Mass Effect II: Reckoning

[Cyborg Ninja]

Rogue knew the VI was lying the second she started speaking. She was either working for the enemy or was being forced against her will to. He felt Shepard get much closer to him. Her next words were soothing to him, this was probably due to her being so close.

 

"Wow she's right next to me" said the organic voice in his head.

 

"That filthy organic doesn't have feelings for you and you shouldn't care" said the synthetic voice in his head.

 

"Is she lying?"

 

"Its quite obvious, relax I got got a back up plan," Rogue whispered back.

 

Rogue turned to the VI once more speaking in binary again.

 

"0101010101010101010101010100001010101010101010101010101010101000010101010101010101010111010101010101010101010101010101010101010"(Translation)

 

"My mission is to bring these useless organics in dead or alive and claim the artifact in the name of the Reapers so I'll ask you again. Where is the Prothean artifact?!?!."

[Tysyacha]

Ona cleared her mechanical 'throat' and began speaking rapidly in binary to Rogue. "The Prothean artifact, sir, is ironically hidden in plain sight. The VeriTech corporation, which makes highly-advanced surveillance and monitoring equipment, thought that a Prothean znamya was just a flagpole. being mere organics and not synthetics like us. They did not realize the worth of what they had found in the rubble here on Eden Prime. Being primarily interested in the practical value of such a flagpole, they rigged it up with their emblem: a black V in the shape of binoculars, with staring eyes. Take the znamya, by force if you have to, and view what is on the mesh screen. It will help point you in the direction of the Reapers, and I hope that all goes well with your mission, sir." Ona smiled and turned to the others.

 

Shepard smiled back and motioned for Rogue, Bastion, Liara, Lux, and Kallic to follow her around the corner of the nearest wall. "What did she say?"

[Cyborg Ninja]

The VI was much more cooperative with Rogue this time thinking he was still loyal to the geth and the Reapers. He now knew where to go, it was up to Shepard to lead the way.

 

He responded to her in binary again,

 

"01010101010101010101010101010101010110" (Translation)

 

"You haved served the Reapers well, I shall put in a good word for you."

 

He followed her and the others around a corner.

 

"We're looking for The VeriTech corporation. They're using the artifact as some type of flagpole, it will be easy to spot," Rogue responded to the admiral. He then looked over at Kallic and whispered to him.

 

"Maybe next time "slave"arian."

[Master_Archon]

"Was that supposed to insult me?" Kallic whispered back rather flatly, not really caring about what Rogue called him, because Kallic knew that Geth never took prisoners, so Salarians never made, "better slaves", or whatever it was Rogue had said to him earlier.

 

But something Rogue didn't know was the speed at which his Omnitool, which he had kept active, had translated the binary speech, and though the conversations with the VI were disturbing at best, they were nothing to get worked up about, or show Shepard...for the moment.

[Tysyacha]

"VeriTech, eh?" mumbled Admiral Shepard, scratching her head for a moment. She had never been a fan of corporations, especially the ones that were well-known across several planets, but they kept her alive and in good armor. "I'm not their number-one customer, but then again I'd never want to be. I miss the old days, when I was still a military recruit and privacy and individual freedom hadn't gone the way of the late Saren. I guess we should head out after taking some long decontamination showers, from what 'Ona' told us."

 

Everyone else agreed, especially Lux Ixlee and Liara, and so they nodded and headed out of the Eden Prime Spaceport Reception Area, away from its green and unfriendly VI kiosk. However, out of the corner of her eye, Shepard saw something else that was green--green and tall, and quite muscular as well...

 

"It can't be true," she stammered, stopping in her tracks (but luckily out of everybody else's way so that they wouldn't collide with her backside again.) "Ne mozhet byt'!" She started walking, almost sprinting, toward the figure who appeared to be a Turian. The others followed, keeping up with their Admiral's frenzied pace even as they had no idea why she was in such a hurry. All except for Liara, who hoped and prayed to her Goddess it was...

 

"Garrus?" asked Shepard. "Garrus Vakarian? After all this time, is it really you?"

[HigherPower]

Garrus took a deep breath. Staring deep into Shepard's eye. After ten seconds of silence all he could say was... "Commander..." Trying to keep it as formal as he could, but deep down, he knew that he was excited to see her.

 

"Yeah, I could've finished half my cigarrette in the time it took you to say "commander"." Snake grunted, but Garrus seemed to ignore him.

[Tysyacha]

Shepard saluted Garrus formally, and then, after so many sleepless nights of wondering, of worrying whether he was still alive or not, threw her arms around him in a big hug. The newcomers all stared, wondering what the occasion was for displaying so much raw emotion, but Liara smiled knowingly. "An old comrade," she murmured to the others.

 

"I--I thought you might be dead..." stammered the Admiral, but she quickly second-guessed herself. "Knowing you, however, I suppose I should have known better!"

 

"Excuse me," said a male voice near them, belonging to a man smoking a cigarette, "but who the hell are you, and how do you know Garrus?" Wrinkling his nose, he added, "And what's that smell? Did you accidentally forget to decontaminate before venturing here?"

[HigherPower]

"Its good to see you again Commander. Or should I say Admiral?" said Garrus. He turned to Snake and introduced them. "Shepard, this is David, or Solid Snake, he's famous for quelling the WARHOUND terrorist threat and the battle tank ordeal. David, this is Com- Admiral Shepard. The old friend I was talking about. She's a spectre."

 

Garrus looked around and also noticed Dr. Liara T'Soni "And this is another friend of mine, Dr. Liara T'Soni."

 

"Aww god, more Spectres." Snake grunted.

[Cyborg Ninja]

"Was that supposed to insult me?" Kallic whispered back rather flatly

 

Rogue was surprised by his remark for that was suppose to insult him. Rogue had to take into consideration he had been deactivated for two years and always brought any injured organic he faced in combat back as a prisoner which was quite odd for a Geth to do. They were on their way to clean themselves or something like that, Rogue was quite sure it was the same thing as getting oiled and polished except for organics. Instead of continuing on their path Shepard stopped and turned around and walked towards what looked like a Turian. Rogue confirmed the creature was a Turian when they got close enough to him. He hated turians, in fact he hated them more than he hated humans. He was glad Saren was dead he felt the geth should be able to think on their own not take orders from someone that wasn't geth. Rogue did tolerate and actually liked the other organic leader they had, Benezia T'Soni. She was much like Rogue in that she too was forced under Saren's rule. He had forgotten all about Benezia after being deactivated. He remembered actually talking to the Matriarch multiple times, well she just did the talking Rogue listened and would try to respond in binary. She knew Rogue was different perhaps she was some of the reason he was different. The only time they would talk was when she could break free from Saren's control but that was only for a few minutes. His train of thought was broken by Liara.

 

"An old comrade,"

 

It was then he remembered his last conversation with Benezia, it was about her daughter...Liara. He played back the memory in his head and tried to remember what she had last said to him.

 

"Oh its you again... I need a favor from you. My daughter Liara... she's not on the same side as us. I doubt you'll live that long to see her, but if you do be the one to finish her and make sure she doesn't suffer."

 

Rogue was no longer part of the geth and was on the same side as Liara. Killing her did not make sense at this point but he still wanted to honour Benezia's request. Under the Kill Shepard goal in his brain he inserted a second one... Protect the Matriarch's daughter. He now faced Liara and bent down on one knee and took her left hand.

 

"Daughter of Benezia, I shall make it my new goal to insure your safety and keep your mother's spirit going through you. Your mother helped me and now I will do the same."

[Tysyacha]

"I'm glad to see both of you," Shepard responded, shaking first Garrus's hand and then Snake's. "We five are on a mission to hunt down and destroy some synthetic machines of which you know quite well--the Reapers. They still seem to have a beef with us organics, and they intend to wipe us out before we do the same thing to them. If you two are not engaged on a mission currently..." The Admiral trailed off, waiting for either Garrus or Snake to respond.

[HigherPower]

"The actuall mission is to make sure that I become a Spectre..." Snake began "...which Garrus hasn't been to kind about. But all we're doing is finding out why VeriTech, ExoGeni and the pompous corps are here. So..."

 

"We'd be glad to help you again." Garrus interrupted "We can catch up with each other later though. We've been making minimal progress in our investigations. What have you found out?"

[Tysyacha]

At Rogue's announcement, Liara blushed, both humbled and honored by the geth's vow of loyalty. "I--I am honored to accept," replied the asari, "and yet I don't quite know what to say. My mother was...quite taken by Saren, in more ways than one. I suspect I shall come to need your protection, for though I am a powerful biotic, I'm not the best at combat, so to speak." She made a gentle move to "polish" the top of Rogue's "head". "Thank you."

 

"All right, let's cut the jibber-jabber and get to the point. We need serious decontamination here," grumbled Lux, "and unless you want to 'sic' Ona on us again, I suggest we hop to it." Finally, the organics headed for the showers, and the synthetic waited patiently, downloading updates to his framework.

 

When all of them emerged, clean and invigorated, Liara had a rather unearthly glow about her. "That refreshed me well, thank you, Yery," she smiled.

 

Yery?! What was this? The Admiral's name was Yery?! As in that upside-down-"PI"-looking letter that a rogue state called "Russia" had used back on Earth?! That wasn't the only thing that was strange about what Liara had just said. The Admiral didn't look like she was about to make Liara do push-ups for her lack of formality, either...This 'Yery' was an odd duck.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Rogue followed his organic team mates to be decontaminated but waited outside for them when they all went in. He leaned against the wall and waited paitently for them to come out but it seemed like hours. He booted up CHAOS and decided to give himself some updates. He updated his unarmed combat, long range combat, and his tech. When the updates finished he put CHAOS into sleep mode and waited some more. He looked and saw a small creature eating some kind of fruit. The creature looked up at Rogue but didn't seem to fear him.

 

"So cute...," Rogue said pulling out his pistol. He fired at the creature killing it instantly, "and yet so worthless." Rogue placed the pistol at his side again.

 

Rogue walked over to the creature's body and felt slight pity for it. It never even saw its own death coming. The Admiral would have not liked him shooting a creature for no good reason. Back on the topic of the Admiral he felt unsure of whether to kill her or something else, but for the time being he felt he should be nicer... to all the crew. He updated his personality by updating caring and kindness, and for his other half he updated mean, brutal, and cruel. He looked up and spotted some flowers. He decided to try to gain the women members' favor, so he picked three flowers and waited for the group to return.

 

"That refreshed me well, thank you, Yery,"

 

Rogue looked up and saw that the group had returned from their decontamination. He walked up to Shepard, Liara, and yes even Lux presenting each of them with a flower.

 

"This is my way of saying thank you," Rogue said cooly.

 

"If that doesn't make them love you, then I don't know what will... excellent manipulation," laughed the synthetic voice in his head.

[Tysyacha]

Shepard was touched. "Flowers? From a geth? This is certainly one of the best surprises I've gotten in the last two months!" She beamed at Rogue. As for Lux and Liara, they were certainly surprised, too, but Lux had a rather odd look on her face that seemed to say, "What the hell?" Apparently, she was not used to receiving such quasi-romantic overtures from geth, either.

 

"Speaking of surprises," continued the Admiral, "it's time we paid the good people at VeriTech an unnannounced visit. I wonder how they'll react when we tell them we want the flagpole that stands outside their headquarters."

 

"They'll probably laugh us out of the building," said Lux dryly, "after they have us all escorted out by security." She, like Shepard, was no big fan of large corporations, seeing as many of them had been her targets during her days as a member of Risa de Muerte. "That's what I think will happen."

 

"Got any better ideas?" asked Shepard, placing a hand on her right hip.

[Cyborg Ninja]

"Got any better ideas?"

 

Rogue actually thought of an idea that would benefit the group and him as well.

 

"If I can suggest an idea, I'll go into the base and distract the guards while you get the artifact."

 

Rogue really just wanted to shoot anyone that was in the building but hopefully Shepard would like his idea. At this point he ignored the organic voice in his head and went back to his synthetic self. If he was going to kill organics he wanted to be his synthetic self. He waited for Shepard's response hoping she would say yes.

[HigherPower]

"If I can suggest an idea, I'll go into the base and distract the guards while you get the artifact."

 

"I wouldn't risk someone with a flashlight for a head doing an infiltration mission. Why don't you let me go?" told Snake, lighting yet another cigarrette.

 

"Maybe your smoking is just as noticeable?" replied Garrus. Snake responded with a growl.

[Tysyacha]

"I'll tell you what," suggested Shepard. "The znamya flagpole is outside, obviously, and there will be many security guards patrolling the perimeter, but there will also be a bunch of people inside the VeriTech headquarters wondering what the heck is going on if they happen to see us.

 

"That's why we need a twofold strategy. Rogue? Garrus? Snake? You three are a geth, an Infiltrator, and a smuggler, and that's why I think both of you would be great securing the perimeter in our favor. Ixlee, you go with them, because if things get nasty (which I hope they won't), you've got enough gall and guts to take any hostile targets down, just like the others do." Lux nodded, smiling and saluting the Admiral with genuine respect.

 

"The rest of us will be part of a 'research team', which is not a bald-faced lie because we are trying to do some research. Kahne, you and and I'll do the talking with the receptionist, the VeriTech managers, the indoor security guards, and anyone else who comes along. We're probably the best at tact and diplomacy, or 'schmoozing', out of the whole squad. Liara? I'd like you to see if you can sneak in to the main server room and access any computer consoles. Part of our job is to expose any corruption that might be used to serve or get in league with the Reapers, and we don't want Reapers spying on us." Dr. T'soni gave an 'aye, aye, Commander' and saluted. "Kallic? You salarians are second to none at this espionage stuff, and I'd like you to wander the hallways and see how much VeriTech spies on its own staff. Knock the security cameras out, if at all possible, and check out anything odd that you spot. Even file cabinets are to be considered odd in this place."

 

Shepard cleared her throat. "Sorry if it seems like I'm not giving you all any choice in the matter," she said. "Would anyone like to be reassigned?"

[HigherPower]

Snake threw his cigarrette on the ground and put it out with his foot. "I don't usually like working with other people but I don't think I have any more relevant say in the matter."

 

"We got it Comman- Admiral." Garrus finished.

[Cyborg Ninja]

"You three are a geth, an Infiltrator, and a smuggler, and that's why I think both of you would be great securing the perimeter in our favor. Ixlee, you go with them, because if things get nasty, you've got enough gall and guts to take any hostile targets down, just like the others do."

 

Rogue did like the sounds of getting to secure the perimeter however he did not want to be near the turian.

 

"If I may suggest another idea seeing that the base will be rather big, is that we have Snake and Garrus take the left side and Lux and I will take the right side to make the perimeter search go faster."

 

Rogue really had no idea what kind of person Snake was like but he was with Garrus when they got here so maybe Shepard would approve of this idea as well.

[Tysyacha]

"Agreed. We don't want to concentrate only on our right flank while leaving the left in the lurch." Shepard nodded. "At this point, let's move out for VeriTech headquarters."

[HigherPower]

Snake reached into his cigarrette box to find that he had none left. "And if they don't have any smokes, it'll be hell to pay." he grunted. "Let's get going."

[Tysyacha]

VeriTech, Inc. was definitely not the sort of place where you'd expect to find any kind of artifact, much less a Prothean one. The design of its corporate headquarters was perfectly squat, perfectly drab, and perfectly utilitarian. The only thing of interest about the whole complex was the znamya flagpole, which would have seemed perfectly ordinary under other circumstances. It betrayed no clue of its real purpose, humbly bearing the nondescript standard of its owner--a white flag with a black V, lying on its side so that it appeared to be a pair of binoculars staring at you.

 

"All right. Follow me, 'research team', and 'outside team'--capture the flag!"

[Master_Archon]

As the 'research' team and 'outside' teams moved apart, the 'research' team heading toward the entrance of the Veritech building. Kallic approached Liara, speaking to her in a low tone.

 

"As the Admiral and Kahne distract everyone, I'll help you get to the main server. And here, a gift, to help you more easily hack the system, seeing as I know you're not the most adept at computers,"

 

((which is true, because in the Mass Effect game Liara's sole capabilities are her biotics, I know because she's a scientist she'd have some tech skill in a realistic sense...but a little help never hurt))

 

Kallic activated his blue and violet hued Omnitool, putting in some commands and then his Omnitool flickered and disappeared, as if it's power just drained. "There, I have just transfered my Intelligent VI into your Omnitool, just activate the Omnitool when you link it to the main server, and the VI will automatically transfer into the system. All you have to do is give it some commands, and then do what you'd normally do when accessing the server, the VI should help you, along with transfer or store any relevant data that you ask for it to retrieve," Kallic told Liara, briefing her on the use of his beloved IVI.

 

"Um, sorry Liara, I didn't mean to insult your talents or skill in any way, you don't have to use the VI if you don't want to," Kallic told the Asari, realising his blatant actions all too late.

******

As the 'research' team headed toward the doors, Bastion also did a similar action to what Kallic had done with Liara, only with Shepard, that is, he approached Shepard, and spoke to her in a low tone, so as not to attract the attention of the ever vigilant 'Mother Hen' Kallic, who had appointed himself, in Bastion's eyes, as Shepard's personal guard, who always seemed to get in the way when Bastion wanted to -how to best put it?- 'Bond' (you could say) with the Admiral. Not to mention Bastion saw a strange yet, to his eyes, 'beneficial', relationship between Shepard and Liara, which could either hinder, or help him, so keeping in a low tone not only kept Kallic's gaze away, but Liara's as well.

 

Bastion smiled affably at Shepard as he spoke, "so, you think I have the best diplomatic skills? I'm flattered you would say so Miss Shepard. You are a Miss, are you not? Of course you are, you're far too young and beautiful to not be a single, unmarried woman," the suave man said, trying to flatter the Spectre woman.

 

"So, Yery, I can call you that, right? Yery? Of course I can, why not, you have no reason, not to let me call you that. That is a nice name by the way, better than mine, yuck, just listen to it, Bastion, horrible, my parents must not have been the best at choosing names I guess. But as I was saying, I appreciate your confidence in my skills, I really do, not many women as sharp, and as smart as you trust a guy like me, especially with 'diplomatic' situations. Thanks," Bastion said to Yery, the last few words/sentence he said sounding purely sincere, and actually, they were, and although Bastion was still playing his 'Get-The-Girl(s)' game, he really was thankful of the Admirals trust in his abilities, because in Bastion's long hard life, he'd always been alone, and no one had ever trusted him with anything other than a simple job of 'Kill-The-Warlord/Crime-Boss/ Etc.', he was glad to have someone trusting him, even if he was just trying to ((forgive my French)) get in her pants.

 

One thing Bastion was doing that was not all too good, was placing his hand on the Admiral. First he had placed it on her shoulder when he first spoke to her. The second time around he'd slowly lowered said hand to her back, between her shoulder blades. his next attempt would be her lower back, though, let it be reiterated, an attempt.

 

"Soooo, how close are you and Liara? you've gotta be good friends at least, considering you guys are apart of the original crew of the 'Normandy', and you've probably been through some tough scrapes together," Bastion questioned, his hand yet again lowering to Shepard's lower back, but as soon as he got his hand to her lower back he found himself being hurled into the ground, face-first.

 

Kallic was holding Bastion to the ground, his foot pressing into the small of the man's back, one hand holding Bastion's hand and arm in a painful twisted position, while Kallic's other hand held onto Bastion's hair-knot, holding his head back in yet another strange, and quite painful position.

 

"OW OW, HEY!!! Wad'I do, wad'I do!!?" Bastion half sputtered half wheezed out.

 

"You were reaching for Shepard's shotgun ((assuming she's in full gear)), you were attempting to kill her and escape, weren't you, prisoner!?" Kallic spat out vehemently. Bastion's eyes roved around frantically as he heard what Kallic assumed he had been doing, which was actually the opposite of what he had been attempting to do, which was simply lower his hand one more time to ((yet again, pardon my French)) 'cop-a-feel'. The reason Bastion was so frantic when he heard Kallic's assumptions was because he knew the Salarian would kill him if he didn't justify himself, and quick.

 

"I, uh, I, was attempting to...grab Shepard's tush," Bastion muttered in a barely audible voice, rather embarrassed and ashamed (surprisingly) to say so; simply because he knew if Shepard heard his real intentions, well, all of his work to get on the Admiral's good side would go straight down the drain, thus meaning he'd have a 'Game Over' and would have to start all the way back at 'Level1'.

 

Unfortunately, Kallic heard Bastion, and wasn't willing to let him get away with his actions that easy. "What was that, I couldn't here you, how about speaking louder," Kallic said, emphasizing his last word.

 

"I...was....attempting..." Bastion hesitated, but then he sighed, it was tell the truth, or get his head beaten in on the ground by an over-protective Salarian. "....to grab Shepard's tush," Bastion said, his last words spoken with an air of broken pride.

 

"Oh, now that's not what we professionals do in the military, and since your with professionals, and in the military now, you're going to have to pay," Kallic said, menacingly.

 

"How so?" Bastion asked gasping for air.

 

"Oh, I don't know, I think Shepard should decide the punishment, but first, you need to apologize," Kallic stated, Bastion whimpering as he heard what he had to do; he had never had to apologize to any woman for his actions in the past, to do so would destroy his self-esteem, not to mention his (self-known) reputation, and to top it off, most likely crush his (perverted) spirit, and Kallic knew this, he knew just how to handle these situations, he knew how to quell insubordination (if it could be called that). Kallic jerked Bastion's head to the side, so he would be staring straight up at Admiral Shepard. Bastion's eyes looked everywhere but at her, but no matter how hard he tried, he could still see her staring at him out of his peripheral vision.

 

"Come on!" Kallic barked, jerking Bastion's head to cause him to cooperate.

 

"I, uh, I'm, er, s-s-s....sor...I'm, sorry, Admiral Shepard, it won't happen again," Bastion said, his voice fading off at the end, his last bit of pride and dignity crushed, his spirit being broken right along with them.

 

Kallic released Bastion, who lay face down on the ground, not moving. Kallic saluted to Admiral Shepard, "I'm thoroughly sorry for that display ma'am, but I thought he was reaching for your weapon at first, and when I heard his real intentions, I just could not let them slide. I recommend you give him a proper punishment," Kallic told Shepard, turning back to Liara.

 

"I'm also sorry you had to see that, but if you please, we are at the entrance of the building, and I think it best if we slip in and try to get to the main server," Kallic said to Liara, Kallic then turned and entered the complex, not waiting for a response from either of the women.

 

((Sorry for that strange display Tysy, but you needed something to get this RP livened up and back into action.))