MASS EFFECT: INTERCEPTOR 2
*Episode Thirty*
Prax's home had yielded nothing of value to Arlen and Vasir, which was not unexpected. The real evidence haul, if it was going to come, would be found in the many safehouses the Spectre maintained. The list Vasir had pulled from the STR servers was invaluable in that regard, and it hadn't taken long for them to reach a tiny one-bedroom apartment tucked away in the depths of Kithoi Ward.
The salarian-dominated part of the Citadel was not one Arlen had been to before, and he fought not to stare out of the apartment's only window. Even in the lower depths of the city, where the buildings were packed so tightly together that the stars above couldn't be seen, there was a strange orderliness to the usual city bustle. People came and went along covered walkways outside, organised and calm, and even the tendrils of shuttle traffic seemed more regulated as they wound their way between the structures. Bright, colourful holograms showed scenes of tropical rainforests in between short and concise commercials for a wide variety of salarian products.
Arlen sniffed as he tore himself away from the sight, making a note to visit the Ward more often in future. He turned to a small terminal set on a desk built into the apartment wall, the only feature of note in the miniscule dwelling. Vasir was busy tearing the place apart, looking for anything that Prax might've stashed away while Arlen set himself to hacking the terminal; a task that was taking far longer than anticipated.
Again, he wished Petra were there. She would have been able to break the terminal's security in a fraction of the time.
'Any luck?' Vasir asked as she wandered over from the adjoining room.
'Not yet,' Arlen replied with a shake of his head. 'This thing's got a hell of a lock on it. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, we're dealing with a Spectre, after all.'
'We're a careful bunch,' Vasir agreed. 'For the most part.'
Arlen couldn't stop himself from mumbling, 'Except when it really counts.'
Vasir didn't miss the bitterness in his tone. She leaned against the wall, folding her arms. 'You know, when most people meet a Spectre, they either shoot at us or fall to their knees in worship. Can't say I've ever met anyone with your kind of low-key hostility before.'
Silently cursing his own transparency, Arlen focused his attention on the terminal, muttering under his breath. 'I haven't had the best experiences with Spectres.'
'I know,' Vasir said, drawing his gaze. 'I read your file while I was with the Council. I know about Olansi. Poor bastard, murdered in his own home, only for that crazy salarian to take his place. Though I did wonder how anybody could confuse them, given that Olansi was a turian.'
'We weren't given details,' Arlen spat as hated memories surfaced. 'I only had the name and a location. I had no reason to suspect Olansi wasn't who he said he was.'
'Don't get me wrong, I wasn't blaming you. Hell, you shouldn't have been anywhere near that operation, given your inexperience.'
Arlen bristled a little. 'I'm a fast learner.'
'Maybe.' Vasir let her arms drop and she drew closer, turning to perch her backside on the edge of the desk. 'But you still got a bum rap, getting sucked into that whole affair. How did a rookie get picked for the most dangerous assignment in C-Sec, anyway?'
'Wrong place, wrong time,' he replied quietly. 'Things just...got out of control. There wasn't any time to hesitate, or to find someone else. By the time I met Olansi, it was already too late; my path was set. Maybe it already was before that, thanks to Nihlus. He was the one who had me fast-tracked into the Interceptors, after all.'
Vasir snorted. 'I guess there's such a thing as doing someone a bad favour. Still, you can't blame the guy for wanting to give his kid brother a head start in his career. I doubt he would've done it if he'd known how things would turn out.'
Arlen nodded. 'Yeah. To answer your question, I guess Spectres have come to define my life. My brother was one, was killed by one. Someone posing as a Spectre took nearly everything from me.' He looked at Vasir once more. 'If you want the honest truth, I don't even fully trust you. I don't think I ever can.'
The words held a great deal more sadness than Arlen intended. He didn't like speaking them, but neither could he hide them.
They brought a look of subtle but genuine regret from Vasir. 'That's a shame. Not all Spectres are like Saren, you know.'
Of course Arlen knew that but it didn't make things any easier. Still, Vasir came through for him only hours before and that counted for something. He gave a grudging nod.
'I know. You didn't need to come back for me. It would've been easy to just let Callidus haul me off while you carried on the investigation by yourself. And you gave me closure - or the nearest thing to it - with Nihlus. You've done a lot for me, which makes it harder than you can imagine to say that in spite of all that, I don't think I'll ever be able to let my guard down around you.'
Vasir shifted again, this time stepping directly in front of him, close enough that he could see his reflection in the polished panels of her armour.
'And what if I wasn't a Spectre?' she asked, the licks of purple around her face twisting as she raised her brows. 'What if I was just a regular ol' kick-ass asari, like a Commando or part of your Special Response unit? Would you trust me then?'
'After only knowing you a couple of days?' Arlen chuckled. He met her gaze, answering as earnestly as he could. 'Of course. I wouldn't be coming with you otherwise.'
'Interesting,' Vasir murmured, leaning closer. 'On one hand you can't trust me because I'm a Spectre, but on the other, you're willing to put your life in my hands? Isn't that a contradiction?'
'It's...hard to explain. But I do know that of all the Spectres I could meet on Bekenstein, I'm glad you were the one to show up. Anyone else and I likely wouldn't be here.'
Vasir stared deeply into his emerald eyes. 'And we wouldn't want that, would we?'
Her voice had become a low, warm noise that spread through Arlen's senses. He didn't know what to make of the sensation, but it woke something deep inside him that scared as much as excited him. He recoiled from it instinctively, turning his head.
The motion seemed to break the moment, releasing its hold on the both of them. Vasir opened her mouth a little, on the verge of saying something but it never came. Instead, she gestured to the terminal.
'I think you're in. Let's see if Prax has done us any favours.'
It was with relief that Arlen activated his omni-tool, which immediately began a scan of Prax's files. There were set parameters for a wide variety of searches, beginning with the ones most useful to a C-Sec investigator. They generally only yielded results against the most ill-prepared criminals, or the most foolish. For those who had the nous to conceal their files and records, more obscure parameters would be employed in repeated searches of gradually increasing complexity.
It didn't take long for the omni-tool to signal its success and Arlen read his findings aloud. 'Got something. A receipt for a one-way shuttle transit into...the Eagle Nebula, in the Terminus Systems, with a changeover on Illium. Dated within the last twenty-four hours.'
'Hold on, let me cross check the safehouse list.' Vasir brought up her own omni-tool before picking away at the controls. 'Eagle Nebula...here we go. Two planetary locations: Anhur and Korlus, and a berth on an orbital station above Flett, the training ground for Blood Pack mercenaries. Hardly prime real estate, any way you look at it.'
'What's the most likely choice?' Arlen asked as he checked over his gear, sensing the time was coming to move on.
'Can't say. If he doesn't want to be found, then any one of those places fits the bill. Could be that he's arranging to sell the T-Seven to the Blood Pack - a scary thought if there ever was one - but if he's still connected to the turian military as you suggested, then the last place he'll want to be is knee-deep in krogan.'
Arlen closed his eyes for a moment, trying to summon the barest of knowledge he had of the other locations. 'What about Anhur? There's a sizeable batarian population on that planet, right? He could be handing the bomb back over to Crimson Fist.'
'That's more likely than the Blood Pack, and considering Crimson Fist's link to this turian insider already, I'd say that makes it a good place to start. At least it's something approaching a garden world. I wasn't looking forward to scouring a toxic shithole like Flett or Korlus.'
'Might still be necessary,' Arlen said with a grunt, 'but I'm with you on that one.'
Vasir made for the exit, speaking as she walked. 'At least Prax is limited to public transportation. That gives him anonymity but not speed. My ship will get us there in no time.'
As Arlen joined her, he smiled. 'I won't refuse the chance for another shower. I can still smell Omega on me.'
'Hey, I warned you before, stay away from the fancy soap. I get that stuff imported from Thessia, it ain't cheap.'
'I never said I was going to use the fancy soap.'
'You were thinking it.'
Arlen's laugh, and subsequent reply, was lost as the apartment door slid shut.
~~~ME-I2~~~
Captain Callidus smelled it long before the ramp descended, slowly filling the dark shuttle interior with blinding, hazy light. It was the stench of hot garbage, acrid and yet sickly sweet at the same time. She tried to close up her nostril slits bit it was no use; the smell was already in her senses and Callidus knew that it would take a long time to filter out.
Her squad were already on their feet, ready to march down the ramp, but Lieutenant Tavus couldn't help but glance back at her before he joined them.
'You'd think the helmet would help with the stink,' he remarked.
Tavus was a young officer, but skilled and dedicated. He was the one who'd stopped and talked to Callidus as she was being led at gunpoint through the Kanderax by the Kryik boy. While the recollection brought a spike of intense fury to her, she was careful not to take it out on her men. That she was still being permitted to lead them after her blunder was a spirits-given gift.
'Get moving,' she ordered gently, appreciative of the attempt to lighten the mood. As soon as Tavus' back was turned, she blew out a huff of air as the stench threatened to overwhelm her.
Korlus was known throughout the Terminus as one giant scrapyard, where spacecraft throughout the ages were stripped of everything of value and dumped on the planet's surface. It was little more than a ball of junk and toxic chemicals - a fitting environment for all manner of dubious organisations, from criminal gangs to mercenary groups, to hide from the rest of the galaxy. The only other thing Korlus was famous for was that it ranked top for offworlder murder rates per capita in the Terminus Systems.
The fact remained in Callidus' mind as she stepped off the ramp and her armoured boot immediately sank more than an inch into pus-coloured mud. For a moment, she wondered if Korlus' prolific murderers were simply putting visitors out of their misery.
The clearing in which they'd landed was in the current planetary capital of Choquo, on the outskirts of a vast, ramshackle city that appeared to be a random patchwork of converted starship hulls and colonial prefabs. The area that Callidus now scanned with disgust was silent, save for the distant drones of engines that sounded close to failure. The clearing was fenced off by scrappy sheets of corrugated metal, rusted to near uselessness, and filled with the stinking mud that clung to her feet like tar. Puddles of greenish water dotted the rough ground, on top of which an oily film could be seen, and Callidus didn't even want to guess what foul chemicals could be causing it.
'Tavus,' she barked, readying her helmet. 'Take point and head for the target building. I'll bring up the rear. Keep your weapons stowed for now, this place seems quiet and I don't want to provoke the locals. But be ready for anything. I'm sure the gear we're carrying will probably be worth a fortune in these parts.'
'Yes, Ma'am,' Tavus replied before turning to give quick, sharp hand signals to the waiting squad. They fell into a loose, spaced out line behind him and together they made for a gap in the rusty wall.
Callidus slipped on her helmet and almost gasped in relief as the suit pressurised automatically, flushing out the hot stench of Korlus' atmosphere in favour of filtered air. It didn't completely eradicate the putrescence, but it took the edge off.
A low rumble made the ground shake. As Callidus started forward to catch up with her men she looked up to see a truly massive ship, bigger than a cruiser, roving into view from behind the mess of junk. It was an elcor herdship, as enormous and bulky as the people who'd once crewed her, with a boxy superstructure that trailed long, straight tubes behind it like a hanar in water. It appeared as if the rear of the great vessel was missing, either sheared off or dismantled, and it was relying on the fore engines to hold it aloft. Callidus could only imagine how large the ship must have been while intact, impressive as it was already as it floated across the pale yellow sky.
Shaking the awe from her senses, Callidus hurried to catch up with her team. As she emerged into a long, dirty street, she held back a growl of revulsion. In the distance, hidden behind a nauseous fog of pollution, Choquo's skyline was a jagged shadow of ancient shipwrecks and hideously out-of-place corporate skyscrapers. Immediately surrounding her, however, the scenery was hardly so grand. The road was just the same thick, sucking toxic mud that reached far into the distance, bordered on both sides by shacks, detached ship compartments and the odd box of sun-blasted stone.
A three-storey structure lay ahead, just off to the left, rising above it all with a misplaced air of triumph. It was there Lieutenant Tavus was leading the team, and it was there that Callidus knew their target would soon arrive.
On seeing the decrepit building, she had already made plans - where the meeting would take place, where her men would be positioned and when they would strike.
The moment of redemption was coming for Captain Callidus, and it brought with it a sweetness that counteracted even Korlus' abhorrent air.
~~~ME-I2~~~
'Goddess, come on,' Lorica muttered impatiently under her breath. Her arms were crossed and her fingers tapped against her biceps, the motion becoming more erratic as the seconds ticked by.
She stood at the door to Novari's apartment, which had remained closed despite several calls of the two-toned buzzer and even more messages sent to her omni-tool. Lorica huffed angrily, and the longer she waited without response, the more her anxiety built. All around her, the darkened Presidium continued its sedate night cycle, its vast curves spelled out in thousands of golden lights. Its serene beauty made a mockery of the powerful mixture of frustration and fear assailing Lorica's senses at that moment.
She banged on the door once more. In her mounting anger, it wasn't the first time she imagined the faces of Antus and Novari under her pounding fist.
Extracting herself from her cover was never going to be smooth, nor easy, not after getting herself in so deep with JSTF. It wasn't just her emotional ties. Her former comrades knew a great deal about her, and she knew everything there was to know about them. Despite her efforts to disrupt their operations, she knew Kim especially would not let her go after the betrayal. Now, the window of time Lorica had allocated for wrapping up her business on the Citadel had long passed, thanks to the foolishness of the asari ambassador and her lover. Every minute spent there, exposed and in plain view, ground Lorica's nerves into dust.
'Come on,' she said again, turning to pace impotently on the spot, her hands on her hips as she tutted and gnashed her teeth.
Again, her omni-tool came out, cutting an amber swathe out of the darkness. Another message was sent.
Barely had it left before she decided she'd had enough. Still keeping the omni-tool open, she initiated a hack on the door. It was one of the many programs she had lifted from JSTF's electronic warfare caches in the days before leaving, ready to take back to the asari intelligence services. The espionage agencies of her own people were leagues behind those of the salarians, in spite of increasing calls among some of the matriarchs to remedy the situation in the wake of Saren and the geth. Stealing from the salarians was nigh-impossible, but JSTF was the next best thing and Lorica was sure to be rewarded for the new tech she would bring back to Thessia.
Such thoughts were the furthest thing from her mind as she stabbed at her omni-tool, manipulating the hack with practised ease until the door slid open. Immediately, she was struck by the fact that the apartment beyond was dark. Cursing softly, she drew her pistol and flicked on her omni-tool's flashlight, raising the weapon alongside it as she advanced into Novari's home.
Everything was still and silent, the opulent rooms shrouded in shadow that was only broken by stretching pale bars of light from passing shuttles. Lorica frowned behind the pistol sights, at once trying to puzzle out the apartment's emptiness while also remaining alert for intruders. Her senses processed a scent of recently cooked food coming from the kitchen, but it had almost faded. Novari was recently here but no longer, that was certain.
After completing a sweep of the apartment, Lorica finally allowed herself to lower the pistol. She took shallow, sipping breaths as the tension released its hold on her and was replaced by an even greater distress than before. Novari was gone.
Shaking her head, she strode into the kitchen, intent on doing a more thorough search before she returned to Antus.
Goddess only knows what he'll do when he hears, she lamented.
Almost immediately, she froze. There were indeed signs of food preparation in the kitchen, with-half chopped vegetables and still-warm meat laying in a pan, the smell of seasonings hanging heavily in the air. It was clear that Novari left - or was forced to leave - in a hurry.
Any thought of coercion was dismissed as Lorica spotted something sitting in plain view on the counter. It was something not often seen in the age of omni-tools.
It was a piece of expensive paper, slightly darker than the shining white of the counter. Across its surface was scrawled a note in flawlessly flowing calligraphy, a skill at which Novari was evidently proficient. It was hastily written but not carelessly, and as she picked up the letter and read it, Lorica's brow pulsed with both confusion and frustration.
My dear Antus, if you're reading this, then hope still remains.
You've been gone too long without contact and you won't return my messages. I have to assume you've been taken away and I will be next. I don't care what Huntress says, I won't leave without you.
I have to get out of here in the meantime, but you'll know where to find me. I'll be waiting where we first met.
I love you.
Siya
Lorica could have yelled out in fury, but all she could muster was a rasping whisper, 'You stupid bitch…'
Everything had been thrown into disarray again, just when it felt like she was getting a grip on the situation. She let the letter fall from her grasp as her arms hung slack by her side. Her mind raced, trying to think of how she could track Novari down but nothing came. Her own resources as an asari agent were limited on the Citadel and for a second, she dearly wished she could call on the Joint Security Task Force for help.
Lorica balled her fingers into fists. She couldn't let Novari go; the ambassador was a potential security leak and while she was missing, she could well fall into the hands of the people who'd tried to blow up the Destiny Ascension. Lorica would not be forgiven for allowing such a threat to the Asari Republics to remain at large.
Hissing a breath through gritted teeth, she brought up her omni-tool once more.
~~~ME-I2~~~
'You're kidding, right?' Kim scoffed. Her cheeks were aching after too long holding a smile, an expression that felt almost foreign after the past few days.
Ket didn't mind regaling the rest of the team again. To the surprise of neither Kim nor Mike, the level of arrogance in the salarian's tone rose along with the grandiosity of his gestures.
'I promise you, on the infallibility of my eidetic memory, not one word of this is a lie,' he said, swivelling in his chair slightly as he swung his arms around. 'I looked her right in the eye and said, "Oh, how silly of me. There's no such thing, is there? I mean, look who I'm talking to." She then turned a colour something akin to a kaju berry before I told her she could stick her promotion up her cloaca.'
'You did not!' Kim said as she gave him a playful push on the arm, causing his chair to spin.
Ket let it turn and replied as he came around to face her again. 'Of course I did, why so doubtful?'
'Well,' Kim responded slowly, 'it's not like you've shown us a lot of love here. Of all the people who'd sell us out, I thought you'd be at the top of the list.'
Ket looked aghast at the accusation. 'What in the galaxy would make you think that?'
Mike spoke up, wearing an equally incredulous look. 'Uh..to start with, the constant barrage of insults?'
'Oh please,' Ket dismissed with a wave of his hand. 'You should hear what I called the troglodytes back in Network. You two have had it easy.'
'I can believe that,' Kim admitted quietly. After a moment's thought, she gave Ket a grateful look. 'Thanks. You're not so bad, for an uptight, arrogant asshole.'
Ket nodded. 'And you two aren't all that bad for a pair of know-nothing primates.'
'You do realise,' Kim added, her smile fading, 'that if this all goes south, T'Rana will come after you?'
Ket replied without a trace of humour. 'That dullard is welcome to try.'
Mike lifted his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. 'She'll definitely try. And the way things are going, south is the current trend. The encryption on Ferrata's OSD isn't going to break completely, not anytime soon. In fact, I've shifted focus on finishing those Interceptor case files. We've at least got a chance of fully decrypting those over the next couple of days. Unless we turn up something soon, we're out of a job.'
Kim threw up her hands in a helpless gesture. 'Yeah, we might as well focus on what we can uncover. What about Lorica, any sign of her?'
'No,' Mike replied with a shake of his head. 'We've tried tracking her shuttle but she's got some kind of scrambler installed, interferes with the transponder. We picked her up on the Presidium security feeds but as soon as she entered the Wards access tunnels, she was just one of thousands of red XM-7 model sky cars. I was going to request an APB from Enforcement, but Commander T'Rana nixed the idea the second she took over.'
'God damn it,' Kim spat, lifting her head to look at the still-occupied briefing room high above their heads. 'I guess that unless we get some sort of miracle breakthrough with the OSD, Arlen and Vasir are our hope.'
The other's didn't argue, nor could they. It wasn't just a lack of leads now, but the entire task force was in limbo until T'Rana decided otherwise. Kim pressed her fingers into her desk, wishing for what felt like the hundredth time that evening that Lina was around. They needed the quarian's expertise and experience. She would know what to do.
An incoming message on Kim's omni-tool made her eyes widen in shock. She glanced about, a movement that didn't slip by Ket and Mike.
'Are you okay?' the latter asked.
'Yeah,' Kim mumbled, getting to her feet hurriedly. 'Yeah, it's fine. I just need to go make a call, in private. Before I do - Ket, can you transfer one of the signal tracing programs over to my omni-tool?'
The salarian frowned. 'Of course I can, but why would-'
Kim lowered her voice into a harsh whisper and her eyes bored into him, willing him to just do as he was told. 'Send it over. Quickly.'
Understanding her tone, Ket bobbed his head uneasily. A few quick keystrokes later and the transfer announced its success with a soft note from the omni-tool.
'Appreciated,' Kim told him as she turned and made her way past the other desks on the tier, taking a right at the main ramp and left at the bottom to go deeper into the compound.
She knew Ket and Mike were savvy enough to know that it wasn't lack of trust that had stopped her from explaining her sudden departure. This was not something anyone could be allowed to overhear. T'Rana was putting the screws on everyone in the task force and there was bound to be someone who would be listening for any scrap of information they could use to bargain their way out of that mess, just as T'Rana had proposed to Ket.
Kim knew exactly where she was heading as she skirted past several patrols of helmeted Enforcement officers. They were wandering the halls in pairs, either unwilling or unpermitted to speak to the JSTF staff. Still, Kim knew they didn't want to be there any more than she wanted them there, and they didn't bother her as she went about her business.
Finally, she arrived at a door marked only with yellow and black hazard stripes along the top and bottom edges. There was nothing else to indicate what the room was used for, and Kim knew she would be alone. This was the secure server room, through which all the data that flowed into the JSTF command centre was filtered. Only techs with high-level clearance were allowed inside and Kim was thankful to see that the first thing Lina had done on discovering Lorica's deception was grant Kim full section lead access privileges.
The door opened without protest and Kim stepped into a near-pitch black room, its large size denoted only by the dim luminance of hundreds of blue-lit servers, their casings dotted with enough blinking red lights to resemble a star field. Kim found a lonely spot at the back of the room and sat on the ground, resting her back against a warm bulkhead. Her omni-tool flared brightly in the shadows as she finally made her call.
'You've got some nerve,' she said coldly.
Lorica's voice was fizzy with static, but there was no mistaking the regret in it. 'I know. I guess it'd be naïve of me to ask how you're doing.'
Kim snapped, 'Why? Why did you do it?'
'That's...a complicated question.'
'So give me the simple version.'
A sigh crackled from the other end of the line. 'There's no such thing as a simple version. Kimberley, there's so much I want to tell you but I can't do it like this, not here and not now.'
Anger swelled, battling with hurt, and Kim pursed her lips as her eyes shone. 'Then I guess this conversation's over.'
'No!' Lorica yelled. 'No, damn it, listen to me! I wouldn't ask you to contact me if it wasn't important. It's about the investigation.'
'You mean the investigation you sabotaged?' Kim retorted.
'Yes...yes I did, and I will explain my reasons to you, I swear I will. I never wanted to hurt you.'
Kim cursed under her breath. 'Like hell you didn't. You left me, you played all of us, you sold us out to Pallin. Because of you, T'Rana's up there as we speak, looking for evidence to put Lina behind bars. I don't give a shit about your reasons, but don't you dare claim that you didn't want to hurt me because you did just about everything you could to-'
'I know who stole the Destiny Ascension plans,' Lorica interrupted firmly. 'It was Eris Saverra.'
Kim froze, her roiling emotions suspended for a brief moment. She whispered, 'The asari ambassador's assistant? The one who was killed this morning?'
'That's right, she was involved in all of this. Ferrata got the schematics from her before passing them on to Crimson Fist. It also sounds like she was trying to spy on the turian ambassador. She was getting involved with him, probably romantically involved, but now they're both dead. We've found our asari insider but this third party, the one linked to the turian military, they're cleaning house. First Ferrata, then Saverra and now Tessarius.'
Kim's lips parted, remaining so as she tried to make sense of what she'd just heard. Her fingers hovered over the omni-tool, above the key that would begin the trace program Ket had uploaded. The decision to obtain it in preparation for the call had been instantaneous from the second she'd seen Lorica's message, but the moment to use it was proving less decisive.
She wanted to hunt Lorica down, punish her for what she'd done, but Kim also knew that this new intel was the first real lead they'd had in days. Even if she located Lorica and had her brought in, there'd be no guarantee T'Rana wouldn't have her released on principle.
Kim tutted and shook her head. 'You've really got all this worked out, haven't you?'
'Kim, the only thing I had worked out was my trip off this station. I didn't plan on finding out about Saverra, just like I didn't plan on bringing Pallin down on the department. But in my situation, that's the price you pay for letting yourself get involved with others. You can't avoid hurting them when the time comes to leave. I know you don't believe me, but I'm going to keep saying it; I will always regret causing someone I love so much pain.'
Kim blinked away tears as she let out a wet snort. 'Yeah...I loved you too.'
There was a long pause as Lorica digested her words. When she spoke again it was ragged with grief. 'Check into Eris Saverra. That'll be your best shot. I'll let you know if I find out more. If...you want me to, that is.'
Kim thought on it. She brought up her knees and wrapped her arms around them as memories played out in her thoughts. Memories of meeting an asari while out shopping in Zakera, her credit account full to bursting after months spent in the C-Sec academy. She didn't even know the moment they'd gone from friends to something more, it was all just a single, long blissful adventure. She'd thought that the only bone of contention - Lorica's demanding job - would disappear when she joined the task force to work alongside her. Instead, Kim found herself in a nightmare.
At last, she managed to grasp the frayed threads of her emotions, reining them in. She raised her head, forcing determination into her body and mind.
'All right,' she said frostily, 'if you come across anything else, forward it to me personally. Try and disguise it, though. It won't be long until T'Rana starts monitoring personal comms on top of everything else.'
'All right. I love-'
Kim cut off the call. She didn't want to hear anything else from her. For some time she simply sat in the dark, both to let her tears dry and to analyse the significance of what Lorica had told her. When the time came to move on, a plan had already taken shape in her head.
~~~ME-I2~~~
Of all the planets in the Terminus Systems, Prax loathed Korlus the most. The smell was bad enough but the hot, tacky air felt as if it stuck to everything it touched. It left an aftertaste at the back of one's throat that took an age to disperse, and any clothing worn for more than an hour was useless thereafter; nothing could get the stink of the place out.
After more than two days spent in mute misery on that garbage dump, Prax had finally known hope when he got the call from Kaion, but rather than thank him for achieving the impossible, all his old friend had given were recriminations. The tone of that conversation had been playing over and over again in Prax's mind ever since, and it gave the former Spectre no joy to see how well-founded his fears were.
He'd set up in a building overlooking the rendezvous location as soon as the meeting was set up. That was the first mistake they'd made; they gave the location in advance, allowing Prax plenty of time to survey the area before the assassination team arrived.
Prax watched through the scope of his assault rifle as a female officer gave orders to another, who marked her out as the leader by saluting her. Another foolish error.
They were Blackwatch, of that Prax had no doubt whatsoever. They wore camo-pattern armour and wielded the best weapons turian credits could buy, but any merc band in the Terminus could sport such gear. It was the bearing of these soldiers, the ease and comfort with which they moved, that set them apart. Prax counted half a dozen - the two officers milled around in a wide, dusty yard while the rest had taken various positions in a large adjoining structure. All looked alert enough to not seem complacent, but clearly calm enough to not realise the danger posed by their quarry.
Prax held no illusions that they were there to kill him. Though it was not unreasonable to assume Kaion would send such a team to retrieve the Titus-Seven, he would have indicated as much to Prax beforehand if his intentions were simply that. Instead, the admiral had left that little detail out, and now all Prax saw was an ambush.
He grunted softly to himself. Once, in his youth, he might have called such thoughts paranoid. But that was the attitude of a child. He was now a Spectre, one who'd learned long ago that paranoia was a term the ignorant used to conceal their lack of preparation, and the ill-prepared were nothing but fodder in his line of work. Spectres could leave nothing to chance, could not afford to take anything for granted. Once again, those instincts had paid off.
He saw the leader of the group reach up to activate her suit radio as the lieutenant jogged away, no doubt communicating her final series of checks to the team before contacting Prax.
As expected, his omni-tool chimed a few moments later. Pulling back from the scope, Prax brought up the device and answered the incoming call. Between Korlus' foetid atmosphere and the multiple layers of encryption over the signal, the officer's voice was harsh and heavy with interference despite only being a short distance away.
'It's me,' she said. 'I'm at the rendezvous point.'
Simple, to the point and free of any details that could be picked up by anyone listening in. Prax approved, even as he returned to watching his contact through his scope and weighing up the advantages of dropping her where she stood.
'I'm close,' he replied. 'Very close.'
He took a hand from the rifle to close the omni-tool before reaching to his armour belt. From it he took the remote detonator for the explosives he had seeded throughout the building which the Blackwatch team now occupied. His thumb rested on the red button at the end of the detonator stick, moving over it lightly in small circles.
Prax spent some time observing the captain, amused at her growing discomfort and frustration as the seconds passed. He broke off only to re-check the positions of the rest of her team, as well as touch the T-Seven case below him with the edge of a foot, reassuring him of its presence.
Any last reservations he had about murdering his fellow turians were quashed instantly. Kaion had brought them to that place, not he, and his own plans for the T-Seven were already set.
With a final, deep breath, he pressed the button and the building in front of him erupted in flame and dust.
