Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: First and foremost I'd like to wish everyone happy holidays and new year. Now, without further ado, please enjoy.
Episode 58: Plains of Pharsalus
Shepard stepped out of that meeting room first, mind set on getting her answers. However all all her intentions derailed and went up in a fireball as soon as all eyes turned on her and she saw the new arrivals. Garrus and Ashley stood right across from the door, where she would not have had to look for them, and both Admiral Hackett and her mother were still there. Yet sometime during the meeting the group grew with the arrival of Leif, Gino, Ethan, and Aisha.
"The entourage grows," Nihlus said blandly.
"Commander!" Garrus called, practically teleporting across the corridor to her side.
"Skipper," Ashley followed, but much more calmly.
However before Shepard could say a word, she caught a flash of periwinkle in the corner of her eye, and instinctively turned her head. Leif was grinning like a maniac and the tips of his hair had risen. She opened her mouth to bark at him not to even think about it, but Ethan stepped forward, and into the blond's trajectory. Leif's field dissipated instantly.
"Is everything alright?" The tall man asked.
Shepard grinned, she would not buy Ethan's feigned innocence. He had done all that intentionally. "Yes, everything is fine. I guess I'm just… jumpy."
"What about the meeting?" Ashley asked as the whole group gathered round.
Shepard noted that Leif was glaring at the back of Ethan's head. He would get over being denied soon enough though. "It went almost as good as could be," she replied.
"Almost," Hannah stepped in.
All eyes turned to the older woman. Gino looked first to her, then back to Shepard, his brows drawing together, shadowing his eyes.
Shepard sighed. Of course her mother would understand that sort of statement and then tip everyone off. "I can't be sure, but… I think Lindholm agreed too quickly." That and Shepard suspected that her mother had a hand in Bashar being there, but she would not go for that immediately.
Hannah glanced toward Hackett.
Then both Nihlus and Garrus hummed in rather matching tones that could not be a coincidence either.
Ashley turned to glare down the corridor.
Shepard knew she owed them an explanation. "I mean she really couldn't argue against me, as she had nothing that could stick. I'm almost a walking, talking, loophole… the Alliance has to learn what having a Spectre means. But still-" She fervently hoped that all of this unease was simply because she was worked up, stuck in a loop, unable to turn down her hyperactive danger sense.
"Ah!" Hannah said, drawing attention back to herself. "You're overthinking it. It is as you say, they have nothing on you that can stick… not after you've helped things along. You've won. Do feel free to remind them of those responsibilities, because they are acting like a child who just got that pony they asked for."
Shepard noted more than one set of eyebrows rise, her own included. "If that is not the most… ludicrously apropos comparison, I don't know what is, mom."
Admiral Hackett had turned to look down the hallway, but his lips were twitching, he was trying his best not to smile.
"My point is…" Hannah cut in, crossing her arms loosely under her bust. "Don't let them get to you. Yes until they figure things out they will make your life trickier, but they are unlikely to punish you outright. There's nothing Lindholm can do to change that." Then she raised one hand, index finger up, "Though she will posture, bluster, maybe even threaten you."
Nihlus snorted, but said nothing at all.
Shepard blinked, Lindholm had threatened her already. Her mother's understanding of admiral was almost eerie.
"Oh I see… well congratulations." Hannah smiled. "She now knows she can't win. She will try something desperate, and possibly vindictive," a note of disdain crept into the captain's words, "but it can't go far. She will let everyone know she's displeased, though. The last refuge she still has."
"With what we've got, damn right it can't go far," Gino stepped in.
Shepard turned to the Italian and caught his gaze. Gino would understand just as well as her asking in words. He smiled and nodded. Shepard then turned to Admiral Hackett. Was she understanding that correctly?
"I plan to make Mikhailovich regret what he did," Hackett said, a steely edge in his voice.
Shepard nodded. Now it made sense why Leif, Gino, and Ethan were here. Aisha was probably tagging along to make official introductions.
"Shepard, you've certainly done enough for now." Hackett went on, his tone softening. "This has been a stressful time for you. First the murder charges, now this, on top of everything else that's on your plate. Take whatever time you need to work things out."
"Thank you, Admiral," Shepard replied. "But I still have one last question."
"Just one?" Hannah asked, amused.
"Just one, mom. Wright mentioned that Bashar volunteered for this hearing. I get the feeling that he had a reason to do that."
"I should think he did, but don't you worry about it. It's like Steven said, you've done enough. Leave the rest to us, and go have fun!" Hannah smiled. "I myself have a late lunch planned with Kastanie."
Shepard blinked, that was not an answer… but then the realization metaphorically bricked her in the head. It was an answer! Her mother admitted to meeting with Retired Admiral Kastanie Drescher. The same retired admiral who used to be both Hannah's and Bashar's commanding officer. If Shepard ran with the easy assumptions, the rest explained itself. Her mother would have sent her old friend a message, surreptitiously talking about events in their lives. Admiral Drescher likely would not have liked to hear that her old favorite was having trouble with Lindholm of all people. After that, it was a matter of Drescher placing some calls, and it was plausible that she knew Bashar and that he went into politics. Even if she only asked him to look into things, it would have got the gears turning. "Have fun gossiping, mom."
Hannah flashed her Mona Lisa smile.
Shepard knew that was all she would get. She turned back to the admiral, only to see that he was looking at something on his omni-tool in feigned distraction. She had already been dismissed, and it was better that she did not break the illusion. She turned back to her team. "Alright people. Let's go." She flicked her hand, turned, and started toward the elevator.
Three steps down the corridor she was utterly unsurprised that Nihlus slid into position on her right, as casual as could be. That had kind of become his place, and his stability was definitely a source of comfort for her.
"Where to?" Leif asked as he appeared on her left.
"Mostly I want out of here… oh and Gino, can I ask you to do something for me?" If they were going to play her celebrity entourage, she might as make them work for the complete illusion.
"Anything, Cara." Gino replied.
"C-Sec had to handle my twins during their investigation. Could you take a look at them and make sure they're still up to your standards? You can use the equipment we have on the Normandy." That would do to tell them where she was going too.
"With pleasure."
"I'll show you what we have, I'm in charge of the armory on board," Ashley volunteered.
"I would appreciate that," Gino replied.
"Thanks, Ash." Shepard smiled as they turned the corner, elevator in sight. "I also need to find a range that can handle an anti-materiel caliber rifle. I wanted to try out my new gun, and I promised Legion that I'd take them along."
"So they did built that gun for you?" Nihlus asked.
"Yes, happy now?" Shepard replied. Out of the corner of her eye she noted that Gino's curiosity was instantly piqued, but he said nothing. She made a mental note to show off later, because for once she could get away with it.
"You are supposed to be relaxing," Nihlus pointed out.
Shepard pressed the button to call the elevator. "Nihlus, shooting targets with Legion is relaxing." Legion was not going to get competitive, unless she wanted a friendly competition. Also, she made a promise, and intended to keep it. Legion never really asked for anything, and say what they may, they seemed to enjoy the attention. In some ways this kind of felt important.
"Only you would think that, Shepard." Nihlus shook his head.
"Not really. I think it's a sniper thing. When it's just you and the rifle… it's like meditation." Shepard murmured.
The elevator chimed, announcing its arrival. Shepard would call that conversation over with.
Before they could leave the building Shepard gave the ANN reporter a little something for today's top story. Most of what she said made the procedure sound entirely pro forma. Then the reporter asked for her opinions on the whole Hierarchy situation, so Shepard smiled into the camera and put on a show while stressing that there was nothing to worry about. Wright mentioned what the Parliament's general mood was, and what they were likely to do. It was as good as telling her where the wind was blowing and how fast, so all she did was read out the weather forecast.
After that, the size of their group necessitated obtaining a slightly larger transport vehicle, a van variant of the standard flying Skycab. Once they were on their way, Shepard made formal introductions to Aisha. By the end, she was positive that Leif had not lost his sanity, yet. Aisha was a calm but undeniably outgoing type. Curiously, her English was tinged with both Irish and French accents that showed through as there was no need for the translator to work as an intermediary between them. When Shepard asked, Aisha revealed that her mother was from Martinique and her father was Irish, so her first languages were French and Gaelic, and that she had learned English in school.
That served to cement Shepard's certainty that Aisha's callsign should be "le Fay". Furthermore, since Leif insisted on perpetuating that deity motif, he would probably make the easy connection and say that Aisha was Morrigan, the ancient Irish deity associated with war and fate. Hopefully Aisha had learned roll her eyes when Leif started on that. Not that Shepard would ask in mixed company. Admitting that she understood the way Leif's mind worked in private was embarrassing, but to do so in mixed company? She figured 'mortifying' might just begin to cover it. Leif was an incurable cheeseball, and as much as that amused her, she would not consciously enable him.
In the end, they agreed to talk more via email, time permitting, because Aisha only followed them as far as the docks. She was still on hook for a few more shifts standing outside the Hierarchy vessel. Admiral Hackett wanted to make everything look official, and Aisha fully understood why. Her smile on parting could have very well lit up the room. It also made Shepard realize that Aisha had the same dichotomy going as Ethan. No one would take the quiet giant for being fearsome and ruthless, and no one would take someone as overtly-friendly, open, and cheerful as Aisha for capable of thinking to peel a slaver out of his armor in the void.
After parting ways, Shepard led the rest of the group to the Normandy. It was a five minute walk, but for some reason it felt longer than that to Shepard. She would blame lingering adrenaline and feeling inexplicably out of sorts. By the time they reached the airlock, she was perfectly ready to get back into her comfortable fatigues, and get back to business. Assuming her crew would permit it.
As they went through the airlock cycle, Shepard busied making a mental checklist. However, when as the inner airlock door opened and Shepard saw Tali and Jenkins that kind of went out the window. Jenkins' whole face lit up, giving her a big smile as he came to attention, saluted, and giddily shouted "Commander on Deck!" for the CIC to hear, setting off a whole chain reaction of responses. Shepard realized her unruly herd of cats were set on doing some pageantry.
After Jenkins' display, there was Kaidan's meeting with Leif, which brought Shepard a little too much semi-sadistic glee. The whole thing began with the greeting, with Leif clapping the older lieutenant on the back hard enough to momentarily off-balance him. Then Leif proceeded to tease him like his life depended on it. Shepard should have probably felt bad for turning a blind eye to that, but Kaidan and Ashley had conspired against her, so she just could not muster enough sympathy. All considering, Leif's boisterous side was not the most evil thing Shepard could subject Kaidan to. She took the opportunity to go up to her loft to change out of her officer's uniform back into her more comfortable fatigues, and was down back on deck two in less than fifteen minutes.
Overall it was the prelude for more to come, with deck three as the center of it all. As soon as Shepard appeared in the mess area, she was bombarded by an eager, curious crew who wanted to know if there was going to be a command change. Shepard got the distinct impression that some of the enlisted had been planning a protest against any new commanding officer. They couched it as giving the new officer the passive-aggressive treatment, but Shepard knew that what started as slacking off, would end up escalating from there. The Normandy would mysteriously become that ship where nothing seemed to work entirely right, and the commander's cabin was the center of small inexplicable technical malfunctions explained away as supernatural by a crew that suddenly turned very superstitious.
When that was settled Matthews poured her a cup of hot chocolate, smiled, announced that there was cause to celebrate, and busied off. Before Shepard fully realized what was going on, or could stop him, the chef marshalled one of the enlisted men to aid him in preparing a feast. Shepard tried to protest, she really did, but the cook pretended that he could not hear her because the other man was talking into his healthy ear. Not that Shepard was going to buy that. Matthews was only deaf in his right ear, an aftereffect of an accident during his infantry days, but he had an implant that controlled his tinnitus and restored seventy-five percent of the normal auditory range, including speech frequencies. He was fooling no one.
Nihlus and Garrus vanished in the midst of it all, the former likely slinking off into the XO's cabin, and the latter to Life Support, when she was not looking. Shepard suspected that Nihlus was dead-set on avoiding cargo bay duty, but Garrus? Maybe he had something to do? Well, she was going to enjoy watching them try to wheel and deal out of it. If that was evil, then she was evil.
The crew scattered more slowly, spirits visibly buoyed, talking among themselves a little louder than normal. She lingered a minute longer, glaring at the XO's cabin door, but then proceeded to take Gino down to the shuttle bay. Ashley followed behind them and Ethan brought up the rear.
Meanwhile, at the First Fleet Headquarters…
Ines Lindholm stormed into her office, and she was in the mood to rip someone's head off, preferably a Shepard's. On the one hand, Shepard Junior getting away with her schemes had not come as a total surprise to Ines. The upstart was good at playing people, positioning herself on the crest of the popular opinion wave. She also had Kryik trained to dance on her leash. That uncanny ability to convince people that it would benefit them to do what she wanted them to do was something she undoubtedly learned from Shepard Senior. Hannah had been the original upstart, and continued to exercise more power and influence than due to her rank. Ines had seen her hovering about, as calm and unbothered as ever, which infuriated Ines even more.
Andrea shot up to her feet almost as soon as the office door opened, and for once she did not look like she had any inane questions to ask. Lindholm could not deal with that right then. "Andrea, I want you to contact Udina on the Citadel. I need to talk to him regarding something important. Make sure you stress that it is important, understand? I will be very cross if you let anyone stop you for anything short of his death."
"Yes, ma'am." The woman replied.
Ines was already halfway to her office when the girl replied, and went in, only to stop inside the doorway for a brief moment, "And when you're done with that, I want tea. Something to calm me down. One sugar, the real kind, Andrea."
"Yes, ma'am!" the secretary replied.
Ines stepped deeper into her office, allowing the door to close behind her, and made her way toward her desk. She did not know what time of day it was on the Citadel right then, and she did not care, Andrea would work through that. As far as Ines was concerned this was an emergency. Shepard would push to get full Spectre status, and she saw it as her duty to try and head her off. The Alliance really did not need a Shepard with that much power.
Ines sat down, pressed the button to lock the door, and leaned back into her seat. She sat there for a few seconds to calm her breath, but then reached for her console. A few taps brought it out of standby. She made straight for her local communicator and tapped an identifier to connect her with Mikhailovich.
The comm link pinged at regular intervals as the call went out. Lindholm tapped a nail on her desktop as she waited. Then, about ten seconds later, it clicked.
"Ines Lindholm, ma'am, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I don't have time for pleasantries, Mikhailovich. I am waiting on an important call. Shepard got away with her scheme. The parliament really do want that Spectre, and they don't care if they allow a Shepard to get away with even more than they already do," Lindholm said.
Mikhailovich sighed loud enough that the comm link actually picked it up. "What are you going to do now? I assume that's where that other call comes in?"
"Yes. I still have one last recourse, Udina, but that is not why I called you." Almost as soon as the name left her lips, Lindholm realized that maybe it had not been the best idea to mention it. However, it was done, there was no taking it back, the only thing left to her was to distract him. "I saw Hackett and Shepard Senior today. They were far too calm, even for them. I have a bad feeling about it. I would suggest you keep low for a few days."
Mikhailovich hummed. "I have some paperwork to catch up on."
"Good. Just so you understand."
"Shepard will get her dues in time. They always do." Mikhailovich said.
"Yes, she will." Lindholm replied. "That will be all, for now. If anything else happens, I will be in touch."
"Of course."
She tapped the button to close that line. Mikhailovich would deal with being brushed off. Giving him even that much notice was mostly covering up her own trail, an uncharacteristic favor on her part. He would have to remember where he stood in the grand order of these things.
Ines drummed her fingers on her desk as she waited for Andrea to do her job. It was almost ten whole minutes before the indicator on an off-Station communication request began to blink on her terminal. Ines practically stabbed the button to open the link. "Ambassador Udina, hello!" She affected her best convivial cheer, even if she hardly felt convivial.
"Admiral Lindholm, are you aware what time of evening this is?" Udina replied, sounding terse and clipped.
Ines did not like his tone one bit, but she needed something from him, and for that she would let it slide. "I do apologize for disturbing you, Ambassador, however I wanted to let you know of some recent developments regarding Commander Shepard."
There was a rustle over the link, "I'm listening."
He sounded much calmer and definitely interested right then. That was good for her. "I assume you are aware that during the investigation into those murder charges on the Citadel, Shepard allowed the turian Citadel Security detective on-board the Normandy, and that he saw the Normandy's Thanix, correct?"
"Yes. I am also aware that the Primarch is on Arcturus Station right now to talk with parliamentary representatives. Shepard really ought to learn the proper definition of what a diplomatic incident is."
Ines was happy to hear that Udina's tone was appropriately full of disdain. The ambassador was not worshipping at the altar of the Cult of Shepard. If she explained things the right way then this might actually go somewhere. "The Parliament is hesitant to do the one thing that needs to be done. Shepard allowed the turians to discover that we reverse engineered their precious Thanix systems, worse, that our version is functional, and she is not apologizing for it. She has… about everyone convinced that what she did might be a good thing, and that it will work out!"
"There is nothing I can do about that. Loathsome as it is, refusing to cooperate with that investigation would have looked worse." Udina replied.
"I brought Shepard in for a disciplinary hearing. The parliament is covering all the bases, but the intent is clear, they're willing to let her get away with anything if she can make her explanations look good and become a Spectre, and she's close. Kryik is wrapped around her finger."
"Yes, I've always had the distinct impression that her mentor has become more of a… lap-dog," Udina replied.
"She is an arrogant brat and a traitor!" It took Ines a real effort not to snap fully. The Alliance really did not need Shepard taking them all for fools. "Give her the status of Spectre, and she will use it as an excuse to become even more insubordinate. Kryik already spun a very pretty story about how Spectres are not supposed to play favorites, and that they serve everyone. We both know that is patent bullshit."
"Of course it is, and I can definitely see your concern. I am aware of how much influence some Spectres have over the Council. Shepard obtaining so much power…"
Ines smiled, Udina sounded perfectly displeased. She could practically hear the man's thoughts form in his head. She only needed to help them along with a little nudge. "Yes, someone like her, who does not put Alliance interests first, should not be allowed to… ah, influence how the Council deals with the Alliance. It certainly isn't her place to be the one the Council deals with, over, for example, parliament-appointed officials."
Udina hummed, his tone dropping lower, and Ines knew that he made the intended logical leap. He was certainly enough of an egoist that Ines could count on him thinking of himself first. He was also unashamedly ambitious, with his eyes on a Council seat, and pushed Alliance interests to feather his cap. Admittedly, Udina lacked the gentle touch, and he could learn to be more subtle, but that certain lacking still made him useful. If she pushed the right buttons he would get her what she wanted, and he was certainly self-serving enough to be careful. Parliament would have his head if they found out that he had done anything to cost them their Spectre. There was only one little problem, selling him on the idea. Like Parliament, he probably saw obtaining a Spectre as another step along the road to a Council seat. She had to convince him that Shepard would not be the right Spectre, and here too Udina's ego might just be the key.
"I can definitely agree there, Admiral. It wouldn't do for that little girl to achieve influence over the Council."
"I do think that Shepard, maybe even unconsciously, is… not on the Alliance's side. She favors her… non-Alliance personnel. There are two Turians on board the Normandy, along with a Quarian, and a Geth! I hear there used to be a Krogan too." Ines' smile grew wider as she listed that. It was enhancing the bait, really.
Right then, Udina seemed like he understood her, but was choosing not to say it out loud. She would give him plenty enough to think about. He would stew on it all, and his mind would eventually convince him that Shepard was a personal danger to him and the Alliance. It was how the ambitious, arrogant, and dangerously proud would eventually convince themselves of the worst, every time. Udina might not do anything today or tomorrow, but it was only a matter of time. If Shepard decided to go to the Citadel now, to stage anything that even vaguely resembled a triumph, the thoughts would only germinate faster. Yes, Ines just had to sit back, watch, wait, and be ready to act when the time was right.
"Yes, I am aware of her… eccentric crew. Thank you for updating me on the situation, Admiral. Now is there anything else?" Udina finally broke the silence that had settled over the moment.
"No, I said what needed to be said," now was the time to back away, lest she show too much of her hand. "Thank you for your time, Ambassador, and I do apologize for the late call."
"That is alright, for something this important, one late call can be excused. Have a good day, madam."
The line clicked as Udina disconnected the call. Lindholm leaned back into her chair, putting her elbows on the armrests as she clasped her hands before her. For a brief moment she allowed herself to picture the look on Hannah Shepard's face when her little poppet ended up convicted of severe breaches of decorum and rank privilege, with a side of insubordination. Ines was going to make sure someone took a photograph of Hannah when that happened.
Her office door chimed, which pulled Ines back to reality. She tapped the button that unlocked and opened the door. Andrea stepped in, carrying a silver tray with a fine china teacup and saucer, the hot water in small kettle, and the sugar cube container. Ines realized that she forgot to tell Andrea to get her some dessert. Well, no matter, she could order the girl to go get some now.
An Hour Later, on the Normandy…
It took Gino only half an hour to completely disassemble, double-check, and re-assemble the twins. Right then, he was running software diagnostics on the components.
Ashley hovered near the maintenance worktables, watching the Italian work. She had played the operating room assistant, finding and giving Gino tools, as she knew best where everything happened to be. Now she was as curious as everyone else.
Shepard sat on a crate nearby, looking up and messaging firing ranges about what caliber weapons they could handle, and keeping any would-be curios-parade away from Gino, lest they disturb him. While he was likely to lose himself in his work to the point of forgetting meals, he also tended to become touchier if someone did do something to disturb him while he was at it. The cardinal sin was for a stranger to do so while he was in the middle of mucking with software. Gino would happily blame every incorrect line of code on the poor stranger. He was quite observant, sharp-tongued, and tended to go for people's self-esteem if crossed. They would never find out if he actually sent anyone to counseling with that, but the odds were not zero.
Ethan stood next to her, back to a support pillar, arms crossed, just passing the time in silence as he often did. His behavior was entirely unsurprising to anyone who knew him. Ethan was the most patient of the four of them. What was surprising was that Tali joined them about half an hour ago, perching on a crate next to Shepard, and watching quietly. Really though, that worked for Shepard, as she had every intention to introduce Gino to the girl, when it was safe for all of their egos to do so.
In the end, Shepard was not able to find a range that could accommodate her new rifle on Arcturus Station. One snooty employee even replied to her query with a long paragraph about how amateurs should know that for a range to have a back wall strong enough to withstand anti-materiel fire, it would have to have to be clad in a sheet of iridium alloy a few millimeters thick. Few ranges could afford that cost, and so she should look for something on the Citadel. She had to concede that he made a fair point, but still, she felt justified in sending him back a reply that included telling him exactly whom he baselessly called an amateur. Really, by that response, one would think he had to answer that question on the hour, every hour. If politely reminding employees not to get uppity was wrong, then she would gladly be wrong.
"Done!" Gino exclaimed. "And good news! Citadel Security hadn't managed to mess up my work. I can tell you've been taking good care of them, though."
Shepard let her omni-tool turn off as she looked up. Of course she was taking good care of them, they were her main work weapons. "Good to know, thanks for putting me at ease."
"Anytime," Gino replied.
"You said your work, so you built those?" Ashley asked.
"I modified them, yes. I did that for all our weapons," Gino replied, all but glowing with pride. "Cara can shoot a fly on the wall at one kilometer with an HVR, using only an optical scope. Haven't you noticed? She has steady arms and a perfect breathing technique. It wouldn't do for her weapons to be the thing that holds her back."
Shepard rolled her eyes. "Gino, really, what's a set of welded, polished, laser-levelled, and straightened firing rails compared to your magnum opus?" Shepard smiled widely. "An M-seventy-six Revenant, with on-demand thermal clip super-cooling?" As far as Shepard was concerned, Sin and Dex were nothing on Ethan's Deimos.
"It's not that special," Ethan murmured, breaking his silence as the tips of his ears began to turn pink.
"Cooling the thermal clip while firing?" Ashley repeated slowly. "That's possible?"
"With an asterisk. I call it the Carnage System, patent pending," Gino replied. "Right now, Ethan's weapon is the only one with it in existence. The Revenant's size made installing the… additions easier. I haven't yet worked out how to safely miniaturize the system for something like the M-eight Avenger."
"That's still impressive," Ashley replied. "Are all N-sevens mad geniuses at whatever they do?"
Gino turned his head, "Hear that, cara mia? She called you a mad genius!"
"Oh but I'm not the one whose call sign announces their unfortunate affliction, caro amico." Shepard replied blandly, grinning at Ashley all the while.
The gunny smiled back.
Gino burst out laughing. "I walked into that one!" Then he turned back to Ashley and continued very much on the same breath, "Say, you use an M-eight, right? When I do figure it out, would you be interested in field-testing it?"
"Why me?" Ashley asked.
"Well, Ethan is… just look at him! He's a reinforced concrete wall!"
"Hey!" Ethan protested.
Gino plowed on, seemingly oblivious, "I need someone of a more average build, ideally someone who doesn't use a heavy exo-frame or HUD aim assistance, to tell me how the system feels in a lighter weapon. That data will help me improve the system overall."
"Sure, I can do that." Ashley replied.
"Excellent! I'll let Shepard know when I've worked out the kinks… and I'll even supply you with a modified rifle. Do you want it custom colored?"
"Ah… no, stock colors is fine." Ashley replied.
The gunny sounded hesitant, and Shepard would not blame her. Ashley did not know Gino half as well as Shepard did. Right then, the Italian was beaming like a halogen lightbulb, Ashley had clearly made his day. Unfortunately, Gino was a bit much when he was in that mood. The best thing to do was to divert his exuberance with something else. Fortunately she had just the thing, and had been waiting for this opportunity. "Gino, before you run off to your lair to experiment and laugh maniacally… there's one last thing that you might be able to help with." Shepard started.
The Italian turned to her, still smiling, "Sure, anything."
Shepard turned to Tali. "Tali, I know your drone is part Heretic… but suffice to say Gino is good at building things. Show him your work, maybe another set of objective eyes can help you with what ails it."
"A drone? I can certainly take a look," Gino agreed quickly.
Tali looked first to her and then to the Italian, her eyes visibly widening. "Really? Thank you!"
Shepard smiled. That went perfect. The way things looked, it was early Christmas for Tali and Ashley. Shepard deemed it good work done.
Half an hour later Shepard was right back on deck three, feeling a little buoyed. Tali and Gino had vanished into the cargo bay where Tali had her makeshift workshop. Ashley was tidying up the arsenal, putting things back where she wanted them. That left only Ethan to tag along, a silent, oversized shadow. Shepard knew that with Gino busy and Leif only heaven knows where, Ethan had little else left for him to do.
As she came around the elevator shaft and entered the mess area proper, she was greeted with quite the sight. Matthews and his new assistant were very busy preparing food for the temporarily expanded crew. During her time away they had already set up multiple pots, and unless her nose was off there was fresh bread in the oven. Currently, the assistant was peeling some tuber-like green vegetables into a bucket while Matthews separated and dressed the contents of a large package of blue-tinged meat.
"Hi, Commander!" Jenkins called.
Shepard turned and grinned, "Hey, Jenkins," He and a two of the enlisted were playing poker right on the mess table. "Carey, Knox," She figured she best acknowledge everyone. By the look of the chip stacks, Jenkins was not having a good day. That made her wonder, did Jenkins draw her attention because he wanted her to shut them down before he lost his shirt? "Having fun, Gentlemen?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am!" Carey, the one with the biggest stack of chips replied.
"Carry on then." Shepard replied. Richard would have to learn to get himself out of his own messes. He made that bed in bets, and he would lay in it.
The look the corporal flashed her told her that her suppositions were right on the money. Shepard forced herself to turn away. She saw that Doctor Chakwas and Adams were in the medbay, seated at her desk, having a light meal while talking. As she completed her turn, she noted that the other engineers were not present, but Daniels was on fusion core babysitting duty, and Donnelly was supposed to take over for the night shift, and was probably asleep. Kaidan was still on CIC duty, so his absence was explainable. As for Legion, they were probably either in the AI core, or off doing something somewhere. She would have to find them later and let them know that their shooting excursion would have to wait a while.
However, what bothered her most was that she was yet to catch a sighting of Nihlus or Garrus. Having lost track of Leif, the absence of all three was a cause for some concern. The last thing she needed was for Leif, Nihlus, and Garrus to become scheming buddies. They had a very bothersome commonality, their overprotective streak when it came to her. She would not enjoy it if they allied, becoming even more overprotective.
"You're worried about where Leif went?" Ethan asked calmly.
Shepard looked up, "Am I that transparent?"
Ethan chuckled, "No. I'm worried where he's gone off to myself. Leaving him alone... isn't a good idea."
"Ah." Shepard replied. "He better not do anything I'll want to throttle him for. This is a very expensive ship, and I will take every bit of the costs out of his paycheck. Even if it rolls over into his pension." It sure would not be coming out of her salary.
"Fair enough," Ethan smiled.
"Commander!" Matthews called, "Last I saw him, he and Joker were… discussing party preparations, and I do not think they meant tonight's impromptu affair."
Shepard froze. No, it would not be tonight's impromptu affair. Matthews was the king of the kitchen castle, Joker would have included him in any prep for anything slated for tonight. "Ethan, it's worse than I thought!" And she thought Leif scheming with Nihlus and Garrus would be bad. "Leif scheming with Joker? Go find them! Now! My bet they're in one of the lounges on either side of this deck."
"Yes, ma'am!" Ethan snapped a playful salute and rushed off.
"It's that bad?" Matthews asked.
Shepard approached the kitchen counter, just so they would not have to raise their voices over the room. "It's that bad." She could readily see Leif and Joker lapsing into a feedback loop, each reinforcing the other's ideas, eventually achieving the bad idea singularity. The sort of ideas that, at best, would get all of them kicked out of wherever they happened to be, and at worst, involve law enforcement. Joker would not stop Leif's crazier ideas, because she knew that Joker thrived on a certain amount of chaos, as long as he was the one wielding the conductor's baton.
"Yes… maybe stopping it would be best," Matthews agreed.
Shepard smiled apologetically. She knew that what she gave the chef could hardly be called a proper explanation, but this was an internal matter. However before she could even think of saying anything else, the XO cabin door swished open. Nihlus emerged and turned right to her. Shepard blinked, momentarily surprised. His expression was not at all the sort of look someone who had just bumped into a person they would rather avoid. In fact, just by the fact that he turned right to her she could only assume he had been looking for her. Something was up. "Where's the fire?" She asked.
"I have something that you need to see," Nihlus replied.
All thought of Leif scheming with Joker fled from her mind. Nihlus used 'need to see', not 'would want to see', or 'I want to show you'. Fun and games were over, there was something serious on his mind. "Come on then. Sorry Matthews, duty calls"
"Doesn't it always?" The chef replied.
"If Ethan manages to drag Leif and Joker here… just keep them busy, please?"
"I will try my best." Matthews replied.
Shepard smiled wanly. Leif would probably get away with whatever it was. When Nihlus turned around and stepped back into his quarters, she had no other option than to follow him wordlessly.
Once inside, the Spectre went straight toward his desk. "I finished cleaning up that video from the hotel, and had EDI run facial recognition." He began as he brought the terminal out of standby with a single keystroke.
Shepard could easily connect those dots. A child could connect those dots. "EDI, you found a match?"
"Correction, Commander, I found four." EDI replied.
"Take a look." Nihlus said as he manually turned his terminal around.
Displayed on the screen were pictures of four men. All of them were of an Asian descent, with short-cropped black hair and dark eyes. Shepard stared. Was her new target one of them? They all had rather similar bone structure at cheek level and below, and regulation-length hair. The fact that she never actually seen the killer's full face, and that he now sported rather unkempt chin-length hair that seemed in dire need of shampooing complicated matters. But EDI had identified them for a reason.
Then, the longer she stared, the more details began to discern the men apart. "Top left is out, tell-tale scar. The killer didn't have one." Shepard said. It was a faded but sizable friction-scrape on the underside of his chin that just rounded the curve onto his chin proper. "Bottom right is out, far too young." That man was barely older than Jenkins. The killer was young, but at least in his thirties. "Top right man is out… his nose is ever so slightly off-center." It was broken and healed off axis, only noticeable if one saw how the very tip did not align with his cupid's bow.
Her eyes focused on the remaining picture. The man on the bottom left was definitely the right age, his skin was unblemished. She stretched out her right arm, closed her right eye, and using the side of her palm blocked the upper face from her view angle. Almost as soon as she aligned her hand perfectly, she let her arm drop and her other eye opened. It was him! Then, as if seeing his eyes for the first time, his stare only clinched her certainty. That cold stare belonged to a ravenous wolf looking at its prey. "Bottom left."
"I thought so too." Nihlus said. "He is staring at the camera like he is measuring for a strike." Nihlus said as he turned the terminal back around. "But there is more. He was the only one with the skills. The other three are all infantry, stationed in the garrisons of various colonies. Terra Nova, Elysium, and the third… the youngest, is stationed here on Arcturus Station." Nihlus typed a set of commands into the terminal. "His name is Kai Leng. Dishonorably discharged in twenty-one-seventy-six for the first degree murder a Krogan in a Citadel nightclub."
"A killer through and through," Shepard murmured.
"I called up and reviewed the case file from the Citadel Security archive. For once their reply was timely." Bone-dry sarcasm flashed through his tone at the mention of the reply. "As I said, Leng has the skills, and he prefers blades. He killed the krogan using his service knife. He even modified it, filing down its guard so that he could readily conceal it behind his back."
"Was the krogan drunk?" Attacking a krogan with a knife was almost certain suicide. "No never mind, that might have actually… made it harder." A drunk krogan would not even feel the first couple of stabs.
"The medical report says Leng thrust the knife into the krogan's eye, while angling the blade up into the brain. There was only one precise strike," Nihlus replied.
Shepard felt her jaw loosen. Well damn. That was not something done in a moment of anger or in self-defense. Certainly there must have been some anger, something precipitated the attack, but it was not the blinding sort of anger. Leng chose to strike with deliberate intent to make a quick kill, leaving the krogan no opportunity for retaliation. No wonder he was charged in the first degree.
Then, the method spoke for his skills. That maneuver would not work for someone who had merely gotten the idea after reading a book. It was also not something taught in Basic. She had learned that maneuver as an option within the ICT program, as part of a module on dealing with the other species in the galaxy. Going for the brain through the eye was about the only way one could guarantee a knife kill on a krogan. Their sheer size, mass, strength, redundant organs, and blood rage made merely wounding them largely ineffective. Even then, the tactic came with an asterisk. If you failed, you ended up wide open and way too close to a now-angry Krogan. Leng had used that maneuver with the element of surprise on his side, he knew what he was doing. That was quite disturbing in all its implications.
"EDI, you gave Nihlus access to Leng's full service record, right?" Shepard asked. She had to confirm her rising suspicion.
"I did," EDI replied.
EDI was thorough as ever, some part of Shepard honestly wished she would have had just a few minutes more for the thought to sink in. "Leng participated in the ICT."
"He was a full N-seven," Nihlus replied automatically.
There it was, the confirmation. Shepard closed her eyes. "That no-good disgrace…" The fury that flared through her caused her brief contact with Leng to run through her mind's eye like snapshots off a film strip. The first was Leng's cocky smile, flashing just as she was getting on the elevator. Then came the image of crime scene in the hotel room. It was all capped by his most recent registration picture. It would have been the last updated image he took before committing murder. All the pieces suddenly slid into place for her. "That worthless piece of human garbage!" Who had not seen the look in his eyes? How did he pass the psychological evaluations? He was a monster that enjoyed killing. He chose to use a bladed weapon, because it allowed the sadist inside to revel in every last bit of the act.
"Shepard?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard opened her eyes, only to see that Nihlus was standing right in front of her now. His mandibles were pressed up against his jaw, and his yes shone with concern.
"Sorry, I'm being… petulant." Shepard replied. It was the sort of little white lie she could live with. Nihlus did not need to see her fury right then. She needed to look at C-sec's case file, to confirm what motivated Leng to murder someone that night, but she could see only two possibilities: xenophobia, or the victim had done something to trigger Leng's narcissistic side. Those could even overlap, which would put Leng somewhere on the anti-social personality disorder spectrum.
In that way Leng was her exact opposite. Where she was at her best at range, able to detach and operate calmly, he was likely the sort who thought being far away was boring. There would be no emotional detachment there. The knife was his preferred tool, which meant it was an extension of his arm. He would have cultivated the accuracy to deliver deadly, precise strikes. Her initial thought that he might have hurt himself while tussling with her clone had to be jettisoned. A maniacs like that would have been in control of the situation beginning to end.
It might be a good idea to ask Castis for a detailed autopsy report after all, to confirm everything, but Shepard suddenly had reasons to suspect that the defensive wounds that Garrus had seen might have been staged. The whole scene might have been made to look like a tussle took place, to disguise that single, efficient kill stroke. Creating the mess might have even been part of the fun for Leng. But there would have been method to the madness too, he would have wanted to buy himself some time by delaying the discovery of his skill and signature.
Finally, if most of that was true, then Shepard had to assume that there could be no half-measures with Leng. She would have to put that ravenous, slavering, rabid dog right down. She sighed, which released the breath that she had been holding. There was just one last question, the obvious one. "If Leng was convicted in the first degree… why is he out of prison?"
"He escaped confinement two years into his twenty-year sentence. You were right about him not caring about his face being seen," Nihlus replied.
Shepard hummed. "You don't escape the sorts of facilities where they keep murderers without some sort of outside help." If her clone was really working for Cerberus, for Banes, and Leng killed her, then it was reasonable to assume that Cerberus had busted Leng out of prison. His skills as an N-seven, coupled with a certain lack of empathy would definitely be useful to them. "Well, at least no one will question me if I bring him back dead." Monsters like him rarely went quietly.
Nihlus' mandibles twitched.
"Full disclosure… I'm going to find Leng, and when I do, well… he better not be crossing my crosshairs. Because I will shoot. Screw whatever evidence he might have. He's dead!" Shepard explained. She would tell Leif and the others about him too. For no other reason than the fact that he was a disgrace that no real N-seven should tolerate.
"We cannot trust whatever he says anyways." Nihlus replied, the shrug was right there in his tone of voice, if not in his actions.
Sometimes Shepard wondered if Nihlus was being blasé just to humor her, other times, she loved him for it. Leng would be an unreliable source of testimony. He mocked her with that salute, so he would probably mock her in interrogation too, and since neither Nihlus nor she would stoop to torture, there was no way to extract anything out him. "I'm glad we agree." She had a fallback, her team included enough talent to extract something from material evidence.
"So what will you do now?" Nihlus wondered.
Shepard hummed, the list of things that she needed to do was quite long, and unlikely to shorten without serious hard work in the near future. "I have a plan. Sort of. Short term, I will tell Leif and the others about Leng. We're all N-sevens. For obvious reasons they won't like this any more than I do. Can you send everything you found, even the C-sec casefile, up to the OD? I need to look over that stuff myself before I show things to Admiral Hackett. He'll want to know and maybe he'll have something more for us."
"Consider it done," Nihlus said as he rounded his desk. "But what about Vakarian senior?" He asked as he turned his terminal to him and bent down to type in the necessary commands.
Shepard blinked, that was a damn good question. What about Castis? She knew that he would want to know who killed her clone, and maybe her theories as to why. However, Shepard knew that Leng would have gotten off the Citadel at the first opportunity, and who knows what opportunities Cerberus could give him. "Leng won't stick around if he can help it, but I think I will give Castis what I have. Fair is fair. Maybe he can even look into how that monster got on the station to begin with. If someone's crooked, whether at the spaceport terminals, or even the shipping yards, and Castis can find them… that's a hole plugged. Any complication for Cerberus is a small win for me. I'm petty like that."
"I would not call that petty... more like thorough. And I do approve of you making Citadel Security do the menial tasks," Nihlus replied.
Shepard gave him a perfectly blank stare. Did he have to make it sound like that? "As for the longer term… well, you've heard Lindholm. She will be looking for an opening. I can't live with that hanging over me. Right now, with the concession and what I know, I can probably make the argument that I'm more useful to the Council as a Spectre than I'd be if I was still in training."
"So we're off to the Citadel?" Nihlus replied as he finally looked up.
"Yes. I also laid some ground work to pursue those Ark colonies. Cerberus aside, we still need to do something about Harbinger and Nazara. If the colonies exist and are intact, maybe… we could get something from their computers. Good case scenario, we get the locations of the other two colonies. From what Nabu showed me, they're out in the terminus. The star charts for that region of the galaxy are unreliable at best. Best case? We get a something that can shut Harby and Nazzy right down. But I am not counting on that. Nothing is ever so easy."
"Definitely." Nihlus agreed as he typed a final command, putting his terminal back into standby mode. "We do not want to be caught blindly searching the terminus. It would raise the wrong attention. What about this ground work?"
"I sent Doctor T'Soni an email. She is an aspiring scholar, the sort whose work has yet to make any sort of real impact. This is an opportunity she won't refuse. Also, she's not yet so well connected that outside interests will… influence her work. The connection to Matriarch Benezia notwithstanding."
"Benezia…" Nihlus hummed as he got up and came around the desk, perched on the corner, and crossed his arms. "I heard that name before."
"Makes sense, she's an important political figure on Thessia, and coincidentally Doctor T'Soni's mother." Shepard all but shrugged there.
Nihlus stared at her as if she had just sprouted a second head. However, the expression vanished a moment later. "If she is so highly positioned, then Tevos will know her. That is good, it means she will not have an issue with this, but she will try to use Liara as an informant."
Shepard tipped her head to the side. "She can try. But I don't plan to invite Liara on full time. She has skills I don't, but they're not necessarily applicable in combat. Quite bluntly I think Tali has more actual combat experience, because she had to get it. Doctor T'Soni is a powerful biotic, but has she ever been in any situation that could not be handled by her bodyguards? I get the feeling that said bodyguards would have taken her sullying her hands with blood, even in self-defense, as a stain on their abilities." Liara struck her a good-natured, but essentially sheltered individual.
"It certainly does not help that we are out of living spaces. Unless we convert one of the cargo bays." Nihlus muttered.
"That goes without saying," Shepard replied. The Normandy was not designed for a very large crew, and they were pushing it already.
Nihlus let his arms drop to his sides, "When you said you had a plan, you meant it."
"I always do." Shepard replied. "Now that the very important things are covered… I best go find the boys. I need to tell them about Leng, and I need to get Leif away from Joker, before they do something I'll make them both regret. I've sent Ethan to break it up, but..." Leif was known to ignore Ethan when he was on a roll, and it suited him, but Nihlus did not need to know that. Joker was Joker, be would probably subvert Ethan's attempts on a lark and enjoy watching him suffer. In hind-sight, it was probably a bad idea to have sent Ethan at all.
"I will also show the files to Vakarian," Nihlus said.
"Oh. Thank you, I'd appreciate that." Shepard realized very shamefully late that she really should have requested Garrus to join them from the start. But bemoaning her lapse now would be very much crying over spilled milk. Fortunately, it was the sort of lapse that would not necessarily end the world, she just had to apologize later.
Shepard turned and made her way toward the door. It opened for her without resistance, and she slipped out as soon as it was wide enough. The first thing Shepard noticed was that the poker game had broken up, and the players were gone. Jenkins either lost his shirt, or Carey took pity on him. The second thing she noticed was the fact that Ethan was playing jail warden to both Joker and Leif. The two were sitting on the steps that led up to the main battery, with Ethan standing at the side, across from the kitchen.
Leif grinned as soon as he saw her, and Joker looked about as contrite as a hooligan who had been sent to the principal's office again. Both clearly thought that Shepard would not make them rue whatever they were up to. What was it with everyone's behavior these days? First Garrus and Nihlus gang up against her, then Kaidan and Ashley, now it was Leif and Joker. She was really running out of not-really-punishment punishments. Soon she would have to resort to real things, like making someone scrub the toilets with a toothbrush. Even then, she could only subject Leif to it, because Joker's condition would not allow him to do it.
"Ethan, how bad is it?" She asked.
"I caught them looking for a location," Ethan replied blandly.
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Joker protested, but then turned to Shepard, "C'mon, please, give us this."
"No. Not if there are outsiders involved." Right now was absolutely the worst time for this sort of thing. Aside from the endless mess that was her life in general these days, this was Arcturus Station, not the Citadel. "Think about it, some see those who still have food allergies as weirdos who don't want to get simple genetic therapy. Do either of you trust a cook not to have a lapse of thought, leading to an accidental, careless contamination of the dextro fare? Nihlus and Garrus will survive that, but Tali might get really sick!" Also was there even an establishment that could serve good dextro fare on Arcturus Station to begin with?
Leif and Joker exchanged glances.
"Yea, I did not think about that." Leif conceded.
"Good, you admitted it. Now, Matthews is making a feast for tonight, and by my reckoning he'll be busy for another hour or two. I'll give you this concession, figure out what you can throw together on short notice. If you want to have a party, make it happen here, and make sure it's enjoyable for everyone." It would keep the affair relatively small, as she did not want them going crazy for her benefit.
"Yes, ma'am!" Joker replied, snapping a salute.
"Deal. I do like a challenge," Leif agreed.
"Good." This way no one would end up in trouble either.
"We'll get it done, Shepard. Trust us." Joker said as he got to his feet slowly.
Shepard stared him down, did he really just say 'trust us' with something like this? Those were infamous last words, and she knew both of them too.
"C'mon, I know what we need, and two people making calls will get the ball rolling faster." Joker turned to Leif.
"We're definitely going to need to order stuff rush delivery, including the booze." Leif said as he rose to his feet and followed Joker to the aft of the ship.
As soon as they rounded the elevator and vanished from sight, Shepard turned to look at Ethan.
The big man sighed, low and deep. "I'll go make sure they don't get carried away."
"Thanks, Ethan. I owe you."
He grinned, ears once again tinging with pink. "Nah. All that comes with the territory. With you gone, I've gotten used to playing the exasperated parent." With that said he followed the two over-exuberant lieutenants.
Shepard glanced at Matthews. The chef had watched the entire scene without saying a word. Then their eyes locked. "Exasperated parent… well, that's one way to term your ability to herd cats," he said ruefully.
"And it appears it is not just us who see Shepard as oddly... maternal." Nihlus said as he came around the wall section that separated the kitchen from his quarters.
"Eavesdropping much?" Shepard asked blandly. She had not even heard his cabin door open.
"Cannot help it. Good hearing." Nihlus replied.
"Well, you have the right to forget you've heard anything. Because everything you say right now can and will be used against you," Shepard muttered.
"I do suggest you exercise that right, Spectre Kryik. I think people have pushed the Commander far enough today." Matthews said as he stirred the biggest pot on the stove.
"Alright, fine." Nihlus spared her one of his cheeky grins and then turned toward Life Support.
Shepard sighed again, and here she thought dealing with Ines Lindholm would be bad. Kai Leng was a problem of an entirely different caliber, the sort that demanded her full attention. She really did not have the patience to deal with Leif and Joker's machinations. She could understand why they wanted to celebrate, and they certainly did not know better, but now was not the time to be partying. In hindsight she realized that maybe she had been a little harsh. Maybe she should go and apologize. Shepard reached up to rub at her temple, she could feel the first thrum of an oncoming headache.
Author Notes: Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is really just an oncoming train, and yes, Shepard did act as a bit of a brat there. Poor Leif and Joker, they caught her at a really bad time. Now, seeing when this episode is going live, I wish to thank all my audience and wish you all to have happy holidays!
General Notes:
Episode Title – This refers to the location of Battle of Pharsalus (August 9th, 48 BCE, in Greece) where Caesar defeated Pompey in a decisive fight, despite his troops being outnumbered two to one and lacking in supplies. Pompey was pressured into mounting an attack, when he wanted to delay, and starve Caesar's troops. It turned into a rout for Pompey, forcing him to flee the field, and eventually all the way to Egypt. Pompey was assassinated less than two months later.
Chapter Notes:
Morrigan – (That's just one English spelling) is a complex figure. She is known as the "Phantom Queen", with many attributions (aside war/battle, death, and fate, she is also associated with magic/witches, and a shapeshifter). She is interesting because she also sometimes appears as in a tripartite/triad form/aspect, which is a common motif thought to be Indo-European, going back thousands of years in Europe and India. I apologize if I outrage someone, but the Christian Trinity and the Hindu Trimurti come to mind. Then we have the Greek fates, the Moirai, and their Roman equivalents, etc. I've always found it interesting how the folklore of such a large region of the world has a common thread, and it goes much deeper than I can gloss over here.
Iridium - Element 77 on the periodic table, with a density of 22.5 g/cm^3 (second only to Osmium in density). It is a very corrosion resistant metal from the same group as platinum. It is also very hard, very brittle, and is very rare on Earth. In the ME-verse, the vaults the team gets locked into, during the Citadel DLC, is said to be iridium, and nigh impenetrable. I am going off the same idea here.
Deimos - ("Dread") is a lesser deity in the Greek pantheon, the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the personification of the sort of terror that war brings and evokes in people.