MASS EFFECT: ENTANGLED
Chapter 12
Thane slowed his breath as he allowed his mind to distance itself from his body vessel. His legs were in a dandasana pose and his hands rested on the tops of his knees. While Shepard went off on a solo mission for Admiral Hackett, Krios stole the downtime to reflect on the Omega 4 Relay events. They were victorious and defeated the Collectors. The Normandy's captured crew was fully recovered. Krysta did surprise him, however, when she decided to turn over the Collector ship to the Illusive Man for full salvage rights. Thane, on the other hand, would never trust such a man with dangerous technology. He didn't understand Krysta's logic behind the decision and felt it wasn't his place to question her.
"Hey Fish man," Jack's voice called to him, breaking his concentration. He opened one eye to see her standing in the doorway. "You better come out here."
Stepping out of the Life Support Room, Krios followed her to where the rest of Shepard's squad were sitting in the mess with their voices lowered. Looks of dread and turmoil were plastered all over their faces. Their eyes shifted restlessly to the med bay and back. "Shepard is in deep shit. She got screwed on the last mission and the entire Bahak System is gone. She's going to take the fall for it," Jack informed him.
"Gone….?" Krios' eyes widened as he nearly choked on the words.
"Shepard managed to escape from the asteroid that was propelled into the relay. The relay's energy went supernova and took out every planet and breathing organism in the system. Three hundred thousand batarians to be exact. The Hegemon will find out that she was in the system and helped Kenson escape on terrorist charges." Vakarian clarified.
Zaeed shook his head in vexation and mocked at the predicament. "I don't know why the fuck everyone is getting so worked up about this. It's just bloody batarians. They are all goddamn terrorists."
"Not all of them. My time on Omega opened my eyes. There are respectable ones out there. My tech expert gave his life to help me…" Garrus objected to the merc's statement. Zaeed huffed and took a few steps away from the group.
"Well," Miranda chimed in. "I guess, Jacob, you and I will be going to one of the lovely prisons soon due to our ties with Cerberus."
"You mean ex-ties, don't you, Miranda?" Taylor pointed out. "I'm done with them."
"You think it's that easy to quit?" Lawson contended. "The Alliance won't care, Jacob. Don't be naïve."
"Admiral on deck!" An Alliance officer announced from around the corner. The group grew taciturn quickly as the highly decorated admiral walked past them with his entourage to the med bay. The older gentleman's piercing blue eyes spied the huddled group but said nothing as he walked on.
It was only after he left inside that the group exhaled their breath. They soundlessly looked upon one another with disturbed expressions. What would Krysta's fate be? What would their fates be? They were on the ship. Would they all be pegged as accomplices? "I guess we better start figuring out where to go from here," Taylor broke the silence. "If the Normandy becomes impounded, I need to leave before that happens."
"Same," Miranda added. Several others murmured in agreement.
Jack pounded the table with her fist as several of them turned to leave. "What a bunch of pussies you are!" She growled. "Shepard saved all our asses and risked her life to take care of our problems. She fucked up. I know it! You know it! We all know it! I don't think deliberately did this shit but she's going to be the Alliance's fallout. It's either that or war. You going to just go on about your business?!"
Garrus stood prouder at the end of the table. "No way am I leaving Shepard's side now. Jack is right."
"I concur," Thane spoke up. "Shepard will need a lot of support. I believe that she wouldn't intentionally kill innocents."
"I agree with Jack. You are all soft and weak," Grunt barked.
Miranda paused in her step and looked at Jacob. "I will help however I can, though I don't believe the Alliance would fully take the word from Cerberus operatives."
"Don't worry, precious," Jack leered. "I'm sure you won't have a cryo cell."
"Jack," Miranda held her head in frustration. "I terminated my employment with Cerberus. I'm finished with them."
The smug ex-convict crossed her arms. "I'm sure you did."
"She's telling the truth, Jack," Jacob's voice escalated in defense.
"Not now," Garrus stood between them; his mandible twitched as his avian eyes eyeballed the medlab. "We don't need to be fighting amongst ourselves. If we are all going to get out of this with Shepard, then we need to stick together."
"Easy for you to say," Miranda countered. "Jacob and I will be marked. I assure you that Cerberus has cells deep within the Alliance."
"Shepard broke her partnership with them as well. Even on good terms, the Illusive Man may want to tidy up things. It is wise that we stay together for now until we know what will be Shepard's fate," Thane advised. Garrus nodded his head towards the drell in agreement, though he appeared weary. If Shepard was taken away and the ship locked up, where would that lead them? Would they all agree to be arrested and charged as accomplices? Would some make a run for it? Would they die fighting for freedom? Things were about to get riveting.
Alivia sat in the sky cab as the vehicle routed her to her destination: Alliance Offices of the Kithoi Ward. Her silver eyes nervously looked out at the towering skyscrapers from the ward arms and the heavy flow of traffic. She picked at her nails anxiously as her heart raced in her chest. This was it. She was on her way to her psychological evaluation appointment. The date came much sooner than originally planned. She was advised weeks ago when she put her application in that the appointment for would not be set for four to six months. She had mixed feelings about the delay at first. A part of her was ready to go forward and face her fears, while another part was enthralled by the setback.
That morning, she received an urgent message on her private terminal in her apartment. They wanted her to come in right away for the psychological evaluation and stressed that it was urgent. There were no reasons given on why. Now, she was being whisked away to the offices. She figured at first that Anderson somehow followed up on her case and asked them to bump her. That could be the only explanation that she could give herself. He did his part and now it was up to her. Mentally, she was far from being ready. Her fingernails dug into her seat at her sides as her breathing picked up. "Hyper breathing levels detected," The vehicle's onboard VI flatly stated. "Shall I change the route to Huerta?"
"No!" Alivia panicked and sat up straighter. "That won't be necessary. I'm fine."
"Understood."
Sighing with relief, Alivia tried to settle back against the plush seat as best as she could. Anderson did his part to get her foot in the door. The psych eval would be all up to her. No one could help her. Breaking down right before would not be beneficial. She had to be strong. "I can do this…" She reminded herself firmly.
"ETA to destination, two minutes," The VI chirped.
Leaning forward, Alivia initiated the onboard holo display and turned on the news feed. Emily Wong's face appeared on the twenty-inch screen. "Again, breaking news, we have just received confirmation that last night, the Bahak system was completely decimated. The death toll is catastrophic since there were no survivors. A few minutes ago, the Alliance announced that Commander Krysta Shepard will be taken in for questioning behind the system's destruction. They have not come forward and formally stated that charges will be brought against her. However, she is expected to fully cooperate with the investigation. More to come as this story progresses."
"What?!" Alivia nearly screamed inside her car. Shaking her head hard in pure disbelief, she swiped to another news feed.
This time, Khalisah al-Jilani, was on the screen in the middle of her segment. "Has Shepard completely gone rogue? Were her actions on Torfan a precursor to this utter annihilation of three hundred thousand lives? Is she mentally stable? Is humanity on the brink of war with the batarians? How many lives will suffer because of her?"
Turning off the program, Alivia sat in silence at the last minute of her ride to her destination. Her bottom lip was hanging down in shock. Did Shepard willfully take out an entire batarian colony? If so, how and why? She held her head with her hands as she stared down into her lap. Is this why her application process was being expedited? Was the Alliance looking to deploy all active soldiers to the frontlines of batarian space? As the vehicle deaccelerated to land at its designated parking space, Alivia dreadfully gazed out the window with tears forming in her eyes. They were going to war.
Omega
The once somewhat calm dirty streets of the markets seemed to turn into a violent bloodbath following the Alliance's press release over what transpired with the Bahak system tragedy. Batarian residents turned on the humans and were quick to retaliate to avenge their slain kin. Mutilated human bodies littered the streets and all shops were closed up to escape any wrath. Not a human was in sight; either they were killed or hiding in their locked apartments. Armed with M-15 Vindicators, Bray and Sh'sk eyed the despondency all around. They gave a few glances at each other, but no words were said. Any human that dared to show their face from their doors shrieked in terror at seeing the well-armed batarians and retreated inside. Any batarian eyed the pair with suspicion and distrust. After all, they weren't joining in the attacks so they were considered to be outsiders. Some were armed with pistols while others had whatever they could find that would serve as a weapon. None said a word to Bray and Sh'sk as they walked by while many bared their incisors to pose a threat, gripping their weapons tightly.
As they rounded the corner to head back to the club, Bray's steps came to a grinding halt and he stopped Sh'sk as he spied a large batarian gathering outside Afterlife. The doors to the club were shut and several armed batarian guards and some krogan were standing outside to prevent anyone from coming inside. Thankfully, the protestors' backs were turned towards them and no one took notice of their presence. Bray motioned his head towards the direction they came from. "Let's go the other way," He grunted to Sh'sk. Omega had a heavy batarian population with humans mixed in. With the Hegemony set on seeking blood and declaring war on the Alliance and the human race, things were going to get very complex for T'Loak to maintain order. Bray still was trying to wrap his brain around what the hell happened. The news was overwhelming, but even more unfathomable when it was revealed that Commander Shepard may have been solely behind the travesty. The action was like a knife in his heart. Did she do it? What was her motive? Was he blinded by his attraction to her to not see her true intentions against his race? He knew about her past with Torfan. The earlier interactions were quite hostile but it seemed she lightened up to him recently and then there was the kiss….it still ate away at him. He longed for her since then.
When they finally reached Aria's private booth, the asari stood sourly over the empty club. "Anto, Moklan, make sure no one gets past the guard. Check all the entrances."
"On it," Anto acknowledged as they walked past Bray and Sh'sk.
T'Loak spotted the pair returning from their assignment. "Well?"
"Not good. Many humans are dead and the merchants are all closed up. The ones hiding won't survive if this drags on," Bray reported.
Fuming, Aria narrowed her crisp blue eyes with her arms folded across her chest. "What the hell was Shepard doing?" Bray shamefacedly diverted his gaze away from her. After a few maladroit seconds of silence passed, she unfolded her arms and turned to exit the booth. "I will maintain order. They need to know that. Come with me."
Bray took a breath as the main club doors opened to allow them to address the crowd. Aria stood in the center while Bray and Sh'sk stood at her side. An angry mob was down at the bottom of the steps where a blockade of krogan was keeping them at bay. "Death to all humans!" One batarian shouted above the cacophony.
"Long live the Hegemony!" Another rang.
"Omega must stand with the batarians!" A third yelled. This enticed the crowd and a wave of cheers and yells followed like a tsunami.
Bray gulped slowly as he remained still. Hearing his former employer's name sent shivers down his spine; a grim reminder that his debt was still not paid. Ararn Balak could still be out there and looking for him. Squaring off with pro-Hegemony supporters with his past was suicidal for him.
After allowing the protestors to get their words in, Aria raised her hand to signal to speak. A hush formed over the group. "Listen up! Omega thrives because we are neutral to what's around us. If you are pissed off, then stay pissed. Sign up with the Hegemony and seek revenge. If you're not, then go on with your life. I will not have this war take to the streets of Omega. Is that clear?"
"Some of my family lived on Aratoht!" A male batarian screamed as he came to the front of the crowd. "I will not go on with my life while the humans bask in their ashes!"
"Any retaliation against Omega's citizens will be met with force," T'Loak sternly pointed out to him.
He sneered at her remark and spat on the floor. "I will kill every human I see to satisfy my kin's souls." Bray winced at the retort as he already knew what would happen next.
A purple aurora formed around Aria's body and then she released a biotic slam attack. The dark energy lifted the batarian twenty feet in the air before slamming him down to the floor in a bone-crushing force. His lifeless body was now in an unnatural pose as blood seeped from his fractured skull. A terrified hush fell over the mob. Aria stood poised with the dark energy still soaring around her frame. "Any more objections?" No one dared to say anything further.