Prisoner BT-021
Disclaimer
Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.
Mass effect is the property of Bioware.
Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.
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Welcome to the Galactic codex, your request has been processed:
Terminus systems: A region of space inhabited by the denizens of the galaxy that disavow the authority of the galactic Council and actively oppose the Citadel conventions. This region of space is mainly characterized by its almost universal state of internal conflict brought over by criminal enterprises or short lived pirate kings.
Terminus systems (major powers): Despite its almost anarchical state, the Terminus systems has created three present, if stable, star realms that hold most power within the region. These major star realms are as follows: The reach of Omega, horde Dekraron and the consortium of her wounded grace.
The Torchbearers: Civilian initiative established to rescue and resocialize enslaved individuals who have escaped their captors from either the batarian Hegemony or any petty realm from the Terminus systems.
Request fulfilled.
Logging you off.
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Orbit of Terra Nova - SSV Normandy
Shepard
He hadn't shaved his head recently.
Shepard paced impatiently in front of the mirror inside his small bathroom as he waited for any news as to the state of the lockdown of the system.
It had been only half a standard day of ship's patrolling the system and what Shepard suspected was the fifth fleet gathering any information on another possible attack from the batarians that they had captured.
Twenty one of the bastards had been apprehended by both John ground side and Jane up there in space.
She had beaten him with a count off nineteen against his measly two apprehension.
But Shepard reasoned that since Balak was the brain behind this whole operation then he was worth at least twenty batarians more.
He saw his reflection smile as the image of Jane trying to ardently debate this fact would seem quite comical in what was until recently here new workspace.
…
Maybe he would shave his head another day.
It was time to stop running from that foolish fear of his once and for all.
Shepard left his private quarter from which he had been filling reports both for the alliance brass and the council back on the citadel and made his way to the part of the ship that needed his attention most at the moment.
The Commander could see that the state of the bridge crew wasn't as good as he would have liked to see them.
They were on edge.
Shepard got up to the platform that overlooked his crew in that part of the ship and saw an expression in most of them that reflected one of his worries in an uncanny manner.
They all knew that every second of inaction that they were subjected to due to the blockade meant that Saren's lead would be growing even more.
"Any news from Hackett?" Shepard asked the communications officer who turned towards him and shook her head to signal that no message was received from him at the moment.
Shepard sighed in frustration and hoped that whatever it was they were doing was worth the wait.
He could understand why this sudden stop to all transit from and to the system had been placed in the first place since there was no telling if the batarians had any more tricks up their sleeves but even Shepard felt strange about the fact that Hackett had asked specifically for them to remain in the system until further notice.
Shepard was beginning to curse his double allegiance to both the alliance brass and the council in his mind until this line of thought was suddenly interrupted by Jane "Commander. Hackett is on the line".
Finally.
"Patch him through" Shepard ordered and reclined over the railing of his small platform as the vessel established a link with Hackett's ship.
"Commander. I thank you and your vessel's cooperation in respecting the blockade" the Admiral's voice began as the link was finally established "Another batarian cell was apprehended on the surface of Terra Nova an hour ago. The interrogation of their leader and his remaining men prevented the bombing of the capital".
This took the commander aback "Why? Why would they plan to bomb a city they originally wanted to destroy with an asteroid?" Shepard asked.
"These operative were meant to act as suicide bombers to sow chaos before the asteroid approached the point of no return as a way to prevent any type of last minute evacuation from our people" Hackett explained.
That would have most likely killed more people.
Sick bastards.
"Since Balak failed to give the order and the asteroid never approached the capital the batarians tried to use their explosives as a diversion within a star port in order to steal shuttles and escape the lockdown" Hackett explained.
Shepard nodded "Lucky us" he finally asked the question "Are we fit to leave then, Admiral?".
Hackett remained silent for a moment "There's one final thing commander" a notice was sent directly into Shepard's omni-tool as his superior officer said this "We ask that this one particular prisoner be left in your care until a tribunal decides what to do with him or until you are able to take directly to the citadel".
Shepard read the notice for a prisoner that read BT-021.
Odd.
"Admiral, we just came from the citadel. We won't be able to hold whoever this prisoner is and our mission won't allow us to take a detour to pick him up or escort him back" Shepard stated his concerns but it would seem that this wasn't what the Admiral intended.
"He is already in transfer and will arrive shortly, Commander. The alliance will be able to wait for their prisoner until the next step of your mission is complete" Hackett explained "But you are to do with him as you see fit for now. Hackett out" the Admiral disconnected but Shepard could hear that the old man sounded guilty about something related to this particular prisoner.
Shepard turned to the transfer notice and began to read the description of who he was to receive in detail.
…
"Ekrork?!" Shepard screamed loudly in surprise at the presence of the name in the words he was reading, but as he sheepishly turned to look at the rest of the crew they turned their heads and began to simulate that they heard nothing "Why the kid?" He murmured this time.
Shepard continued to read through the transfer notice and understood why the Admiral sounded guilty in the first place.
In truth the Alliance had not ordered this transfer officially as the Admiral had led the Commander to believe since the order was penned by him directly and as Shepard continued to read the notice it became clear why the admiral wanted to leave the kid in his care.
As this had been a terrorist attack perpetrated against a civilian target beyond the direct jurisdiction of Earth's parliament then the matter would be resolved by a civilian court highly influenced by the Alliance and the local government.
Since the ones being judged would be the ringleader of the attack along with the top lieutenants who had survived then the punishment would be swift, uncompromising and a death sentence for most of them if what Shepard believed was right.
This would be fine by him if not for the fact that one of the people he handed to the Alliance just so happened to be an enslaved individual who had cooperated to stop the attack in the first place and had been coerced into taking an indirect roll in the whole thing.
But Shepard knew that this would mean jack shit to the judges and the kid would most likely be sentenced to life in prison which would be a death sentence for a crime he was coerced to do while in shackles.
In the report, Hackett wrote how no one tried to intercede for the kid within the Alliance's ranks as none of the officers and personnel who interrogated him were concerned about his status as a slave of those bastards. Not even the agency in charge of helping escaped slaves of the hegemony, the Torchbearers, tried to act on his behalf. Either they clearly did not want to help the kid or they had yet to be informed on the matter and by the time they mobilized some sort of response he would most likely be going to a maximum security prison.
Had more foot soldiers been captured, then his sentence would have been lighter as most others would have been imprisoned with a less heavy sentence.
But now only the leadership had remained.
"Fuck" Shepard said as he was conflicted on what to do with the kid.
He could not actively refuse an order from the Admiral and since this would technically be a delicate matter then he would be needing to keep this whole thing under wraps.
And to add more to this, Shepard did not know if he could trust the kid and he did not know how the rest of the crew would react to the news.
…
He would need to consult on this with more people.
Normandy's comms room
Garrus
The turian did not know why the Commander had woken him up before his time was up but he could see that Shepard was distressed by something.
"Why did you bring us here John?" Their navigator asked as she was rubbing her eyes since she was most likely about to collapse due to sleep deprivation.
"I would like to ask the same" Garrus said as he was mildly annoyed at being woken up earlier than most of the team.
"What is this about, commander?" Finally asked Kaidan as he had also been woken up before their time was up.
(...) Garrus then looked at the giant next to him as Xiltar had also been called by the Commander as the protoss had left the clinic after what must have been a checkup on the state of his wounds.
"I'm sorry that I woke you three up, but you are some of the most level headed people in this vessel and I need your input on a certain matter" he said to the group in general as he turned on his omni-tool and showed each the content of a message from the Alliance.
"..." Garrus did not like what he was reading "Is this genuine?" Garrus asked with apprehension as he was baffled at how stupid the transfer notice in front of him looked.
"Yes but…" Shepard began but was interrupted.
"What the hell, John? They threaten our worlds and Hackett wants us to bring one aboard?" Jane reflected Garrus' concerns with her words in a more severe manner.
"I know but hear me out…" Shepard began to explain "In truth I don't think that Hackett wants us to escort him to a prison" this comment raised some concern to Garrus and he really hoped that his instincts were wrong on what Shepard was most likely to say "I think that he wants us to press him into service so he can be awarded his freedom later".
"That's a terrible idea in every sense of the word, Shepard. Erm… Commander" Garrus began to address the human by name but corrected himself midway through his sentence as both the Commander and Jane turned towards him.
Shepard looked uncomfortable but still tried to argue in favor of the kid "His only association to the attack is that he was brought there against his will as a slave. We can't hold him truly accountable for that. Can we?" Shepard said as he was reaching for straws with this argument.
Was that how that expression was used?
"It's still a bad idea, Commander. He still knew how those torches worked and activated them" Kaidan added this point to the concern of the rest "Can we even trust that he won't try and find an opportunity to escape or sabotage the ship?".
This argument left Garrus even more worried.
Only one person had not voiced his opinion and the irony that he did not have a mouth was not lost on the turian.
"What do you think?" He asked Xiltar who stood next to him while just staring into empty space.
(...) A grunt was heard (Is this individual the same whelping we stumbled upon that crushed rock?) Xiltar asked.
"Yes but-" Shepard began before being interrupted again by the protoss.
(Then this matter is beyond my intervention… But I see no trouble with the addition of a repenting aspirant to your forces) Xiltar's answer surprised the group.
"Repenting what?" Jane asked with confusion while looking slightly more angry than before.
Xiltar looked through the group before he raised his shoulders in a shrug (My people knew that traitors had to be exterminated without mercy. But when enough evidence was gathered that pointed to their innocence of an individual they were pressed into menial duties as a way to repent for their crimes. I levied this sentence sometimes in order to spare those few under my care that I knew were innocent).
"So what? Should we forgive the bastard and award him for not destroying a colony? Whoopty fucking do then!" Jane retorted with annoyance as she did not care for the alien's response.
Garrus felt miffed about Xiltar's opinion and he could see that of those present none but Shepard, erm the commander, was willing to side with the kid so far.
"Would the Alliance even allow us to press him into service?" Garrus asked as his people would never allow such a thing and would have most likely just thrown him into a dark pit to rot for the rest of his existence.
But even though the Normandy was a joint project between the Alliance and the Hierarchy, the final say about its laws and military code rested on the human side of the coin toss.
"I cannot recruit him under my station as a Commander of the army since such a thing was outlawed ever since Shanxi…" Shepard began "But he can enter service under the navy as there are no laws against that in their code" he turned to Jane with a nervous smile "Am I right, Jane?".
His navigator crossed her arms and gave him a look of being uncomfortable "Yes… There are no laws against his recruitment. But to do so you would need the rank of a Captain, which you don't have!" she pointed a finger at Shepard "You cannot break that rule as a soldier of the alliance nor the navy, John. This shouldn't even be a question at this point!".
The Commander grunted in frustration as he had most likely hoped that would be his avenue out of this. He then turned to Garrus for some reason "Are there any laws in council space that prohibits the recruitment of batarians as a member of a Spectre's team?".
Garrus understood what the Commander was trying to do but there was no such law as…
No, there was one.
He did not wish to tell it but knew that keeping this from the Commander would be a crime by itself since there was one law above all under the council…
Never refuse a Spectre.
Garrus sighed "Law XT-081 paragraph B of the code of the office of special tactics and reconnaissance…" he closed his eyes as he began "Should any member of a race beyond the jurisdiction of the council be willing to support the efforts of a particular Spectre and also be the recipient of criminal charges then this individual will be allowed to enter service under the authority of said Spectre and should the Spectre speak on behalf of said individual and his or her skills then the council and all the governments it supersedes over are to suspend any and all charges levied against said individual until the Spectre deemed it appropriate to release them from his service and returned to the jurisdiction of the penalizing government".
Garrus finally opened his eyes and saw as everyone stared at him wide eyes as he just confirmed that the commander could recruit the kid and no one could tell him otherwise.
"Erm… So I can just recruit him and free him later?" the commander asked.
"Under your authority as a Spectre? Yes…" Garrus answered "But I still oppose this action, Shepard".
"How do you know that law by memory?" Kaidan asked as he still was incredulous at Garrus' understanding of the capacities of a Spectre.
But he wasn't willing to confess the truth.
"No reason in particular…" he tried to deny any deeper knowledge but one human in particular was having none of that.
"Speak, bones" Jane said as he glared at the turian.
His hand began to hurt for some reason.
Garrus gulped before he turned to the Commander who just signaled for him to confess "I was scouted once by the Spectres… It didn't go anywhere" he told half the truth with this.
"But… could that even apply to our case?" Kaidan asked while still confused.
(By that single law it already has in our case. Three times in fact) Everyone looked at Xiltar as he raised three fingers with his good hand (The Commander has three members of foreign races serving with him on this mission: Wrex, Tali'Zorah and myself. Wrex has likely lived longer than all of us combined and he has probably used those years to amass a long list of crimes to his name. Tali may have only been around the Council's space for a couple of months but I wouldn't be surprised if someone had ever charged her for the crime of simply being a quarian) Xiltar glared at Garrus for some reason as he said this (And I stowed away on your ship, which I believe is illegal in some manner).
Everyone remained silent since he was right.
"Fuck…" Jane stated plainly "Do we have no choice?" She sounded defeated as she asked this last question while trying to reason with Shepard's better judgment.
"No" Shepard replied firmly instead.
Everyone but Xiltar disagreed with his judgment at the end.
But he was the one in charge.
"Well…" Kaidan began as he faked a smile "When can we expect private Ekrork to join us?" he joked with a flat tone.
Jane's omni-tool beeped at that moment and she turned to look at the message she had received before she frowned even more and looked at the Commander "Very soon" she punched Garrus on the shoulder and began to leave the comm room all together "I'm going to bed. See you in a couple of hours".
The turian was perplexed "What was that for?" As Garrus asked this question he turned to Xiltar since he most likely knew.
(She thinks that you should have remained quiet… and she also thinks of how annoying it is to have us aboard this ship) he rested his good arm on Garrus' shoulder (Don't blame her. She was tired most likely).
Garrus nodded and turned to Kaidan and Shepard who were discussing how to integrate their new crewmate into the roster of the ship.
He just hoped that the rest wouldn't blow the ship up in protest.
Later that day
Ashley
She wasn't interested in blowing up the ship…
Tali seemed to have that covered.
Ashley just wanted to strangle her Commander before the quarian scuttled the vessel.
As the ground crew had been gathered in the cargo bay for what the Commander had called a very special announcement and he had the gall to wait until the whole team were well and truly on edge to ask for a certain individual to come from behind the Mako.
The first reaction had been the most immediate as the quarian and Ashley reached for anything they could defend themselves with as they saw that Wrex charged at the batarian and tackled him to the ground.
It took both Xiltar and Garrus in order to remove the angry Krogan from atop the scared bastard.
"Why are you stopping me?! He isn't supposed to be here!" Said Wrex as he was furious with the other two aliens.
"Stop fighting us Wrex!" Screamed Garrus as he struggled to push the Krogan back.
Meanwhile, Xiltar tried as best as he could to restrain Wrex with his good arm (Please, listen to the Commander!) he said with agony as he was stressing his only available arm in order to keep the krogan at bay.
After they struggled to calm the angry creature, Ashley turned to Shepard and gave him a menacing stare that made it clear she wanted a damn explanation for this.
"Is this a joke, skipper?" She asked in anger as she clutched more tightly the wrench she wanted to beat the batarian with.
"It's not…" the commander began with some trepidation "Prisoner BT-021 has agreed to cooperate with our effort to stop Saren. The Alliance has delegated his fate to me and I wish for him to atone for his crime" he finished with more decisiveness than Ashley thought it would be possible for this situation.
As Shepard said this she turned to the rest of the crew and while most showed apprehension to this decision she also saw that none dared to stand to defy the Commander along with her.
Save for one person…
"You can't be serious, Shepard" said Tali while clutching a hammer and shaking slightly with fear "We can't work with him. Are you mad?" Ashley could see that Sheaprd intended to argue with the girl but Williams stood in front of her and confronted the Commander.
"Did it even occur to you to consult if any of us would agree to this?" she pointed an accusing finger to Shepard before she continued "Who in their right mind brings a terrorist into a military vessel and doesn't throw him straight into the brig, huh?" she motioned her head in the direction of the kid who had picked himself up from the floor.
That snapped something in the Commander as she saw that Sheaprd just glared at her "You are stepping out of line, Williams" they continued to glare at each other until Ashley relented and moved out of the way so Shepard could now direct his attention at the quarian "If you have any concerns with my decision voice them now" the girl remained quiet "Well?".
"I-I… I cannot trust that b-batarian. They are monsters!" she pointed a shaking finger at the kid who looked completely scared by what was going on around him "You cannot allow him to be here!" she spat with venom in her words.
Ashley had been apathetic to the rest of the ground temp as her biases had kept her from interacting with any of them save Shepard and Alenko.
But while she was now opposed to even talking with the former while the former had just now made a stupid mistake she opted to now support the only crewmate who she did not openly antagonize or overtly distrust save for Doctor T'soni, who wasn't even present for this as she was still recovering.
"Listen to her, Commander!" she stood up for the girl as Shepard continued to stare at her "What is the bastard even good for?".
"That's enough, Williams!" Shepard approached her and she could see that her words did nothing but anger him even more "That kid was worth nothing to the bastards responsible for what we stopped. If you have a problem with that, tell him to his face while you take a looong stare into the mark that made him nothing but chattel…" the commander just glared at her, as she did nothing "You can't. Can you?".
…
She hated when he was right.
"He will be on maintenance duty. Should he act in a suspicious manner then you will report it to me immediately. Should he acquire access to a communication terminal without supervision you will report it to me" he then turned to Xiltar "Does he plan to betray us to the Hegemony?".
The gray alien turned to the kid (His allegiance to the government of his race died the moment they killed his father and enslaved the rest of his family).
…
Shepard then turned to the rest of the team "Any more questions?".
No one dared to say another word.
"Dismissed" the rest of the team dispersed and went their separate ways but she remained behind "Anything to add Williams?" he asked coldly.
"Why would you stand up for him?" she said as she pointed to the still trembling batarian.
"..." Shepard took a deep breath and explained to her the reason "Hackett forced me to save the kid. The rest of the batarians won't survive the week in prison".
Williams froze.
Had she known that the order came from Hackett then she wouldn't have been so apprehensive about the situation to begin with.
And she was certain that those bastards would be killed by the inmates as soon as they got their hands on them.
But it never occurred to her that it would be the Admiral that interceded for the only one that surrendered willingly.
Why?
Afterword.
I know that I made everyone look like a-holes in this chapter…
But I lost a bet and needed to integrate a batarian into the crew.
In all fairness, would any of you treat a batarian with kindness?
I wouldn't…
And I don't intend to.