Out of the Twilight | Mass Effect

15

Saren nodded when Andra informed him of Noveria's ultimatum. He wasn't too concerned, he had been to Noveria a few times, both as a Spectre and a stockholder. He showed his credentials and smiled to himself as he heard the Normandy take off. His niece could be rather impatient at times.

He led Wrex and Tali through the security checkpoints and to the administrator's office. He nodded at Giana Parasini, the internal affairs officer investigating Anoleis' corruption. He hoped she could build her case soon. That dress really didn't suit her.

"Sehr Arterius! What a pleasant surprise!" she said as they entered. "What brings you to Noveria today?"

"Spectre business, I'm afraid. I'll need access to the garage and a pass for a mako." Saren kept his tone coolly professional.

Administrator Anoleis came around the corner, having been warned of the Spectre's arrival by security. "Unfortunately, all access outside of Port Hanshan has been cut off until the storm passes."

Slowly, Saren turned to him. He was gratified to see the salarian back up a pace. "I am here on official Spectre business. The storm is not bad enough to affect a mako. You will grant me access now, or I will have you brought up on charges. Although," he began contemplatively, "It would be simpler for me to just shoot you."

The salarian paled. "All right. I'll grant you access to the garage, and tell the garage staff to set you up with a mako. Never let it be said that I did not help the Spectres."

Once they were clear of the office, Tali turned to Saren, "You wouldn't really shoot him, would you?"

Saren glanced at her. "Maybe to wound. The paperwork really isn't worth it to just shoot everyone who stands in my way."

Wrex snorted in amusement at that.

Once in the mako, Saren continued. "While being a Spectre does mean I could, it's easier to play up a reputation. Everyone believes that I will shoot first and ask questions when it suits me, which makes things like this easier. Nihlus always tries to talk to everyone first. Had he been here, he would still be jumping through Anoleis' hoops."

Tali nodded, "So you want them to think you're meaner than you really are, to make them more likely to do what you want."

As they approached the garage entrance to Peak 15, Saren slowed the mako to a stop. There was a second mako outside the doors, lying on its roof while it burned merrily. They exited the mako, weapons at the ready. Saren led the trio to the access door and entered first. The small alcove was clear.

As they entered the garage proper, they were met with a handful of krogan mercenaries. Saren and Tali opened fire while Wrex prepared a biotic pulse that threw several of the mercs off their feet. As they moved deeper into the station, Wrex grabbed a shotgun from one of the downed mercs and handed it to Tali.

"Here. It'll suit your style a bit better," he told her gruffly as he walked past.

"Wha... I... I can't shoot this! I don't know how!" Tali cried after Wrex.

"I'll teach you." Wrex seemed amused at her reaction.

Saren barely listened to the byplay, focusing on the station's VI announcing the damages to the station.

"Draaf. We'll have to do some repairs before we can get to where the beacon was set off." Saren called over to the other two. "And since they shouldn't have mercenaries.... Something is going on, and I hate that I have no idea what I'm walking into."

"Agreed." Wrex grunted.

They headed deeper into the station. The first hallway they came to was guarded by two turrets, facing deeper into the station. "What idiot set up the turrets backwards?" Tali asked, incredulously.

"Someone who wants to keep something in more than us out." Saren replied, grimly.

They took the elevator in silence, wondering what lay ahead. On the next floor, there were signs of fighting. Several corpses lay scattered around. Idly, Saren noted that they were all human. A little surprising, but not particularly. Binary Helix owned most of the labs on Peak 15, and had a mostly human staff. Moving on, they stopped when they heard a noise in the vents.

They stood, back-to-back, as the scanned the area for the source. Saren saw an insect-like creature crawl out of a vent and come charging at the trio. He and Wrex took it out, then Saren turned to assist Tali with a larger one coming up behind. Wrex finished off a third one, and they stood for a moment, listening for more.

Saren walked over to one of the larger ones. "I've never seen anything like this. This is bad. Keep your guard up." He sent scans of the bodies and a copy of the recording to the Citadel, along with a query about the identity of the creature, and gestured that they should move on.

Once on the third floor, they dealt with several of the smaller creatures. Saren and Wrex cleared the vents in the room, and Saren entered the VI core. After activating the core and clearing his credentials with the VI, Saren received the list of repairs needed.

They finished the repairs quickly, Wrex grumbling about not being maintenance the whole time. Once the tramways were back online, Saren reactivated the VI.

"Saren Arterius, Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. There was a distress beacon activated in this complex. What location was it sent from, and who activated it?"

"Working. Council status recognized. The beacon was activated and deactivated on Rift Station. Records show that the signal was activated by Lady Benezia."

"When did the Matriarch arrive?" Saren asked, somewhat surprised.

"Lady Benezia has been at Rift Station for fifteen hours."

"No further queries."

"Logging you out."

Saren led the way to the tramway, thinking out loud. "Lady Benezia arrived here and set a distress beacon. Almost immediately, she deactivated it. Asari Matriarchs have followers, always asari, mostly combat trained. There were no asari in the garage." He sat on a bench on the tram while Tali sent it to Rift Station. "What in oblivion is going on?"