ME Fanfic pt2

Chapter 2 – Conversations with the Captain and Crew

Kagg sat in the engineering bay of the Normandy 2 after his formal introduction to Shepard.

~

“Commander, I respect your decision, but I don’t like it.” The black human said as Kagg walked in. “The man is a mercenary. I’m not too fond of mercenaries.”

“In my defense.” Kagg said. “I’ve only played the mercenary for good motives.”

“What do you mean?” Jacob asked.

“This Zareltep has an astounding record with both his race’s military and his race’s military attachment on the Citadel, Mr. Taylor.” A voice said from nowhere before Kagg could respond. It had a female hint to it, but it was clearly mechanical. “He has extensive records of not eliminating non-combatants.”

“What the?” Kagg said, looking around. “Who was that?”

“That would be EDI, our Artificial Intelligence.” Shepard said.

“Indeed.” EDI said, projecting her holographic self for Kagg to see. “It’s nice to meet you, Kagg-Horesh'Larn.”

“That’s gonna take some getting used to.” Kagg said, shaking his head. “But yes. EDI is right. I have yet to have taken out anybody that didn’t pose a treat to me. Also, EDI, just call me Kagg, please. And it is good to meet you as well.”

“An admirable record.” Mr. Taylor. “But that doesn’t mean I trust you any more.”

“Fair enough.” Kagg said with a shrug. “Hopefully you’ll come to see differently, however.”

He then looked at Shepard as Mr. Taylor left.

“Is there any place where I can place my gear?” He asked. “I don’t take up much space, but I prefer to have larger room to work with.”

“May I suggest the hangar?” EDI asked. “It has the most room.”

“Good call, EDI.” Shepard said. “That work for you, Kagg?”

“It does.” Kagg replied. “I’ll get myself settled in quickly.”

~

He was cleaning his weapons, as the last thing he wanted was a weapon malfunction in the field. He looked at his new set of armor. It was more durable than his last set, although it still had to get his personal paint scheme preference.

He saw as Shepard approached and stood up.

“You come down to talk, sir?” He asked.

“I did.” Shepard said. “But please, just call me Shepard.”

“I’ll try.” Kagg said. “But what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I was hoping to start to understand what you are.” Shepard said.

“Alright. What would you like to know?” Kagg replied.

“Well, what exactly is a Zareltep?” Shepard asked.

“Basically, we’re a race that looks so much like you humans that without scans, we’re called humans.” Kagg said. “The main thing that distinguishes us from humans are our eyes.”

“What about your eyes make them stand out?” Shepard asked.

“Well, first, they can be a large spectrum of colors, from black to near white.” Kagg replied. “We also generally have brighter eyes than humans.”

“That is interesting.” Shepard said. “I’m curious, however, what is your race’s story?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t say that right now.” Kagg replied with a shake of his head. “I don’t trust you well enough.”

“Fair enough.” Shepard said. “But what was with your biotics and that warning you gave me?”

“Oh, that.” Kagg said. “Zareltep can be natural biotics. That in of itself is nothing special. However, natural biotic Zareltep are rare. Those that are made are immensely powerful, but the power comes at a price, as the abilities aren’t normally able to be controlled.”

“How do your people make sure that biotics aren’t a threat in galactic society, then?” Shepard asked.

“Well, we originally looked to being taught by various races that had biotic powers, but the time it took to train our people to control them was just WAY too costly.” Kagg said. “However, over time, we managed to generate a serum that suppresses our biotic power.”

“That sounds quite dangerous.” Shepard said.

“It is. But the Zareltep that take it do so willingly.” Kagg said. “However, intense emotions such as pain, sorrow, rage and hatred can override the serum for a short time. Also, the survival instinct can do the same thing.”

“Your people sound really dangerous.” Shepard said.

“We can be. But the serum, while it has to be constantly injected, keeps us in check.” Kagg said. “The rarity of biotic Zareltep also is why we’re not seen as true threats.”

“Fair enough.” Shepard said. “Well, that’s all I really wanted to talk about.”

“Alright.” Kagg said before rotating his neck. “Thanks for the chat. It’s always good to talk to people. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll get acquainted with some of the other crew members.”

“Sounds fair to me.” Shepard said. “Will give them an idea on who they’ll be working alongside.”

“That’s my point.” Kagg said. “I wouldn’t put my life in the hands of somebody I didn’t know. Would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” Shepard said.

“Alright. Well, off I go.” Kagg said.

~

Level 3: Crew Quarters, Main Battery Area

~

Kagg walked into the area housing the Main Battery, to see the turian that had noticed him on Omega looking over a console.

“Hey.” He said, more to catch the turian’s attention than anything.

The turian turned around to look at him.

“Oh, it’s you.” He said.

“Yeah.” Kagg said. “We never really got a proper introduction back on Omega.”

“I know.” The turian said. “Too many hazards to do that.”

“Yeah.” Kagg said, extending his hand. “Name’s Kagg. And yours?”

“Garrus Vakarian.” The turian said, shaking hands with Kagg. “So, you actually managed to get Shepard to hire you.”

“Well, more like recruit, since I don’t want to get paid from this.” Kagg said. “I just wanted in so that I could put my skills to good use and also see some new places.”

“Fair enough, I guess.” Garrus said, nodding. “What did you do in the military, though?”

“I was a general-use soldier.” Kagg said. “I’m utterly deadly with my blades, although I can also handle mid-range combat well.”

“Fair enough. But who all did you work for?” Garrus asked.

“Well, aside from freelance work, I worked in the Zareltep military, as well as a Zareltep force on the citadel.” Kagg replied. “We worked alongside C-Sec, but we didn’t fully get along with them.”

“I know. My superiors thought it was rather unfair that you didn’t have to abide by the same rules and regs as we did.” Garrus said.

“Well, to a point, we didn’t.” Kagg said. “We did abide by our strict code of honor that was applied to the Citadel. It was….difficult, when normally, we would operate with little oversight.”

“Huh.” Garrus said. “Never knew that about your people.”

“Yep.” Kagg said, nodding. “But our military is very much like yours, aside from the little oversight.”

“Yeah. I have heard rumors about your people’s military.” Garrus said. “People were saying that your people don’t have a chain of command. Is that true?”

“Yes and no.” Kagg replied. “We DO have a chain of command, but anything lower than two levels below our generals and captains when talking about our navy, and we lose sight of rank in favor of experience. I’ve seen Private-rank soldiers with more experience than Lieutenant-ranked officers.”

“I see…” Garrus said before his console pinged. “Well, it’s been a good talk, but I should get back to work.”

“I understand.” Kagg said, nodding before he held out his hand. “Duty calls. Hopefully I can catch you when you don’t have such a large work load.”

“Hopefully.” Garrus said, shaking Kagg’s hand again. “Well, see you around.”

“Yep.” Kagg said, turning around and leaving.

~
Level 2: Combat Information Center, Armory
~
Kagg was just walking into the Armory as Jacob was turning around. He had found out the name from EDI. Jacob was the last person he was going to talk to, because of Jacob’s disposition towards him.

“Oh, you’re here.” Jacob said, in a not so nice tone. “What do you want?”

“You know, we don’t have to be enemies.” Kagg said. “Why don’t you care for mercenaries?”

“Mercenaries do things only for money.”  Jacob said, crossing his arms. “That’s why I don’t particularly care for them.”

“Fair enough. But Zareltep aren’t like most mercenaries.” Kagg said. “Yes, we take money, but that’s not why we do the jobs we do.”

“Then why do you guys take contracts, from the colonies no less?” Jacob asked, the tone of hostility still there.

“We do it in the name of just helping people out.” Kagg said. “Well….most of us do, anyway. There are a few that turn from the path most of our people take.”

“Oh, really?” Jacob said, his voice starting to edge towards hostile.

“Look, every race has people that go bad.” Kagg said, his voice showing aggravation. “We’re no different. However, most of our people live by the codes we form.”

“Alright, alright.” Jacob said, his voice not losing it’s edge of hostility.

“It’s fine if you don’t believe me.” Kagg said, turning to leave. “But just know this; My people will lean more towards what is right than what is wrong. If that means going mercenary, so be it.”

Without giving Jacob a chance to respond, Kagg walked out of the armory, his body language clearly showing his aggravation. He got into the elevator with a couple uneasy crewmen and punched in the hangar bay level.