The Valiant glided through the traffic surrounding the Citadel, the ship's sheer size more than enough reason to get out of the way. Within the next half an hour, I would be in a hospital, getting my lungs seen to and to get me off this damn bed. Oh how I longed to walk… and breathe normally. For the entire 2 day journey, the medical staff kept me locked in the med bay, giving general care from the onboard turian doctor, Lyren Raethern. He knew little about human medicine but he was more than happy to entertain me with his medical school stories. Lyren and Saere went to the same medical school and were in the same year. Well, at that point we got off to a great start. My curiosity knew no bounds after that revelation. All because I mentioned my doctor was turian.
"So, here I am in the middle of this packed hallway full of people covered in oozing, pussy spots caused by Invertus Disease – which is very similar to your chickenpox only it has a nasty tendency to deform parts of the body – when Saere storms into the pharmacy and screeches at the top of her lungs, 'Who has taken all the Auera lotion?!'. Remember when I mentioned that snobby, stuck up girl I asked out about 2 weeks ago for coffee before I realised how far her head was up her ass? She hadn't taken the vaccination and had stolen over 4000 bottles of this lotion. Well, we head down to her house with some police to question her and what do we find? The woman is bathing in a bathtub full of this lotion… the school struck her off the course the next day," he chuckled. My eyes bugged in my skull.
"What the hell was she going to do with 4000 bottles of what is essentially camomile lotion?" I asked. The turian laughed.
"I wish I knew, sell what she didn't use? Daily baths for the next two weeks until the infections stopped? She was always particular about her appearance. She was probably afraid the disease would cause bulges on her mandibles" he shrugged.
"Bulges on… is that why Val's mandibles have bumps on them? And why his eyebrow plates go in rather than point out like other turians?" I asked, blinking.
"Most likely, all turians get it although most get treatment early enough to stop much in the way weird deformations," Lyren said.
"Huh… I feel sorry for your water system," I said. He chuckled.
"Uh, Doctor Raethern? Captain Shaik's crew are here remove her from the ship," A voice crackled over the intercom.
"Why does he sound so concerned …?" Lyren asked, frowning. Dread filled my chest, heart pounding harder than it had since we left Dekuuna.
"Indira," I said. The turian clicked his mandibles, plates drawn together as he stared. He wouldn't know the hell about the burst through his door.
"Commander to the left- no, not that lef- would you slow down?!" Someone snapped. My eyes squeezed shut, knowing what was coming.
"Dellion!" Indira squealed, bursting into the room. My hand raised the second the door parted.
"Freeze!" I ordered, hurling as much authority behind it as my damaged lungs could muster. She froze mid-step, arms flung over her head equipped to hug me to death. She held the pose, waiting. "I have a tube in my chest. No hugging," Indira blinked, eyes looking over my broken body, still frozen.
"Why?" she asked.
"Collapsed lungs," I said. Indira drew her arms in as she sucked in a hissed breath. Who knew if she knew the pain I was in.
"Owie, not fun… " she said. She skipped up to my head. "How'd it go?" she asked with a glint in her eye. A weak smile lifted my lips, relaxing back into the bed now the danger of suffocation has passed.
"Mission successful. I wouldn't be so beaten up had it gone otherwise," I said as more bodies filed into the room. Saere, Lynetlia, Kai and Alder walked in. Saere huffed at Indira.
"Commander, how are we supposed to guide you if you run… Lyren, hello," Saere said, distracted by the doctor's form leaning against the desk. Lyren grinned, tipping his head in greeting.
"Good morning, Saere. So, you've left civilian medicine then? You always said you hated the military side of things," Lyren asked. Saere rolled her eyes, heaving a hefty sigh.
"Blame the red head on the bed, she 'enlisted' me," Saere rumbled, folding her arms.
"It was an invitation," I scowled. Saere smirked, raising a brow in my direction.
"Indira didn't make it sound like an invitation," she said.
"Yeah but this is Indira, she never makes anything sound like an invitation," I sulked. Saere laughed, lightening the atmosphere. Alder and Kai marched up towards the bed, Kai cracking his knuckles in preparation. He flushed at my glare, coughing. Yeah, cracking knuckles didn't inspire confidence when you had two collapsed lungs. Lyren didn't want to move me, too afraid of the squishy human breaking from the stress.
"Alright, Captain, we've got a shuttle straight to Kaeran Ward Hospital," Alder drawled as he took the pair of sticks above my head. A moan of complaint rolled off my tongue, making the man pause.
"Not there," I whined. Alder blinked, looking around the room for answers. "Ask Val about how we first met, he'll tell you," I grumbled, moaning in discomfort as the two men hoisted me off the bed.
My eyes caught Lyren's, the humans carting me past him towards the door. My eyes flicked towards Saere, a strong hint no one could miss. Saere herself approached the turian, datapad out as she asked for an update for my condition. Lyren clicked his mandibles in response, understanding, even as he hid the flush burning his cheeks. From the stories he told me, the way his eyes glinted, his descriptions and the odd blush, he made it obvious he had something for Saere. If he thought I would sit by and not say or do anything, he had much to learn. Indira skipped beside me, Imperious nodding his head from his place on the bridge as we weaved through the ship towards the airlock. My hand raised, the only thing I could move without further injuring myself. Dockside, my eyes hunted for the Starquake but because of the class difference, the frigate was nowhere in sight, secured elsewhere on the Citadel. Several crew members waited for me dockside, an escort to ensure no smartass Saboteurs tried anything. They saluted as Kai and Alder carried me over.
When my wounded ass arrived at Kaeran Ward Hospital, they checked the scans from the turian medical staff and did their own. They came back with news my lungs weren't as horrible as feared. They still dragged my ass into surgery, but with the joys of modern medicine, they told me I would be up and moving in the next week or so. Lungs were hard to keep down, from what the doctors said. The only thing that dampened my heart was being locked in a hospital room for an unknown amount of time. That and the constant flow of doctors and God knows who coming to speak to me frustrated me beyond words. Breathing was laborious even with oxygen, I didn't have the breath to speak for long. It was even worse when visitors came, they had to come in small groups and keep the conversation going between them with small inputs from me. My injuries healed, but not as fast as they used to, even Saere mentioned that. My teeth nibbled my lip, Nyryntha used to speed up my body's healing ability, ensuring my body didn't give when she thought she had a chance. After Thapeli and our little talk, Nyryntha must've lost what little patience she had left with me.
After 4 days, the doctors allowed me walk around, albeit with a crutch just in case dizziness captured me. During those days, the private room the Council acquired for me – a) to keep people safe from indoctrination and b) to keep me away from catching something else from another patient – filled with Christ knows what. Balloons, cards, soft toys, chocolates, flowers, you name it and it was there in that room. Somehow, Shepard learned I was in hospital and added to the growing pile. A grey bear sat hidden behind the masses of cards, piles of chocolate and flurries of flowers, wearing a red t-shirt saying 'I survived Dekuuna'. My teeth itched, desperate to gnash. No card, just a small note saying 'Love, Shepard'. So far, nothing from Julian, which was a good sign. He hadn't learned of my fate.
After a further 3 days, they concluded my lungs were functioning as they should. I would still be breathless and but deep breathing exercises would help with that. With the green to leave to hospital, they called the Starquake to ask for someone to come and get me in a few hours. My hands fiddled with everything, waiting for the doctors to discharge me. Half an hour before they let me go, Raisha arrived to collect me. No one else, which raised concerns. A small procession would have arrived to drag me back onto the ship and get everything functional again. In my absence, the ship's smooth running had dropped off. Then the doctors released me into the wild. They still talked to my dust cloud as the elevator doors closed behind me, Raisha shaking her head beside me.
"Eager?" she asked. A wide grin spread on my face.
"That obvious?" I asked. Raisha smiled, eyes forward.
"Then we have something that will improve your mood further," Raisha said. My grin slackened, concern rising. It was hard to tell with the krogan if she meant it literally or sarcastically. "We have located the final Elcor Saboteur," My heart skipped a beat, quickening soon after as adrenaline pumped.
"You have?" I asked.
"The Council and the Intel team have studied the documents Julian sent. We ran a trace on them to see if there were any copies hiding somewhere. We found an old log file tucked away in a segregated backup server. The live database hid all the overwrite history, but not before the daily backup happened. With Indira and the Intel team working on it, they traced the user to an elcor named Herito Auctia. Further ground examinations has turned up he has a small collection of indoctrinated servants devoted to him, small to keep the numbers from startling anyone like what happened with Saria. He is also manipulating those around him, which is why many of these trade deals are causing problems for the more powerful species, in this case, the salarians," Raisha explained. My jaw tightened, mind refocusing with the information. Clever bastards…
"So what is the plan?" I asked.
"Councillor Valern has agreed to help us," Raisha said, her smile growing. My eyes narrowed, watching the krogan as her smile unnerved me. "We are heading to his office now,"
"Now?" I asked, startled. "Raisha, if this goes south, I don't know if I can-" I began, heart crashing against my chest.
"All the crew will be there, Satrino also has snipers in place should the Saboteur be Physical Disablement or Sensory Overload. We are prepared," Raisha said, drawling her tone to sooth me as the elevator dinged and the doors parted. Across from the elevator, leaning against a silver coloured wall, a stern turian with a permanent scowl on his face waited. He pushed himself off the wall, arms folded over his chest. A smirk rose.
"Satrino," I greeted, the turian falling in on my other flank.
"Shaik. Congratulations on not dying again. We'll see if we can try to get you out of this one without throwing you in hospital again," Satrino said, rumbling with hard eyes scanning the halls. A sly smile tickled my lips, walking down the hall towards the skycar stop.
"Your son popped over for a visit yesterday," I said. Satrino half stumbled in surprise. "He was visiting some friends who caught a stomach parasite. He heard the infamous Endellion Shaik was down the hall and visited. Nice looking kid, he has your mandibles," I said, grinning as Satrino coughed and called the cab. His cold exterior crumbled.
"Zyverion was always a looker, got it from his dad," he said, pride ripe in his voice. The unusual smile tore a laugh from me as we stepped into the taxi.
"He's less grumpy though," I added, not even bothering to hide the grin. Satrino scowled, his warm expression freezing. The skycar whizzed through the air, aiming for the diplomatic centre of the Presidium. "Raisha was filling me in. You have your men ready?" I asked. Satrino sobered up, eyes on the cars ahead.
"We have prime positions of the Councillor's office, Councillor Valern is prepared to have his windows shot out. We just need to make sure we don't hit you or your crew so I brought the best damn snipers we have," Satrino said, a grin creeping. "Even removed the bulletproof glass for this mission. The Councillor is eager for this mission to be over. He feels so naked without it," Tension crept away.
"I was about to say your guys would have problems," I said, my mind drifting back to combat mode with a clearer mind.
The cab lowered to the ground, Satrino forwarding the fare to the Council. That got a satisfied laugh from me, following the turian towards the elevator. Satrino's large frame kept my nerves in check during the long ride up before the doors opened. The entrance floor lay sparse, few diplomats wandering the area. Satrino led us down a set of doors on the right, the open floor transforming into halls. They twisted, taking a staircase upwards until windows streamed light into the halls. The Presidium gleamed, a welcome to sore eyes. Although the bustle of the Wards had its appeals. The lights were more interesting at least. Satrino knocked on a door, Councillor Valern's name fluttering on the hologram above me. Strange foliage decorated the large, bright office, cosy seating areas on a lower tier to the left of the room. Screens for more privacy lay retracted against the walls. The only thing that ruined the neat office was the mass volume of people here. The entirety of my crew bar the Spectres and Gideon hummed in the room. Once the door opened and Satrino and Raisha parted to let me enter the room, a roar threatened to slam me back out the door and against the wall. Indira leapt for me, locking her arms around my neck. Nothing I did freed my head, although she knew I was just out of hospital! The rough pats from my crew pushed me towards the main desk, towards the windows until, through the bodies, the frames of my Commanders waited, speaking with Valern. The salarian frowned towards me, disturbed by the roar from the joyous crew. Shual's rough hand shoved me forward, nearly planting my face into the floor had Mat'al not snatched me. A sheepish smile appeared, earning a frown from the Councillor.
"Good morning, Councillor, I apologise for the… welcoming committee," I said, coughing as my back straightened, fingers touching my brow in a salute. Valern folded his hands behind his back.
"I am relieved to see you are out of hospital. All is well, I presume?" he asked.
"As far as anyone can tell. No more Dekuuna gravity though, even the doctor's fear my lungs wouldn't cope with that kind of damage again," I said. "However, I am well. Nothing some time and exercises won't cure… although if this elcor is also Tech Incap then we're pretty boned. I don't know if they can shut down the entire Citadel and expose us to space. Without spacesuits… " I said, letting the sentence hang.
"We will have to take the risk," Valern said, eyes narrowing with the news. "This Saboteur will drain trillions from the salarian economy, weakening our ability to develop weapons and defences against the Reapers. All of the new upgrades for your ship stemmed from salarian research. We must remove it before the damage done is too great to recover from,"
"I understand Councillor. Do we have a plan? I doubt the Saboteur will be too happy to walk into a room full of people ready to kill it," I asked, folding my arms.
"Simple. We have cloaking technology built into the sides of the room," Valern said, nodding his head to the far end of the wide room, a silver stripe on the floor. Mari elbowed Seth, the older human grumbled loud enough to make his displeasure known before stepping backwards across the stripe. He vanished from sight, an invisible curtain masking him. My eyes bugged, gawking at the scene. The disappearance didn't surprise me much, cloaking technology has existed for some time, but that Seth was the guinea pig was what got me. He was a stubborn old man, he didn't give a fuck about anything, and hated being bait. "Your crew will be behind these cloaking curtains. You will hide behind me and when the Saboteur is in place, you will reveal yourself-" he paused when he noticed my shaking head.
"Not going to work, Councillor. Saboteurs can feel where each other are. They'll know I am in the room, even pinpoint where I am in a heartbeat," I said.
"So what would you suggest?" Valern asked. My tongue clucked, thinking how best to do this without making the Saboteur suspicious.
"Who is the furthest Councillor from here?" I asked. Valern frowned.
"Tevos is the furthest," he said.
"I'll go pester her for a while, she might want an update anyway. Do you have a PM system we can use as a signal to move?" I asked. Valern nodded. "Just do a quick buzz when you are ready and I'll run in. My crew will jump out and we'll surround them. We'll confirm and then deal with the Saboteur. We clear?" I asked. A chorus of 'yes ma'am' rang out. I nodded as my crew got into positions, moving to the edges of the room where they vanished behind an invisible curtain.
They stood in silence, only the clicking on guns extending filled the room. Valern shuffled, an automatic reaction to hearing dozens of guns arming. My gaze focused on the door, Satrino following me out. He nodded his head up the hall, leading me down the long hall, around the corner and paused by another door. His hand rapped the door, grinning as he noticed my scowl. He leaned against the wall, passing me the Locust and Paladin to slip to my hips, leaving me to deal with the Councillor alone. Prick. My shoulders rolled back as the door parted, exposing me to Councillor Tevos' office. The room was bare, only a small, tall plant beside her desk but sculptures similar to designs seen on Thessia decorated her desk, the coffee tables from secluded meeting areas and in the corners intrigued me. The abstract shapes reminded me of a drunk painting a Picasso. Tevos' keen eyes tracked me, a smile spreading as her shoulders relaxed. My fingers touched my brow once more. She settled back into her chair.
"Captain Shaik, good afternoon. I was unaware you were discharged from hospital. How may I be of service," Tevos greeted. A tense smile lifted the corners of my lips.
"Good morning, Councillor. Sorry for dropping in unannounced, we have a situation ongoing and I need to be out of the way for a time. The hospital released me about 10 minutes ago," Tevos frowned, a gentle movement as her hands folded on the desk.
"Situation, Captain?" she asked. It took great restraint to stop myself shrugging.
"We've located a Saboteur on the Citadel, you may know of it. The elcor diplomat messing with those trade agreements. We are mission green just now, we need to wait for the Saboteur to visit Councillor Valern before I can get close. With Saboteurs able to sense each other, I can't be in the room. If you hear gunfire, you know what's going on. Satrino has men on standby to evac if things go crazy," There, deal with that Satrino. Tevos raised a brow, not fazed at all.
"10 minutes out and already hard at work," Tevos said, smiling if not a touch concerned. "Are you sure you are fit to combat Saboteurs this soon, Captain?" Well, at least someone feared for my safety!
"I'll be fine, Councillor. I have my whole crew with me today. If 50 odd people can't take down one Saboteur, we're horrible Saboteur slayers," I said. "Assuming all goes well, we won't have to worry about any of the elcor Saboteurs with Thapeli dead," I said. Tevos released a soft sigh.
"Thank you for aiding us on Dekuuna. I hope this sends a strong message to the Saboteurs we will not allow them to destroy us sitting down," Tevos said.
"We'll see, Councillor. We'll see," I said. "The Saboteurs may not be many in number but they have countless foot soldiers to mess with us. And each passing day is a day closer to when the Reapers arrive. I… I don't think we'll get all the Saboteurs before they arrive," I said. Tevos' brows curled up.
"I know we all wish it is possible, however there is little we can do. We cannot risk building other RRTF teams. We can't guarantee they'll be Saboteur free and it could impede on your progress. The best we can do is supply you with what we can," she said.
"I know, I appreciate the help. Even if I don't act like it," I said, pulling on a grin to lighten the atmosphere. Tevos chuckled.
"We put you under a lot of pressure. I'm sure we can deal with some cracks in the system every now and then," she said. A buzz filled the air, jerking me awake.
"Don't answer that, Councillor," I said, pulling my Paladin out. Tevos frowned, understanding. She nodded
"Good luck, Captain," she said.
"I'll see you later," I said, giving a quick salute before jogging back to the door, keeping my footsteps light but quick as the door opened. Satrino was already around the corner, his longer legs letting him cover more ground than I ever could. When my feet slunk around the corner, Satrino waited by the door. 10 steps away, my body broke into a full body sprint, Paladin ready. 4 steps away, he hit the button, the doors parting. My arms straightened, skidding into the room.
With the Presidium light filling the room, the massive male elcor wasn't hard to miss. The large hump was more pronounced than his female counterparts, which only made the thought of ripping the spine out worse. So much more fat and muscle. The light grey elcor, a tan stripe pattern along his back, turned as the door whooshed open, spotting me and my armed gun. Seconds later, my crew rushed from their hiding spots, guns out ad positioned. Some on one knee, some standing behind them. My eyes fixed onto the elcor, stepping to the side to circle the elcor, attempting to hold its attention so Valern to sneak behind it towards the door. The salarian understood my plan, mirroring me, keeping himself small and quiet. His quick eyes flicked towards the door, muscles tense. The elcor's gaze held me and my armed gun, the far bigger threat.
"Frightened. Councillor Valern, what is the meaning of this, what is happening?" the elcor said. My eyes tightened, listening to my heartbeat. After a moment, a new beat sounded, mismatched from my actual heart. Something tugged me towards the elcor, a whisper rushing like wind through my ear. The whisper of a name. My head shook, listening to my hair whoosh around me to distract me from the pulse in my chest. The elcor turned back to the Councillor.
"Commando, eyes here," I snapped. "Or I'll gut you like I did Thapeli," The elcor returned his gaze, the Councillor reaching the door as the light flooded in behind me. Satrino shoved him out the room.
"I am not sure what you a-" he said. A hard laugh cut him off
"I can feel it," I growled. My spare hand tapped my chest. "I can feel it," I said with more venom. The elcor paused, thinking for a moment as I stopped circling it. It sighed.
"You had such potential, Advocacy," the elcor said. My breath escaped in a rush. The guns around me clicked. "The Architect chose you first, decided you were a prime candidate for the Saboteurs. Your brother only came 34th,"
"And yet he is a Martyr," I said, tone cold. The Saboteur snorted.
"Only because the original Enforcer's Shell failed during growth. Time and time again, we could not merge the technology with his new form. Your growth was spectacular, flawless. We were running out of time, thus Palalrian moved to the Enforcer role, hoping his shell's growth would be as successful. He mirrored your growth at every stage. If only we had known such immaculate growth would lead to such… complications," the elcor said.
"We have a name for this guy?" I asked. He was trying to distract me, he must. My grip tightened on the gun, afraid it would tumble from my hands.
"If Thapeli was the last one we killed. This must be Hugelun," Indira call.
"So, what's the plan now, Hugelun? Fuck up other poor species defence system?" I asked. Hugelun didn't move, he watched me.
"No, Advocacy. I cannot inflict any more damage upon the organics in this cycle until the return." The Saboteur said. My brows dropped, unease spreading, unsure how best to respond to this sudden shift of surrender.
"Oh good, you are going to stand there and let us kill you, brilliant!" I said.
"I am afraid not, Advocacy. You made your decision on Dekuuna. I know that my Shell will not leave this room alive, but it does not need to. All I must do is ensure that you do not leave it alive either," Hugelun said. My expression dropped with my stomach. Wait… what?
Instinct threw my body back, back flipping over the desk for cover before kicking myself to the side as the elcor charged. The window shattered as my body crashed into the floor, feet kicking to urge me back up. Bullets soared, the snipers shoving the elcor back far enough to keep distance between me and the beast. He stumbled, black Reaper plates growing from the skin. Verv and Shual charged, crushing the elcor between their planet-sized shoulders before the plates formed fully. I could only gawk on the floor as Phentos, Iona and Cathleen leapt onto its back with omni-blade drawn. Every biotic – the asari, Indira, Val, Connor and Etal – all pinned the elcor down, faces tight with concentration. The rest of the crew had guns out, prepared to open fire if the opportunity demanded it. My eyes fixated on Hugelun as a wet slurping sound filled the air. Phentos grunted and slashed at the muscle holding the spine, ripping it out in a shower of blood. It tumbled to the floor, the elcor collapsing onto the ground. Verv and Shual's deafening roar made my ears ring, the pair joyous as they crashed their heads together. A sigh of relief escaped, hand going to my chest as my lungs stung from the rapid breathing. With stiff muscles, my feet stumbled under me until a hand grabbed my arm and hauled me up onto my feet. Val smirked over my head.
"We've got your back," he winked. "And for once, you didn't get hurt," His words warmed my chilled body, the fright draining blood from my system.
"Oh I dunno, might get a bruise from that landing," I said, feigning injury. Val scowled.
"Oh, a bruise on the ass! Quick, someone call the hospital! She needs to go into ICU ASAP!" Val cried. His laughter stumbled free after an elbow to the stomach, coughing through my glare.
"Alright people, let's crate him up and get him in the nearest sun. Anyone know what specialisation he was?" I asked. Mat'al strode over, turning the dark spine in his hands.
"It has the same bumps as Alea. I think we can assume he is Mental Assault," he said.
"Oh good, I avoided a mind fuck then," I said, relief sagging my shoulders. "Let's get everything packed up and on the Starquake," I sighed.
"Then what?" Indira asked. A frown creased my face, eyes scanning the crew as they disarmed and prepared to haul things.
The obvious next move was to jump on the ship and get back to wandering the stars. The spines still needed study and… a sigh escaped. That wasn't getting us anywhere. What could we gleam from the spines that we didn't already? We understood indoctrination well enough, well enough to have the RIT to help any long term affects and effecting shielding, thanks to Julian. We already knew what look for in the spines to identify them since Julian gave us all the data on it… An idea grew, looking at the dark grey spine mangled with flesh and blood.
"I know what to do with them. Pack them up, including Saria's and Alea's. It's time to give my brother a little present," I said.
"Dell, you can't be-" Val said, surprised.
"Yeah, I am. I don't want these things on my ship. Julian has the staff and the safety precautions to study them more than we do. I won't endanger my crew, not anymore. C'mon. We need to get back on the Starquake …and I need to take a shower," My face scrunched up as the crew followed me out of the office, although our hasty escape stopped seconds later, the Council waiting for me further down the hall. My eyes squeezed shut. Wonderful… time to stand around for a few hours and report in.
The Timeline, Saboteur Sheet and Galaxy Map have been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.