by Colin Cook
For the next few minutes I began explaining to the group everything that had happened, starting from the beginning with my arrival at Dr. Michel's clinic, all the way to the
end with the explosive death of Kurath.
After I'd finished, it still took a few seconds of stunned silence before Alec and Yoda managed to speak up.
"Stargate and Dune…brought into the Star Wars universe?!" Alec asked in extreme astonishment. Yoda seemed just as taken aback as Alec, even if he had no real idea
what Stargate, Dune, and Star Wars were.
(Yeah, still gotta get around to telling him about that last one)
"Darth Sidious and his rule defeated?" Yoda asked in a stupefied voice, as if even his trained 900-year-old mind couldn't possibly fathom it.
"A unified Jaffa Armada being aided by legions of Sardaukar Terror-Troops? Conquering that entire galaxy in just two years?" the Guardian posed again, still just as
astonished as he had been before.
"An Empire spanning seven universes?" Yoda asked immediately afterward, more to himself as he stroked his chin in worried thought.
"Go back to the part again about Stargate and Dune…being brought into the STAR WARS UNIVERSE!"
"Guys, guys! I'm just telling you what Kurath told me. I've got no idea how this could be possible or if he was even telling the whole truth," I began saying quickly, raising
my hands up in defense against the barrage of questions the two were throwing at me.
"The simple fact that he was a living Jaffa, carrying a living Goa'uld symbiote, already in charge of an assassination plot should be enough truth for us to believe that we
may now have a serious problem on our hands. And what about his Master, this Lord Viraden character?" Alec began saying to all of us, even to the horde of attentively
listening Replicators. I could only shrug and shake my head in defeat at that last question.
"I have now real idea, I thought the name sounded familiar but I can't remember where I've heard it before. Maybe this Viraden was some kind of villain in a movie or
novel I looked over when I was young and now the ring has made him flesh and blood, just like it did for the Predator and the Xenomorphs," I suggested grimly, lifting up
my right hand to briefly gaze at what was visible of the ring through the small burn holes in the finger of my glove. Immediately Alec began shaking his head, an obvious
frown of uncertainty on his face as he thought it over.
"No, that wouldn't make sense. If the ring did bring this Viraden guy to life from some obscure memory of yours, how could he have already carved out an Empire from a
group of completely unrelated universes? You said that Kurath mentioned he had been living on Coruscant for nearly ten years after the Jaffa and the Sardaukar besieged
it; that means that Lord Viraden was already alive and causing trouble throughout the cosmoses at least ten years before you even found the ring in the first place."
I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance, a light sting flaring up from the spot Tali zapped.
"I thought about it on the way back here but my conclusions just kept on getting more and more confusing. I am however willing to bet money on Shepard running into
more of Viraden's goons after he learns that his three assassination attempts all failed."
"Well we've still got the Corsica, we've now got the band back together, and Jango is…" Alec began listing off, indicating the ship, the Replicators, and the three of us
before turning back to Yoda with an expectant look on his face.
"In the medical chamber he is," the Master answered with a point of his finger over to one of the doors on either side of the elevator.
"…In Intensive Care. So why don't we just launch the ship and follow after the Normandy once Shepard finally leaves the station to go after Saren?" Alec suggested
eagerly back to Polly and I.
"Believe me I would love to do that, but do you have any idea how to track a prototype Alliance Frigate through a Mass Relay?" I posed up to him with a wince as I took
my hand away from my nose, feeling more throbbing from the bruising along my arms as I moved my muscles slightly.
"Or better yet, do you have any idea which planet Shepard is going to go to first, or what he's going to do in between each of those stops? You said it yourself Alec, we
need a way of keeping tabs on him or else we'll be blindly searching all over the galaxy for any sign of where he'll be going next."
Alec was at first silent, opening and closing his mouth hesitantly as the realization struck him.
"Well…uhh…I guess that does…" he began with a few half nods of defeat.
"Exactly. We can't leave quite yet until we've found out where the Normandy will be going," I interrupted with a low nod of indication that sealed my point. Alec threw up
his hands and gave an exasperated breath as he stepped away from the ceiling/floor support.
"Alright then, please All-Knowing One, pre-tell what this plan that you've developed for tracking Shepard's whereabouts throughout an entire galaxy is?" Alec prompted to
me with a dramatic bow of mock reverence. I gave an involuntary smile at his gesture, causing me to wince again in minor pain before I raised two fingers to my ear.
"Actually it was Haxon's idea this time. Would you mind explaining it to them so it saves me the pain of talking too much," I commented to the Guardian before turning
my attention to the A.I.
"Not at all," Haxon answered as Alec, Yoda, and the Replicators grouped closer around me to hear the A.I. better. Raising my right forearm, I pressed a button on the side
of my black armoured gauntlet, one that slid open a very small compartment connected to a short barrel that extended outward. Within this compartment was a small
short ammunition belt of darts, containing three sections made up of about five darts, which created fifteen in total.
"This is a cloakable listening dart, one that is capable of sticking to any surface and picking up on nearby voices or conversations within twenty feet of its microphone,"
Haxon explained as I held up one of the darts for everyone to see before placing it on the table in front of Polly.
"And I take it from the name it can go invisible?" Alec asked rhetorically as some of the Replicators craned their bodies up from the floor to see well. Reaching back into
the compartment, I took out another dart that looked slightly smaller then the first.
"This is a tracking dart, perfectly accurate within two feet of its intended target, and capable of being picked up within 1000 feet of its corresponding launcher, in this case
Axel," he continued as I placed this dart next to the first.
"So I take it that the plan is for us to attach these somewhere on Shepard or one of his crew so that we can listen in on what they're saying to each other?" Alec quizzed
as he looked down on the two devices.
"You got it," I answered with a nod.
"And I think I've already found a hole in that plan. If you attach those to somewhere on his armour, they'll simply get left behind in Shepard's locker whenever he changes
into his normal clothes on the Normandy. We'd only ever hear what he says after he'd already landed on which ever planet he goes to first." I smiled mischievously as Alec
pointed out this flaw, having already come up with a way to counter it.
"You're right, that would be a pretty bad hole in the plan, but there's another way we can plant it on him," I said. Alec frowned at this, a confused look creeping into his
eyes.
"Well I'm pretty sure he or any of his squad-mates might feel a sharp tingling sensation if you tried firing it into their necks," he answered sarcastically. I laughed at this,
feeling amused that he still hadn't figured out my solution yet.
"That would be a problem too, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm suggesting
that we turn both of these into a single mobile tracking unit, capable of remaining
hidden and within twenty feet of Shepard at all times." Now I had Alec really confused, causing both he and Yoda (who had been forced to jump up onto the table and
stand behind Polly to see properly) both looked back and forth between the two darts and myself.
"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Alec asked.
"This was the part I came up with. With the Replicators' advanced capabilities, I think they can basically combine these two darts and give it a little pair of legs, that way it
pretty much becomes…" I began, causing Alec's eyes to widen and one of his trademark grins of revelation to spread across his face.
"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
With a grin that very nearly rivaled that of Alec's, I turned my head down to Polly and Sparky, the second which had just crawled up onto the table top next to his red and
silver brother.
"Guys, we need these two darts combined into a single casing. We also need it to have legs and a working mind so that it can stay hidden and on Commander Shepard at
all times, both on his away-missions and even on the Normandy," I began saying to the two spiders, which were looking up and listening carefully to my every word.
"I want you to turn these darts into a miniature Replicator to keep tabs on him."
Polly and Sparky seemed to flinch in surprise, as if the idea shocked them.
"It needs to be able to still cloak itself, transmit Shepard's location, and pick up on any words he says to the rest of his crew, while at the same time always staying
undetected. You think you can do it?" I asked sincerely down to the two spiders. Polly turned to Sparky and began engaging the other in a conversation of hisses and low
screeches, debating over the proposition. After a few quick seconds the spiders suddenly turned back to me, both of them nodding their bodies up and down excitedly.
"Alright! Lets stand back and watch the magic happen!" I said with a clap of my hands as Yoda, Alec, and I all inched away from the duo. Both spiders took up positions
opposite of each other on either side of the two darts, crouching down low to the surface of the table. As Polly began heating up his front pincers, Sparky began
scratching deeply into the table's metal top, scraping up small fragments from it with the sharp ends of his front legs and sweeping them next to the darts. Then, after
both Replicators had brought their pincers up to full power, they set to work dismantling the two darts. A bright flair of light and a few sparks flashed out as whatever
advanced energy flowed from their bodies carefully broke apart the darts into near microscopic Replicator blocks and re-assembled their fine inner-makings back together
into one frame, adding in the small metal fragments provided by Sparky and an additional sliver of material taken from the tip of Polly's left leg.
After several tense seconds of waiting, in which the rest of us had to shield our eyes from the bright light flaring in between the two, Polly and Sparky finally finished their
work and backed a few steps away from the final product. Eagerly all of us, even several of the Replicators waiting patiently on the floor, scrambled over toward the table,
bringing our heads or bodies close together over top of the steaming spot the others had been working at like some intense pre-game Football huddle!
"Is this it?" Alec asked with a slightly confused frown, the tops of his, mine, and Yoda's heads all touching each other in a weird triangle as we looked down on the small
black device. Just as I had hoped the two darts had indeed been fused together into one single body, one that looked more akin to a small-caliber bullet then a dart. For
another tense second we all said nothing, waiting with baited breath for the dart to do something.
Suddenly it shuddered, giving a miniature metallic groan before four very small curved legs sprouted out from the underside of its body at its front and back!
All of us reared back in surprise as the tiny Replicator Dart picked itself up and stretched its limbs like a small animal coming out of a nap, followed by a few shaky steps as
it became accustomed to crawling around.
"IT'S ALIVE! ALIIIVE!" I announced dramatically in the classic voice of Dr. Frankenstein, raising my arms high for greater effect.
Both Alec and Yoda looked over at me with cocked eyebrows at my sudden outburst.
"I have always wanted to say that," I said to them with a wide grin and a gentle shrug to keep my bruises from inflaming any further.
"It's a bit bigger than I was expecting," Alec remarked after closely inspecting the tiny creature scurrying in circles in front of him as I offered the flat of my palm down to
the machine. Immediately the Replicator Dart moved onto and nested itself within the center of my gloved palm, curling its legs back into the sides of its body and going
silent once again.
"It is, but its still small enough to fit properly. When I get close to Shepard it should still fire out and latch on to him like its suppose to," I said as I carefully placed the Dart
into the small ammunition compartment and slid it firmly into place within my gauntlet's barrel.
"Which brings me to another issue in your plan; how exactly are you going to get close enough to Shepard to shoot this onto him?" Alec asked with a brief hand gesture
to my gauntlet as the barrel retracted back and disappeared within it.
"After I saved Tali she promised that she would hand her evidence over to Shepard, which means all he has to do now is present it to the Council and get Saren kicked out
of the Spectres," I answered. Alec's eyes suddenly widened again.
"Which means the last chance you'll have to wire him is…" he began when I suddenly finished for him.
"At his next meeting in the Council Chambers…" I said morbidly with a small nod.
There was a short pause of silence before Alec began giving a very deliberate and forced laugh, using it as more of a way of expressing sarcasm than humour.
"Axel, you're seriously planning on waltzing into one of the most secure places on the entire Citadel? With that kind of plan in mind you might as well just barge into C-Sec
Academy itself, hold up a bouquet full of roses, and say 'Arrest Me!' to everyone there!" Alec explained exasperatedly while connecting and thrusting his wrists toward me,
imitating the act of being handcuffed.
"I know Alec! Haxon already drilled me enough about that on the way here. There just isn't any other alterative that wouldn't involve me getting caught," I shot back
sourly.
"How do you plan on even getting in there without being seen?" At that question my mood brightened up a little bit.
"With this," I said with a sly grin before pressing another small button on my left gauntlet this time. Immediately I felt a small tickling sensation travel across my body,
accompanied by a visible pixeled flash. Looking down at myself, I frowned in momentary confusion at the fact that I could still see my body normally.
'Is the suit's cloaking device broken?' I wondered. However a half second afterward my fears were belayed, for Alec immediately threw up his hands with a 'screw it all'
look on his face.
"I'm done. I am so done with this group. Does everyone here have an invisibility device stashed on them somewhere?" the Guardian asked irritated, for some reason
focusing most of the question on Polly and Sparky, before whirling around and pointing a finger at a stunned Yoda standing on the table top next to him.
"Even you! You were able to make us practically invisible with your MIND!"
"Alec I couldn't really tell you about this little trick at the time because we were still being chased and shot at," I said with a laugh to calm him down as I pressed the
button again, causing another pixeled flash and, to e
veryone else but me, my body to reappear out of thin air.
"Well then there's your solution right there! Instead of going into the Council Chambers, why don't you just cloak yourself, wait outside its front entrance, and then tag
Shepard when he and his squad walk out after their meeting?" Alec suggested with a nod down to my gauntlet.
"Because Shepard isn't walking to places, he's taking the Fast Transit Taxis to go between destinations. So unless you actually want me to try barging into C-Sec Academy
when he's getting into the elevator to go up to the Normandy's docking pier, the Council Chambers are the only place he'll be out in the open long enough for me to plant
the Dart on him," I pointed out. Alec sighed and shook his head in defeat, begrudgingly agreeing with my point.
"Then at least let me do it instead, that way if they manage to corner me I can always suffer the pain of using my teleportation trick…or just fight my way out," Alec
suggested with a crack of his knuckles and a grin. I smiled warmly at that proposal, stretching out and laying a grateful hand on his shoulder.
"I appreciate that, but I know how to take care of myself," I said with a nod as I pushed myself off the edge of the conference table. Unfortunately a tremendous sting
from the bruises on my legs caused me to stagger to the side slightly, forcing Alec to grab onto my arm to help steady me.
"You're sure about that? You can barely stand as it is," he commented with concern as I slowly stood up straighter with a wince.
"I'm bruised Alec, not broken. I'll be fine once I get moving around some more," I stated as I flexed my legs a bit.
"Well before you go, at least take this for some added protection," the Guardian said as he reached to his belt and pulled out my white M5-Phalanx that I had given to him
earlier, flipping it around so that its handle grip was extended out to me. I smiled again as I accepted the pistol and clipped it to my belt. With a last affectionate stroke on
the head to a mournful looking Polly, and a final handshake from Alec, I began making my way around the edge of the conference table toward the Corsica's main airlock.
"Don't worry about me guys, I'll be extra careful. I'll be like a fly on a wall, a shadow in the night, a…" I began saying to everyone from across the table as I moved,