Vindicates Chapter 9

Chapter 9 of Vindicates.

## Story

> **Location: Omega Station**
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> **- 2183, Aug 9**
> **Population:** 7.8 million
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> **Orbital Distance:** 2.43 AU
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> **Orbital Period:** 6.9 Earth Years
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> **Total Length:** 44.7 Km
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John Shepard wandered around the bridge of the new Normandy, admiring the new ship and its larger spaces, though he couldn't help but feel... empty. With almost none of the old crew having returned, he was extremely grateful for Joker being back in the pilots seat. He had gotten to know Miranda and Jacob in what little time they had, but he missed his old crew and the atmosphere they gave to the ship. At least he still had his sister to back him up, and this new group tagging along with them. Rhodey had a good idea, essentially the same as his, just on a much larger scale, but it could work.

Samus was happy to be in her own ship again, back in control, but she realized it was also nice having competent teammates to back her up. The view of the ships flying side by side was admirable.

As the tiny fleet of ships approached Omega, Rhodey put the Spectral on auto-pilot for docking, and got out of the pilots seat to check that her teammates were geared up. Sam and Nomad were ready and waiting for her. She then got a hail on her comms which she answered with her helmet;

"It's Commander John Shepard here, where do you want us to meet after we dock?"

Rhodey thought about it for a moment, then decided,

"We don't really need to meet up, we've all got different objectives. I say we split up and cover as much ground as quickly as we can. We'll keep in touch though, so if you do need backup just radio it in. You got that Samus?"

Rhodey received a green light in her helmet indicating that Samus got the message.

When Rhodey's group landed, they radioed in to the other teams. Shepard reported that he had managed to immediately recruit the bounty hunter and mercenary Zaeed Massani, without any qualms. Each team moved on with their objectives. Rhodey asked if they could find Mordin first, whilst she meets a contact in a bar.

She walked into the lounge, and scanned her surroundings. It was there that she saw a man wearing the strange, unfamiliar armour, sitting by a table with his feet rested upon it, with a half empty a bottle of liqueur.

Like a Sore Thumb (SFM) by Herioc107

She approached him "Mitchell Harkman. You're a hard man to find..."

"It's not like I -want- to be found, but your offering price was more than enough for my interest to peak. A Stark has quite a lot to offer."

"You know who I am?"

"It's obvious."

Rhodey pondered the fact for a moment. She knew it was only a matter of time before people started putting the pieces together. The intelligence agencies who she'd been working against would be hot on those rumours. "I'm here to get some information off of you."

"Then you know the drill, payment first. What has your interest that I could help with exactly?"
"So long as it's worth it I'm willing to pay."

"That's what I figured. So, what do you want to know? Keep in mind I can't breach any of my clients' privacy..."

"Nothing like that. I want to know about your travels outside of the galaxy. You're one of the few people in the Milky Way who's left it and returned. I'm also after information about this - " Rhodey held up a moving holographic projection of Paya, the Yautja she'd encountered earlier.

"I found this guy on a Wey-Yu Station, it was infested with-"

"-Xenomorphs. Of course it would be, it's Weyland."

"Right, and-"

"You want to know about the weapon he's wielding."

"... Y'know I'm usually the one doing that."

"Well, I'm assuming you already know enough about the Yautja, he was probably there to clean out the hive. But you come to me, with a Yautja wielding a weapon I haven't seen in years, a weapon that doesn't exist in this galaxy... I know you don't want to know about the Yautja."

"So you know what it is..."

"I will, for about... five thousand Geks"

"Five thousand Covenant Credits just to tell me about what is obviously some kind of plasma sword, technology that exists in the Covenant."

"And here I thought Starks understood capitalism. I'll be on my way then..."

"No, no..." Rhodey brought up her Omni-Tool and transfered the credits.

"Trust me, the information is worth it, and it's not Covenant technology, it comes from a galaxy far, far away from here...." The Arsenal leaned forward and held up a hologram of a person in odd robes holding the same type of weapon the Yautja had. "These guys are called Jedi Knights, they're an ancient order of overly religious monks that protect that galaxy's democratic government. The weapons they wield are 'lightsabers', and last I checked, they were currently at war with the government's Separatists. They have powers, all kinds, mostly-"

"Telekinesis, like biotics?"

"Something like that. Did the Yautja have the same capabilities?"

"The Yautja was able to manipulate physical objects without touching them, and it didn't look like he was using dark matter or a bio-amp."

"Then he's Force-sensitive."

"What does that mean?"

"In this galaxy it's often called it chi. Depends on who you ask sometimes as well; sometimes called life energy that binds everything...creepy yeah? The Jedi can manipulate it, they can use it to do all sorts of things, up to and including telekinesis. I didn't think we had any true Force-sensitives in our galaxy, the closest we have are biotics." Harkman changed the holographic image as Rhodey pondered what he said, "I managed to snatch up some schematics on how to build a lightsaber, but it's going to cost you way more than five thousand credits, and you should know that one of the materials you need can't be sourced from this galaxy, only from its source."

"How do I get to the other galaxy?"

 Harkman simply made the gesture of 'more money'.

Rhodey sighed "Do you take galactic standard credits? Geks are hard to come by for humans, even me."

"That's why I wanted Geks, they're worth more to a human, but for the rest... sure," he replied.

"Both currencies are viable in the Terminus Systems, as well as many others, but this should be enough for everything," she said, as she transfered more credits to his account.

The Arsenal, as Harkman was referred to, looked at his own Omni-Tool and contemplated it for a bit. He whistled at the high numbers, "...Yeah, that'll set me up nicely for the rest of my retirement actually. Here's everything you need to know." He sent her documents, the lightsaber schematics, and a map to an Einstein-Rosen Bridge just outside of the Milky Way. "Oh, and as for that Yautja, I saw him not too long ago, only three levels down. That lightsaber caught my eye, it's been ages since I've seen one of those weapons. Paya is well known around here, he's probably doing a deal with some aliens for the tech he likes to collect, I'm throwing you that one on the house, seeing as you're so generous."

Rhodey made her way down to the lower levels with Nomad and Sam in tow, as she approached a seller's stall, the Jackal who owned it turned to meet her gaze. She exclaimed quite happily, "Rusty!". The bird's head tilted, he was confused, and almost ready for a fight.

"Relax," Rhodey said. "It's me, Stark."

"Oh," replied the bird alien, pleasantly surprised. "We finally get to meet in person. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Is it the good kind of surprise?"

"There's money in it for you, if that's what you mean... I need some information."

"Then it is good, yes, what is it you need?"

"I'm looking for a well known Yautja, last I heard he was not only on this station but this level. His name is Paya."

The Kig-Yar Merchant looked around "You be careful with that name around here, Stark. Paya is a good customer of mine, always brings me valuable gear for reasonable rates. I don't want to lose him - what do you want him for?"

"Just to talk with him."

"Hm... you didn't hear it from me but he usually frequents that bar over there." The Kig Yar pointed across the walkway to what looked like a high-class bar labelled "The Merc and Smirk". The Jackal continued, "It's a place for contract killers to hangout and relax. You're not allowed to start a fight in there, or bad things will happen. Usually if you even get out alive, they'll put a large bounty on your head."

"Thanks Rusty. I'll have some more work for you soon."

When the trio entered the bar, Rhodey's scanners immediately set sights on Paya, who in turn had spotted them. As the trio approached, the Yautja remained seated, then began speaking in its mother tongue.

"Why have you followed me here?"

"I never got to say thank you for what you did, for helping us."

"There is more to why you came here."

Nomad and Sam looked at each other and shrugged, unable to understand the conversation, but by judging by the Yautja's body language they could tell it wasn't hostile. Rhodey was next to talk

"I came here to talk to you about the work I do, and I was wondering if you were interested in joining us..."