Chapter 19
"Approach control, this is the Alliance Frigate Normandy. Requesting a vector and a berth." Joker said.
"Normandy your arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is armed and tracking your arrival. State your business." a voice on the other end said.
"Citadel Business. We have a council spectre aboard." Joker replied.
"Provisional access granted. Be advised, we'll be confirming identification upon arrival. If identification cannot be verified your vehicle will be impounded." The voice said curtly.
"This is Admiral Harry Potter, retired. Would you like to repeat that?" Harry growled.
"Fuck!" a voice in the background said, before the controller could cut it off.
"Admiral Potter, of course, please forgive me. An escort will be waiting to rush you through security." The voice said. Harry didn't bother responding, he simply walked over to the airlock and waited.
"Jesus." Joker said, laughing. Harry grinned.
"I own shares in a lot of the companies that operate here. A lot of shares." Harry said. Joker eased the Normandy into their berth and killed the thrusters once the moorings were attached. Shepard, not wanting to take any foolish risks against an Asari Matriarch and a squad of commandos potentially supported by a large number of Geth, decided to bring more than a normal squad. She casually lead her group off the ship and toward the entrance with Ashley, Kaidan, Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Liara and Shiala behind them. Harry was bringing up the rear.
"That's far enough!" an guard with a rifle shouted. They all stopped, Shepard smirked when she heard the undignified 'oof' coming from Harry as he collided with Wrex because of the sudden stop.
"Is there a problem?" Shepard asked.
"There'd better not be." The guard said.
"This is an unscheduled arrival, I need your credentials." Another, calmer guard said.
"I'm a spectre. My name is Shepard." Shepard said.
"Load of horse crap, ma'am." The first guard said.
"We will need to confirm that. Also firearms are not allowed on Noveria. Sargent Sterling, secure their weapons." The calm officer said and Sterling started walking aggressively towards Shepard. With a nearly silent pop Harry appeared inches in front of Sterling.
"Jesus!" Sterling shouted.
"How about no?" Harry asked Sterling responded, quite idiotically, by taking a swing at him. He dodged and scowled at her.
"Hard way it is. Stand down, otherwise it's flying lessons for the lot of you." Harry said, effortlessly lifting Sterling from the ground with magic.
"Fire at them!" Sterling shouted.
"Goddamnit hold your fire, Matsuo!" another voice shouted from inside the entrance way. A woman in a red dress stormed out towards them looking furious.
"They claim the woman is a spectre, ma'am." Matsuo said, lowering her rifle but keeping it ready. The woman ignored her.
"Admiral Potter, forgive us please. Communications are being disrupted by atmospheric interference, we weren't able to warn them." The woman said. Sterling fell to the ground with an undignified thud as Harry released his grip on her.
"Gianna! It's wonderful to see you. You're looking as lovely as ever." Harry said, his demeanor changing completely in an instant.
"Thank you, Admir-" Gianna said but was interrupted.
"I'm retired, and it'll always be Harry to you. Can we please go inside? Warming charms can do only so much." Harry said, gesturing to his companions.
"Of course..." Gianna said. She turned and walked back into the building. Harry allowed the rest to walk past him, and looked down at Sterling, who was still on the ground, looking up at him, terrified. He stooped and offered her his hand. She reluctantly took it and allowed him to help her up.
"You're not going to have a very long career if you greet visitors like that, Sargent." Harry said kindly.
"S-Sorry..." She said, looking to be on the verge of tears. Harry looked over at Matsuo.
"Captain. I think she's learned her lesson. As the aggrevied party in this little conflict I humbly request that no further disciplinary action be taken. She's young and we've all made mistakes in our youth." Harry said.
"Yes, sir. Of course." Matsuo said. Harry turned back to Sterling
"I'm sorry that I frightened you." Harry said, walking in behind his companions.
"Who the fuck was that?" Sterling asked, staring dumbfounded after Harry.
"Harry Potter. Immortal wizard. Owner of a sizable chunk of the companies on this rock and person to whom you owe your life and career. I'll be watching you, Sargent." Matsuo said, stalking back off to her post.
Harry fell in with the rest of the Normandy crew as they made their way into the complex. The inside of the building was enormous, so they broke off into teams, Liara and Tali and Kaidan went with Shepard, and Harry stuck with Shiala, Wrex and Garrus and Ash. The only person that spoke to Harry's group at any length was a Hanar merchant whose face name was Opold. He wasn't much help but did sell Harry a biotic amp, a purchase which he justified when asked by nothing more than a wink and a grin.
"Harry, what are we going to do about Liara?" Shiala asked.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
"We're on a mission to confront her mother, as well as the commandos and Geth that are protecting her." Shiala explained.
"Leave Benezia to Jane and I. The commandos too unless they don't give you an option. Concentrate on the Geth. It's unlikely they'll have a colossus with them, but if they surprise us with one, save that for Wrex." Harry said.
"Why?" Ash asked.
"Because I think he'd enjoy taking down a colossus." Harry said grinning.
"Thought I liked you for a reason, pyjack." Wrex said with a grin.
"Jane and I can incapacitate the Asari very quickly without doing any irreparable harm. They're under a form of mind control, they don't deserve to be harmed for actions they can't control." Harry said. Shiala smiled at him gratefully. They stopped when they were gestured over by an Asari who wished to speak with them.
"Hello, forgive me I don't know your names. My name is Mallene Callis. I work for the Armali Council." She said introducing herself.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Harry Potter, this is Urdnot Wrex, Garrus Vakarian, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, and Shiala." Harry said. Her eyes widened in recognition.
"You're THE Harry Potter?" Mallene asked.
"Well I'm sure there's a few other blokes out there named Harry Potter, but yeah I'm probably the one you're thinking about." Harry said grinning.
"I have need of your services, if you're free. I can pay." Mallene said.
"How about a trade. Have you heard anything about an Asari Matriarch coming through here?" Harry asked.
"I might have..." Mallene said cryptically.
"Excellent. Then how can we be of service?" Harry asked. Mallene looked around to ensure they were not being observed, then spoke in hushed tones.
"The male Human at the bar.. His name is Rafael Vargas. He works for Binary Helix." Mallene said. Harry's eyes narrowed.
"What is the nature of your interest in Binary Helix?" Harry asked coldly. Mallene hesitated.
"As I said, I represent the Armali Council. One of BH's many areas of interest is the development of biotic amps. There are rumors that the Noveria branch has flown in Asari biotics.. Powerful ones. Ones equipped with amps that were most certainly not designed by Binary Helix." Mallene said. Harry relaxed.
"So this has nothing to do with their shady biomedical and chemical research?" Harry asked. Mallene held up her hands.
"Goddess, no." Mallene said. Harry nodded.
"OK, so let me see if I understand. You want me to squeeze Vargas to see if they're reverse engineering technology developed by Armali Council corporations?" Harry asked. Mallene nodded.
"Well generally I wouldn't get involved. Reverse engineering is sneaky, but in no way illegal. So long as they aren't stealing either the amps or the research there's really nothing actionable about it." Harry said. Mallene's shoulders sagged.
"Buuuuut... I know quite a bit about what goes on with that particular company, and some of the other entities with which they do business, including our Turian friend." Harry said. He punched a few commands into his omnitool and suddenly Mallene's lit up with a notification. She opened the screen and gaped at what she was reading.
"Amps aren't the only Armali Council tech they're jacking. That should be enough to warrant an investigation. I'll leave it up to you to 'find out' where that info came from." Harry said with a grin.
"This is... this is amazing! Goddess they must have people on the inside!" Mallene said.
"Oh they do. Check page 20." Harry said. She scrolled down and gaped. There was an image of two prominent members of the Armali Council board of directors handing data tablets over to someone easily identifiable as a Binary Helix representative.
"This is far more than I could have asked for! May I ask why you're so willing to give this up?" Mallene asked.
"Well like I said, they're under contract with a person that we're pursuing for the murder of dozens of colonists and Alliance marines, as well as a council spectre. They also have ties with a Human supremacist group named Cerberus that I've been working to bring down for decades now. And finally, they're fucking the Krogan over." Harry said.
"They're what now?" Wrex asked, angrily.
"Binary Helix has taken millions of Credits from numerous entities on Tuchanka in exchange for research on curing the genophage. Those credits have been funneled into their biotic amp R&D. The 'Genophage cure trials' they've been running have been with placebos." Harry said. Wrex growled.
"Taking out BH is one of my side projects. I'll keep you in the loop. If you can get me in touch with any of the Krogan groups collaborating with them let me know." Harry said.
"Thank you for all of this. Also, the Asari Matriarch Benezia arrived not long before you, along with half a dozen commandos and several very large crates. They were not searched. I believe they secured transport to Peak 15." Mallene said.
"Yes! I totally beat Jane to the punch!" Harry said. Just then a notification popped up on his omnitool.
"Fuck!" Harry swore. Ash giggled, reading it over his shoulder. Shepard had already found out about it and secured a garage pass from a Turian in exchange for getting his boss arrested.