Salvation: Episode I - The Taking of the Carmenta Illustria

Disclaimer: This fan-fiction is part of an episodic series taking place after Salvation: A Half-Life/Mass Effect Universe Fan Fiction, which will lead directly to its sequel, Salvation II: Project Prometheus. These episodes and sequel take place OUTSIDE of the Mass Effect 3 continuity. Characters property of their respective companies, Half-Life created by Valve and Mass Effect created by Bioware.

Chapter 21: Hell Hath No Fury

“Tali, are you hurt…?!” John pressingly beseeched, with a profound sense of angst and distress in his voice, as he immediately sat up, off the floor, and leaned over Tali, rapidly looking over her helmet and suit for visible ruptures. “Is anything broken?! Did you damage your suit?!”

“No, no, don’t worry... I’m okay, John.” She happily assured, with a pant and a mild titter, trying to reassure him, while still in the process of catching her own breath, as she laid her palm flat against the center of his chest – feeling his heart thundering inside. “I’m not hurt, and my suit would’ve alerted me if there were a breech. I’m alright… Thanks to you…”

“Thank god…” Shepard expressed with a deep, grateful sigh, allowing his head to hang down, over his chest, in relief. “Now what the hell were you thinking?!” He then admonished, as he raised his head back up, and looked at her. His disapproving gaze and his cross tone were not all that dissimilar from those of a worried parent scolding a mischievous child for doing something dangerous.

Tali’s eyes widened with surprise, and then narrowed with bewilderment, as she slowly sat up. “John, I--“

“Don’t you ever do anything that stupid again, do you hear me?!” He chided again, abruptly cutting her off.

“S… Stupid?!” Tali retorted with a wide-eyed stutter, rapidly growing irate, as she popped up to her feet, and looked down at Shepard. “Well, excuse me…! What? You think I KNEW the thing was gonna topple through the window like that?!”She rebutted, offended, with one hand pointed to her chest, and the other pointed towards the blown out, shutter sealed window.  

“I’m not talking about it falling over…!” The Commander asserted, as he rose to his feet beside her - struggling a bit from his still injured leg. “I’m talking about how you recklessly climbed onto that thing’s back the way you did. You could’ve been killed!”

“…U-unless I’m mistaken, John--“ Tali cstammered to response, as she tried to give herself a moment to relax, and understand. “--you had just done the exact same thing not ten minutes earlier…”

“Yeah, but I’m not the one who can die from a ruptured suit, or a cracked visor, Tali…” Shepard proceeded to lecture, trying to mask the sounds of worry in his voice with an authoritative tone. “It’s my job to take the risks, alright? Not yours…”

Tali scoffed and widened her eyes in disbelief. “Since when?!” She demanded. “John, ever since I’ve known you, hardly a day has gone by that we don’t stare death in the eye, slap it across the face, and say ‘come and get us, you bosh’tet’!”

“Yeah, well not anymore…!” The troubled Commander conclusively asserted, as he crossed his arms, and looked away.

“John, I’ve never seen you like this before…” Tali uttered in a soft, tender, and baffled voice, as she approached him, and gently laid her right hand over his left shoulder. “What’s wrong? Why are you acting thi--“

“Listen!” Shepard abruptly blurted out, as he spun himself around to face her, before she could finish, causing her to timorously pull her hand back. “I just don’t want you taking another stupid risk like that again, okay?!”

“John, I…”

“Is that UNDERSTOOD?!”

Tali’s eyes blinked rapidly at his sudden, uncharacteristic, and far from expected, outburst. Under her violet mask, her expression quickly took a semblance of sorrow, confusion, distress, and shock, as her luminous eyes seemed to waver. But it didn’t take long for that amalgam of emotion to be replaced by a fuming, scornful grimace. She clenched her eyes shut, swallowing back any stray tears that may have exuded to the surface, before they could escape.

“Yes sir, Commander Shepard, sir…!” She sarcastically retorted, through gritted teeth, and a raging voice, as she looked back up to face the Navy man - immediately standing at attention, and presenting him with a stern, disciplined salute. “I apologize for my insubordination… Sir. I didn’t realize you were issuing a direct order… SIR!”  

Shepard cringed and groaned all at once, as he watched Tali put on the angry façade of a hardened, steadfast soldier. He draped his hand over his eyes, and dragged it down across his face, stretching his cheeks out as he did so, when he suddenly realized how boorish the words spewing from his mouth must’ve sounded.

“Tali, look…” He began again, with his arms apologetically outstretched. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that... I-I’m only trying--“

“IF I may be excused… COMMANDER…!” The indignant quarian erupted, cutting Shepard off, as she held her head upturned, in a disciplined, dignified, and haughty manner. “I have to get back to a little boy, who’s probably scared to death right now, and make sure he’s alright… SIR…!”

Tali flashed a militaristic salute, and then waved her hand dismissively in Shepard’s face, before brushing past him, and storming away, towards the umbilical entrance leading back to the luxury cruise liner, in a huff.

“Argh, Tali…!” John expelled a creaky, dejected groan, as he hung his head back, slumped his shoulders, and turned to give chase.

“Tali, come on…!” His persistent voice echoed off the walls of the narrow, turbulent corridor, as he caught up to the scornful quarian. “I wasn’t trying to offend you!”

“Well you could’ve fooled me…!” She reproached, as she suddenly stopped and observed the now plugged-up entrance to the Carmenta Illustria.

The cutout passageway that had initially offered the thieving hijackers admission to the grand, luxury liner was now completely blocked and congested with a heaping stopple of recreational supplies, equipment, and clutter from the Illustria’s loading bay. It accumulated here, into a piled mess, like a clog in a sink, after the cutout hole proved too narrow to allow it all through at once, during the sudden depressurization.

“Oh no…!” Tali sighed, in worry and distress, as she rushed ahead towards the blockage. “Keelah, let him be okay!”

Her first instinct was to merely push her way through, by force. But this idea was quickly slain when the clutter proved too stubborn to allow her headway. Despite their quibble, John immediately joined her, and began trying to shove and plow his own way in. But in spite of his greater strength, he had no better luck. With no other option, they both rapidly began yanking, and jerking at the objects in their way. The largest, and most stubborn obstruction, was an inverted jet-ski that had gotten lodged in the center of the recreational refuse. But one by one, surf boards, and scuba tanks, life jackets, and hover boards began to topple, and shift.

Together, they fervently labored at clearing the congestion. And for the time being, Tali did her best to keep her scornful, bereft eyes upturned, and averted from Shepard’s. But a singular, fleeting glance, in his direction, was all it took for her to notice the newly opened gash exuding a thin trickle of blood down his right temple. The ire in her eyes instantaneously faded into compassion and care, and her cold silence was broken.

“…Are you alright?” She reluctantly asked - trying to mask her concern with an austere tone, as they continued to work.

Shepard raised a perplexed eyebrow, as he looked up towards her. “Yeah, fine… Why?”

“You’re hurt.” The lavender lady elaborated, as she continued to dig through the refuse. “You’re bleeding from where the mech struck your head. I just want to make sure you’re alright…”  

John’s eyes narrowed, as he quickly touched the tips of his fingers to his right temple. Only now, as he pulled his crimson coated fingers away, and looked down at his own wet blood, did he realize that his head was throbbing, and his wounds were stinging.

“Hmph…” He muttered apathetically, as he wiped what blood he could off his fingers, on the side of his jet black pants. “It’s nothing, don’t worry. Might be just a few split stitches. I’ve had plenty worse.”

“Well, good!” She abruptly snapped, as she turned her full attention back towards clearing away the clutter. “Fine. I WON’T worry then!”

“Uhm…” John recoiled a bit, as he continued to help her. A small opening had been cleared away now, providing a modest window into the Illustria’s massive loading bay, but it was still too small to fit through. They both continued to push and pull at the clutter, slowly widening the gap. But Tali’s motions were much faster now - torrid, and feverish, even violent - fueled by anger or resentment, or both...

“Well… Actually…” John spoke up again, feigning an overly dependent, faint-hearted tone of voice, as he drew one hand over his forehead, and pretended to reel in pain, a bit. “Now that I think about it, it does hurt pretty bad… Could be serious… It might be concussed…”

“Oh no, like you said, you’re fine…” Tali affirmed with an angry cynicism, as the large jet ski toppled over, and the last of the remaining debris began to shift, and collapse, finally leaving a path wide enough to pass through. “That hard head of yours must come in handy.” She chided, as she made her way in, kicking away at the last few scattered items left on the ground. John simply let out an aggravated groan and a grumble, as he quickly followed along.

When they stepped back into the Carmenta Illustria’s spacious loading bay, it was indeed in a state of disarray, but not nearly as bad as one might imagine. Most of the stuff that wasn’t bolted down had gotten sucked straight into the umbilical passageway, due to the violent, but momentary hull breach on the smaller, neighboring cargo ship. But everything else was more or less just as they had left it. Many of the large trailers, on which the multiple aqua-pods were mounted, had shifted a bit, but most of them had only managed to move a few feet from where they were. And only one of them, the one closest to the door, had been pulled over, and knocked onto its side.

Tali breathed a deep sigh of relief, as she saw this - but she was still afraid for the young boy’s safety.

“Which one was he in?” John pressingly asked, as his eyes scanned the various aqua-pods for movement.

“I don’t remember which one exactly, but it was down this way!” She affirmed, with certainty, as she took off down an aisle between the aqua-pods on the left hand side, with Shepard in tow. A few yards down, her speedy sprint slowed to a jog, as she peered into the large windows of each individual submersible, trying to detect movement.

“I think it was this one…!” The restless quarian presumed, as she took off towards one of pod’s doors.

As she dashed over and tore open the door, a subtle movement in the corner of Shepard’s eye caught his attention. He turned to his right, and looked up towards a neighboring aqua-pod, where he could’ve sworn he had seen something moving in the window, but there was nothing there to speak of. That is, until he saw it again. It was only for a split second, but a little head suddenly bounced up, inside the submersible, before dropping out of sight again and again, within the seafaring vehicle.

“Tali, he’s over here…!” John quickly called out, as he rushed ahead towards the adjacent aqua-pod, with a relieved grin on his face.

Upon hearing, the lavender masked quarian swiftly hopped out of the vacant pod she was in, after finding this one devoid of the child she sought. Shepard rushed to the hatch door of the next pod over, and pulled on the latch, causing it to swing downward, and form a small flight of stairs, as it opened.

“You’re back!” Matty abruptly shouted, with a wide-eyed glee, as he unexpectedly sprang out of the darkened pod interior, and leapt into Shepard’s arms.

“Whoa! H-hey!”  Shepard chuckled with a mixture of surprise and contentment, when he caught the little human boy, who latched onto him in turn. “Of course we’re back…!” He reassured, with an ample smile, and traces of laughter still lingering in his voice, as he lightly patted the boy’s back, and lightly set him down. “I told you we’d come back for you. We wouldn’t leave our brave little trooper behind.”

“Oh kresha, are you alright?!” Tali immediately beseeched, as she rushed in and crouched down before the little boy - placing her hands on his shoulders, and running them down the length of his arms, as she searched for wounds or other signs of injury.

“Tali!” Matty jubilantly exclaimed upon seeing her, as he lunged towards her, with childlike spontaneity, and his arms wide open, for a hug.

“Oh, thank the ancestors…!” Tali expressed, with a profound sigh of relief, as she returned his tight, affectionate embrace. “I’m so glad you’re safe…”

“I-I didn’t leave the thing…!” Matty declared, with an over excited stutter, and a rapid shake of his head, as he pulled away from Tali, and pointed a thumb over his shoulder, towards the aqua-pod. “You told me to promise to stay here, no matter what, and I did! I did! Even when everything started flying away, and getting all whish and whoosh and whew-wheew--!” He proclaimed in a very animated, excited state, as he swirled his hands about, frantically, to accompany the howling, swishing sound effects he was emulating with his mouth. “--I didn’t move, I stayed right here!”

“I know. I know you did.” Tali lauded, with a proud smile under her mask, and a grateful nod. “And I’m very, very proud of you.”

“You did a great job, buddy.” The Commander supplemented, from his place, standing beside Tali, as he gently laid his hand upon the boy’s shoulder, in a congratulatory manner, causing Matty’s face to beam with delight.  “We’re both very proud of you…”  

“Right then…” He then continued, stoically standing up straight, and placing his arms akimbo on his hips, as he took a brief glance around the newly haphazard loading bay. In the meantime, Tali had already taken the small boy by the hand, and prepared to move. “We really need to get that call out now. We should probably--“

“Okay, come on, little kresha. With me.” Tali abruptly urged - completely ignoring John, and leaving him behind to talk to himself, as she headed back to the smaller, adjoined vessel, with a turn of her icy shoulder.

“--head back… to the cargo ship… Argh…!” Shepard finished his sentence with an aggravated noise, which was something between a grunt and a sigh, as he prompty turned to follow - rolling his eyes, and shaking his head as he did so.

“Are… Are we going back into that smelly place…?” Matty entreated, in a timid little voice that started to quiver. “What about that big monster? Is it gonna get us…?!”

“No, no, don’t worry about that thing anymore, little one.” Tali softly assured, as she stopped and hunched down towards Matty. “We took care of it. It can’t hurt you anymore. Don’t be afraid…”

“That’s right.” John cheerfully contributed, once he caught up. “That thing won’t be bothering anyone anymore. Tali sent that big hunk a’ scrap hurling straight out into space, heh…” He declared with a chuckle, as Tali stood back up and glared a hole straight through him.  

“Yes…” She began, with a tinge of anger and a hint of sarcasm. “Which, as I recall, was a rather stupid thing to do just then, wasn’t it Commander?”

“Ugh… Tali, listen… I didn’t mean--“

“Come on, Matty, umph…” Tali said, with a heaving grunt, as she scooped the child up, into her arms, and continued on - once again leaving Shepard behind to speak to himself. “Ooh, you’re a big boy.”

“Tali!” John called out, beseechingly, as he trailed along behind her. “Tali, hang on. Would you just slow down for a second…?! Tali…!”

“Uhm… I think he’s calling you…” Matty informed, in a somewhat bashful tone, as he sat perched in Tali’s arms, looking over her shoulder, at the perturbed Commander following along behind them.

“Oh, he’s fine.” The scorned quarian assured, without stopping, as they breezed past the jumbled rows of aqua-pods. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Tali, this is hardly the time or the place for this…!” Shepard adamantly proclaimed, in a voice that was slowly growing from apologetic to irate. “You’re completely overreacting, you know that?!”

“Oh, I’M the one that’s overreacting?!” Tali chidingly adjured, as she stopped and turned to him with an angry leer. “Well, I wasn’t the one that decided to launch operation ‘blow things out of proportion’ now, was I?!” With that, she immediately spun back around, and pressed forward, as Matty looked on, at the couple, with a countenance of worry and confusion on his face.

“How am I blowing this out of proportion?!” John entreated, taking a quick, but concise, three-hundred and sixty degree spin beside her, for a glance around the large loading bay, to make sure they were still alone, and not being followed or watched.

“Look, maybe I was a bit out of line earlier…” He said, leaning in closer, and lowering his voice to a tone just above a whisper.

“Oh, just ‘a bit’?” Tali scoffed, with a roll of her luminous eyes.

“But the truth is; you could’ve gotten yourself killed…!”

The livid quarian stopped dead in her tracks, with Matty in her arms. She leaned over towards John, lowering her voice down to a similar level, in an effort to keep their squabble away from curious little ears.

“John, how is that different from what I’ve been doing every day since joining your crew?” She beseeched, in a hushed voice, close to his ear. “How is it different from what WE’VE been doing since the day we met, and the very first time we ever heard the word ‘Reapers’ uttered?”

Shepard thought about it for a moment - his mouth cracked open, and his eyes flickering like a dying candle. He knew she was right, but something had changed now. There was something new… Something deep down inside… Something that he couldn’t come to grips with…

“B-because, if…” He began again, struggling to answer with an uncharacteristically halting voice. “I mean, if you were to… I-I just couldn’t…” After a moment of fumbling with his words - a fairly novel sensation for him - he simply stopped, sighed with his eyes shut, and pointedly proclaimed. “It’s just different now, alright?”

“How?!”

“It just is!” He reaffirmed, as a worried Matty looked on - his pupils bouncing back and forth between the bickering lovers, like a shuttlecock over a net. “I’ll be the one to take the risks, Tali! Not you!”

“Ooh…!” Tali suddenly exclaimed, sarcastically exaggerating the tone of someone who’s just come to a great realization, with a few slow motion nods of her head. “Oh, I get it now…! So it’s okay for YOU to go off and do those big dangerous things you do, because YOU’RE the great ‘Commander Shepard’. Can’t have somebody else stealing your thunder now, can we John? Oh, I mean, ‘Commander’, sir…”  

“Ugh…” Shepard groaned, and let his head slouch back. “Tali, no. That’s not what I mea--“

“No, no…” Tali quickly refuted, abruptly cutting him off, with a raised hand. “Like I said, I get it… Of all the male chauvinistic...” She sneered, and spun herself back around without finishing - giving Shepard her back, and her icy cold shoulder once more, as she continued on towards the cutout hole in the loading bay door, surrounded by scattered debris.  

“This isn’t male chauvinism!” John protested, as he hurriedly gave the loading bay another flyby glance around for possible interlopers.

“Uhm… Are you two arguing…?” Matty’s timid voice finally begged the question, as he sat on Tali’s arm, with his own hooked around her shoulders.

“Yes!” “No...” Tali emphatically affirmed, and John modestly denied, in near perfect unison.

“…Well, I’M not arguing, anyway.” Shepard added, with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head, as he kept up behind the quarian.

“Oh, so I’m the one that’s doing all the arguing!?” Tali bitterly demanded, as the trio reached the hole leading to the neighboring ship.

“Hey, if you say so…” John replied, with a tinge of arrogance, as he put his hands up, to absolve himself of fault.

The fuming quarian turned to him, and let forth a throaty groan, under her breath. “Ooh, you, you…! I’m not speaking to you anymore…! SIR!” She asserted, as she turned back, and began to maneuver herself into the narrow hole, while minding her footing over the scattered refuse. And just then, as John began to follow her in, she swung back around, pointed a finger in his face, and said. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about that ‘quarian with a tummy ache’ crack you made back on Tuchanka, either!”

“This again?!”

---

Leahr’Haan’s burgundy faceplate was painted in the brightly lit reflection of the letters, symbols, and syntax flashing on the screen before him, as his fingers whisked around on a holographic keyboard. His pace was frantic, and he teetered off the very edge of his seat. But he seemed to be working with a teeming excitement, rather than an abject panic.

“Don’t you have our surveillance system back online YET?!” Andrew Kim snapped, as he came to stand behind the working quarian, with both arms crossed - joining the stout volus in the Captain’s cap already standing there.

“Not yet, but it won’t be long now!” He enthusiastically decreed, as his finger motions grew even faster.

“So you CAN fix it, then?” Tarrik asked, in a skeptic tone that concealed a small spur of optimism.

“I’m about to!” Leahr asserted, with an adamant nod, and a voice on the brink of madness, as he continued to punch away at the keys. “Whoever did this is good. VERY good. But I’m better! Oh yes… They’ve thought of everything else… Everything! But I guarantee you they didn’t think of this…! They couldn’t have! There’s just no way!”

“What is it that you’re doing?” Tarrik beckoned.

“I’m writing a virus…”

“A what?!”

“A computer virus…” Leahr elaborated, in response to Tarrik’s outburst, as Kim raised a vexed eyebrow. “I’m gonna bring the whole network down…!”

“What?!” The one-eyed Commander snapped, as he uncrossed his arms, and clenched his hands into fists. “What the hell for?! I told you I wanted you to restore control over the surveillance feeds. I didn’t say I wanted you to kill the whole damn system!”  

“No, no, you don’t understand. This is brilliant!” The quarian techie assured, stopping his work just for a moment, as he glanced back over his shoulder. “See, as soon as I infect the network, the system’s anti-virus protocols will kick in.” He started to explain, while going back to his keystrokes. “As a safeguard, the whole system will go into standby mode. It’ll lock out all unrecognized connections, and scrub the drives in order to purge the infection. Once that’s done, the whole system will reboot itself. And it’ll reset to all the default configurations. Meaning--!” He paused expectantly, waiting for someone to conclude his sentence, which the volus did.

“…Meaning we’d regain control over the surveillance feeds?” He conjectured, questioningly.

“Exactly!”

“Hmph…” Kim grunted, unimpressed. “Well, that all sounds well and good. But I’ll hold my applause ‘til I actually see our camera feeds back online. How much longer is it going to take you?”

“I’m just about to upload the virus now.” Leahr declared, as his keystrokes drew to a halt. He then raised a single pointed finger, and slowly inched it towards the keyboard. “And here… it… goes!” Click.

The screen suddenly displayed a red progress bar, which filled up, like a shot, within the span of about three seconds. Just then, the entire display exploded into a burst of static, before dissipating and going completely blank.

“Perfect!” The burgundy veiled quarian exclaimed, as he leaned back into his chair, with his hands triumphantly clenched into fists. “Next, the system will reboot itself, any second.”

Just then, a voice… “Is that the best you can do…?”

“Huh?!” As Leahr shot forward, in surprise, the holographic screen lit up again with a flurry of snow and static. Gradually, the display started to clear up, and there, at the center of the static, appeared the visage of a rugged, broad shouldered man, donned in a short sleeved, System’s Alliance Navy uniform.

“I delete viruses like that on the way to REAL errors.” The figure asserted, with crossed arms, and a cocky sneer, to match his arrogant stance.

“It’s him!” Kim shouted out, in shock, as he instinctively clenched his hands into tightly balled fists. “It’s Shepard!”

“Shepard?!” Kargas’ bellowing snarl resonated from the front of the bridge, as he turned away from the forward windows, which he had broodingly been peering out of, and bolted towards the back, where the other three stood convened.

“Where are you hiding at, Shepard?!” The one-eyed head of security demanded, as he pointed a rigid finger at the projection. “Afraid to show yourself, in person, you coward?!”

“There’s nothing I’m afraid of!” The uniformed Navy Commander eagerly enthused, in a voice that sounded oddly high pitched, and a little off. “Except maybe the Reapers. Ever seen the size of one those things?”

“What?” Kim questioned, furrowing his brow, with a look of perplexity inherent in his eyes. “What are y--“

“Shepard!” Kargas bawled out, cutting Kim off, as he shoved his way through, like a snow plow, to come stand eye to eye with the man on the screen. He looked up at the uniformed soldier - eyes narrowed and teeth bared, like a rabid dog. “Listen, and listen well, you human piece of excrement! You’re gonna pay for all you have done to my clan and my entire race!” He snarled in a rage, spitting out viscous globules of saliva through his sharp, gritted teeth, as the figure on the screen looked on indifferently. “I want you to take a good look at me, Shepard. Because I am Weyrloc Kargas! And I am the face of your death!”

“Good to meet you!” The projection jovially replied. “I’m Commander Shepard. Alliance Navy.”

“You mock me?!” Kargas snapped - raising a fist, and shaking it at the screen. “You won’t be so arrogant after I’ve--“

“Hey, whoa-whoa…” Kim stepped forward just then, interrupting the krogan, and trying to impede his raving rant. “Wait, hang on a second…” He urged - putting a hand up, as he studied Shepard with a contemplative eye.

“What is it?! I am not about to just stand here, and allow this--“

“Would you just wait!?” Kim angrily snapped, cutting the irate krogan off again. “Look!” He insisted, pointing his hands up at the screen. “Something’s not right, here...”

Kargas turned back up towards the projection, and watched studiously. On the screen, Commander Shepard stood idly by, staring blankly into space, while occasionally bobbing back and forth, or swaying from side to side. Just then, he snapped his heels to attention, and randomly gave a disciplined, militaristic salute, before returning to his idle state.  

“What are you doing…?” Kargas queried, confoundedly.

Kim gave a slow, frustrated shake of his head. “It isn’t him…” He supplemented, in response.

“What are you talking about?! Of course it’s him. A mongrel vorcha could recognize him!”

“No, Commander Kim is correct…” Tarrik chimed in, with a wheeze from his respirator. “Look. Why would he be wearing an Alliance uniform here…? And look at his face… No cuts... No bruises… I watched the broadcast of Shepard’s speech on Earth, after the defeat of the Reapers. His face was bandaged and stitched up. No Kargas, my corpulent friend, I’m afraid we’re staring at a V.I..”

“Impossible! It’s just a trick!” Kargas roared, looking back up at the screen. “Shepard, you squalge’s offspring, I thought you more man than this! Do you think, for one moment, that there is any hole on this ship you can crawl into, where I will not find you?! ”

“Sorry, friend.” Shepard blithely replied. “Can you run that one by me again? Try making your request a little more specific this time.”

“…What?” The seething krogan asked, angered and confused, as Kim casually stepped up beside him. “If it’s specific you want, you putrid varren, then I demand that you reveal yourself, and face me in single combat, coward!”  

“V.I.” Kim suddenly addressed. “Identify yourself.”

“Identification.” The projection abruptly answered. “I am V.I. Model 1.7 AGB Commander Shepard, version 2.1.1.”

“Cycle pre-installed V.I. skins.” The foggy eyed Security Commander then mandated.  

On his cue, the visage of the First Human Spectre on the screen suddenly faded into nothing, before reappearing a split second later - this time donned in a regal looking, navy blue and gold, Alliance Navy dress uniform, with the words “NAVY FORMAL” displayed across the bottom, in big, white letters. Just then, he faded again. When he reappeared, he was wearing a highly recognizable set of dark gray armor, with a red and white stripe running up his right arm, and an N7 insignia stamped on his chest. The words “N7 ARMOR” read across the bottom.

Kargas’ brow furrowed in confusion, as he struggled to understand what was happening - watching Shepard suddenly take the semblance of some sort of shape-shifting automaton. Meanwhile, Leahr’Haan simply sat there at the terminal, slouched down, with his shaking head disconsolately clutched between his hands.

At that moment, the facsimile on the screen reverted back to its original state - wearing a short sleeved, leather breasted, black, blue, and white Naval Uniform, marked with a System’s Alliance insignia on the right chest - “NAVY CASUAL - DEFAULT”.

“See?” Kim stated, with a casual shrug. “It’s a fake.”

Kargas was silent for a moment - his eyes narrowed with skepticism, as he stood looking up at the idle animations of the simulated reproduction of the Savior of the Citadel.

“But… How can this be?” He asked in a low, incredulous tone. “Every V.I. I’ve ever seen has always been so blatantly artificial… This one has his face… The face of a man I’ve sworn to kill… And it speaks just like him.”

“My personality matrix can predict what the REAL Commander Shepard would say with 7% accuracy.”

“Mrrr… Shut up!” Kargas snapped back at the imitation, with a fierce, gravelly growl.

“The son of a bitch is toying with us…” Kim declared, with a sigh and a scowl, as he turned and took a step away from the console.

“My krantt will still fi--“

“This model is currently running in demo mode.” Shepard’s visage enthusiastically interjected, unexpectedly cutting the increasingly riled krogan off. “If you would like to purchase the full version of this model, please see an authorized V.I. retailer.”

“Shut up, I said!” Kargas bawled out again, furiously spewing saliva through the gaps between his tightly gritted, carnivorous teeth, as he spoke.

“Would you care to take a moment to register me? Registration is quick and ea--“

“RAAAAAARGH!”  Before the static laced projection could finish, the Blood Pack leader flew into an unbridled berserker rage.  He interlocked his fingers, clasping both hands together into one, mighty, sledgehammer-like fist, which he raised high above his head, and then proceeded to slam down onto the console, with the booming sound of a thunderclap.

Tarrik hastily backed away, and Leahr’Haan practically flew out of his seat, in a fright - trying to put as much distance between himself and the incensed krogan, who proceeded to pummel the sophisticated equipment to pieces. Repeatedly, he slammed his armored, volleyball sized fists down onto the terminal, denting and smashing it to bits - snarling, and roaring all the while. Sparks and debris gushed out, in all directions, as the corner terminal was reduced to little more than a huddled mass of dented panels, frayed wires, and demolished circuitry.

As his temper grew placid, and his body, fatigued, Kargas’ frenzied strikes slowed to a stop. For a moment he stood there, panting heavily amidst the twisted, sparking remains of his own savagery. At that instant, as he hung his head down over his chest, he felt completely drained - not physically, but emotionally…  

“Fear not, my Lukala…” He said, to himself, in a low, plaintive whisper. “I swear, on my soul, I will avenge you…”

“You know--“ Commander Kim’s snide, sarcastic voice chimed in, just then. “--you could’ve just asked me to switch it off…”

Kargas raised his head back up - his brow clenched in anger, and a livid scowl burning on his face, like a brand. Without a single word more, the apoplectic krogan turned to face the forward windows, and stormed back towards the front of the bridge - breezing past the fog-eyed Security Commander.

“Hmph…” Kim scoffed through his nostrils, with a dismissive shrug, as he watched the temperamental krogan go back to watching the stars, before turning his attention back towards the shaken up quarian.

“So...” The Commander began again, with a condescending tone, and a belittling gaze. “I take it your ‘brilliant’ virus idea didn’t work, huh…?”  

“I-I… Uhm… W-well… N-no…” Leahr stammered, anxious and afraid, as the scrutinizing eyes of the human and volus in the room fell upon him. “It didn’t… I-I-I mean… There’s nothing more I can do…”

“Well you better get your ass moving and try something else. Use one of the other stations.” Kim sternly ordered, waving his hand over the two rows of inert, vacated terminals on the bridge. “We still need those cameras back online.”

“Y-you don’t understand…” Leahr timorously began to explain, bowing his head, and rubbing his hands together anxiously, as if he were washing them. “I can’t fix it! There’s nothing I can do! Whoever did this is a lot smarter than I am… I… I-I’m not… I-I-I can’t… I just…!” As he escalated to the brink of a panic attack, he stopped himself. Leahr closed his eyes, and exhaled a long, drawn-out, shaky sigh - trying to force his anxieties to conform into an uncompromising resolve. Just then, he stood up straight and looked dead-on into the brawny Commander’s eyes. “It can’t be fixed.” He declared, trying to conceal a relentless terror behind his intrepid voice. “I’m sorry.”

“Heh…” Kim chuckled snidely, under his breath, as he raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the right, with a shrug. “You’re sorry… Hmph… Yeah, well I’m sorry too…” He said, as he slowly drew his gleaming, silver handgun from his holster and raised it sideways, before his eyes - admiring it, as he rotated it around in front of his face. “I’m sorry that you’ve outlived your usefulness…”

“Have I?” Leahr rebutted, with a stoic tone, and a bolstered stance, causing the uniformed Commander to raise an eyebrow, and lower his brandished weapon, if only slightly.

“If you wanna kill me, go ahead… Go ahead! Do it! I don’t care anymore!” The quarian barked - showing little fear, despite being overwhelmed with an unfathomable terror, deep inside. “But I promise you, you’ll never get this ship where you need it to go, without me…”

His curiosity enticed, Kim lowered his weapon completely, letting it hang freely, by his side. “Keep talking…”

“…My V.I. still has full control of the ship’s other vital systems.” Leahr elaborated. “And I’m the only one who knows how to work it. I’m the only one who knows how to plot our course, and program the relay coordinates… Without me, you’ll never make it out of Citadel Space… “

Commander Kim sneered, with disdain, as he unwillingly accepted the quarian’s statements as truth. “Hmph… So, I see you’ve got a backbone buried somewhere in that suit, after all…” He scoffed, approaching the quarian, as he raised his weapon, and reattached it to his magnetic holster. “Fine… I suppose I can overlook this little setback - what with my forgiving nature, and all… But don’t forget, you’re in this just as deep as the rest of us…” He affirmed, with a stone-hard look in his eyes, as he stuck a rigid finger in Leahr’s face. “You get us where we need to go, and when this is all over you’ll walk away with your life and your share, just like we agreed. But try to pull something… If you try to screw us… I don’t care if you are the one controlling the ship, I will kill you in a manner you can’t even begin to imagine… Do we understand each other?”

Leahr gulped. “…What’s not to understand?” He assured, in a voice wavering with the fear he was trying desperately to keep hidden.

With their dialogue complete, Commander Kim stepped aside, and tilted his head towards the front of the bridge, motioning for the fear-struck quarian to return to his place at the head console. Not hesitating, Leahr took a step around the one-eyed head of security, giving him a wide berth, as he rushed back towards the foremost station, and quickly sat down.

Immediately upon sitting, Leahr clutched at his chest - feeling his heart racing inside, as he breathed heavily, in and out, trying to calm down. “Oh ancestors…” He whispered to himself, as he bowed his head, trying to normalize his rate of breathing. Just then, a red light, that had been flashing on the console, caught his attention. When he glanced up for a better look, he noticed that a red alert had been logged in the computer. With his agitated state gradually returning to normal, Leahr raised his hand, and clicked on the red, flashing button.

[ALERT LOG]
CONDITION RED - UNSCHEDULED DEPRESSURIZATION
|23:56:39|: OXYGEN BREECH DETECTED ON DECK 16 - LOADING BAY
|23:57:18|: OXYGEN BREECH SECURED ON DECK 16 - LOADING BAY
RED ALERT NULLIFIED - CONDITIONS OPTIMAL

As Leahr read the information that appeared on the screen, to himself, he suddenly realized that this was a likely indication into Shepard’s possible location on the ship.

“Uh… Hey, there’s an uhm… Uh…” He ambivalently called out, raising his head, and turning it slightly, before stopping himself midsentence, and pondering for a moment.  

The quarian’s address fell on deaf ears as far as the krogan went, who merely stood peering listlessly out at the streaking lights outside. But Kim and Tarrik, who had since engaged in their own small conversation, turned to listen - waiting to hear what their so-called ‘tech expert’ was about to say.

“There’s a what?!” Kim angrily demanded, after waiting a few seconds for something to follow.

“Uh… No, nothing…” Leahr assured, with an uneasy shake of his head. “Never mind. Sorry…”

Kim scowled, and rolled his eyes, as he turned back down to the volus in the Captain’s Cap, and continued his conversation. With them more or less occupied, Leahr hunkered down over console screen - trying to obscure what he was about to do, like a high school student trying to cover his test answers from cheating eyes. With a quick look back, over his shoulder, to make sure he wasn’t being watched, Leahr moved his fingers towards a large red button on the console, and clicked it…

[ALERT LOG SUCCESSFULLY CLEARED - ALL ENTRIES DELETED]