Out For Karma: Mass Effect

[Book One] Chapter 14: Déjà-vu but better

Chapter 14: Déjà-vu but better

Despite the two previous weeks spent on missions, Shepard didn’t opt to go back to some R&R. Noveria was on the way, it would have made no sense to not stop but instead come back later. Besides, Liara was anxious and worried about her mother. From what they had learned from Shiala, Benezia was being controlled by Saren through Sovereign. Rick believed  Sovereign controlled both but he didn’t have anything to prove his theory besides his visions from the beacon that only Shepard had seen, so he kept quiet. He hadn’t been idle though as he prepared himself for the worst.

They would arrive in a couple hours and Shepard called Rick to her cabin for a report of the situation. Normally, he would leave a datapad on her desk to read but this time he didn’t. The man she was waiting for knocked and entered at her word.

“What do you need?” he asked, going straight to the point.

“Your report. You didn’t leave it on my desk.”

“You’re sure?”

“Quite so.”

“Nevermind then. I must have forgotten to bring it to you.”

“Not very professional of you.”

“Thank god I’m not a professional then. Since I’m here, do you want me to brief you?”

“That would be great, please.”

“Noveria is a small, frozen terrestrial world, barely habitable by any conventional definitions. The average temperature of the surface is -1°C  and that’s at ground level. The surface gravity is 0.81g so we’ll have to be careful with our movements. Finally, the length of a day is 52 hours, meaning we’ll have to be careful if it turns out to be a long mission as the constant presence of daylight could mess up our perception of time easily which is not something anyone wants, especially our bodies.

The planet on the galactic stage is… sketchy as hell. The entirety of it is chartered by the Noveria Development Corporation which basically leases lands and labs and discretion to anyone with enough money. They don’t care if the research performed is too dangerous or illegal, or controversial.  Meaning it’s possibly the home of the most advanced research in the galaxy. I don’t think your spectre status will help beyond being allowed on the planet if you actually are and don’t expect a warm welcome.”

“No one wants a spectre snooping around I assume?”

“Correct. Noveria is not part of the council space, spectres are allowed because of a deal with the citadel but the members of the board of Noveria are free to forbid you access; they won’t, it wouldn’t do well in the end  if they did but you will be very restricted and watched.  As for Benezia… I do not know why she’s there but probably because there is something Saren needs that could lead him to the conduit. Since she’s a matriarch and a well respected one at that, I don’t think people would have looked at her twice. I have no proof beyond Therum and Feros but I’m quite sure she brought geths with her.”

“Geths? How?”

“Inside containers I’d guess.”

“Security would have found them through scans.”

“Not if she bribed generously the people in charge to not look too closely. That’s that kind of place.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m not sure of the best course of action since we’ll probably be watched all the time. Should one four person team be better or two? One would be more discreet but two would allow some diversion or cover more ground in less time. Depending on that the team or teams’ composition would change.”

“Any ideas?”

“Plenty.”

“Which are?” she asked, drawing her last word.

“You’re going too far right there. I’m not doing your job.”

“I just want to hear your opinion.” She quickly defended herself.

“Why don’t you give me yours and I’ll discuss it.”

“Okay. Then. In the case of only one Team, it would be you, Liara, Garrus and me.”

“Two biotics including one who’s a tech expert and the frontliner while the other is mid-range, one long range who can switch mid-range and one mid-range that can switch long-range… Yes that’s good though I’m not sure Garrus would have enough space for his sniper rifle indoors.”

“True. If we go with two teams…I’d switch Garrus with Wrex.”

“Your team gets a third biotic and another frontliner but losing the long range while the other team is without any frontliner since Tali, despite her shotgun skills can’t tank and mostly mid-range to long-range but with a lot of firepower… That also gives a tech expert on each team which in labs with advanced technology is a must. Not bad.”

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“Thank you.”

“I understand why Liara is in your team each time but why me? Do you like having me by your side so much?” he joked leaning forward over the table to be face to face with her. To her credit she didn’t flinch.

“No, to keep an eye on you, because I know that if I’m not, you’re going to create some problems that I don’t want to deal with, like punching someone important or worse, killing them.”

He looked at her in silence for a moment then straightened up.

“You know me so well. Be careful I might get the wrong idea.” he joked as he left, leaving Shepard roll her eyes at the absurdity of it.

In the end she decided to go with two teams as with only one it was probable they would still be watched no matter how discrete the team is. When they arrived on site the welcome had been as cold as the planet itself. They were denied entrance with their weapons. 

“I’m a spectre. My name is Shepard.”

“That a load of horse’s crap Ma’am.” said one of the security guards standing beside what looked like the chief of security.

“And how do you know that? Did you check?” Rick replied before the chief could answer.

“Not yet but we will.” the said chief answered.

“There is no human spectre, Ma’am, everyone knows that.” stated the same guard that had spoken out of turn. Rick already disliked her.

“You’re either incompetent or you’ve been bribed to not let us in, ‘cause there’s been one for the last three, almost four, months. Either way we’re going in.” He challenged the one he mentally called ‘the bitch’.

“Rick enough.” Shepard intervened.

“We have no problem letting you in, but you’ll have to surrender your weapons” said the chief. Wrex immediately pulled out his shotgun menacingly along with Garrus his sniper rifle.

“We’re not here to start trouble but we will not surrender our weapons. Perk of being a spectre.”

The conversation ended when the boss of the place assistant ordered the security to stand down, confirming that Shepard was who she said she was and leaving some guards very unhappy with that. The whole ground team made their way inside when the commander spoke in a very low voice.

“Did you pull that out of your ass?”

“What?”

“That she was bribed?”

“No. You’re the first human spectre, even in the seediest bar of Omega people would know of it. Here? A planet on Alliance space, with people so secretive and downright paranoid about security, they don’t know? Not a chance.”

“Bribed by Benezia, you think?”

“No, by the time you became a spectre she was already here. Honestly it’s probably one of the investors, or more, sweating bullets because a spectre is here and they don’t want their dirty secrets to be exposed while at the same time not thinking that it could pose a small political problem to disarm a spectre.”

Reaching the information desk they were welcomed by the assistant that helped them and presented herself as Gianna Parasini who subtly invited the redhead to meet her at her office before leaving. Taking an elevator to the inside of the place. Shepard’s team went to see Gianna while the Kaidan’s went to look for information. The former found the woman behind her desk working on her terminal.

“Allow me to introduce myself. Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs.”

“Internal affairs?”

“Yes. The executive board of Noveria knows about manager Anoleis’ corruption. Now usually they would not care for a bit of embezzling, this is Noveria after all, but Anoleis is running the place to the ground, not making any profits making investors… not invest. They can’t get rid of him without proof however so I was sent here undercover six months ago.”

“Alright, I still don’t see how it concerns me and my team.”

“With Anoleis gone, a temporary replacement trusted by the board would be taking his place and could help you with whatever you have to do here, as a thank you perhaps, for his or her promotion.”

Shepard didn’t have to think about it. If helping arrest a corrupt man would give her information on Liara’s mom, it was worth it.

“I’m in. what do you want me to do?”

“There is a turian at the lounge, his name is Qui’in. He kept records of Anoleis deeds and along with his testimony, the bastard is done for.”

“Why do you need my help to talk to this Qui’in, can’t you do it yourself?”

“I’m Anoleis' assistant, if I come to him he won’t say anything.”

“Can’t you just get the information from his terminal?”

“He’s a crook but not a moron. He wouldn’t have anything incriminating on it.”

“You’re sure? If it’s because you don’t have the password or because everything is encrypted I have a very good hacker with me. What do you think Rick?” she said, turning around to look at her teammate.

Only he wasn’t there and that gave her a brief feeling of déjà-vu. Turning to Liara and Wrex for answers she quickly saw they had none. Rick was once again unsupervised and while that worried her a bit she trusted him to do his job properly. He may make some trouble on the field but in populated areas he was just efficient; their first time on the citadel coming to mind. He had probably heard everything here through her omni-tool and was already taking steps to not waste time. While she appreciated his efficiency she didn’t like not being in the loop. Turning back towards Gianna, things were awkward.

“...”

“...”

“I’m pretty sure, yes.” was all the agent said as if nothing happened.

Shepard left Gianna and made her way outside the office. Raising her left arm, she spoke to it to the confused look of Liara and Wrex.

“Rick, we’re going to the lounge to find that Qui’in guy. Meet us there if you’re not already.”

“Shepard?” asked Liara

“Yes?”

“Why are you talking to your arm?” said the Wrex

“Rick is listening through my omni-tool.” she explained as if it was something natural, walking towards the elevator to the lounge.

“He’s constantly spying on you?.” Liara noted.

“He said he wouldn’t and I believe him.”

“Are you saying that because he’s listening or because it’s the truth?” the krogan inquired.

“Both.”

The trip to the meet up lasted ten minutes. Between the elevator rides and the size of the place it could be considered close. The first place they looked was the bar and that proved to be a good idea. Rick and the other team were all at the counter.

“So did you find anything?” the commander asked.

“Matriarch Benezia came just after Saren’s attack on Eden Prime. She went to peak 15, some secret lab of sorts, and was never seen again, so she’s probably still there.” Kaidan reported.

“She wasn’t alone. Many asari commandos were with her along with lots of containers.” Garrus added.

“Geths?” Shepard asked, looking at Rick for an answer.

“Probably; like I thought. I’m no closer to an answer as to why she’s here though.” the man replied.

“Direction peak 15 then.” the redhead stated.

“It’s not that simple. First We need a pass to go there and your status as spectre won’t help. Secondly, there is a blizzard out there, so we’ll have to go via ground. For the latter, I have no idea right now, for the former…”

“Parsini.”

“Yes. Qui’in is over there.” he said pointing to a turian with his chin.

Shepard went to talk to the turian and twenty minutes later they were in an office area trying to find the proof of Anoleis’ corruption. The illegal presence of security guards was telling enough. The dozen of them didn’t last long facing the Normandy team. Rick was quick in getting everything needed and got even more. There was plenty of information in there that could be useful to him or his mom and he wasn’t about to just leave it here. There was no point for him to follow the law anymore. He started doing it when his identity became real to the Alliance’s eyes, so he could have a normal and peaceful life but since losing everything on Eden Prime…

Getting everything he stood up from the desk and heard gun fire. Kaidan’s team was fighting another group of security guys. Rushing to help, Rick recognized the bitch they had met when they arrived on the planet. Immediately he biotically charged on her from the upper floor to ground level sending her and the two guards by her side flying. Pulling his shotgun, he shot her once in the stomach then moved on to create chaos behind the guards line. The security, in a pincer attack now, went into panic and made mistakes leading them to a quicker death. Not wanting to stay there a moment longer they all took the elevator and went back to the lounge.

Everything happened as expected, Gianna got her proof, Anoleis got arrested and the team got their pass.

When they arrived at the ground exit they were welcomed by geths which were dealt with appropriately. Taking the Mako in the hangar they drove up to peak 15, destroying every single one of the synthetics so they would not follow and attack them from the back. It was a three hour trip and after half an hour, Wrex and Garrus dragged Shepard out of the driving seat. That was the worst Mako session they ever had yet, evidenced by Liara’s complexion that was artic blue. While Shepard complained, Rick, who was sitting next to her in the front passenger seat, was tasked to take her place. He did so without a word and he too was dragged out of it fifteen minutes later replaced by Kaidan.

“I didn’t think it was possible for someone to be worse than you at driving, Shepard.” Garrus said.

“I’m not that bad!” the redhead defended herself.

“I take offense to that!” Rick retorted.

“See the good side of it.” Tali said.

““Which is?””

“You have something in common. Why not build something on that?” suggested Liara.

“That was not what I was thinking of but it works too.” commented Tali.

“Sure, but build what exactly?” Shepherd inquired.

“A more healthy relationship?”

Everyone knew of how the relationship between the two bad drivers was. Rick was outright disliking her and Shepard on the other hand… well It was really just Rick’s problem. The redhead was irritated by, frustrated by and down right angry at him only when he was behaving like an ass. Otherwise she didn’t have any problem at all. Quite the contrary she loved working with him, everything was much simpler for her. From creating a plan of actions, to decision making. And for more personal reasons, she liked seeing him working on things manually or just hearing him thinking out loud. She was amazed by what went through his head and how focused and driven he was in those moments. 

“What is this? An unplanned intervention?” Rick asked with an edge of anger in his voice.

“Let’s go with that?” answered Liara a bit unsure.

Rick sighed in exasperation and with one his hand reached for one of Shepard’s to hold it.

“Happy now?” he said, making Ashley laugh at the stupidity of it all.

“What are you, five? Did mistress T’soni intimidate you?” Garrus joked with a snort, making everyone else laugh.

“I don’t think this was the kind of relationship Tali had in mind.” Ashley guessed once she was done laughing.

Rick let out a deep growl and was ready to pounce; Shepard, who froze at his action, just squeezed his hand to calm him down and to her surprise, it worked.

“Are we there yet?” the man inquired.

“Oh goddess!” Liara exclaimed, suppressing another laugh.

“Apparently, Rick’s mind turns back to one of a child when he’s holding your hand, Shepard.” Tali noted with a smirk behind her face mask.

“No. It makes my skin crawl and I want it over as soon as possible.”

“Geez, thank you!” commented the commander.

“Oh, Rick, it's alright. She doesn’t have cooties.” Ashley joked.

“Ha Ha Ha. Are you done?”

“Just one more, please?”

“...”

“Rick & Shepard sitting in a tree…” she began to sing

Ashley didn’t know but she had crossed a line she should not have crossed. She understood when he flared his biotic in silence, showing how angry he was. Yet, he stopped obediently when Shepard squeezed his hand again.

The team talk about nothing and everything during the drive with the exception of Kaidan who was driving, Wrex at the turret controls taking down geths and Shepard and Rick who just sat in silence.

The redhead's mind was full of the usual questions. Why was he so averse to her? What has she done that he took offense to?  And many others regarding their dynamic. Two were new though. The first was: Why did the situation feel so familiar? And the second: How come squeezing his hand was so effective to calm him down?

She didn’t have a clue for the former but for the latter she wondered. For all his words, for all his anger against her, he was so docile in that moment. Putting more thought into it, she became oblivious to the world around her.

Not noticing even once that she was still holding his hand and that Rick was squeezing back.