Chapter 8
Gozu District – Sector 7 – Omega Station
"Does anyone mind if I bring up the elephant in the room?" asked Miranda into her communicator, her voice silent to the world outside of the squad.
"What's up?" asked Shepard as they moved their way forward through the district.
"Why do we have a potential threat shadowing our position all the way to the clinic?" she asked in annoyance. It was bad enough they had to slow themselves down so that the batarian could keep pace. But she also couldn't wrap her head around the hypocrisy of killing two gang members and then pledging to save the third. They had no reason to believe he wouldn't try and shoot them the next chance he got once they were near the clinic.
"You're wondering why we're taking him to the clinic?" asked the spectre without even giving her an acknowledging sideye.
"I'm wondering why you brutally killed two gang members and then decided to chain the third to us on a life-threatening mission," responded the operative as she folded her arms over her armored chest. "It's one thing to leave a half-dead batarian behind once we had the information we needed, but this? It's hindering our goal and a potential threat to us personally."
The woman's entire personality seemed so outrageous and contradictory. She was one of the deadliest humans in the galaxy, known for feats that would inspire fantasy and scifi authors for generations, yet she was so soft in her core it made the XO want to puke. The way she immediately melted the moment one of her former crew arrived, the way she handled the quarian tech like a porcelain doll. How someone could balance being viewed as the number one threat by Cerberus while being so weak was mindboggling.
"You ever have much experience with poverty, Lawson?" asked Shepard, her question snapping the woman out of her inner brooding.
Looking at the spectre in confusion, Miranda shrugged. "Not as much as most I presume. In my long list of problems, money was never one of them. Why?"
"When Garrus was explaining Rogue Squad, I noticed that he mentioned them absorbing a lot of the rejects from other gangs. Uncontrollable violence, assaulting higher ups, and so on. But one thing I noticed was that he mentioned that they picked up addicts," she said solemnly. "Those on the barricade, the two I killed out back, they all had armor and weapons you'd expect to find on mercenaries. He had an engineering jumpsuit and a pistol older than I am."
"You think he's one of the addicts they scavenged?" asked Jacob curiously as he kept his weapon down, but ready.
"He is. I've seen batarian addicts. You can see it in their eyes. Batarians aren't usually red sand users. Instead, they typically take balsanat, a plant farmed from Camala that acts as a painkiller to batarian biology. After extended use, residue begins to cloud their eyes" said the spectre as she tapped the transparent visor on her helmet. "I don't know his story. He could be a terrible person at heart. But one thing I know for sure is that he doesn't deserve death for being forced into a bad situation."
"Drug abusers weren't forced to take drugs. If they didn't want to end up at the receiving end of a gun in a backwater gang, they shouldn't have done them to begin with," said Miranda in annoyance. Suddenly, she felt a small chill down her back as Shepard stopped and turned to her, those pale blue-green eyes staring at her through the visor.
"Tell me Miranda, have you ever been in a situation where you were forced to make a choice that could ruin your life?" asked the spectre.
The XO's eyes widened slightly. The seemingly mundane question hit a thousand times harder coming from someone known the galaxy wide for her access to information. She began wondering if this was some kind of test, or if it was a legitimate question. Whether she knew or not, it was none of her damn business. "We're not nearly close enough for you to be asking me questions like that," snapped the woman.
With a small smirk beneath her visor, Shepard shrugged and turned again to start walking. "Well, Lawson, you said yourself you've never had to suffer through poverty. So, it's probably best if you stop judging people for circumstances you've never had to live."
Snorting angrily, Miranda turned to see the batarian limping behind them a ways back. Turning to the front once more, she saw the sign for the clinic ahead and sighed to herself. "Finally."
Gozu Medical Clinic – Gozu District – Omega Station
She wasn't sure if her eye was twitching due to the new implants or due to Miranda's casual disregard of life, but she found she was more than happy to see the clinic only seconds away. As she approached the clinic, she saw a window with two humans standing behind a pane of glass so thick she was sure it was reinforced. Both of them wore facemasks as they worked tirelessly on their datapads.
One of them looked up from their work to see the newcomers, and the young woman immediately began to back away from the window. Shepard immediately raised her hands into the air to show she wasn't holding her weapon. "Jacob, go help him get up here quicker. I'll handle these two." Stowing his weapon away, the soldier turned and dashed back towards their ward as the spectre approached the glass slowly. Reaching down, she pushed the intercom button. "I'm Spectre Jane Shepard. I'm not here to cause trouble."
The young woman stepped over to the intercom and hit the button on her side as well. "I certainly hope not if you wish to get out of the clinic alive," she said menacingly. "What do you need?"
"Two things," said Jane as she held up two armored fingers. "I have a batarian here who was shot and is currently suffering from the epidemic. He's stable and walking," she said as she pointed behind her with her thumb. "But he really needs help."
Nodding, the young woman's partner pointed to the door. "We have a few openings. He'll be seen as soon as we're able."
"And the other thing?" asked the nurse curiously.
"We want to help however we can. I came to see Mordin Solus, but I understand he's working fervently at the moment. So, I'd like to help make his job easier so this situation gets solved faster," she responded as she finally lowered her arms.
"One moment," replied the young woman as she got on her comm. Within seconds, she hit the button again. "The doctor says he'll see you."
Shepard cocked an eyebrow curiously. "That was quick…"
"You'll get used to it," said the tired looking woman as she hit the button to open the door to the clinic.
As Jacob helped the batarian inside with one arm over his shoulder, Shepard stepped in after them and her eyes widened as she saw two YMIR class mechs standing on either side, each with pieces of armor stuck to their chassis. They no doubt belonged to former members of the Rogue Squad and served as a warning to others. After Jacob finally sat the man down in the waiting area made of distanced and sealed cubicles, she rallied the three and followed the pointing fingers towards the back of the clinic, ignoring the feeling that she was being watched.
In mere moments, she heard the high-pitched chattering of a salarian talking to themself. As she stepped into the doorway of the back room, she finally saw the notorious salarian scientist that had Gozu District's fear and respect. He was pacing and muttering to himself. "Malanarin perhaps? Almost as good. Causes cramping in batarians. Supplement with butemerol."
"Batarians are actually allergic to butemerol, doctor," said Shepard as she stepped inside and took her helmet off.
Looking over at her with his large eyes, he inhaled sharply. "Spectre Shepard. Did years of work with batarians. Expert in methods of healing and no doubt killing them."
"That's me…" said Shepard as she eyed the doctor up and down. He wore a coat seen on many doctors back on the Citadel, but this one had what looked like a halo built into the collar that circled around the back of his head. She also noted that one of the horns on his head was missing. "If you're looking for a relief for cramps in batarians, you want naproxen sodium. It's a human medication that does the same and it translates over well to their biology."
"Excellent!" said the man as he rapidly tapped away at his datapad. "Batarian last species that needed cure. Finally finished with all species."
"Wait… You're already done with the cure?" asked Jane in surprise.
"Of course. Every species needs different cure to fit biology. Even did one for hanar and volus in my head, though not necessary to synthesize. None live in Gozu District. Mostly just for fun," he said before looking her up and down. "Interesting to find Spectre here. Gozu District still locked down by Aria's men. Wouldn't send Spectre in to create cure, likely no experience in epidemiology. Perhaps to take care of gang problem? Unlikely."
Shepard's eyebrows rose slightly as she began realizing the truth to the woman's words up front. "Doctor…"
"Too useful to waste on ragtag gang like Rogue Squad. Perhaps came of own volition?" he continued for a long moment before finally turning to her, one of his eyes narrowing as a sign of salarian curiosity. "Came to Omega, came to Gozu District, came to clinic. Here for me then?"
"Yes," she said as she started to wonder if she could use her implants to slow down his chattering. "I'm here to ask for your help."
"Humans immune to cure. Unlikely to need cure for disease. Perhaps other medical condition…" he began but she immediately raised her hands and cut him off.
"I need your help with the collectors," she said firmly.
"Collectors. Attacks on human colonies rose rapidly over last year. Almost focusing exclusively on human colonies. Very odd behavioral deviation," he said, but then stopped himself. "Irrelevant. Can't right now. Need to find dispersal method for cure in district."
"Can't you let the clinic handle that?" asked Miranda from behind Shepard.
Letting out a small snort, both eyes narrowed this time. "Pish tosh. People in district too afraid to approach clinic. Those brave enough already have. Need to find a way to disperse cure amongst people of district. Also…" he said, surprising Shepard by taking a moment before speaking. "Need to find assistant. Daniel Ray Tucker. Odd name, very bright, too compassionate."
"What happened to him?" asked Shepard as the doctor shoved a capsule into a nebulizer. The salarian walked out into the hall with the three behind him.
"Feared we weren't getting cure out fast enough. Thought we could save more people by taking it out ourselves. Told him stupid idea. Too many vorcha. Rogue Squad still running loose. Could get killed." Then he inhaled sharply. "Did anyway."
Nodding, Shepard gave him a pleasant smile. "Then that's what I can do for you. I'll find Daniel, you work on a plan for dispersal, and when we're both done, you come with me?"
"Solid plan. Hope he's still alive to find," said the man as he opened the drawer to the batarian addict's cubicle and slid the nebulizer inside. "Hold button and breath in." The batarian looked surprised for a moment before placing the small mask over his mouth and nose, then began breathing in the vapor.
"Any idea where he went?" asked Shepard as she slid her helmet over her head.
"I do," came a voice behind the three of them. They all turned to see a man leaning against one of the YMIR mechs near the entrance. His armor was a mix of black, yellow, and white, looking as if it was recently on the business end of a Mako's autocannons. Without a helmet on, Shepard could see the look of a worn man similar to her father's stature the likes of which the years had not been kind to. His dark greying hair was slicked back on his head, showing a pair of heterochromatic eyes that told her he was no nonsense.
"And you are?" asked Miranda as she crossed her arms.
"Name's Massani," he said, not taking his eyes off Shepard to even acknowledge the operative who asked the question.
Miranda glared back at him. "Amazing how that didn't answer my question at all…"
"Zaeed 'The Zombie' Massani," said Shepard as she finally put his name to his face. She'd heard of his reputation as a mercenary and former member of the Blue Suns mercenary group. But she also knew what many didn't, that he was frequently a member of suicide squads; groups involved in impossible missions that expect a 100% mortality rate. Yet somehow, he had survived them. Sometimes other members of the group lived as well, but it was practically expected of him to come out unscathed. He was believed to be unkillable.
"I'm flattered the first human spectre would know about little ol' me," said the man, he face a mask of unflinching stone.
"I'm inclined to ask why you're here, but right now I need to know how you have information on the doctor's assistant," asked the spectre as she stepped up to him.
"Saw him on my way here carryin' one of those doctor bags the salarian has in the back," said the mercenary as he nodded towards Doctor Solus. "I had to save him from a couple of looters who thought he looked like an easy target."
"Where was he headed?" asked Shepard urgently.
"You and I need to have a word before we get to that," said the man menacingly as he turned and walked out of the clinic's front door.
Shepard growled to herself before waving to the others. "Wait here a moment," she ordered before following him out. When she arrived outside, he was waiting and leaning up against the wall. "I'm sure you and every mercenary in the Terminus Systems has something to say to me Massani. Can this wait until after we find the kid?"
"Not when I'm the one with the information," he said sharply, earning him a glare from her. "We can go back and forth a few more times negotiatin' if you like."
"Just… what is it?" she asked, making no effort to hide her annoyance.
"I'll make it quick," he said standing up straight. "I need your help."
She was immediately taken aback at his statement. "Help? With what?"
"For the last two years I've been taking out lower class Blue Suns commanders and using the information I get off their corpses to piece together the location of the big boss, Vido Santiago. Tarak, the lieutenant here on Omega was supposedly one of the few who kept direct contact with him. But it turns out you crushed him like a goddamn grape before I got the chance to squeeze the information I need out of the bastard," he said nonchalantly.
"So, what? You think I owe you?" asked the spectre as her brows furrowed.
"Nothin' like that. Shit happens," he said with a shrug. "But I also know your reputation from the Alliance as an intel specialist. I thought perhaps you and I could make a deal. Help me find and kill the bastard, and I'll help you on your mission with the Collectors."
Raising an eyebrow curiously, she crossed her own arms. "And how, pray tell, did you know about the Collectors?"
"A mutual friend here on Omega told me what happened to Tarak, and thought I'd be the perfect candidate to help you out," he said with a knowing smirk. She let out a slow breath as Hermes' face popped into her head. "He was under the impression we could help each other."
She eyed him for a long moment. She had a not so pleasant history with mercenaries. But she also knew that they hadn't all been terrible. Looking at him again, she could almost see his resemblance to a menacing krogan she had allowed on the original Normandy. "Fine. You help me with the Collectors, I help you with finding Vido. But one thing you should understand is that on my ship, you follow my orders. You're not running and gunning under my watch."
"Yeah yeah, whatever ya like, Shepard," he said with an icy smirk. "Help me find Vido and I'll even juggle for ya if you like," he said sarcastically as he held out his hand. Shepard eyed him for a long moment before letting out a sigh. Finally, she reached forward and gripped his hand back.
"We'll work out the terms of finding Santiago on the ship. In the meantime, take me to where you last saw Daniel so we can work out where he was heading," she ordered as she signaled the others over her omni-tool.
"No need. He told me he was heading into Talon territory to try and give them some of the cure. Told 'im he was a right git to be heading into gang territory during a land war," said the man as he took his own helmet and secured it over his head.
"Well…" she said as the Cerberus crew exited the clinic. "Let's just hope they're less trigger happy than Rogue Squad."
Taloron Market – Gozu District – Omega Station
The four of them had moved quickly through the streets of the battle-worn district and finally made it into the borders of Talon territory. Slipping her weapon away, Shepard held up her hands as a sign of surrender and continued walking through the streets of the ghost town marketplace. As she predicted, it wasn't long before someone stepped from the shadows with their weapon raised.
They were a turian. She couldn't get her eyes on any clan paint due to the breathing mask they had covering the entire lower half of their face. "What the hell is a spectre doing here?" asked the figure as two more approached behind them. She ordered the others to stay outside of the markets just in case something went wrong, leaving her here to negotiate alone.
"You know I'm a spectre?" asked Shepard as she kept her hands high.
"Shut up," ordered the turian as he turned on his comm. Looking up at his armor, she could see the Talons' logo lasered into its surface on the collar. "Tell the captain that Yuke was right. She's here in the flesh and surrendering herself." Her eyebrow cocked as she eyed the man. "Yeah… alright." Sounding more annoyed than angry, he pointed deeper into the markets. "Alright Spooky, let's go."
"Spooky?" she asked as she followed his lead. "Wait, who was right about me?"
"Look, you can ask the captain all the questions you want. I'm not saying anything," he said as he led her inside what looked like a storage warehouse. When she was inside, she immediately saw where the market's people had gone. Many were laid out on cots, coughing and heaving with barely functioning medical equipment nearby. Some were on ancient ventilators to help them breathe as many people, even some wearing the Talons' insignia were rushing around helping medical workers and applying their own skills to ease the situation.
She was forced to walk past many dying people from many worlds, weaving around different mats and beds and dodging workers that scurried by. Finally, she stood in front of what looked like a wall of gang members. Some armored, some wearing minimal clothing, some looked as if they were still being treated for symptoms. But all of them were armed to the teeth. And directly in the middle sat one who wore a hood over their head, as well as a breather mask.
"You're about the last person I expected to see here," said the woman who sat in a turian style chair.
"Funny. Because the way he worded it," started Shepard as she nodded towards her escort. "It sounded like you were expecting me." Looking over them all, they looked to be strong at one time. But the plague had hit them especially hard. They appeared to be barely holding together at the moment, which might explain their absence from the turf wars outside. "You the captain?"
"As of today, yes," came their voice again. "I'm a very busy woman, Spectre. If you wouldn't mind getting down to business…"
Nodding, Jane lowered her hands. "I'm looking for a human man, dark hair, he was carrying a medical bag, and goes by Daniel." Almost immediately, she noticed the numerous looks between many of the gang members.
"We may know of him. Why?" asked the captain.
"Mordin Solus synthesized a cure for the plague. Daniel, his assistant, took a medical bag with several bottles of the cure and brought it here to bargain with you all," she said, getting even more shocked expressions. Even the captain sat up straight in her seat.
Turning to the one who escorted her, the turian captain snapped. "Derius said the kid was spreading the disease!"
The taller turian simply shrugged. "Eh, to be honest we just knocked the kid out before he said much of anything. Unlike Spooky over here, he didn't have his hands up and was carrying a pistol. Derius threw him into a cell cuz he was carrying that bag with the bottles. He planned to make an example of him before the plague knocked him off his feet."
In a blatant sign of frustration, the captain lifted her palms up as if she were about to grab her head for a long moment before dropping them. "Bring the kid here and get his medical bag."
As the escort did as he was bid, Shepard turned back to her. "Working with idiots?"
"Constantly," growled the turian woman.
"Mind if I ask how you knew I was here?" she inquired as she crossed her arms.
"I don't make a habit of exposing my contacts. With that stated, they said you knew them very well," responded the woman knowingly.
Once again, Spider's cocky smirk appeared in her head. "Oh my god…" she groaned in both appreciation and annoyance. "In any case, Daniel said he was bringing you all the cure and was hoping you could distribute it throughout the district to help the clinic."
"Bold of him to expect this leadership to do anything helpful for anyone," mumbled the turian. "Luckily for the Gozu District, that raging cloaca is down with the plague, and I have charge for the next few days."
"Glad to hear it. Most people are too afraid to come anywhere near the clinic," said Shepard with a heavy sigh.
"A few of our boys were threatened away with their mechs. So, no surprise really," said the captain making a circular motion with her hand.
"Did you all try, oh, I don't know, not wearing armor and brandishing weapons?" asked the spectre curiously.
Looking away for a moment as if deep in thought, the captain turned back to her. "Were Rogue Squad causing them trouble?"
"Those mechs killed a good number of them over the last few days for threatening to kill all the humans in the clinic," said Shepard with a smirk that only caused the woman to groan and sink deeper into her chair.
"Idiots…" she growled menacingly.
Moments later, a struggling young human was dragged in front of her. The bag was tossed to the captain as Shepard leaned down and took the gag out of his mouth. "Please! You must listen to m-" he started, but Shepard silenced him with a finger over his lips.
"We know, Daniel. Calm down," she said, getting a look of confusion from him.
Looking up to the captain again, she saw her taking bottles out of the bag. "This one says asari, batarian, salarian, turian…" she said as she began handing them to the medical workers who started approaching. "Start getting these out to the people. Start with doctors and nurses, then do a few of my men so they can go to the clinic and get more."
Many of the armed individuals around her looked at her worriedly, but the turian from before is the one who spoke up. "You're gonna make us go back there?"
"The kid will call ahead and alert them you're coming. You're going to get as much of this stuff as they can give and we're going to start setting up medical tents throughout the district to get it out to more people," she ordered as she stood up and allowed one of the medics to immediately pump the cure into her arm with an injection.
"Uh… captain," started the escort. "I don't think Derius would be very happy with you passing this stuff out for free."
Turning her head, she fixed him with a deadly glare through her predatory eyes. "That's why he's getting it last. And if he doesn't like what I did, he can tell me to my face." Then her eyes softened slightly as they turned back to the spectre. "Besides, I doubt our benefactor here would allow us to start charging premium prices for a cure we got for free. If you don't like it, feel free to deal with her yourself."
Shepard turned to the turian man who looked at her then shook his head. "Good choice." Turning back to the captain one last time, Shepard stepped in close. "Quick question. I've heard from many, Doctor Solus included, that this disease had to be synthesized."
"That appears to be the case, yes," said the captain as she shook her arm to ward off the pain from the shot. "Probably why Derius thought the kid was doing it. Running around with medical vials during an epidemic is pretty suspect."
"They said it started showing up one day and then spread almost instantly throughout the population," continued Shepard.
The turian woman stopped her walking and turned to the spectre. "What are you getting at, Shepard?"
"Even airborne diseases need time to spread that quickly if released through a patient zero style scenario. But if someone were to get into the environmental controls of the district…" she said but stopped elaborating as the captain grabbed her by the collar.
"Follow me," she ordered hastily.
Sector 7 Environmental Control – Gozu District – Omega Station
"The Talons captain gave me access to their security feeds. They cover a pretty wide area, including the environmental controls building," said Shepard as she and the others stormed through the streets.
Zaeed, who looked to be a heavy armor type of person, somehow kept pace with them the entire way. "So, they saw whatever rat bastard released this plague?"
"The goddamn vorcha," snapped Shepard. Almost as soon as the words escaped her mouth, gunfire rained down at them from near the building.
Jacob slipped into cover before asking his own question. "Why would the vorcha unleash a plague that kills everything except for humans on Omega?"
Miranda reached out with her biotics and sent one of the vicious little figures screaming as she warped its head inside their helmet. "We can figure that out after we get inside!"
Without anyone's permission, Zaeed charged headlong into the gunfire, stopping only to pull a large weapon from his back and fire it upwards. Shepard's ears twitched at the unusual sound and looked up to watch an orb-like device fall towards the ground. As soon as it hit, a fireball appeared and blasted away the vorcha defenses, as well as the doors to the building itself. Shepard snorted, knowing that using heavy weapons explosives on a space station was risky. But after her stunt in the Archangel base, she couldn't really say much.
Instead, she moved forward and felt the world around her begin to drag once more. Her pupils dilated slightly and she felt warmth rush through her body as pings of gunfire flew through the now blasted open door. "Lawson, Taylor, back us up. We're going in hard!" shouted Shepard over her comm.
"Now we're talkin'!" shouted Zaeed as he slid his launcher away and pulled out a pair of battle rifles that locked to his arms. "You lot are mad as a bag of ferrets if you think you're gonna hold off Massani and Shepard together," he shouted, practically cackling as he began firing into the fray.
The platform in front of them lead straight to the environmental control room itself and multiple paths on either side lead to venting rooms. "We're clearing the middle, then split up and clear the venting rooms! If there's any evidence they started the plague, I want it found before they destroy it!"
With no regard to his own safety, the mercenary barreled onto the main platform, his heavy shielding taking the brunt of the shots for him. Her hearing piqued again as she heard the sound of two rockets being fired from cover. "Massani! Watch your back!" she shouted as she dove over cover with her pistol drawn. As soon as the projectile blasted into it, she activated her cloak and pulled her rifle free.
Zaeed jumped one of the turned over desks like a hurdle, leaving the slower moving rockets to explode behind him as he fired full force into the doorway to the control room, his shots not even aimed at the entrance. Vorcha squealed in pain and gurgled a death knell as his rounds smashed into the wall on either side of the door, puncturing the cheaper prefab material and slaying the shieldless saboteurs.
With her scope zeroed in, she waited for one of the heavy weapons carriers to show themselves again before relieving them of their brain matter. Her cloaking faded as she spun to the other. Jacob grabbed the desk that Zaeed had leapt over with his biotics and sent it flying down one of the walkways to the vents, its sturdy surface crashing into a wave of the small invaders that rushed out to help. "Damn!" shouted Jacob as he raised his weapon and began firing. "Shepard! We've got krogan!"
As her second shot took down the second rocketeer, the spectre slid her long-range rifle away and drew her pistol again. Turning, she saw that the desk he had thrown had essentially cracked in half over the massive krogan's head and he was now charging straight for their position, and to add to the chaos another was coming up the walkway behind him.
"Dammit!" shouted Jane as she sprinted forward. The feeling in her muscles felt like a coiled spring ready to shoot into the stratosphere. They almost ached as if she hadn't used them in a while. "Lawson, take one!"
After gunning down two sneaky vorcha that tried to flank them, the operative hit the first with her biotics and lifted him from the ground. Jacob hit the helpless krogan with biotics of his own, causing an explosion that sent the screaming figure crashing back down the walkway and into a crowd of vorcha.
The spectre raised her gun and fired directly into the visor of the second krogan, startling him and causing his shots to spread wide. Leaping into the air, Shepard raised her hand and gripped the krogan's gun before her knee shot forward and directly into its helmet. The visor shattered and the towering figure toppled backwards as she pushed forward and fired one of her explosives directly into the broken visor before rolling off of him and back onto her feet with her pistol up once more.
She aimed her weapon and took out two more surviving vorcha down the walkway before finally detonating her explosive and cratering the krogan's head inside the helmet and sending his orange blood flying. Letting out a heavy breath, Shepard moved to put her weapon away, but instead snapped the pistol at a figure exiting the environmental control office.
It was another krogan, and they had fallen face first onto the metal floor, their hands scrambling to get ahold of something, anything. "No! No!" shouted the krogan as Zaeed walked out of the door with a massive military-grade bowie knife.
"I love it when these gormless twits underestimate me. The surprise in their eyes when this creaky old bastard puts them on their arse never gets old," he said before slamming a boot into the krogan's back, then sinking the knife up to the hilt under the hump into the back of their neck. "Gotta be careful with these big bastards. You don't sever the spine correctly and suddenly they're getting up and trying to bite your entire face off through sheer blood rage," he said as he twisted the blade sharply.
"Ugh…" groaned Miranda who shook her head and turned away.
Jacob shook his head as well. "Well, this has been… educational."
Ignoring the others, Shepard made her way into the vent rooms and scanned the area briefly before she found what she was looking for. Dozens of aerosol cannisters thrown into a large trash bin in the corner. Reaching over, she picked one of them up and eyed them curiously. "No…" she said as her brows furrowed.
"What is it?" asked Miranda as she stepped into the doorway.
Shepard immediately activated her omni-tool and began breaking into any that were on the corpses around her. Most of them were unused. Vorcha were typically a simple species who liked simple tools like guns and blades. But on occasion one would get sick of the simple life and learn to read galactic, made harder by their short lifespan. And as she suspected, she found one with a message in it that was written in galactic with traces of batarian dialect.
Balak's face flashed in her mind as her scowl grew. She didn't know if he actually had a hand in this madness, but it had all the makings of one of his schemes. "Batarian extremists."
"Batarians?" asked Jacob as he entered as well. "But… why? Wouldn't they want humans killed primarily?"
Going over the information in her head, Shepard shrugged. "Not if you want to send a message. It's relatively easy to kill humans. But if you release a plague in a small area of a station like Omega, and the news spreads that humans are immune, it starts to look like humans are trying to take over."
"Bloody maggot didn't want to kill them himself. He wanted to start a war against humans," said Zaeed as he walked in cleaning the orange blood from his knife.
"That's what it looks like," said Shepard as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at the ground. "Am I ever going to get away from these assholes?"
"Not likely. Persistent bastards if you ask me," commented Zaeed as he turned away from them and left the room. "Going to get my guns. Meet you back at the clinic."
Gozu Medical Clinic – Gozu District – Omega Station
It took almost the entire trip back to the clinic before Shepard realized she had been shot in the charge through the environmental building. She felt the dull pain in her arm start as the adrenaline wore off and her vision cleared. Lifting her left arm, she saw the puncture wound and sighed. She could almost feel the medigel coursing its way through the nanofibers inside her. "Hell."
"We might need to get you thicker armor," said Miranda as they opened the front door of the clinic.
Three members of the Talons now stepped out of the entrance with packs on their back now full of the cure for the rampant plague. "My armor is supposed to be light for stealth. If I make it any thicker or heavier, it'll nullify a lot of the benefits of being able to cloak."
Miranda shrugged lightly. "You now have biotics and enhanced combat abilities that may outweigh stealth benefits. But there's no reason we can't get you both. Use what fits for the mission."
"I… guess," said Shepard, feeling surprisingly uncomfortable with the idea of having two full sets of armor just for herself. As they walked through the clinic, most of the people there for the cure had left by now and instead it was full of Talon members stocking up supplies and working to help clear the sector of the plague.
Shepard entered the back again and saw the captain herself standing with Daniel and Mordin. All three of them looked in her direction. "Welcome, Shepard! Good to see you in one piece. Heard you went after vorcha. Always found them a bit… bitey," said the doctor as he approached. "Daniel returned, brought Talons captain, deal was made."
"Good to hear," said Shepard as she groaned and held up her visibly injured arm. "Mind if I get a patch for this?"
Daniel immediately rushed to a nearby triage kit and pulled out a suture kit. As he walked over, Shepard removed the armored piece that had been hit and looked up to the other two. "So, you two worked something out?"
The captain nodded under her hood. "We'll disperse the cure around the sector and Daniel will take over the clinic, keeping a stock here for any stray cases that we miss."
Shepard eyed her curiously. "You're being awfully helpful. You sure Derius isn't going to be too up your ass for it?"
"He'll forget all about it given how busy we're going to be lately," said the captain, a smile hiding behind those sharp eyes. "You may not have done it intentionally, Shepard. But you've potentially given the Talons Omega. After your stunt at the Archangel base taking out the Gowthra, killing the Blue Suns lieutenant, and crushing the Eclipse leader to death, you've put those mercenary groups on the back burner. On top of that, taking out a sizable portion of the Rogue Squad."
Shepard sighed to herself. "And I imagine your perceived altruism through spreading the cure has got people lining up outside of your doors."
"Very perceptive of you, Spectre," said the turian woman. "Omega has just seen a massive power shift. So, to answer your question, no. I don't believe Derius will be too upset over losing some profits he might have gotten from selling the cure."
"Just do me a favor," said Shepard as Daniel dug the round out of her would and slapped a patch on top of it. "If you ever decide to clash with Aria, leave me out of it."
Tilting her head, the captain eyed Shepard. "You have something going on?"
"Not particularly. I've got what I needed from her for now, and if I need something in the future and you guys take over, I'm sure my good will can afford me some courtesy. Just don't bring my name up," said the woman, then pointed at her. "Oh, and spare Hermes."
"I doubt we'll ever try to go to war with Aria. We have everything we need here on the streets. But I'll keep that in mind," said the captain as she walked past and patted Shepard on her armored shoulder.
Finally, Shepard looked up to Mordin. "Doctor Solus, are you ready?"
"Ready. Though few questions before we go," he started, getting a nod from her. "Why is a spectre working with Cerberus?"
"I find myself asking that question as well," came the familiar British accent of Zaeed.
"That makes three of us," said Shepard as she stood up and flexed her arm gently. "I have reason to believe the collectors are connected to the reapers."
"Reapers. Galactic Armageddon theory. Connected to Saren's ship from two years ago," said Mordin as he began rambling again. "Reapers powerful enough entity to control collectors if exist. If true, collectors not just harvesting humans to do reapers work, but working to bring reapers back."
"Saren's ship? You mean that big goddamn eyesore that exploded near the Citadel?" asked Zaeed as he stopped leaning against the wall and uncrossed his arms, a sign he was dead serious in the conversation now. "You mean there's more of those damn things out there?"
"Lots more. Thousands maybe," said Shepard as she reached up and gently rubbed her forehead. "That's what you're getting into by joining me." Then she looked up to Mordin. "What you're not getting into, however, is Cerberus. Despite his best efforts, the Normandy is my ship, the crew is my crew, and Cerberus has no say on how I do things. I'm using them for their resources and knowledge."
"Illusive Man unlikely to seek assistance from other species, left that job to you," said the doctor as he paced gently back and forth. Finally, he stopped and smiled at Jane. "Record speaks for itself, Spectre. Will work for you. Advise against giving too much freedom to crew loyal to Cerberus, however."
Shepard smiled, then turned to Zaeed. "And you? You still want in on this?"
The hardened man's gaze narrowed. "If you're not takin' the piss about Santiago, then I'm in. Help me, I'll fight as many of those bastards as you like. Preferably AFTER we take down Vido so I'm alive to see it."
"Deal," said Shepard, then turned to Mordin. "Deal. I'm going back to my ship to get complained at by my doctor. In the meantime, talk to Operative Lawson about where you'll be stationed on the ship and bed arrangements."