*C-Sec HQ. Presidium Embassy*
The mechanical doors slid open with a loud hiss. Two individuals quickly walked in and set their sights on the front desk.
One of them was a short-haired man. He appeared to be of African American descent, in his mid thirties. The other was a Caucasian woman who looked to be in her mid forties with long black hair flowing behind her back. They appeared to be researchers of some sorts.
Waiting at the front desk was Commander Bailey, who looked rather frustrated all things considered. He noticed the two coming his way and greeted the both of them with a welcoming handshake.
"Mr. Taylor, Dr. Lawson. Thank you both for coming on such short notice." Bailey spoke.
"Not a problem, Bailey." Miranda replied in a heavy Australian accent… and with her mouth full. "Anything for an old friend."
"Yeah. Don't gotta worry about waking us up. I'm used to gettin' up this late, thanks to my kid." Javon laughed.
"Then if you'll both come with- Dr. Lawson, are you eating a corndog drizzled with caramel and sprinkles..?
Miranda looked at the contents of her right hand. It was a fried piece of… something.
"Bailey, that would be disgusting." She swallowed. "It's a fried pickle."
Bailey couldn't help but gag. Never had he seen anyone, not even a krogan, eat such a bizarre combination of foods. He looked at Jacob questioningly.
"I don't know either, man." Taylor replied.
Moving on, the three of them proceeded deeper into the building. All around them were officers of Citadel Security hard at work on their night shift duties. Some inputting files into their computers, others throwing degenerate criminals into holding cells for processing. C-Sec had all the qualities of a police station back on Earth, aside from all the turians.
Bailey opened a door in front of him, leading to what looked like a forensics laboratory. Jacob and Miranda entered as well, both of them curious as to what they were doing here. That was when Bailey began to speak.
"Earlier today, we apprehended an armed suspect who attempted to rob a local cafe. Commander Vakarian and Dr. T'Soni had managed to fight him off until we got there."
"Garrus and Liara? Are they okay?" Jacob asked in worry.
"They're both fine. They walked away with a few minor scrapes." Explained Bailey. "This is what I called you in for."
The C-Sec commander reached over his desk. He picked up a large Hand Cannon off its surface. It was the exact same gun that the gunslinger had used back at that cafe earlier. He handed it over to Jacob, who was in total awe at the weapon.
"Our little outlaw had this little monster on him. He called it 'The Last Word'. Don't point it at anyone. That little puppy packs a mean bite." He warned.
Jacob examined the gun in his hand. He was absolutely blown away by the sheer craftsmanship of the gun. The metal wasn't like anything he had ever felt before. It was part steel alloy, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what else it was composed of. The handle was pure wood, and not just any. Australian Buloke. The strongest wood on Earth. Then there was the engraving along the barrel; Tex Mechanica.
"You two were the biggest brains in Cerberus. I figured that you would know something about this gun."
With a flick of his wrist, Jacob popped out the gun's cylinder. The inner-chambers for the bullets were… huge. They looked like they could hold anti-tank bullets. Taylor was a weapons expert and even he was impressed.
"Bailey, I… This isn't like anything I've ever seen before." Jacob admitted.
"It looks like something from a museum." Miranda added, equally intrigued.
"That's not even the half of it, you two." Bailey added as he loaded up a page on his Omni-Tool. "We analyzed the materials. That gun is… old. Centuries old."
"That makes sense. It's an old western gun. It's bound to be old." Miranda stated plainly.
"A cowboy pistol that looked like THIS in late 1800s?" Jacob questioned.
With a few clicks, the holographic page zoomed in on the gun's materials. It displayed the elements it was composed of and their age.
"Jacob's right. That kind of design didn't exist back then. Not only that. Take a look at this."
The two former Cerberus operatives examined the Omni-Tool. They examined the contents of the page and were both in total shock. There was some sort of microscopic technology infused into the gun's materials. It took the form of glowing white… veins would be the closest thing to compare it to. It seemed to self replicate to repair any damage done to the gun's frame, like cells healing a wound on the body.
"Self repairing nanites?" Miranda exclaimed.
"Not even the protheans had technology this advanced. I feel like a dark-ages blacksmith looking at the engine of a Tesla." Jacob said in awe.
"If you think that is impressive…"
Bailey hit a switch. A stand rose up from inside the table. Jacob got the hint, so he placed the weapon on the stand. Bailey then input a command.
"Activate Mass Effect energy detection scanners."
The lights in the room shut off. Two rays of light shone down from the ceiling at the stand where the gun sat. Under the special light, something was made visible. Ethereal webs of energy radiated from the gun's frame. Miranda and Jacob could not believe what they were seeing.
"The gun is emitting some kind of energy!" Said Jacob in amazement.
"It's beautiful." Miranda stated.
Bailey crossed his arms. They weren't the only ones who were left completely dumbfounded. He had the brightest minds in C-Sec analyze the energy and it didn't match any known source in the galaxy. Not even Reaper tech.
Miranda turned to Commander Bailey "You said an armed robber had this gun?"
…
*New Krogan Embassy: At The Same Time*
…
Footsteps were heard traversing the floors of the embassy, soon coming to a halt. A soldier took position and performed a formal salute to the individual before them.
"Chief Wrex." They greeted.
Wrex was seen staring off into the vast horizon beyond the Citadel, hand behind his back. The seemingly endless array of stars was truly to behold. The krogan finally turned around to where the soldier stood.
The soldier was a human male. Short black hair and dressed in blue armor with the Spectre emblem embedded onto it. Wrex smiled welcomingly at the human.
"Knock it off with the formalities, Kaiden. We've known each other long enough to call us by our names."
Kaiden's body relaxed. He lowered his arm and smiled. The two shook the other's hand. "My bad, Wrex. Just a habit, I guess." He replied. "You're up late. Couldn't sleep?"
"Bah! The salarian councilor had a field day with me. Too wound up now."
Wrex pinched his forehead.
During the Reaper War, the krogan genophage had finally been cured, thanks to the exploits of Commander Shepard, Wrex, and former STG scientist, Mordin Solus, who unfortunately gave his life to save the very race that his own condemned to extinction over their violent natures.
Krogan reproduce at an extremely fast rate, so they require a large number of settlements to keep up. That was until the deployment of the genophage however, a salarian virus that rendered almost every krogan in the galaxy steril. The salarians claim it was to "stabilize" their numbers. But it had gotten so bad that the krogan were hanging on the verge of total eradication.
It did not help that the salarians had only "uplifted" the krogan to fight in the Rachni Wars for them.
But when the galaxy required the aid of the krogan once more, when the Reapers finally arrived. They would only do so if this horrid disease would be cured. And how ironic that it would be a salarian who would do it. Now the krogan could flourish once more, having truly redeemed themselves.
However, despite being regarded as heroes, having fought on the front lines on Earth, salarians still viewed krogan as savage animals hellbent on their destruction for the genophage, even though they had buried the hatchet with the turians, who were responsible for deploying it.
There were numerous reports of harassment against krogan across the Citadel since then. Property defacement, shops refusing to serve krogan customers, even salarian C-Sec officers arresting them for no reason. With such attacks against krogan rights, Wrex had to step in and defend his people.
But even with the summit meetings and new anti hate campaigns being held for them, the salarians refused to back down, as they had this insane belief that the krogan would rise up against them again out of retaliation for the genophage. Five years later, no such attack.
There would only be one sure way for the krogan race to receive true equality within the Alliance. Their first ever councilor. That was what Wrex had been working for.
"What about you, kid?" Wrex asked Kaiden.
Alenko groaned and scratched his head. "Night shift."
A hard laugh erupted from Wrex's gut. "Poor bastard! What did you do to get that?"
"I punched a reporter. Didn't fare so well with the Council."
Wrex snickered. He saw that little incident on the news. The skank had it coming.
"Keep that up and you'll be Shepard's level in no time. Ha!"
The two comrades shared a good laugh. It had been too long since they had conversed like this.
Both Kaiden and Wrex were part of the original Normandy Crew, back when Jane Shepard was tasked with hunting down the rogue Spectre, Saren Arterius, who had been Indoctrinated by the Reaper, Sovereign. At that time, Kaiden was Shepard's lieutenant and… romantic interest before Garrus, and Wrex was a bounty hunter whose specialty was kicking ass and taking the galaxy by the quad!
(For those of you who haven't played Mass Effect. Krogan have four testicles.)
"How are things back on Tuchanka, and with your family?" Kaiden asked.
"Good, all things considered. Now that the genophage is gone, the krogan are starting to get back up on their feet."
Wrex headed over to the desk to his left. He picked up a bottle of scotch and poured himself a glass. The red krogan swung it back with ease, letting the burning liquid pour down his throat.
"Only a matter of time before our construction sites become a real town again. Krogan colonization is proceeding just as well. As promised, we're only sticking to uninhabited planets that the Alliance suggested to us. I think about four will be up and running within a few years."
"That's good." Responded Kaiden positively.
"As for Bakara, things are great between us. And Mordin's growin' like a thresher maw. Can't be more proud."
Wrex poured another glass which he quickly swallowed.
"Sounds like things are finally looking up for you guys." Kaiden leaned against the wall. "Any news on potential candidates for the Krogan Councilor?"
The moment he heard that question, Wrex immediately poured yet another drink, this time enough to fill the whole glass. Wrex swung it back quickly. Kaiden took the hint.
"I take it that means no… Unless… It's not Grunt, is it?!" He asked in a panic.
The mere thought of that idea made Wrex chug back the entire bottle until it was completely empty. Urdnot belched loudly, setting the empty bottle down on the table. Good thing it takes more than one bottle of human scotch to get a krogan drunk, let alone one as big as he was.
"No, it's not." Wrex finally answered, groaning in annoyance. "I tell you, Alenko. Krogan are not meant to be politicians."
Finding a krogan for the position of councilor is easier said than done. With their hot tempers, it needed to be one who could remain cool and collected during arguments without… you know, ripping the other councilors in half with their bare hands. And it needed to be someone Wrex knew would take the steps required to prepare for another threat like the Reapers, and not brush it off like the other councilors did with Shepard. Or pull a coup like Udina did with Cerberus.
"Never thought finding a Krogan Councilor could be so hard. You'd think they'd jump at the chance." Kaiden assumed.
"They do." Wrex stated irritably. "The problem is keeping their temper in check. That, and not murdering the Salarian Councilor when they start an argument… I did have one potential candidate but…"
The chief fell silent. He had someone in mind? "Well then, who?" Kaiden pushed.
"Nakmor Drack." Wrex said with a confident grin. "That old fossil was the meanest, toughest hunk of krogan I'd ever met, but he was also a smart guy."
The Urdnot chief turned back to Alenko. That was when he explained the story.
Drack was a renowned krogan veteran born as far back as the Krogan Rebellions. He was a descendant of female warlord Shiagur. Drack was not born into Clan Nakmor, but accepted into it.
After the deployment of the genophage, Drack moved on to a life of sellswording. His adventures were that of a legend.
"I met him when I was only recently appointed as Clan Urdnot's new chief. Drack saved my life when a group of Blood Pack assassins tried to put a bullet in my head. He and I smashed those losers into a thin red paste! Ha!"
Kaiden had an eyebrow raised at this idea. He knew he could trust Wrex, that was true. But this Drack..?
"You really think this guy would be councilor material?"
"Don't worry, he's much more level-headed than most krogan." Wrex assured the nervous Spectre. "Besides, with age comes experience and wisdom. So what if he ain't a politician. Anderson wasn't and he did fine as humanity's councilor."
He wasn't wrong about that.
"Alright then. Let's give this guy a call, present the offer."
Wrex sighed however. "Ah, we can't. That old codger hightailed it to Andromeda with his granddaughter back in 85. They're probably taking a power nap somewhere in Dark Space, or their ARK ran into the Reapers and they got killed… Probably the latter."
…
*Planet Eos: Andromeda Galaxy. Around 600 years later…*
…
The sound of deep shouting could be heard in the distance. Without warning, a Kett Wraith was tossed through a glass window. Shards of glass scattered across the floor of the base, while the Wraith appeared to have died instantly upon impact with the glass as its tongue hung from its mouth.
Scott, Liam, and Vetra all backed away from the dead alien beast. Each of them wondering what in the world had just happened. That was when Nakmor Drack jumped down from the shattered window and approached the squad, stepping over the dead beast in the process.
"Who are you?" Drack questioned with a hostile growl.
At first, Scott fell silent. That was when he blurted…
"That was pretty cool."
"Huh. Well yeah. Guess it was."
…
*Present*
…
"Eh. I'll say something nice about him later."
Wrex leaned over the office's balcony railing, staring off into the distance and allowing his mind to wonder. Kaiden followed suit right beside the old krogan.
"I'm telling you, Kaiden. Those days on the Normandy, us flying all over the galaxy, killin' Reapers, Cerberus, who knows what… What I wouldn't give for all that back…"
The human nodded his head in agreement.
"I feel you, man. Especially…"
Memories flew through Kaiden's mind. Memories of Shepard. Him and Shepard. He truly cherished the short time they had spent together during the early days of their adventure.
That was all before he screwed everything up with her, back on Horizon. Back before… Garrus.
…
*Horizon: 2185*
…
They were too late. Just… too damned late. The Collectors had made off with the ENTIRE colony. So many people were taken, awaiting who knows what kind of fate at the hands of those monsters.
The only thing that made it all bearable at that moment… Seeing Kaiden again.
Shepard, Garrus, and Mordin had just finished fighting off a small army of Collectors and newly-evolved Husks. After they were sure all enemies had been eliminated, they had found Kaiden frozen in place by the effect of the Collectors' Seeker Swarms. Mordin had gotten to work on applying his countermeasure to the Alliance soldier. Kaiden ended up springing back to life and accidentally smashing his head right into Garrus' nose.
After Mordin had patched up the turian, and everyone having a small laugh. Shepard and Kaiden embraced each other tenderly. It had been two years since they had last seen each other after Shepard had disappeared. Garrus and Mordin witnessed the touching reunion of lovers.
Mordin was beginning to sniffle a bit. He may have been a scientist, but he was a robot.
Garrus however… Felt as though there were a series of white hot daggers piercing through his heart. He was fortunate that he did not show it.
"I thought you were dead, Jane…" Kaiden whimpered. "We all did…"
"It's been too long, Kaiden." Shepard replied happily. The two lovers broke their hug. "How've you been?"
Kaiden's happiness soon vanished however. Replaced by a wave of confusion and frustration. "Is that all you have to say?" He scoffed. "You show up after two years and just act like nothing happened?"
In all fairness, Kaiden had the right to be angry with her. Two long years, Shepard had been missing after the SR1 Normandy had went down. He had grieved for her. He had moved on.
And now, after so long, she had returned out of absolutely nowhere, so nonchalantly.
"I thought we had something, Shepard. Something real." He scolded his former lover and superior. "I loved you. Thinking you were dead tore me apart! How could you put me through that?! Why didn't you try to contact me?! Why didn't you let me know you were alive?!"
"Kaiden, that wasn't my choice." Shepard tried to explain to him. "I spent the last two years inside some kind of coma while Cerberus rebuilt me."
Shepard was in a coma? Alright, well that explained- Wait, what did she say?
"Hold on… You're… with Cerberus now..? Garrus, you too?!"
Cerberus was a pro-human extremist group who were at the top of the Alliance's watchlist for years. They were most infamous for abducting young children who were gifted in bitotcs and performing heinous experiments on them. Shepard's crewmate, Jack, was one of those children. And to know that she was working with them… WHY?!
"I… I can't believe the reports were right."
"Reports? You mean you already knew?" Garrus asked in surprise.
"Alliance intel thought that Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies. I got a tip; this colony might be the next one to get hit." Kaiden explained as calmly as he could, despite his rising anger. "Anderson stonewalled, but there were rumors that you weren't dead, and that you were working for the enemy."
"I don't work for Cerberus. We just want the same thing. To save our colonies. That doesn't mean I answer to them."
Shepard tried to explain things to him, but she knew full well that, when Kaiden gets angry, the man was like a brick wall.
"Do you really believe that?" Alenko argued. He got up right in her face. "Or is that just what Cerberus wants you to think?" His hands tightened into fist. "I wanted to believe the rumors that you were alive. I never expected anything like… like this! You turned your back on EVERYTHING we believed in! You betrayed the Alliance! You betrayed me!"
"Kaiden, you know me!" Shepard argued right back. "You know I'd only do this for the right reason! You saw it yourself. The Collectors are targeting human colonies. And they're working with the Reapers!"
Kaiden knew in his heart that Shepard was more than probably right, but his head was telling him otherwise. Too bad he ended up listening to his head.
"I want to believe you, Shepard. But I don't trust Cerberus. They could be using the threat if the Reapers to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?"
"Damn it, Kaidan! You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring what's really going on here!" Garrus stated impatiently.
"Reasoning pointless, Archangel. Kaiden Alenko too hung up on Cerberus. Ignoring the real threat." Mordin babbled.
The salarian doctor was right. It was clear that Alenko had made up his mind a long time ago.
"You've changed. But I still know where my loyalties lie, I'm an Alliance soldier. Always will be."
Shepard could feel her heart breaking into thousands of fragments. This man was her most trusted lieutenant, her friend, her lover. And he just turned his back on her in a heartbeat. All because of who she was working with.
"I've got to report back to the Citadel. They can decide if they believe your story or not."
She couldn't stand it. Shepard could feel her emotions flaring up.
"Fat chance! We both know how that's going to turn out! The Alliance will just try to blame Cerberus, just like you did!" Shepard shouted angrily.
Kaiden stopped. He turned around once more. Despite her rage, there were tears running down Shepard's face. Tears caused by the betrayal of a loved one.
"A leopard can't change its spots. Cerberus can't be trusted… You can't be trusted... Goodbye Jane."
That being said, Kaiden walked away. He was gone… After that, who could really blame Shepard for telling the Council to shove their Spectre reinstation offer up their asses?
…
Kaiden handled that reunion horribly. His surging emotions and opinion on Cerberus had completely overwhelmed him and he ended up hurting the woman he loved. It didn't help that he was the one who personally brought Shepard in after she surrendered herself for destroying that batarian colony to stop the Reapers' early arrival.
"Hey Wrex…"
The krogan turned to human.
"You think… If I hadn't pushed Jane away, that she and I could have saved our relationship?"
That caused Wrex to raise an eyebrow in an act of intrigue. Kaiden felt his face turning red in embarrassment.
"Just… Wondering."
Wrex thought for a minute. "I'm not really the kind of person to ask that question to, kid." He replied honestly.
"Really? Aren't you married?" Kaiden questioned.
"I mean the kind of guy who gives relationship advice. When a krogan selects a mate, we just 'do it', then our brats pop out and we're a family for life."
A chuckle escaped from the human's lips. "If only it were that easy with humans. No need for divorce anymore."
Wrex laughed. If divorce were a thing among krogan, then maybe, MAYBE, that would have been the best excuse to deploy the genophage.
"If you ask me, if Shepard were alive, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to try and win back the woman you pointed a gun at once, and vice-versa." The krogan said.
"I guess. I mean, you would know."
…
*Virmire: 2183*
…
"Wrex? You okay?" Shepard asked cautiously
Wrex felt his rage coursing throughout his body, boiling his blood to the point where it felt as though it would evaporate. He fired off his shotgun at the sand in sheer rage to vent it even the littlest amount.
"Damnit… This… This isn't right, Shepard." Said the krogan frustratedly. "If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't just destroy it."
She didn't want to admit it, but Wrex was right. Cloning would probably be the best way to bypass the genophage and help the krogan repopulate. The issue was that these krogan were not being raised to be people. They were being turned into weapons to be used by Saren.
Shepard could see the conflict raging within Wrex's eyes. On one hand, he knew what was happening here was wrong. On the other, he saw a ray of hope for the krogan, but would result in him leaving the team and joining that turian/geth lunatic.
"I understand you're upset. But we both know Saren's the enemy here. He's the one you should be angry with." Jane pointed out.
Wrex looked back at Shepard. He slowly started walking towards her. His shoulders tensing up.
"Really?" He questioned. "Saren created a cure for my people. You want to destroy it."
Soon, Wrex was almost right in Shepard's face. Both soldiers staring each other dead in the eye.
"Help me out here, Shepard. Because the lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand."
This wasn't good. Not one bit. Wrex's doubts are beginning to consume him. He might end up doing something stupid.
"This isn't a cure, it's a weapon." She calmly explained.
Shepard needed to be EXTREMELY careful with her chosen words in order for Wrex to come back to his senses. The slightest mistake could cost one of them their lives.
"And if Saren is allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits. None of us will."
"That's a chance we should be willing to take. This is the fate of my entire people we're talking about."
Now Wrex was right up in Shepard's face. "I've been loyal to you so far, Jane. Hell, you did more for me than my family ever did. But if I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons."
They starred each other down. It was a test of their wills. Resolves. Ideals. Shepard, who believed in greater good and ensuring those who opposed were punished for their actions. And Wrex, who, despite his rough exterior and temper, truly cared about his people to the bitter end, and would do anything to help them.
It was at that moment, they drew their weapons on one another. Shepard quickly aimed and cocked her pistol, while Wrex had already loaded and pumped his shotgun.
This was bad. Things had escalated so quickly. Wrex was on the verge of going into a krogan Blood Rage. It all hinged on what she would say next. So Shepard took a deep breath.
"Wrex, listen to me. These krogan are NOT your people. They're slaves of Saren. Tools. Pawns. Is that really what you want for them?"
Wrex could feel his hands shaking. His legs, despite their muscular build and posture, quivered. He loathed to admit it, but Shepard was right. God damnit, she was right! What Saren was doing was exactly what the salarians did to his people. USING them. He… He couldn't allow this to happen again.
"…No. We were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the Rachni, they neutered us all. I… I doubt Saren will be as generous."
Urdnot lowered his weapon. Shepard sighed in relief. That was too close. The moment we start killing our friends, war turns to murder.
If only Ashley had known that fact, before she had snuck up behind Wrex, ready to pull the trigger on him.
…
"Hold on! Williams had the drop on me?!"
"Seriously, you didn't know?"
"Nobody tells me anything!"
Kaiden laughed unbelievably hard, which only made Wrex even angrier.
Yet despite the hard moments in their lives, and the jokes aside, one thing was for certain was that Shepard had touched both of their lives in different ways.
For Kaiden, Shepard not only made him into a fine soldier, but showed him love, and taught him what it meant to be a Spectre. He couldn't have asked for a better superior.
For Wrex, he owed her everything. His life. His clan. His people and family. The chief wouldn't be here today if he had let his emotions get the better of him back on Virmire. Shepard was a true friend, and the sister he never had.
Wrex's anger turned into a smile. Thinking of Shepard helped put him at ease. Wrex walked back into his office and picked up another bottle of scotch, as well as a second glass. He poured the contents into the glasses and handed one to Kaiden.
"You know that I'm on duty, right?" Alenko reminded.
"Who gives a shit! We're toasting to the woman who saved our lives. So loosen up."
The big scary krogan did make a good point. One more thing she taught him was that it was okay to break the rules every now and again. The two clinked their glasses together.
"To Commander Jane Shepard!" Wrex said proudly.
"The toughest woman in the Milky Way. May God rest her soul." Kaiden added.
…
Through the interrogation room screen, that was where Miranda and Jacob saw him. Sitting so casually at the desk was the same gunslinger from the earlier that day, now unmasked.
Beneath the mask was, who they had believed to be human, but was not. The man's head was completely mechanical. Pitch black metal all across his head with glowing blue eyes, and a glow of the same color emanating from his mouth every time he spoke. A single red stripe ran down the center of his face and two black antennas on each side of his head, where the ears should be.
"He's a mech!" Jacob stated in amazement.
"That shouldn't be possible." Miranda pointed out. "All synthetic life was destroyed when the Crucible fired. There is no way one could be alive."
"I wouldn't have called you two in otherwise." Bailey spoke. "We've had him in holding for a while and we're only now learning what he is."
The mechanical gunslinger was blissfully unaware that he was being watched. He merely sat back in his chair and blew into his harmonica, playing some sort of melody that they couldn't put their finger on. (Deep Stone Lullaby)
From how human this mech was acting, it was clear that whoever had built him was exceptionally skilled as his personality matrix was on par with that of a human. Not even EDI was this advanced.
"Where did he get the harmonica?" Jacob asked Bailey.
"Found it on his person." The commander replied. "I doubt he could hurt anyone with just the power of music so we let him keep it."
"All things considered, he's actually pretty good." Miranda admitted.
"From what I've gathered on the technology used for his outer frame, it is most likely that he was human made."
Walking into the room was a salarian, tall and skinny. Large black eyes and pale skin, much like the rest of his kind. His outfit was that of a black combat suit embedded with the emblem of the Salarian Special Tasks Group or STG for short.
The Salarian noticed the extra humans in the room besides Bailey, so he put down his data pad.
"Oh. Where are my manners? Dr. Lawson, Mr. Taylor, Padok Wiks, former STG commander. I met with Commander Shepard when she arrived on Sur'Kesh with Urdnot Wrex."
Padok offered a handshake to both humans, which they gladly accepted.
"Commander Wiks, it's a pleasure. I heard you had a hand in helping Mordin escape that facility with Bakara." Miranda greeted.
"Quite correct. Mordin was an old friend, even if he broke my finger."
They all turned their attention back to the mech sitting in interrogation.
"You said he was human made, Wiks?" Bailey asked.
"From what I have gathered, most definitely. Several highly advanced cybernetic systems are working together for this mech to maintain its current personality. It is almost as if it truly has a consciousness." Padok explained, slightly intrigued.
Miranda was as shocked as she was fascinated. Never in all her years had she seen any robot this advanced before. Not geth, not even Reapers. And he was constructed by humans? How could that be? "Bailey, is it at all possible if I can question it? Perhaps we could learn something more about it."
The commander shrugged. "Don't see any harm."
Within the room, the mech was just wrapping up his song. He put down the harmonica when he heard the door open. Walking in were Bailey and Miranda. The mere second that he saw Miranda, the mech was looking her top to bottom, practically undressing her with his optics.
"Well well, now. Who's this here Cactus Flower?" The mech purred.
Miranda rolled her eyes in annoyance. Bailey wasn't kidding about him being flirty. Or about the accent. They took a seat at the desk.
"Howdy, sweetheart. I'm Whiskey. Whiskey-21. Two hundred and twenty three pounds of flamin'-hot machinery, at your service." He greeted her, tipping his hat.
"Hmph. Howdy." Lawson responded in a snarky tone. "You can call me Dr. Lawson, and this is Commander Bailey. Although, I'm sure you already knew that."
Whiskey smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He leaned back in his chair and rested his legs on top of the table in such a laid back demeanor. The mech grinned deviantly. The two humans were unamused however.
"Yeah, I know the sheriff here. He threw me in this here hoosegow and threw away the key over a little hoedown in the local waterin' hole. If ya ask me, this is all just a bigger misunderstanding than when I walked in on Zavala helpin' Ikora rebutton up her dress after the strap snapped during the Solstice of Heroes after the Endless Night was finally brought to a screechin' halt."
Whiskey only received confused stares from his interrogators. It was safe to say that they did not follow a single word that he just told them. That only made the mech smile more than before.
"Alright… Wow, clearly someone programmed you to be quite the character." Miranda admitted.
If the mech could raise his eyebrow, he could, as he was now the one who was confused. "Excuse me? "Programmed"? Do y'all think I'm a full robot?"
"You're saying you're not?" Bailey questioned. "Then what exactly are you, son? Because you seem far too advanced to be just an AI"
That was when Whiskey finally put his feet back onto the floor and sat up straight. His smile fading into scowl.
"Now, I take offense to that. I'm an Exo. A human mind transferred into a cybernetic body. My brain is exactly that of the two of you."
Lawson was… stunned, to say the least. Whiskey was human? That couldn't be. Earth hadn't come up with that kind of technology yet, and they wouldn't have for a least one hundred more years. She had deduced those calculations herself back during her days with Cerberus.
And never had the Alliance heard of a type of synthetic called Exos before. Was this some kind of trick?
"But I don't think you varmints brought me into this little box to make fun of me. This is an interrogation, right? What is it y'all wanna know? Cuz the sooner we're done here, the better."
Owen crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat. "Not every day a murderer is willing to cooperate. Must be a cold day in hell."
"Excuse me? Murder?"
That was when Bailey tossed something onto the table. It was a plastic bag that was labeled 'evidence'. Inside were metal fragments and a broken blade handle.
"That's one of my Proximity Knives." Whiskey admitted.
"Remember that barista you pointed your gun at?" The commander reminded him.
"The bird lady? What do you…"
The Exo looked down at the knife fragments in the bag. They were stained blue. Whiskey thought back to his fight with Garrus. He noticed that the turian had blue blood. So then…
He gasped. Whiskey's optics widened, realizing what had happened.
"Wait. She's dead..? Oh Light…" A hand covered his mouth in shock. "Shit. I-I didn't mean to- It was- Oh no, what did I do?!"
"Well, good to know you're not a sociopath, considering how much you're panicking." Miranda pointed out.
"Hey, no one was supposed to get hurt! I just needed the cash!" Whiskey defended.
Bailey asked. "Why is that?"
"I didn't have the currency to buy a signal booster. I was tryin' to call my people to pick me up! I wasn't trying to-"
"Hold on." Bailey interrupted. "Your people?"
…
*C-Sec HQ Main Lobby: At that same moment*
…
A woman slowly approached the front desk. Her hips swaying from side to side with each step, showing off her curves in every possible way. The woman was adorned in a full blue dress and high heels. A large hat and sunglasses obscuring her face from prying eyes.
There was a male turian working the front desk. He took note of the striking woman walking towards him. He raised his brow plate in interest and grinned.
"Well now. Can I help you, mam?" Asked the turian receptionist coyly.
"Why yes, you can." Replied the woman in an overly innocent tone. The turian failed to notice the exaggeration however. "I'm here to report a terrible crime." She lowered her sunglasses, shooting him a seductive glance.
The turian receptionist grinned in intrigue. "Oh? And what terrible crime would that be, sweetheart?"
It was at that moment that the woman's hands tensed up. In her field of view, her contact lenses beneath the glasses displayed a HUD which selected something called, "Salvager's Salvo".
Suddenly, a breach-loaded grenade launcher just manifested into her hands, which she immediately aimed right at the turian.
"This one!"
"Oh Spirits…"
With a squeeze of the trigger, the weapon fired off a cart rage at the receptionist. The resulting explosion flung him right into the wall. But instead of killing him, the blast merely knocked him unconscious. Clearly a non lethal concussive grenade.
The woman laughed. With a snap of her fingers, her outfit completely transformed back into the heavy N7 armor.
"Fireteam November, move out!"