Mass Effect - Fragments

Chapter 10 - Loose Ends

"Sergeant Pran reports contact. Two hostiles… Sergeant? Sergeant! Marine team has gone dark."

"Dammit, light that frigate up. I want it scrapped. At least they won't be getting out of here with…"

On the screen he watched the Normandy orient itself and gawped as a lance of light speared towards the station. He was thrown from his command chair, consoles around him erupting in sparks.

"Fires on gunnery deck - the thanix generators are offline. The cannon's gone sir! We have casualty reports. Sounding general alert and evacuation…"

"Belay that! We stand and we fight…"

Behind him, the access elevators opened, revealing six kneeling Quarian marines and five very armed non-Quarians. The lead human grinned at him.

"Oh go on, give it a try. Stand down Captain, we're here on Council business."

The Officer lunged at a console, but collapsed with a cry as a bullet sliced through his thigh.

"Nice try. Next one is through your visor. EDI, what did he try to do."

"Emergency transmission. I would hypothesise that it would relay the current version of the Geth control code to be transmitted. I have the data, but have not extrapolated the means by which the signal would permeate all Geth units."

Kaidan walked across the bridge, his marines keeping the other cowering crew-members covered. He squatted down next to the Captain and held up a medigel sachet.

"I think we have time for a talk, don't we? Get Joker on the line, deactivate all security systems and keep the decks sealed. Are there any sapient Geth left on board, EDI?"

"I have twenty restrained platforms listed as still operational according to the ship manifest."

"Get them out of here and into the Normandy. Transmit what we have to Shepard. Secure banding. And as for you Captain, we're going to have a talk. Order your men to stand down."

"I am a Quarian. We do not give up our ships so…"

"If you don't, then maybe I should just release those Geth into the hallways, let them wander around… lost, confused… angry."

"You work for Shepard… he would never…."

"Shepard is a lot of things. One thing in particular," Kaidan leaned forwards, "He's not here."

Captain Trella'Zin nar Moreh vas Morkleih made a life decision.

Shepard jerked awake. He'd dozed off in his office chair. He squinted out the window: that was the trouble with the Citadel - you couldn't tell what time it was by the position of the sun, or appreciate a cloudless night. It was always twilight in the wards and always sunny on the Presidium. Yes, it had a day/night cycle, but everything was always so well lit, it made no odds. He glanced at the terminal in front of him, which was flashing with several unread messages.

He saw that most were from liara and EDI, including one which was a large cache - it was marked as a priority and had a templated cover sheet included in the surface message. He blinked at the data summary, feeling a wash of emotions roll over him: Tali wasn't involved, at least not consciously. He read through the message and grunted - there was a lot of data, apparently. The pertinent and most recent had been transferred to him. The Normandy was bringing the rest, along with several prisoners. They had requested Alliance support. A neutral party, he supposed. idly he flicked access for kasumi and garrus - if he was going to have an evening of dull documents, no reason to read alone.

Standing he limped over to the kitchen counter and rummaged around, stopping after a few minutes.

They'd hidden the alcohol. Bastards.