Shepard waded into the office of Tracking Officer Dara, another Asari(As if there would really be any other kind of official on Asari planets), yet again leaving her chunk of the squad outside. She opened the iris-like door and stepped inside, knocking on the window of the office. The purple-skinned Asari swiveled on her chair and smiled, "Ah, Commander Shepard. Welcome. Glad you finally decided to drop by."
Despite the somewhat friendly nature of the officer, Shepard couldn't help but feel a tad surprised that she was either so recognizable, or so conspicuous. She asked in a murmur, "Does everyone know I'm here…?" while approaching the Officer. She stopped and scanned the office, noting the handwritten report ledgers behind her, as well as several drives and a few bits and bobs that personalized the office.
"Miss T'Soni told me you'd be coming by," She clarified with a calm shrug, before turning back to her computer. She typed as she spoke, "This is about the Justicar, right?" while a small frown appeared on her face. More of a scowl, really, now that Shepard gave a good look. Suddenly, her interest was piqued.
Calmly, the Commander replied,"Yes," before inquiring without asking an actual question, "You don't seem too happy," as she made sure all her equipment was still on her. She felt a few eyes locked onto her, plus the security cameras around the place. CCTV systems in a large, open tower like this made sense. Keeping tabs on and stopping possible criminals meant business would run well.
It all just felt a bit too 'Big Brother', though.
"As I'm sure the detective in charge of the shitstorm that involves the Justicar would tell you," Dara started, standing from her chair and turning to fully face Shepard, "She's been nothing but a handful. For all intents and purposes, the commercial spaceport is one giant crime scene now. Most of the blood smears might even have been made by her."
Shepard's Omni-Tool com system pinged. She lifted her hand to activate it, raised a brow, then told the Officer, "Liara sent me info that she might be here investigating said murder," and sent her the file. Dara furrowed her brows in confusion, lifted up her own hand-attached device and stared at the written file.
"Yeah, well, if she is, she's interfering with local Police business…" She then replied, shutting the Omni-Tool off. Noting Shepard's concern, the woman raised her hands and said, "Look. I like Justicars. They've given the Asari a somewhat good name beyond the standard of either 'broads with noses stuck so high up they're sniffing the ionosphere' and 'whores'. It's just… It's scary when you meet one in person."
"I'm sure it is," Shepard nodded. She genuinely hoped they weren't just hyping their own battle nuns up and when she would meet Samara, she'd just be some random scripture-quoting blue-job. Sighing, she asked, "Anything more you can tell me before I wade into the Gunfire to get her out?" because any piece of info would help, she thought.
"They're kind of like you Spectres," Dara offered, causing Shepard to furrow her brows again. She clarified, "Except they don't even answer to the Citadel or our Government, just to their Code…" only to finally notice something. She looked past Shepard, out the window of her office, then inquired, "Hey, why do you have a standing army with you here?" and pointed at the squad.
Looking back at the friendlies, she answered calmly, "In case I need to persuade less friendly opposition to allow me to get to the Justicar…" only to blank as she realized she'd basically issued a threat. She clarified to Dara, "Not the cops, but whatever she's dealing with right now," and saw the Asari visibly relax.
"Mercs, probably," She told Shepard, then smirked, "And don't worry, Commander. Cerberus livery or not, miss T'Soni said you're the same old Shepard that saved the Citadel Council two years ago, meaning we didn't have to find a replacement for Tevos. I know you probably wouldn't have tried to put any of my co-workers down. Just make sure you don't have to put the Justicar down and get her out of here. They're an old, dying breed in a way…"
"Don't worry. I've been told I have a silver tongue," Sam quipped, then gave a wave, "Thanks, officer."
"No problem, Commander. Take care," Dara replied kindly, then sat herself back down. Shepard walked out back to her team, wondering just how bad the situation was about to get out there. Considering the presence of Mercenaries in the area, plus local Police and investigative staff, the commercial port would probably be a rather major hotbed.
"Well, that solves that…" She told everyone, causing them to turn to face her. Garrus himself scratched the side of his head. She continued, "Guess we're taking a couple skycabs to the commercial port," walked to the terminal, then turned to the Spartans, concerned, "Uh, Chief, are you and Kelly gonna be alright?"
"We'll fit, ma'am," The Spartan reassured, while Kelly let out a short laugh.
The Commander nodded her approval, calm enough. She told them,"You'll take the second one with a chunk of the squad. I'll take the first," then started tapping the haptic interface, unlocking two cars via paying a nearly insignificant fee and programming their target:The commercial starport. When the doors opened, the crew climbed aboard.
As the skycars took off, Shepard switched communications between the squads on, then cast a sideways glance when she saw the familiar flare of a pair of high-powered engines. She saw the Raptor moving toward a distant tower from the Normandy. Good to know Helo mobilized, she thought. Dantius was nothing if not scummy.
As they flew with the traffic, Mordin examined the various beautiful architectural designs of the Asari world, noting the multitude of advertisements displayed in holograms, plus news reports of 'rumors' regarding the presence of the Justicar. He spoke, "Interesting. Never met a Justicar before. Would have expected STG work to allow such encounters and yet…"
"Looking forward to meeting her?" The commander snorted, then paused as she saw he was a tad more fidgety than normal.
He replied to her, "No. Concerned. Justicars, extremely powerful biotics. Almost Matriarch-aged. Years of experience in combat and training with any and all weapons available in the Galaxy. Makes own training look subpar in comparison. Concerns," he inhaled deeply through his nose, "Will wait to see what she is like."
"Chin up, Mordin. She's gonna be on our side," Garrus offered, snorting.
"If it goes well," The Commander shrugged as the two cars turned hard right toward the commercial port. She saw Garrus cast a glance at her that told her to not cause their mad scientist to worry too much. She stuck out her tongue at him playfully, to which Garrus rolled his eyes and mumbled something.
"... Chin up? Know idiom, forgot what it means," Mordin seemed to ignore the flirtatious little attitude by asking that. It did cause a few people, Kelly included, surprisingly. Chief, however, remained the stoic, silent badass that his file made him out to be. TO add upon it, though, Cortana probably laughed for the both of them.
Miranda spoke with a smile on her face, "Human saying. Means keep your spirits up, be happy in the face of adversity. Garrus must've picked it up while hanging out with Shepard," before motioning to the Commander and the Turian male in the front seat. The two were obviously close, so him picking stuff up from her was a given.
"Probably, yeah…" Garrus replied, in thought. He looked over at his Commanding Officer and bluntly asked, "Shepard, remind me why we didn't take half the clones as well?" which caused both of the cars' passengers to go dead quiet for a second as they passed by a terrifyingly bright purple lightshow ad of some kind.
"I…" Shepard was about to defend it somehow, but she bit her tongue, sighed deeply and replied, "Fair point. Still, Fred's team's probably gonna have to assault Dantius Towers. For all any of us know, Nassana hired a battalion of Eclipse Mercs, so they'll need all the guns…" and she prayed that was a good enough excuse.
"Indeed. Better to deploy with small contingent when interacting with Justicars," Mordin spoke, then breathed slightly worriedly, "Presumably lesser risk of total mission failure…" and he brought up his own specialized Omni-Tool to start calculating the odds. Cortana appeared on the dash, surprising the group, then showed Shepard to keep it steady. Police chatter.
Indeed, several cop cars were floating around the area, sirens on.
To that, Garrus simply turned and stated, "What did I just say, doc? Let's not get ourselves down. We'll be fine."
"Any chance we can at least get Helo to help us, however?" Miranda hummed.
"No need, I don't think," The Commander shot back, well aware that Helo was in the operational area of Dantius Towers at this very minute, meaning the enemy was probably dealing with a lot more jamming than they intended to deal with. Cortana, meanwhile, disappeared with her hologram back to the Chief.
"Alright… If you say so, Commander," Miss Lawson spoke as the Skycars approached their designated landing sites. Surprisingly, they weren't stopped or shown to go away by the cops orbiting the area. Rather, a car even guided them in for landing. When they touched down, they were greeted by the sight of an Asari cop in short-sleeved uniform, pistol on her hip, interrogating what looked like a ball with hands and feet. A Volus.
"Where do you think you're going?" Detective Anaya, the woman in charge of the murder investigation, chose to openly ignore the new arrivals for the sake of her own sanity, simply pursuing her intended target and his two guard goons:A pair of Turian mercenaries probably fresh off the transport from their training camp.
Pitne For, a terrifically shady merchant with a brown and white environmental suit, belonging to the Volus population's famed economic For family, replied to the woman with nonchalance, "I'm taking my goods to Omega, Detective," before his suit's rebreather system clicked and hissed, signaling the fact he took a breath of slight exertion.
Shepard and her team exchanged looks, concerned about the development, with Kelly mumbling, "A ball of blubber's talking back to a cop. That's going to end well…" while she cracked her shoulders and spine through a series of movements. Chief nodded in agreement, while Mordin hummed a tune and Miranda watched.
"You're not going anywhere, Merchant," The Detective shot back, annoyed. She jabbed a finger in front of the rotund alien's eyeholes, then told him, "Not until I solve the murder that happened here."
"I had nothing to do with that," In a moment of fear, Pitne seemed to start breathing a little more heavily. Each sentence he finished was punctuated by another inhalation, "It was those mercenary thugs you can't seem to get rid of," like just then. While the locals were familiar with Volus breathing capabilities… Everyone else was stifling laughs.
Again. Save for Chief.
"The target was your business partner, Pitne," Anaya voiced, crossing her arms to her chest. She tilted her head toward the man as if accusing him, then asked, "Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"
"I don't much care for the accusations, detective…" Pitne replied uneasily, then took another breath. He scoffed, then told the Detective, "Make the search quick. I don't want to be stuck here for too long," only to turn and find a spot to sit down with his bodyguards not far behind him. He even waddled like a fat bastard.
This was like a bad comedy show…
"Mhm. Right…" Anaya scoffed. She cast a glance at Shepard and her crew, blanked, then gave a slight tilt of the head to show them to come to her if they needed questions answered. After a brief moment of taking the entire area in, including the multitude of docking points and umbilicals connecting the various ships to the spire and the door with blue holotape and two police guards next to it,.
"I'm guessing we're gonna start asking around, right?" Garrus inquired as everyone else prepared.
"Would be nice to know what we're throwing ourselves into, yeah," Shepard replied with relative calm, though she, too, was dumbfounded by the exchange she'd just witnessed, "Let's move," and she led the way, intending to ask Pitne about the event first. Having the partner of the dead alien they sealed the place off for to tell them what he knew was a start.
"Pitne For?" Shepard inquired as she approached the alien.
"I have no time for you, Earth-Clan," The alien inhaled deeply again, before tapping away at his personal datapad. Shepard and Miranda exchanged a glance, then Shepard knelt in front of Pitne and pushed the datapad aside. He looked at her, finally noticed how armed she was and with how many people she was and stuttered, "O-Oh. How can I help you…?"
"I and my comrades are looking for the Justicar," Shepard spoke, motioning broadly to her strike team. She inquired, "Is she also investigating your partner's murder?" while staring the fat bastard right in his eyeholes. Volus weren't bad, usually. They were just royal pains in the asses due to the fact they handled the Turian economy.
"She is," Pitne replied, then inhaled nervously again, "And I need to leave."
"You worried about something?" Garrus inquired, indirectly implying what Anaya had more openly implied earlier. His time with C-SEC had given him veteran status in matters like this, to the point Shepard would've wanted to hand the investigation to him. Though she knew he was not quite stable enough for it. Not yet.
Pitne's rebreather made a louder, longer and more drawled-out hiss, denoting his annoyance. He replied to the Commander, "That she'll lose her mind and start killing everybody, Anaya's cops included," while her two Turian bodyguards shifted uneasily on their feet. Garrus and them stared at one-another for a moment, then nodded.
"Doesn't sound like a Justicar to me," Miranda crossed her arms to her chest, "Rather a normal murderer."
"Indeed," Mordin nodded, "Justicar Code prevents wanton murder, unless for a purpose."
"Yeah, well, you know the rumors…" Pitne replied, shrugging his shoulders despite the comical look. He mumbled, "Damned Eclipse," before another sharp, nervous inhale. He looked up at the Spartan pair, with Cortana audibly giggling in the Squad Comm at the sight of an Alien that barely reached past John's and Kelly's shins.
Shepard ignored it for the moment, inquiring, "They killed your partner, right?" as she kept herself at Pitne's level. She remembered some basic psychological stuff about how taking a knee and coming to eye level with a smaller alien would normally make discussions go smoother. It was surprisingly working, she thought.
"Yes. Dakni, my old partner," Pitne breathed, then told the Commander, "We were doing legitimate business with them when one of theirs shot him! Used a modded Shotgun, pretty standard for them…" probably referring to the Eclipse. He evaded the question about Dakni pretty quickly, though, quick to point the blame at the Eclipse.
"Huh… Alright. Stay put," Shepard felt suspicion welling up. Shady merchants, man.
Pitne requested, "Work quickly. I want to get out of here," before turning back to check on his goods. Shepard noticed a few strange packages, some of which had a triangle with yellow and black stripes, like a bumblebee pattern. If her mind still worked, she recalled those were 'toxic' warnings. She furrowed her brows, then stood up, watching the alien waddle away.
"So…" Garrus began, crossing his own arms to his chest and staring at Pitne through the lens of his visor, "Anyone else find his alibi of 'legitimate business' a bit off?"
"Yep," Cortana promptly answered, "I'm working on connecting to local data networks right now to see just how much of it I can confirm," and she appeared on everybody's Heads-Up Displays, giving a nod. Shepard felt grateful to have multiple capable artificial intelligence units working for her all of a sudden. Sure, EDI was confined to the ship, but…
Regardless, she told Cortana, "Keep at it," then received a salute and a smile. With that, she turned to everyone else, "While we can, let's go talk to Anaya. Figured it's best to get the cops helping, too. If this turns into a shootout, we might need the backup… And Cortana? Tell them to have Grunt ready just in case."
"Roger that, Commander," Cortana chuckled.
The group entered the open office of the Police detective, with Anaya doing a double-take the moment she saw the squad of armed individuals. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, then saw Commander Shepard among the ranks, letting out an, "Oh… Commander. Should've figured it was you coming in with a whole battalion."
"Detective Anaya," Shepard nodded, "Sorry for the scare."
"Don't worry about it…" She sighed, rubbing her face, "This case has me on edge as is. Eclipse Mercs causing trouble, a Justicar and now you. Tell me you're here to get the Justicar off my damn hands, please…" then she leaned back into her seat. She motioned to the chair opposite her, in front of the desk, and the commander took a seat while everyone else found somewhere to sit and listen in on the convo.
"I am," The Commander replied, "Any idea why she decided to get involved with a Police investigation into a murder?"
"Hell if I know," Anaya shrugged, "She's searching for something, I think. You'd be better off asking her," then she leaned forward. She told Shepard and her crew, "Look… I'm asking you to get her out of my investigation and fast. My bosses pretty much ordered me to arrest her due to them thinking she's colluding with the criminals."
"Suicidal," Mordin voiced, "Justicar training, weapons, martial arts skills, Biotics. Too much for the police."
"I told them the same thing. Do you think they listened?" The Detective scoffed, "They're more worried that a Justicar being on the site of a murder's gonna drive some of the companies working here on Illium off the planet, or that they'll stop paying," and she raised a hand, motioning to the police holotape and two guards, "I've got two other beat cops and myself to go after her and that's it."
"You shouldn't be forced into what's tantamount to a death sentence just to save the profits of some CEOs. There's a reason we're usually allowed to disobey suicidal orders," Shepard offered to Anaya, watching as the woman shifted uneasily in her seat. Her crew exchanged a few looks, with Kelly snorting as she looked at Chief. Cortana chuckled as well.
"We can disobey orders?" Garrus snorted, looking at Mordin and Miranda, "First time I hear of it."
"Would certainly have been convenient. Number of above-average difficulty and dangerous missions so far exceeds norm. New scars healed nicely, however," Mordin smiled. Shepard rolled her eyes.
"I usually give these kinds of orders for good reason, kids," She shot back, causing the others to chuckle, then told Anaya, "We're here to recruit her, so we'll be out of your hair the moment we're done. Any chance you can let us into the Crime Scene?" as she stood up. She drew her Mattock, shouldering it but keeping the safety on to keep Anaya appeased.
"I'll send word," The seemingly-relieved Detective replied calmly. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Shepard nodded. She led the way out of the office, watching as the two Police officers moved out of her and her crew's way. As they stepped through the police holotape and through the door, the cops wished them luck. Shepard felt like she was suddenly walking into a death-trap. And with an Asari Justicar? It was probably not too far from the truth.
Passing by several boxes, a few smears of red and the likes, Shepard and co retrieved some data, some salvage to sell and stepped through a second door and a second set of holotape. Cortana warned, "I've hacked into the local security net. I'd advise caution. Seeing a lot of Eclipse Mercenaries between us and the cargo loading area where Samara is."
"Roger," Shepard spoke, then felt the tension grow thick as the Spartans and her team drew their weapons. Distant footsteps echoed through the corridors of crates and staircases. Moving up the staircase, the Commander crept up slowly, eyes down the scope of her rifle as she led the formation. She showed the team to wait, Mordin already charging a tech power while Miranda activated her Biotics.
The Spartans looked to the Commander as they took point with her. She nodded as they heard LOKI bipedal mechanoids deploy with the Asari-heavy Eclipse Sisterhood forces. The Commander charged her own Biotics, peeked over the last step of the stairwell and saw them. Arrayed amidst the cover of multiple boxes and supported by armed mechs, the yellow-clad mercs set up in ambush.
They were, however, facing the other way, probably waiting for Samara to break out and engage them. Not particularly smart, considering their backs were open. She showed Garrus, the Chief and Kelly to prime grenades, while Cortana said, "Give me a sec to see if I can't… Done!" only for the mechs ahead to screech something in binary.
"What the HELL!" One of the Asari whined, "What broke this time!?"
"Shut it! Talitha, check their code! Everyone else, hold steady! W-Wait, what the fu-!"
The first burst fired by the Mechs caught the seeming leaders of the ambush team in the back. Shepard grinned and said, "Thank you, CT. Blues, you got the honor! Kick the door!" only to gasp as the two Spartans became blurs. The team quickly pushed up behind them, firing their weapons, but by the time they made it up the last step, Shepard saw Kelly slam into and break the spine of one of the Asari just as their grenades exploded in the back.
Chief beside her fired a burst from his rifle, three rounds slamming into and nearly breaking the enemy's biotic barrier. The Asari Initiate barked, "WE'VE GOT HOSTILES! IT'S SHEPARD-" only to get cut off as the Chief slammed the butt of his rifle into the side of her face, snapping her neck. Garrus snapped off a sniper rifle shot at a pair, tearing through one's barrier and staggering her.
Shepard and Miranda both cast Biotics at the same time, with Shepard hitting an unarmored Operative and one of the newly-deployed LOKIs with a Singularity. Miranda's strike came in next, whirling around before striking the Singularity dead-center and detonating it in a flurry of biotic energy. The team then pushed up as the enemy units finally started returning fire.
Mordin cast a tech strike at the enemy, what looked like a lightning bolt which stripped a good chunk of a Sister's shield. Kelly took advantage of the opportunity, jumping over a crate and blasting with her shotgun. The first shot hit the woman dead in the head, spraying bones and brains across the wall, before the Spartan quickly intercepted another enemy coming from around a corner by slamming the butt of her shotgun into the Asari's face, caving her skull in right in front of her sister.
Chief came around the corner right behind Kelly and fired. A full, center-mass burst struck the second Asari's chest and tore through her shield and armor. She dropped dead next to her headless sister, blood pooling below the feet of the Fireteam. Chief dodged a third's Warp. Shepard barreled through, shot three shots at the enemy Biotic, then threw her own Warp back, causing the Biotically-capable sister to explode.
"Noticing a pattern with Spartans being incredibly fast," Garrus commented as the All-Clear was given through a hand signal. Shepard snorted, nodding in agreement before they moved to the end of the corridor. Mordin, meanwhile, gave a quick scan of the Spartans, but was stopped by Cortana, who shook her head at him when she appeared on his Omni-Tool.
When they reached the door, which had another Police holotape set, they passed through, only to be met by the loading area and the surprise appearance of a falling Eclipse female mercenary. The moment she landed, she hit the ground with enough force for her spine to audibly crack, the faint lilac glow of hyper-powerful biotics vanishing from around her.
Shepard looked forward, watching as another Mercenary fired her weapon, a shotgun, toward a taller, ethereally beautiful woman that chased after her. Clad in a tight red uniform that somehow managed to reveal more cleavage than the standard Asari dancer getup, though still armored and obviously sporting some enhancements, the bright blue-skinned Asari Justicar, Samara, stepped forward, her biotics flaring around her.
Pinned against a window on one of the containers now, the Eclipse commander demanded, "What the hell do you want from us…!?"
"Your band of mercenaries assisted someone in escaping Illium on board a cargo freighter. I require the ship's name," The woman replied with an almost deadpan attitude, though the fiery glare hidden behind her impassivity denoted her readiness to kill and the years of experience. Shepard's squad stared, awed.
The Eclipse merc played dumb, "I don't know what you're talking about-" only to suddenly get herself defenestrated via Biotic blast, flying clean through the glass and landing right in front of Shepard. She skid to a halt in front of the group, eyes widening, but she couldn't move as Samara utilized her biotics to float down toward them.
She pinned the Merc's neck down with her high-heeled boot and spoke, "I will not ask again. What is the name of the ship you sent my quarry off on?" the sharp edges of it already cutting into the Mercenary's throat. Kelly was about to intervene, but Shepard put a hand in front of her and shook her head.
"Still… No idea… What you're talking about," The Asari struggled below the boot. Samara sighed, then mumbled a prayer and, with a twist of her leg, the Eclipse merc's vertebrae popped and her neck was snapped. The Justicar took her foot off of the neck of the mercenary, looked at Shepard and her team, then bowed her head.
"Commander Shepard. You came much sooner than I expected," She offered, then looked at the woman's posse and said, "With these strange new arrivals, I see… Greetings to you all. I suppose I am to come with you?"
"If you don't mind…" Shepard looked at the corpses of the two mercs, then said, "Nice job."
Samara nodded, then showed the squad to lead the way out of the area. Leading the way out, past the other corpses they'd made, Cortana commented, "Seems as though the Cops know we were in a shootout. Gunfire must've echoed all the way back down the halls."
"Find anything?" Shepard inquired.
"Minimal data, but Pitne was lying…" The AI replied, "Least I can tell, anyhow. The Eclipse coms just exploded. Something about 'Minagen X3', if you feel like discussing it with the guy," before she broadcast what data she found on the compound onto their Heads-Up Displays, or onto their Omni-Tools.
A mutagenic compound that enhanced biotics… With a moderate risk of death due to toxicity.
So, that's how he pissed them off enough for his partner to get peeled open via Shotgun blast. Shepard had a few choice words for the rotund asshole. Thus, stepping out of the area and back onto the main concourse, the group saw the two Asari cops suddenly retake their positions, though they stared at Samara with fear, understandably enough.
Shepard led Samara into Anaya's temporary office and said, "I got her out of the crime scene, but you guys might have just gotten a dozen new corpses to examine. I'll spare you the details and tell you I and my team had to gun down some of the Mercs to get to Samara… And she splattered a couple herself, from what I've seen."
"Indeed. Greetings, Detective," Samara nodded.
"Justicar…" Anaya replied with a shaky voice, completely out of her comfort zone. She looked to Shepard and told her, "Thought you said you'd get her out of here…" mildly annoyed that they waded out right to her office, basically giving Anaya the opportunity to arrest her.
"I am still seeking information that will lead me to my Quarry, Detective. I will depart Illium as soon as I've acquired it," The Justicar replied, completely calm.
Anaya sighed, then said, "Not like I could let you leave anyhow. You're still part of the suspect list for the murder, as sorry as I am to say," only to see Samara tense and feel her heart stick in her neck, thumping away like an assault rifle. Shepard noticed it, too, then raised her hand to show the Justicar to calm down.
The Commander then told her, "What if I got the information for you? You stick with the Detective while I do and I'll find something to exonerate you, as well. Pitne himself said that Dakni was killed with a modded Shotgun, so-" only to pause as she saw the weapons on Samara. She blanked, narrowed her lips, then sighed.
"Yeah…" Anaya nodded in understanding, while the rest of the crew became a bit uneasy.
Samara, however, told Shepard, "I will graciously accept the offer, then. I will be here for the rest of the day, however, pending your return. Should you fail to bring the name of the vessel and the evidence to exonerate me, however, I'm afraid my Code forces my hand to fight my way out of here so I may continue my pursuit… Regardless of how those around me act. I would very much dislike harming Detective Anaya."
"That makes two of us," Both Shepard and Anaya said at the same time.
"Seek a way into the Eclipse base," The Justicar offered, "The information should be stored there. Perhaps Pitne For, their business partner, might have a way in still."
"Okay. Was gonna talk to Pitne anyways," She told the woman, then sighed and bowed out of the office for the moment, walking over to Pitne. The Volus was sat next to a few boxes with similar markings as the previous ones. She cleared her throat, causing the Volus to turn about on his stumpy legs, before stating, "You know, people who lie to me don't wind up doing too well." in a deadpan.
"W-What do you mean, Earth-cl-" The Volus interjected, but was stopped by Shepard taking a step forward and staring down at him. Both of his guards went for their guns, but the Spartans, Garrus, Mordin and Miranda all drew first. Shepard knelt in front of the man, glaring at him as her own biotics flared.
"Minagen X3 shipments. Illegal biotic-enhancing chemical, plus Red Sand," Shepard told him, bringing up the files and quietly thanking Cortana in the back of her mind, "You sold them to the Eclipse, but probably forgot to mention this crap is toxic up to a point. So, they got pissed and peeled your buddy open like a tin can with one shotgun blast."
"H-How did you…!" The Volus breathed erratically, his suit's systems seemingly blaring with warnings. He raised his hands and said, "Look!" before taking a deep, calming inhale and adding, "I didn't think they wouldn't read the warning labels!"
"Not an excuse," Shepard replied, then poked the ball and told him, "You still have a way into their base, plus the base's location. Hand it over, then get out of here. If I come back and see you're still around, I'll be glad to hand everything I found back in the Docks to Anaya so she can throw your bowling ball ass in jail… That is if Samara doesn't kill you first."
"Y-Yes. Here, Earth-Clan… Leave me alone, please…" The Volus cowered, handing the access key to the Commander.
… It wasn't long after that Shepard rallied her fireteam. When they reached the Eclipse base of Operations, which was situated within another old dock with a freighter within, the crew dismounted from their transport and prepared their weapons. A single LOKI mech was curled up nearby, inactive. Shepard approached it and disassembled it with one biotic hit.
She then looked at the place, noting the varied topography and the multitude of levels, stairways and ramps. She showed the team to scatter and maintain dispersal, but advance as one, before she activated her Omni-Tool. Cortana appeared on it, the Tool glowing blue now instead of its standard orange. The AI asked, "How can I help you, Commander?"
"See if you can't disable the Mechs. Fewer guns means less likelihood of Casualties," The Commanded requested as Chief and Kelly pushed up to act as her vanguard. Chief looked at the women and Shepard gave her approval. Cortana gave a thumbs up next, to which Shepard nodded and deactivated her Omni-Tool, drawing her rifle again.
The teams pushed up in a staggered column, Garrus with his sniper rifle drawn. When they broke through the first door, the Spartans were greeted by a platoon of Initiates, a pair of Vanguards and a bunch of malfunctioning 'Mechs. One of the Initiates fired a burst from her rifle and, beside them, a container filled with an orange, glowing chemical exploded, washing everyone in the chemical.
The Spartans sealed their suits, while Miranda and Shepard paused, their Biotics suddenly glowing. Shepard coughed hoarsely, then spoke, "Stay away from the cans!" only to push through the cloud. Ahead of her, she saw the Initiates. Cocking her hand back, she threw forward a shockwave… That acted like daisychained concussive explosives of a much higher yield.
The blasts slammed several of the Initiates against the walls of the corridor and heavily staggered the Vanguards, to the point one of them cast her own Warp power and missed. Shepard blinked, stared at her hands and, despite feeling her lungs and nostrils burning thanks to the Minagen, she grinned. Miranda nodded her approval and cast a Throw, two balls of Dark Energy flowing out of her hands.
Each slammed a Vanguard, sending them tumbling back as their Biotic barriers failed. Multiple extra chemical canisters lay in the way, with Shepard stating, "As fun as using these things as power boosters is, check your fire! I don't wanna wind up dying due to inhalation!" then she pushed up beside Chief and pat him on the back.
The Spartans took the order and surged forward as the Initiates regained their footing. Shotgun to the left and rifle to the right, the Spartans did away with the enemy's light infantry, while Garrus's sniper barked and the shot nailed an enemy Vanguard that was pulling back straight between the eyes, dropping her dead.
Mordin's Omni-Tool lit up, with him calling out, "Launching flame!" as a 'ball' of kinetic energy connected to a burning flame lanced forward and arced through the air before slamming into an Eclipse soldier with what looked like Holographic armor. The flames caught and started burning the armor away, peeling away the biotic barrier as well.
Kelly was quick to do away with the hostile, yet again employing her shotgun's eight-gauge buckshot rounds. The gruesome blast scattered parts of the Asari's head unto multiple of her comrades as the team advanced, with Garrus quickly switching to his own burst-fire rifle to engage in CQC. He told Shepard, "I think I want one of those shotguns!"
"Same here!" Shepard laughed, before standing up and leading the charge. She and Miranda put up biotic barriers in front of the team that allowed the crew to shoot through them. Mordin advanced, walking up next to Shepard and, upon noticing a wounded Asari on the floor, executing her the moment she passed through the barrier.
To his defense, Chief thought as he fired from his rifle, Mordin had seen her dragging her rifle with her. And the shot was clean. Kelly's gun was far more dirty, while his was an assault rifle designed for close-to-medium ranges. Certainly, the M6 Carnifex wasn't a bad local pistol and its user was a good shot. Doctor Halsey had also complimented the eccentric doctor…
Chief pushed past Shepard and Miranda's barriers as a trio of Initiates appeared ahead. He pushed forward, jumping over a crate and focusing fire on the leading Initiate. AP rounds pierced clean through the body armor and she dropped while her sisters scrambled for cover. Bursts of automatic fire now came from both sides, with Shepard firing single-shot from the Mattock.
Miranda drew the SMG Shepard had gotten as a gift from the mission to help Kasumi retrieve her Box and opened fire. She fired in bursts, narrowly missing at first, while Shepard kept the enemy pinned. Kelly pulled out two grenades and threw them forward, causing the pair of Initiates to scramble and flee, only for the entire team to shoot them in the back.
As they moved forward, Garrus commented, "Slightly overkill…" before passing by one of the Minagen containers. They pushed over to a set of stairs, stopping only as they heard someone cowering in the room right next to them. Garrus looked to Shepard, who nodded, allowing the Turian to open the door. With a swipe of his Omni-Tool, he unlocked the green 'lock' and the door slid open.
As they stepped forward, the Spartans took point again, rifle and shotgun pointed at a contact on their Motion Trackers. An Asari figure popped up out of the back and aimed her SMG at them, stating, "I'm not going down without a fi-" only to freeze, eyes widening as she saw the two giant figures in heavy armor staring her down. Her voice cracked, "Oh, shit…"
"Weapons down," Shepard spoke calmly, sidestepping the troops and staring at the Asari in Eclipse armor. She crossed her arms to her chest and stated, "Gimme a good reason not to let the Spartans put you down," before tilting her head to the Chief. Cortana, who was also watching, understood the order and started scouring the local net.
"W-Wait, woah, woah!" The girl spoke, lowering her SMG, "I'm Elnora! I'm just a newbie here! I didn't even kill anyone yet!" though she was obviously hesitant. She spoke, "Look, look, I joined because I thought it'd be cool! Y'know, 'Mercenary Elnora' has a nice ring to it, but I don't think it's worth facing those two! What the hell are they!? They don't look like normal mechs!"
"They aren't," Miranda spoke.
Mordin snorted, "Quite the opposite. Combat-ready supersoldiers."
"... oh…" Elnora seemed to further deflate, "Great…"
"Cortana?" Chief inquired.
The AI spoke, "Working on it… Oh. Well, that was easy," She then added. She switched to team-com and said, "I do believe we've just found the murderer of Pitne's business partner. Her first kill was a Volus.," and she appeared on the HUDs again. Shepard sighed deeply. Elnora seemed to realize something had happened. Gritting her teeth, she aimed her SMG…
But the whole squad lit her up, Kelly's shotgun tearing chunks out of her. She dropped to the floor, dead, with Cortana stating, "Looks like some of their firewalls are a bit thicker. I've saved the evidence of Elnora being the murderer, but we've still gotta get the name of the ship for the Justicar. Keep following the route up."
The team passed through another level, encountering minimal resistance from the enemy's arrayed troops. The Mechs were pretty much disabled by Cortana from the Get-Go, which was incredibly useful, while the rest of the enemy staff proved to be only mildly more annoying. Their main issues were not blowing up the Minagen cases.
Climbing to the third level and toward the target area, the group was…
Surprised…
A volley of missiles struck one of the platforms ahead as a platoon of enemies suddenly appeared. Bursts of automatic fire lit the pathway up, sparks flying as the shards of shaved metal cut through cover. Cases of Minagen fractured, spraying the terrifying overpowered concoction across the catwalks, giving boosts to the enemy's own Biotics.
Shepard took cover behind an undamaged crate as rounds zipped over their heads, then gasped as she heard the thrum of a Gunship's engines. The black-covered Mantis appeared ahead of them, hanging above the space between the catwalks and the Freighter. Its turret tracked the team as they ran, Garrus sliding into cover first, before it opened fire.
The Spartans' shields flared, but Kelly and the Chief were terrifically fast, managing to dodge the burst, then roll out of the way of the missile, each to a different point of cover. Shepard swore to herself and murmured, "Of course, they have a Gunship. What Mercenary company on this side of the fucking Galaxy doesn't…?"
She poked out, fired at an enemy to force them back into cover, then looked at Miranda. With one motion of the hand as an order, Miranda ran forward, powered a biotic strike and sent forth a volley of Warp shots, striking multiple targets at once. She coughed, took cover again and said, "God, this stuff stings!"
"I know!" Shepard replied as she charged her own biotic, "Mordin!"
"Will find cure or tend to you back on ship, Commander! Bit busy!" The Nerd stated as he was tapping away on his Omni-Tool. He sent forth a cryo-blast that froze a pair of enemies on the spot, sharp ice shards jutting out from below them. Garrus domed both of them, letting the corpses drop as soon as they thawed. He ducked, however, when a missile zig-zagged over his head.
He barked, "Shepard! I'm not looking for a second scar! Can we take this thing down!?"
"Give me a sec, Garrus!" The woman replied, glaring at the gunship through the eye-watering, acrid smoke of Minagen. In her left hand, glowed a massive, supercharging Warp ball. She glared at the beast still, letting it fire on them, before she called out, "Chief, I'm gonna strip a chunk of its armor off! Do your thing!"
"Ma'am!" The Spartan replied. He slid his rifle onto his back and eyed a ramp that would provide the jump-off. He looked at Kelly, who nodded and poked out, slam-firing several slug shells toward the rest of the enemies and receiving rounds in reply. He looked back at Shepard, said to Cortana, "Give me calculations on where to hit it."
"Already done, Chief. Canopy's lightly armored," The girl replied, "Calculated a good angle for you to jump from, too. Bastard's wiley."
"Thanks," He replied, then gave a thumbs up to Shepard. The Commander nodded, feeling her knees weakn. She stood to her feet, roared a raucous battle cry, then launched the Warp strike. Like a flash of lilac that nearly blinded everyone else, a beam-like strike hit the maw of the gunship, causing its engines to sputter as the armor plate was stripped off by dark energy, revealing internals and electronics in the nose.
Chief was on the ball. He burst out of cover as the enemy was still recovering from the hit and surged up the ramp. When he reached the top, he utilized a crate as a boost pad, jumping at the smoking gunship and landing right on its cockpit. It bucked forward under the five hundred kilos of human and titanium.
Chief cocked his fist back and saw the Pilot's and gunner's eyes widen. He slammed the fist clean through the lightly armored canopy, shattering whatever semi-transparent glassy material it was to nothingness. He clasped his hand around the pilot's neck, snapped it in one move and threw the corpse off the gunship, before grabbing his pistol and executing the gunner.
He jumped back and off the gunship, watching it start to spin, its engines, ailerons and actuators breaking as it spun. It veered left and slammed into the wall just beneath the docked freighter, exploding as the Spartan landed on his feet, drew both his rifle and his sidearm and, with Kelly's aid, cleared the enemy units around them in a volley of gunfire.
When the last corpse fell, the two returned to see Shepard being tended to by Mordin, with him injecting Medi-Gel into her thigh. She gave a thumbs up to the Chief and told him, "That was badass…" despite the weak voice, "Gimme a minute, though…"
"Minagen poisoning. Not awful, but… Suppose Shepard overexerted herself," Mordin shrugged, "Well done. Cockpit weakest part of any fighter or dropship design. Mantis is no different, though I assume AI also helped with calculations. Quite interesting. Would be fun to have a discussion on merits of allowing AI to operate again in our Galaxy."
"Would be glad to have that discussion, doc…" Cortana chuckled.
Miranda coughed a little, then said, "I'm okay," when everyone else stared at her. She told them, "I didn't stay in the clouds as long as Shepard did. She decided to upgrade her powers to that degree," then she stared at the crashed gunship. She said to the Chief, "Genuinely good work. It's almost like you're used to boarding enemy craft."
"I've done it enough times," Chief nodded. They watched the Commander get up, then showed her to lead the way forward to their target area. Another corridor of nothingness later, Chief showed everyone to halt as they spotted a Volus before them. He glowed purple and stumbled around like a confused mess.
As he activated his biotics, turning away from one of the screens he was operating, he raised his hand and spoke, "I am a Biotic God. I think things and they happen!" and he stepped in-between the squad, declaring loudly, "Fear me, lesser creatures, for I am biotics made flesh!" before 'glaring' at Shepard and the others.
Shepard raised a hand and told him, "I don't know what kind of drugs you're on, but stay back and I won't shoot you," while Cortana was giggling incessantly.
"You will regret your scandalous words!" The weird little, white and red-clad alien ball declared, "I am a great wind that will sweep all before me like a… A great wind!" and he powered his Biotics again, "A Great biotic wind!" before he paused, considered, inhaled, then spoke, "Yes, the Asari injecting so many drugs into me was terrifying at first, but then I began to smell my greatness!"
Shep scratched the top of her head, annoyed, while the man went on with his tirade, declaring "They may laugh when I fall over, but they don't know what I know in my head! I know that I am amazingly powerful! Fear me!" while waddling around. A quick look between Spartans, then one toward Shepard, told her that they maybe should hurry the process along.
Shepard sighed and asked, "Are you with Pitne For's trading group?"
"Pitne…" The alien seemed to remember, inhaling again, then stating, "Yes, when I was mortal, I worked for him. Poor soul is probably terrified that I have not returned," while he stopped to stare up at Shepard and the Spartans. He mumbled, "By the moons of Irune, you're tall…" with a mild level of annoyance in his 'godly' voice.
"It actually never came up," Kelly spoke, "He probably didn't want to get bogged down by more paperwork…"
"Choosing money over your buddies," Cortana murmured, "Slimy bastard."
"Bah!" The man started, then began to go on a second tirade, including threatening Wasea, the local Eclipse officer. An actual, capable fighting Biotic.
Chief looked to Shepard and said, "Ma'am, I have doubts about him being able to walk straight, much less fight. With all due respect, maybe we should get him out of here first, then engage Wasea," calmly. He shifted his rifle a little in his hands, checked the bolt, chamber and ammo counter, then looked at the small alien.
Garrus quipped, "And there's the longest sentence we got out of Chief. I'm with him, though."
"Same here," Miranda nodded.
Even as the Biotic 'God' started ranting, Shepard told him, "If you go fight Wasea in the state you're in, you're not gonna make it that far. Go take a nap, you'll feel better…" only to watch him further his tirade, turning his back on her. Rolling her eyes, the blonde poked the alien in the back, pushing him over until he rolled like a ball onto the floor.
"B-But… Great wind!" He declared, then yawned, "Mmm… Yes… A nap sounds good… Dominate the world later…" and he waddled off. With that solved, the team pushed up the stairs again, entering a wide open area filled with Minagen containers, red spice containers and various other boxes of Cargo, as well as a central desk.
Wasea, clad in a custom purple armor the same shade as her skin, with red highlights like her tattoos, looked up and said, "Can't get good initiates nowadays, can I? Alright then," before she powered her Biotics, "Guess I'm doing this MYSELF!" and she lobbed a canister of the toxin at Shepard, causing the group to dodge.
The Commander rolled her eyes at that, drew her rifle and gave several hand signals. She needed to end this fast. Cocking her hand back, she threw a Warp toward Wasea, then charged forward just as the Eclipse Captain's reinforcements were coming through. Mordin froze one, then struck the other with a flame attack, while Miranda threw her own Warp strikes at the enemy.
Wasea wasn't one to back down, though. Her Claymore shotgun barked loudly, forcing Shepard into cover, before the Biotic Captain threw her own Singularity toward Kelly. The Spartan rolled forward, dodging the strike and aiming her shotgun at one of the burning enemy units. Her shotgun snapped and a slug tore the helmet clean off of the Initiate, alongside her head.
Miranda pushed forward and kicked Wasea in the side of the head, then dodged three shots from the shotgun of the angered Asari. Distracted enough, Wasea did not notice Shepard charging her at first. She felt the air knocked out of her lungs when the N7 Operative slammed into her with her elbow, sending her staggering back.
Shepard then raised her rifle and peppered Wasea's heavy barriers. The woman growled, swiveled about and slammed the butt of the heavy, Krogan-made shotgun into Shepard's face, causing her to stagger and double over. Chief was quicker than her aim, though, kicking the shotgun out of Wasea's hands and drawing his combat knife.
The Asari barely dodged the first swipe, delivering several biotically charged punches into the Spartan's side, but she soon found his shield was taking the hits. She gasped, feeling the man's hand wrap around her throat in an instant. She roared, powering her biotics, then kicked herself away. She then grabbed a dropped pistol from one of her troops and started firing back.
Garrus aimed and fired, his bullet striking and breaking the woman's kinetic barrier. Miranda's second Warp caught the woman dead in the chest, staggering her, then Mordin hit her with a stun attack and a burst from his SMG. Following up, Shepard put two rounds in her legs and Kelly came in with the finisher, closing the distance in half-a-second and blasting the woman in the side with her shotgun.
Wasea died in a pool of her own blood, her armor shattered by the kinetic blast of the shotgun. Kelly racked the pump, dropping the spent shell, then said, "Mission accomplished, I think…" before turning and watching Shepard walk over to the desk. She picked up a datapad and read the reports. With a shrug, she nodded. They had the ship's name and the evidence to exonerate Samara.
The Demeter, huh…?