Chapter 30
Zakera Ward Docking Bay Z73 – Zakera Ward – Citadel
"So, where are we headed next?" asked Joker as he turned towards the spectre in the cockpit of the Normandy. She had just left the dock and entered through the currently opened airlock.
"Omega," said Shepard as she intertwined her hands and stretched her entire body.
"Ugh. Haven't had enough of that place yet?" asked the pilot as he shook his head. "I'd have thought the disease outbreak, the gang wars, the mercenary groups teaming up, and whatever Zaeed is would have been enough for one lifetime."
"Unfortunately, we still have some unfinished business there," said Shepard as Grunt and Jack came in the airlock, the krogan chatting animatedly with Kasumi and Kelly.
"You should have seen it Kasumi! I took half of the guys out by grabbing one of them and swinging him around in circles! Ha! I've never seen humans scatter that fast!" chuckled the krogan as the thief nodded to him.
"Oh, I saw that Grunt! Very good!" she said as she patted him on his almost rocky, plated head. Shepard's brow rose, wondering if she was being sarcastic or if she was giving him actual praise, but Grunt didn't seem to care either way. "Oh, Shepard!" said the krogan as he spun around to look at her excitedly. "Do they have dinosaurs on the Citadel? There's gotta be some at the zoo!"
Suddenly, every human in the cockpit went silent. Kasumi stepped away, saying, "Shep, you know where to find me!"
Joker spun around in his seat. "EDI make preparations for takeoff."
Even Kelly covered her face with a datapad and powerwalked down the CIC towards the galaxy map. Shepard reached up and rubbed her forehead. "There are some creatures related to dinosaurs that are still alive today, but the dinosaurs you studied in your lessons went extinct around 65 million years ago."
Immediately, the excited glow on his face shattered and was replaced by a fallen expression that broke her heart immediately. "O-Oh… I thought…" he said as he looked at the ground. Shepard didn't know if krogan could cry or not but he looked like he was on the brink.
"Look, if you behave yourself and continue your studies, the next time we're in the neighborhood of Earth, I'll show you some sharks. Alright?" said Shepard as she patted him on the shoulder. His wounded expression vanished for a moment before he pulled up his datapad and activated the visor. Turning, he walked dejectedly down the CIC after the others. Shepard groaned in exasperation before turning to the pilot and glaring. "Thanks for the backup, Joker."
"Hey, you're his mom, not me," said the lieutenant with snark.
"I am not his-" she started, but stopped and shrugged. She began to turn towards the CIC to head inside before Joker stopped her.
"Hey Shepard, we've got C-Sec asking for permission for someone to come aboard…" he said, his eyes widening as he saw the name. "One Spectre Ashley Williams?"
Shepard's brows rose and she smiled before nodding. Joker approved the call and in a matter of moments a fully armored Ash stepped into the ship, got decontaminated, then stepped inside. She was was wearing a full suit of autoarmor and had a large Alliance-style ruck sack on her back, as well as a case in her hand likely containing some kind of heavy weapon.
"Reporting for duty, Skipper," said Ash as she smiled at the woman.
Shepard smiled back at her, genuinely overjoyed to see her again. "You know we're the same rank now. You don't have to call me that."
"You're still in charge of the ship, so you're still Skipper," she said with a playful glare. Then she looked over at Joker and grinned brightly. "And there's the shut in himself. Have your roots grown into the seat yet?"
"Yeah, very funny, Ash. But we all have our talents. I pilot the ship, you use your thick skull to headbutt a geth colossus to death," he said, getting a chuckle from her. He smiled back and held out his hand. "Really good to see you again, Ash."
"You too, Joker," said the former N7 before shaking his hand. Then she looked around the ship. "This place has gotten an upgrade."
"Come on, let me show you around," said the redhead as she began the walk towards the galaxy map.
Suddenly, everyone stopped in shock as Grunt shouted loudly, "KELLY!" The yeoman shrieked in surprise and dropped her datapads again, "Sharks!" he shouted, his excited expression now returned and as bright as ever.
Starboard Observation Deck – SSV Normandy SR2
Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the images of her partner in the memories on the greybox. She had been angry, fuming even that such an idiotic little twerp like Donovan Hock had managed to get her partner killed. She sighed as she looked at the information files inside marked as foreign. These were what had gotten him killed. These stupid Alliance secrets. Whatever they were, they weren't worth Keiji's life. She knew that if he hadn't stolen the data, then Hock would have it right now. But she couldn't imagine what would have been worth that cost.
But she couldn't get over his last words to her. She went back to his memories, now stored on her own greybox and eyed the last memory. Playing it, she saw herself from his perspective. It was his last living memory on the box. "K-Kasumi… you… you have to destroy my greybox," he said as he reached up and touched her face, the hands from his wound smearing on her tearstained face. "If this gets out, the Alliance will go to war. It isn't worth it. So please…" he said before coughing heavily. "Don't look at the files, and destroy the data… Keep yourself safe… my love…" he said as his vision began to darken. Suddenly, [End of File] flashed in front of her.
Sighing to herself, she went back to the memories he had stolen from the ship that day. According to Keiji's report, the person this greybox info used to belong to was a retired Alliance Operations manager. He was a civilian working with the Alliance. Not military, but not not military. He still wore the uniform, still got paid, but he had no official rank and wasn't a part of any chain of command. She stared at the files with a glare, wondering why Keiji had to die over this old coot's memories.
But before she could even get another thought in, her door opened and in walked the spectre. Giving a bright grin, she crossed her legs on the couch. "So? How did he take it?"
Shepard glared at her with those piercing blue eyes. "He was over it quickly enough when I told him about sharks. Thanks for bailing on me by the way," she growled as she sat at the other end of the couch.
"Sorry, Shep. Kids aren't my thing. I mean, he's not a kid, but he is," said the thief with a shrug of her shoulders. "Either way, you're his guardian so all the talks about Santa not being real and the birds and bees are on your shoulders."
"Oh god no," she growled as she planted her face in the cushion of the back of the couch. "Please tell me Okeer put memories of krogan breeding into the tank. I literally cannot handle studying krogan mating rituals and trying to teach them to him."
Kasumi chuckled slightly and shook her head. "Don't worry Shep, I'm sure they have someone on Tuchanka that could help. But, we're not here to talk about Grunt."
Shepard nodded and eyed her curiously. "If there's some kind of threat to the Alliance, I'd like to know about it. Get it out of the way now rather than waiting for it to eventually blow up."
"I'll be deleting the files once I see them. Keiji told me not to look but curiosity hasn't killed this cat yet," said the thief as she put her visor up again. "Let's see here," she said as she activated the files in question. They began playing sequentially. By design Shepard couldn't see her visor, and the more she saw, the more she was glad. Images of faces, names, dates, a project named Operation Skinned Knee. Her eyes widened every second she witnessed and then the final image, a nuclear detonation seen from orbit.
Shepard's own eyes were wide with concern. "Kasumi, are you alright?"
She hadn't realized it as the revelation of the greybox had drawn her entire attention. But she now felt tears running down her flushed cheeks. Reaching up, she wiped them away and let out a shaky breath. "Shepard."
"Yeah?" asked the spectre curiously as she tilted her head.
"I…" she said, thinking her next words through very carefully. "I can't show you the data."
Shepard's brow shot up in surprise. "Is it really that bad?"
"It is. Like… really bad. I can't show you yet… at least… not now. Not until… I don't know," said the thief as she reached up and rubbed her head anxiously. "Goddamn them for sending us to steal that box," she growled as she buried her face in her knees.
Shepard let out a suspicious sigh. "I'm not going to force the information out of you. If you think it's better I don't know, then that's your decision to make. Just be aware of what it means to have that data."
"I know. I'll drop off the grid even further than I already am. I'll stop stealing and just keep working for you," said the woman as she smiled at Shepard. But any smile she gave the woman now felt hollow and cold. She didn't know if she'd ever smile the same again after what she had just seen.
Shepard nodded and grinned back at her warmly. She felt waves of warmth from the spectre's own smile, unlike her own. "Fine with me. Just know that I'm here if you change your mind. Or need my help." Standing up, the spectre flexed and turned towards the door. "We're headed to Omega. So, get some sleep while you can because I want your eyes on me while I'm on the ground."
"You got it, Shep!" said Kasumi with her usual cheery pep again. Shepard waved her off and as soon as the door closed again she buried her face in her hands. "Keiji… I should have listened to you. Now what am I going to do?"
Port Observatory – SSV Normandy SR2
"We are headed to Omega then?" asked Samara as she stared out of the observatory window at the stars in the distance.
"We are. Are you prepared?" asked Shepard curiously as she leaned against the door.
The woman was silent for a long moment before turning her head. Not far enough to actually look at the spectre, but enough to know she had her attention. "Shepard, I need your help."
Shepard's brows furrowed in confusion. "Aren't I already helping you?"
"You don't understand," said the asari as she finally turned around. "Do you recall when I said that the Eclipse would have the victims' blood on their hands for helping her?"
"I do," said Shepard as she thought back to their first meeting. "You said that Morinth is a killer, and therefore them helping her would result in more innocent victims, therefore they were guilty."
Samara nodded before looking at the ground almost bashfully. "The blood of her victims coats my hands like shackles."
Shepard was still confused and was slightly annoyed at all the allegory. "Are you saying you helped Morinth escape before?"
Finally, Samara looked up at Shepard and shook her head. "I've hunted Mirala from the day she left the asari sanctuary she lived in. Back then she was crude, amateurish. She had no balance or coordination. She could use her biotics, but she could barely contain her melding and left the bodies practically smoking. Tracking her back then was easy. I found her a year into her escape."
"But you didn't kill her," said Shepard with a nod.
"I didn't. I tried to reason with her, I tried to get her to come back to the sanctuary. She agreed, and I took her hand. But as soon as we made contact, she melded with me just enough for me to feel the destructive effects of her abilities," said the justicar with a heavy sigh. "I was in a coma for a week, having nightmares of my daughter consuming me."
"You can't blame yourself for wanting to save your daughter," said Shepard with a shrug. "At least, I'm not going to blame you for it."
"Were that it, I might perhaps agree with you," she said as she looked back out of the observatory window once more. "I found her again four hundred and twenty-two years ago."
"But you didn't kill her again," said Shepard as she crossed her arms. She was beginning to see where this was going.
"She had become much more experienced in killing, hiding, and covering her trail. But I found her, and I cornered her. I too had more experience in fighting and killing. And I was far less naïve than I had been before. I had her trapped, and all I had to do was finish her," said the woman as she held her hand up and clenched it. "But… I didn't. I… couldn't."
"She got away again and has since been on a four-hundred-year murdering spree. And you believe her victims' blood is on your hands for letting her go?" asked Shepard quietly.
"I don't believe, I know it," said Samara, her voice shaking as she continued. "I have not told a soul about this situation. Even my other daughters."
The spectre's brows rose at the revelation. "You have more daughters?"
"I have two daughters besides Mirala," she said as she turned around to face the woman again. "Falere and Rila. They… live at the monastery that Mirala fled from."
"So, before when you said there were only three known Ardat-Yakshi, given they lived at the same monastery, then…" said the spectre, leaving her question unasked.
"You are correct," said Samara as she turned and eyed Shepard firmly. "I also embellished the truth on there only being three."
Shepard sighed and planted her hands on her hips. "You didn't know me that well. I suppose it makes sense you wouldn't tell me that Thessia has a secret monastery full of potential death-addicted asari," she said with a shrug. "Are there other escapees?"
"Just Morinth that we're aware of," said the justicar as she stepped forward and looked deep into Shepard's eyes. The spectre stood her ground and looked back. "So, you now understand why I asked you to come with me?"
Shepard nodded firmly. "In case you hesitate again."
"Precisely," said the asari woman, her voice now filled with what sounded like disgust. "I cannot fully trust myself anymore. I believe I am capable of stopping her. But in case I can't, I need you."
"I understand. I'll do what needs to be done," said the spectre solemnly.
"I would not share this burden with anyone until I had met you. But I've seen how you fight, and I've seen how your crew looks to you for guidance, able and willing to trust you with their lives. I believe you will finally help me put an end to this lifelong nightmare. And once it is done, we will wash the galaxy clean of the collectors, the reapers, and any other purveyors of injustice," she said as she stepped back again.
"I'll let you know when we've arrived," said Shepard as she finally turned away from the woman. It would likely be a simple matter for her to pull the trigger on someone like Morinth knowing everything she has done up to this point. But she found herself wondering what would happen if she found herself in Samara's position. She wondered if she could pull the trigger on Tali, Garrus, or Liara. Would she be able to kill someone she loved for the greater good, or would she falter like Samara? She shook her head and hoped she would never have to find out.
Omega Landing Dock 42 – Omega Station
Shepard sighed to herself as she stepped off the gangplank of the dock. As soon as she emerged from the airlock she could see blue armor standing and waiting patiently at the dock for her and she was already annoyed. Grunt, Samara, Ashley, and Thane were walking with her plain as day and Kasumi was shadowing while cloaked. She didn't trust this place, especially after the boot she had given Eclipse back on Illium. She had definitely made some enemies here.
But from the looks of things it was the Blue Suns that had issues for the moment. She was fully armored and so were her crew, so she doubted they wanted to start a fight right on the dock. But she also wasn't about to get pushed around by another gang who wanted to repair its reputation. But her worries were unfounded mostly as she stepped up to the small contingent and saw Jentha with an extremely sour look on her face.
Shepard just smiled widely at her. "Well, look who it is! Long time no see!"
"Very funny, Shepard," growled the new lieutenant. "Anyway, I'm here on business. Could you follow me?"
"As long as you keep it short. But just so you're aware, if this is some kind of ambush, it's not going to go how you hope it will," said the spectre firmly as she began walking beside the mercenary leader.
"Shepard, I don't think a single mercenary on this rock would be stupid enough to try and start shit with you. Hell, I think even Aria was unnerved by the smoldering crater you left on Illium," said the woman as she stepped over to a large aircar meant for multiple people. It was the same kind of model the Council used to travel around the Citadel in with blacked out windows and heavy armor protection. Jentha knocked on the window and the door opened. A batarian woman in Blue Suns armor inside scooted over, allowing Jentha to get in.
"You want me to get in there?" asked the spectre suspiciously.
"For privacy. We're not going anywhere," said the woman as she looked at her expectantly.
Shepard felt Kasumi's hand grip her arm. Knowing that Kasumi would be inside with her, she finally sighed and got inside. Sitting down in the seat that was clearly not meant to have heavy armor in it, she groaned at the uncomfortable position and looked over at the two. "This better be quick."
"Shepard, this is my second in command, Delina," said Jentha as she motioned to the batarian woman. Shepard nodded to her respectfully, and the woman nodded back in a respectful manner. "Now that introductions are over, I'd like you to sign this," said the lieutenant as she took a datapad from her second and handed it to the spectre.
"What's this then?" she asked as she eyed it. It looked like a contract of some kind.
"It's an agreement. While you're on Omega, we don't fuck with you, you don't fuck with us. If my men run into you while you're out leveling city blocks, they'll stand down and leave you to your business, and I'm asking the same courtesy from you," she said seriously as she stared at Shepard from the seat opposite hers.
Shepard snorted in amusement before looking down at the datapad. Reading it quickly, she looked back up at the pair. "All of your remaining men are identifiable?"
"Once you sign this I will require them to wear their armor with their insignia, even off duty. That way you don't randomly rinse one of them while they're at a bar," she said as she crossed her arms. "So, do we have a deal?"
The contract was small and entirely unenforceable, especially on Omega. But it was more of a code of honor thing anyway. Jentha was offering an accord of peace, and Shepard could definitely use the assurance that they weren't after her. "Alright. But one thing," said Shepard as she began to sign the contract. "If you turn on me while I'm here, or if your men try to take revenge on me, then I'm doing to you all what I did to Eclipse. I'm tired of looking over my shoulder when I'm here. Show me I can trust you and I'll return the favor."
"Understood and accepted, threat and all," griped the woman. "We just got back on our feet after that situation at Archangel's base. We don't have the firepower to put you down at the moment," she said as she took the now signed contract and looked it over. "Looks good. Delina, call all forces back to base for an important announcement. Anyone who doesn't attend for a non-emergency reason is no longer in our outfit," she ordered before turning back to the spectre. "I'll give you a list of names of anyone who doesn't like the plan so you can watch out for them."
"Much appreciated. In the meantime, I've gotta go. I have a meeting with someone," said the spectre as she reached over and opened the door. "Keep your noses clean," she finished, giving Kasumi enough time to get out of the vehicle as well. Another pat on her shoulder and she closed the door.
Jentha just gave her a glare as the vehicle lifted off and left. Ash eyed her curiously. "What was that all about?"
"A peace treaty between us and the Blue Suns," she said with a shake of her head.
"Heh heh heh. They don't want the wrath of Shepard to come down on their heads," said the krogan as he slammed his fist into his palm.
"I guess so," said Shepard with a shrug. "Let's go. I already feel like I need a shower just standing here in the street." With that mess out of the way, Shepard made her way to the aircar transit system. It was similar to the one on the Citadel, except you actually had to pay credits to use it. They all piled into multiple vehicles and made their way to Afterlife to visit Aria. Shepard hated the idea of reporting to the asari every time she stopped on the rock, but it was a requirement for someone of her status. A spectre like her doesn't visit Omega without checking in first.
"We're going to a club?" asked Ash as they left the car and stepped out in front of the building. The heavy thump of the music could be heard entirely through the walls.
"Long story but the 'queen of Omega' hangs out here and I don't want to start trouble by not checking in with her," said Shepard as she used air quotes around queen. "If you're a spectre and you plan to visit here, you'll probably have to do the same if you wanna visit without her having trained snipers on you at all times."
"Great," grumbled Ash as she followed the spectre up the stairs. Once inside, Williams covered her ears with her armored hands and had a disgruntled look on her face.
Signaling to Moklan who stood near Aria's stairway, Shepard leaned against the bar. Ash and Grunt did as well while Thane stalked through the club and melded into the crowd. Ash turned to the bartender and shook her head. "What am I doing with my life?" she asked with a sigh.
The human bartender looked at her and held a hand up to his ear before mouthing the word, "what?"
Ash glared at him. "I said I ran away with your wife!" she snapped, and the man simply just smiled and nodded, clearly still not hearing her over the pounding music of the club.
Shepard snorted at her and shook her head. "Just like being a marine, just like being an N7, being a spectre means that you have to do some things you don't like."
"I suppose. I don't know how often I'd have to come to this place anyway," said the newly minted spectre as she looked over the crowd.
Shepard eyed Grunt as he ordered a drink from the bar, "Gimme the strongest ryncol you have!"
"Don't get too hammered, Grunt. I need you fresh-faced while we're on Omega," said the spectre sternly.
"Awww…" grumbled the krogan as he cancelled his order. "I never get to have any fun."
"I'll take you to your first bar on the Citadel if you behave," she said with a grin. "Until then I need you ready to destroy."
"Hpmh, fine…" he growled before shoving his way away from the bar
Before the argument could go on any further the batarian returned and signaled for them to come with him. Shepard turned to Ash and nodded for her to follow, then stepped up the stairs. In moments they were standing in front of the asari woman. Aria looked at them both, her eyes scanning Ashley top to bottom. "Who's this?"
"New human Spectre," said Shepard as she eyed the woman. "Can I take a seat already?"
"I heard about what happened on Illium," said Aria, her voice a lot less casual than before. "Was that retaliation for something? A show of power?" She motioned for them to sit.
"Call it a failure of negotiation," said Shepard as she took her seat on the couch. Ash sat next to her and watched the interaction closely. Aria gave her a questioning stare. "I had things to do on Illium and every single time I tried to do them, some other Eclipse group stood in my way. It didn't have to be them. In fact, if they gave me what I wanted, you wouldn't have heard a peep out of Illium."
"So, you didn't destroy them for any other reason?" asked Aria as her eyes narrowed.
Shepard's eyes narrowed back. The asari knew something else about the Eclipse sisters, but wasn't about to tell her. "Is there something I should know?"
"Nothing you NEED to know," said the pirate queen as she leaned back in her chair, much more relaxed. "So, you're here with a Justicar. Is that for me?"
"Actually, I'm doing her a favor. She's duty bound to my orders, so you don't have to worry about her going off and killing half your club," said Shepard casually as she leaned back as well.
"I've had run ins with them before. She herself has clashed with me a few times and I don't like having them on my station," said Aria firmly. "I've got a sniper trained on her right now and the only reason I haven't ordered her killed is because she came here with you."
"The sniper is currently unconscious," said Thane over the comm.
Shepard didn't know how Thane could hear them inside Aria's contained room, but she also wasn't about to question it. "She's not here for you or any of your men. I don't know if you're aware of this, Aria, but you have an Ardat-Yakshi on your station. We're here to take care of that problem for you."
Aria's eyes widened slightly before she glared at the spectre. "I knew it."
"You've seen them?" asked Shepard curiously.
"No. You can't tell them just by looking at them. But I've seen their victims," said Aria as she looked at the ground sourly. "Nothing leaves a body so… hollow and lifeless as an ardat-yakshi," said the woman before shaking her head.
"Sorry, what are we talking about?" asked Ash as she looked between them.
"An asari vampire," said Shepard, vowing to explain it to her more in depth later.
Aria snorted at the explanation. "A bit of a crude explanation but it gets the point across."
"Woah," said Ash, her brows high in surprise.
Suddenly, someone else walked through the door and into the room. Shepard's own brows rose at the sight of the figure. She had short, electric pink hair that was poofed out to look like a lion's main and a gothic outfit of a mesh shirt over a tanktop and a skirt with leggings all the way up and down her legs. But Shepard had seen this kind of change before and nodded to her before turning back to Aria.
"In any case, you wanna offer us any clues on where to find them? Afterwards, we'll be off the station again for a good while," said Shepard as she crossed her legs. Hermes sat off to the left on her own section of couch before opening her omni-tool and fiddling with it.
Aria shuttered at the thought. "I can tell you where one of her victims lived. Perhaps you can glean some information from there," said the queen as she pulled her own omni-tool up and passed the information along.
"No cost?" asked Shepard curiously as she checked the info.
"I want that filth off my station. You getting rid of her is payment enough," said Aria with a glare. "If she's as bad as the one's I've come across before, it's only a matter of time before she comes after me. They get their thrills from dominating the weak, but if the psychology work on them is to be believed, the more powerful the person they kill, the more satisfying."
"I see. And without you knowing what she looked like, there's no telling when she could get her hands on you," said Shepard as she looked out and saw the asari dancers on the poles. "She could even be right out there," said Shepard with a small smile. She highly doubted any of the woman on the poles were her. According to Samara, she'd stay hidden and away from the public bustle of the main club for a long while.
Aria growled at her before the asari turned to Hermes. "Tell the dancers they're off for the day. Fully paid," she snapped. Hermes blew a bubble with her chewing gum before offering a thumbs up. Jumping to her combat booted feet, the goth girl left the room. Aria turned back to Shepard with a glare. "Tell me when the matter is resolved so I can allow asari in the club again."
"Will do," said Shepard as she stood up. "Oh… Spectre Ashley Williams, this is Aria T'Loak. Pirate Queen of Omega."
"Charmed, I'm sure," said Aria as she looked the new spectre up and down. "Perhaps we'll do business in the future too. You humans are very resourceful."
"I know who to visit if I need something on Omega," said Ash as she turned to Shepard.
"Oh, Aria, you wanna tell her your one rule?" asked Shepard with a playful grin. The asari gave her a stare of absolute zero that made her want to chuckle more. Instead, she waved and stepped back towards the stairs. Ash followed her down and she passed Hermes who was on her way back up. As soon as they crossed, she felt the buzz of her omni-tool on her wrist receiving another message. Instead of looking at it, she gathered the others and left the club.
"Who was the ditzy girl with the pink hair?" asked Ash curiously as they all left the club.
"Hermes, Aria's second in command," said Shepard as she stepped out into an open area of the club's north side. She waited until another vehicle came and they all got inside the cars once more. "She's also my former squad leader from my days in Alliance intel."
"Her?!" asked Ash as the vehicle took off.
"She's gender fluid and changes her look every now and then. Back then she was much more masculine and went by Spider," said the spectre as she steered the car towards the Normandy.
"Wow," said Ash as she leaned back in her seat. "Holy hell, Aria's second in command is former Alliance intel?" asked the new spectre incredulously. "Does she know!?"
"I don't know, and I'm not going to ask. If Hermes wanted me to know, she'd have told me," said Shepard as she turned back to steering. "And if you ever do business with Hermes, then don't let the cat out of the bag."
"Cat?" asked Samara curiously from the back seat.
"Sorry, human expression," said Shepard as she turned the car and set it down. "Ash, me and Samara are going to handle this situation on our own. For now, roost on the Normandy and make sure that Spectre Voretoria has access to get back inside if she needs to."
"Understood, Skipper," said Ash as she popped the car door open and rallied the others out of the cars.
Once everyone was gone, Samara looked over to Shepard. "Why did you bring them along if it was just going to be us?"
"Aria needs to see what she's dealing with," said Shepard as she picked the car up again. "She's worked with spectres before and most of them work alone. So, if she were to have a grudge, she knows that taking them out won't cause much of a stir as long as the body is spaced where nobody can find it. With you as a justicar, a new human spectre, an assassin, and the future of the krogan at my back, plus everyone else she already knows is working with me, she wouldn't dare make a move on me. She knows if she did her little oasis here wouldn't save her from my team."
"Would it not be wiser to hide some of your team just in case you ever decide she should be removed?" asked Samara, her eyes scanning the spectre curiously as they flew towards the Gozu district.
"I don't know if I'd ever want to take her out myself. I've seen reports of what Omega was like before she got there and as far as I can tell it was a living hell of unregulated trafficking of every species and war crimes were seen daily on the streets. She's a criminal, a killer, and I personally don't like her need to control every living person on the station. But she's probably the best thing that's happened to Omega," said the spectre as she sat the car down just outside of the Gozu district's main gate.
"I see," said Samara with a smile. "You would make a terrible justicar, Shepard."
The redhead eyed her for a moment before noting her smile, then chuckled. "You're not wrong. I'm too busy bargaining with criminals than hauling them in in order to make way for the fight against the reapers."
"Shepard, if you don't mind, I'd like to visit the victim's home before we start tracking her," said the justicar with her head slightly bowed. Shepard eyed her for a long moment before nodding. Instead of heading towards the club in the Norfair district, she turned and parked right outside of Gozu's main gate where a large apartment building was standing. Turning the vehicle off, she opened the door only to hear shouts.
"Hey! You can't park there. That's Talons territ-" shouted an armored turian as he jogged up to them threateningly. But as Shepard and Samara turned towards him, he stopped in his tracks. "Shit, Shepard? I guess Voretoria was right."
"You've seen Legate Voretoria?" asked Shepard curiously, wondering what the new spectre would be doing with the Talons.
"Yeah, she's talking to the boss. Don't know what that's all about. Anyway, you… uhh… I'm just gonna go. I don't actually care where you park," said the man as he turned and left them alone.
"The people here know you well?" asked Samara curiously as they walked around the car and headed to the nearby apartment building.
"I kinda helped the Talons out with an epidemic that was running lose in Gozu District a while back," she said as she opened the door to the place. It was pretty run down and Shepard knew the apartments were barely bigger than some of the shoebox apartments the Alliance had given her.
"What apartment are we headed to?" asked the justicar curiously.
"Apartment 37, A Block." They took the elevator to the third floor and Shepard drew up on a door marked A37. Reaching up, she signaled the door alert.
It took a few minutes for anyone to respond. But finally, she could hear someone through the slot in the door. "I've already paid my fees this month."
"Diana Watney?" asked Shepard as she stepped away from the door to give the woman a good view through her peep hole.
"You aren't with the Talons or Blue Suns. Who are you and why do you know my name?" asked the woman suspiciously.
"My name is Jane Shepard. I'm here to talk to you about your daughter, Nefeli," she said as she looked over the info. The door opened so suddenly that it actually surprised Shepard and made her take a step back.
"Shepard? The spectre? Is it really you?" asked the woman as her voice cracked and tears began pouring down her face.
"Yes, it's me," said Shepard as she realized the woman must still be grieving her daughter. It had only been two weeks since she had been killed and incinerated. Of course she wouldn't be over it yet. Reaching up, she patted the woman on the back gently as she wept openly in the doorway. "Come on, let's go inside."
The spectre ushered her indoors and Samara stepped in to close the door behind them. Shepard looked around the place as she guided the woman to her own sofa. She wasn't wrong about it being tiny. The living room, kitchen, and apparently bedroom were all crammed into a 3.5x3.5 meter space. There was only one door leading off the main room and it looked like some kind of closet.
Sighing to herself, she sat down on the other end of the couch and turned to Diana. The justicar elected to stand next to her rather than sit, but held her hands behind her back respectfully. "Can you tell me what happened?" asked the spectre as she focused on the mother.
The woman had disheveled, mousy brown hair and smelled like she hadn't had a shower since the passing of her daughter. She simply wore a bathrobe around her as she sat on the couch, clutching her face. "They said there was no sign of foul play."
"I looked over the report myself," said Samara, as she gently gripped the woman's shoulder. "I assure you they were wrong."
"Are… are you saying my Nef was murdered?" she asked as she looked between them.
"She was and we're here to find her killer. Do you think you could help us with that?" asked Shepard politely, knowing they already had the killer's home address.
"Of course! I knew it wasn't natural. My god… her eyes…" said the woman as she began to sob again.
"Her eyes?" asked Shepard curiously, wondering about the comment.
"As Aria said before, her victims are left with a certain hollow expression on their face," said Samara as gently as she could.
"So, you know her? The killer?" asked the woman as she picked up on the wording.
"We know of her. We've tracked her here and are on her trail as we speak," said Samara firmly. "We just wanted to stop by and confirm a few things first."
"I'll help you all I can! I'll do anything to catch her killer!" said the woman, her voice shifting to anger for a moment before changing back to sadness. "Please, whatever you need to do."
"Did she live here with you?" asked the spectre curiously, noting that there were no effects for a young woman of Nef's age.
"Her room is here," said the woman as she pointed to the door in the back. "We only had one room and I gave it to her so she could have her privacy. She was always a very shy girl…"
"Do you mind of we look through her things?" asked the spectre gently, wondering if they could get a confirmation that Morinth was the killer here.
"Of course, please," said the woman as she stood up and walked over towards the door. "I left everything as it was. I don't dare get rid of anything."
Shepard entered the room and looked around at everything inside. It was small, just like the rest of the apartment. But there was enough room for a one-person bed and a tiny desk. On the desk sat a small figure carved out of soapstone. "She was an artist," said Shepard as she noticed the carving tools on the desk around the figure.
"Morinth adores artists. She loves their creative spark," said Samara as she eyed the statue. Shepard looked away from the statue and began to look around for something. "What is it?" asked the asari as she spied the woman.
"Shy closed off artistic girl with no computer terminal," said Shepard as she looked around the room. Finally, she reached down and lifted the mattress off the bedframe that protruded from the wall and spotted what she was looking for. Reaching down, she grabbed the datapad and laid the mattress back down.
"I diary?" asked Samara curiously as she crossed her arms.
"She had been saving up money to get a physical diary rather than electronic one. She wanted one with leather and paper but they were so expensive at Harrot's Books," said Diana from the other room as she peeked in the door at their activities. "I tried to get into her diary to see if I could find out what happened, but it's password protected."
Shepard turned the power on and was hit with a password screen, but this kind of security was child's play for her. Linking into the datapad with her omni-tool, she bypassed the security and turned the password requirement off entirely. "Easy enough to solve," said Shepard as she looked through the dates listed on the diary. "Is this new?"
"A few months at least," said the mother as she tightened her robe around her. "Her last one broke when the gangs began forcing us inside our homes because of the pandemic. I told them we're outside the district but they didn't listen. She ended up dropping it and it shattered."
Shepard nodded, noting that Morinth only had a few weeks headstart on them so if the girl encountered Morinth she probably wrote about it. Scrolling through the list of entries, she opened them and began reading to herself. After a few minutes, Samara spoke up. "Anything of interest?"
"She started going to the club Heat Death at the behest of some of her more extroverted friends. They played a prank on her and left her stranded there, too scared to even leave. That's when she approached her. At first, Nef was really shy and reserved, but according to the diary Morinth managed to open her armor pretty quick. She was in love within a week's time," said the spectre as she reached up and rubbed her head.
"This Morinth, is she the killer?" asked Diana from the door.
"She is. And now that we know her hunting spot, we will bring justice to Nef," said Samara as she turned and placed her hands on her shoulders.
Shepard continued to read about all the new things that Morinth introduced her to. New movies, new music, drugs, and eventually sexual contact with no melding. If ardat-yakshi were anything like normal asari then doing all this was essentially edging herself, each interaction with their victim made their desire build and build over time until finally they get sweet release through killing. Standing up, she nodded to Samara. "She mentioned her by name, so we've got all the proof we need."
"Then we will be off," said Samara before she turned to the mother and bent forward so she was eye to eye with the shorter woman. "We will set Nef to rest. I assure you."
Shepard stepped up to her and handed over the diary. "I'm sorry for your loss, Diana. But I hope having access to this comforts you in some small way."
"It does. Thank you so much," said the woman as she started to sob once more, hugging the datapad to her chest.
"She's hunted enough. Let's go," said Shepard with a blazing look of anger in her eyes.