The air hummed with chatter; a rattle of rumours and speculation, unease and tension. We waited for Val to appear within the Council Chambers, Spectre XO in tow. This arrangement annoyed many of the older crew members, but we had little choice. We knew what faced us, what was coming our way. We still wanted to fight, a chance to protect our families and friends. Even if only for a little while longer. My hands trembled, ringing each other as the nerves set in. We couldn't afford another Raisha. We just couldn't. Val… he was our last chance. The last one who had the necessary experience to lead us and still cared about the safety and health of the crew. The round room was a holding area for those visiting the Council for private meetings. Everyone lounged on the sofas or lulled around the space while we waited. The dark blue carpet should have eased our tense emotions, but no one noticed, eyes drifting to the large double doors at the back of the room. We could only wait in the foyer, waiting. My head snapped up when the door parted.
Val emerged from the interior Council Chamber, mandibles pinned to his cheeks. Drutus strode out by his heel, more relaxed than the new captain. A brief glimpse of the Councillors still within the interior room was all we got before the doors hid them from view. The crew stood to attention, eyes on Val and his new XO. Val dragged a breath in, releasing the tension pinning his mandibles. We crowded close.
"Here is the situation. The Council are due to have an open debate with the other candidates in the inner Council debate chamber. If a Saboteur is going to strike, they'll do it now. I'll be staying with the Council, everyone else will split up into teams to assess the crowd should the Saboteurs be working together. Satrino and his team will be on standby with bomb squads and snipers. I've assigned everyone onto teams with areas to search. Try to blend in, we may not get another shot at this," he said, his omni-tool staining his face orange as he transferred the data. "If in doubt, contact myself or Drutus. We'll deal with the issue then. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" we cried.
"Keep in radio contact. Good hunting," he said. My eyes diverted to my omni-tool, blinking at the names of my team. Cathleen and Veracia. So… we weren't even working within our own teams. My eyes drifted up as the two women approached. Veracia grinned.
"Shall we?" she asked.
"Onwards to victory!" Cathleen cried, leading the way with a fist in the air. My shoulders sagged. Oh… this… was a good start?
We slipped from the Council Chambers and into the Citadel tower itself. While the general area was still quiet at this hour, it gave us time to assess where we were going. Veracia flicked a visor over her eye, scanning the empty halls and gathering areas. Cathleen stared above us, watching the catwalks. All the while, my mind shifted to each shadow. Dell kept me on the Starquake to keep me safe. She knew putting me in the front lines was a recipe for disaster. She wanted me safe and to continue doing what I loved; engineering feats. Now on the streets, searching for a Saboteur… my bones shuddered. What did we do if the Saboteur found us? Just the three of us?
We found a perch on the upper level on a large gathering room, two floors down from the main debate chambers. Here, a scattering of boutique shops offered posh coffee. On our wage, the prices drove us away in seconds. Cathleen leaned over the banister, watching as a small gathering of people tricked below. This stream of people would increase as the day goes on. For now, we relaxed, monitoring the idle traffic. As the morning progressed, the crowd swelled until we couldn't see the floor. Our high perch was useless. Too many people, too small a space. Cathleen grumbled as we bumped down the street, the bustle of people pressing closer every second we stayed here. Veracia grabbed the pair of us to duck inside a quiet doorway, the bodies pressing tighter. Every muscle trembled.
"Why are there so many people? Council elections never get this busy," Veracia asked. Cathleen frowned.
"Well, either someone psyched up the crowd with some scandal or we're being played by a Saboteur," she said. A moan trickled free. Please don't let the Saboteurs plan that far ahead… Oh Keelah, what if they had!? Had they indoctrinated thousands of people?
"What do we do?" Veracia asked. Both turned, waiting for orders. My heart sank. Why was I a commander again!?
"W-Well, l-let's meet up with some of the other groups and see if they've had any success. M-Maybe we can arrange ourselves better to deal with this. V-Val said we weren't expecting this many people..." I said.
"True. Can anyone see anyone from here? I don't know if anyone is on the south face," Cathleen asked, stretching on her toes.
"No. They may be higher up," Veracia said.
"Then let's go!" Cathleen cheered. She paused, shifting her gaze towards me. "Oh… Um… do we, Commander?"
"Ah- Yes! Yes, let's go. G-Good enthusiasm," I said.
Back in the press of bodies, we fought towards a set of stairs to climb higher or peering through the crowd for a friendly face. The density worsened as we tried to get closer to the Council Chambers. We couldn't even get back to Val at this rate for orders. And the noise! So many people pressed together, all pushing for views of the debate ready to start. There was no getting through the crowd without giving ourselves away. The mass of bodies pushed us back, down two flights of stairs and further away from the Council Chambers and any hope of finding anyone else. The tremble that shook my bones threatened to crumple me on the ground. Desperate to contact people, my finger pressed to the ear piece of my helmet.
"S-Shayan to Valérien, do you read?" I asked. A pause, a pause that grew tense with each passing second of silence. "Shayan to Valérien?" I called again. Nothing, silence. Veracia frowned, mandibles waving.
"Veracia to ground crew, do you read us on this frequency?" she hailed. Nothing. Cathleen tried the emergency frequency. Only static greeted us.
"The communication systems were fine before we left. We did the checks. Did something happen?" I mumbled.
"Maybe the area has a comm blocker?" Cathleen shrugged.
"Why would the Council allow that knowing we need it?" I asked, blinking. Cathleen flushed.
"Well uh… maybe they forgot?" she said with a sheepish smile.
"We are not getting through this crowd. Come on, there has to be a back entrance to it. We can get through there," Veracia sighed.
"G-Good idea," I said, eyes on the crowd beside us.
The hum of the crowd electrified the air, even when they vanished from sight. Cathleen swung her jaw as she stared at maps, assessing what way to go. Veracia and I kept our eyes around us. But problems arose in seconds. The map Cathleen followed meandered us in random directions, the route to the back door leading us down several floors until even the hum from the mass of people pressing towards the inner chambers vanished. Corridors sprouted around us, stairs and lifts dotting the small rooms we stumbled across. The familiar décor of the Tower vanished, bare metal brandishing the structural reinforcements for the tower. The air turned cold, drifting away from the Min civilian areas. But then, hope. A door appeared. According to Cathleen, it seemed to go where we wanted. The door parted. But a corridor didn't greet us. A maze lay sprawled before us.
Tunnels weaving up and down, a sprawl of pipes and gangways with dizzying drops below. Pipes twisted and turned, the tunnels stretched for as far as the eye could see. Other tunnels cut across them, creating a never-ending weave of possible routes. Veracia and I turned to Cathleen, who stared at the sight before us with blood pooling away from her. She swallowed. She flicked through the maps again, brows furrowed as she scanned everything. None of her routes worked. But even backtracking haunted us. All the halls getting to this point looked the same, monotonous walls. And the map Cathleen used didn't backtrack the same way it led us. My heart sank, staring down the labyrinth ahead of us. No turning back, but heading forward isn't a good choice either… The women turned for guidance. My shoulders trembled under their stares.
"We… can only go forward," I muttered. Veracia sighed.
"Alright, let's try and move up," she said. "Dammit, Cathleen,"
"Hey, it was a good idea! Not my fault the maps are screwing up," Cathleen scowled.
"Then why not look at the map normally instead of using the route-planning algorithm!" Veracia growled.
"Oh I'm sorry, would you like to try navigating one of the most highly secure and confusing sections of the citadel by hand?" Cathleen snarled. My whole body trembled.
"Oh come on, it isn't that-"
"Stop it!" I snapped. The women jumped, jaws floundering. Heat rose to my cheeks. "No fighting… we need to work together to get through this," The woman stared, the electrified air taming as the seconds passed.
"Dammit," Cathleen groaned. "Ideas?"
"Push forward and pray. If not, then wait for the radio signals to settle and then radio for help," Veracia said. "Come on, we can't be that far,"
Despite the fear of losing ourselves in the tunnels – either maintenance tunnels or the Keeper tunnels – we plunged inside. Within minutes, the twisting halls disorientated us. Despite trying to keep in a straight line until a clear vertical climb appeared – blessedly as stairs – formed before us. The void below us popped in and out from between the interconnected walkways. It rolled my stomach whenever they appeared, my grip on the guardrail tightening. A keeper poked in the distance before disappearing, wandering away to do whatever the keepers did. It did nothing to follow them, Keepers didn't go out onto the 'surface' that often aside from a few places. Most of them stayed here. The climb upwards continued, desperation melding into fear for becoming lost in this maze of keeper tunnels and pipes. No would find us at this rate if we got so lost no would hear our screams. My blood chilled at the thought.
Then the first sign of hope. A hum hung in the air, an uneven sound that fluttered the eardrum. My mind sought patterns as he pushed on, towards the growing sound. The muddled hum melded into the low rumble of voices, but words were still too quiet to be audible. Cathleen clambered atop my unwilling shoulders to reach a higher catwalk with no visible way up. My knees trembled until she bounced up and grabbed the floor. With the grace of a monkey, she swung herself until she reached the lower run of the safety guard. Within seconds she was up and scouting. She kept in sight as she pressed on, pressing her ear to pipes as they passed. We followed on a lower level. No ladder or stairs appeared for the near future, so Veracia joined Cathleen on the upper walkway. Again, using me as a step ladder to her goal. They women lay flat on their bellies to reach down and hoist me up to join them.
The voices cleared as we reached a large doomed hollow, voices echoing down as if from the heavens. Only instead of kind words of support and wisdom, all we heard was snide remarks and the political meandering that send groans from every citizen the galaxy over. We were right under debate room. Councillor Valern spoke of a would-be candidate's previous political statements about embargos against the krogan, further worsening not only the condition on Tuchanka but the political tension between the Council and the krogan. My head shook as the voices rose and the moderator demanded calm. Politics never changed. Well, at least we knew where we were. Now to find Val and figure out what is going on with the radios. The only way to get higher, though, danced along ladders and narrow walkways, but no doors appeared anywhere in the room. My shoulders rolled, unease spreading like a plague. The women gazed at the maze, shifting their eyes towards me for leadership. My shoulders sagged. Seconds later, my hands pulled me up the runs of the tiny ladders. The voices cleared the closer to the floor I became. On a gangway towards the next set of ladders, something pinged at the corner of my eye.
Behind a support strut, one of many, something blinked. My heart skittered. My head poked around the beam towards the blinking light. The blood gushing in my ears froze. A large package about the size of a small dog clung to the strut, a series of lights running in a slow, rhythmic pattern around the outside. The design looked familiar. The same boxes, although bigger, than the ones I removed from the Starquake's all those years ago in Illium. My throat refused to swallow. It only tightened with each second. Oh Keelah, oh keelah oh keelah! My eyes flew down to the ladies lower down, Cathleen watching my non-existent progress with a furrowed brow. My mouth floundered for words.
"B-Bombs," I squeaked. Cathleen frowned, turning her head to point her ear in my direction. "There's bombs here!" I hushed, afraid of tripping them. Cathleen's frown deepened, but Veracia's plate brows shot up.
"What do you mean, bombs?!" she snapped. Cathleen froze.
"There's a bomb here!" I squealed, backing away from the device. "On the support column!"
"Ah shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Cathleen cursed as she dashed towards another column, a torch pouring from her omni-tool. She shone up it up and down another support column. "Fuck, I think I see one here too,"
"Oh spirits have mercy," Veracia said, running to another column.
"I… I-I gotta tell Val!" S-Stay here and map the bombs if you can," I ordered, already scrambling towards the ladder.
"Leave a drone behind to help us!" Cathleen called. Veracia hushed her, making them woman wince. The orange hue of the omni-tool flashed for a second, long enough to release 2 drones and pass control to the women. My goal returned to the ladder, to climbing up. Had to find Val, had to warn him!
The only way to get to the debate room itself was through wide vents that curled under the floor. A vent's cover flew off under my frantic hands. The claustrophobia didn't bother me, what bothered me as the smell. What did the Keepers use to keep this thing clean!? It stank of nose-air burning rotten eggs. Sulphur? No, worry about that later, find Val! On my belly, my elbows reached out to pull me along the floor. How to tell Val without alerting the possible Saboteur, if this was a Saboteur plot. It could be a plain terrorist plot, they were common enough but this… It seemed to strategic. How many people knew this damn room existed below the debate chambers. Why did it exist under the room to begin with? Did the Reapers plan this just in case? Oh keelah, they may have. My heart thumped in my chest as voices rang just above my head. Close to the politicians, my progress slowed, a tentative crawl to not bring attention to myself. My eyes scanned the people above me as small slits in the floor cast light into the dark vent. An asari, a turian, another asari, a human, a long line of salarians. The vent branched off before creeping higher. Maybe Val was on one of the higher tiers. After 5 minutes of crawling up the incline and a scramble around to see if anyone matched Val's description, two turian feet grabbed my attention. Blood deafened me as it poured against my eardrums.
"Val!" I whispered. The turian shifted, the crest shifting as he turned his head. The bent plume confirmed the ID. "Val, we've got a problem!" Drutus glanced down, following the voice. His mandibles clicked. He waited a few seconds before a non-shatter glass tumbled to the ground, water spilling. The aliens around looked over, revealing to be Tevos and one of her assistants. Val dropped with a bundle of tissues, spotting me through the slits in the floor.
"Shayan?" he hushed.
"We've got bombs down here!" I said, keeping my tone low. Turians and their sensitive hearing, it needed little more. Val's plates snapped down. "I-I've only got Cathleen and Veracia with me, the radios are down!"
"That explains why no one is radioing in…" he mumbled.
"Val, I think all the support struts under this room have bombs on them, I-I don't know what to do about them!" I said.
"Can you disarm them?" he asked, mopping up more of the water.
"Uh… w-well, I could b-but with only Cathleen and Veracia… n-none of them have bomb-disarming experience," I said.
"Ok, disarm what you can. Have the pair search for more in the surrounding areas and see if you can lead anyone else to the area, is there any form of communication working?" Val asked.
"I-I don't know. I-I can try hacking through some of the Citadel systems and get onto our team's communications from there. W-We share the same system with Satrino and the rest of C-Sec," I mumbled.
"Have Veracia do that, she was always damn good with that. You focus on the bombs, have Cathleen on scout duty," Val ordered. He shifted his gaze up to Tevos, the attentive asari listening in with her eyes watching the rambling turian opposite her. "We'll keep things going here. We've only scraped the surface and see if we can distract whoever set them. Do you see timers?" My head shook. "Then they must be remote activated. I'll see what I can do from here. Get back down there," he said, opening his omni-tool to transfer the data from our omni-tools to his own. He picked up the glass and straightened, once more attentive.
With new orders, my slow crawl began again. Pushing through the smell haunting my air filters, my pace picked up once away from the debate room. Minutes later, the bomb-filled room returned. Veracia looked up from her omni-tool as the drones circled the room. My attention turned to the bomb found earlier. My omni-tool lit the box, searching for anything that may trip it. After seeing nothing physical, a scan with the omni-tool highlighted potential problems. The software protecting the bomb held Reaper-code related arguments. My limbs trembled. Saboteurs. Just what we needed. My head shook, leaning away from the device to stare down the 30m drop to the women.
"O-Orders from Val!" I called. Veracia and Cathleen paused. "Veracia, hack in to the Citadel systems and try to contact to the crew from there. Councillor Tevos has given us permission! Cathleen, keep mapping where these bombs are! I-I will start disabling them!"
"Aye, aye, Commander!" the pair said. Veracia opened her omni-tool disappearing into the menus. Cathleen took control the second drone to speed up her scanning.
Despite the butterflies in my stomach, the experimental VI designed by a mixture of Julian's R&D department and our own additions went to work. The VI focused on disarming any defences, my attention returned to how to remove the device, if that was even a good idea. While no physical trips or other devices caught my eye, the Reapers were hyper intelligent monsters for a reason. Even if the VI said it disarmed it, removing it was the only method to be sure it didn't kill anyone. There could be multiple layers of control or ways to set the bomb off. The VI beeped, stating it was through the security barriers. My omni-blade slipped free, nudging the edges of the bomb to test for any physical traps. The blade touched something, sending my heart thumping as the orange blade vanished. My throat tightened. Something snagged, a possible trap. Now… how best to remove it? Forcing it off could cause it – and any others connected to it – to erupt before me. But if I ran a scan through the metal…
The palm of the omni-tool pressed against the metal. My hand tapped the metal beam, small vibrations pulsing through the material. The omni-tool picked up the returning waves, forming an image of the beam and everything connected to it. The bomb stuck to the beam, but there was only 1 metal to metal connection in the middle. All other connections looked like adhesive. My heart settled. Now to remove said connection. With the detailed image in hand, my omni-blade focused into a narrow point. The point pressed against the metal, heating metal until it glowed. The solder that held the bomb softened, melted, the adhesive eased. Tentative hands coaxed the bomb from the beam. Nothing exploded. My tense breath released, turning the device in my hand. The simple box didn't look special, but there was no mistaking it. It was larger than the ones in the engines, but to blow up these struts, it'd had to be. A crackle hummed in my ear.
"…ar me –n thi- -quency?" Veracia's voice crackled.
"We h-r you, -cia. W-t's with th- dodgy co-ection?" Indira asked.
"Someth-g's bloc- the sig-al. We h-ve Sabo-er activity bel- the deb-te room. Explos-ves. Bombs. Assist-nce required. Bravo Oscar Mike Bravo Sierra," Veracia said.
"Roger. Bravo Os-ar Mike Brav- Sierra. On ou- way," Indira said.
Dell insisted we used the human style phonetical alphabet, she found the galactic one too difficult with the small quirks of the languages used. At least we radioed for help! The bomb in my hands lowered onto the catwalk, away from the strut. It would still damage it, but judging from the focused stripes of metal on the back, it wouldn't slice straight through. Onto the next one. The bomb didn't have a nice catwalk beside it to reach to. To reach it, thick pipes carrying fluid acted as my makeshift platform, using mass effect fields to pin my armour to the pipes so my arms could reach over. By the time the second bomb lowered to the ground, footfalls echoed from the twisting chambers. Veracia investigated, pistol drawn. She vanished from sight around a corner. My heart fluttered. If the bombs had a silent warning to the Saboteur, then maybe they were coming to investigate who was messing with their bombs. Veracia returned with a small team; Anthon, Kai, Kael, Zeedra and Sherin. Relief sagged my shoulders. Anthon spotted me lowering myself from the pipes. He pulled himself up the ladder to join me, spotting the devices on the ground. A frown twisted his mouth.
"How many?" he asked. My head shook, staring at my omni-tool.
"N-not sure. I've removed two but Cathleen has found at least another 10. Who knows how many more there are," I said. Anthon clucked his tongue, moving around the bomb to assess it.
"I'll think of a way to disarm it, show the others how to remove them from the struts," he said. My eyes drifted to the others listening to Veracia and Cathleen complaining about the lack of communication and the mass of people. The others agreed, sharing their own woes. More bodies filed in. More hands to help. My muscles relaxed, relieved to see the majority of the team has arrived. How had they found us so soon? Phentos studied the room with a frown when he saw everyone, mandibles flared.
"How do we get to Val from here?" he asked.
"Uh, t-there's vents over here," I said, pointing.
"Take the non-krogan combat team with you. Rosmeni and Algenis too," he ordered.
"Why?" I asked, the earlier tension returning.
"I don't like having everyone here and no one with Val. Besides, this place makes my plate itch. Those with bomb disarming skills, stay here, everyone else follow me," he said.
Why was he splitting everyone up? Everyone was here, we could get rid of these bombs. My head shook as the combat team, Rosmeni and Algenis clambered up the ladders to join me. Anthon shuffled out of the way as they filed past to follow me to the vents. The walkway shuddered under the additional weight. Laegan stumbled, his foot kicking into the first bomb I removed. My heart stopped as it tumbled over the edge. Yells cried out, biotics flared, but it smashed into a pipe before anyone could react. The box shattered. Everyone froze, biotic shields up as shards of metal tumbled to the ground like snow. No explosion followed. No explosive material tumbled free. Not a muscle moved for what felt like hours. Eyes shifted to each other.
"Get them to Val! Go, go, go!" Phentos roared. "Bomb team, make sure the rest are fake! Everyone else on me!"
My heart pounded in my chest as the crowd behind me threw me into the vent to lead the way. They filed in behind me, breathing down my neck. My arms pulled me along the metal ground double time, the whole vent echoing around me. We slowed as we approached the debate room, minimising sound to not alert everyone. Rosmeni took point, leading everyone up to the next layer, to a hidden walkway used by security above the debate room. She eased a vent cover off, folding herself out as she crouched walk around the walkway, assessing the room. We fanned out, looking down upon the politicians. My eyes scanned every crevice, just in case. The shining silver walls would make any dark object obvious, the whole room curved upstairs to the four highest seats. Udina was missing. The middle of the room remained a space for holograms while the minsters sat in a semi-circle around the Council. A small blinking light poked from the darkness of a vent, so hidden nothing but a keen eye would pass over it. My heart rattled, grabbing Algenis to point it out. He frowned as he went on the dodgy radio connection. The same box that occupied downstairs. My quiet test of the device from downstairs repeated here.
"The honourable Minster Esalis is correct, the current state of affairs between us and the Terminus Systems are of great concern. That is why I ask the Council why they have refused to do anything to halt the threat hanging over the heads of every colonist on the edges of the system. Batarian colonies vanishing in a bloodbath, human colonies disappearing without trace nor sign of fighting only to for them to put blame on the Collectors with no real evidence. What is the Council doing?" a female turian asked, partial albinism splashing white over her tan metal face. Sparatus clicked his mandibles.
"The right honourable Minster Agtius is correct, the colony problems are of our highest concern. We have spoken with the System's Alliance to release Spectre Commander Shepard to put him back into action. However, we must not incite war with the Terminus systems, anything more than what we have done will push the galaxy to war," Sparatus said.
"And what are you hoping to achieve with an insane maniac who believes a hyper advanced race of machines are coming to destroy us?" A dark screen salarian with vivid amber eyes rumbled.
"While his views are questionable, we cannot ignore his skills. He saved the Citadel from Saren and his geth, he found a way to the Collector homeworld. Yes, the man is… unusual, but he is more than capable of getting the job done," Tevos said.
My hands trembled as my examination of the bomb provided one answer. Removing it would be hard and not recommended with the Council seated right behind me. The bomb looked to be a thermal trigger using… thermal… My eyes popped open. A light on my omni-tool the vent glowing under the light. The cryo blast ball formed pressing against the device. My sensors danced, the material destabilising. My heart raced, blood pumping. The material froze faster than it could react. The chemical reaction stopped. With cautious hands, the device peeled off the wall. No connector here. Stand-alone bombs or at least remote operated. Once free from the vent, an asari from C-Sec crawled to my side, a band on her arm. Someone from Satrino's team. Word go around then. She eased the bomb from my arms, keeping low as she ducked down a hatch in the floor. More C-Sec officered poked up as the combat team found more explosives tucked away, well hidden from sight.
Val kept his spine straight, scanning the aliens. If the Saboteur was in the room, he hadn't found them. My hands trembled with each passing minute, with each confirmed bomb removed from the room. We had a radio call from C-Sec saying they had placed the bombs in specialised containers. At least C-Sec was organised, one good thing about this whole mission. 20 bombs found and removed from the room. The door opened, my skin jumping. Udina entered the room, grumbling. Val clicked his mandibles but kept silent as the human mounted the curved stairs to reach his chair.
"I apologise for the delay, honourable minsters and Council members. The Systems Alliance has been requesting aid after an attack on one of our cities," he said. His eyes skimmed past me, lying low on the floor with my hands stretched out towards the next explosive device. He eased himself onto his chair beside Valern.
"Quite, I believe I speak for all when I send my sympathies and condolences spread to those on Earth after this atrocious terrorist attack," a pale blue asari said, light markings dusting her forehead.
"Earth appreciates your words, Minister A'osera," Udina said.
As the next bomb disappeared down the hatch, my neck itched. The sensation sent quivers trembling through me, but pushed on. A scan of the vent showed nothing of interest until something registered past the sound sensors in the suit. A crackling sound. My eyes lifted. In a small upshot from the vent, another bomb ticked. Only the reaction had started. My heart thundered as the cryo blast pressed into the smouldering package. Oh keelah, did the Saboteur know?! Similar whimpers broke out across the radio, people noticing the same thing. There was no time. My hands grabbed the device and yanked it from the wall, crawling free from the vents. Others held similar devices as the crawled free but their expressions were wide. As our activity ramped up, the politicians stared around the room. We ignored their concerned and panicked cries as Drutus lifted his eyes to the thick glass covering above out heads. The endless space around the Citadel hung above us. We didn't have time. Val cracked his mandibles, understanding.
"Throw them in!" he ordered, making the politicians jump. They opened their mouths, but the bombs flew towards the centre of the room, as high as we could throw. Drutus and Val pulled out pistols and fired at the glass protecting us from space. Everyone grabbed something solid.
My suit protected my ears from bursting as the decompression blasted white fog through the room. Screams died in the rush of air, everything upheaved. My hands gripped a table for dear life, praying it held long enough for the pressure difference to suck out the bombs and for the mass effect shield to kick in to re-pressurise the room. The rush of air stopped like a train slamming into a mountain cliff. Everything collapsed around us as the safety features kicked in and sealed the breach. Paper, plants, chairs and keelah knows what lay strewn about. My heart thundered. Everyone looked ok… my eyes flew up, though the fluttering blue field. Small red bursts dotted the purple hue, the bombs gone. One thundered nearby, ripping a hole through the left side of the room, but the singular bomb did nothing without its friends. My hand grabbed my chest, weakness collapsing my knees.
"W-What is this?!" a male turian demanded, throwing a chair laden over his shoulders.
"Well, you mentioned terrorist attacks," Val rumbled. "Looks like we got all but one. What about the ones downstairs?"
"F-Fake. W-We left a team down there investigate," Cathleen wheezed, shaking her head.
My arms pulled me over the lip of the table, peering down at the gathering of people. Most looked shaken, quivering beyond words. One remained passive, frowning at Val and the crew. Her blue eyes fluttered towards me, the partial albino turian with dark blue markings. She blinked once, empty of emotion. My heart sank, beeps clicking in my suit. A warning blared in my ear, sanitation systems shutting down. My throat closed, panic setting in. D-Did the decompression damage my suit or was this… or was this… Oh keelah! My hand grasped as broken metal bar from a chair. Without the sanitation systems, the diseases and bacteria that could kill me would- The leg flew, the turian side-stepping. That side-step, that brief distraction, stopped the warning chimes in my ear. Systems returned to normal.
"Saboteur!" I screeched. The crew leapt out their skins, wheeling to face me. "That one! That one! Tech Incap!" I pointed to the female turian, her eyes narrowing.
The rush of air returned, the systems failing. The mass effect field protecting us vanished. My suit whined as it lost electrical power, common sense fleeing with it. My screams whispered under the violent rush of air. Through the violence, my grip on the table slipped, eyes popping from my skull as my legs flew above me from the force. A second later, my body fell on the table, pain rushing to greet me from my back. Anti-biotics flooded my system a second later as my suit recovered. When my eyes swung back up, they found Satrino. The turian's boots thundered with each step as he raised a pipe against the Saboteur for a second time. The Saboteur snarled, an armoured arm slamming into turian, the boots remained in place as Satrino fell backwards. Massive magnets strapped to the boots kept him tied down. Algenis leapt down, sword in hand. A second later, the krogan burst the door down, blood mottling them after mowing through the crowd.
C-Sec officers flooded the room, grabbing politicians and fleeing the area. The Indra on my shoulder weighed like a heavy sack, hands shaking too much to reach for it. Val leapt down to pull Satrino away from the Saboteur as the Utren bulldozed into her. My shoulders rattled, but not enough for me to reach out to Valern and pull him from his curled position under the table. As the robotic cries roared above it, the threat of decompression imminent, Valern yelped as we fell down a hatch, C-Sec officers grabbing the Councillor before vanishing. My head poked out of the hole, trembling. Against brute krogan muscle and skilled blade-mastery of Algenis, the Saboteur would be down soon. Val charged into fray, ignoring previous warnings about biotics and Tech Incap. The thick armour surrounding the Saboteur slowed progress, but the concentration required to utilise the specialisations was our saving grace. If they didn't have to focus so much on it, we would be dead long before now.
A wet squelch weakened my back until the sight vanished, ducking back into the hatch. The Saboteur let loose one last roar before the sound of metal on metal cut it short. Seconds ticked by into a minute, only the sound of rasping breaths echoing up from the hall. My head poked over the rim once more, crawling out the hole to peer through a gap in the broken table. Val's hands leaned on his knees, panting as dark blue blood dripped from his left arm. Algenis wiped a trickle from the corner of his mouth, a bruise forming from a shield smash to the face. The krogan roared, slamming fists together. A sigh eased from my chest, tension gone at last. Algenis tossed the spine on the floor, flipping over the still form of the part albino turian. His eyes lifted to Val as he straightened, shaking his head.
"Anyone got an ID for this thing?" he asked.
"Minster Dexiphilia Agtius, front runner for replacing Sparatus," Drutus said. "She's been in politics a long time, 30 years or so,"
"Why did she reveal herself? Everything happened so fast," Iona asked.
"Ask Shayan," Val said, shifting his gaze to mine. My shoulders tensed. "He's the one who named her,"
"A-Ah w-well r-remember what D-Dell said? S-Saboteurs d-don't react like o-organics very well in situations of e-extreme emotions," I said, shuffling under the combined gaze of C-Sec and crew. "S-She was too… dead. Too passive. T-Then my suit failed a-and she was looking r-right at me. S-She never looked away,"
"Must've been directing her Tech Incap," Rosmeni said. "Well, successful first mission, Captain," she grinned. Val groaned.
"Is it too much to hope for that the next one will involve less standing around listening to politicians bickering and name calling in flamboyant ways?" he asked.
"No promises," Drutus chuckled. Val groaned louder.
"Just as well we paid for ye' oldie magnets," Satrino rumbled. "Spirits I'm getting too old for this shit,"
"Ach you can retire when the Reapers are all dead," Indira laughed as she walked through the door. "We can't find any other explosives. All but one bomb down under were fake. And the real one was so tiny it wouldn't have dented a damn thing,"
"I'll speak to the commander and see if he can't get a scouting team sorted. Bailey was always damn good at that sort of thing," Satrino sighed. "I need to get clean up sorted. I'll leave bit to you," he waved his hand in the general direction of the fallen Saboteur. Val snorted, muttering 'so generous' under his breath. My hands folded into each other as Tevos poked her head into the room, noticing the exit of Satrino.
"All clear?" she asked. Val nodded. A slow breath escaped as she pulled herself straight, calming herself. "Endellion always warned us about the potential dangers of a Tech Incap within the Citadel. Although you didn't help by putting a hole in the roof," she scolded. Val frowned.
"The Saboteur activated the bombs. We had about 15 seconds before they exploded. You must have C-Sec up their chemical trace security. They must've used either their Minster Access Codes to sneak them through or used non-dangerous chemicals that turn explosive when mixed," his eyes drifted to Indira. "Any ID on the Reaper?"
"We didn't give her a chance to speak, but if we cross-reference what we know about the Saboteurs, I'm putting my money on Chermon. We won't know for sure but it'll be a good guestimate," she said.
"It'll do," Val rumbled. He turned to Tevos, the Councillor staring around the wrecked room. "Do you have any orders, Councillor?" he asked. Tevos' eyes slid, regarding him.
"We still have another week of Council related elections to get through. Although this will complicate the process, we cannot stop it. There is still one more Saboteur who may wish to penetrate the inner sanctum of the Council. We cannot allow this. Your ship still requires time in the dry dock. We need you to remain here until the result," she said.
"Great, so we don't even get a break as a well done," Shual rumbled. Tevos smiled.
"No, but how does an increase to your budget sound?" she said. Shaul frowned. "And perhaps, if the Captain is feeling generous, that may mean a pay rise," Val frowned as eyes shifted in his direction.
"For the first month it goes to R&D, after that…" he sighed. Shaul grinned. "Why do you have to make my life more difficult?"
"Valérien, I have barely begun," she said, smile widening. "Why do you think Endellion did not like dealing with us so much?" Val's mandible cracked against his cheeks. My shoulders sagged. At least that was something I didn't have to deal with!
The Saboteur Sheet has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to archive.
A/N: Thank you all for the support. We are approaching 200 follows and getting there for 200 favourites! I'd never thought this novel would get this much attention (although to be fair, it has been ongoing since 2013 (wow, 5 year anniversary next year!). I know the past few months have been slow, but I'm hoping to slowly break myself back into a system. I have run out of chapters for weekly releases so unless I take a break or get a massive writing spree going, I will have to go onto a release when they are finished cycle for a while.