Soon enough, they're shown into Anderson's office. He's perusing a datapad; from the looks of it, this has become a much more common activity for him than it used to be, a development he does not relish. A light comes into his eyes when he sees Shepard.
"Ah, Commander. Ms. Lawson's report was a little terse, but she says you found evidence of Collector involvement. Any of you folks want to fill me in a little more?"
Anderson chuckles. "We did, at that. How's your new squad working out? I've got a few folks for you to pick up, but a few of them might need some work."
He nods briskly. "Right. Onto the intel, then. I'm afraid details on most of them are sketchy, at best; we don't have many assets in that part of the galaxy. There's someone on Omega who's been killing a lot of mercs -- I'm sure you could use somebody that tough and lethal. Omega's also got Doctor Mordin Solus, a salarian scientist. Best we can tell, the Collectors do something to the colonists to make the whole process so neat, and he's the best lead we've got on shutting that down. One guy on an off-world prison, supposed to be one dangerous son of a bitch. Got another in a tank, supposedly engineered to be a super-soldier, being held on," he checks his datapad again, "Hagalaz. The two we do have good info on are Zaeed Massani and Kasumi Goto; Miranda briefed you on them. Massani was on Omega when we last spoke, and he said he'd be there another week or so. Ms. Goto -"
A slim woman suddenly appears with a slight electronic fizzle. "Hi, Commander," she waves cheerfully, though most of her face is obscured by a hood.
Anderson grunts. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that anymore."
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
"Well, I admit I was wrong about you, Ms. Goto. You are certainly smoother than Miranda implicated. I've heard of Dr Solus. If the Admiral here is correct, and there's a biologic process to the Collector abductions, Mordin is probably one of the best to identify it and neutralize it."
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
Shepard's teeth ground together as she forced a smile.
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
"Why Commander, have you two met before?" Malthea smiles like a wolf going in for a kill. "You really should introduce me. I may learn a thing or two, after all."
"Don't worry, Commander, I won't steal anything on the Normandy. Permanently, at least -- gotta keep in practice, you know!" Anyone looking under her hood would likely have seen a wink.
She nods at Malthea's remark. "Mordin's got heart, too; takes a lot of love to run a clinic on Omega."
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
"Love generally isn't what drives a person to Omega, but I know what you mean."
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
"Guilt, probably. Lot of black bars in his record, and it's tied to the STG. I respect their followthrough, but their professional ethics... Well, some kinds of work always mean doing something you'd regret. Looks worth a pickup."
21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
"Do we know anything more about the person on Omega who kills mercs? Do they have a name or at least a modus operandi? I can appreciate someone gunning down lawless Mercs and terminus scum, and they'd have to be good to do it and stay alive, but what tells us they'll want to join us?"
"Well, whoever it is took down a red sand factory, a prostitution ring, and a protection racket, so that outlines a few possibilities. Might be a moral crusader, someone trying to show off, or maybe just someone who doesn't want competition," Anderson hypothesizes. "The first two are good recruitment opportunities."
"Aria will need some handling," Anderson concedes. "She's not going to take kindly to someone barging in there and threatening her at gunpoint for information -- treat her as an equal and you should be fine. It would be nice if she were out of the picture, and the Alliance certainly could accomplish that, but unfortunately we've never been able to concoct a scenario that ends up more advantageous for the Alliance than Aria's control. She's not a good person, but she keeps the scum of Omega under her thumb, for the most part."
who could this mysterious vigilante be
i have no idea
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
"Bark's worse than her bite. She's tends to let things sit until they threaten her personally. Which means as long as we bite our tongues and act like a washed up ex-hooker is a major player, it should all go like clockwork."
Anderson shrugs. "Yeah, sure. That's all I have for you right now; I'd suggest going to Omega first, since Dr. Solus might need some time to develop some sort of remedy, but it's up to you."
Gabriel_Pitt(effective against Russian warships)Registered Userregular
Barraga leaned on the railing outside the embassies, waiting to see if he'd be needed to deliver any first hand reports about Freedom's Progress. Not likely. Whatever records they'd gotten from the quarian were more informative than what his account could add, and he'd been debriefed on the little he could retell during the flight in.
He set his elbows on the rail, leaning out farther. The last time he'd been on the Citadel, the quarians still had an embassy, and he'd never moved in circles that took him to the presidium. In the distance he could see the rachni war memorial rising up over the waters. There were quite a few people moving around down below - turians, asari, salarians, even a hanar or two. He didn't see any quarians down there. Or krogan.
He watched the waters for a while, letting the time tick away while the humans finished up their business. There was something soothingly hypnotic about the motion of clean water, blue, the undulations easy to follow from so high above.
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
Malthea glances at Shepard. "The krogan didn't see much. Apparently he originally thought it might be Batarian raiders or something of the like. Didn't even realize it was worse till he came up for air."
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
"And the quarian is back with the fleet. Seems the Collectors aren't just grabbing Sapiens Sapiens as targets of opportunity. We're the priority. We can rest when we're dead. Change in enemy patterns like this demands a change of plans."
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
"Obviously, we need to figure out where the next strike is coming and when. Whatever these Collectors are looking for, they're willing to take a whole lot of people, and piss a whole lot of powerful people off, to find them. Whatever the targets are, we need to find them first."
Anderson nods firmly. "We'll keep an eye out. You folks focus on building a team that can handle anything the Collectors dish out."
He looks steadily at each member of her squad in turn. "Going up against Saren, we lost only one member of the crew. Might not be so lucky this time -- make sure you're okay with that, and you've got no unfinished business holding you back from doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Good luck."
chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
"Two. Jenkins was a good man. He doesn't deserve to be forgotten. And sir, you know my record. I count losing only a quarter of the team as a damn field trip."
Gabriel_Pitt(effective against Russian warships)Registered Userregular
Ha, I was actually expecting a shot at Ashley being the one forgotten - if I'm remembering it right and Ash was the one who didn't get off Virmire...
Barraga straightened slightly as the embassy access doors opened behind him. "Need me for anything," he asked in Shepard's direction. "Or is it time to lock, load, and roll out?"
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
"Omega is better than shore leave anyway, Joker. Or so I've heard"
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Gabriel_Pitt(effective against Russian warships)Registered Userregular
Barraga gave the water one last, long look, then straightened up, rolling his neck to work out a crick. He'd been leaning there longer than he'd thought.
He glanced over the humans in the group while trying to remember if there was still anyone out that way who particularly wanted to shoot him. "Humans aren't that popular out there - good idea not to drink anything that you don't pour yourself."
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
"I hope it won't be too long an op on Omega... i simply can't stand the type of people who choose to stay there."
Alkas looks over the presidium once again. He never came here before. He liked it, the glittering ponds, the greenery, the bustling marketplaces...
"And to think, some people claim Omega to be the Citadel of the Terminus Systems... They obviously aren't allowed here."
Alkas looks at Commander Shepard.
"Something tells me you won't mind the collateral damage too much on this op, Commander..." he says with a sly smile. It's liberating to be under someone like Commander Shepard...
It's a long walk back to the Normandy's docking bay, broken up by awkward elevator rides. It won't be long until the idle conversations start.
Shepard strides onto the Normandy's bridge with confidence, followed by Alkas and Malthea. Kasumi strolls down to the crew quarters, and Barraga settles in near the cargo bay. A jump through the relay, and they're in the most lawless, dangerous area of the galaxy.
"You just meet the nicest people on Omega, Commander. Never a dull moment, either. Aren't you glad you don't have just the one person to pick up here?"
chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
"I meet the nicest people everywhere. It's why I bring a gun."
She sighed.
"But let's not start anything before we have to. Omega's 90% the scum of the universe, but we might, by sheer coincidence, hit someone honest. And then they'd be after us for violating the endangered species act."
chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
"Well, I haven't seen any evidence against jackasses yet. If I wanted 'freedom', I'd just grab a ship and start flying. Omega just means that the pissstains that want to ruin your life don't bother with pretending they have a legal excuse."
Shepard shook her head.
"Also, lord knows I don't WANT to see T'loak. But she'll want to see us, and this whole mess will go easier if someone lets her know the council still doesn't give a damn what she does as long as she does it quietly."
Posts
"Who said anything about that? Ms. Goto has quite the reputation if you talk to the right people, but that doesn't mean they've laid hands on her."
"Ah, Commander. Ms. Lawson's report was a little terse, but she says you found evidence of Collector involvement. Any of you folks want to fill me in a little more?"
Why I fear the ocean.
Why I fear the ocean.
A slim woman suddenly appears with a slight electronic fizzle. "Hi, Commander," she waves cheerfully, though most of her face is obscured by a hood.
Anderson grunts. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that anymore."
"Pssht," Kasumi scoffs. "It's far too much fun."
"Kasumi. Goto. What. A. Pleasure."
Why I fear the ocean.
She nods at Malthea's remark. "Mordin's got heart, too; takes a lot of love to run a clinic on Omega."
Why I fear the ocean.
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
i have no idea
Why I fear the ocean.
He set his elbows on the rail, leaning out farther. The last time he'd been on the Citadel, the quarians still had an embassy, and he'd never moved in circles that took him to the presidium. In the distance he could see the rachni war memorial rising up over the waters. There were quite a few people moving around down below - turians, asari, salarians, even a hanar or two. He didn't see any quarians down there. Or krogan.
He watched the waters for a while, letting the time tick away while the humans finished up their business. There was something soothingly hypnotic about the motion of clean water, blue, the undulations easy to follow from so high above.
He wondered if there were any fish in there.
"You gonna get a bit of shore leave, Commander, or should I start prepping the Normandy?"
As Shepard turns to leave, Anderson remembers one of the first things she said.
"Where are the survivors you found, anyway?"
Why I fear the ocean.
He looks steadily at each member of her squad in turn. "Going up against Saren, we lost only one member of the crew. Might not be so lucky this time -- make sure you're okay with that, and you've got no unfinished business holding you back from doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Good luck."
Coming out, they see Barraga again.
Why I fear the ocean.
Barraga straightened slightly as the embassy access doors opened behind him. "Need me for anything," he asked in Shepard's direction. "Or is it time to lock, load, and roll out?"
Why I fear the ocean.
He glanced over the humans in the group while trying to remember if there was still anyone out that way who particularly wanted to shoot him. "Humans aren't that popular out there - good idea not to drink anything that you don't pour yourself."
Alkas looks over the presidium once again. He never came here before. He liked it, the glittering ponds, the greenery, the bustling marketplaces...
"And to think, some people claim Omega to be the Citadel of the Terminus Systems... They obviously aren't allowed here."
Alkas looks at Commander Shepard.
"Something tells me you won't mind the collateral damage too much on this op, Commander..." he says with a sly smile. It's liberating to be under someone like Commander Shepard...
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
Shepard strides onto the Normandy's bridge with confidence, followed by Alkas and Malthea. Kasumi strolls down to the crew quarters, and Barraga settles in near the cargo bay. A jump through the relay, and they're in the most lawless, dangerous area of the galaxy.
"You just meet the nicest people on Omega, Commander. Never a dull moment, either. Aren't you glad you don't have just the one person to pick up here?"
She sighed.
"But let's not start anything before we have to. Omega's 90% the scum of the universe, but we might, by sheer coincidence, hit someone honest. And then they'd be after us for violating the endangered species act."
Why I fear the ocean.
"Ah, Commander Shepard. You'll be wanting to see Aria, I assume?" she asks brightly, confusing most of them.
"Oh, come on," she tosses her head, "Omega isn't all thugs and jackasses. Some of us just like more freedom than you get in Council space."
Shepard shook her head.
"Also, lord knows I don't WANT to see T'loak. But she'll want to see us, and this whole mess will go easier if someone lets her know the council still doesn't give a damn what she does as long as she does it quietly."
Why I fear the ocean.