Jenkins

“Shit is right, what killed him was it one of those geth?” Kaidan steps forward to inspect the body when a jostling sound has all of us drawing our weapons towards the pile of storage crates in front of us.

“Somethings moving! Over behind those crates!” Ashley calls it out, revealing the specific location of the sound we had all heard. A human man wearing a green bandanna steps forward towards our group, his hands raised in surrender.

“Wait! Don’t--Don’t shoot! I’m one of you! I’m human.” The man is shaking, likely in fear as we lower our weapons realizing he’s not a threat. All of us but Shepard, who keeps her weapon trained on the man as she speaks.

“Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!” She raises her voice keeping the weapon drawn. The man backs down immediately, lowering his tone and cowering slightly.

“I… I’m sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures.” He is terrified now, unable to take his eyes off the barrel of Shepards shotgun, trained on his forehead. She eventually lets out a huff before lowering the weapon, causing the man to breathe a sigh of relief.

“My name’s Powell. I saw what happened to that Turian. The other one shot him.”

“I need to know how Nihlus died.” Shepard keeps her tone sharp but isn’t threatening the man with a gun any longer, and it seems to make him more than willing to cooperate.

“The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax, but must have figured out something was off. Saren tried to shoot him in the back of the head, but he managed to get out of the way. He fired a couple shots off but Saren just took it without flinching. He didn’t miss the second time.” Shepard gives me a look and I speak up.

“Saren’s the name of another Spectre. He’s a pretty big deal, a couple of the vid series I like are based off his missions actually. The declassified ones anyway. ” I answer, thankfully not having to lie, Saren really was a big deal in the Spectres, and a couple holovids were based of his missions, although I could only imagine they reduced the civilian casualties for the big screen. I leave out that it wouldn't make sense for Saren to be here, or to attack Nihlus. I already know it was him, and why he did it. Might as well let Shepard come to a similar conclusion on her own. She nods in response to my info before turning back to Powell.

“We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?”

“It’s over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. We hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything’s gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn’t been behind the crates I’d be dead, too!” His response is quick, and runs on a little towards the end. Shepard notices the same error in logic I do, why was he hiding behind a bunch of crates before the attack happened? Shepard must have a theory as she speaks once more.

“You’re Cole’s contact here on the docks. For the smuggling ring.”

The man looks like he wants to deny it but the shock of hearing it said so casually isn't something he was prepared for, and he visibly flinches.

“What? No! I mean...what does it matter now? So I’m a smuggler? Who cares? My supervisor’s dead. The whole spaceport is dead. It doesn’t matter now, does it?” He has a point, it doesn't really matter now, but that doesn't seem to be what Shepard is asking for.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“Anything hidden nearby that we could use against the geth?” Ah classic Commander Shepard. Requisitioning supplies as needed.

“A shipment of grenades came through last week. Nobody notices if a few small pieces go missing from the military orders.” He speaks casually now, understanding that hes not going to be arrested for smuggling, and is speaking honestly. That is until Ashley draws her pistol again and begins shouting.

“You greedy son of a bitch! We’re out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?!” Kaidan steps forward lowering her arm that had drawn the gun, but little else. He looks angry with the situation and so does Shepard. I had forgotten about this interaction, so I’m mostly surprised, but feel the same sort of anger as I think about it. The defenders of the colony never stood a chance, but with every advantage they were stripped they died a little sooner, and more civilians suffered for it.

“I never thought you’d actually need those grenades! Who’d want to attack Eden Prime? We’re just a bunch of farmers! How was I supposed to know?” he is on the defensive again, looking more scared of Ashley now, instead of the Commander, and I can’t blame him, she looks ready to rip his arm off.

“Just give me the grenades.”

“They’re yours. Take them. My smuggling days are over. I swear.” The man is perfectly cooperative now, ready to do anything to keep the two angry women in front of him from tearing him to pieces on the spot. I can tell Shepard is angry because she doesn’t leave it at that.

“A lot of marines died here, Powell. Those grenades could have come in handy. If I were you, I’d think of some way to make it up to them.” Her tone is soft, as though giving advice to an old friend, but her eyes reveal the truth. The implication of those words. ‘I know you have more and if you dont hand it over I might just consider you responsible for the death of those men.’ She was damn scary when she wanted to be.

“Yeah. Okay. There is something else I was saving. Could be worth a fortune. Experimental technology. Top of the line. Take it. I don’t need it. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Really. I’m sorry.” He hands over another item, an upgrade for the grenade launcher, modifies the explosive device on launch to explode with more force and energy. Useful to someone like Shepard who excels against enemies out of cover and unprepared.

“Jenkins, fit my launcher with these, I’ll see if our friend here has any more useful intel we could need.” She remove the launcher from her left wrist, tossing it to me along with the upgrade.

“Yes commander.” I catch from the air, without fumbling it. Thank you Jenkins for your improved hand eye accuracy. I pop open the top and it takes me only a few minutes before the upgrade is affixed. I pay half attention to the rest of the confirmation, but it's more just pressing for information we have. The big ship showed up first, the attack came right afterwards and slaughtered everyone in sight. He had only survived as he had gotten lucky and chose to sneak off for a nap right before the ship showed up. The beacon wasn't here as they had moved it down the rail line to the larger docks, where the massive ship had landed. We could take the tram that way, but that's where Saren had gone, so it might not be safe. All predictable stuff, and no really new information, at least not for me.

Shepard finished digging for info right as I finished slotting her upgrade into place, and I tossed it back towards her. She caught it and attached it swiftly, giving me a nod of approval.

“We are moving out, weapons free. If it’s purple and has a flashlight for a head we shoot on sight. If it's Turian we engage with caution. Figure out what's going first, but be prepared for them to be hostile.” We give our nods of approval, and prepare to move out. Before stepping away I lean down to Nihlus’ body. I remove the omnitool upgrade that he had been wearing, pocketing it. I then close his eyelids, and say a quick few words.

“May the spirits guide your rest home, and your body's passage to your family be completed safely and quickly.” The other three had turned back at my words, and were giving me a strange look.

“Turians are spiritual, their bodies are preserved and interred, usually at family tombs. They’ll want to recover his body, and I figured at the very least his eyes should be shut.” They don't respond, but Shepard and Kaidan both give a nod of understanding. Ashley just watches, any greater emotion difficult to read on her face. I stand and move out with my unit, not sparing a glance back. I wasn’t able to save him, but with the omni tool upgrade I recovered we might be able to deal with Saren far easier. Thanks Nihlus, we’ll avenge you, that much I can swear.