Chapter 23
Mess Hall – SSV Normandy SR2
"Hey Shepard, you got a minute?" came the deep voice of Jacob from behind her. Shepard turned towards the man curiously as he stood next to the elevator nearby. She lowered the datapad she was looking at and nodded.
"What'd you need?" she asked curiously.
He stepped up to her, trying to lower his voice as he asked her his question. "Am… Am I boring?"
"Boring?" asked Shepard, her expression bewildered. "I don't exactly know what you mean."
"It's just…" he said as he spun his hands trying to fabricate what he was thinking into words. "With the crew we're pulling in now, I've been kinda looking into a mirror. We've got Garrus 'Archangel' Vakarian, Tali who can make model ships do relay jumps with fragments of a circuit board, the mad scientist Doctor Solus, mercenaries out for vengeance, a giant genetically advanced krogan, an asari justicar older than the Alliance, and soon to be an assassin."
"Ooooh…" she said with a dawning look on her face. "I guess Miranda's words in the biotic training room hit a bit harder than expected?"
"Nah, I know she was just messing with me. Me and her hassle each other like that all the time," he said with a smirk. "But after Samara's training, I realized that she may not have been lying. You can practically teleport around a battlefield with your biotics, Miranda is a genius, Jack can crush a tank with hers, and me? I'm just a dude with a gun that throws people. Hell, my safe place is literally the armory where I stay "
Shepard snickered slightly at the claim, getting a deadpan look from him. "Look Jacob, I need you to understand something, alright. I want you to listen to me," she said as she set the datapad on a table and planted her hands on his broad shoulders. "Are you listening?"
"I'm listening," he said, his brows furrowing worriedly.
"You are boring," she said, causing his face to drop. "But what's wrong with that?"
"Really?" he asked sarcastically.
"Really," she said with a grin. "Look, I have a known terrorist threat aboard the ship. Two if you think Zaeed counts as well. I have a krogan who could eat me whole and still have room for seconds. I have a doctor who is so fascinated with my resurrection that he wants to constantly run tests on me. I've got biotics, weapons masters, thieves who can sneak up on even me, and an XO who has either learned to hide hating my guts, or is starting to like me and I'm terrified to find out which." She shook her head. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're comfortable with what you're comfortable with. You enjoy what you enjoy. You're stable, reliable, and I can count on you to tell me the truth when I need to hear it the most."
He stared at her stunned for a long moment before nodding. "Alright, I can take that," he said, giving her a grin of his own.
"Good," she said as she crossed her arms. "There's nothing wrong with being boring, Jacob. Exciting usually comes with a lot of baggage and we've run out of cargo space on the Normandy for that kind of stuff."
He chuckled and shook his head. "I guess you've got a point. You've got a lot to deal with balancing a crew this size. I guess it's good to not have to worry about one more."
"Very good," she said before reaching over and picking up her datapad again. "Anything else?"
"Nah, I guess I just needed an outside perspective. Usually boring means uninteresting, so I guess I took it a bit hard," he said as he crossed his own arms.
"Boring doesn't mean uninteresting. It means safe and relaxing," she said as she started looking at her datapad again.
"Understood, Shepard," he said as he headed to the elevator.
Combat Information Center – SSV Normandy SR2
"Shepard, do you have a moment?" asked Kelly as Shepard stepped down from the galaxy map.
The spectre eyed her and nodded. "I'm about to head out to get our last team member, but I've got a few minutes. What did you need?"
"It's about Jack," she said with a worried expression. "I'm not exactly sure what happened in the biotic training room, but I passed her in the hall earlier and it looked like she'd been crying."
The look of shock on Shepard's face couldn't have been more obvious. "Jack, crying?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure what happened. But I'd like to talk to her for a few minutes. And…" said Kelly as she tried to finish.
"You want me along in case she tries to rip you in half?" asked Shepard, getting a nod from the yeoman. Shepard nodded and activated her omni-tool. "Legate Voretoria, Samara, Grunt, and Doctor Solus. Report to the armory and wait for me there. I'll be joining you as soon as I'm done here." She closed the comm then looked up at the yeoman. "You know where she's at? Because she never really showed me where she was staying on the ship."
"She set up a cot down below the ship's cargo hold. Gabby and Ken have taken to calling it the Trench," she said as she held her datapad behind her back. "I'll show you the way."
Kelly led the spectre down past engineering and into a small, shadowy corner of the ship beneath the floorboards of the engine room entrance way. It was relatively small and cramped, though she could see the appeal. The fluorescent lights from above didn't reach down here, it was quiet with the exception of the hum of the engine above, and it was so far out of the way that she didn't have to hear anyone's voice unless she wanted to.
When they arrived, Shepard noticed that a good portion of the walls were already tagged with some kind of graffiti. Jack herself was laying on a cot that was sitting on top of a footlocker that likely contained all of her clothing. "Hey Jack," said the spectre calmly.
The convict, who was laying and facing the wall didn't even bother moving. "The fuck do you want, Shepard?"
Kelly just kept her silence behind Shepard as the spectre sat down in a small folding seat she had bought from the Citadel. "I heard something was wrong. I just came to check up on you and make sure you're alright."
"You're not my goddamn mom, Shepard. So, quit trying to act like you are," snapped Jack as she turned to lay on her back. When she did, she looked over and saw Kelly behind Shepard and glared. "Oh you, so you squealed on me, huh?"
Shepard immediately noticed that the young woman's eyes were red and puffy. It was all the confirmation she needed. "I'm just checking up on you. If you don't want to talk, or you want time to yourself, let me know and I'll go."
"Then fucking go," ordered the biotic with almost a growl.
Shepard stared at her for a moment before getting to her feet and turning to Kelly. "Let's go."
"Wait…" said Jack, her voice shaky. "Tell the Cerberus kitten to take a hike. If I'm gonna talk, it's to you. Not some earpiece for the Illusive Man."
Shepard looked at Kelly who seemed almost offended by the accusation. Shepard nodded towards the stairs and Kelly pouted but did as she was asked and left the pair of them alone. Shepard turned back and sat on the stool once more. "So, wanna tell me what happened?"
"What was your inner world like?" asked Jack as she sat up in the bed and looked over at Shepard.
Thrown slightly off by the question, Shepard thought back to her own inner self. "Well, it was basically my room here on the Normandy."
"Really?" asked Jack incredulously. "You need to get out and get laid."
"You're not wrong," said Shepard with a shrug. "I guess in a way the Normandy is my safe area."
"That's gotta be some kind Freudian irony…" said Jack with a smirk.
"You're telling me. I've literally died aboard a ship called Normandy before and yet somehow my brain still associates it with peace," said the spectre with a chuckle. "Either way it had an actual large aquarium and not the holographic one I have up there, as well as most of my friends."
"Was I in there?" asked the convict curiously.
"Your picture was on the wall," said Shepard as she eyed the young woman. "Why are you asking me all this?"
"That's what I don't understand. With you it sorta makes sense," said Jack as she stared at the floor. "Even though you died on the Normandy, it was still always your home, a place that you enjoyed being."
"Jack, what happened?" asked Shepard firmly.
The biotic glared at her before leaning back against the wall. Her legs were already crossed, and she crossed her arms defensively as well. "You've read my file, right?"
"Every letter," said the spectre as she noticed the shift in Jack's attitude.
"I grew up in a goddamn Cerberus facility. I don't know what age they grabbed me, but it was young. Too young for me to remember anything else," she said as she closed her eyes. "I was kept in a small room. It had a cot, a desk, a bathroom without a door, and a big window into the main area of the facility. I don't know if they did that intentionally, but they let me see what I could never have."
"Were you the only one there or were there other kids?" asked Shepard, her stomach sinking at the idea of a Cerberus facility stealing children.
"There were others. But they were kept separate. I'd see them through the window playing sometimes. They were allowed to hang out with each other. But they were kept away from me," she said with a snort. "Anyway, the day I escaped they had beaten me pretty hard because I couldn't produce results. Then I saw a group of armored assholes coming into the facility. There was a lot of yelling and screaming, but they were beelining for my room. I don't think the new guys thought I could hear them, but they mentioned they were going to purge the whole place."
Shepard recalled Miranda mentioning that a squad of soldiers was sent to the facility to shut it down. She didn't know how much more Miranda knew, if anything. But if Jack was to be believed, then the Illusive Man wasn't as caring as he tried to make himself look. "You heard them say they were going to get rid of you?"
"They said they were shutting the place down and that they would have to get rid of all the specimens," said Jack as she glared at Shepard. "That doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation."
"Understood," said Shepard with a nod. "Go on."
"Anyway, when they got to my door, I unleashed the most powerful biotic attack I could. The first guy in armor was just gone. He was a stain on the hallway wall. Everyone behind him was mangled and near dead when I decided to make a break for it. As I escaped, kids ran at me, guards ran at me, everyone in that goddamn place tried to stop me. I killed anyone and everyone who tried to get in between me and the door," she said as involuntary tears began flowing down her face. "God… what the fuck is wrong with me?"
Shepard knew that Jack wasn't the kind to accept consoling from anyone, but she also didn't want to do nothing. Instead, she attempted to get Jack to focus. "Why, Jack? What happened?"
"My goddamn inner world was my cell!" she snapped, causing Shepard's eyes to widen. "I tried so hard to get out of that place for years. And when I finally do, when I'm finally free, my fucked up brain tries to send me back!" She buried her face in her hands and just stayed silent.
Shepard breathed in and exhaled heavily. "Do you want my thoughts, or do you just need to vent?"
Jack sniffed and scrubbed away her tears before looking up at Shepard, even more miserable than before. "If you tell me I need therapy, I'm gonna break you in half."
"Everyone needs therapy at some level, Jack. Especially in our line of work," said Shepard as she stood up and planted her hands on her hips. "Even me."
Jack's brow rose curiously at the claim. "The fuck you need therapy for?"
"I died. Pretty horrifically," said Shepard with a shrug. "Even if I hadn't died before, I've seen a lot of things that would make me very unwell if I didn't take therapy very seriously," said the spectre with a firm look.
"Oh, right…" said Jack, Shepard's death having slipped her mind. "I guess dying does kind of fuck with your head too, huh?" she said, scratching her shaved head. "Look, I've been forced to do the whole therapy thing before, and it doesn't fucking work. So, don't bother…"
"You're not special, Jack," said Shepard with a sharp glare.
"The fuck you say to me?" growled Jack as she got to her feet and glared back. Shepard was taller, making Jack's attempt far less intimidating than if she had activated her biotics.
"I said, you're not special. You think you are. You think you've suffered so much that no therapist in the galaxy could possibly help you," said Shepard as her arms uncrossed and she planted her hands on her hips. Her face immediately softened. "You said you tried it before and it didn't work but that's because you already concluded it couldn't."
"How the fuck would you know!?" snapped the biotic, her anger causing her voice to crack.
"Because it's terrifying," said the spectre as she looked down. Her lowered voice seemed to calm Jack as well. "You're afraid. Terrified of what something like therapy will pull out of you. Terrified at feeling vulnerable and weak." Visions of her death flashed through her mind as she said the words. "Terrified that you might have to accept that you aren't strong all the time."
Jack's eyes widened and she took a step back. "W-What the fuck are you talking about?"
Snorting, Shepard shook her head and hardened her gaze again. "Here's the deal, Jack. Everyone on this ship has issues. We all have sad parts of our history that we don't want to reflect on. But if you want to be on my team, and on my ship, then I need to see that you're trying to improve."
"Then why the hell aren't you going to therapy?" asked the biotic as she pointed at the spectre accusingly.
Shepard let out a heavy sigh. "Because I'm not that different from you," she said, defusing the young woman again. "I'm supposed to be strong. I'm supposed to be the first human spectre. I'm supposed to be the goddamn savior of the galaxy!" she snapped angrily, but she relaxed again. "How am I supposed to be the hero everyone wants me to be if I need help?"
"Jesus fuck, Shepard," said Jack as she plopped back on her bed.
"I'll make you a deal," said the spectre as she crossed her arms again. "I'll go to therapy with you… erm… as well. But you have to go. And, if you take it seriously, then I'll owe you one favor."
Jack's brow rose curiously. "Favor?"
"Yeah. Go to therapy, and actually try to take it seriously. Try to untangle the mess inside you because unfortunately, I'm not qualified to do that," said the woman with a small grin. "Do that, and you can ask anything of me."
"What do you mean anything?" asked Jack curiously.
"Well, I'm not giving you the Normandy, and I'm not going to break galactic law. But if you can think of something else besides those, then I'll do it," said the spectre.
Jack pointed at her as her eyes narrowed. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Never," said Shepard with a stone serious face.
Jack grinned and sat on the bed. "Alright, fine," she said as she leaned back against the wall on her cot. "Send the little Cerberus lapdog in here and tell her that if a word of what I say escapes her mouth, I'll juice her like a goddamn orange and drink her citrusy Cerberus blood."
Shepard chuckled and held up a finger. "Don't kill anyone on my ship." Finally, she turned back and headed up the stairs. She found Kelly standing outside of the door near the elevator. "Well, she's ready when you are."
"That's good to hear," said the bubbly woman as she opened her datapad.
"Just… skip all the traditional 'how does that make you feel' crap. She's been there and she doesn't like the tropes," said Shepard as she waved her head towards the door.
"Understood, Shepard. Thank you," said the yeoman as she headed inside the door.
"Don't thank me yet," she said as she shook her head and opened the elevator.
Dantius Towers – Nos Astra – Illium
Shepard waved to Lia who drove their shuttle down to the entrance of Dantius Towers. The quarian nodded back and piloted the shuttle back towards the Normandy docks as the spectre turned towards the building. She looked up, squinting as she did. The towers weren't enormous, but the building was big enough that it was going to be a task getting to the top if the elevators were out. She then looked over at the horizon. They had about an hour to get to the top before the sun hit the horizon.
Ralixia looked at the building as well, and her sharp eyes noticed immediately what it had taken Shepard a moment to register. "Gunfire near the top floor? Are they fighting your assassin?"
"I don't know," said Shepard as she pulled a Mattock assault rifle off her back. "On the one hand, if it is him, whoever he's fighting will probably be dead before we get there. On the other, he doesn't usually get caught by anyone. So, who the hell are they shooting at?"
Suddenly, the glass above them shattered and the body of a salarian slammed into the ground, making them all look away in horror. Then Samara raised a biotic barrier around them all as gunfire erupted in front of them. Shepard raised her weapon and used her visor to zoom in on what was happening. But the weapons fire wasn't aimed at them. She saw a group of salarians sprinting for their lives before a group of armored men began shooting them.
"We have civilians under fire!" snapped Shepard as she sprinted through the biotic barrier, her gun blasting at the nearest of the armed figures. He was dead before he realized he was being fired at as her rounds smashed through the side of his helmet, splattering red blood across the floor. Ralixia moved to assist, but the second of the attackers barely got their gun raised before Samara lifted him with her biotics. In a split second the sound of every bone in his body shattering could be heard as well as an agonizing wail before he was hurled off to the side. Shepard knelt down to check on the salarian that was still moving.
"No! No! Stay away!" he shouted, still trying to get away.
Shepard turned and nodded to Mordin who knelt down and spoke to them. "Blood loss minimal. Gunshot didn't penetrate very deep," he stated dutifully as he sat the agitated salarian up.
It was then that the civilian got a better look at them. "W-Wait… you don't work for Nassana…"
"We don't," said Shepard as she looked him over. Mordin had patched him up and moved on to another one that looked like they were in shock. "What's going on? Why was Nassana's security trying to kill you?"
"I… I don't know… we were night workers. We were just doing our shift when security started screaming at us that we needed to leave," he said as he covered his face, practically sobbing at this point. "We didn't move fast enough so they started to shoot!"
"Why is she trying to get everyone out of the building?" asked Shepard as she tapped Ralixia and pointed to the door ahead.
"I do not know," said the salarian as he looked up at Shepard. "You… you are going to kill her?"
Shepard eyed him curiously. "I hadn't planned to, but I wouldn't count on her getting out of here alive either."
He sighed as Mordin managed to finally pacify the second salarian. "Coworker condition more serious. Nicked artery in leg. Medigel and omnigel will hold until emergency services arrive," he said as he stood up. The security guard with the broken limbs tried to move off to the side and Mordin simply raised his gun and blasted a hole through their visor with his heavy pistol. "Security doesn't have shields. Bold."
"Corporate security commonly doesn't use shielding outside of Noveria," said Samara as she glared down at the bodies. "Why do they need shielding when their main purpose is to intimidate and attack lower class workers?"
Grunt shook his massive head. "What kind of cowardly pussle gets a thrill out of killing weak-kneed office workers?"
Ralixia finally got the door open as Shepard looked down to the sitting salarian. "Do you have your comm?" The young salarian nodded. "Call medical services immediately. But wait to call the police."
"Of course. Wouldn't want them to stop you from throwing Nassana out of her own building," said the salarian bitterly.
Mordin patted the young salarian. "Tell medical services, arterial breach in upper left leg. Vascular surgery required to repair artery," he said as he stood up again and prepared his gun.
"Right, let's get this over with and get to the top," said Shepard as she opened her omni-tool and hacked into the Dantius Security comm feed. Once she was in, she directed the others to the door that Ralixia had opened.
"Shepard took out two on the bottom floor! Shut the elevator down now!" snapped who she assumed was the guard captain.
Shepard frowned. "They know I'm here," she said, her own speech muted to their comm feed.
Ralixia shook her head. "You have a history with her, and she probably has enough connections to know you're here. Maybe she put just added it up?"
"Maybe," said Shepard as she prepared her weapon. Tapping her helmet, she activated her own comm. "Kasumi, how are we doing?"
"Nassana's security forces are only on the lower floors. About halfway up the building they start mixing into actual mercenaries," she started, then chuckled in amusement. "You know, after Omega and now Illium, Eclipse is probably gonna put a bounty on your head."
"Maybe Eclipse can try and hire the collectors. They've at least killed me once," said Shepard as she moved through the door.
"And that just seems to have pissed you off," said Kasumi with a chuckle. "Anyway, they all seem prepared. It looks like they were expecting something to happen today," said the thief from her perch.
"That's what it's looking like," said Shepard with a growl as she and the others stopped in their tracks. They were in a wide-open area that looked like it was still under construction as pallets of prefab materials laid strewn about the floor. And on the other side of the room exiting the elevator were five more members of Nassana's security forces armed and ready to fight.
Shepard was about to raise her weapon and fire before she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking over, she saw Samara grip her firmly before walking past. Raising one hand, the asari created a biotic bubble shield around herself. Their combined weapons fire didn't even seem to dent it as she continued forward, backing them into the elevator. When she was finally within arm's reach, she reached up behind her and pulled a blade clean of its scabbard.
Shepard's brows rose as she saw the gleaming sword. It somewhat resembled the Naitara she had seen on Thessia. But its dark tint told her that this was no ceremonial sword. One of the security pulled out a baton since the gun wasn't working and charged her. But he apparently didn't realize that biotic shields didn't work like kinetic barriers. He slammed full force into the shield and Samara thrust her blade forward and through his throat. Her meticulously placed steps continued forward as she pulled the blade clean.
The four remaining guards backpedaled and tried to shoot, but they hadn't realized their mistake. Shepard shook her head as she lowered her weapon. In their haste to put as much distance between them and Samara, they weren't paying attention to their surroundings. The asari woman stepped into the elevator, her barrier crushing the men against the back wall of the elevator. Their weapons forgotten, they all groaned and whimpered in fear as she raised her sword, then thrust it through the barrier. It took one stroke for each of them, and then she lowered the barrier and allowed their bleeding corpses to hit the ground.
Ralixia stared in horror at the pile. "How did you penetrate your own barrier?"
Shepard looked up at the turian woman before turning to Samara. "Right. He slammed full force into your barrier, but you could put your sword through?"
The justicar held up the blood coated weapon and ran a glowing hand above its metal surface. Everyone present immediately noticed the tip of the blade start glowing. "Yvalice crystals may look like decorations to many, but they actually have a practical use in biotics," she said as she put up her barrier again. The now dull sword was thrust through it, seemingly igniting the crystal tip. "The crystal actually absorbs biotic dark energy which causes it to glow. This includes biotic barriers. When it absorbs the biotics of a shield, it creates a small, imperceivable opening in the barrier."
Grunt snorted as he eyed the weapon. "Couldn't you just make armor out of that crystal stuff and be almost immune to biotics?"
Samara smiled at the young krogan. "You could in theory. But you would need to pay the exorbitant cost for the crystals to make an entire suit. And then you would be left with armor that could absorb biotics but would shatter with a single gunshot."
"Oh… right," said Grunt as he looked down sheepishly. Then his eyes snapped up to the spectre. "Hey Shepard!"
"Yeah?" she asked as she eyed him curiously.
"Can I have a sword?" he asked, his eyes wide as he pleaded with her.
"Behave during this mission and we'll see," she said before turning back to the elevator.
"Awww…" grumbled the krogan as he shuffled his way over towards the next door.
Shepard checked the elevator and confirmed it wasn't working. "Welp, stairs it is," she griped as she headed for the staircase that grunt was watching.
"Pretty sure they have all of the staircases ambushed," said Ralixia as she readied her weapon too.
"That will not be an issue," said Samara as she slid her sword back into its scabbard that blended in with her armor and pulled a simplistic pistol free from her hip. Stepping into the door with her barrier up again. As Ralixia predicted, gunfire immediately erupted and was stopped at the justicar's shield. She began floating upwards and Shepard sighed to herself.
Ralixia just shook her head. "Do we even need to be here? Is she gonna handle everyone?"
"These are low rank security guards. The mercs above would still be able to take her out if they outnumber her," said the spectre as she entered the stairwell and flew up the stairs to the sound of gunfire.
Floor 22 – Dantius Towers – Nos Astra – Illium
Shepard grunted as she wiped the sweat from her brow. She looked at the mix of bodies on the floor. Some of them were security, some were Eclipse. But all of them were dead. The only problem with that was that she and her team weren't the ones who killed them. She walked around the room examining each one. Whoever took them out did so very quickly without any wasted effort. Her omni-tool picked up MPP fragments lodged in their heads or hearts. Others had vital arteries punctured with some form of stabbing weapon, and one human even had their cervical vertebrae broken, likely via a very sharp twist of the neck.
She scanned the area curiously, her hand moving to the familiarity of the pistol at her side. Her adrenaline had already been triggered from the fights on the previous floor and her hearing was as sharp as Samara's blade. "Quiet," she said to the others as they shuffled around the room. The sound she thought she heard previously became audible again. It was a low whispering coming from a door on the far end of the room. Whipping her pistol out, she walked over to the door and blasted the handle off before kicking it open.
Inside were several salarians, all of them cowering with the exception of one who aimed a gun in her face. "Stop! Don't move! I'll shoot!"
Shepard immediately raised a hand and caught him with biotics. Lifting him up, he slammed into the ceiling before she dropped him to the floor. The gun slid away from him as he impacted. "Please, don't kill us! We'll go!" shouted a female salarian as she rushed to get between Shepard and the prone male. She looked between them for a long moment before lowering her own weapon. It was then that the salarian blinked several times as well. "Wait… you aren't Nassana's mercenaries!"
"No, we're not," she said as she crossed her arms. "I take it you're more of her workers?"
"Night workers, yes," said the frantic woman. "The guards… they told us to get out of the building. When we couldn't move, they aimed their weapons at us." Shepard noticed that the woman was nearly shaking as she retold the tale. "B-But… you saved us, right?" she asked as she looked between Shepard and the others.
"It wasn't us. We just got here in the last minute or so," said Shepard as she crossed her arms.
"Th-Then who was it?" asked the bewildered salarian.
"Probably the assassin you're looking for," remarked Samara wisely.
"Assassin? Are… are they here for Nassana?" asked the woman as she stopped shaking and her eyes widened.
"So I've heard," said Shepard as she eyed the salarians. "Do you guys work on this floor?"
"Y-Yes! We were finishing up a financial report when the mercenaries began their tirade. Their second in command, Gregson, threw poor Lufela out the window!" she said angrily as her hands formed into fists. "We thought we were next, so we ran and barricaded this door."
"The assassin…" said the male as he pulled himself together. "I… I saw him."
They all looked to him. "You saw him?" asked Shepard urgently.
"Before he started killing. When we ran into the room," he said before looking up to them with his knees folded to his chest. "A-Are you going to kill him?"
Shepard shook her head. "Actually, we want to help him, so to speak…"
"He dropped from the vent and flew forward like a graceful dancer. I've never seen anyone move like him," said the young man as he stared off into space.
"Well, we've confirmed he's here," said Ralixia as she checked her weapon. "Odd that an assassin is going out of their way to help civilians though."
"Odd, but from what I've read one of his creeds is no innocent bystanders," said Shepard as she scratched her chin.
"If he has that in his dossier then he's probably a bleeding heart like Shepard here," said Grunt as he leaned against the wall with his arm up. "So it wouldn't surprise me if he stepped in to stop a couple civilians from getting killed."
Shepard turned and looked at one of the windows that showed the sunset. The sun was very near the horizon now. "What's the quickest way to Nassana's penthouse office?"
"Take the service elevator up two floors and then cross the bridge. Her penthouse is just above the bridge floor on the opposite building," said the salarian. "C-Can we go now?"
"Of course," said Shepard as she nodded towards the stairs. "The elevator is offline. I'd recommend the stairs. Medical services should be here shortly, so go get checked out by them."
The salarians shuffled towards the door as Shepard waved them towards the hall leading further up. When they entered the door, they spotted another person that had yet to be taken out by the assassin. They were in Eclipse armor and were holding their hands up already. "Look, this doesn't have to get nasty. I'm sure we can make some kind of arrangement."
Ralixia sighed and glared at the man. "Probably ran in here to escape the assassin," she said as she prepped her gun.
Shepard looked at the window behind the mercenary and noticed that the sun was now touching the horizon. "What's your name?"
"Huh? My name?" asked the mercenary, taken aback by the question. "Uhh… Gregson. Why?"
"Grunt," said Shepard as she headed towards the elevator. The krogan eyed her curiously. "This man has an appointment on the bottom floor. Make sure he gets there as soon as possible," she said as she opened the elevator.
"Heh heh heh," chuckled Grunt as he cracked his knuckles.
The door to the service elevator opened as Grunt grabbed the man by his leg and swung him in a full circle before hurling him through the window. His screams drowning out the shattering of the reinforced protective window. "Samara, when we get to the bridge, I want you on point."
"A wise decision. We must make haste," she said as her biotics lit up.
Penthouse – Dantius Towers – Nos Astra – Illium
Once again she found herself impressed. Shepard's team was large. Not as large as her own units back on Palaven, but large enough that to take them all on every mission would be extremely difficult. Instead, she picked certain members of her squad to take care of certain situations. And every mission she moved in on seemed to have the right balance of members. Though, admittedly, the last one was still her favorite. Nothing got the blood flowing like absolute destruction and overwhelming force.
But she felt that nagging feeling in her brain which meant she was starting to learn something new. She felt it when she found out about human martial arts. She felt it when Garrus spoke about the murder where she learned how to tell a modded from an unmodded weapon. She learned it from Samara's lesson about the biotic crystals earlier. And now she was learning again. It wasn't just that Shepard commanded the most powerful and chaotic crew in the galaxy. It was that she allowed them to be themselves.
The turian Hierarchy was very strict on their training regimens for their soldiers. It didn't matter what rank or job you worked, you did the same training, you did the same exercises, the same training drills, and only then did you focus on your specialization. This made the turian Hierarchy an imposing legion of faceless soldiers, helped by the fact that when in official uniform, clan markings were to be removed. The Hierarchy was not an army of diverse individuals, it was a juggernaut of soldiers trained in the exact same ways to make sure everything was uniform.
She believed wholeheartedly in this logic until she had gotten to this point. The Hierarchy had overseen some extremely decisive wins in battle. She and her imperial marines had fought against pirates, raiders, slavers, terrorists, insurrectionists, and so much more. And they fought as one unit, one spirit, one machine. But she knew now that the tactic of trying to turn everyone in your unit into the same soldier for the sake of cohesion ended up scrubbing away a lot of potential.
Shepard had biotics, technicians, engineers, soldiers, gunners, sword fighters, boxers, turians, asari, krogan, and even a quarian. She had so many kinds of people she was leading that at first glance it blew the legate's mind how she managed to control everyone from convicts to justicars. But now she understood… at least, mostly. She knew that she didn't just control these people like the higher ups in the Hierarchy would have you do. She didn't erase their identity. She allowed them to grow and thrive instead of trying to contain them in a box.
The group was close enough that they knew each other, they knew how the others fought, and as such, they knew how best to work together. But it still amazed her how a gigantic krogan like Grunt and a doctor like Mordin Solus managed to work in concert with each other instead of getting in each other's way. The doctor would randomly send a neural shock into someone's cranium, quickly followed by a powerful uppercut by the krogan which sent bodies flying off the upper bridge that they were crossing.
Then she recalled the quarian stunning all of the Eclipse mercs back in the red sand base, and how Mordin used the opportunity to paralyze them while they were convulsing. Or the criminal blowing a hole in the wall knowing that survivors would gather to defend it, only the have a sprinting krogan slam into them with the force of a battering ram and cripple a dozen mercenaries all at once. Fostering the growth of each team member and allowing them to grow alongside their other squadmates would never have occurred to her back on Palaven. There was too much influence from the Imperium to be the same; be one unit, one spirit, move as one, act as one. But with her experience here, she got to see first hand what the benefit of allowing the growth of individuals did. It allowed for a wider range of coverage for almost any situation. If a situation needed diplomacy, the XO or Shepard herself could help. If it required violence, a giant krogan or unhinged biotic. Technical knowledge, a doctor or engineer. If stealth was needed, a thief or assassin. If destruction was needed, the armorer mercenary with their heavy weapons. And if a lot of people needed killing, then a cold and calculated asari justicar was the perfect fit. She had a potential answer to any situation.
Ralixia shook her head in awe at the design. It wasn't a machine like her unit back on Palaven where their training made them the same. It was a machine like a gyroscope, swinging wildly in all directions with the perfect balance in order to keep stability. She felt that feeling of learning again as Samara hurled an entire group of the remaining Eclipse mercenaries off the bridge and down to the street below.
Saren had always told her that the best way to become a spectre was to treat everyone as expendable. It was easy to get what you needed when you started thinking of everyone as a commodity rather than a person. She had been bewildered to find out that there were spectres who didn't work alone. Some worked in pairs and others like Shepard worked with an entire crew. Only now was the idea of working with a diverse team actually appealing to her. She found herself somewhat stunned at how much she had changed in so little a time.
All of these thoughts drifting in her head were there because Samara had almost single-handedly cleared the whole bridge. Grunt and Mordin helped where they could, but having an ancient asari warrior combined with the small quarters of the bridge spelled disaster for the remaining mercenaries. She chuckled to herself and simply jogged along with Shepard, who also seemed to accept that the others were the stars of this show. Shepard looked over at her. Ralixia chuckled as her mandibles twitched. Shepard snorted with a grin and turned back to the display of might in front of them as they headed across the bridge.
Penthouse – Dantius Towers – Nos Astra – Illium
This was the second time she busted the door open to the top floor of an office building to find an asari being guarded by mercenaries since she had been on Illium. She shook her head and chuckled as the glare on the opposing asari deepened.
"I was hoping it was just a rumor," growled Nassana Dantius as she stood in front of the large window of her penthouse. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Maybe I am dead and I'm just here to haunt you," said Shepard with a grin that turned Nasanna's frown into a scowl.
"Fuck you, Shepard!" snapped the asari as she pointed at the spectre. "I don't know who the hell paid you to come after me, but whoever it was, I'll double their offer."
"Who told you I was coming after you?" asked Shepard as she tilted her head curiously.
"What does it matter? I'm making you an offer," said the woman frostily. "Are you taking it or not?"
"You don't understand, Nassana," said Shepard as she put her gun away and crossed her arms. "I'm not after you."
"Then what the hell are you doing here!? Why was I warned that you were coming for my life!?" yelled the woman angrily. "Quit trying to screw with my head, Shepard!"
"Nassana, I'm a goddamn spectre," snapped Shepard as she took a step forward. Immediately, the two remaining Eclipse in the room took a step back and raised their weapons slightly. "Two weeks ago I was on a human colony fighting off the most technologically advanced race in the galaxy and you think I'd take time out of my day to come after you?"
Nassana flinched at the remarks, almost looking hurt at the claim. "But… then why did I get the warning that you were coming after me?"
"Hell if I know. Only two people knew I'd even be here. One of them would never tell you that and the other is… is…" she stopped and let out a sigh. "Goddammit…"
"What is it?" asked Ralixia curiously.
Looking out the window, Shepard glared. The sun was halfway below the horizon and on its way out. "Mr. Krios, if you're here, then come on out!" hollered Shepard as she looked around. There was a small noise in the ceiling that Nassana either didn't hear or didn't care about.
"Krios? Thane Krios?" asked the asari businesswoman with a look of shock on her face. "He… he couldn't… he wouldn't…"
Suddenly, as silent as a shadow, a dark figure landed on the floor behind her. The two mercenaries turned to attack on instinct, but their reaction was too slow. Flowing like water, the drell assassin moved forward and punched one of the asari mercenaries so quickly that even Shepard's adrenaline powered senses barely caught it. With one asari gasping for air, he spun around and threw something like a knife hooked to a cord. The blade caught the other asari in the throat, the speed bypassing the kinetic shielding and puncturing an artery. He yanked on the cord and pulled the weapon back before whipping a silenced pistol out of his belt.
The entire fight was seconds long, Neither asari managed to do anything except make a pained expression before they were both dead. Nassana spun around and saw him standing there with the pistol drawn. "Krios? What are you doing? Why would you…?"
But before she got another word off, his pistol rose and blasted her directly through the heart. She gasped in horror and began to fall, but he grabbed her and cradled her body, laying her across the desk and spreading her arms out in a t-pose. "Though your body did not return to the sea, may your spirit find its way into the embrace of the waves."
Nassana finally closed her eyes and her head sagged to the side. The drell held up a straight hand with the other gripping his wrist, as if half mimicking the prayer pose used by many humans. Ralixia kept her weapon out but lowered it. "You definitely know how to make an entrance."
"You said I had until sundown to speak, so…" started Shepard, but the drell cut her off.
"I apologize. Prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken," said the assassin softly.
Mordin blinked sharply. "Odd to see assassin praying for victim," he said as he folded his arms.
Finally, the drell lowered his hands. "Not for her," he said as he looked up at them. His dark eyes examined them with cold calculation. "For me."
Samara nodded knowingly. "A sentimental assassin. A unique concept in reality, not so much in movies."
"Why did you warn her and tell her that I was coming after her?" asked the spectre as she crossed her arms in annoyance.
"Your asari bondmate told me that you were looking for me. You wanted to add me to your team to help stop the collectors from harvesting human colonies," he said as he looked up at her. "I needed to determine who I was dealing with."
"You haven't heard of me?" asked Shepard bewildered.
"There isn't a person in the galaxy that hasn't heard of you, Spectre. But seeing it for myself is preferable to rumors and… wild speculations of the film industry," he said, getting a groan from Shepard. "Regardless, as is obvious, anyone can win a fight with the element of surprise," he said motioning towards the dead mercenaries on the floor. "I needed to see firsthand what you could do against a group of prepared and armed soldiers."
"Well, are you satisfied?" asked the spectre curiously.
"Quite," he said as he gazed at her. She wasn't experienced enough with drell to know whether or not they could smile. "I was also curious to see if you would indeed fight through an entire building of mercenaries to get to me. I'm quite flattered to find out the answer was yes."
"Cool," said Shepard as she let out a sigh. "So, you know why I'm here. What's your answer?"
"As I understand it, stopping the collectors would require following them through the Omega 4 Relay. A task no ship to date has ever survived," he said knowingly as he stepped up to her, the setting sun behind him practically making him glow as it finally sunk behind the horizon.
"Coming back from the dead was also considered impossible until I did it," said Shepard firmly, almost getting a chuckle from the gravelly voiced man.
"A fair point. You do make a career out of doing the impossible," he said as he looked down. "Your confrontation of Saren at the Citadel was a masterwork of overcoming overwhelming odds." Finally, he turned around and looked out the window as the last of the sun finally faded from the sky. "This… was to be my last job."
Shepard immediately felt the tone shift in the conversation. "Why do I get the feeling you weren't planning to retire to Kahje?"
"You are perceptive," he said as he looked to the side. Then he stared at the horizon again. "My plan was to alert Nassana's guards to my presence, and after I had ended her, allow them to sever the bond between my body and spirit."
"Suicide by cop?" asked Ralixia in surprise.
"These are not police, but the concept is the same, yes," he said as he finally turned to them again. "I'm dying." He let the claim sink in for a long moment. "The low survival odds do not concern me. In fact, your offer seems almost too good to be true."
"How do you figure?" asked Shepard incredulously. She thought she was being a bit demanding asking the assassin to spend his last days on a potential suicide mission.
"I was cleaning everything up when you were looking for me. Nassana was my last target that I had planned to take out before I let myself expire," he said as he shook his head. "But despite my plans, I always felt as if letting myself die here lacked closure. It felt like a waste to be killed by these… goons."
"Ah, you wanted a good death," said Grunt with a grin. The whole group looked at him and he shrugged. "What? Going out in a blaze of glory taking on the collectors sounds much better than getting gunned down in some corporate penthouse."
"Your krogan friend speaks truly. My… uh… bucket list, as humans are prone to calling it, involved a lot of cleanup. I wanted to make the galaxy a better place before I died. Taking out corporate mob bosses and anti-union death squads was fine. But it seemed a little underwhelming for my final contribution to the galaxy. You have just given me a much better way to contribute," said the drell as he held his hand flat with his palm upwards in front of his stomach. He bowed deeply. "You have my gratitude."
"Just to clarify, what are you dying from?" asked Shepard, wondering if he would need extra equipment on the Normandy.
"If you'd like to discuss it, we can do so on your ship," he said before standing straight again. "I can assure you that I'm not contagious, and it will not affect my work. So, you need not worry about containment measures."
"Alright," said the spectre as she nodded to him. "Gather your stuff and meet me at the Nos Astra docks."
"I will be there shortly," said the drell as he exited the room via the door.
Shepard turned to the others and sighed. "Let's make sure the night workers are well before heading back to the ship. Otherwise, while I'm getting him settled, you're free to do as you please. Just meet back at the ship before sunrise." With that, they all left the building, leaving Nassana's dead form lying across her desk.
CODEX ENTRIES
Omnigel | Technology | Medical
Adhesive in nature, omnigel is a salarian creation used primarily for vehicle and suit puncture repairs. It fills every available space at the injection site before hardening and becoming nearly indestructible and can even reseal a suit against the vacuum of space. Removing it requires a neutralizer which is commonly sold with omnigel. From 2180 to 2183, omnigel was commonly used by thieves who would inject it into an electronic lock. The adhesive gel would fry locking mechanisms, causing it to go into its neutral state of unlocked. Locking technology from 2183 and on switched the protocols inside the locks, making their neutral state to be locked, thus nullifying the usefulness of omnigel as an unlocking agent.
Naitara Blade | Weapon | Asari
A blade created millennia ago and used to harness the asari's innate biotic abilities. Though commonly used for ceremonial purposes, many on Thessia and asari colony worlds are still taught to use them. The blade, straight and double-sided, is commonly made of titanium and inlaid with yvalice crystals. The sheath itself is made almost entirely of the crystal substance. Historically, an asari using the weapon would use both the blade and sheath as weapons, the blade to cut and impale, and the sheath to enhance biotic melee attacks.
Thessian Yvalice Crystal | Mineralogy | Gemstone
A biproduct of Element Zero, these crystals are formed when Element Zero is heated to its melting point. The steam and evaporated liquid that rises from the molten eezo, and once the temperature cools again, the liquid biproduct pools together and forms into crystals similar to quartz. These crystals are hailed on Thessia as fine jewelry due to their rarity and the fact that they glow brightly when in contact with biotic dark energy.
MPP | Technology | Weapon
Short for 'Mass Propelled Projectile,' it's the formal description of the projectiles fired by modern weapons. Modern weapons have replaced the use of actual bullets with blocks of ferrous metal that are shaved off and propelled at supersonic speeds. Despite the change in style, the ammunition is still colloquially called bullets, rounds, or meeps by those who do not specialize in weapons tech.
Pussle | Derogatory Linguistics | Rayloc
A pussle is a small parasite native to Tuchanka that enters a host through the anus and feeds off the excrement the host provides while giving nothing in return. The insult is commonly given to those the krogan deem to be parasites on their society. Sometimes it's simply given to those who they do not respect.