Chapter 20
Training Room – SSV Normandy SR-2
Garrus had just finished a routine of combatives with Tali in the training room. His breath came out in short rasps as he tried to catch his breath. Tali, as limber and deadly as ever, definitely showed her flexibility in their bout. And her kicks had only gotten harder as the years went on. Back when they were on Thessia, she had broken the neck of an asari biotic with a single kick, and if he weren't paying attention, he knew she would be capable of taking the head off a turian as well.
But currently she was simply teaching the new kid, Lia'Vael, how to spar with turians. The two species had similar body types, so it was easier to spar with one another. They were on the floor grappling one another until Tali, as subtle as a flare firing into space, allowed Lia to put her in a hold that made her groan in pain. Garrus chuckled as his friend tapped the mat in the universal sign of surrender. "A good attempt, but you need to hook your arm behind my leg faster. If you wait too long to lock my leg, I can get a clean kick right to your face plate before you can stop me."
"Understood," said the younger quarian as she bounced up to her feet excitedly.
Tali sprung up as well and stretched her legs before finally stepping out of the impact mats. "Keep that up and you'll be as deadly as me in no time. Now, go and kick the kinetic bag to strengthen your legs."
Garrus chucked again and shook his head. "Never thought I'd see the day when you were teaching hand to hand."
"Me neither. But then again, I never expected another quarian to be aboard the Normandy," she said with a glowing smile as she grabbed her water container and attached it to her induction port.
"I know we had the turian fire team on the original Normandy, but I wasn't expecting another turian for a while either," he said as his sharp eyes moved over to the newcomer on the ship. At first, he had greeted her as he would any respectful turian. It was only after that he found out about her aversion to Shepard, and her worship of Saren. He snorted, wondering how Tali got the adorable and excited trainee while he got the rogue spectre fangirl.
As if hearing his words, Ralixia stepped off the treadmill she had been pounding and stepped towards him. "We could go a few rounds if you like," she said playfully towards him.
He eyed her in confusion, not the least because even after holding a sprint for nearly five minutes straight she was barely breathing heavy. It was mostly because he was confused by the discrepancy of her treatment between him and Shepard. She had to know that he helped kill Saren as well. Yet she still seemed to be more than pleasant with him.
"Give me about ten minutes to stretch. She really wore my joints out," said the turian as he began to stretch his legs.
"Feeling the age creep up on you?" she asked curiously as she leaned over the partition to stare at him.
"Huh?" he asked, unsure of what she meant. Finally, it clicked in his head. "Oh, not at all. In fact, I feel younger than ever now that I'm back on the Normandy. But I now have trauma about not training my knee properly because of what Shepard did to Kuril."
Her face soured at the mention of Shepard, but he could see she was more curious than annoyed. "Kuril, that egg sucking war criminal who ran the Purgatory Space Prison? What happened to him?"
"We went in to get our favorite psychotic biotic, Jack," he said, nodding to the human woman who was weightlifting in the corner. Ralixia looked towards her, then nodded at him to continue. "Kuril was supposed to hand her over. He'd already received payment. But instead, he tried to capture Shepard and sell her to the collectors. So…" he said, his hand doing the circular loop. "She broke the entire station. We fought through several cell blocks, took out his security, freed Jack, and then she cornered him."
Ralixia tilted her head at him curiously. "She killed him?"
"If she had just killed him, I could sleep properly at night," he said with a shudder. "No, what she did was challenge him to hand-to-hand combat. And when he tried to put everything into a high kick, she broke his knee over her own. I saw it bend in a way that scarred me worse than the rocket that did this," he finished, pointing to his face.
Even the legate shuddered at the idea of a turian's leg bending too far. "She took him alone? With no help?"
"We watched her back to make sure no guards or prisoners interfered. But yeah," he said with a chuckle. "She got exactly three hits on him, he got zero. It was so one sided that I'm pretty sure even the inmates felt sorry for him before the beat him to death."
"Hmmm…" said the turian woman as she looked over towards the door. As if summoned by telling her stories, Shepard walked in in her exercise gear, already wrapping her hands in bandages.
"Shepard!" shouted Tali as she waved from the corner.
"Hey Tali," said the spectre as she grinned up at the quarian.
Garrus continued flexing his knees as he stepped up to her. "So, did she give us anything on our next couple of recruits?"
"She knows exactly where the justicar is. She spent the last couple days in and out of a police station in the Lirelia Prefecture. The assassin, she has info on. But not enough to tell me where he's at. She's gathering that information now," said the woman as she too began to stretch her body out.
"How about the new spectre?" asked Tali curiously. "It's been a while since we've met her. I'm excited to catch up!"
Shepard smirked at the quarian. "Gianna Parasini has been notified. They're supposed to meet us here first thing in the morning," she said before finally turning her gaze to the turian woman. "I see you're blending in well."
Ignoring the comment, Ralixia turned towards her and began pacing in a circle around her. "You killed a turian in one on one, hand to hand combat?"
Shepard's brow rose as she slowly followed her with her blue gaze. "A few actually. But if you're referring to Kuril, he's a CEO who sat on his ass and had his men doing all the grunt work. I'm pretty sure a volus doing a somersault could have put him down."
Garrus snorted and shook his head. But his humor vanished instantly as he heard Ralixia's request. "Mind going a few rounds with me?" He looked up at her in surprise.
Shepard planted her hands on her hips and sighed. "Looking to take your aggression out on me?"
"Actually, I've never heard of a human standing up to a turian in combatives. I'm both curious to see human fighting styles, and to see if you're capable of lasting against an actual trained officer," said Ralixia as she finally stopped pacing and crossed her arms.
Shepard's brows rose high. "You haven't studied anything about human martial arts, but you want to try and take me on anyway?"
"Yes, why?" asked the legate, her tone changing from curious to annoyed.
Shepard chuckled and shook her head before stepping over onto the mat. "Have you heard about human diversity?"
Tossing her towel aside, the legate stepped up on the mat as well. "I have, though I don't see why…"
"While there's a wide range of heights for turians, around 90% of them are around two and a half meters tall, give or take a few centimeters," said Shepard as she began to bounce back and forth on her feet.
Ralixia looked unamused by the lesson. "Spectre, where are you going with this?"
"Humans, however, can be anywhere from one and a half to two meters tall," said Shepard as she flapped her hands to get her blood flowing. "That's not even mentioning differing body types. Heavy set turians are still mostly muscle, while humans have a lot of fat content that can give us a huge range of body types," she said before finally stopping and staring at the turian woman. "Now, over the ten-thousand years of recorded human history, how many different forms of martial arts do you think humans have created to adapt to different body types, heights, weights, and circumstances?"
The legate looked from Shepard to Garrus, then back to Shepard. "I don't know… twenty? Thirty? That's around how many turians have."
"We have over two hundred," said the spectre as she held her hands up in a battle stance.
Garrus snorted in amusement at the look of awe on the new crew member's face. "Two hundred…?" she asked, flabbergasted as she too put her arms up. But she put it out of her head and took up a serious combat stance, one that could put a human in a hospital even from casual sparring. But Garrus knew better than to underestimate Shepard.
As her temper would predict, Ralixia threw the first attack. A full force kick flew forward, the wind trailing it blowing Shepard's hair sideways and causing the spectre to glare at her. She threw another, and Shepard ducked under, something turians always forget humans can just do. It's easier to do with digitigrade legs, but plantigrade species can also easily adapt. Shepard had pulled it no less than three times since he had seen her fight, one of which was on him.
Similar to when she had fought him, she ducked and popped up right next to the turian woman's surprised frame. Slamming an elbow into her gut, Shepard gripped her cowl and swung down over her hips in a throw that Garrus experienced himself. The impact sounded painful, but he knew the legate wouldn't be off put that easily.
Ralixia let out a gasp of pain as she stared up in surprise at the spectre. Shepard glared down at her before releasing her. "If you hit me with a kick that hard and decommission me over a sparring match, I'm sending you back to the Hierarchy. You're on the damn practice mat, so quit showing off," snapped the human woman as she backed off and began bouncing on the balls of her feet again.
Ralixia stood up again and growled. "Understood," she said with a hiss as she took up her stance again. Garrus watched as the pair faced off against each other, then began going back and forth. Shepard mostly focused on punches, landing several against the stunned turian. Ralixia continued with kicks, only punching when Shepard got too close. The pair of them were breathing heavily after trading blows. Shepard moved forward surprisingly slowly to throw an elbow to the gut. But Ralixia caught her and kicked both of her legs out from under her, causing her to slam flat onto her back.
"Tired already, Spectre?" mocked the legate as she took up her stance again.
"Anyone tell you that you talk too much?" asked Shepard as she surprised them all. Kicking her legs out like a windmill, she began spinning in a hypnotic dance on the mat, balancing her body's momentum enough to keep her moving. Ralixia was so blown away by the dance-like maneuver that she was caught entirely off guard by the canon-like double kick that hit her in the gut. She was blown backwards, gasping for air as she clenched her stomach. Shepard spun once more, launching herself back up onto her feet as she stared down at the turian.
Garrus jumped in surprise as a voice sounded next to him where nobody was before. He spun and looked to see the Kasumi woman watching the fight with interest. "Capoeira?"
"Is… is that what she did?" asked Garrus curiously as he slowed his beating heart by sighing heavily.
"That's the style. It's Brazilian in origin and combines a form of dance and combat together," said the rogue as she watched from under her shadowed hood.
"Interesting," said Garrus as he watched Shepard plant a hand on the ground and kick low before spinning out with a high kick that left her hand standing for a long moment. Already spooked by the wild and aggressive fighting style, Ralixia was on the defense. "Turians don't dance a lot, so it probably never occurred to our people to combine dancing and combat."
"I'm pretty sure there's been a martial art for everything on Earth. Cooking, skating, farming…"
"Farming?" asked Tali curiously from the side.
"Oh yeah, a lot of the weapons humans use in hand to hand were originally farming tools. Sickles, tonfa, nunchaku, the staff. Humans had to create weapons from whatever we could because of how often tyrants confiscated them," said the woman as they all turned back to the fight.
"Surprised that humans can fight with their legs too?" asked Shepard with a grin as Ralixia held up her guard.
"More surprised it isn't more well known. Why aren't these fighting styles more present in your current military?" asked the legate as her eyes moved from Shepard's hands to her feet to her face, trying desperately to track which would be flying at her next.
"Space armor makes conventional martial arts pretty useless. I use Muay Thai and Lethwei in armor because I can still use my elbows and knees in armor. But imagine trying to use Wing Chun…" she said, surprising the turian again as she punched ten times within the span of a few seconds. "Or Tae Kwon Do while wearing heavy ass space armor during a fire fight." Garrus watched as Ralixia threw a kick, no doubt to try and shut the spectre up. Instead, Shepard leaned back out of range, then spun forward before jumping like a human dancer. She rotated in the air rapidly before one of her legs lashed out and connected to the side of Ralixia's head. Her arm didn't stop the flying impact, and she slammed face first into the mat, coughing heavily as Shepard landed and fell over, holding her shin in pain. "Son of a bitch!"
Tali helped the spectre to her feet as Garrus stepped up and patted her on the shoulder. "Turian arms are still somewhat armored. Gotta watch that."
"My shin thanks you for your hindsight," growled Shepard as she stood again and rubbed the front of her leg.
Garrus reached down and gripped Ralixia's hand, helping her back to a standing position. The legate stared down at the ground as if she were contemplating as Garrus spoke to her, Tali taking Shepard away to get medigel on the stinging bruise. "Do you understand yet?"
She looked up at him curiously. "Understand what?"
"As much as the Hierarchy and every other military in the galaxy wants you to believe we live in a universe of blacks and whites, there is no such place," he said stoically as he examined her eye to make sure Shepard hadn't accidentally cracked her orbital plate.
"What are you talking about, Vakarian?" asked the legate in annoyance.
"It's easy to convince a soldier to kill someone if you make them believe that person is evil. But there is no black and white. The entire universe is full of so many shades of gray," he said as he crossed his arms. "Sorry, I'm not much of a philosopher," he said with a chuckle. "All this is to say that your belief that Saren was always good, while believing that Shepard is bad is a thought process that's going to get either you or a lot of good people killed."
She glared at him as she flexed her sore jaw. "What, has your time aboard the Normandy made you a psychic seer now?"
"No, but it has taught me a lot," he said as he shook his head. "Holding onto hatred and grudges is dangerous. It blinds you to the truth and makes you ignore obvious, and sometimes not so obvious truths. If you believe that Saren could do no wrong, then when he, a flawed being, does something wrong, you ignore it."
"You're implying that Saren wasn't a good spectre?" asked Ralixia sourly.
"Not really. Spectres are well known for bending their moral code to save the galaxy. And in that case, Saren was the best for a reason. He got the job done no matter what," said the turian man as he rolled his neck a few times. "But being a good spectre sure as hell doesn't make you a good person. And if you're incapable of distinguishing between someone who is good at their job, and someone you can trust, then you're going to get shot in the back a lot."
Ralixia's mandibles twitched at the claim before she took up a stance again. "Point taken. Now shut up and fight me," she said, almost playfully as she shook the rattle Shepard had given her from her head.
Burgatory – Nos Astra – Illium
Shepard walked towards the restaurant with a purpose. It had been a long while since she had seen the pair, her last encounter with them being on Noveria. Tali, Lia, and Miranda were tailing her as she wore her leather jacket to keep the frigid air blowing over the ocean from giving her a chill. When she arrived, they all sat down at the table. Shepard looked over at the table to Miranda as she worked on datapads.
"So, why'd you decide to come?" asked the spectre curiously.
"Are you that bothered by my company?" asked the XO playfully as she looked over the datapad. "I'm actually going to meet someone here shortly. You said you were going to eat before your meeting, so I thought I'd join you."
"I-Is this place quarian friendly?" asked Lia nervously as she looked around at the other customers of the outdoor restaurant. Most were asari and turian. A batarian sat with a krogan at the far end of the sea of tables, and there was even a hanar with one of its appendages sitting in a glass of something, absorbing it as it stood at its full height.
"I make sure anywhere I take someone is friendly to all present," said Shepard with a grin.
"Oh… good," said Lia who was still clearly nervous about being off the ship.
Tali nudged her gently. "So, Joker let you fly for the first time. How did it go?" asked the engineer before looking down. "I mean, we're alive, so I assume things went well."
"He tested me flying while the ship was in stealth while you all were on the Citadel. It… didn't end well," said the quarian miserably.
"What happened?" asked Shepard with a brow raised.
"I've never flown a ship in stealth before," she said tapping the table. "When the Normandy is in stealth mode, its mass is negative and needs so little effort to fly that it uses an entirely separate method to fly than the chemical thrusters. I forgot to adjust once negative mass was achieved, and using the thrusters flung the entire ship in circles."
"Do not worry, you'll learn as you practice," said Tali as she patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"If he lets me touch the controls again," said Lia in disappointment.
"You'll be fine. Joker may be a a hard-nosed teacher, but he's never one to give up. Especially when he has a reputation to keep," said Shepard with a grin. "He'll turn you into the best pilot in the galaxy. Even better than him, just to say he did it."
"I hope you're right…" said Lia as she lowered her head gently.
Shepard's grin vanished though as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. "Anyone else feel that?"
"I do…" growled Miranda as she looked around anxiously.
"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Tali as she stood up.
They all froze as a new voice came from behind them all. "Spectre Shepard?"
Shepard looked up in surprise at the visitor. It was an asari in a rather utilitarian robe. She had no face paint, nor any kind of identifying insignias on her outfit. But most unnerving of all, her eyes were closed. "Can I… help you?"
"Liara directed me to your location. As I got closer, I suppose you could say I sensed your aura. I can see why she speaks so highly of your strength," said the woman cryptically.
"My strength, why is Liara telling you about my strength?" asked the redhead in confusion as she stood up to meet the woman.
"Apologies, I wasn't speaking about Liara. I was referring to a friend you made on Noveria," said the asari with a polite bow of her head.
Shepard eyed her curiously, wondering if Parasini and Matsuo had sent the woman to meet in their stead. "Is Gianna not coming?"
"There's a misunderstanding. Perhaps if I told you that our mutual friend sings the dawn of her people, you would understand more clearly," said the woman patiently.
Shepard's brows slowly rose at the realization. "You know Dawnsinger?"
"I do," said the woman with a confirming smile. "I met her many months ago and have since devoted my life to her. I would thank you for your actions that day. You saved a beautiful soul and a beautiful people."
Miranda and Lia looked between the pair curiously while Tali clung to Shepard's arm. "How is she? Is she well? Has she created a name for me yet?" asked the quarian excitedly.
"She is well. She heard that you yet lived and passed me a memory of hers to share with you, if you would allow me," said the asari as she stepped up to Shepard.
Shepard snorted, unsure if now was a good time to do this while they were waiting for the others. But she supposed it couldn't hurt while the others were around. "Tali, if she tries anything funny, make her regret it," said the spectre as she stepped forward.
"You believe I wish to harm you?" asked the asari as she tilted her head.
"I don't think Liara would send an assassin my way, but you could be lying," said the spectre as she cracked her neck. "Call it insurance. Now let's do this."
The pair placed their hands on each other's hips and planted their foreheads together. Within a few seconds, the asari woman whispered, "Embrace eternity."
Shepard shot from her feet and felt as if she flew through the entire galaxy until she stood on the surface of a world shrouded in light. In fact, it was so bright she had to cover her eyes to concentrate. "Firesinger…"
Spinning around, Shepard's eyes widened as she looked up at the queen in question. It took her a long moment to realize that she wasn't looking through her own eyes, she was staring through the eyes of the asari as if witnessing a video recording first hand.
"Your music… silenced. We hear your strings resonating once again," said the queen as Shepard gasped in awe at her. She didn't know whether it was the restrictive size of the cage on Noveria, or simply because she was so young at the time. But the queen before her was massive, easily four times the size of the one she released on the snowy planet. "Our songs of joy fill the skies of our new world."
The rachni queen moved aside and turned towards the landscape behind her. Shepard's gaze followed and she saw a massive city with columns and structures built in geometric patterns built into the surface of the city. The sun behind her began to sink behind the horizon, causing the landscape to darken. It was then that she noticed the structures and columns were all giving off a dull glow.
"We work, we sing, we thrive on our new world, using the gift of life you gave us. But we do not just build our home," said the queen as the darkness grew thicker.
Stars began to penetrate the dark blue sky as it got darker and darker with the fading of the sun. It was then that Shepard began to notice the hundreds… no… thousands of eyes focusing on her down below. A small contingent of rachni, more queens and brood warriors stood staring up at them both. There were two dozen queens at least and over a hundred brood warriors. The rest were in the thousands. She looked up at the city and noticed that not even a fraction of the rachni were outside of the city. Whatever was out here, there was vastly more moving around within.
"We build for war. Though we wish for peace, we understand that the song of the sowers of discord will not end without war," said the queen as she looked towards the sky. Shepard's eyes followed as well and she felt chills all over her body as she saw that many of the stars above her were moving. They weren't stars, they were ships. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of them were moving through the sky in more patterns. "When you sing your song of war, we will join our melodies to yours in a harmony of destruction. We will silence the symphony of chaos that soured the songs of our mothers and burn the darkness clean."
Finally, the darkness covered the city and showed the entire place was glowing and lit with power. She didn't know whether it was element zero, biotics, crystals, or something else entirely. What she did know was that she was witnessing the building of a powerful force of destruction. Finally, the images faded and she stumbled back into her own body. The asari bowed her head gently once more. "It was good meeting you, spectre. I hope this will not be the last time."
Shepard was speechless. The asari turned and began walking away as her group stared at her curiously. "Everything alright, Shepard?" asked Tali with concern.
But Shepard didn't know what she felt. She didn't know if she felt fear, or anxiety. Thousands of years ago, the rachni were strong enough to nearly wipe the galaxy clean of other species. It took the uplifting of another species, one built for war and survival who reproduced in the dozens in less than a year to overwhelm and finally destroy them. But now they were free to live their lives, no longer having to worry about the krogan or even the rest of the species of the galaxy to check them. Though the words of the queen were strictly about them being peaceful, and only going to war to destroy the reapers, she found herself wondering if that would always be the case.
"I'm… fine," she said as she looked up to see the asari woman had gone. Shaking off her chills, she sat back down in her seat, wondering if she was truly afraid of the rachni and their capabilities. Or maybe it was something else.
Finally her thoughts were disturbed as she saw a pair of humans approaching her, both of them familiar faces. Grinning once more, she stood again to greet them. Gianna, whose hair was let down despite the business suit she wore reached out and took her hand. "Long time no see, spectre."
"Parasini, Captain," said Shepard as she nodded to both of them.
"I'm no longer a captain with the ERCS," said Maeko with a small smile. Shepard immediately noticed that the woman's voice was quieter and she had a slashing scar across her throat. As if seeing her look of shock, she tilted her head back. "This is what happens when you piss off an asari commando," she said just above a whisper.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Shepard as she looked from one to the other. "That isn't hindering, is it?"
"Not anymore," said Maeko with a shake of her head. "I used to have nightmares about drowning in my own blood, but you get over it."
"Well, you've certainly gotten morbid," said Tali from the side.
Gianna looked over and seemingly noticed that Shepard wasn't alone for the first time. "Wait a moment, I recognize that voice," said Gianna in a friendly tone. "You were on Noveria!"
"That's me. I also never got to apologize for smashing a vehicle through a geth and directly into the wall at your tram station," said the quarian playfully.
"Binary Helix wasn't thrilled with the mess you all left, that's for sure," said Parasini as she pulled up a seat for them both.
"So," began Maeko softly. "Liara-sama said you needed to speak with me. What's this about?"
Shepard didn't know how either of them were going to take the message, but she knew the worst that could happen was her saying no. "Councilor Udina and Ambassador Korvus-Jamal decided it's time to pick more spectres. The ambassador made her choice and dropped the other choice in my lap. After looking at the candidates, I chose you," said Shepard as she looked towards Matsuo.
The Japanese woman went wide-eyed for a moment. Her and Gianna looked at each other briefly before turning back to Shepard. "Me? Why?" Shepard gave her a deadpan glare. "Alright… I know why."
"Trying to steal my bodyguard?" asked Parasini curiously, though any attempt at playing offended was shattered by the glowing smile on her face.
"It's her choice. Obviously, I can't make her take the job. But," said Shepard with a shrug of her shoulders. "As the first, I hold human spectres to a standard that I'm not sure the other species do. I want only the best, and from what I've seen, you're one of them."
"Th-Thank you, Shepard-sama," said Maeko with a small smile.
"Hmmm… what'll I do then?" asked Gianna curiously as she tapped her chin. "It took your abilities, which I've just been informed have qualified you for being a spectre, to protect me at my job. Without you around, I might have to take a break."
"I'd recommend it anyway," said Shepard with a nod. "Things might seem normal now, but they're going to change soon. I can feel it."
Gianna eyed her curiously. "Well, that's ominous. What is about to change exactly?"
"I'm not going to worry or tell you something that may give you nightmares. But, I will just say that peace in the galaxy is a balancing act and it's about to tip over. Knocking down the doors of corporate criminals may be important in the capitalist galaxy we live in currently, but I'd focus more on living your life for the time being. Those corporate criminals aren't going to matter much when war hits."
"Concern noted," said Gianna with a sigh. "Perhaps it's time I cash in my good will and get a job in the Mediterranean."
"That'd probably be best," said Shepard with a grin. "So, what do you think?"
"I'm… not sure," said Maeko as she looked away somberly. "I appreciate your confidence in me, but I don't know if I can live up to your reputation."
"Look, I don't expect you to kill a galactic threat on year one," said Shepard with a shrug. "Maybe year two or three depending, but right now I need you. I need humans with my status that I can trust. Because the more I look at the Alliance, the less I trust them. And in the months or years to come, I may need your help to save the galaxy."
The woman eyed her for a long moment before responding. "Well, when you put it that way, I guess I can't really say no."
"You have about a week to answer. If the answer is yes, then meet with the ambassador on the Citadel. If the answer is no, give her a call at least and let her know so we can pick someone else," she responded with a grin. "But I get the feeling we'll be seeing each other more often."
Maeko smiled lightly and bowed her head. "Thank you for the opportunity, Shepard-sama," she said before leaning back in her chair. "You know, years ago when you left a bloodbath in the Synthetic Insights office, as well as the corpse of my sergeant, I never thought I'd one day get asked to stand alongside you."
"Fate has a weird way of working like that," said Gianna as she grinned and stood up. "Now, we have one or two more things to wrap up here before we head off to the Citadel. Good talking again, Shep."
Shepard stood and held out her hand. "You too, Gianna."
"And hey," said the woman as she pulled Shepard in close. The spectre's eyes widened slightly as the agent leaned in to whisper to her. "If you're ever in my neighborhood on the Citadel, don't be shy. Let's go get a drink." She pulled away and winked, then began sauntering off with Maeko following in her stead, leaving Shepard slightly confused.
Lirelia Police Department – Nos Astra – Illium
Shepard looked around at the place curiously. There was a lot of movement in the station, which meant something was happening. C-Sec back on the Citadel rarely got like this, but when it did it meant that something big had happened. She stepped inside with Jack, Garrus, and Ralixia at her back. Garrus only confirmed her suspicions.
"Looks like a C-Sec captain got knocked off around here," he said as he eyed the frantic movement inside. "Tread carefully, Shepard. They might not be all that cooperative."
"Will keep that in mind," said Shepard as she stepped up to a receptionist. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Detective Anaya."
The asari woman, who looked as if she hadn't slept in a week got to her feet before bending over the counter and looking outside. Finally, she sat down and began typing again. "Look, she left to go talk to Pitne For. If you want to speak with her you'll have to go find her at the crime scene at the nearby aircar terminal," said the annoyed woman as she continued her work.
"You just told us that because…?" asked Garrus curiously.
The asari woman tilted her head to the side and gave Garrus a glare of pure death. "I know she's a spectre, brickbrain. Her face is all over every movie poster in the damned galaxy. It's not hard to surmise who she is," said the woman before shutting the conversation down and going back to her frantic work.
"She's got a point you know," said Shepard with a grin.
"Oh shut up, movie star," growled the turian as they left the station and headed in the direction the woman pointed. It wasn't hard to figure out where the detective was as her voice dominated the entire area.
"I don't give a damned what appointments you have, Pitne For! You're not leaving the area until we clear you of any wrongdoing. Get it through that boney skull of yours that you're staying before I lock you in the car with your partner!" snapped the asari detective as the group approached.
"But it's just a matter… of time until they come after me!" said the volus in a black and neon green suit worriedly. "Them killing my partner should be… proof enough that they're after me. And then there's… that justicar!"
"The justicar only kill evil people, Pitne, so I'm sure you'll be just fine," she snapped sarcastically before pointing at him one last time. "Like I said, if you move an inch out of this area or the police department, I'm sending the entire patrol crew, the justicar, and even spectres if I can find them after your ass to bring you back!"
"Fine, fine… whatever. Just… finish your investigation," grumbled the volus as he hopped onto a bench and sat down, crossing his arms as if pouting.
The asari woman gave him one last glare before turning in their direction and stopping in her tracks. Her eyes focused on Shepard, calming her as she stepped forward. "Speaking of spectres," she said as she eyed them all. "What's going on?"
"Detective Anaya?" asked Shepard as she offered the woman her ID. The asari took it for a moment and nodded before handing it back. "I'm looking for the justicar, Samara."
Rolling her eyes, the asari walked past them and headed to the police station. "You and half the damned city."
"Why is everyone looking for her?" asked Shepard as they all moved to keep up with her.
"Because," growled the asari as she put her hands together to explain, almost looking like she was praying. "Justicars are agents of justice. They do not abide by government laws, they do not follow laws they see as unjust or immoral. She's a walking timebomb and we're trying our best to keep her from exploding!" snapped the woman in exasperation. "Sorry, she's been here for two days and we've been running ourselves ragged trying to keep her from killing someone."
"She doesn't obey the laws?" asked Ralixia with a scoff.
"As long as they align with her code, she does," said the asari as she eyed the turian woman. "If a judge is found to have participated in human trafficking, she doesn't give a damn if they did it in international space, and therefore isn't charged as guilty. She'll walk into the damn courtroom and put a bullet between their eyes while they're overseeing a trial."
"You can't even keep your own people under control but act like you are so superior," growled Ralixia at the detective. Shepard aimed a heated glare at the turian, making her shut up.
But Detective Anaya wasn't having her backtalk either. Raising her hand, she began to flap it in her face, mocking her for talking too much. "Look sassy pants, you wanna whine and complain like a brat about some asari pretending they're the living incarnation of the goddess Athame, do it at them. I've got more important things to do than worry about some random asari hurting your feelings."
Ralixia hissed angrily, but Garrus's hand clamping on her shoulder kept her in line while Shepard followed her. "So, you're all expecting her to kill someone?"
"I don't know what to expect. But one thing is for certain, as much as I respect their cause, I don't like having them in my district. Their damn Code only makes them cooperate with law enforcement to an extent. Beyond that, they're even capable of killing corrupt cops, and that's a mountain of paperwork I'd rather not have to do," said Anaya as she stopped and looked back at Shepard. "Wait, why are you looking for her?"
Reading the room, Shepard gave her a glowing smile. "I'm going to ask her to join me on one of my missions. Perhaps get her out of your hair… er… sorry, human expression. Get her out of your district."
Immediately the detective's face softened. "Oh goddess, would you? That would make this entire situation so much easier."
"Maybe. I obviously can't force her to come with me. But the more you cooperate in helping me find her, the easier it'll be for me to get her out of here," said Shepard with a shrug.
"I'll do whatever it takes. I haven't even been able to investigate the damn murder of that volus because I have to keep track of Samara's location and make sure she isn't about to take out an entire family of four who hired an indentured servant," grumbled the woman as she opened the door to the department and made her way through the chaos.
"Alright then, where do I start?" asked the spectre curiously.
"We know she was after the leader of the local Eclipse branch. Why, I couldn't begin to tell you," she said exasperated as she finally sat at her desk. "I've tried my best getting any information out of that damn volus, but he's far too stubborn to fold to me."
"What does he have to do with this?" asked Shepard as she looked out the office window. He was still sitting and pouting on the bench outside with his krogan bodyguards shuffling around looking bored.
"Pitne For's partner, Dakni Kur, was murdered last night. I don't know if it was Samara, I don't know if it was the Eclipse, I don't know if it was a random mugging. What I do know is that Pitne worked for the Eclipse, and if he doesn't know why Samara is here, then he knows where the Eclipse branch leaders are. And if you find them, you find Samara," she said looking at the spectre pleadingly.
"I'll see if I can get any information out of him," said Shepard as she turned and looked out the window again. Letting out a sigh of frustration, she found herself wondering if anything in her career would ever just be simple.
CODEX ENTRIES
Egg Sucker | Derogatory Linguistics | Turian
A fairly common insult for someone in turian culture. It speaks of a practice perpetrated by some carnivorous scavengers on Palaven such as the avian tekktuk. They would often infiltrate the nests of others of their kind and break and destroy the eggs of neighbors, sometimes even eating the contents regardless of whether the inside was simply a yolk, or if it was a fully formed hatchling. It's an insult used for only the most vile of people who are parasites on society.
Absorbing | Biology | Hanar
Unlike most species in the galaxy, the hanar do not have an orifice through which they eat or drink. Instead, they absorb nutrients through the use of their limbs and even their body. While they do eat solid foods, a horrific display to most species as the acidic toxin in their limbs breaks down the proteins of their meal and liquifies it, they usually prefer their food pre-liquified, and have even become a massive investor in the human Campbell's Soup corporation as a result.