Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: Half-point of the season, and the exciting conclusion to the Omega arc. Enjoy!
Episode 13: Omega [Part II]
At the end of the warehouse, in the left-hand-side corner there was a decidedly large doorway. When Wrex led the way toward it Shepard idly wondered how Nihlus could have missed it. The left-hand side was where the Spectre had turned to scout. Either he became distracted by her and Garrus and so emerged on the other side of the final row of shelves, effectively never passing by the door, or he had passed the door and Wrex simply did not register on his senses. Both could be just as likely, given that Nihlus might have relied on his hearing to tell him there was no one on the other side of the final shelves, to say nothing of her uninterrupted conversation with Garrus.
"So, what's the situation here?" she wondered as she looked up at the krogan.
"There's one more level below us. I did not have the time go far. I heard you three from here." Wrex explained.
"Yes well, stealth is only an option for the first one here." Shepard mused. That also explained why he stopped, simple issue of handling one group at a time, especially if the groups were coming from two directions.
The door opened on its own, leading to a passage with a wide ramp that led to a darkened level below. She could hear a faint sound coming up, too faint for her ears to isolate and identify, but there was definitely activity down there. "I think they're ready for us," she whispered.
"Heh, maybe then they'll last a bit longer."
"Or not." Shepard said as she began to make her way down the ramp. Maybe it made her a bit inconsistent, but now that she knew she would have to do this, she wanted to do it quickly. It was against her norms to protract a fight for the interest of fun. Fighting was never about fun for her, though Wrex seemed to relish it.
"I can hear mechs," Nihlus said.
Shepard hummed, how many? It was unlikely that Nihlus or Garrus would be able to tell numbers by the sound alone, especially not here where sound was distorted and echoed. She drew her guns and shifted both to disruptor ammo.
The bottom of the ramp opened onto the smaller second level of the warehouse. The basement warehouse floor was maybe half the length of the level above, but there were rooms at the back. The lighting was just as low as on the level above, which was not helping her vision at all. The warehouse forklift was down here, and the rows of shelves were no emptier, creating a labyrinth of fly-through zones.
She heard the cocking of weapons behind her. Wrex moved ahead, right down the middle of the aisle. Shepard did not dare to restrain the krogan, for the simple reason that she had no authority over him, and he could easily turn on them if pushed.
"I don't like this," she murmured for the benefit of her turian companions.
"Me neither. Everything in me says this place is full of hazards we cannot even see." Garrus said.
Shepard nodded, "Keep alert and assume nothing." With that she followed some paces behind the krogan.
One of the doors at the back of the room opened and an asari stepped out, followed by a human male carrying a datapad, and armed with an assault rifle. Both were dressed in yellow and white armor, with the human topped with an extra layer of tech armor. The asari was of a sea blue shade with violet markings around her eyes and across her forehead and had a pair of bright sapphire blue eyes.
"Well, well, well. I am surprised you three decided to work with the krogan," she said. "Hmm… now which turian is the Spectre? I do wish to thank him for destroying my little cache on that backwater-"
"I blew your base." Shepard cut in. "Planted the charges myself. Those were my people your crew was victimizing."
"Shepard," Nihlus warned.
"Huh. Well it really does not matter. You're all going to die." The asari glanced at the other mercenary and nodded.
He wordlessly hit a few buttons on his datapad. There was a whine, and the mechanical chatter picked up. Even Shepard could hear the LOKIs clear as bells on a cold day.
"Grab cover!" she shouted, ducking behind the forklift. It was a big one; its full covered cab, large motors, hydraulic tanks, and eezo core forming a wall. Gunfire erupted all around her; she heard the rapport of an assault rifle start and stop, a crack of a familiar shotgun.
"D'Aros is mine!" Wrex shouted.
Shepard did not reply, she saw two LOKI coming at her from her right, chattering and apologizing in that freakish way of theirs. Both turned their pistols toward her and commenced firing. Shepard dropped to her knees; the bullets hit the forklift over her head. She turned her guns and returned in kind. Her first shots hit them center mass, ripping apart papier-mâché shields. Shepard raised the muzzle of Sin and fired again, blowing a LOKI's head clean off. It whined, pinged, and exploded. Chunks of chassis ripped through the other. It whined and then collapsed.
"Shepard, get rid of the human," Nihlus ordered over the comm. "Vakarian, cover her!"
Shepard heard Nihlus' shotgun echo somewhere on her left, whining and explosions followed every shot. He must have found a concentration of mechs. A thunderous crack of a shotgun she did not recognize prevented her from saying a word. The sound carried from somewhere on her right, but deeper into the room. Movement out of the corner of her right eye suddenly meant that no longer mattered. She turned Dex and fired twice, as fast the Carnifex's recoil allowed her, and that LOKI collapsed.
"I got you, Commander." Garrus announced as he ducked behind the forklift, though he was focused on his side on her left. "I suggest we make this quick, while the krogan is keeping D'Aros busy."
There was a heavy crash, something hit the ground. A crate perhaps? Another thunderous crack followed and something exploded. Then the thump of a biotic field hitting something solid, distinctly feminine laughter, and a series of gunshots that sounded like a pistol.
"Spirits… they are going at it with everything."
Shepard holstered her twins and reached behind her shoulder for Vincent. "Where's the other mercenary?" she asked.
"At the back, where he was."
"Good." Shepard swung around the forklift. Garrus' assault rifle came to life, chattering and a small explosion followed. She trusted Garrus to keep her back clear so she could focus on the mercenary. She raised her rifle and aimed down the scope as she tapped the button on its side to activate the rarely-used auto-calibration. At this range, the invisible laser range-finder would do an adequate job of adjusting her scope's optics and HUD crosshairs.
She saw the mercenary had his assault rifle partly up, but his attention was on the pad in his hands, and so he was utterly oblivious to the danger he was in. Yet before she could pull the trigger a blue blur flew through her scope sights and across the room, causing her to look away.
D'Aros landed on the floor on her back with a loud scrape of her armor. A moment later she raised a glowing fist and then her whole body flared periwinkle. Wrex appeared from the left side, still glowing with his biotics. The human looked up and his assault rifle followed in that panicked manner, aimed at the krogan.
Shepard closed her right eye and focused down the scope again, as her thumb flicked across the ammo selector, switching to disruptor, she heard Vincent whine as it charged the slug. But then Wrex moved right across the center aisle; and Shepard had to move her finger off the trigger. He was either utterly oblivious, or choosing to ignore the human, but his bulk might get in the way.
The asari fired more pot shots at him from her pistol, but all it did was flare the krogan's kinetic barrier, revealing where the shield envelope stopped.
Shepard smiled to herself and dropped her finger back onto the trigger, adjusted her aim, and squeezed. The human recoiled as the bullet pierced his barrier and skull, hitting over his left eye, just clear of the tech armor plates protecting his temples.
"Nice shot!" Garrus said.
Shepard raked the receiver bolt, and reached behind her back for a fresh thermal clip as she slipped back behind the forklift. "Nihlus, I got the sentinel," she said into the comm.
"Good." Nihlus replied curtly.
Shepard idly wondered if Wrex even noticed she had just fired right past him. Probably had, he was just not bothered. That was either arrogance, or he was that focused on the asari. She peeked around the forklift and found the asari and krogan.
Before Wrex made one more step the asari threw her fist forward and unleashed a shockwave right into his chest. The krogan slammed back-first into a shelf unit with enough force that it rattled.
Shepard blinked, stunned. Then the asari lifted herself to her feet and turned her head. The moment she saw the dead sentinel, her biotics literally exploded around her, barely contained, as the corona began to lick at her armor like St. Elmo's fire.
"Oh-oh," Shepard muttered as she slipped Vincent back behind her back.
"Come out here, human!" Wrex regained his footing, but the asari turned, and unleashed another shockwave right at him, driving him into the shelf unit again. "I am not done with you, krogan. But right now, I want that human!"
"You hit a nerve," Garrus noted.
"A whole lot of 'em I should think," Shepard murmured. Who would have thought, the psycho asari was fond of someone enough that their death sent her into a fit of rage. Shepard could relate to that, she had been there. Unfortunately for D'Aros, the ending would be different.
The asari advanced toward the forklift that still served as their shelter.
Shepard looked at Garrus. Different ending or not, she had to assess the situation carefully. If the crazed asari decided to unleash everything she had, she would get two for the price of one. Shepard could not let that happen, but what could she do? One option was always to play chicken and hope she could read the incoming biotic attacks and lead the asari away from Garrus. Where was Nihlus? And why was Wrex just standing there, he had an opening to shoot the asari in the back! This was a rather rotten time for a mercenary to develop a sense of fair play. Unless of course… was he interested in seeing what she could do? That thought only made the anger well up through the cracks faster. This was hardly the time for that sort of thing.
Suddenly there was a familiar shotgun crack, and Shepard dared to peek around the forklift. The asari had ducked and flicked out her arm, throwing a biotic field in the direction where the shot had come from. Shepard whirled around the forklift, raised her guns, and fired. The asari's kinetic shield flared, but Shepard barely had a moment to notice that. The sight of Nihlus frozen in a stasis field stopped her from pulling the triggers again.
"There." The asari said with a smile. She turned her head, looking at the Spectre. "I commend you on trying. But you wasted your one chance. Now… whom should I warp first? You, or her?"
Shepard glanced at the Spectre. The stasis field had him restrained to such a degree that he could not even twitch a mandible, but his eyes were on her. She knew she had only one chance to do this right. She had to get D'Aros to lose focus, so she would not sustain her stasis field. Nihlus was a priority. Secure the hostage and then handle the hostage-taker. The problem was she could not say a word to anyone; any hint of a plan would probably set the asari off. She glanced at Wrex; he was watching her, a note of amusement in his expression.
"How long has it been?" the asari cooed. "Must be oh… ten years since I killed my last Spectre."
"You hurt him and we will fill you with bullets." Garrus said as he emerged from behind the forklift.
"Are you sure?" the asari replied, clearly enjoying herself. "I only need to rotate my wrist to warp him. Are you fast enough to save him from that?"
Just how powerful was this asari? Some of the strongest biotics could restrain someone to such degree that they could not even breathe. Counting on the worst case scenario was her standard. Shepard knew she did not have all the time in the world to think. She would not let this crazy disgrace for an asari win. She would not let Nihlus become another notch on some sick tally. She would never stand by and lose another friend. Never again! Shepard slipped her guns into their holsters and took a deep silent breath.
"Commander!" Garrus called.
She knew what it must look like, but Shepard took a step forward, never taking her eyes off the asari. Where to hit her? What would shatter her focus; cause the stasis field to fail? Well a broken nose would probably be enough. The hurricane of rage was loose; she would enjoy breaking that haughty nose the asari kept sticking up. Shepard made one more step, "Get away from him, you bitch!"
The asari turned her head slowly, but Shepard closed the distance with a burst of explosive acceleration. The asari's eyes widened as Shepard wound up and drove her left fist forward with all her exo-frame-aided might. Her fist hit D'Aros in the jaw and the glow around the asari's body faltered. Shepard heard Nihlus hit the ground.
The asari stumbled a half-step backward, one hand rose to her split open lip. The look in her eyes was instantly murderous.
Shepard smiled.
D'Aros hissed, wound up, fist glowing, and swung.
Shepard whipped her left arm; her forearm hit D'Aros' and deflected the deadly glowing fist wide, hitting only air, but the biotic field was still strong enough to cause Shepard's skin to crawl. D'Aros pulled back, but Shepard stepped in, wound up, and swung with her right. This time her fist connected directly with the side of the asari's nose, and though Shepard did not feel bones give way, she heard a rather tell-tale crack. Instantly Shepard's knuckles seared with pain and she had to squash the urge to shake her fist. D'Aros shouted inarticulately as she reeled and stumbled back from the blow.
Out of the corner of her eye Shepard saw Wrex smile. He was definitely enjoying this!
It took the former commando barely a second to regain her footing. Her violet blood now streamed from her nostril in a thin rivulet even as her eyes blazed with fury. Her nose was visibly off-center and when she tried to wipe the blood off with the back of her hand, the barest touch caused her to wince. Her hand dropped away, "I'm going to flay you!"
"Try it." Shepard hissed back.
D'Aros' whole body flared periwinkle with her biotics.
"Shepard get clear so we can shoot!" Nihlus shouted.
The asari snarled and whipped her arm right at the Spectre, unleashing another shockwave.
Shepard watched in horror as Nihlus flew back into the shelves with a resounding crack. The shout ripped from his vocal cords pierced through her. But the sight of his body crumpling to the floor made her see red. Shepard turned back to the asari as the hurricane within made landfall with a tidal surge.
The Asari turned her other arm at her, but Shepard was already moving. She grabbed the asari's outstretched wrist with her left, stepped in with her right foot against the asari's left, pivoted, and slammed her right forearm up under the asari's elbow as her left came down.
The asari hit the floor on her back with a loud thud, her elbow bent over forty-five degrees in the opposite direction. A beat later she folded into a fetal position, clutching her arm, and screamed in pure agony.
Shepard stared down at her with none of her malice restrained, mentally going through her list of painful ways to end someone.
"And just like that, it's over." Wrex said.
The krogan's deep voice jarred her from her fury haze. She looked up at him, "You could have shot her at any time."
"I could've, yes… but this is an M-300 Claymore, Shepard. You don't want to be grazed by that," he replied blandly.
Shepard hummed, Wrex certainly made a good point. The blinding anger haze had already dissipated somewhat. "I'm done with her," she said as she turned around, where was Nihlus, was he alright?
"She's done too," the krogan chuckled.
"You- You're… going to let him shoot me?" D'Aros whimpered. All semblance of bravado and tough talk gone, she sounded like a scared little girl.
Shepard wheeled and glared. "And what do you think we came here to do?"
"Wait! Please! You can't do this!" she whimpered.
"Why?" Shepard demanded. Well maybe there was nothing this asari could do to change her mind, but everyone got to say their last words.
"Yes, my men extorted your colonists, but I ordered them not to harm anyone!"
Shepard could feel the anger return. "Do you honestly think that will convince me you're something other than a monster? After you hurt my friend?"
"Letting the krogan kill me is cold-blooded murder!"
Shepard chuckled. Did D'Aros not realize whom she was facing?
The asari froze and whimpered.
Shepard would ensure she knew exactly whom she pissed off, before she died. "I'm a sniper. I've ended two-hundred-fifty-nine batarian slavers on Elysium, so I have a reputation for being a little… extra cold." She turned away, coming face-to-face with her team. Garrus still had his assault rifle at a ready. Nihlus was on his feet, though most of his weight was on his right leg as he leaned against the rack behind him. There were new cracks on the front of his armor, probably more on his back, yet the look in his eyes was intense, probing, searching.
Wrex's shotgun blast rung out, loud enough to echo throughout the space.
Shepard closed her eyes, the reality of what just happened washed over her like ice water dumped over her head. Yes she knew they would have to kill D'Aros, but then and there, having let Wrex do it, Shepard realized that maybe she had gone a little too far in allowing her anger to take over. She clenched her fists and her knuckles ignited with a whole new level of pain. She had to force herself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I think that's all of them," Wrex said.
"Good," she checked her guns were still there.
"Shepard," Nihlus approached slowly, limping quite heavily.
"Are you alright?" He was walking, that was a good sign right?
"She ruined my armor, but other than that…" he broke off with a wince.
Shepard nodded. Maybe it was the adrenaline wearing off, or maybe a trickle of pain medication filtering into her body from her armor, she honestly could not tell, but there was a sort of numbness spreading through her. Her anger was a dangerous thing; it tended to make her act before she thought things through, like a cold-blooded, ruthless monster. She had willingly allowed the rage out the moment D'Aros had hit Nihlus with a shockwave. She had jumped the gun, allowed it to become personal. Though in the end she came out on top, it could have gone down a whole other way.
"Commander, are you alright?" Garrus asked, concerned.
"I'm… fine," she glanced down and flexed her fingers, wincing. "Just ruing Newton's third here. Barriers raise the mass of everything that crosses them. That's how they stop bullets. But the field will boost the mass of a fist too, thus more impact force. I also have an exo-frame-"
"And that goes both ways," Garrus finished.
Shepard nodded. None of it was a lie, but it was only maybe half the truth. She needed to calm down.
"You are insane." Nihlus said.
Shepard whirled to face the Spectre. "Don't talk to me about insanity! Why the hell did you tell me to get clear? She was gunning for you! You're lucky your armor is the only thing that's cracked!" Shepard rebuffed instantly, a different sort of anger flashing through her.
Nihlus glared.
Shepard knew there would be a rebuff, so she turned to Garrus preemptively. "Let's go. I do not trust his assertion that his armor took the worst of the damage. I want Doctor Chakwas to run scans as soon as possible."
"Should we look at what else the mercenaries got here?" Garrus wondered.
Shepard paused, for the sake of thoroughness they should. Then time might be of the essence as well. For all they knew Nihlus might have internal bleeding he would not feel, if they delayed getting him to Chakwas he might deteriorate.
"As loathe as I am to say this, Vakarian has a point. We need to be thorough here." Nihlus said.
Garrus glared.
Shepard sighed, well at least his tendency to be a jerk to Garrus was still there, and there was definitely a point to that argument. "I am not wasting time here, EDI can hack their security. We grab all we can and sort it out later."
"My job here is done; I have a payment to collect." Wrex slipped in.
Shepard turned, "Thanks for the assist."
"It was interesting working with you, Shepard."
"Likewise." Shepard replied. Okay maybe that was not a hundred percent truth, she was still ambivalent about the krogan, but she would be polite. Wrex had knocked some of the fight out of D'Aros. If he had not, she would have been more trouble. Her team might have gotten hurt worse. She would be thankful and polite just for that.
She watched as the krogan folded his shotgun and stowed it away at the small of his back before he moved past them. Once he was past the doorway and on the ramp to the level up, she turned back to the turians. "Let's go." When she moved, Nihlus followed, but his footsteps were uneven, and when Shepard looked back she could see the tremble in his mandibles the wincing with every step.
The back of the compound was all small offices. Wherever the mercenaries slept at night, it was not in this structure. That only made Shepard nervous, in some back corner of her mind she thought they were between shifts. She did not want to have to fight another set of idiots who came in here for a guard shift only to find bodies and blood.
Once in D'Aros' office, Shepard discovered they did not even need to call up EDI to get access. It figures the asari had been working on something when Wrex showed up. She left her terminal on standby, but still essentially logged in. Clearly someone never heard of setting up a log-out timer for security purposes. Or it never even crossed her mind that she could be defeated. Shepard thought it more likely that it was the latter, all considering.
It took some ruffling through the asari's desk to find an OSD, but Shepard did, and within ten minutes she set up a mirror image of the system. Then as the system worked its way through the documents and files, she looked up from her seat behind the asari's desk.
The office was rather homey for being in such a dingy place. There was art on the wall, a landscape of some sort. Either Thessia, Illium, or some other Asari colony world, Shepard could not tell. The furniture was also not typical; some of it was made from actual wood. For being a sadistic nut job, D'Aros certainly had taste. Garrus was inspecting the office for a lack of something better to do. Nihlus hung by the door, arms crossed, leaning his back on the wall, trying to keep as much weight as he could off his clearly injured leg.
The terminal beeped, copy process complete. She secured the OSD, pulled it out, and tucked it into a compartment on her webbing. "Alright, what now?"
"Now," Nihlus said, dropping his arms to his sides. "Set that terminal to format."
"Right." Shepard nodded.
It was another fifteen minutes before they were done with the office. Nihlus wanted all the useful data destroyed. Effectively, if anyone stumbled into this place, they would have nothing more than the wares stashed away. Nothing of D'Aros' network of contacts, sources, client list, or anything else of the ilk would remain for someone to appropriate.
Shepard would have wanted to take out the contraband as well, but there was just no safe way to do it. Explosives and fire were a bad idea aboard an enclosed space station. A runaway fire would endanger the whole district. Then on top of that, a quick glance through the inventory lists ruled the possibility out for a whole other reason. There were things in some of those shelved crates that should not burn under any circumstance. It was far from ideal, scavengers or other Eclipse would reclaim the contraband. Really, this whole thing did not feel like a victory to her. Whatever damage they did to Eclipse would not amount to much. The only win was in removing the only person who had a reason to exact revenge on the colonists on Zealand.
When the three of them stepped out of the office, Shepard noticed that the Spectre's limp had gotten even more pronounced. Half an hour of standing in one place had probably caused his muscles to stiffen up. She sighed, "We have a long walk."
Nihlus looked down, but did not protest when she wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and slipped her right arm around his back to provide support. It was awkward, her shoulder protested being pulled so far back because of his carapace, but Shepard ignored it. She wanted to think he could not be that hurt if he was walking. He seemed lucid too, which meant he did not crack his head on anything. Internal bleeding seemed out of the equation as well, as he would have become lethargic by now if he was losing blood in any way.
It was slow going, Nihlus' limp was really bringing down their pace, and they had some kilometers to walk. It looked like she was in for quite a bit of quality time as the living crutch for a turian. Still, if he could tough it out, so would she.
"How did you even get that limp?" she whispered.
"My spur caught on a crate."
"Oh. Ouch." Shepard winced in sympathy.
"At least it is not broken. He would not be walking at all," Garrus explained.
"That'd get awkward quick," Shepard chuckled.
"Sure, make fun of the infirm." Nihlus groused.
"That's what you get for being reckless. Next time, stop thinking you're the only player on this team, and start playing ball."
"Humans and your sport metaphors." Nihlus grumbled.
"Right then, I'll say it plain. Don't ever do that again. Spectre or not, you are on my team now. We stick together and we come out together, or we don't come out at all. Understood?"
She felt him stiffen, idly wondering if she had ripped into him a bit too harshly, but she meant it, and she was not going to apologize or take it back.
"Understood."
"That goes for you too, Garrus. Don't take him as a role model."
Garrus laughed, "You do not need to worry, Commander, I will not be picking up Kryik's bad habits."
"He has plenty of his own, no need to be picking up mine." Nihlus slipped in, clearly amused.
The two exchanged looks, and Shepard saw something flicker across their expressions. In that moment, she had a sinking feeling that there was something passing between them that her ears could not pick up. She shook her head, males really were universal creatures. The universe was playing a grand cosmic joke on them all.
Their return walk took a good hour and a half, due to the need for rests. The thing with limps was that the other leg eventually began to voice complaints because it took more weight that it was used to. Still, she would give Nihlus credit for soldiering it. The fact that he did not seem to be getting worse meant that his leg was the worst of his injuries. All considering, Shepard thought luck had been firmly on their side today. When the Normandy was finally in sight, Nihlus heaved a sigh of relief that even she heard.
"Last stretch," she murmured, "Soon you'll be in the medbay, up to your mandibles in pain-killers and whatever other delightful concoctions Doctor Chakwas can dope you with."
Nihlus chuckled; his fingers squeezed her shoulder.
That was pretty much how their whole walk proceeded; Shepard kept up the levity, small talk to balm the awkwardness and the physical exertion. Occasionally Garrus would quip something, and they would exchange friendly barbs. Shepard smiled when they did, no matter how much they denied it, she could see a sort of soldierly camaraderie forming.
They were in the airlock in under five minutes, and then beyond it when the system ran a decontamination sequence.
"Hey, Commander. You're back!" Joker called from the bridge. By the time they cleared the bulkhead, Joker had spun his chair around. The second he laid his eyes on Nihlus who was still leaning on her, his eyebrows shot up, and the baseball cap on his head moved. "What happened?"
"Operational hazards," Shepard replied. "I'll tell you the story a bit later."
"Sure, okay."
With that said, Shepard helped Nihlus down the length of the CIC. She was utterly not surprised to see Kaidan up on the CIC with a cup of tea. The second he laid eyes on them, he set his tea down on the console and offered to help Nihlus instead. The Spectre waved him off. Shepard pointed out that she had an exo-frame, so she was good. Kaidan muttered a polite "yes, ma'am" and that was the end of it. Garrus followed them right down to the medbay; their arrival caused a further stir when those seated at the mess table noticed. Shepard waved the people down, saying it was not as bad as it looked.
They found Doctor Chakwas at her desk. The doctor took one good look at the three of them and then at Nihlus' cracked armor and tutted in that matronly way before ordering the Spectre to a table. Shepard smiled, glanced at Garrus and the two breezed out of the room before the doc would stick them on the tables right next to Nihlus. Before they even made it past the door, the privacy shutters over the medbay's windows onto the mess closed.
Garrus went ahead to his quarters in Life Support, and Shepard went down the shuttle bay to get rid of her gear. It was there, when she had to manipulate the various clasps of her webbing that she realized just how much pain she had in her hands. The knuckle of the middle finger on her right hand outright seared whenever it moved. When she took off her gloves, she saw both sets of knuckles were red and swollen. Shedding armor proved to be a long, awkward, and painful affair. As much as she disliked the thought, she knew a medbay trip was in her future. Ice would not fix this much damage. Thus once she was back in her fatigues, she sighed and decided to get it over with.
When she returned to deck three, she found that the medbay privacy shutters were still closed, and idly contemplated coming back later. She had about enough knowledge in this matter to know nothing was outright broken in there as she could move her fingers; it just hurt quite a bit. If there was a minor fracture, it did not need to be set, and should not get worse. Still, there was also the fact that she could not do anything with it, and Shepard hated wasting time.
She decided to brave it and stepped up to the medbay door. It opened, which surprised her.
"Commander, here to check on the Spectre?" Chakwas asked without turning around.
Nihlus sat on the bed in the middle of the room, most of his armor discarded, his undersuit pooled around his waist, and one leg hiked up, injured spur wrapped up in white bandaging. A light grey sleeveless sort of undershirt lay in his lap, and Shepard frowned when she saw a streak of blue on it. The doctor was working on something on his back, but it must not have been a complex procedure because she was already applying a square of adhesive bandage.
"How is he, doc?" Shepard asked.
"Unbelievably lucky. The armor ceramics did what they were designed to do."
"I have a shallow crack in one of my back plates. It is nothing, considering I landed on my back twice. The spur is sprained." Nihlus explained.
"Good, I'm glad you're alright. But… erm… doctor, when you're done with him, I think I have a busted knuckle. Punching an asari with her barrier up wasn't a good idea." Shepard explained.
"Have a seat, Commander." Chakwas straightened and moved toward the small sink in the back of the room. While the doctor disposed the used gloves and cleaned her hands in preparation for a new patient, Shepard sat on the other bed and watched Nihlus as he bent down to slip his boot back on.
Truthfully this was the first time she had seen a turian topless. Sure ICT covered some basic information on viable tactics when facing a turian in close combat, but the material there was largely clinical diagrams, often mutely colored and heavily labeled. This was decidedly a bit different. For one, seeing a turian in living color added unique characteristics. With Nihlus, she discovered the lines of on his face were not the only body art he had. There was a similarly complex design spanning the plates on his chest, abdomen, shoulders, upper back, and upper arms. Like his main colony markings, these had curves, lines, and tapered sections that enhanced his plates. Now whether they were a continuation of his colonial markings or merely personal aesthetics, Shepard had no idea. She would not ask either.
"Shepard, once your knuckles are fixed, we need to debrief and work on a report."
She blinked, coming out of her thoughts. "Ah yes. The paperwork." She said. Another reason to get her hands fixed sooner rather than later. Nihlus was footloose, but reports were on the short list of things he took very seriously.
"You two should rest. Paperwork can wait. Doctor's orders." Chakwas stepped in as she approached with her medical omni-tool up and ready to conduct scans.
Shepard held up her hands, palms down, allowing the doctor to do her scans. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nihlus pull on his undershirt, then the top of his undersuit and zip it up.
"You have a minor fracture in the middle knuckle of your right hand. The left is merely badly bruised," Chakwas announced.
Shepard grimaced; she knew it was coming. "I regret nothing."
Chakwas did not look pleased, but she did not say anything as she moved to the cabinet where she kept the pharmaceuticals.
"Now who is being incorrigible?" Nihlus murmured.
"You?" Shepard replied without missing a beat.
The Spectre's mandibles flicked in amusement.
"I assume that you do not wish to stay here for the regeneration frame, so I will give you a small dose of a regeneration stimulant. Have a good solid dinner with something that contains a lot of calcium, Commander." Chakwas came back with the hypojet and two vials of liquid.
"Yes, doctor." What more could Shepard say?
While the doctor treated her hands, Nihlus got back into his armor, much to her surprise. Once they were out of the medbay he explained that despite the cracks in the protective plating, front and back, the kinetic barrier emitters suffered only mild damage. He would not go into a protracted firefight in that condition, but the shield would stop a few good bullets. In the end though, they would have to go back to the Citadel before they could do any more jobs. He needed to get replacement parts at the Spectre requisition office. For security reasons the office did not accept remote orders, he had to go there in person.
Shepard left him to his devices and ventured down to engineering. Seeing as the marines were back aboard, she assumed that their mission had gone to plan. When she arrived, she found Adams overseeing the installation of the new couplings. Tali was practically giddy, she explained that they found them, near perfect condition, at Kenn's salvage depot. Kenn, a young quarian, had been all too willing to help them for a small exchange.
She got nervous when she mentioned that she kind of convinced the others to help her deal with a rather unpleasant Elcor, in order to help said quarian out. Anti-quarian sentiments were all too common on Omega where no one had to disguise them. Harrot, the Elcor salvage merchant, had forced Kenn to keep his prices high, as to remove competition. He was not all that impressed with quarians, but in the end it was Ashley and Kaidan who talked sense into him. Shepard assured Tali that they had done the right thing.
This invariably brought up the issue that the Normandy could not leave Omega for a few more hours. The parts had to be installed, integrated, verified, and calibrated. As a result, Shepard decided that they would stay the night on Omega. She would not hurry the engineers along needlessly.
With that Shepard returned to deck three, where she spotted the marine trio and Garrus waiting for dinner. "Skipper!" Ashley called.
"Hey," Shepard sat down at the table. "I was just in engineering, good job on the parts, especially the diplomatic solution to a certain problem." Shepard said.
"Tali made it sound better than it was. Diplomacy had little to do with it. I tried to reason with him, but… Williams here made the better argument." Kaidan said.
"Oh?"
"Harrot was being an ass. Kenn wanted get off the station, but instead of buying his stock out, Harrot made sure he'd never see a single credit. The idiot was leaning on competition he created for himself. I pointed that out. In so many words," Ashley said.
"Shrewd."
"Of course, that's after I got him to take us seriously." Ashley went on.
"The chief threatened him," Kaidan clarified.
"Ah." Now she understood why Tali did not go into details. She probably did not want to be the one to mention the arm-wringing; for fear of disapproval falling on her head by proxy, as the whole thing was her idea. "Well this is Omega. They say when in Rome…" she trailed off. The marines nodded their heads. As far as Shepard was concerned, a timely, well-chosen application of threat could still be called diplomacy.
"When in Rome what?" Garrus wondered.
"Oh sorry, Garrus. It's an old saying, when in Rome; do as the Romans. It means one ought to behave like the locals."
"I see," he replied.
Matthews appeared at the table then, balancing two trays of plates. Jenkins instantly leapt at helping the cook pass them around. Four plates of rice with what looked like grilled herbed salmon fillets. From the color of the rice Shepard could tell it was flavored with herbs or cooked in broth. The other plate had blue-tinged fillets on a brown, grain-like substance, similar looking to theirs.
"I'll never be able to eat at a base cantina again, is this real salmon?" Ashley asked as she picked up her fork.
"It's vat-grown. I saw the packaging." Kaidan said.
"Still good." Jenkins mumbled around his first mouthful, ever eager to dig in.
"The grilled pariki looks good too," Garrus slipped in. "I assume salmon is an Earth fish?"
"Yes, one of the more expensive edible fish. As for the pariki, I hope it's not over-herbed." Matthews offered.
"No, it smells fine." Garrus replied.
Matthews left them to eat with a noticeable spring in his step. After that it was largely a resumption of what had been going on before she got there. The marines had their own conversations. Garrus seemed listen to what the others were talking about, but he did not participate. Shepard had her own thoughts to filter through.
Thus she was not surprised that the marines finished eating before her and departed the mess table. Soon enough even Garrus finished and excused himself. Some of the other crewmates came around to pick up their meals to take back to the crew quarters where they preferred to eat. Nihlus had been a bad example in that way, since he got away with eating in his quarters, some of the others picked up the habit. Shepard let it slide on good faith.
The XO's cabin door swished open and Nihlus stepped out, still wearing his armor. He slipped his used dishes into the washer and then moved toward the elevator. Shepard noticed that he still had a faint limp.
"Nihlus, wait up a moment." Shepard called.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Debrief? Paperwork?" she asked.
"We got the night off, doctor's orders."
"Ah." Well that was a bit unusual, Shepard thought to herself. He normally did the good chunk of his report hot, while the memories were freshest. Maybe he was feeling worse than he let on?
Nihlus took that as conversation finished and made one more step toward the elevator, but then stopped and looked back. "I was going to get a drink or two, probably hit Afterlife. You want to come?" he asked.
Shepard blinked. Well that was definitely something out of the usual, or was it? Going to a noisy, crowded nightclub full of pole dancers and unscrupulous types was hardly her idea of fun. If she was honest, she wanted to avoid all noisy, crowded places full of pole dancers as a matter of course. Still, some little overprotective part of her mind said that Nihlus seemed to be a magnet for trouble on his best days, and today might not be one of them. His armor was damaged and this was bloody Omega. "Alright, can you give me twenty minutes?"
Nihlus straightened, his mandibles flicked.
She wolfed down the rest of her already cold food and made her way back down to the shuttle bay to get into her armor. Along the way she wondered if this was at all a good idea. She really did not like crowds, and did not feel comfortable in packed places. The councilor they made her see after Elysium explained that a lot of people who lived through what she lived through tended to become guarded, less able to let down their guard. She did not have enough symptoms to be diagnosed with outright PTSD, but she had the hypervigilance in a mild form. Shepard thought she learned to harness it, use it as a tool. She certainly never wanted it to rule her life, how she did things, and whom she interacted with. So there she was, getting into her armor, when all she wanted was to crawl into bed. She was unusually masochistic tonight.
She was up on the CIC in fifteen minutes and found Nihlus leaning on the bulkhead next to the airlock. She left Vincent behind, but brought the twins, and was not surprised to see Nihlus had brought his sidearm as well. Joker was not in his seat, which might be a blessing of another sort, because if he was, the whole ship would know about this.
"You really want a drink? From Afterlife?" Shepard asked as they stepped into the airlock.
"No offense, Shepard, but the dextro fare in the mini-bar is… scant."
"Ah. I'll make sure to leave a requisition form on the coffee table in the OD. Next time you decide to lounge, make a request. You're part of this crew as much as anyone."
"That simple?"
"Yep."
The outer door opened and Shepard led the way out. They walked the familiar distance toward the Afterlife in silence with Shepard minding their surroundings. She was not sure what time belt the station operated on, there was definitely no hint of any day or night cycle. The halls were as gloomy and as claustrophobic as she had seen the previous times.
Judging by the sound of his footsteps Nihlus had forced himself not to limp as soon as they were away from the ship, and by the time they were in front of the club he was practically strutting. The music bleeding out of Afterlife was just as uncomfortably loud, and the line was longer than before, making Shepard wonder if this was a good idea. She did not like being in the Afterlife the first time. Going there now, and for longer?
Surprisingly it took then only ten minutes to be allowed inside. Once inside, Shepard took full stock of the surroundings and grimaced. The music was louder now, there were more pole-dancers, and the dance areas were packed. Humans and batarians in blue and white Blue Suns armor were seated at the back. At one of the bar counters she spotted a few krogan in red, white-splattered armor denoting Blood Pack.
Nihlus sidled up to a bar where a barefaced turian was mixing drinks. The bartender finished pouring something to the human male at the end and stepped over to them. Nihlus ordered something called a "core breach", though Shepard could not be sure if that properly translated for her. She watched as the bartender poured lime green and sky blue liquids in equal measure into a glass, added a little bit of something clear, and then mixed the concoction until it took on a nearly glowing aquamarine hue. Then he slipped in a couple clear ice cubes and finished with a stick of something that visually resembled cinnamon.
"Anything for you?" Nihlus asked as he picked up his drink. "My treat."
Shepard blinked, "I honestly don't know what's on hand." Shepard murmured.
"We have a bit of everything." The bartender offered with a flick of his mandibles. "Depends on the mood."
"Friendly drinks with a co-worker after a day of hard work," Shepard replied.
"Ah. I have just the thing." The bartender reached under the counter and produced a bottle of violet-tinged, somewhat cloudy liquid. "Thessian Mikon. Its manufacturing is comparable to Terran Tequila, though it is half as alcoholic and sweeter. This particular bottle is the export variation, with no suspended element zero, but I do have the domestic as well."
Shepard smiled, "Sounds good, export please. Just one for now, I'll see about seconds later."
"Of course." The bartender pulled out a glass and poured the liquid into it, then stuck a round, reddish, berry-like fruit to the rim and slid the glass toward her, "Enjoy your… friendly drinks."
"Thank you," she said as she picked up the glass, consciously choosing to ignore the undertone in his words. The bartender nodded and busied off toward his other customers. Bartenders were the other universal creatures of the galaxy it looked like. Even in the armpit of the galaxy.
Shepard spared Nihlus a questioning look, but he was not even looking her way, but scanning the surroundings. Before she could say a word he was moving. Shepard followed automatically, and soon enough it became obvious why he moved. A small group of three had vacated one of the tables, and Nihlus made a straight line for it.
She sat across from him and put her drink on a coaster made from a folded tissue napkin.
"You are not really in the mood for drinks, are you?" Nihlus asked after a moment.
"Getting drunk is not a good idea with a regen stim in the system." Shepard replied.
"Oh. Right… that slipped my mind."
"It's no big deal," Shepard replied. She could nurse the drink, that way it did not hit the sink. She leaned back in her seat and lifted the glass to her lips to take one good sip.
He hummed and took a swig of his own, but said nothing.
Shepard focused on scanning her surroundings. The Mikon was actually quite good; she would give the bartender kudos. "I should apologize, I'm hardly good company right now." She murmured.
"Not for that." Nihlus replied.
She met his gaze and raised an eyebrow. Nihlus drained his drink in one last swig and brought the glass down. Shepard grinned, she hoped he did not plan to be knocking them all back like that.
"Shepard, I am not blind." He went on. "Your… reaction today. You control your emotions as you control everything else, but anger seems to be the one you struggle with."
Shepard froze and gripped her glass tighter before forcing herself to relax.
"You withdraw when you lose control. Last time it was Eden Prime." He continued.
"Buying me one drink hardly means you get to lecture me."
"I am not lecturing. For that, you would need to do something I see as a mistake."
Shepard blinked, but said nothing.
"Whatever you think you did wrong, whether it was losing your temper, beating D'Aros as you did, or even letting the krogan shoot her…" He paused there for a long moment. There was something atypical in his expression. Those green eyes did not have their usual severe, piercing quality. "That last one… the order of addition does not change the sum."
"You are trying to cheer me up." Give her the prize for stating the most obvious thing in the galaxy for the year.
"And failing miserably, I think." He replied.
Shepard smiled, she did not know whether he was playing stupid right now, or whether he was actually fishing, but he got a lucky hole-in-one along the line. "I would not call that effort a failure. It's a six out of ten, a clear, if inglorious pass."
He chuckled and swirled his empty glass, "I can live with that. I am going to get another one of these," He picked up his empty glass. "Hold the fortress?"
Shepard watched him go and took another sip of her drink. Suddenly a flash of red out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She almost reached for Sin when she realized the krogan approaching the table had no white on his red armor and he was carrying a large drink, not a weapon. She took another sip of her Mikon and her eyes found Nihlus, still at the bar. The krogan stopped in front of the table, towering over her.
"Wrex."
"Shepard." He replied as he pulled one of the chairs out and eased his bulk on it.
Shepard raised an eyebrow, well that was certainly direct. Did he not realize that Nihlus would be back any moment now? Well, odds were he did not care.
"You plan to be on Omega for long?" he asked.
"Truthfully? No. Just tonight."
"Good. An Alliance ship on Omega. Stick around long enough and some idiots will probably try to take it."
"They can try." Shepard replied. Over Wrex's shoulder she saw Nihlus turn, and the instant his eyes landed on the krogan, his brow plates drew down.
"When they do, they deserve all they get," Wrex chuckled.
"I respect you, Wrex, but let's cut the pleasantries. What do you want?" Shepard wondered.
He straightened in his seat, causing the chair under him to groan. "I am between jobs, so I thought I'd offer you my skills. Lots more dirty mercenaries out here for your turians to bungle killing."
Shepard hummed; somehow she should have known this would be the case. Why else would a mercenary approach her?
"We will have to pass," Nihlus said as he sat down on the third chair.
Shepard did not want to irk the krogan, but she also knew that Nihlus had his moments of prickliness. This situation had the potential to turn ugly rather quickly. She spared Nihlus a look which he pretended not to see as he took a sip of his drink. Wrex probably chose not to reply to Nihlus, his red eyes remained locked on her.
"The offer is tempting," Shepard ventured. "However, I am hardly a person who can hire a mercenary, no matter how impressive his skills are. My mission is more than bringing justice to crazy asari. I am a dog of the Alliance, got the collar and leash. Right now, we're more concerned with Eden Prime."
"Hah. The Geth finally did something where someone cares," Wrex mused.
Shepard blinked, stunned, "What do you mean?"
Wrex's return blank stare was a reply all its own. "Eden Prime was the first time they did something in what some call civilized space, Shepard."
Shepard blinked, stunned, "Meaning they were active out here before that?"
Wrex rumbled his non-verbal assent.
"This is the first time I hear of this," Nihlus said.
"Do all Spectres think they know everything?" Wrex wondered. Then he turned his head to give her one more of his looks. "See? This is why you need me, Shepard. I know the Terminus better than this whelp."
Nihlus spared the krogan a withering look. Shepard would have smiled, what with the Spectre now on the receiving end of what he normally dished, but this was not the time for that.
"They first came out about nineteen years ago." Wrex added. "Whenever they emerge, it's always because of some Prothean tech."
"And since everyone in this galaxy wants Prothean tech, that alone is not the weird part."
"Precisely."
Shepard could not be surprised at this revelation; it seemed to fit a pattern. The Geth certainly had a penchant for covert action. It really did not matter how long ago they got into the system on the Citadel, just that they had. Their actions on Daiwi showed they had the capacity for clandestine operations of another sort, they could plan. They may be synthetic, but there was nothing artificial about their intelligence.
She could not raise the topic with Nihlus right now, not in Wrex's immediate presence, but they would have to discuss the ramifications later. Nineteen years was too specific a timeframe for a race of synthetics created over two centuries prior. Something changed; something made them come out of insularity, start pursuing Prothean tech in this manner. Shepard could not help but think it was all connected to the fact that the black unit was not even a real geth.
As the thought crossed her mind she froze in her seat. If she looked at the pieces with the idea that there was someone guiding the geth as troops, then the pieces began to align. The questions then became, who, why, and how they got the Geth to obey. Then one had to wonder, how they managed to keep control for nineteen years.
"I don't suppose you'd know what sort of tech they're after," Shepard murmured. That was the more innocuous question, but it could be a piece of the puzzle. She had a feeling though. The beacon and the computers were rather specific things. They were not collecting cultural artifacts and works of art.
"I never cared to ask."
Shepard sighed; well there was a limit to how much information one could get from one individual. Still, Wrex had just given her something.
"So how about it?" he rumbled.
Nihlus looked less than pleased, and Shepard knew why. He liked to think he was on top of everything, that his status as a Spectre put him in the know. Except now Wrex proved him otherwise. There was some credence to the argument that the krogan knew the Terminus better. Beginning with his lifespan and ending with the fact that Spectres were still fundamentally considered, however loosely, to be law enforcement, and that meant they were at a disadvantage when it came to information gathering out here. The Terminus was hardly full of snitches eager to report everything to the first Spectre that crossed their path. Information rarely came free. You either had to do favors for your sources, or sink so low as to use force. Shepard had a feeling Nihlus' pride prevented him from doing both too often, or at all. "I just want to know, why? Why do you want to work for me?" Shepard asked.
Wrex leveled his red eyes squarely on her, "There's a storm coming, Shepard. If the Geth start a war with your people, I don't intend to miss what ought to be a good fight."
At least he was honest with his intentions. Shepard still could not decide if she wanted to add him to the team or not. Aside from that, if he was right and there was a storm on the horizon, she would end up caught right in the middle. Apart from the Quarians and within the Alliance she had the most experience with the synthetics. She was also ahead of the rest of the galaxy in seeing a disturbing pattern. Perhaps Wrex even realized that she knew more than she let on. She would not put it past him. He already showed an uncanny intellect belied by a dark wit and a penchant for brutality.
"This is a bad idea, Shepard," Nihlus said.
Shepard spared him a look. His shoulders slumped, which was all she needed to know, he would have probably said more. She turned back to Wrex, "I need some time to prepare the official paperwork, Wrex, but you are welcome to come to the Normandy in the morning, by Terran Coordinated. We'll make this official with a contract and pay, if that is alright."
"I don't normally sign contracts. A lot of what I do leaves no paperwork." Wrex mused.
Shepard did not even twitch; she was not going to budge on this. If he did not sign the paperwork, he was not working for her. She did not want to give anyone any excuse to say anything.
"In this case though, yea, a contract will work." Wrex finished.
She glanced at Nihlus and noted a faint, tick-like twitch in his mandibles. His eyes were focused on Wrex like missile-guiding lasers.
The krogan got up and grabbed his drink, "I'll be there, Shepard."
Shepard nodded and watched as he walked back to the bar. The batarian that occupied his seat practically tripped as he rushed to vacate it anew when the Krogan loomed over him. Shepard found that oddly amusing.
As she scanned the angle she had on this level of the club, her eyes landed on two turians standing at the base of the stairs leading up to an enclosed booth overlooking the floor. One of them was unmistakably Janus. His friend was taller than him, similarly colored, with dark eyes, and if she squinted she could see markings on him. They were done in a color a few shades lighter than his plates, going almost wholly invisible, but still there.
"Shepard?" Nihlus asked.
"Janus is watching us," she said.
"It is not every day that a human, a turian, and a krogan talk without violence to follow," Nihlus mused, draining the last of his drink.
She hummed as she stared Janus down. His mandibles flicked in amusement. His friend glanced to his left, up at the booth. Shepard's eyes flicked to follow. There was a figure standing behind the shielding glass of the enclosed booth. A tall, blue-eyed, violet asari clad in black outfit that reminded Shepard of Asari Commando leathers, but with a white cropped jacket on top. Shepard locked eyes with the asari and held her gaze. Was she the owner of the club? The intensity of her gaze was palpable, but Shepard was not about to baulk.
"It takes you this long to intimidate him?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard looked toward him and raised an eyebrow. Did he think she was having a staring contest with Janus of all people? "You think he has that much spine?"
Nihlus laughed.
When she glanced back up toward the booth, the asari was gone. Shepard picked up her glass and drained the last of her one drink.
Author Notes: Wrex is another character that required total intro arc rewrite. I wanted to highlight that he's a wily guy. He pulls obfuscating… stereotype. He plays up to every idea people got of what Krogan are like, because "what they assume I'm incapable of, will kill them". Yes, he is a living wrecking ball, but seeing Shepard, Nihlus, and Garrus for whom they are is intelligence as well. Giving him the M-300 Claymore shotgun is a conscious decision. Wrex is one of the last true Krogan Battlemasters, biotics and ruthless efficiency with weapons, all in one. That said, only one more crewmate left to gather for this season. Not dropping who it is, but guesses are welcome.
General Notes:
Biotic Powers – I have my own interpretation slash head-canon, free from the limitations of game mechanics. This episode was kind of a show-case for that. For example, yes D'Aros was an adept powerful enough to last against Wrex, but she couldn't do much against someone who got point-blank near her. She (like all adepts) is an RPG mage, can dish a lot of hurting at range, but can't take it. Sentinels trade a great deal of their offensive capabilities for crazy biotic defenses, ones they're capable of using to shield their allies; Kaidan is a case of this. Vanguards are unique in that they can use their biotics to augment physical prowess. Ever seen a martial artist split boards? A powerful vanguard can split much more than just a few boards. Wrex is capable of this, combined with the fact that he's monstrously strong even without his biotics.
Chapter Notes:
St. Elmo's Corona – St. Elmo's fire is not actually fire; it is a phenomenon where glowing plasma forms through ionization around pointed objects within a strong electric field. Classically it manifested on the tips of sail-ship masts sailing through a thunderstorm at night. It is called St. Elmo's fire because Saint Erasmus of Formia is the patron saint of sailors, and his name could be shortened to "St. Elmo". In my head-canon, when very powerful biotics get very mad, their anger-intensified fields ionize the air around them to the point of producing this rippling/licking effect.
Hypojet – This little device is basically a hypospray, which is based on something that exists in real life, known as the Jet Injector. It is a way to deliver medicine without the use of a metal needle, though the earliest RL versions still tended to transmit disease regardless of seeming like they shouldn't (they're working on that in RL, for ME-verse, we'll assume they fixed it). Similar devices, indeed called a "hypospray", have appeared in Star Trek and Mission Impossible, as well as being mentioned in The Man From U.N.C.L.E books. I call them 'hypojets' as a mix of their sci-fi name and RL name. Because I can.
Asari cuisine – The Asari add Eezo into their food/drinks, because all of them are biotic, and small regular consumption is said to increase potential. However, as canon notes, their export products are eezo-free.