… oh" Garrus pointed his gun down as he saw the Protoss staring at him "Good to see you here, Xiltar" Garrus remained wary and exited the downed vehicle and proceeded to secure the perimeter.
"Speak for yourself. We could have used him about an hour ago" Wrex said as he stepped out of the crashed shuttle and punched the protoss on the shoulder "Good to see you young blood, we might need your help now".
Finally Tali and Dot exited the shuttle as she nodded to him and then proceeded to make their way next to Garrus and Wrex as Xiltar also joined them.
(I… What in the name of the Valan'Shaur have you done?) Xiltar surprised the group with his outburst that came out of nowhere (What could compel you to almost kill me?).
"First, we didn't see you there. Second, this isn't a good time to reprimand us. And third, what the hell is a Valan'Shaur?" Garrus replied as he made their position somewhat clear as they were on the run.
But before Xiltar could respond, lights from above blinded them as a voice spoke from the same direction.
"Attention, criminal scum. You are under arrest. Do not resist" out of several shuttles similar to the one they had landed with descended several officers of the citadel as they began to aim their guns at the group.
They were outnumbered.
Xiltar could cloak and leave this place undetected as he considered this situation too stupid for his own confort, but the fate of his companions could not be left to chance.
Reading their minds he understood that none of them held any hope of surviving a full blown assault against the forces gathering here.
He raised his arms to signal his surrender (Do not resist) he said to his companions (Once I get you back to the Normandy whoever was responsible for this will answer to me) they raised their arms as well and surrendered.
That night they were sent to prison.
Afterword
*Valan'Shaur - Cursed underworld.
Almost fkn done
If you somehow managed to survive through all of that and reached this point then I have two things to say:
What a trooper you are.
And I have been changing some of the earlier chapters in this story as I felt they did not comply with my standards and some tidbits of lore have been changed due to that.
You will find that I expanded those chapters rather than overtly changed them. I intend to do as such until I reach the part where our alien friend presents himself to the council.
Onto the answers:
amerikhan786 - Cool concept m8. Not my story, not how I intend for things to go and I know this is supposed to be a wank fic. Both universes are stupid and I love them because of that.
Try to do something with that concept. I sure as heck ain't.