Picking up the trail

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.

Occasus lunari (Nihlus's ship) - Orbit over Therum.

Nihlus

"One last dead end" Nihlus sighed as he uttered these words in the cockpit of his modified Claw fighter which he seldom used for nothing but transport and investigation.

It had been a little under a week since the council had ordered him to track down any leads on the people who had been responsible for some form of experiments within the traverse in the form of unknown technology and alien bioweapons that mirrored the rachni in an uncanny manner.

These alien chimera that had been handed over by the Alliance were an anomaly that had the most brilliant minds of the salarian union completely stumped if what Nihlus had heard was anything to go by.

Genetic instability and rapidly decaying bioforms had forced the scientific team to work around the clock only to scratch at the surface of what these creatures were even made of or where it had even come from.

Only five days after the start of their research the salarians were left with nothing but some useless cybernetics components of unknown make that were grafted onto a now calcified skeleton and a soup of base molecules no form of life could either process or even make use of due to how toxic this matter had become.

Even the DNA of creatures was corrupted after their death so not a single strand of useful information could be extracted from it.

Since the Council's research had fallen wayside due to this little setback they were now placing more pressure on the results of his mission as they wished to have this new threat completely stamped out before it was made public.

They seemed to be more worried about a possible PR fiasco rather than what those behind these creatures represented.

But he did not share their priorities after what he had discovered…

Unethical experiments and scenes of mass murder was not something Nihlus was unaccustomed to due to his line of work, but he saw an underlying pattern of desperation and nefarious planning that permeated the area of operation for this new player in the galactic stage as they had most certainly a bigger agenda if they were able to pool such resources for what was only a test site.

Nihlus knew of this since he had traced back Shepard's steps in order to see if the newly anointed Spectre had missed something in his mission to stop the geth and their incursions into the traverse.

The short answer was no. But the long answer, when one looked deep into the details, left Nihlus far more worried and partially thankful that the council had assigned him this task rather than allowing Shepard to be directly involved.

This was a lure.

The parallels between the first site of encounter and the Commander's past was a clear recognition by this unknown organization that they were directly invested in him.

The second site spoke of a challenge…

The Commander and his vessel had missed the attack on the pirates by a window of time so small that there was now way in which this wasn't directly related.

It was a show of strength to let the human know that this organization was willing to go to any extremes in order to achieve what they wanted.

Even if it meant getting rid of their own.

Just like Saren had tried…

…

"No spirit will forgive you for what you did, Arterius" Nihlus declared this curse into his lonely cockpit as he maneuvered his vessel to finally leave the system after he had no further evidence of this rogue human organization in this remote world.

Only the earliest steps of the forensic investigation had been done by the time that Nihlus had arrived, done his own investigation and left each world but he was bewildered by the fact that he seemed to be incapable of pinpointing who or what the members of this organization were.

Those scientists…

Even the unknown symbol.

There still was no conclusive evidence to assign an identity to the dispatched personal of the destroyed complex but Nihlus was certain that if this was some sort of underground organization then they would have taken care to cover their tracks fairly well and that meant erasing all information of their agents from any census or database they were previously a part off.

"Still at a dead end" Nihlus uttered in contemplation as his vessel made the jump towards this cluster's star system that held the long distance mass relay.

He was still missing pieces of the puzzle and he had run out of places to look for more clues.

There wasn't much any turian could do in his current position.

But he was a Spectre.

He could reach for the most unorthodox sources of either information or evidence if that was to be expected of him.

So he would reach for the one person in this galaxy that would most certainly have what he needed to discover the truth.

Lucky for him, one of his agents was on the citadel at this moment.

Nihlus sighed as he charted a course for the nearest mass relay and then towards the citadel.

"It would seem that I must go back home" he uttered with a bitter grin as he dreaded the prospect of meeting this particular agent once again.

Alliance's office complex - Kithoi ward, Citadel

Rear Admiral Kahoku

It was done.

Rear Admiral Kahoku allowed his exhausted mind to rest for a moment as he sent out one final message.

The final notice of his people's passing and the orders for honors to be delivered to their next of kin.

A task that looked so mundane but was emotionally charged by both his reluctance to accept the facts of what had occurred and the fury that still coursed on his heart at what had happened.

The eleventh and final message that he had drafted for those brave men and women that deserved no less than his full respect and a promise to bring them justice.

Yes… justice.

This would seem as something beyond the discipline of an Admiral and be reserved for someone like their captain or commander.

This being solely because they would be able to far more easily deal the kind of justice that the Admiral would soon be clamoring for.

This was because these leaders had the responsibility of making sure that the rank and file were to live and the whole success of a mission was dependent upon them as they were given a certain set of instructions to follow… THEIR responsibility.

But not. This wasn't what Admiral Kahoku had seen in this whole mess.

He saw it as his fault.

Be it a hundred factors beyond his control like faulty intel or miscommunication of his orders it wouldn't change a single thing of what had happened.

Kahoku had failed them.

He sighed with regret and stood from his chair as this last task officially ended all duties he had to attend for the day and began to walk out of the small office that had been lent to him.

The logistic company that now made use of this small office was being commanded by one Commander Salvador… a former subordinate of his when Kahoku was still the captain of the now decommissioned cruiser SSV Geneva.

He had approached Salvador to ask for a private office within his company in order to deal with some 'pressing matters' under the excuse that his people were closer to him than his own scout flotilla at the moment and he wished to save up on the expenses and time that such a task would require.

Be it their shared history or his rank outright, Salvador had no real reason to refuse the Admiral and complied with the request without much problem.

Kahoku felt bad about deceiving his friend.

Just as he thought about this, a reflex of his made it so his hand clutched a small data disk as he feared that his ruse might be discovered.

He walked towards the exit with his hands on his back and nodded as any and all members of this company stopped in their tracks and saluted their senior officer while Kahoku dismissed their salute with nothing but a forced smile and a nod.

This would certainly be seen as odd by most alliance personnel but he had too much on his mind to give this a second thought and even his ingrained instinct to follow military protocol was overridden by his current focus.

What would basically amount to high treason.

Kahoku had sent out all those letters as an excuse for his presence within the office of Salvador's company as he had used a data miner to extract some low degree classified documents for an… exchange he had agreed to earlier that day.

He had made contact with an information broker through an intermediary with the purpose of finding any lead that would direct him towards those who were responsible for the death of his men.

After all, what was he to do?

Not the alliance nor the council had given any care about the fate of his people while saying something along the lines of 'we will look into it'.

Kahoku scoffed at this memory and boarded the cab that would be taking him to the presidium's commercial district to meet with the trader for what was his sole wear and one of the most dangerous weapons in this day and age…

The truth.

He was to meet with this expert as he had been flagged as a really proficient information broker by the Alliance's internal security office while high ranking officers had been discouraged from looking out for his services in any capacity.

He was too much of a risk, they had declared.

The report pointed to him being an independent contractor as he seemed to not have regular clientele save for the odd merchant or banker.

Kahoku had approached this individual with the intention of networking his way to another independent broker who would give him the information related to the butchering of his people as he hoped that these people would be cautious enough to not alert the Alliance to what he was doing.

And another reason as to why he had approached this independent broker was to avoid the guise of the only person who he would never dare to trade information with…

For the outcome of that would be far worse

*Sigh*

"Ran out of luck years ago now… what's a leap into peril for my men?" the rear admiral whispered this to himself as if trying to talk himself out of doing something as stupid as disclosing classified information of the alliance to a third party.

But he was ready for what was to come.

As the cab landed and the hatch opened in order for him to disembark from the vehicle he cursed the council for being unable to tell him anything as to why his marines had been dispatched without him being informed and the Alliance not being notified.

In all honesty he still found it strange that the order to dispatch a group of soldiers to investigate an unremarkable patch of ground had been sent from the citadel and had been done with outdated codes of all things.

The Alliance had gotten wind of this event prior to Shepard's discovery and had sent Kahoku to inquire about this with the council but was stonewalled by a clerk who seemed to find any excuse to not process his petition for an audience with any of the councilors or executor Pallin.

Then Shepard revealed the truth of the matter and the clerk disappeared into the night with any lead that might have been extracted from him.

So he had been forced to come here.

"Hmm…" Kahoku grunted before he double checked the address on his omni-tool and nodded as he confirmed his arrival to the right place "Let's see if this Barla Von has what it takes to get me some answers".

It was either that or this would end up being a huge waste of time.

Let's pray that it was the former.

Lacking any sort of greeter or adjutant to bar his way or signal for him to pass, the Admiral reached for the control of the door but was surprised by said door opening without him even gracing the button.

He was even more surprised by the sight that welcomed him as he entered.

"Ah! Admiral Kahoku, what fortunate timing" began the sole Volus in the room who he guessed must be Barla Von "Would you be willing to aid me at this particular moment, hmm?' Continued the volus as he stood halfway to the door from his desk while a gun was being pointed at his head.

A turian seemed to be interested in barring the Admiral from his objective.

At a moment's notice, Kahoku whipped out his sidearm and faced the assailant who had pinned Barla Von in place while glaring at the human as he entered.

It only took a moment for Kahoku to register that the turian looked as confused as he was and then was even more confused when his opposite began to smirk as he took a step away from the volus.

"Hmm… So this was what you had in mind, Barla?" The turian began as he analyzed the human another step back away from his supposed prisoner "I have to admit that you got the better of me by making me mad, but is this your idea of a bad joke by any chance?" The turian continued as he holstered the pistol he had been pointing at the volus with as his gaze now shifted only towards the human.

But that last question didn't seem directed to Kahoku for some reason.

"..." the Admiral continued to stare at the turian who seemed far more relaxed than threatened by the human even as he was at Kahoku's mercy.

The Admiral began to lower his gun slowly and saw immediately that there was more to this bizarre situation than a simple hostage situation.

"Heh… guess this didn't go as I had expected" Barla said as he began to dust off his suit.

"Oh… and how was that supposed to go?" The turian asked as he crossed his arms as he focused once more upon the volus who began to slowly retreat towards the direction of the door.

But in his way stood a man who was equally confused as he was worried of what these two aliens were in the middle of before he arrived.

"Um, well…" Barla began as he rubbed the back of his suit "In truth I wished to see what the both of you would do once you met each other" this comment only managed to add to the confusion of both individuals.

Why would Barla want for both of them to be here?

Who even is this turian?

"What's your game, Barla?" The turian asked with more anger as he threatened the volus once more.

"Ahh… not one of my own design, esteemed clients" Barla began to speak once again with this cryptic statement as he stood in place while shifting between looking at both individuals "The one person I work for became more interested in both your profile…" motioning towards the turian "And your situation" now motioning towards Kahoku "In equal manner after some recent events here on the citadel".

Wait. Who he worked for?

Wasn't he… oh no.

And what occurred here… there was only one clear answer.

"Shepard" said both Kahoku and the turian at the same time while the latter seemed to have a strange sense of familiarity with said person.

It was the turian who had said the name at the same time that caught him off guard.

And the turian just smirked.

"So this all comes down to Shepard once again…" the unknown individual began as he paced in front of the volus "If the council had not given me this task then I would have most likely never seen him again" the turian then reclined against the wall as he looked directly at the volus "So what's got your employer riled up with him… what does the shadow broker want?".

…

Oh no.

Kahoku immediately aimed his gun once more.

Not towards the turian who had been apparently coerced into tricking the Admiral.

He instead aimed it directly at the volus.

"You little… You lied to me!" Kahoku let out in anger as he had been led astray as to the true nature of this informant.

Even if his species had only been a part of the greater galactic community for a short period, the human race had been made aware of some of the galaxy's inner workings.

And they had been taught many of the rules that had kept the galaxy spinning as it had done for the last couple of millennia.

But there was one rule that had been taken to heart both by the Alliance and some of the best it's ranks once held before they were demoted on charges of high treason.

Make no deal with the shadow broker.

"So you worked for him all along you… YOU BASTARD!" Kahoku exploded with more anger as he had walked towards the volus and began to tower over him.

"Ah…" Barla recoiled in fear as he realized that the human wasn't as amicable as the other person in the room to work any sort of deal with the shadow broker "I assumed that my background would have been thoroughly researched before coming here. No other informant of my caliber is present within the presidium after all".

…

No he… had not.

Kahoku had been blinded by anger to such an extent that he had not even rationalized his own actions so far.

What was he even doing?

His men deserved justice… but this?

"Guess I should have looked deeper into you and who dealt with you" Kahoku holstered his weapon and spat on the ground out of pure spite "You can forget our deal, Barla".

Kahoku turned to leave the office but stopped in his step as he was faced by the turian who now bared his way.

How had he gotten behind him… and when had he left his spot?

"I think you might want to remain a moment to listen to our… friend, Admiral Kahoku" he said as he placed a hand on his shoulder and effortlessly turned him around.

"Wh- how did you…" Kahoku was interrupted by the volus who began to cough.

"Thank you" Barla said as he began to move back towards his desk "You might want to move that weapon away from the Admiral's back… Spectre Nihlus".

A Spectre… working with an agent of the shadow broker.

"If you say so" replied Nihlus in a cold tone as he holstered a weapon that Kahoku did not even know was there.

"As I was saying" began Barla as he took his rightful seat and was lifted to look at the human and turian at the same time "My employer wished to strike a deal that may interest you both".

"Can you now?" Nihlus began as he moved to the Admiral's side "Might it be related with the good Admiral's men and my task perhaps?".

"Yes" replied the volus flatly and without any humor "You may say that the person responsible is no friend to the shadow broker. An enemy as a matter of fact" barla then reclined forward and weaved his hands together "Tell me… have you ever heard of the Cerberus manifesto?".

Afterword.

I'm back m8s.

Proper explanation in the next chapter.