Post by Joe Fischer on Apr 25, 2015 6:28:46 GMT -6
[AUTHOR NOTE: This takes place shortly after the party in Chapter 12. This was co-written with another player, all of his character’s actions and dialogue were written by him.]
When Joe woke up he found himself in the medbay. Looking around, he saw that Haraldus was gone but Lysander was there along with those who had been knocked out by Vanguard.
Damn, guy packs one hell of a punch, he thought as he looked himself over.
“Well, at least I didn’t wake up in a strange place with a new tattoo or a wife I’d never met before,” he said as he slowly sat up.
Okay, the ship isn’t banking hard to port, that’s a good sign…
“Folks might ask about th’ goat, though,” the senior N7 teased. “Well, I’m no doctor, but seeing that ya can form complete sentences again must mean you’re back on most of yer cylinders. Brought you in here after ya passed out.”
“Goat, huh?” Joe said then shrugged. “I’ve woken up next to worse.”
He tried putting his feet on the floor and standing up.
So far, so good…
“Hey Pops, now that I can speak normal, I got a question for you,” he said. “Know any quarians?”
The demolitions expert cocked an eyebrow. “I might know one or two,” he said. “Why d'ya ask?”
Okay, here goes nothing…
“I picked up the head of a geth during the mission and I want to crack it open, see if it has any intel,” he said. “I figure since they built the damn things they would know best to do it. I’d ask the boss but he damn near blew a gasket when I told him I was taking it.”
“With damn good reason!” Lysander said with surprising intensity. “That thing better be under lock and key n’ wrapped in a Faraday cage! Better yet, get rid of it the first chance ya get; let it be someone else’s problem! Better still, chuck it inta th' nearest star so it isn’t anybody’s problem! Those shits are dangerous!”
He took a breath.
“If Bridges was able to tap into those base servers we should have all the intel we need,” he said in a much calmer voice. “Why trust classified info with a peon? You probably wouldn’t find any data we didn’t already. I wouldn’t risk it in any case.”
Joe took a deep breath of his own.
The woman pounding on the cell door and yelling…
“Remember how I said we were bringing back some prisoners but only showed up with one?” he asked. “Just before we got to the core we went through a room with prisoners, nine of them in total.”
The little girl, somehow asleep…
“I wanted to take them with us but there was no way we could protect them all and the boss so we left them in their cages,” he said. “Good thing too, seeing as how me and Karn had to keep a Praetorian off his back while he did his thing.”
He laughed bitterly. “So we get the hack done and in order to make it to the LZ, we have to go back through that room,” he said. “Only when we get there, they’re all gone…except for Haraldus.”
MOMMY!
“But the Collectors did leave part of one behind,” he said. “The head of a little girl.”
He looked over at the senior N7.
“So all I’ve got to show for this mission is a burned-up turian and the head of a geth,” he said. “Would you settle for that? Could you go to sleep at night with a clear conscience?”
“And all I got was a turian and a half-dead elcor that mutated and nearly wiped us out!” Lysander countered. “You could have the same bloodbath on your hands again if you screw with that head. The geth want all organics DEAD! They’ll turn every circuit and CPU against you given the chance. They chased their own creators off the homeworld and they’ve never been back since... what d’ya think you’re gonna find in there that’s worth that kinda risk?”
Damn, he’s got one hell of a point…
“Maybe something, maybe nothing,” Joe said with a shrug. “That quarian that ran with Shepard, Tali’Zorah, what if she had thought that? What if she had simply destroyed the geth that was carrying the audio file which proved Saren was a traitor? She never finds it, the Reapers walk right in, and we’re probably not having this conversation.”
“Understand this, Pops,” he said, his voice taking a hard tone. “I’m doing this. If I have to find one myself, I’ll do it, but I’d much rather work with one that’s been vouched for by someone I trust. So are you going to give me a name or do I start looking?”
You are such a shit, Joe…
*****
“Shala’Bekk vas Neema,” Lysander said softly.
Joe released breath he didn’t even know he was holding. The senior N7 had taken such a long time in answering he was afraid his gamble had failed.
Lysander looked up at him.
“She was on our first mission with Mr. B.” he explained. “I heard she was back on the Citadel. Was gonna try ta meet up with her, have a couple o’drinks, swap stories. If I see her I’ll mention your little…problem. If she agrees to do th' job I’ll give you her contact info. Then you guys can find out for yourselves what’s inside your geth jack-in-the-box… but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Joe nodded.
I owe him one for this. I owe him BIG…
“That’s all I’m asking for,” he said. “Thanks.”
“One last thing,” the demolitions expert said. “No reworkin’ it into a lamp or headgear - I mean it! The second you guys finish with it, destroy it completely. If it doesn’t kill you… the geth or some tech junkie’ll try to just to get their hands on it.”
Joe nodded.
“Deal,” he said.