Reporting to the council was supposed to be Nihlus' gig, but he was still in the medbay, strapped to the bed. So here she was, with the captain, getting an accelerated course on consular diplomacy, also known as try not to tell the three most powerful people in the galaxy to go f-
"So Benezia's daughter incapacitated Nihlus," Sparatus said, his subvocals sharp.
"The vision from the beacon did," Shepard replied. "He was speaking prothean, which would be quite a feat for Liara to accomplish."
"How can you know it was prothean?" Sparatus snapped. "Your prothean expert tell you?"
You damn-
"Councilor," Anderson interrupted. "Nihlus is a Spectre. He made his own decision to attempt the meld with doctor T'soni."
"That is correct, Captain," Tevos said. "But what the commander is now proposing is to proceed without his consent."
"Shiala claims the Cipher can help Nihlus with the beacon's vision," Shepard said. "He did the same thing with Saren."
"She was working for Saren," Sparatus snapped again. The turian was more than a little on edge, and the topic of Saren seemed to push him even harder against it. "And if your tale of 'indoctrination' is true," he added, making the air quotes, "then she won't be able to help even if she wanted to!"
"I have interrogated her, the Thorian seems to have gotten rid of that," Shepard said.
"You can't be sure!"
"We can't be sure about shit in this mission!" Shepard retorted.
"Enough," Tevos said, raising her voice, yet without sounding forceful. "The risk is too great to allow it, commander. Report to the Citadel, and bring both Nihlus and the prisoner to us."
"And then?" Shepard said, her voice laced with suspicion.
"Too early to tell," Valern, the salarian councillor, said. He had been quiet most of the time, just following the conversation it seemed. "A shame the Thorian was destroyed. Much could have been learned from it, process of mind-control included. We will acquire Exogeni's research data and conduct our own analyses."
"Of course the Thorian was destroyed," Sparatus said. "We all know to what lengths Shepard will go to protect a human colony, regardless of the mission."
"I'm an overachiever," Shepard replied, the lightness of her voice not fooling anyone in the room, or on the other end of the FTL transmission. "I saved the colony, completed the mission, and looked damn good while doing it too."
Sparatus growled, but Tevos jumped into the convo. "Captain Anderson, we expect your arrival as soon as you're able."
"We may need a day or two," Anderson said, getting the attention of the entire council. "Our medbay is tasked to capacity with our own wounded, we're having to rely on the colony's facilities. A day or two for the least serious injuries to recover will let us move all aboard and depart."
Shepard had half-expected the council to tell Anderson to shove it and go anyway, leaving the wounded behind, but to her surprise they didn't. Tevos simply nodded.
"Very well Captain. I wish your team a speedy recovery."
With that, the connection cut, and Shepard could finally take a breath. If being a Spectre meant reporting to those three, she was starting to have second thoughts about the whole damn thing. Anderson clearly caught wind of her thoughts.
"Shepard, you better start brushing up your diplomacy. If you're going to be a Spectre, you can't just do as you damn well please."
"I thought that was the point of being a Spectre?" she asked, blinking innocently.
Anderson gave her a flat look. "You know damn well what I mean," he said, and pointed at the console. "The Council is in charge of this mission. They put Nihlus on it, and now they're telling you to get him back."
"They don't believe us! They'll put him in a hospital, they'll put Shiala under C-sec, and-"
"And we'll continue the damn mission if that's what we need to do!" Anderson said, interrupting Shepard. "And I hate to say it, but Sparatus is right. You risked the mission repeatedly, you put your team in danger to rescue civilians, all without even securing the primary objective first."
"But sir! The civilians-"
"I don't want to hear it," Anderson interrupted. "It's not what you did, it's how you did it."
"I can't just leave people behind like that," Shepard protested.
"This is not Akuze!" Anderson snapped.
The retort was so sharp, and so unexpected, that it hit Shepard like a slap. She looked at Anderson, opened, her mouth, but not a single sound came out.
"We've got a rogue Spectre, trying to bring back the ships that destroyed the protheans. The future of the entire damn galaxy may depend on us stopping him. Most likely, some of us won't make it to the other side. It sucks, but that's what it is. We chose you because we thought you could handle this kind of pressure. Well, can you?"
"Of course I can!" she replied without a second thought.
"Then damn well act like it! Is there anyone on your team who doesn't know the risks? Or isn't willing to take them?" When Shepard didn't answer, Anderson gave her a curt nod. "There's my answer then." He took a deep breath, his demeanour relaxing minutely. "Dammit Elizabeth, you're a damn good leader. I need you to get your head in the game, because if I have to be the one to lead this thing neither of us will like how that'll end."
"Sir?" Shepard said, somewhat confused.
"It doesn't matter," he said, shaking his head. He then looked at Shepard straight in the eye. "Pull it together Elizabeth. We have shit to do."
"Yes sir," Shepard replied, her voice clipped.
Anderson nodded and left the comms room, leaving Shepard alone. It had been a while since she had gotten a dressing down like that. Worse still, from Anderson. And even worse still, she knew he was right. She walked to one of the chairs and sat down, putting her head in her hands. Yeah, he was right. She had been scatterbrained and focusing too much on the wrong things. She started going through the missions in her head.
Eden Prime, the Armstrong cluster, Therum... No, she hadn't been leading the team as she should have. She wanted to think it was Eden Prime, all the lives lost there, but she knew she had done all she could back then – while keeping to the mission at hand. And a good thing she had, too, because what little they had salvaged from that disaster had let them chase after Saren. No, she had gone off the rails after Therum.
Maybe she was just being a petulant child for not getting her way.
Her omni-tool chimed with an incoming message, and her face made a grimace between surprised, happy, and annoyed.
With a sigh, she stood up and made for the FTL console. She dialled the address, and after a few seconds, she was greeted with the familiar look of the older version of herself. Same bony facial structure, same blonde hair – with a splash of white for good measure.
"Hi mom," Shepard said, putting a long suffering smile on.
Despite the fact that the Citadel did not have a proper day-night cycle, most people followed the standard twenty-four hour clock established by the asari. Coincidence or not, she couldn't say. Thessia was on a cycle slightly longer than that of Earth, while Sur'kesh was on a shorter one. As a result, the two races that first started the Council, salarians and asari, had taken the middle when the the government had been established, and the standard day was twenty-four hours long.
And with a familiar cycle, there were familiar patterns in what all sentients did. Meal hours, sleep, and of course, outdoors activities. Early the morning and late afternoon were the times when one could find runners out on the walkways, and her target was one of them.
Miranda Lawson settled at a steady pace, her perfect hair held in a ponytail as she paced along. She had done three laps already, a smaller circuit that she knew would place her in the path of her target. She didn't think he was a particularly valuable target, and certainly not one that needed her to be there personally, but the Illusive Man wanted to have a chat with him.
She always knew when the Illusive Man was holding something back, but it was of little concern. He probably had his reasons, and she would find out once she talked to-
There he was. He wasn't exactly wearing athletic clothes – unlike Miranda, who had just the perfect outfit to accentuate her figure and draw looks as she passed – and it was always the same one. Jeans and a t-shirt. Black hair, nose straight and a bit wide at the end, brown eyes, wide jaw, and a bad shave to boot. She played it casual, concentrating on her cadence. Then, a glance, like she was just taking the views. A second one when they made eye contact. And a tiny smile as she passed.
He did a double take as she did. She let the distance increase slightly, counted to ten, and then looked back, her smile just a little wider.
Yep, he had turned to look at her, and quickly looked away when they made eye contact again. Easy, easy, easy. He never stood a chance. With a deep breath, she sped up, turning away from him. A couple of days to establish some familiarity, some small talk after that, she'd have a feel for him before he even knew what happened.
It was tempting to simply approach him directly, she was sure she could handle him, but the extremely limited intel they had on him created uncertainty. She hated uncertainty; she was good at overcoming unknown obstacles, but that didn't mean she liked doing it. For what they knew, he was skittish, and not very approachable. He had been aboard the Normandy for about two weeks, then left in a very swift fashion, with almost nothing in the way of details. For what she had heard from their asset inside the Normandy, he had had a very vocal disagreement with Shepard after going off-script during a mission.
Potentially unstable. Well, given the way he had looked at her, she wasn't going to have a problem. He didn't look like he got much attention from the opposite sex on the regular.
Fuckity fucking fuck!
That was fucking Miranda. As in Cerberus cheerleader ice queen bitch who hadn't been mellowed by Shepard, I'll kill you in six different ways and like it, Miranda fucking Lawson.
I looked at her go, and she turned to give me another look, fucking creepy smile on her face. I turned away and tried not to take off at full speed, just managing to keep the sudden panic in place. Fucking hell panic again. Again! Three minutes of hell, dammit.
Not only it was Miranda, it was pretty clear she had made me and I was a mark. Or maybe I'm just fucking paranoid, as usual, but what the hell would she be looking at me like that for, after coincidentally coming across me as I passed? Shit on toast!
As soon as I turned the corner I took off at full speed in a different direction, running between buildings and to the back alleys. Panic attacks are good for one thing: Adrenalin. I was legging it like the Citadel was on fire. I ran until I found the entrance to the sewers I was after, and opened the trap door to go down. No filters or hazmat, the smell I thought I was used to hit me like a punch to the guts, but I powered through, and rushed down the corridor towards the main entrance. Going by the smell, something had broken again, but I didn't have the blueprints or Mika with me. Besides, I was not thinking about fixing anything as I was.
I burst through the door to the main station and sealed it behind me, coughing and spluttering as I did, and by some miracle managing to keep my dinner down. To my surprise, Mika was there. And to her surprise, I burst through like I was fleeing from the freaking geth armada.
"Kyaaaa!" she yelled, jumping to her feet and falling back on her bum. "Ancestors! What happened? What's after you? Where- Why- Who-"
"Mika!" I snapped, making her do a little jump in place but stopping the sudden tirade. "Has anyone been here? Looking for me? Humans?"
"N-No! Well, not really, there was that guy that came this morning but he lasted less than an hour, just like I said he- What's wrong Roy?"
I gave the biggest huff of relief ever, and fell back on the bench. Well, the one I have when we found Tali was probably bigger. And I probably gave a couple others during the missions, but whatever. I was relieved.
"I think someone's after me," I replied, rubbing my face with my hands. "Should've guessed."
"Who?"
"Cerb- Nah, you're better off not knowing," I replied.
Hell, Cerberus was there, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few others were interested. Former member of the Normandy who'd gotten the evidence on Saren, and then told him – in not so many words – that he knew about the reapers? Yeah. The surprising thing was that I hadn't been shot dead yet. I made a mental note to go back to wearing my kinetic barrier at all times. And less running. Not that it was particularly pleasant to run while on jeans, but that was all the clothes I had, and I was clearly in need of upping my fitness.
I really needed to get a freaking omni-tool. I could use the underground tunnels once I wasn't at risk of getting lost forever.
Freaking hell, screw all that. I had to get out of the fucking Citadel. Only I couldn't.
"Why are you here anyway?" I said, realizing that Mika had been getting ready to go back in. "I thought your shift was done."
"Well, there's been a breakage, so..."
"What the hell? Are you on call too? You need to take a break sometime."
"I have breaks," she said, her demeanour evasive. "Anyway, I better go."
"Okay, let me go get changed and-"
"It's fine, it's my job!" she said, and gave me a more relaxed look. "And you probably want to wash that," she added, pointing at my clothes. "I can smell it through the filters."
"You probably need new filters," I said, chuckling.
"I know, I know."
"Liz? You know I'm your mother, and that I love you very much."
Shepard looked at the holoprojection of her mother and chuckled. Hannah Shepard's voice, in all the years Shepard had known her, had always had a backbone of finely crafted steel. Even when she was giving her the best, most motherly advice, it came as the words of a superior officer she would never, ever outrank in her life.
"But?" Shepard said.
"But Anderson is right. You're the XO, not the den mother of the ship. You have to lead them, they have to hear your voice right after they hear Anderson's."
"That's not what you do."
It was a weak response, and Hannah looked like she was waiting for it. "That's because I am your mother. You were never any good at this stuff anyway, you just need to yell more."
"You don't yell," Shepard said.
"That's because I am your mother," Hannah insisted. "You haven't lost respect for Anderson because he gave you a dressing down, have you?"
Shepard chuckled and shook her head. "I know, I know. You're right." She sighed. "As always."
"Well, I am your mother." Hannah said a third time, her chuckle airy and light. It was short lived, as her voice steeled itself up once more. "As far as Roy's concerned, if you feel you need to apologize for something, then do so, but don't apologize for being the commanding officer of the ground team. He needs to get his head screwed on straight, same as you, and you can't do that for him."
"Yeah, yeah."
"So here are your orders," Hannah said, the voice of command aboard a Systems Alliance dreadnought. "First, you're going to stop worrying about everyone's feelings when you're giving orders, and concentrate on getting the damn mission done."
"Yes sir," Shepard replied.
"Second, you're going to make sure everyone knows you're in charge, and that they can come to you with whatever problem they have, but you expect them to be professional."
"Right."
"Third, you're going to find a quiet corner, a bottle of something nice, and get that asari friend of yours and yourself some time alone. You really need to get laid, girl."
"What?!" Shepard shouted.
"And fourth, you two are going to start choosing names after that. Your dad and I would be chuffed to have some little blue granddaughters running around."
"Okay, I'm hanging up now..."
"Sarah and Nadia are my favourites, but I leave that to your discretion. That's an ord-"
"Bye mom!" Shepard hurriedly shouted before cutting the transmission.
She sighed deeply and sat down, laughing despite herself. Goodness, she didn't know who was worse. Her dad laughed and made jokes, and never found a subject that was off-limits for his humour. Her mother was nearly as bad, only she delivered all her jokes with the same deadpan military voice she used to send her marines to kick the asses of whoever had crossed her that week.
Regardless, maybe that's what she needed to hear. But first, she was about to do something she probably wasn't supposed to. She hit the stairs, the elevator, and made her way to the hold, where the two small cells were located aboard the Normandy. Only one of them was occupied.
Shiala was sitting on the ground, cross legged and with her eyes closed. Meditating, or sleeping. It was the least luxurious accommodation of the ship, probably even worse than the sleeping pods.
"Shepard," Shiala said, not opening her eyes.
"Shiala," Shepard replied, leaning back on the bulkhead and crossing her arms. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. I can still... feel the thoughts of the reaper. Trying to twist my mind. But whatever the Thorian did, it is keeping it at bay. For now. I fear it may wear off in time, now that the Thorian has passed." She finally opened her eyes, and looked at Shepard with a certain sadness in her eyes. "Its passing is a great loss, it was ancient beyond our understanding. So much knowledge, gone forever."
"You feel sorry for it? After all it did?" Shepard said.
"Would you feel anger at the rain for falling on you? It was not a pleasant experience, to say the least, but how can I not mourn that which was lost?"
Shepard shook her head. She couldn't say she felt the same, given what it had done to the colony, but there was plenty of blame to put on Exogeni too.
"What can I do for you, commander?" Shiala said.
"I'm contemplating doing something that goes against my orders, but I need more information."
"You still doubt whether you can trust me," Shiala said.
"It's not about me. The Cipher, you said it can help with the vision from the beacon."
"I could give it to you, yes."
"I'm not the one who got hit by the beacon," Shepard said.
Shiala didn't respond, she just sat up a little bit straighter and gave Shepard a penetrating look. That had to be new information for the asari.
"Nihlus," Shiala finally said.
"And Bob's your uncle," Shepard replied.
"I have not seen him since you freed me, how... how bad is it?"
"Liara melded with him, and as soon as she touched the beacon's information... Well, he basically lost it. He didn't really recognize us, and started speaking prothean."
"What of Liara? Is she okay?" Shiala said, her concern about the young asari overriding all other thought.
"She is fine. She's a tough cookie, that one."
"Yes, yes she is," Shiala said, relief washing over her. "She inherited her mother's prowess with biotics. And her second mother's determination."
"Second mother? Who was that?"
Shiala only smiled mysteriously. "I am not at liberty to say. Would it be... possible for me to speak with Liara?"
"Not just yet," Shepard replied, her voice turning to steel.
"I see," Shiala said, her smile intensifying. "It is good to see that she has found someone who cares deeply about her."
Shepard took a moment to respond. In reality, she had no interest in continuing that conversation.
"Tell me about Liara," Shepard finally said.
"Would you not rather ask her?" Shiala replied.
"I have," Shepard said. "But I want to hear it from you."
"To test my trustworthiness," Shiala replied. She nodded. "Go ahead, Commander. Ask away."
Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was not a happy man. He had been given very specific orders, but it was clear he wasn't going to be able to follow them. And he knew Shepard was not going to be happy about it.
He was right.
"We can't just abandon her!" Shepard said.
"Commander, I don't think we have a choice," Alenko replied. "It's just..."
He gestured with his hands, top to bottom in a kind of squishing gesture. There really was no choice, there was nothing they could do.
"Are you sure? We could press it down and squeeze through, we should be able to make it."
"The specs are clear, commander. We need at least a three meter clearance between the vehicle and the top of the Normandy's bay."
"We can squeeze the laser down," Shepard insisted.
"Shepard," Tali pleaded. "If you do that there will be no room at the back. And you'd need a Volus to man the turret."
"Great!" Shepard replied. "I'll go get some recruitment brochures translated."
"Shepard!" Alenko protested. He still wasn't sure whether she was serious or not. "Even if you do that, it won't give us clearance. The GARDIAN laser is just too big."
"Noooooo," Shepard protested, her over-the-top protest accompanied by a comical gesture of her trying to hug the Mako. It didn't last long, as the commander couldn't hold the laughter back anymore.
Alenko found himself breathing deeply in relief.
Thank the maker she's just kidding.
"I'm truly sorry Shepard," Alenko said. "Do you... do you need a minute?"
Tali sniggered at the large amounts of fake concern Alenko had injected in his voice. She wasn't the only one, the few people milling about the garage had reacted in a similar way, with looks of amusement being sent their way.
"Well, I'm not," Tali said. "That thing's a deathtrap. I'm just surprised it didn't blow us up in the first place."
"But you designed it!" Shepard protested. She turned again to the Mako. "There, there, don't listen to her, Athena. Mommy didn't mean it."
Oh crap.
"Mommy?" Tali said, her voice so surprised it was Alenko's turn to laugh. "I'm a mommy!"
"Does that make Garrus the daddy?" Alenko said, still laughing. "I'll go give him the news."
"Well," Shepard said, speaking in a loud whisper at the vehicle. It was still sporting all the hastily added modifications, GARDIAN laser and recycled geth parts included. "I'm very proud of you."
"Since when does Shepard name her things anyway?" Tali said in a low voice.
"Very rarely," Alenko replied, sharing the whisper. "Don't joke about it, she can get very attached."
Tali gave Alenko a look, and the lieutenant nodded. As far as he knew, Shepard had only ever named two of her guns. And the only one she knew the name of was Vicky, the assault rifle she escaped Akuze with. She still had it in her locker, even though it was hopelessly outdated. Alenko had offered more than once to upgrade it; it would be easy, as several of the old Lancer parts were completely exchangeable with more modern ones. She always declined.
Now Athena joined that particular list. And for one, Alenko wasn't sad to be rid of it. The thing looked as unstable as the commander on her bad days, and he didn't want them in close proximity for too long. The Universe might implode or something.
"So, problem solved?" Anderson said, sitting down at his desk and looking at Shepard.
"No, we're still short a Mako," Shepard replied. "Athena is not really fit for purpose."
Anderson raised his eyebrows slightly. "Athena?"
"We've grown attached," Shepard replied, smiling. "So..." she prompted, looking at Anderson.
"You want to disobey a direct order from the Council," he said.
"That's why I brought it to you first," Shepard replied. "Captain, you know damn well we could take off right now. Felawa and Wrex can get by without the medbay. Well, I'd rather keep Wrex there until we can get him a new armor, but you know what I mean. And you gave me a couple of days nonetheless."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Anderson replied, and his face didn't give anything away. "You sure we can trust her?"
"Sure? No. But Liara seems to trust her. And I have the impression she's on the level with us."
"But...?"
"But I'm not sure if it'll last. For what she says, it's like a contest between the reaper and the Thorian up here," Shepard said, and tapped the side of her head. "We may not have much time."
"Are you sure that's the reason?" Anderson said.
"Yes."
For a while neither of them said anything. Anderson sat on his chair, arms crossed and looking at a spot far above his head. Shepard stayed up at parade rest, waiting for the captain to make up his mind.
"You realize this could screw everything up in a major way," Anderson finally said.
"Udina can deal with the political shitstorm," Shepard replied, making Anderson chuckle.
"He might, but he'll probably just get a kick in the ass. Swiftly followed by you and me." He took a deep breath and looked at Shepard square in the eye. "Very well. Bring Shiala up. And have Liara there, too."
"I'm... not sure she'd be ready for that. But," she added hastily as Anderson's eyes narrowed, "she'll be there."
"Good."
Ten minutes later they had assembled at the Medbay. Nihlus was conscious again, and growling at them while tied up to his bed. Shiala stood next to him, her hands bound together at the wrists. On the next bed, Liara was looking at the proceedings, sitting up with her legs hiding under a blanket. Chakwas had called it a work in progress. She still couldn't move her legs, and couldn't feel a thing either.
The other occupants of the medbay – Williams and Felawa – were in their own cots, under isolation. Williams, specially, had to be isolated to avoid infection. The damage to her skin had been extensive, and so had it been to her muscle. The undersuit had melted into her flesh, necessitating several hours of surgery, and even now she was swathed in medi-gel bandages and on a regrowth sheet. She'd be out for a while. Felawa himself was not as well as Shepard had hoped, the wound to his arm had nearly cost him the extremity, and he had it completely immobilized as the medi-gel treatment did its work. Nerve damage would be the slowest to repair, it was expected he wouldn't have use of his arm for nearly three weeks. As things stood, Shepard was thinking about leaving him at the Citadel while he recovered. She still wasn't sure about Williams.
"This is going to be difficult," Shiala said. "Melding with an... unwilling companion, is not something to be taken lightly."
"You can ask him," Shepard offered. When Shiala turned to look at her, she shrugged. "You have the Cipher, shouldn't you be able to speak prothean?"
"It does not work like that. I have no reference, no prothean knowledge. I'd have to acquire a vision directly from a beacon, and they are in very short supply as you can imagine."
"Right..."
"Nonetheless, I shall try."
She turned to Nihlus, and reached with her hands to his head. Nihlus snarled, but it looked like Shiala knew how to handle unruly turians, because she deftly avoided his attempt at biting her, grabbing the back of his neck. Her eyes turned dark.
"Polum Fa'al," Liara said softly. "Embrace eternity, in prothean," she added.
Shiala smiled, and repeated the words. Both her and Nihlus went still, and Shepard gave Liara a look. The asari looked back, gave a helpless little shrug, and turned to the Spectre and the asari again. Lines of worry had formed on her face, and she was following the meld with big, unblinking eyes.
Time stretched on, neither Shiala nor Nihlus saying anything, or moving at all. It became rather uncomfortable to watch, not really knowing what to expect.
Then, the meld was finally done. Like she had been bitten, Shiala released Nihlus and stumbled back, falling down on her third step.
"Shiala!" Liara called.
She tried to stand, forgetting or uncaring about the fact that her legs were useless, and would have fallen if Shepard hadn't rushed to her side. Anderson, in the meantime, went for Shiala, while Chakwas made a beeline for Nihlus. The Turian wasn't moving, and Shiala was only standing with extreme difficulty.
"The... the images..." Shiala mumbled. "So intense..."
"Shiala," Liara called again.
"I am unharmed, Little Wing," Shiala said. Anderson helped her to a chair, and she just plopped down on it with a less than graceful air.
Shepard gave Liara's shoulder a little squeeze, and a look that made a shiver run up the asari's spine. With that, she went to check on Nihlus. Chakwas was running a scanner over his head, and not saying a word.
"Nihlus?" Shepard said.
The turian had his eyes open, and was looking straight at the ceiling, not twitching or moving a muscle. After a few seconds, he blinked, his eyes narrowing.
"Did it work?" Liara said.
"I don't know..." Shiala muttered. "I tried, but it was like melding with someone across an ocean."
"Nihlus!" Shepard insisted, giving the turian a light slap.
"Commander!" Chakwas snapped, her voice firm.
"He's a Spectre, he's a tough guy, and... um..." Shepard's protest withered under the intense gaze of the doctor. "Sorry," she finished, her voice low.
It didn't seem to have an immediate effect on the turian, but slowly, his eyes started to come alive. He looked around, as if taking his surroundings in.
"Spectre? I'm doctor Karin Chakwas, do you remember me?"
He didn't answer at first. Instead, he turned to Shepard, and looked at her for a long time.
"Shepard?" he finally said.
"That's me," she replied, the tension of her voice disappearing in just two words. "Welcome back big guy, you had me worried."
His mandibles fluttered, and his mouth opened slightly. A big turian smile if he had ever seen one.
"Did the doctor punch me, or did I dream that?" Nihlus said.
"Oh she punched you all right," Shepard said, chuckling lightly.
She put her hand in his shoulder and gave him a firm shake, and Nihlus almost did the same, only he was stopped short by the restraints around his wrists. He looked down in surprise, then up and at the two women looming over him.
"Really? That's a bit much, even for me," he said.
"I'm not sure about that," Shepard replied, her voice low and purring as she gave Nihlus a look. She heard a splutter behind her, and turned to see Liara turning purple in embarrassment, coughing loudly.
"Commander, would you be so kind as to stop corrupting the minds of the innocent?" Shiala said, her deadpan delivery making Liara even more embarrassed.
There were a few chuckles, but Shepard decided to put Liara out of her misery. Chakwas was still scanning Nihlus, her eyes fixed on the monitor.
"So, what do you remember?" Shepard said, slowly undoing the restraints on the turian.
"Not a lot," he replied. He raised his arm, flexing it slowly and rotating his shoulder. "I remember we were sitting down for the meld, then... It all went weird. All I could feel was fear, with shadows all around me."
"Shadows?"
"That's all I could see. Shadows. Dark shapes. Blue lightning. Attacking me..." He closed his eyes and pressed on her eyes with his free hand, while Shepard freed the other. "It was weird. Raw emotion."
"Sounds like a hell of a shore leave. I've only woken up all tied up twice, though," Shepard said, making Nihlus chuckle.
"Well, brain scans are stabilizing," Chakwas said. "Seems like it worked."
"What did you do exactly?" Nihlus said.
Shepard made a big smile. She stood up, and with an excess of pomp, gestured at Shiala. "Nihlus, meet Shiala, former follower of Matriarch Benezia. Shiala, Nihlus. Badass Spectre and all around tough guy."
Nihlus sat up and looked at Shiala, the latter making a small bow to him from where she was sitting. He nodded in response, absently, with his mouth hanging open. He then looked around, saw Liara on her own bed, the closed cots on the other side, and turned to Shepard.
"What in the Spirits' name did I miss?" he said.
Sunday.
At last.
It had been one week. One week doing the shittiest job on the Citadel, but it was finally payday, and I was fucking stocked. I had spent the rest of the week completely underground, not even coming out after my shifts were done. Having seen Miranda had spooked me all right, but it looked like she wasn't coming down. Either she didn't know about the keeper tunnels, or she didn't care to ruin her hairdo with the shitty air down the sewers. I assumed she knew where I worked, of course, but she hadn't gotten her nose in my business at all.
I had taken to always carry my pistol and shield with me, even when wearing the hazmat. Damn uncomfortable, but hell if I was going to go unprepared after that. I had no idea what Cerberus wanted, but I expected it'd involve me getting sent to some facility, where a horrible experiment would go wrong, killing everyone, and taking over the base.
Regardless, I was finally getting paid. And I still had no idea what I was going to do next. A ticket off the Citadel was extremely tempting, but then what? I didn't have a clue what I was going to do. The AI had lost all interest in me, other than the very flat "figure it out" reply it had given me a week ago, and... Well, what?
"What will you do now?" Mika said.
She was finishing with her suit maintenance, checking all the seals and peeling off the omni-gel leftovers. I was a bit surprised, because I hadn't actually told her anything, but apparently she had been counting the days. Well, I suppose it wasn't too surprising; when I got there she didn't even bother learning my name, expecting me to disappear within a day, and yet there I was a week later. It didn't seem to happen very often.
"I'm not sure yet. I... don't think staying aboard the Citadel is a great idea."
"Right..."
"Look," I said, coming to sit on the same bench as her. "You shouldn't be here either. It's going to sound crazy, but I don't think the Citadel's going to be too safe in the near future."
"What? How do you know?"
"I... just do, okay? You should leave too."
"I can't," Mika replied.
"I'm sure we can find you another way to make credits," I offered.
"I can't! I've got a... contract, okay?"
"Screw the contract!" I snapped. "Who cares? You don't have to-"
"I have to!" Mika said.
"What kind of-"
I stopped mid-protest, as my brain connected the dots. There was no fucking way, but it all suddenly made a lot of sense.
"What kind of contract did you sign?" I said, my voice low and paused.
"I just... I did what I had to..." she muttered, fidgeting nervously and avoiding my gaze.
"This is bullshit," I replied, standing up and rushing towards the exit.
Mika called me, but I didn't answer, I was heading straight for Shala's office. I rushed out and climbed the stairs two at a time, then entered the office without even bothering to knock or ring the doorbell. Or whatever the call button was called.
"Yes?"
Shala didn't even blink when I entered her rather Spartan office. She was sitting behind her desk, terminal in front of her and looking as relaxed as anyone could be.
"What the hell!" I snapped. All I got in response was a raised eyebrow – or what passes for one on the asari. "You have Mika under indentured servitude?"
"Yes?" she said again, her voice as annoyingly calm as ever.
"What the hell!" I repeated. "Is that shit even legal here?"
"Of course it is," she said. She sat up straight and looked at me in the eye. "Roy, what are you doing here?"
"What- What? How the hell can you do something like that? You have her here like a freaking slave, don't even pay her-"
"Not pay her? I paid eight million credits for her contract, got her out of a mining colony, and you can't even imagine the shit it was, and took her here, gave her food and board," she said. "I don't care if you like it or not," she added, anticipating my next complaint. "I signed a fifty year contract to take care of this shithole. I don't like it either, but I should have looked closer at it. I do what I can with what I have. I have to pay through the nose, as you humans say, just to get a handful of workers to stay long enough to even understand what is happening down here. Our wages are set by the bureau, so if you think I'm just lining my pockets, think again. This is all shit, but I gave my word, and here I am. If you don't like it, there's the damn door. Otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow."
Fucking hell she really told me off, and quite frankly, all she had done was piss me off more. Fuck her, what the hell did she-
"Well?" she prompted.
"Fuck this," I said, and stormed out.
Yeah, not a very mature reaction. Quite frankly, Shala's reply had thrown me off a loop, specially the first part. Eight million fucking credits? How in the nine hells did that happen? I stepped out of the office, started walking back to the sewers, and... stopped. If I saw Mika now, I was going to start asking too many questions, and I wasn't in the right state of mind.
So, instead, I took my shiny new credit chits, and headed off towards the markets.
The first thing I did was go get myself an omni-tool. I didn't want to spend too much money on it, but I wanted something useful. So that left me with a Polaris omni-tool, from Kassa Fabrication. Not the best and greatest, but because they were shiny and new, and Kassa was trying to carve itself a piece of that market, they were relatively cheap for what they offered.
Then, there was something I had been waiting for, and now I had the cash for it.
"Well, well, look who's back," Serrus greeted me as I entered his shop.
I gave him a nod while he finished ringing up a customer – a human who had all the hallmarks of a security guard of some sort, two hundred years in the future and the look of "sunglasses and bad attitude" had barely changed – and waved me up.
"Good to see you," I said, offering my hand, and exchanging a turian wrist-clasp with him. "Hows tricks?"
He took a moment to answer, and chuckled as he did. "You humans have some strange expressions. Heard you changed business."
"News travels fast. Nihlus?"
"It might have come up. He told me to take care of you if you came by. Haven't heard from him in a while though."
"Wait, take care of me?" I said. The suspicion in my voice was so loud even I felt it.
"Oh Spirits," he said, laughing heartily. "Guns and armor, Roy. Guns and armor. And you look like a man with credits to burn. So, what are you after?"
"Couple of things, actually. A shotgun, and... well, check this out, hold on."
I got to the changing room, and after a minute, came out with my shield generator in hand. While it was a little annoying to have to wear it right on the skin, it didn't work quite right otherwise.
"So?" Serrus said.
"So," I replied. "I got this crazy shield, and I need an armor to wear over it."
"Huh, kinetic barrier harness..." He took it and started examining it. A few minutes later he put it down, rather puzzled about what he was seeing.
"Yeah, I haven't figured it out yet."
"Don't see an interface anywhere," he said. "Is it any good?"
"Sure is, check this out." I put it over my clothes quickly and turned it on, set to maximum. "Assuming direct control," I said. A little childish, perhaps, but the voice modulator was a riot.
"Huh, right," Serrus replied. That was the extent of his reaction. Disappointing, really.
"Yeah, I... hold on," I said. I lowered the shield's setting to the minimum, so that it disappeared from view, and the modulator got turned off. "There. I can tell you it's good, but it's not exactly easy to use. Won't fit under a suit of armor, won't interface with existing shields, and I can't even get a HUD going anymore."
"Let me see," he said.
He dug under the counter, and pulled out an eyepiece much like the one Garrus always wore. He put it on, then started working with his omni-tool. It took him maybe a minute, but after a while he gave a muttered "ah-hah!" like sound.
"So?"
"That works. It's a one way link too, odd."
I put the eyepiece on and smiled. The HUD was just as I remembered, complaining about lack of biosigns but still on.
"Shit, that works," I said, repeating his words. "You're a genius dude."
He gave me a rumbling laugh. "HUD is easy enough. I can't find any other data points, hardware or wireless. That thing's unhackable, but not very convenient. I wouldn't bother with it."
"I'm telling you, it's good."
"How good?"
I shrugged. "You want to try it?"
He clicked his mandibles in amusement, and gave me a nod. A minute later we were at the back, where his shooting range was. He put the harness on a dummy, put a deactivated set of armor over it – and yeah, it didn't fit, but was enough to stop any bullets from blowing it up if they broke through – and pushed it to the back of the range. The harness' HUD came through one of the screens. He kept an eye on it, and raised his sniper rifle, aiming at the head of the dummy.
It wasn't a small gun either. A russian Volkov model, latest and greatest. He claimed it'd punch through the shields I had on the old suit in a single shot. Both of them. He took aim, put a single bullet right between the eyes of the dummy, and looked at the screen.
"Spirits," he muttered. It had taken a bite out of the shields, but it was still over two thirds full.
"Told ya it's good."
"So that's why you want to keep it," he said, looking at his rifle like it was broken.
"Yeah, what do you think? Have anything I can wear over it? Loose hazmat suit works, but armor would be better."
"Yes," he replied absently. "Custom job should do it, but having to replace custom parts makes them expensive to maintain. There's... Wait."
"What?"
He pulled the dummy back and took the armor off. He then took a few minutes to examine the harness, muttering to himself. After a while, he laughed softly again.
"This is funny." He pointed at the back of the harness, where the rather complicated looking clasps always gave me trouble. "Your Hahne-Kedar have been experimenting with armor for biotics, they come with secondary amps that increase biotic shields." He tapped the back of the harness. "I think this thing would fit right where the amp would go."
"That... is funny," I echoed.
"Where did you find it?"
"That'd be telling," I replied. "So, are those hardsuits good?"
"They aren't bad, and most parts fit standard specs," he nodded. "Expensive, though, but the amp is the most expensive part. I'd have to specially order the suit without it."
"How expensive?"
"Let's find out."
It turned out to be too expensive for what I had in hand, but Serrus agreed to put the order so that he'd have it there once I could afford it. Also got myself another shotgun, same model as the previous one, which was amusing once I explained how I lost the first one. And finally I got a set of glasses to have the harness' HUD up. I didn't quite like the whole eyepiece thing Garrus had going, and although I felt the whole "sunglasses indoors" looked a bit douchebaggy, it sure was better than the alternative. They weren't opaque, just a light yellow, so the douchebag quotient was lower.
That still left me with fifteen thousand credits – out of the forty-two I had earned that week – so I decided I had eaten nothing but shitty hard rations since I got to the Mass Effect universe, and I was going to get myself a damn decent meal at last. But before I did that, I stopped at the employment agency. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep doing that shitty job, and for more reasons than before. It just... didn't make much sense in my head. Yet.
I got a list of jobs, but didn't stick around to go over it, just put it in my omni-tool. It was the same shitty jobs all over again, but now that I at least had a gun, there wasn't such a pressing need for credits. There were a few jobs outside the Citadel, too. Couple of mining expeditions, which weren't as shitty as the actual digging jobs.
After a small chat with AVINA, I settled for a restaurant on the upper wards of the second arm, which offered some highly praised fusion dishes of asari and human cuisine. I made my way there, and found it was a rather pleasant and retro-looking place, almost like a corner cafe from back in the day. Most of the staff was human, but a couple of asari were also serving tables, and for once they didn't look like they were about to drop all their clothes if you looked at them funny.
I got myself seated at a small table in the corner of the terrace, with a good view of the street, and got a paper menu from the asari waitress.
As I said, very retro. For the future, at least.
"Hello," a very friendly voice called, freezing me in place. I knew that voice, and that accent. I looked over the edge of the menu to see Miranda standing there. She apparently took my silence as an invitation to keep talking. "Mind if I sit?"
"What do you want?" I said, my voice laced with suspicion.
"Oh, just wanted to get to know you better, mister..." she said, offering her hand and sitting down at the table.
"Roy," I said, not taking the offered hand.
"I'm Claire," she said, not put off by my refusal at all. So, she's lying about her name too, how great. "I have seen you a couple of times around, are you new to the Citadel?"
"You could say that," I replied. I started looking around, trying to figure out if she was alone, while wondering what the hell she was up to.
She gave me what I guessed was a seductive smile, and yeah, she looked damn hot in real life too. Perfect long black hair, full lips, high cheekbones and a killer smile. Literally. Of course, the last thing I was thinking with was the little head. I was, in fact, not really thinking much. All that was going through my brain was what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!
"Have you decided yet?" the asari waitress said, coming to our table again.
"The seafood jamboree here is great," Miranda offered.
"Oh yeah, there's something about that human soy sauce," the waitress said.
I wasn't listening. As I was going through my mental litany of curses, I made eye contact with an asari walking down the street, coming straight towards us. She was in full armor, guns all over, and had the distinct glow of a biotic barrier around herself.
And I felt a chill run up my spine when her eyes got a look, like a predator looking at prey.
"Oh shi-"
I didn't get to finish the sentence. I was bolting to my feet as the asari glowed brightly, everything happening almost like in slow motion. Miranda had caught either the look on my face, or the direction I was looking, or something, but she too was standing up, reaching for a gun on her back.
Then, all hell broke loose. The asari rushed at us at insane seed – not a charge, but she was clearly using her biotics to speed herself up – and threw something at me. I saw a flash of blue, and then an explosion that sent everything around me flying. Table, chairs, waitress...
Miranda...
The asari herself...
What. The. FUCK!
For a moment, I saw the most surprised expression on the asari's face as she was hit, right before she was thrown back. I was left standing completely unharmed, with the HUD blinking angrily at me that the shields somewhat worse for wear. The shield had taken a hit, but it sure as hell had hit back, and I didn't have a clue what the hell had happened.
But I didn't wait around to find out. I pulled my shotgun out, and as soon as the asari started to move I started shooting. Her barrier flared, and she tried to throw another biotic attack at me, getting the exact same result as before, flying back again and clipping her head against a wall before falling unconscious to the ground.
Bloody hell.
It was at that moment that another asari, which I hadn't seen, decided to start shooting at me. She looked like the sister of the one that had just detonated herself on my shields, but this one at least seemed to have learned. I jumped into cover, behind the corner of the building, and bullets started chewing away at the concrete over my head.
Shit, shit!
"Give yourself up, human," I heard the asari say. "I will drag you to my mistress, alive. It is up to you whether you still have all your limbs attached."
She was serious too. I peeked over the corner, and was greeted by another barrage of bullets. Fucking hell, if she wanted to take me alive she sure wasn't being subtle.
"I don't think so," I said. Fuck, of course. My barrier had set itself to maximum, and with it the voice modulator. I really had to figure out a way to stop that. I remembered it didn't work like this back on Akuze when I was trying to talk to Shepard over the comms.
One good thing was that it gave the asari pause. And Miranda a chance to get herself together, pull herself up, and gave the blue maniac a biotic slam and several bullets to her gut. It didn't kill her, but it was the perfect time for me to turn tail and leg it out of there.
Call me a coward if you will, I just called myself someone who wanted to stay alive.
Author's Notes: Well, here's the promised pep talk Shepard was in need of. I mentioned it before, I wanted to have Shepard go a bit off the script when Roy left the ship, and then pull herself together after Feros. But I might have not executed it as well as I should have - if it was a good idea to begin with. Regardless, she's a tough cookie, she'll be back to her somewhat crazy self in no time.
I didn't get to the race I had promised last time, but I did get the red herring in. It has an australian accent :D So what, you might be thinking? Well, next chapter will pull all this together. Should be amusing, I think, and will make you go nnnnngggggg! at Roy.
Oh, and Mika. Next time, I promise! :D
More comments and support! Thanks everyone for putting up with me so far!
LordGhostStriker: Aw man, am I that transparent? I mean *cough* what makes you think so! Yeah! Well, she's important.
Tahkaullus01: Mika's going to be up more next chapter. Not exactly at odds with Tali though :) As for Roy, well, next chapter! It was just getting a wee bit too long for all I've got planed following this.
Mizuki: Thanks! I try! Mika's a bit like my mental "dump everything cute you can think of" character, fun!
BJ Hanssen: Haha! I'm such a tease :P :D Well, the setup's coming soon, but after thinking about it, it may have to wait a fair bit more. I think the way you handled it in CC was actually quite good, following the smaller details from canon about Cerberus. I only just introduced them, and not a lot. They'll be back though, freaking TIM.
Toothless: You know me! :)
general: I can tell you without it being much of a spoiler: Next chapter! :D
So, thanks everyone for reading and coming out with so much support! As I said, I was probably losing the plot a bit with Shep, but I think I can get her back on track. And I've been building the next chapter up quite a bit, I'm hoping I can deliver with it. Until then, ta-ta!