Kacey didn't know what to do; she looked over the datapad. Her demands were ridiculous and yet, she knew she didn't have much of a choice. It didn't matter how dangerous these mercenaries were, or what they had done; the Reapers didn't discriminate. They would all die if they don't work together. Her words.
She stopped by the elevator outside of Purgatory and sighed, rubbing her temple; how the hell did she end up in these situations? She couldn't quite place the reason why or why Aria asked her specifically. She was sure that the asari crime boss could close these deals, but she clearly had an ulterior motive.
She got in the elevator, and pressed the button to head to the embassies. She hoped she wouldn't regret getting mixed up in this. But then again, she was already neck deep in this thanks to Cerberus.
But she was more concerned about Aria's plan to retake Omega; she was being far too secretive about her ideas for taking Omega back from Cerberus. And while Kacey wanted to make Cerberus pay, she wasn't so sure Aria's intentions were. And why she wanted her involved.
The elevator stopped; she stepped out into the crowded embassies and headed towards Bailey's office. She wasn't exactly inclined to letting a criminal out of jail, but she had to admit that she needed the aid. Not to mention, the galaxy had bigger problems to worry about right now.
She walked into Bailey's office, not entirely sure how she was supposed to convince him to let Sederis go.
"Shepard, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Bailey mused.
"Here to talk about you releasing Jona Sederis." Kacey replied flatly.
"Damn, you too?" Bailey replied, sounding a tad disappointed, "Somebody got the Council to order her release. I'm delaying it the best I can. What's your stake in this?"
"It's classified." Kacey mused.
"That's a fancy way of saying mind your own business." Bailey replied, "Look, there's no way I'm letting that psychopath out. The woman's unstable and a clear public threat."
Kacey tilted her head, "How unstable?"
"Very. She was a ruthless sadist before she got caught. Her imprisonment has cracked the shell off the nut. She rages day and night, Shepard, calling for the deaths of all Eclipse enemies."
"Let me see her." Kacey mused.
"Sure thing." Bailey said, "I'm sure you'll agree. Then maybe the Council will listen to you and rescind the order. Go to the C-Sec outpost. My assistant will connect you to Sederis's cell from there. Then call me back."
…
Kacey walked through the crowded Presidium, weaving in and out of the many individuals of the crowd. Her gaze drifted absent-mindedly as she made her way to the C-Sec outpost. The Presidium was as calm as ever; people were still walking around, socialising, shopping and going about their day as if nothing was wrong. As if there was no war being waged in the stars above. The only sign of anything wrong was the chatter of bystanders; discussions of the war, from fallen worlds and colonies, to discussions of whether their loved ones would be safe or not. Something that Kacey could empathise with.
The outpost was fairly deserted, save for a small handful of C-Sec officers. Kacey couldn't believe she was actually considering this, let alone doing it. She took a deep breath before heading inside the outpost.
"I've connected with Jona Sederis in her cell, Commander." The C-Sec officer said as Kacey approached the desk, "You can speak with her via that console."
"Thanks." Kacey replied, "We'll need some privacy."
"Of course. When you are done you can also contact Commander Bailey from that terminal."
As the officer left, leaving Kacey alone in the outpost, she moved behind the desk, standing right in front of the terminal.
"Why do I do this to myself?" Kacey mumbled to herself as she started the call, a big scowl on her face.
The video feed appeared on the terminal, showing an asari on the other side with a crazed expression.
"Who's that spying on me now?" Sederis's smooth voice slithered through the terminal, "Ah, I see…good. Aria's indentured servant has finally come to deliver me to freedom."
"Not if you call me that." Kacey spat, arms crossed, "Maybe I should leave you in there. Might help with your attitude."
"As if. You have no choice in the matter." Sederis replied curtly, "And when I get out, heads will roll. Oh yes. You've killed a lot of my people! Don't think I've forgotten that."
Kacey rolled her eyes, "Don't threaten me. Or you'll end up joining your people six feet in the ground."
"So you say." Sederis scoffed, "Oh, I love holding all of the cards! Even in here, you must deal with me—I have all of the power!"
"Is that right?" Kacey mused in a bored voice.
"Yes. Sayn, my second in command is a weak willed toady. If he had balls, he'd leave me to rot and take control himself. But he won't defy me. He knows better."
"Uh huh." Kacey mused, a smirk creeping across her face, "Maybe he needs a little push."
"You wouldn't dare! Get me out of here, Shepard! Tell Bailey to release me!" Sederis screeched.
Kacey ended the call with Sederis; thankfully the crazed nutcase had given her an idea. She began to call Bailey through the terminal.
"Bailey. I've seen Sederis." Kacey said.
"So, she's crazy, right?" Bailey said, "It would be ridiculous to let her out."
"Yeah she's nuts. Let me take care of this." Kacey mused.
"Sounds good. I'll hold the fort until I hear from you." Bailey mused.
…
"Apartment 26." Kacey mused as she stopped outside the door, "Might as well get this over with while I'm here."
Kacey entered, where a lone batarian was waiting as Aria's datapad had stated. He looked worried as she approached.
"Quick, hands behind your back." Narl said, "They'll be here any minute."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Kacey said firmly.
"Kreete. Blood Pack's leader." Narl explained, "Aria brings him the great Commander Shepard, Kreete pledges the gang to her. We're just luring him into the open so we can take him out."
"Not the best start to our friendship, Narl." Kacey scoffed.
"He's coming!" Narl exclaimed, "Put your hands behind your back and—uh—try to look like I beat you up or something."
"This better be on the up and up." Kacey scowled as she got into position.
"Quiet!" Narl whispered as the door opened and three vorcha walked in.
"Aria T'Loak even more powerful than Kreete thought." Kreete sneered, "Her instructions on boarding Citadel undetected were one thing. Now this!"
Kacey remained still and composed even as Kreete leaned in a little too close for Kacey comfort.
"Commander Shepard! Want you to know: your head will be hood ornament on my personal shuttle." Kreete continued.
"Lovely." Kacey replied in a snarky tone. She felt something being shoved into her hands by Narl; she could feel the grooves of the handgun that was pushed into her hands.
"Keep your distance, Kreete." Narl snapped, "So…do you agree to Aria's terms?"
Kreete nodded, "Most definitely. Aria can use the Blood Pack as she sees fit."
"Wasn't talking to you, Kreete. Gryll?" Narl smirked.
"What?!"
The vorcha to Kreete's left nodded, "You have my word. Now open fire!"
Kacey quickly drew her gun and shot Kreete in the head. Narl shot the other vorcha, but stopped Kacey as she shot the third vorcha.
"Not him!" Narl said quickly, "Gryll's next in line to take over. Aria's deal is with him."
"Yes! Yes! I'm Aria's mole, Shepard." Gryll said, "You've scratched my back, now I'll scratch yours."
Kacey lowered her gun, "Fine. But you better not make me regret this."
"I may be ambitious, but I'm not crazy." Gryll replied.
"Uh huh." Kacey mused unconvinced as she turned to face Narl, "Good work, Narl. Thanks."
"Anytime, Shepard." Narl replied, "Gryll and I will let Aria know the light is green."
…
The refugee camp was cramped, crowded and bleak.
Kacey hated the sight; she despised it. It was a difficult sight. Hundreds of thousands of people, from humans, to turians, to batarians were all crowded in the docking bay below the Normandy, living within shipping containers, with scarce resources. She walked through the camp, eyes on her from the desperate refugees displaced by the war, those who have lost everything.
And yet, she was still standing. Alive. Well.
Desperate looks followed her; she weaved her way through the crowd. She saw Garrus in the turian camp, handing out orders and giving structure to a chaotic situation. Kacey headed into the small area, where she found a salarian sitting in one of the containers.
"Men, get ready for trouble." Sayn said as Kacey approached.
"Not here for that Sayn." Kacey replied bluntly, "Just want to talk about Jona Sederis's release."
"Oh, you're the one coordinating that, right?" Sayn said anxiously, "My idea, you know? Aria came to me looking to gain Eclipse support. I'm leveraging it to bust out the boss."
"But you don't need Sederis." Kacey replied, "You should run Eclipse, Sayn."
"Huh?"
"You can do it." Kacey continued, turning up the charm, "Leave Sederis locked up and make the deal with Aria yourself. Think about it."
"Hmm." Sayn mused, "Aria would be a step up. And you think she'd let me run things?"
"I don't see why not." Kacey replied.
"Right, right. Then that's the plan." Sayn replied, "Keep Sederis in jail—I'll call Aria right away."
"Good." Kacey smiled before walking away.
She stepped out into the wider area of the docks, and moved towards the more secluded end of the refugee camp, silently hoping that Garrus didn't notice or follow her. He was already worried about her; she didn't need him to be more concerned.
She found Darner Vosque isolated in a corner on the far side of the docking bay, with very few refugees or C-Sec around. The smug bastard eyed her carefully as she approached, a scowl on her face.
"Wow. Aria wasn't kidding." Vosque smirked, "The great Commander Shepard on a leash."
Kacey quickly pinned Vosque against the wall; she wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with his snide comments. She had clearly caught him off guard.
"Wanna repeat that?" Kacey said in a threatening tone, "I promise I won't break anything really important."
"Fuck you."
Kacey began to apply pressure, "I'm here for my own reasons, not Aria's. Better remember that."
"Okay! Okay!" Vosque replied quickly, "Just stop!"
Kacey let Vosque go; she crossed her arms as he tried to regain his composure.
"Anyway, tell her I'm impressed." Vosque replied, "But to do business, I still need my little problem sorted out."
"Which is?"
"A turian general named Oraka has it out for the Blue Suns." Vosque said, "He's raising a stink over our activity in this sector."
"Geez, I wonder why." Kacey replied sarcastic.
"Don't get snarky with me, Shepard." Vosque said, "Look, I'll commit my gang to Aria as soon as Oraka's dead."
"What 'activity' are you doing here, anyway?"
"We're just making little raids along trading routes." Vosque replied, "With Aria's blessing, I might add. Oraka's just some military fossil who came out of retirement to relive the glory days and justify his existence. Losing him won't affect your war in the least, but gaining the Blue Suns…well, you know our work."
"You seriously think I'll assassinate a turian general?" Kacey replied.
"Aria seems to think so or else why would she send you?" Vosque smirked, "She knew the price. The two of you work it out. Oh and…tell Aria I still expect her blue ass in bed with me."
Vosque walked off with a smirk; Kacey couldn't believe what she was hearing. She called Aria; she needed to get to the bottom of this.
"What is it, Shepard?" Aria asked.
"You knew about this?" Kacey said.
"Can you be more specific?"
"Darner Vosque expects me to kill a turian general." Kacey mused, "That ring any bells?"
"Who cares what Vosque wants?" Aria deflected, "What he needs is for Oraka to stop disrupting his operations. I figured you talk to Oraka, see if you can get him to lay off. And if he won't listen to reason, call me, and I'll take care of it."
"Same damn thing!" Kacey replied, "I don't see a distinction."
"The distinction is that I'm giving you the chance to save his life."
"Right. Why didn't you tell me this yourself?"
"Vosque needed to see you, needed to realise who he's dealing with." Aria replied, "Plus, if I have to suffer that scumbag staring at tits one more time, I might have to kill him."
Kacey smirked, "Yeah, he mentioned–"
"That I'd sleep with him? Hah, we all have our delusions."
Aria ended the call; Kacey didn't know what to think of it. She didn't particularly want to assassinate anyone, let alone for a mercenary leader.
'Why do I do this to myself?'
…
She found the general sitting on a bench on the Presidium, alone. He seemed relaxed, much unlike Kacey's previous interaction with him. That was three long years ago.
"Commander Shepard." Oraka greeted her as Kacey approached.
"General Oraka." Kacey replied politely, "I think we met in Chora's Den. You were pretty miserable, if I recall."
"Yes. Neck-deep in drink just before I retired. I'm clean now. Reinstated." Oraka replied.
"I hear you're taking on the Blue Suns." Kacey mused.
"I need to do my part for the Citadel, Commander." Oraka explained, "The Blue Suns are raiding C-Sec weapons shipments. I'm putting a stop to that. Those mercs are seriously jeopardising the Citadel's ability to defend itself if the war comes here. When the war comes here."
"There are other ways to secure weapons, General." Kacey replied vaguely.
"You don't think I've tried?" Oraka replied, "There's a black market dealer on the Citadel right now, but he won't sell his top line arms. The Reapers are destroying everything in their path, and I can't stop them…but I can stop the Blue Suns."
Kacey sighed, "Leave it with me. I'll see what I can do."
"I appreciate your help." Oraka replied as Kacey headed towards the vendor in question.
It took a while to convince the salarian salesman to sell the firearms; in truth she hated having to be so manipulative and charismatic towards random strangers, especially when she needed something from them. And while it didn't always work, (sometimes she had to take the more violent plan B) this just so happened to be one of the many times that the person she was talking to cooperated.
After she left, Kacey caught up with Oraka, who thanked her for getting the firearms for C-Sec. Kacey was happy that all of this busy work was over, now she could get back to more important matters.
It took her half an hour to reach the Normandy. When she arrived, she headed towards the galaxy map, and began to punch in the coordinates for their next location.
"Where to, Commander?" Joker asked as the last of the crew made their way on board.
"Grissom Academy." Kacey replied, "And let's get there quickly; who knows what Cerberus is up to."