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Chapter Text

PROPHECY

PROLOGUE

August 14, 2183

1852 hours.

Engineering, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate SSV Normandy SR-1, In Orbit over Alchera, Amada System, Omega Nebula.

Machinist Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Chief Engineer Gregory Adams.

Tali gave a long, tired sigh as she finished her diagnostic, leaning on the control circuit board and staring deep into the pulsing blue engine core of the Normandy; spinning and spinning like the gears on an old steam engine. She felt herself get lost in the entrancing glow, peace found in it's depths. Adams' voice broke her thoughts.

"Zorah, Zorah! Tali!" Tali ripped her eyes away from the drive core and turned to see Adams merely a meter away to her right, leaning on the railing and staring at her with a frustrated look.

"Sorry Adams, I got distracted, it won't happen again." Tali apologized.

"It's okay," Adams responded, smiling warmly at her, "Run a vessel-scale scan and then correct any errors you find. There shouldn't be anything major and if there is, just report it to me and I'll help you correct it." Nodding to the human engineer, Tali spun back to face her console, her slim, three-fingered hands gliding over the terminal like a precise piano player; at least she hoped that's what the phrase was. Adams nodded to her and walked back towards Jeremy and Douglas, continuing his lecture.

It had been little over a month since the Battle of the Citadel. Humanity had joined the Citadel Council, becoming the fourth member of the collection of races that governed galactic policy. The volus had been outraged by this; as they had been gunning for the position for decades, but all riots by their people were quelled and Irune remained silent, not breaking away from the Citadel Races; they still needed turian military assets and the turians still needed their economical prowess.

Repairs were still being conducted on the superstation; the debris from Sovereign's destroyed hulk was still being cleared out, piece by piece and it would be years before the Citadel was returned to it's previous state of civilized beauty. The Council had promised Marcus that they would assemble an armada to prepare for the Reapers, and that was all they needed.

After a two week shore leave on Noveria, where Tali got to spend some quality time with her friends and develop her relationship with Marcus, the Normandy had docked at Arcturus and Marcus had had a meeting with the alliance brass, soley Admiral Hackett, the leader of the fifth fleet that destroyed Sovereign and the geth fleet. Receiving their new orders, they left the alliance capital and headed for Alchera.

Their new mission was to scour the galaxy and rid it of the last remnants of the geth forces. With Saren dead and Sovereign destroyed, the geth had lost their leadership and thus their cohesion collapsed. Remaining Council and Alliance forces managed to rout them and whatever pockets of resistance was left were left to them to be rooted out and terminated. The war was over; this was just clean up duty.

But that puzzled her; they were the Heroes of the Citadel, saviors of the galaxy. They should be celebrating and helping to prepare for the imminent reaper invasion. Instead, these heroes and heroines, the people who defeated a reaper, killed a rogue spectre, fought an army of geth and defeated an army of krogan soldiers, were being sent to wipe scum off the walls. All they did and this is what they got as a reward?

Tali decided it wasn't important. They had their mission and when it was over, Tali was going to take Marcus to the Migrant Fleet and introduce him to Auntie Raan and father. Father wouldn't accept him, but she was sure Shala would be open to it. I wondered what Meru would think, but dropped that as soon as it popped up, not wanting to memorize her mother's death all over again. All Tali knew is that she would finally find the happiness she longed for.

She ran her scans of the ship. Nothing conclusive, aside from a momentary heat bloom that surrounded the ship, but that had ended within seconds of it appearing and she dismissed it as a computer glitch. Then, Joker's voice came over Adams' comm.

"Adams, what the hell is going on down there?" Joker demanded, "Pressly just reported a momentary heat bloom that enveloped the ship. It's gone now but it's got him spooked."

"Wait a sec," Adams responded before turning to Tali, "Zorah, you got anything?"

"Yes, I picked up the heat bloom too," Tali answered, "It might be just a systems glitch."

"Exactly my thoughts," Adams responded, giving the young quarian a thumbs up before rethumbing his comm to Joker, "Tali says she saw it too. Tell Pressly it was most likely a glitch in the system. I'll have the VI run a systems diagnostic just to be on the safe side." Adams then ordered Douglas to run up to his console and inform the VI of it's new task.

Tali gulped. Could it be a systems glitch? I don't know. That heat bloom...only a certain type of device could do that. A scanner. But how is that possible? Nothing can pick us up or see us when we're in stealth mode. You would only be able to see us if you looked out a window and even then you'd have to acquire a precise location on the vessel to scan it, which would require high-tech multi-modulator scanning VI's to do. Even the geth don't have those, and they're AI!

Joker seemed just as worried, "Pressly isn't so sure. He's running scans of his own. I'll keep you updated on what he finds. Joker out." With that, the pilot's voice fell off the comms and Tali returned to her work, shutting off her own comm to Adams. All she could hear was the dull throb of the ship's engines and Douglas giving orders to the ship's VI.

Before she could run another simulation she was ripped from her feet as a sound like that of thunder tore through the ship. She was tossed to the ground as the ship shook violently for a few seconds, before shaking once more and then stopping. Looking up, she saw her console had exploded and sparks flew out of it. Turning to her right, she yelped as she stared into the blank face of Douglas; a piece of solid metal wedged in his forehead, red blood oozing from the wound.

Crawling away, she felt the ship shudder a final time and turned just in time to see a bright orange light pierce through the engine room, blocking her sight of the engine core. It was gone and she looked on in horror as the engine core disappeared in a great explosion of the light; the blast throwing her against the doors to engineering. Looking up, she was petrified by the sight before her; space. She was looking into space.

What had been the engine core was now nothing but jammed circuits and processors; the blue glow was absent and the spinning of the wheels gone. The drive core had been destroyed. A large hole, about twenty-seven meters across had been ripped through the ceiling, bits of piping, circuits and holopanels torn apart from the blast and a sister hole lying on the floor. Her console was nonexistent; a matter of fact, the deck of which her console resided on was gone, blasted apart in the explosion.

The room was illuminated red as the ship alarms went off, followed by a yellow glow. A second siren went off and this was one she didn't like at all; the evacuation siren. They were being ordered to abandon ship. Whatever weapons had crippled the ship were not of geth origin. They weren't of any known species. No, only one species could be capable of destroying the ship so easily; of being to bypass the stealth systems.

A Reaper was attacking them.

Many questions were raised in her head, but none of them mattered as she climbed to her feet, moving to open the door to the cargo hold. She wanted to save the ship, but there wasn't an engineering left to save it with. Half the deck was gone and the bodies of half the engineering crew floated around in space, suffocating or already dead. Fires that raged in the room winked out of existence as the lack of oxygen killed them off.

As the door opened, someone else rushed up to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the cargo hold. She heard the door slide shut and all sound returned to her. Opening her eyes, she saw Adams with a oxygen mask on, nodding at her as he pulled her towards the elevator. She was mortified to see the cargo hold hadn't fared any better; the middle of the room was non-existent, having been ripped apart in the blast. What was left of the armoury floated around in space while the Mako dangled in it's position, tied down by the harnessing cables.

She was hefted into the elevator, the lift covered in total darkness as the door closed and took them up to the Crew Deck. During their visit at Arcturus, the Alliance had retrofitted the ship with a new Mako due to the old one being wrecked during the Battle of the Citadel. Unfortunately, they would never get to use it. She heard a voice come over the comms that brought immediate relief to her.

"All hands, this is Commander Shepard speaking. I'm ordering an immediate evacuation of all ship-board personnel. Abandon ship, I repeat, abandon ship. All active personnel are to report to escape pods immediately. Shepard out." Tali sighed as she stood up, letting Adams know she was okay. She looked around frantically and saw only two wounded engineers and Johnson; everyone else on the lower decks had perished.

As they reached the Crew Deck, they saw the situation here was no different. The area was enveloped with flames. The status update panel inbetween the stairs was frantic with information. She ran around to get an assesment of the damage and it wasn't pretty. The Mess Hall was gone; one of the main bulkhead support frames had collapsed and crushed the table while the Captain's Quarters looked untouched, but that didn't matter.

The deck containing the sleeper pods was covered in flames; most of the pods were blown to pieces, tumbled over or were still active but burning. She could see a male figure working on the evacuation suite at the end of the deck. She turned to see that the medical bay door was jammed shut, but this changed when a biotic glow threw them back, revealing Liara, holding a unconscious Chakwas.

She ran over to check on the woman but Liara assured her she was alright, "Go! Find any other survivors and get them to the escape pods!" The asari ordered and Tali nodded, moving towards the vicinity of Marcus' quarters; their quarters. Before she could though, she heard Marcus call out her name.

"Tali! Tali!" He shouted and turning around, she saw him stop next to her. He had been the figure working at the evacuation terminal.

His voice was laced with concern, "You need to get to an escape pod." Tali nodded and followed him to the escape pods, where numerous people were already climbing into them. Kaidan herded people into the pods, making sure they moved in a hurried fashion. The ship shook violenty once more as their unknown enemy continued it's assault.

She stepped out of the way as she saw Garrus leap into an escape pod, his talons gripping the titantium harness and pulling it down, locking it in place. Liara quickly joined him, placing Doctor Chakwas next to her. Kaidan tried to get Johnson into an escape pod but he wasn't budging, insisting they wait for his friend, Jeremy.

Jeremy appeared out of the blue and Johnson helped him towards an escape pod. Before they reached it however, a support strut fell on both of them, crushing them under it's weight. The speed and force of it would have killed them both instantly.

"Fred! No!" Tali screamed but Marcus held his arm around her waist, pulling her back.

"There's nothing we can do! Get into an escape pod!" Marcus barked, seeing Kaidan climb into the last pod with Adams, "There's the last escape pod! Get inside!" With that, he took Tali's hand and they rushed towards the final pod, getting there just in time to see Kaidan seat the harness over himself, watching the two of them approach. There was one seat left.

Looking around the pod, Marcus cursed, "Damn it, where the hell is Joker?"

Kaidan shook his head, "He refused to abandon ship. He thinks he can still save the Normandy." Marcus cursed once again as he looked back at Tali and the last seat on the pod. Finally, he pulled Tali into the pod, seating her next to a disorientated woman and seating the harness over her. Tali, freaking out, noticing that she had the only seat, squeezed Marcus' hand.

"Where are you going!?" Tali demanded.

Marcus smiled warmly for her and stroked the side of her hood, "I have to save Joker and Pressly. They're still in the cockpit," Marcus informed her before kissing her visor.

"Don't go. Please...," Tali begged, feeling tears brim in her eyes. I only just got you...

"Don't worry," Marcus reassured her, hugging her gently but lovingly, "There's an escape pod on the flight deck. Once I get Joker and Pressly's sorry asses onboard it, I'll make my escape. I'll be fine. You're not getting rid of me that easily." Marcus teased

Tali laughed through tears, "Promise me you'll be on that damn pod."

Marcus nodded, smiling, "I promise." With that, he gave her another peck on the vocalizer for good measure before leaping out of the pod. Hitting the seal button, he watched all the pods seal shut. Inhaling a deep breath, he hit the control panel for each pod, launching them one by one. When he was sure all pods were launched, he turned towards the stairs and ran towards them, making sure his armor was set for EVA.

Another blast rocked the ship, sending another explosion up the length of it. He watched in horror as the mess hall disappeared in a bright orange light, the thanix weapon tearing through the deck and ripping it apart. Now, only a gaping hole remained. A hole was ripped into the medbay and his quarters had been disintegrated.

Running up the stairs to his left, he found cabling dangling loosely and blocking his path. Pushing past them, he hit the door but it didn't open; it was airlocked. Overriding the door controls, he opened it to find the ruined CIC. The galaxy map and the panels that surrounded it now ceased to exist; just a gaping hole in it's place allowing a free look into the ruins of the crew deck and below that, the cargo hold.

He took deep and sharp breaths, conserving his oxygen. The Debriefing Room was blocked off by a collapsed bulkhead and the stairs to his new left were locked down completely and jammed; it mattered little. He needed to rescue his crew and get the hell off this ship; he had a promise to his girlfriend to keep. Be damned if he broke it now.

Slowly, he walked through the CIC ruins, finally reaching the flight deck as he walked across it, all the holographic panels now absent of color and chairs floating around in space, batted aside whenever they came into contact with the spectre. He noticed a mass effect forcefield surrounding the entrance to the cockpit; clever Joker. But he also noticed the escape pod hatch was outside the field's reach.

He turned to see that the airlock was dim and dark, but that wasn't his concern. With renewed vigor, he walked through the field. He found himself in a ruined cockpit, with dimmed holopanels and dead crew members. He sighed in mourning as he saw Pressly's limp body sitting in a seat next to Joker, his eyes closed. The navigator was dead, but what about Joker?

Moving closer he looked over and was relieved to see Joker frantically typing at his terminal. His cap was thrown to the ground and he now wore a fully sealed marine helmet. Putting an arm on Joker's shoulder, the pilot looked to see who it was and smiled, seeing it was Marcus. That was until he returned to trying to save his beloved frigate.

"Joker, we need to leave now," Marcus informed him.

"I'm not leaving! I'm not giving up on the Normandy! I can still save her!" Joker insisted, slamming his fists against the panel in frustration and most of the Normandy's sub systems continued to die. The ship was doomed and unless they abandoned it immediately, so were they.

"The Normandy's lost! Don't you get that!" Marcus barked, turning Joker around to face him, "If we don't get the hell off this ship now then you can consider ourselves space meat! Mister, we. Are. Leaving!"

"But I-" Joker tried to object.

"I'm giving you a direct order, Flight Lieutenant!" Marcus declared.

Joker looked down in defeat, "I-I-yeah, okay..." The panel started beeping and Joker widened his eyes as he looked at it.

"Enemy ship coming around for another attack!" Joker informed him, looking into the spectre's eyes with a look of fear, "We can't take another hit! Structural integrity is already too weakened!" Seeing the peril in their situation, Marcus picked up Joker from the seat and held him in his arms, the pilot yelling in discontent, annoyed about his dignity being violated.

Running through the field, Marcus hit the control panel for the pod and it opened, allowing him to seat Joker inside. Pulling the harness around him, Marcus went to also do his but before he could, another blast ripped through the ship, tossing him around the pod.

"Oh shit!" Joker exclaimed, "Commander! Grab hold of something! Anythi-Commander! NO!" The pilot screamed as Marcus was sucked out of the pod and thrown into space. As a final act of defiance, seeing as he wasn't going to survive this, Marcus hit the panel for the pod, sealing it shut and activating the launch sequence. He watched as Joker's pod shot out into space, joining it's fellow brethen.

Marcus felt a tear pass down his cheek as another shot hit the vessel and the resulting explosion tossed him out of the ship's exposed airlock and out into the openess of the void. He was being blown towards Alchera and he began to panic.

I'm sorry Tali. I'm so, so sorry. I broke my promise. Just...lead a happy life. I-I- Marcus never finished that thought as he finally caught sight of their attacker's vessel. It wasn't a reaper, at least not a design of reaper he's seen and it wasn't a geth ship. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was massive, easily reaching the size of Sovereign if not slightly larger. It was shaped like a cylinder, with a honeycomb like structure. It was covered in rotating rings and at the bow of the ship was one large cannon; the thanix cannon.

Marcus closed his eyes as she heard the Normandy's escape pods begin to broadcast a distress call to the Alliance. It would be a week before anyone got to them, that was depending on that the unknown enemy vessel didn't destroy the pods first. He watched as the same orange, yellowish beam charged in the bow of the vessel, ready to eat through the Normandy's remains. He watched in horror; hopeless, defenseless and most of all, lost.

The gigantic vessel fired, a tongue of hot, molten metal reaching out and striking through the wrecked frigate he once called the most advanced ship in the galaxy. It was nothing but a molten wreck now. He began broadcasting his own SOS to the pods; hopefully one could come and rescue him. He wasn't giving up on her yet. He wasn't ready to die.

Multiple explosions ripped through the ship until one final flash of light marked the end of the stealth frigate, the resulting explosion sending debris flying in all directions, but most of it went falling into Alchera's atmosphere. Marcus' eyes widened in terror as the explosion propelled him into Alchera's atmosphere. No! No no no no no! I can't die! Not now! Please not now! Tali's face appeared before him, along with his mother. No...I can't leave them. It's too early...

Then something else to acellerate it. He watched as his oxygen filter dangled infront of him, his oxygen spilling out into the empty void of space. He tried desperately to put it back together, but it was hopeless. He screamed in pain as pure heat enveloped his back; he was entering the atmosphere. Everything started going black before his eyes. Tali, I-

Blinding pain enveloped his body before everything went black.

{Loading...}

August 14, 2183

1912 hours.

Main Compartment, Hyena-Class Lifeboat, In Orbit over Alchera, Amada System, Omega Nebula.

Machinist Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko.

Silence entered the pod after the launch. Trepidation and terror were frozen emotions upon everyone's faces; the sound of heavy breathing and sighs of relief were the only things heard. Tali's eyes examined the pod; it was small and cramped, with only barely enough room between them. Five seats aligned both sides of the vehicle, titantium security harnesses on each seat. A dull, red glow illuminated the pod's interior, the only source of light.

Tali peared over at Kaidan, who had taken his helmet off and disengaged his harness, standing up to approach a control console at the front of the lifeboat. Tapping a view buttons, he brought up a holographic panel allowing him to communicate with the other pods.

"This is Normandy SR-1 Lifeboat 8, does anyone read me?" Kaidan requested. The end of the line was immediately answered by a welcomed voice.

"Normandy SR-1 Lifeboat 9 here," Garrus responded.

"Normandy SR-1 Lifeboat 5, still alive and breathing," Adams declared.

"Normandy-SR-1 Lifeboat 3, unkillable," responded another crewman.

It wasn't long before all fifteen lifeboats had checked in and Tali breathed a sigh of relief. Marcus was alive. She hadn't heard his voice respond over the comm, but she knew he was alive. All the lifeboats had reported in, which meant all had escaped. She hoped Pressly and Joker were okay, but she hoped Marcus was better for wear.

"Normandy SR-1 Lifeboat 16, please report," Kaidan demanded and everyone looked towards him. Tali felt worry pang in her chest. Of course! The lifeboat on the cockpit isn't among the fifteen. The first fifteen are for standard personnel while the sixteenth is for the piloting crew. Marcus would have gone for that pod. She released her harness and pushed it up, leaping out of her seat and moving to stand beside Kaidan. He gave her a passing glance before repeating what he said once again.

She was about to give up when Joker's voice came through.

"Normandy SR-1 Lifeboat 16...here," Joker reported, but something in his voice sounded regretful.

Kaidan breathed a sigh of relief, "Did all the piloting crew get out?"

A few seconds of deathly silence.

"Negative. I'm the only survivor of the piloting crew. Susannah and Pressly were killed by the first explosion. And...and..." The pilot broke up and stopped talking. The sound of metal getting hit and a gasp of pain was heard over the comm.

Tali shoved Kaidan out of the way. No, it couldn't be. She refused to believe it. She knew what Joker meant to say, but she refused to listen. She felt tears brimming in her eyes.

"Joker! Tell me! And what!?" Tali demanded.

"I...I can't-" Joker tried to say.

"Tell me!" Tali practically growled and everyone in the pod just stared at her in shock, Kaidan deciding to back off instead of reprimanding her.

"Shepard...he got me to the escape pod but the enemy ship had already fired the last shot. The explosion threw him out of the ship and he got spaced. He's gone."

Tali couldn't believe it. She refused. But there it was, the pilot had seen it with his own eyes. Marcus...her mate, was gone. He was dead. Taken from life; the great hero of the citadel, the seemingly invincible force of nature, the one chance the galaxy had at stopping the coming reaper invasion was gone. Words were nothing but noise. Her mouth refused to work. She mumbled her objections to the truth.

She looked around the room frantically, looking for some sort of consolation. She found none. She was only reminded that her lover was gone. Everyone looked at her with shocked expressions, Kaidan tried to comfort her, but she didn't care. She wanted revenge. She wanted to hurl a nuclear bomb at the heart of the enemy ship and personally rip the crew apart; limb from limb.

Tears couldn't be held back; they flowed freely down her cheeks, but she did not weep. She did not cry. No, she lashed out. Her fist clenched and impacted the titantium harness of her seat, a snarl of rage erupting from her throat. Pure blood rage took over as she tried to rip the harness from it's threshold and use it as a battering ram for her enemies. Kaidan to calm her down, but her arm swung around in a fit of fury, knocking him back.

She wished she could rip her mask off and just die of infection. She wished she could join him. No, No. Not until he was avenged. But how could she fight a two-kilometer enemy with weapons capable of decimating entire fleets? Eventually she just fell into her seat, her energy sapped. The love of her life was suffocating in space, noone to comfort or rescue him and she was trapped in this damn pod, unable to help. She felt useless. She felt empty.

She felt hollow.

Finally, her blood rage ended and all that was left was just her melancholy. She was helpless to fight it. She let her head fall into her hands as she sobbed, tears flowing from her eyes like blood oozing from a wound. In many ways, that's how she felt. Wounded, gutted, destroyed. She weeped, long and loudly, her cries of melancholy heard by all in the pod. She continued to whisper her objections of the truth through her weeping as everyone tried to avert their eyes from the mourning quarian.

"Ish'ko lasi'ti!" Tali shouted.

I am alone, I am empty.

Author's Note:

I am back guys and ready to kick off with the second installment: Prophecy. This is the longest of the story arcs and, per my decision, will have alot of it changed from Mass Effect 2. Most, if not all, characters from the previous installment will be returning, even the ones that weren't featured in ME2 to begin with.

The first section of this will deal with how the crew seperate and get on with their lives and shows how Tali comes to terms with Marcus' death. This will go on for less than ten chapters before getting back into the action.

And if you enjoy Prophecy, then you'll love the third installment. It'll be the most action-packed one yet. But hey, let's get through Prophecy first.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER ONE:

CATALOGUE

May 31, 2251

2342 hours.

Main Living Room, Shepard Residence, Savior's Canyon, Rannoch.

Terra-Rannoch War.

Mistress of the High Senate Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

The sound of thunder woke Tali from her slumber. Her eyes shot open and she could only see the timber of her working table. She slowly rose her head up and looked around the room. It was fairly large; it had a single holographic terminal that served as a television that sat at the back of the wooden room.

A single, five by one and a half meter table sat in the middle, in which she now occupied. The room was illuminated by a single, flashing, yellow light. The design was intricate and when she asked Legion to investigate it, she found out it was called a 'chandlier.' Marcus must have added it in the design. A wooden cardboard with three draws and two glass door sat behind her, with numerous family photos stored in it, from her children's birth to the day they grew up.

The television sat ontop of another cardboard which held numerous movies, speakers and other electronically related tech. She never told anyone, but she had kept Chiktika hidden in there since the end of the war. Somewhere noone would know except her. If she ever needed Chiktika's assistance again, which was unlikely, she could find her.

An empty saucer sat to her left, originally housing her favourite dextro soup and a multitude of datapads sat before her. She had been reviewing the coalition's, and if the krogan join, soon to be the Dominion's, political policies and she was sure that the boredom had caused her to fall asleep. Your too old! You should be doing less work and more rest. It won't be long now, you old fool.

Tali sighed as she pushed the datapads away. She could hear the familiar whirring of Legion's machinery from behind her, obviously coming from the stairway due to the distant sound of the...sound.

"Ma'am," Legion pondered, "You appear to be fatigued."

Tali let out a confused hybrid of a groan and a chuckle, "Legion, how many times! It's just Tali! And yes, I'm pretty much exhausted."

Legion moved to sit down in the seat next to the quarian and once he had, he cocked his head.

"If you're that tired, you should get some rest," Legion informed her, taking the datapads, one by one, "I will finish the data correlation and present the results in the morning."

Tali's eyes widened as she studied her geth friend, "You don't have to do that! You get some rest. I would never get you to do a woman's work."

"The geth do not have a gender diffrentiation and do not require rest, only battery recharge," Legion retorted, "Now, get some sleep or I will be forced to force you into bed."

Tali laughed as she remembered the old days. She had just turned thirty when Legion started doing it. Whenever she refused to go to bed or not stop working, Legion would always pick her up and literally, carry her to the bedroom. They always used to play around, but when she reached forty, Legion stopped the playing, but kept carrying her to the bed.

It was all out of good conscience. Legion had kept doing that until she was seventy, when she was too old to be doing it. Not only did it cause mass pains in her back, but her body was too frail to be doing it anymore. She hardly even pick up her own shotgun now without dropping it out of the inability to handle such weight.

However, Legion's carrying had side effects. She never told him, but it always used to remind her of the days when she had Marcus. He always used to carry her to their cabin, but the one time that stuck out was just after they got married and when he had carried her to his cabin, still in her bonding suit and they had stayed their for a whole day. Ken and Gabby had never been happy about it, but she never regretted it. Secretly, when Legion had said goodnight to her, she would then silently cry herself to sleep. Of course now, now she had gotten over it and no longer cried herself to sleep.

However, a tear would always appear every now and then. But ever since discovering Mark in that horrible interrogation center, she started to question where her loyalties lay. Her people and the humans were holding her husband tied up in an interrogation room with programmed amnesia. She didn't know who she was more loyal to anymore; the dominion or Mark.

She had directly found Prometheus, the organization was meant to be the Dominion's sword and shield against the Covenant, or 'infidels' as they called them politically, were responsible for finding and torturing her husband and if that weren't enough, he was the reason the Dominion existed to begin with. Without him, they'd all be extinct by this point.

Marcus deserved at least the chance to die quickly. Instead, they were labotimizing him and slowly interrogating him. He was nothing but a lifeless husk, devoid of any kind of life or coherent memory.

"Tali? Tali? Tali!" Legion shouted.

Realizing she had drifted into distant thoughts, she snapped out of her musings and looked at Legion, sighing heavily, "Yes, yes. Bed it is. I'm getting there." Tali then slowly stood out of her chair and began walking towards the stairway leading up to the second storey of the house, where her bedroom was. The walk up the stairway was long, but when she reached the top she walked down the corridor ahead and pushed open the wooden door to her right at the end of the passage way.

The room was extravagant, as Marcus had sure when both of them designed the house. She still remembered the time they spent on Rannoch, just after having liberated it from the Reapers, both of them sitting next to the defeated reaper destroyer and both designing the plans for their house. It was finally a memory she could hold onto without crying; but instead smiling.

The left side of the room had two glass doors, both flanked by glass panels that allowed a clear view of the ocean nearby. The two doors opened out onto a balcony with two wooden chairs and a table where they could read at night or enjoy a breakfast, lunch or dinner outside. Back on the inside, a queen-sized bed lay in the center back of the room, two plush cushions and a thick blanket wrapped over it, sporting the colors and patterns of her clan, Clan Zorah.

A single drawer lay on Tali's side of the bed; the right, and ontop of it a lamp along with a KAZ hand cannon on the top, there for emergencies; being the widow of late Marcus Shepard, the mother of many dangerous engineers, techs and soldiers and the mistress of the high senate meant she was near the top of many assassin's hit lists. Of course there was a geth dropship that monitored the skies once every day and the geth prime, going by the name of Moses, would patrol her house at night, as Legion would always be deactivated at that time, but she couldn't always rely on them.

A single light illuminated the room and a wardrobe was located to the right of the room, housing numerous dresses and other clothes and attire. To the left of the bed was the entrance to their, her, private bathroom. It housed a shower, a bathtub and toilet, along with a sink for brushing her teeth. The decontamination unit was still linked to the bedroom's systems, but had long since been collecting dust ever since her immune system adapted to Rannoch's climate.

She slowly approached her wardrobe, ready for the memories to return. Littered around the room's walls was the numerous photos of herself with her husband, along with special pictures of herself with her children. She couldn't help but let tears fall down her cheeks at the sight of that. Marcus never even got to meet his children. In everyone of those photos, he was completely absent.

She stopped her approach to the wardrobe and approached her bedside table. She picked up the picture frame positioned on it and smiled at the memory. It was a picture of herself and Mark; Tali still in her white, bonding suit, mask off and hood down, smiling widely and warmly at the camera. Marcus had what was more akin to a grin, but it was there and it radiated the happiness of the moment. His arm was wrapped around Tali's waist as she stood to the right of the picture and Marcus to the left. He was in the black tuxedo that he absolutely despised wearing, but had worn it for Tali's sake.

It was taken on their union day, when they both got married on the Rayya. Shala had been there, along with the Normandy crew and many of her childhood friends. Alot of them were dead now; killed in the Reaper War or the current Terran-Rannochian War, or died of old age. As far as she knew, only Garrus, Liara and Wrex were the ones she knew were still alive and well. Wrex was basically a century from his deathbed while Liara still had eight centuries left. Garrus was closer to death than herself, so in the end, she would be the second to die out of all of them.

It wasn't how she planned to die either. When she planned to die of old age, she planned on doing it in bed, alongside her bondmate. That was now no longer possible. Keelah, her own husband's body was preserved well enough to be sixty years younger than her.

She laughed at the fond memories she had of the old gang as she set the picture frame back down and rebegan her approach towards the closet. Her small hands clenched around the closet handles and she pulled them open. At first, all that could be seen were clotheshangers holding the numerous dresses, shirts, skirts, miniskirts, bras and swimsuits of her youth, along with her current attire. There was also the N7 hoodie that Marcus once owned.

But then she split the clothes apart with her hands, revealing the back of the closet. Steadily, she pulled out not one, but five different suits that she had worn during her time trapped in them. She lay them on the floor and kneeled before them, smiling as she picked up the suit she had worn as a child. It was the exact same one she had worn during her pilgrimage right up until she joined the crew of the Neema and received her adult suit.

It was kept in prime condition mostly by Legion or Penya, as they insisted on housekeeping. Tali assured them she could look after herself, but even her self-confidence was dwindling. She then checked the second suit; her adult suit. Many had said it was the prettiest suit; Mark had once commented on it, and in his exact words it was 'multiplying your already astounding beauty tenfold.' It was different in many ways from her old suit.

It kept the purple colored veil she loved so much, as it had been given to her when she was born as a wrapping for her suit by Auntie Raan. The mask had a slightly darker tint, but allowed her eyes to glow even more, apparently, then it's predecessor. This one also had a golden colored neckbrace, which extended into semi-rings that protruded around her cleavage. The suit was more skintight than the last, which in essence had made her breasts look smaller than they actually were. She still laughed at that; Mark's surprise during their first time had made her smile.

The veil also a sort of 'skirt' like formation around her legs, held there by a utility belt with numerous pouches and pockets, along with a magnetic clamp for her weapons and pouches for thermal clips and grenades. She also took feminine pleasure in knowing that the suit made her butt show alot more. She chuckled lightly, so as to not alert Legion to the fact that she was indeed not sleeping, but indulging in her own nostalgia.

The third suit was her bonding suit, having been weaved by Shala and Meru themselves. Meru had helped Shala make the plans for it before she died, hoping it would be used when her daughter got married in the future. It was also designed as a care unit, to help with breast-feeding for the first month after giving birth to a child before she was put in a sterile bubble. The suit was the same as her last, except the cloth was pure white. It had originally been just purple, but Mark had insisted on it, saying he wanted at least somepart of the ceremony to be human. She admitted later that she liked it.

The fourth and fifth suits were ones she despised. They were the suits she had worn into combat during the reaper war. Her 'CQB suits', Marcus had joked, a homage to her love of shotguns and the suit design. The first had a sheet of flexible steel that served as the 'veil' and 'hood' replacement, which was colored purple on her request. The mask was slightly less dark to increase combat performance and had state of the art, built-in combat statistics and squad communicators, designed to link to other quarian visors.

The whole suit, except the veil, was a golden color and covered in armored plating, along with a better utility belt, more pockets and more pouches. The armor at her legs and waist was lighter, to allow her better speed and stamina. The armored suit was covered in scorch marks and bullet holes, along with numerous cracks on her mask where she had taken damage.

The fifth suit was the suit she had had built to replace her fourth when it went out of commission. She had used it during the early days of the Terran-Rannochian conflict when the Coalition declared war against the Covenant. She had personally lead entire battalions into battle in this suit and it had seen its final combat during the Battle of Jaxto. Legends had been made about her prowess on the battlefield about the suit and even rumors of her having fought the batarian emperor, Si Pel, in hand-to-hand combat and emerged victorious had spread around. She had denied them, knowing them to be true, well, half true, but not wanting to become more of a celebrity than she already was.

The suit, many humans had commented on, made her look like a 'duck.' Apparently it was somekind of earth animal, Mark had told her. Many quarians said it made her look like the 'guardian vanguard of the ancestor's fury,' while the batarians said it made her look like a idiotic bafoon. Either way, it had served her well.

The suit was exactly like the fourth, but with a completely purple exterior. The armoured plating had been doubled, turning it into heavy armor, and the armor doubled around her legs. The visor was covered in microarmor plating, which thickened the glass and effectively made it 'bulletproof.' Unfortunately, this made seeing through it impossible, so a 'Y' was cut through the visor, allowing two slits for her to see through. Overall, the suit was better than the last.

She had intended to pass it down to Penya or Ashley, depending on which one joined the military. However, neither of them did, or at least not Ash. Ashley had gotten a doctorate from the Unversity of Idenna and became a doctor working at a hospital on Virmire, in the capital of Williams. She smiled. When the colony had been formed on Virmire, they had troubles on what to name the capital. When it came to it, Tali had suggested the name, in honor of her friend who had died on that world. Ironic that her daughter, also christened in her friend's name, would choose to live and work there.

Penya had become a battlefield nurse, not an active soldier, marine, infiltrator or orbital trooper, just a nurse. The suit Tali had worn was meant for combat engineers and was built for frontline assaults, not medical aid where a wall of soldiers and heavy kinetic shielding would protect her. As Tali thought of her numerous children, she hadn't heard Legion standing in the doorway.

"You're reminiscing again, Mrs. Shepard."

Tali was startled as she looked up to see the geth standing in the doorway, hands behind his back. She smiled kindly as she began picking up the suits to put them away, but keeping the second suit out. She wanted to hang that up on her wall; a final lament to her past and to her future with Mark in the afterlife. It was the suit she had worn when Mark and herself had finally joined in physical matrimony. She intended for it to be her guardian into the afterlife.

Laying the suit next to her bed, she slipped under the covers and gently lay her head on the pillow. It was soft; a feeling she greatly enjoyed during her days as a old woman. It allowed her obsolete and old muscles to relax and sleep and for soft, kind memories to envelop memories. Sometimes however, they couldn't save her from the memories of her dead friends.

Legion approached her bedside and sat next to her, tucking her in. She groaned, but the geth silenced her with a finger. Then an itch built up in her throat and she sighed mentally. First a cough, then another, followed by a coughing fit. She had been having many of these and she didn't know why. Legion had said it was due to her old age, but she had dismissed it as simple miscalculation on his part.

"Are you okay, Tali? Would you like me to put this suit away?" Legion asked, motioning it's optics towards the suit.

Tali shook her head, "No Legion, I want it there," she then yawned, "Goodnight, Legion." Legion nodded, leaving the room and closing the door behind him, turning off the light as it went. Consumed by darkness, Tali fell asleep. It was a long and peaceful sleep. She had a dream about Mark, herself and their children on the beach. Mark and herself sat on the beach while their children played in the water.

It was a dream she wished could have been true.

{Loading...}

June 1, 2251

1743 hours.

Entering General Vicinity, Shepard Residence, Savior's Canyon, Rannoch.

Terra-Rannoch War.

Drill Instructor Reby'Reegar pav Rannoch, Reserve Cadet Thane'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Come on Cadet, seeing your mother isn't exactly the worst thing I could ask you to do." Reby stated as she drove the skycar towards the Shepard residence. It was a fairly large house and she was aware that it had originally been intended for two spouses and alot of children. Sitting next to her in the skycar was one of those children, most of them having grown up and left.

Reby shared a glance at Thane. She knew she had feelings for him, but she never showed them due to her military training. As a marine, love wasn't particulary something that was allowed on the battlefield, let alone authorized. If she developed any attachment to Thane, they'd both be transferred. Reby was planning on retiring from the military anyway and Thane, as they were both best friends, would probably follow her.

She switched her sight back to the windscreen as they begun their descent towards the house when she saw Thane turn to face her.

"Yes, but I've got a military duty. I-" Thane tried to object.

"Your mother knows more about military protocol than you do. She served during this ancestors forsaken war too you know," Reby interrupted him, "Keelah, she was admiral of the seventeenth battle fleet, you know. Lead it into battle many times before retiring." Reby told him.

Thane rolled his eyes, "She was a military stategist, I know. But that's only because of dad. Without him, she'd still be getting squads killed, let alone a fleet." Thane pessimistically answered.

Reby didn't bother to refute that. Thane's response was blunt and curt, but it was true. Tali had once been a terrible commander and tactician, but when she met Marcus and got used to being admiral of the board during the reaper conflict, she had grasped leadership very quickly and even learned to embrace it. She was also famous for having lead her flagship, the Idenna, into a geth battlegroup during the Battle of Rannoch and managed to distract them long enough to allow the Rayya breathing room. She abandoned ship later on, but was rescued by the Normandy crew, where she was reunited with her husband.

It hadn't taken long for the skycar to touch down outside the house, parking just alongside Tali's skycar. Both of them opened the doors and stood out into the harsh sun of Tikkun, both of them turning to approach the house. A single geth prime stood guard outside the house, it's siege pulse and combat drone keeping guard; a formidable sight.

The only sound that could be heard apart from their quiet footsteps was the sound of the raluk birds cries in the sky as they glided past, the gentle Rannochian wind and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach only a kilometer away. It was quite peaceful in this area of Rannoch; with this residence being the only sign of civilization for miles. For a couple and their children to live in peace, it was the perfect spot.

They were halted by the prime platform as he ordered his combat drone to scan them. He introduced himself as Moses. When the drone had reported back the results, they had waited another minute before another geth, this being an ex-infiltrator model, came out to greet them. Legion, if she remembered correctly, was the current caretaker of the residence and was tasked with looking after Mistress Tali; a job it had catered to willingly.

"Mr and , welcome. Mistress Tali will join you in a moment." Legion greeted.

Before she could blush, Reby looked at Thane, who shared the same stare as she did, before turning back to Legion.

"We're not married." The two of them said at the same time.

Legion cocked it's head flaps, "So you are not engaged yet?"

"We're not together either." They said, once again, simultaneously.

"But you're body movements-" Legion attempted to press.

"Legion, don't try and be a love detector. You're horrible at it." Tali ordered and Legion immediately stopped, reentering the house. Shaking her head, Tali moved forward and hugged Thane, before turning to hug Reby as well, "I haven't seen you two in a while." Finishing her hug, she motioned them to move inside.

"We're off duty," Reby explained, "Thought we'd give you some company."

"Funnily enough, I've invited someone else as well," Tali declared, "I think you'll like him."

All of a sudden, an intimidating but croaky voice sounded from behind her, "You mean me?"

Tali's face lit up and she shot past them. Reby and Thane turned to see a large krogan embracing the old woman, both of them laughing.

"Wrex! You came!" Tali shouted as she let go.

"Of course," Wrex stated like it was obvious he'd come, "You maybe a little quarian, but your my little quarian sister." Both of them chuckled for a moment longer before Wrex noticed Thane, moving up to Tali's son and pulling him into a hug as well.

"Hi, Uncle Wrex." Thane acknowledged the krogan, ending the embrace.

"You been remembering what I taught you?" Wrex asked.

"Which one? The shotgun, the hand-to-hand, or how to throw a YMIR? Which I still can't do, by the way." Thane answered snarkily, a grin creasing his lips.

Wrex shook his head in amusement, "You've still got your father's smartass attitude." Then he turned towards Reby and grunted, "This your girlfriend? Or is it wife?"

Reby and Thane exasperated but this time, only Reby answered and in a irritated tone, "Do we really look like a couple to everyone? What makes people think we're together?" Despite the fact that I am actually interested.

"You're as bad at hiding it as Tali and Marcus were at hiding theirs," Wrex bluntly stated.

"We're not married and we're not in a relationship! We're just friends!" Reby insisted.

Wrex shared a glance with Tali, who shrugged her shoulders and the krogan rolled his eyes. Tali then motioned them inside and into the lounge room, before moving to make them some drinks. She had insisted on doing it, but Reby eventually convinced her to sit down while she got the drinks. When she returned, they sat down and chatted.

"So...how's the situation with Upper Coalition Space? Do we expect a dominion at some point?" Tali asked solemnly.

Wrex nodded gravely, "That's why I'm here; I'm acting as the representative for the krogan confederacy that will sign the Terran-Rannochian-Aralakh Treaty binds us. When it's done, it'll be the Galactic Dominion, with the krogan as official members. We'll get a spot on the Central Parliament and Tuchanka will be recognized as a fully militarized and dangerous superpower. It also means that the Covenant are our enemies now."

"The situation is sounding more and more desperate every day," Reby added, "This war has to end at some point. It's been going ever since 2204. It's like the perputual war."

Wrex nodded, "Which is why the confederacy is vouching to sanction an invasion force."

Tali spat out her tea, "They're finally doing it?"

Wrex shook his head, "Praetor isn't budging, but he will soon. The Covenant is slowly realizing that they can't keep playing it safe and it won't be long before the Praetor stops playing around and strikes first. It's them or us. Cold and ruthless, but it's the truth."

"The amount of deaths..." Tali murmured in horror.

"Would be acceptable," Wrex stated in his usual cold demeanour, "Either we finish this conflict once and for all or we continue on for another five decades. Think about what Marcus would want."

Tali shook her head, "He'd find a way to negoitate. He'd have ended this damn war forty years ago like it should have been."

Wrex huffed, "He didn't do much diplomacy during the reaper war, or the eden prime war."

"Because the reapers didn't care! They wanted us wiped out! Plain and simple!"

"Aha!" Wrex emphasized, punctuating this by pointing directly at her, "That's why we have to strike at Khar'Shan and end this! The Covenant don't care about peace talks! For all we know, they're consolidating their troops right now! That and they could be moving mass relays to interconnect with heavily populated systems. We strike them, or they strike us. Look at the fundamentals for yourself."

Tali did and she found herself, disturbingly, agreeing with the krogan. All out assault on the Covenant-held systems was the only way to secure victory and stop the covenant threat. It would also allow the the Dominion to liberate Thessia as well as well as secure a supply route with it's trapped colonies and the Sanctum-occupied worlds. It would end the stalemate that had been going on for decades.

"I cannot believe what this galaxy has come to," Tali finally stated, taking a final sip of her drink, "It's destroyed everything Mark worked for. If he were here, he'd have stopped this by now."

Wrex chuckled, "Always said he'd make a fantastic praetor."

Tali smiled at that. Mark had become a celebrity in many cultures. Battlemaster to the krogan. Vanguard to the quarians. Warrior to the turians. Goddess' sword to the asari. So many names...and he wanted none of it. All he wanted was...

Tali didn't dare think about that. Instead, she enveloped herself into speaking with her friends. She knew just what she wanted to request for the next interrogation. She didn't care what the spooks at Prometheus said, she was a Mistress of the High Senate and if she had to use her pull in the parliament to get what she wanted, then so be it.

He may have been a husk, but he was her husk.

{Loading...}

June 1,

2035 hours.

CLASSIFIED LOCATION

Terra-Rannoch War.

Special Tasks Group Operative Carter Dielheart, Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Having her interrogate the man was one thing," Carter complained, "Now she wants to relocate him? What does she think we run, a postal service? She can't just relocate subjects wherever she damn pleases," Carter then took a second to remember who he was talking to and exasperated, "You're not even listening are you?"

"Not at all," Reia responded, "I was busy ordering a squad of geth and quarian heavy troopers to secure the interrogation cell."

Carter stopped at that and turned to her. The quarian hadn't seen him stop when he did, so she herself stopped infront of him, her assault rifle displaced in her open arms. She turned to him, seeing his raised brow, "What?" she asked.

"You have an entire squad of heavy troopers; people trained to take down a platoon of yahg; moving to escort a mentally handicapped, half-dead, soldier?" Carter asked.

Reia sighed, "Handicapped or not, the man still packs muscle. Let's not forget that we don't know the extents of his memory loss. If he were to have a mental spasm at some point, he could remember enough to kill an entire platoon of ill-prepared soldiers. The squad I'm sending all have N7 training. They are my most elite operatives; perfect for an escort like this."

Carter shook his head and waved a dismissive hand as he pushed past the quarian commander, continuing towards the interrogation cell that 001 was held in. When he arrived, he could see that the soldiers had arrived already, ever present. They looked like scarred veterans; a dozen quarians and geth with battle scars and hardened looks, wearing heavy armor and heavier weapons.

"Be ready," Reia ordered her men as they all stood beside the doors. Carter rolled his eyes as he punched in the codes to the vault and waited a minute for all the firewalls to be disabled and the locks to disengage. They had built this vault to hold in yahg and the best hackers in the galaxy couldn't break through it; not even Tali'Shepard.

When the vault finally opened, Marcus Lee Shepard himself was in the center, blindfolded as per usual. Moving inside, Carter moved his wheelchair outside where it was taken over by Reia.

"We'll this from here, sweetie." Reia then gave him her biggest smug grin before motioning her troopers to follow her to the shuttle, smiling at Carter's annoyed expression as she went. She'd never tire of it. Carter just grunted and left, seeing if there was anything for lunch or if any reports needed to be finalized.

{Loading...}

June 2, 2251

1233 hours.

Main Living Room, Shepard Residence, Savior's Canyon, Rannoch.

Terra-Rannoch War.

Mistress of the High Senate Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch, Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth, Interrogation Subject 001, Confederate Overlord Urdnot Wrex.

Tali watched as the door opened to her living room and Moses stepped inside, followed by two geth N7 infiltrators and two quarian infiltrators; one male and one female. Their faces were clean of emotions as they took positions on either side of the table; the geth behind Tali and the quarians at the other end of the table. The rest of the squad had the house under lockdown; troops placed around it.

She watched with a glare as Reia'Inas approached, wheeling in her mentally blank husband. Tali looked at Reia as she entered a parade rest next to the wheelchair.

"You really think an old woman is going to be much of a threat to N7 soldiers, Reia? Give me a break." Tali snarled, coughing afterwards. Reia and Tali hadn't been on the best of terms. Reia's father had been a harsh critic of the Zorah clan for quite a while, and the Inas clan wasn't exactly popular with them either.

Reia smiled, "I'm less worried about you and more worried him. Handicapped he maybe, but I'm not taking any chances of you getting emotionally broken and trying to run off with him. He's Prometheus property."

Tali growled gutturally, "He's not property...he's my husband..."

"He's a husk of your dead husband," Reia corrected, "Now, don't you have an interrogation to continue?"

Tali glared at Reia before moving back in her seat and arching her back. After a pop, she dismissed Reia with a nod of her head; the quarian leaving the room as Tali turned back to Mark. He looked so peaceful. She hadn't seen peace like that since the interval between the collector battles and the reaper war. It was tranquility she missed.

With a sigh, she got out her datapad and got ready to take notes. She brought Marcus here for a reason. She wanted to be with him in what was supposed to be home.

"So, are you ready to begin again, 001?"

Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"That voice again. That...pretty voice. What's your name again?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Like I said the first time we met; I'm Tali and I'm here to help you, 001."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I remember that name."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"You would. I'm...someone you cared about very much. Now, are you ready to begin again?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Yes."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Then let's jump a month after the Battle of the Citadel and the destruction of the Normandy. What happened next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I came back."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Well, maybe I can fill the gaps for you. This is what happened while you were gone..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

For the people knew to this series, I recommend reading Enigma first before going into this. It will help you understand the story and plot a little bit more.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWO:

HERO OF THE CITADEL

August 21, 2183

1500 hours.

Citadel Memorial, Main Chamber, Shalta Wards, The Citadel.

Marksman Garrus Vakarian, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Medical Chief Karin Chakwas, Prothean Researcher Liara T'Soni, Chief Engineer Gregory Adams, Machinist Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Councilor Tevos, Councilor Sparatus, Councilor Valern, Councilor David Edward Anderson, Ambassador Donnel Udina.

Tali stood in complete silence. Nothing was said as the group just stood there, eyes either scanning the councilors' faces or looking at the coffin that held Marcus' body. To Tali, her attention was firmly fixed on that coffin, her face ragged with tears. Liara had soothed the quarian, but had soon left her alone to let her get herself together.

But Tali couldn't. The pain of her loss was still too fresh; time hadn't passed sufficiently for her wound to heal. It would take years for the quarian to move on. Even now, she was still in shock at all of it. How quick it had happened; the Normandy's destruction, the mysterious enemy vessel and Marcus' death. All of it happened in the one day; it was the worst day of Tali's life, even rivalling her mother's death.

So all the young engineer did was stand there; stand there and sob as the coffin lay there. When the councilors had finished their speeches and Anderson, who had basically been the only one out of the four councilors to not downplay his death, which the bosh'tets were doing alot of, the seven of the surviving Normandy crew members saluted, before raising their weapons and firing a two round burst into the air.

Lowering her pistol, Tali watched as four alliance marines picked up Marcus' coffin and took it to a skycar, where it would be taken to Earth to be properly buried. The Council had suggested the morgue, but Hannah Shepard, Marcus' mother, would be having none of it. When she looked along the line, she could see the look of sorrow and loss on her comrade's face but most of all; fury.

Every since their rescue, the Council had been quick to announce her lover's death, going to the extremes of almost saying it in a way that made them sound happy about it. What happened next was the final match to light the fire; they ceased the amassing of their ships and declared the reapers a 'myth', stating that Sovereign was merely a geth creation; a geth superdreadnought.

Anderson had tried to convince the councilors otherwise, but he was one councilor against three others. Udina was quick to agree, the council kissass that he was and soon, everything Marcus had fought for had fallen apart. The Council were essentially spitting on his dead corpse and it made her more angry than ever before.

When the funeral was over, Tali and the gang had gone to Flux to contemplate what had happened. The mix of emotions was deadly. On one hand, they were still recovering from the events that lead to Shepard's death, while on the other hand, they were enraged by how the Council had disowned them so quickly. How they could disrespect the lives thrown out Sovereign to save them and then just ignore their sacrifices.

They were quiet. None of them said a word as their drinks just sat in front of them; untouched and undisturbed. They all exchanged glances with each other; words weren't needed. All they needed was the looks passed around, to know that neither of them were alone in their sorrow. Tali sniffed occassionally, but the majority of her weeping had ceased sometime after the ceremony.

Finally, Garrus broke the silence, "I can't even explain how pissed off I am right now."

"Wait until Wrex hears this," Kaidan added, "He'll go ballistic. To think everything we fought for, just...thrown out the window! Like...none of it mattered!"

Silence again. It was a growing occurance with this group. Tali turned her head to see that Chakwas and Adams were idly shifting their drinks, not saying a word. Marcus wasn't the only fatality on the Normandy; many crew members had died, most notably Pressly and Johnson. What was left was the splintered remains of their team. If Wrex had still been onboard...she didn't want to think of what might have happened.

"Well...someone's got to break the bad news to him, I guess," Liara stated.

Silence again.

Tali slammed her fists on the table, "It isn't fair! Why does the Council have to be so ignorant? Why did Marcus have to die?" The quarian slamming her fists into the table hadn't been something the group had expected and it made Garrus and Kaidan jump a little, but Chakwas was immediately at Tali's side, rubbing the quarian's shoulders.

Garrus shook his head, "Since when was it 'Marcus?' Since when did any of us know his first name?"

"I did," Kaidan stated.

Garrus rolled his eyes and huffed, "Except you."

Liara saved Tali the trouble of answering, "They were together awhile before the attack on the Normandy."

Garrus' look of surprise was barely hidden but Kaidan just nodded, having been the first one to know about the obvious 'chemistry' between the spectre and the machinist. Tali just looked at the table as Chakwas continued to sooth her, but eventually the doctor backed off to give the quarian some room to blow off steam.

"So...now what?" Garrus asked.

Kaidan sighed heavily, sitting up, "I've been reassigned," Kaidan stated, "Alliance has me on colonial duty; protecting the natives and commanding a small unit. I'm scheduled to move to Arcturus to receive my assignment tomorrow," The human sentinel then turned towards Garrus, "What about you, dino?"

Garrus huffed, "I'll continue what Shepard started. I'm going to try and run for spectre."

Everyone stopped. Tali looked up at Garrus and gave a weak smile. Garrus is going to continue Shepard's legacy? I don't just respect him now, I adore him. "It's a great goal. Wish I could, but I doubt the council would allow a quarian spectre." Tali spoke up.

Garrus shrugged, "I'll raise my own team and keep fighting for the good cause. You're welcome to join Tali," he then turned to Liara, "You too, Liara."

"Not for me I'm afraid," Liara declared, "I've still got prothean data troves to dig up. I have to do my part in preparing for the reapers and the protheans may have developed weapons to fight them during their war. It's a long shot, but worth it. I'll keep in contact."

"What about you, Tali?" Garrus asked the machinist.

"I'll return to the fleet," Tali said immediately, "There's nothing else for me here. Marcus is dead, the Normandy is destroyed and I don't know what to do anymore. I suppose I should warn the admiralty about the reapers. If the Council won't mobilize, you can be sure the fleet will. AI hatred runs in our blood. The Migrant Fleet will be ready to fight off the Reapers."

"Me and Chakwas have been reassigned too," Adams spoke up, "Don't know where she's running off to, but I've got a post aboard the McKinley as it's chief engineer."

Chakwas nodded, "I've gone colonial; apparently command wants me working as the chief medical officer at the Mars medical center. It's not military and its not the medbay on a starship, but its something. Can't say I won't miss healing wounded soldiers though."

"So I guess this is goodbye for all of us," Garrus added, "It's been an honor working with all of you. When I joined the Normandy crew, I was weary at first. But as I grew to know you all, you became my comrades, my friends," With that, the turian raised his glass in the air, "And a toast, to the hero of the citadel!"

Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together, before taking a sip of their drinks. Conversation continued amongst them for a while. It wasn't long before Garrus excused himself, saying one final goodbye while promising to keep in contact with them via the extranet. Afterall, they were friends now. An inseperable team. Tali had wished him luck in becoming a spectre, while he had reciprocated the gesture.

Eventually, Tali and Liara took their leave as well, preferring to get to their new tasks quickly and efficiently. Like it or not, they were all soldiers now, doing the things that the Council was too weak-willed to do. Politicians; completely unreliable. Except maybe when it comes to the migrant fleet. When you want action, the flotilla will react immediately.

Tali and Liara walked silently side by side for awhile until they reached a rapid transit terminal, where they called a taxi to take them to the D24 docks. They had conversed about minor things on the taxi ride there; things that revolved around personal stories, not melancholy and depression following the destruction of the ship they called home at one point. There would be other frigates like it, but none would be the same or live up to that ship's legacy.

When they finally reached the docks, they had walked up the docking tube before Liara spun around to say her final goodbye, hugging the quarian snugly.

"We'll keep in contact," Liara promised, "I might even visit you at some point."

Tali laughed, "Not likely. I think the fleet's patrols will shoot you down."

Liara gave a grim smile, "I'll think about purchasing stealth systems then."

With that, they both broke into laughter before hugging each other one final time. When the final boarding call for Liara's transport was given, the asari waved the quarian and left, the doors closing behind her and leaving the quarian on her own. Once again; like the time after Keenah's death and right up to her first meeting with Marcus, she was alone.

She stood there for two minutes, not knowing what to do. Many strangers gave her odd or suspicious looks, but she ignored them. In the end, she gave a sigh and left to get a drink at the Dark Star Lounge. She needed to clear her thoughts.

Getting another taxi ride to the Zakera Ward hadn't taken very long and it had taken even less to actually get to the Dark Star. Due to the population still recovering from the aftermath of Sovereign's attack on the Citadel, the Dark Star wasn't as heavily populated as it might have been, but there was a large amount of alliance officers.

They all gave her odd looks as she ordered a dextro brandy, using what funds she had acquired from the alliance during her previous mission to buy it. When her drink was delivered to her, she didn't drink it immediately. In fact, she just stared at it blankly for a solid five minutes. As if lost in a different world.

All of a sudden, she felt a firm grip clasp on her left shoulder. Jumping in surprise, she turned, ready to defend herself, only to find an alliance officer; captain by the insignia on her uniform, who had grey hair and looked oddly familiar.

"Are you Tali'Zorah?" The woman asked and Tali widened her eyes in surprise. Who was this human and how did she know her name?

"Y-yes." Tali hesitantly said.

The woman smiled gravely, "Captain Hannah Shepard of the SSV Orizaba and before you ask...yes, I'm related. I...I was your commander's mother."

Tali gulped. Did his mother not approve of her relationship with her son? Or for starters, did the captain even know? And if she did, how did she find out? It's not like Marcus made their relationship a public affair. Sighing, she decided she knew how to respond.

"Captain Shepard, I'm so sorry for your loss." Tali responded, watching as Hannah plopped down on a stool next to her.

"Please Tali, call me Hannah. And don't act like I'm the only one who's mourning," Hannah said grimly, her eyes getting watery, deciding the bench looked very interesting, "Besides, you were my son's first girlfriend. Has to count for something."

Tali was so shocked she didn't know what to do next or how to respond. Captain Shepard...Hannah...did know. But how? Did Marcus secretly tell his mother without warning her? If they were telling their families about their relationship, then he should have told her. He would have informed Shala and father immediately. There was no need to hide it from her. This confusion was replaced with sympathy when she saw just how watery Hannah's eyes were.

"H-how-how did you know?" Tali asked.

Hannah laughed, "He told me. Should have seen the message. It was a laugh. The way he worded it, you would have thought he was the happiest man in the world," she then paused for a second, "Uh, I mean galaxy."

Tali couldn't help but lightly chuckle at that mishap but out of instinct and thought of what she was doing, she wrapped her arm around Hannah's shoulders and gripped them tightly in a soothing manner. I'm treating her like a relative of mine. Do I really have the right?

Either way, the quarian's heart one out and continued her gesture, slowly and steadily. Finally, Hannah laughed.

"You know, he seemed to make you out to be some kind of angel. He said you were sweet, kind, cute, nervous, dangerous in battle, protective. I always thought he was exaggerating," Hannah then turned to look Tali directly in the eyes, "But maybe he wasn't..."

Then Tali said something she thought she never would have said infront of someone, especially Marcus' mother, "I miss him alot. He meant alot to me when I first met him...now the feeling is multiplied tenfold. I miss him so much."

Hannah smiled warmly, watching as Tali's arm returned to the quarian's side, "You sound like a nice girl Tali. It's just a pity I couldn't have seen how much my son cared for you in person. So, are you staying with your crewmates or what?"

Tali shook her head, "They've gone seperate ways. I'm going back home to the flotilla. I have to complete my pilgrimage and present my gift."

Hannah raised a brow, "Pilgrimage? Do you mean a religious right of passage kind of pilgrimage?"

Tali raised her own brow, "Religious?"

Hannah guffawed, "What's unknown is better kept that way. So, tell me about this pilgrimage. What significance is it to your people's wellbeing? You quarians have always fascinated me. You were something of an enigma during history class back on Earth."

Tali explained what pilgrimages were and when she finished, Hannah creased her face into one of impression, "There's the signs of an adapted culture. Had the Council actually gotten of their asses and done something, I don't think you'd have to go on such risky adventures. God bless 'em. In a way."

"What do you mean?" Tali asked. Was she thanking the Council for letting my people get exiled?

"It's okay, I never meant offense," Hannah held her hands up in defense, "What I meant is that had you still had a homeworld, you wouldn't need to go on pilgrimage, which would suck, but pilgrimages are about a sense of adventure. It lets you kids get out into the real galaxy. See things most children don't bother to see. In ways, you're better off than you were before."

"I fail to see your logic," Tali argued, "My people want our homeworld back. Without it, we're left with dying vessels, suit and bubble prisons, tight confines and barely any privacy. Keelah, a suit puncture is lethal to us depending on the limit of exposure."

"It's hard to explain really," Hannah began before stopping, "Here we are, arguing over pilgrimages and opinions on your people's culture, when before we were weeping over the death of my son. Conversations can really go full circle, can't they?"

Seeing Tali's silent posture, Hannah decided to ask a seperate question, "So how do you plan on getting back to the fleet?"

Tali sighed, "I don't know. I'll probably book passage on another ship. Hope I'm not kicked off due to my race."

Hannah looked insulted, "Excuse me?"

Tali was suddenly very alarmed, "I didn't mean offense! I'm sure your people are nice-"

Hannah guffawed once again, her laugh echoing the room, "Not that! No, trust me, it takes real tryhards to offend me, so don't worry. No, I was talking about the ship you wanted to book passage on."

"What about it?" Tali wearily asked. She wasn't looking forward to travelling in a cargo compartment. On transports, there was first class, second class, third class and then cargo. Quarians and vorcha got cargo. Krogan just barely make third class.

Hannah gave her a sneaky grin, "I'm not going to standby and watch as your thrown into a cargo compartment. No, I'll be giving you a ride in my dreadnought if anything."

Tali was flabbergasted, "You wouldn't!"

"I would," Hannah retorted, "I'm on shore leave, so technically I can go wherever I wish. I was planning on rendevousing with some frigates in the Tyiran System of Farlile Cluster, but I think they wouldn't mind if I made a slight detour."

Tali was more than happy, she was beaming. She was getting a ride back home on an alliance dreadnought and of which was captained by her dead boyfriend's mother.

"Thank you so much!" Tali thanked the human, throwing her arms around the woman. However, she suddenly let go and sat back, "But I don't think the fleet would let you in! We have a defense system..."

Hannah gave her a cocked expression, "No offense Tali, but you don't think a bunch of rusty old ships are going to want to stand in the way of a state-of-the-art Killmanjaro-class alliance dreadnought with enough firepower to disable a fleet of turian venator-class destroyers do you?"

Tali giggled, "I suppose not. Besides, I could just give them my code."

"Code?"

"Oh, it's a special code. I have two in fact. Whenever a quarian leaves the flotilla and wishes to return, he/she must present a code to the defending ships. One lets us through and lets us know we're fine while the second let's them know that we are either a hostage and are being held prisoner by an enemy force intending to bring harm to the fleet."

"What do they do if you give them the second code?"

"Simple," Tali responded instantly, "They open fire. They destroy the ship."

Hannah was shocked, "That's it? They don't make attempts to save their people?"

Tali shook her head, "A quarian's first thought is the survival of the fleet. We are all patriots...or at least most of us," The quarian took a breath, "When we give that code, we know we must die for the continuity of the flotilla. Their sacrifice would be one honored among the fleet for years to come. We remember our own."

"So what's your code to get in safely?"

Tali laughed and whispered, "You'll find out when we get there."

Hannah smiled as they continued to drink. Eventually the conversations turned back to Marcus and the fresh wounds were too much for both of them. Hannah was the first to break into a fit of tears, Tali cradling the woman as she cried. Tali eventually began her sobbing and the two women, as if they'd known each other for decades, held each other as they cried, both offering their own reassuring words to each other.

Eventually they both had drinks, singing quarian and human folk songs alike.

There was time for mourning, but for now, they could get to know each other.

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August 23, 2183 {Translated Khelish Time}

Thirteen Hours, Twenty-Five Minutes.

Conclave's Chamber, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Zulu System, Wilbak Nebula.

Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Huzzi, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay.

Rael just sat in his chair as he watched the numerous admirals stroll in. Han'Gerrel, with his usual posture of parade rest with straightened back took a seat next to Rael, nodding at him as they shook hands. Zaal'Koris had a strong posture as well, but his presence reeked of his apologist personality. He took a seat next to Raan.

Shala'Raan herself had always been the neutral person; she didn't know if she preferred peace, war or experimentation on the geth. She just wanted her homeworld back and that made her a loose end to be tied up. She was basically the betting card on which side would win in the political game.

Daro'Xen was just...sinister. Her husband had since been living in seperate quarters to Xen due to her request and ever since she had been obsessed with finding ways to conquer the geth and reprogram them. Xen was called the 'madwoman' of the admiralty board, but she was respected as well. Her breakthroughs brough them closer and closer to the reclamation of their homeworld.

Rael was on both Daro's and Gerrel's side; he wanted war but he also wanted to bring the geth firmly back under quarian control. As far as he knew, his wife had been on Koris' side and the more the days went on, it appeared Raan was slowly entering Zaal's camp as well. Rael didn't care; as long as support kept reining in for Han and Daro's sides, which was ever increasing, then Shala and Zaal would be outvoted and the war for their homeworld would begin.

In a way, the attack on the Citadel recently had opened up new pathways for his people and potential new allies arose. Not only would alot of people want revenge upon the geth, but they would want them wiped out and that's when the quarian sympathsizers would start reining in their own support for a Perseus invasion.

When everyone was seated, the meeting began, mostly with Daro opening up, as she always did.

"With the Council still recovering from the geth attack, it should open up new oppurtunities for us," Xen declared.

"We'll be able to rally new support for our war efforts against the geth," Gerrel added, "More ships, more resources."

Xen laughed, "You don't think that's what I meant, is it Gerrel?" Xen responded, "No, the Council are too stubborn to help us and I don't think the conclave would accept it, given our history with the Citadel fools. No, what I meant is that a greater number of geth would be made available for my...experiments."

"You and your experiments," Koris spoke up, "What do we hope to achieve by continuing this charade? What should be doing is looking for a new world to colonize, not getting in false sentimentality and already lost dreams."

"Oh shut it Koris," Gerrel shot back, "Your apologetic policies won't ever work. The geth only want to wipe us out. Stop being such a suit wetter and just embrace the bigger picture. Rannoch is within our grasp! Three hundred years of warfare have prepared the fleet for this very moment! The Perseus will be ours once again, just you wait."

"All of you act as if the conclave has decided yet," Raan finally spoke, wanting to slit the throat of the argument before it could continue, "Until the conclave has decided on the course of action we should take, a liberation of Rannoch or peace with the geth is out of the question. For now, we should be discussing the problems with the Uhaz."

"Must we discuss such mundane subjects?" Xen spoke up, glaring at Raan, "You cannot dodge this topic forever."

Raan narrowed her eyes into slits, "I can dodge it for as much as I like," Raan retorted before turning to Rael, giving him a look that was readable even under her mask. Back me up here.

Sighing, Rael spoke, "Unfortunately, Admiral Raan is correct. The discussion on Rannoch is not the current topic and we must await the conclave's decision. For now, we should discuss fleet matters. Now Raan, you mentioned the Uhaz?"

Raan nodded, bringing up a holographic image of the ship in question. It was a repurposed elcor medical transport, having been decommissioned for nearly sixty-two years and now converted into a home ship; housing 11,071 quarian men, women and children. Schematics began to pop up for the vessel. It was of odd design, being an elcor ship, with the bow looking akin to a cube and the stern section looking like a tail. Due to the 'Gerrel' protocol, all ships were outfitted with some form of weaponry and this ship had two Mark II GARDIAN laser turrets; vastly outdated compared to the new Mark VI GARDIANs, but still usable.

"According to the Uhaz's captain, the ship had started getting quieter just an hour ago. When one of his engineers went to check, she reported back saying that the air filters were starting to fail. The captain is requesting extra resources to repair it."

Rael wanted to rubble his temples right now. He could tell this was going to be a long. tedious meeting and was getting headaches already because of it, "Which ship does he require the resources from?" Rael asked.

"Your ship, admiral," Raan reported.

Rael sighed, "Validate the request. Inform the Uhaz's captain that the resources will be sent to her ship immediately."

Raan nodded as the hologram of the ship disappeared and she entered the message into her terminal. "Sent," Raan reported.

"Now, how about the matters on the Nee-" Gerrel began to speak up but before he could continue, one of Rael's adjutants stormed in and stopped next to the table, saluting the admiral.

"What is it, corporal?" Rael asked the marine.

Lowering his salute, the quarian spoke, "Admiral sir, you won't believe this. The Iktomi just intercepted an alliance dreadnought that was attempting to gain access to the fleet sir. They claim to have your daughter aboard sir."

Rael's eyes widened, "What ship did they request to dock with?"

The marine hesitated and glanced in Gerrel's direction, "The Neema, sir."

Gerrel started at that and immediately stood up, heading out the door, "I'll take a shuttle their immediately. Just don't engage that dreadnought; our ships won't stand a chance against the firepower that thing packs."

Turning to the group, he saw Xen gave an exasperated sigh as she reclined on the table, hands folded in her lap. Raan seemed overly excited and was waiting the chance for Rael to dismiss her. No doubt she would be wanting to greet his daughter upon her return. Nodding his head, Raan professionally left the room. Koris on the other hand; he was just staring at his console.

Rael didn't have time for this, but he knew that without anything to do, he would have to confront the daughter he had neglected since his wife's death. With a overly done sigh, he also got up and left the room, breaking into a jog so as to catch up with Raan and Gerrel before their shuttle departed.

As he jogged, he remembered just now that he should be surprised.

She managed to catch a ride - on an alliance DREADNOUGHT? Now this...this I have to see.

{Loading...}

August 23, 2183

1336 hours.

Main Bridge, Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought SSV Orizaba HA-2, Entering Fleet Perimeter, Zulu System.

Captain Hannah Rila Shepard, Commander Phillipo Coniglione, Machinist Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.

The entire bridge crew of the Orizaba watched as the dreadnought was surrounded by at least twenty quarian warships; mostly destroyers and frigates. Suddenly, they were hailed and the communications officer turned to the captain. Nodding, a female quarian voice came through the comm, one Tali recognized. It was Doroli'Ker vas Ulzabyk. Her ship was an outdated human freighter, converted into a prefab quarian destroyer.

"This is the Ulzabyk to the alliance dreadnought. Identify yourself and your business immediately or you will be fired upon."

Hannah cleared her throat, "This is the Killmanjaro-class dreadnought, SSV Orizaba HA-2 of the Systems Alliance Navy. I come with the intent of returning on your pilgrims; Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. How copy?"

The response took a while to come back. They were most likely trying to verify the story. Tali didn't blame them; the thought of a quarian pilgrim returning on an alliance naval warship, not to mention a engine-bound juggernaut, was hard to believe and they were right to be suspicious. Before long, Doroli returned.

"Have your passenger step forward and identify herself," Doroli demanded.

Tali didn't need prompting. Stepping forward, she spoke.

"This is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah, requesting permission to dock with the Neema."

"Verify," Doroli ordered.

Tali cleared her throat, "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began." Finished, Tali turned to Hannah and winked and Hannah simply smiled. Tali had just recited her 'I'm safe' code.

The answer was instant, "Permission granted. Welcome Home, Pilgrim. Your docking request with the Neema has been granted. Admirals Han'Gerrel, Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah will await your return."

Tali had widened her eyes at hearing that her father would actually come to welcome her home. He took time off work to see me? That's a first. Tali slipped a hand to the pouch that contained the OSD that held the geth data on it. A second data disk held information on alliance stealth drive technology, given to her by Adams before saying goodbye. It was a gesture of goodwill. Tali smiled.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to Hannah and gave her a hug, seeing as it would be the last time she saw her...or at least for a while.

"You've got my extranet address," Hannah stated, letting go of the quarian, "Your father causes trouble for you, I'll make sure to shove my dreadnought right up his sorry ass."

Tali giggled, "I'll be sure to do that. Goodbye, Hannah. It was nice to meet you."

Hannah smiled, giving Tali a peck on her visor, "You're my daughter-in-law now; well, sorta. Either way, we'll keep in touch. Stay safe, Tali."

Waving her goodbye, Tali departed for the airlock, a two-man squad of marines escorting her there. She stated it wasn't nessacary, but they insisted for some reason. Oh well, at least she would look extravagant. Show her father she was capable. She hoped.

{Loading...}

August 23, 2183

1336 hours.

'Humanity's Sanctum', Upper Levels, Cronos Station, Anadius System.

The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Lazarus Science Chief Albert Wilson.

Miranda inhaled deeply as she opened the door into the 'Humanity's Sanctum.' The door slid open with a hiss as she stood into the circular room. She hastily approached the Illusive Man's seat, who had another scientist, a man by the name of Wilson, standing next to him and reviewing information on a holographic screen before him. As Miranda finally reached his seat and stood to her leader's right, she saw the screens had Shepard's face on it.

"I'm sure you've heard about Commander Shepard's death, sir," Miranda stated.

A puff of smoke was heard before the enigmatic leader responded, "Yes, most unfortunate. This does ruin my original plan, but luckily, I had a more refined, better imposed, continegency plan in order. Wilson, show the data."

Wilson nodded and with a flick of his wrist, the holos changed from the news reports to data on reaper technology, depicting an image of Sovereign during the attack on the Citadel and a picture of Saren.

"I'm confused. I thought Shepard was our ultimate plan to defeat the reapers. But from the looks of it, you just want the reaper tech." Miranda asked; not questioning his plan, just confused by the sudden change of goal.

TIM shook his head, "Shepard still is our ultimate goal. Wilson and the majority of the Lazarus Cell had devised a foolproof away to replicate the reaper nanotech used to convert organics into husks and reverse engineer it to create cybernetic much like Saren's, except much more advanced and effective. Injected into anyone and combat performance would be greatly increased. The perfect supersoldier."

"And this connects to Shepard...how?" Miranda asked.

TIM held up a hand for her to cease talking, "I'm getting there. Now, we can't begin the implantation as it has...potential dangers," he then turned to Wilson, prompting the man to read out the hazards.

"The risks all range from tissue damage, mental degradation, huskification, cell degeneration, physical disablation and many other things. In layman's terms, the risks are too high to try on a live test subject. But if we were to attempt it on something that is dead..."

Miranda hit her epiphany, "You want to locate Shepard's body and use it as a lab rat for a cybernetic implantation?"

TIM smiled, "That and we wish to...resurrect him. Hence the name 'Lazarus.'"

Miranda was flabbergasted, "Necromancy? Sir, you're fully aware that resurrection is scientifically impossible. Reanimating something that is dead just can't be done."

Wilson shook his head, "Had it still been the 21st Century, you'd be right. But you're forgetting something; this is reaper technology we're talking about. They are millions of years ahead of us in technological achievement. If the reapers can reanimate a dead corpse and turn it into a husk, then we can do the same."

"Except this time, we cut the process off at the 50 percent mark," TIM cut in, "Shepard doesn't have to be a husk; we can sufficiently convert him just enough so that he's resurrected, but not a husk."

Miranda shook her head, "So many theories, not enough accuracies. We'd be pouring billions of credits into something we don't even know is going to work. We could turn him into a supersoldier that's indoctrinated by the reapers for all we know."

"Nothing has ever succeeded without trying," TIM responded, "Think about it. Not only would Shepard be risen from the dead, but he would be able to fight the reapers in ways we can't imagine. The amount of cybernetics in his body would turn him into the perfect supersoldier. He would be the first of thousands. We could create an army capable of defeating the reapers."

"But that all depends on us actually succeeding with Shepard," Wilson butted in, "He's the two kilometer long obstacle we have to get past. He's the gateway. We pass him and its clear roads from here."

TIM nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette, "Which is why I'm officially christening the latest Cerberus space station, 'Lazarus.' I've sent a recon team to Alchera to retrieve what's left of Shepard's body so it can be transferred to Lazarus to begin the experiments. Wilson will be second-in-command of the project."

Miranda nodded, "And who will be in the command?"

TIM took a sip of his whiskey, "You will be."

"Me sir?" Miranda asked, shocked.

"I need your scientific skill and perfection," TIM declared, "You were genetically engineered to be perfect, which makes you an excellent candidate to head the project. I'm putting Shepard's life in your hands, First Lieutenant Lawson."

Miranda nodded, "You won't be disappointed sir."

"I've also assigned a security detail of Cerberus officers to the station," TIM continued, "They are under the command of Sergeant Major Taylor, who I've recently promoted to Second Lieutenant. His failure at Noveria means he is to be posted there until the project is concluded, which I expect will take many years."

"Years, sir?" Miranda asked.

"Shepard was spaced and dropped into the atmosphere of a planet, Miss Lawson," TIM answered cooly, "I don't expect there to be much left of him but boiled slabs of meat. Your first priority will be to reconstruct his entire body; I don't care if you have to genetically grow his skeletal structure, but he has to be rebuilt before you go sticking cybernetics into him. I want his mind and memories to be preserved perfectly as well. I want him exactly as he was before; same morals, same personality. And no control implants, understood?"

Miranda had to object to that, "You know Shepard sir. He would never assist Cerberus even if we had resurrected him. A control chip would ensure that he stays loyal."

TIM shook his head, "Absolutely not. I want him to be exactly as he was before. I need that fire inside of him to destroy the reapers; his ability to inspire loyalty in his troops is what made him such a good leader. Inserting a control chip into his brain would only cost more money and make him a useless, mindless drone. No, no chips."

Miranda sighed in defeat, "As you wish sir. Should attempts to contact his former team be made sir?"

TIM took a while to think about that, "No, not all of them at least. Contact Chief Engineer Adams, Doctor Chakwas and his pilot, Jeff Moreau. Leave the others in the dark, though. I don't want them getting involved; their prejudice against our goals would only cause trouble that we don't need. And by no means contact that quarian, Tali'Zorah."

Miranda gave a sneer of agreement at the mention of the quarian that had served under Shepard, "Yes, sir. They shall be kept in the dark. Anything else?"

"No, that'll be all," TIM declared, "You're both dismissed. I'll have a shuttle prepped to take you to Lazarus Station. You'll have your body soon."

Nodding, Wilson and Miranda left, leaving the Illusive Man in the quiet space of his headquarters. Shepard would be resurrected by Cerberus. When he woke up in a couple years time, he would likely have questions and doubts about helping them, but he would make sure those questions were answered.

And meanwhile, he had reports of human colonies disappearing in the Amada system to investigate. The enemy that had destroyed the Normandy had been unknown, being able to see through the Normandy's stealth drive. Noone in the galaxy, not even the geth, had the technology to see through alliance stealth tech. Only the Reapers had the technology and as far as they knew, the entire reaper fleet was light years away from the galaxy, the only reaper that was here was Sovereign, and it was now scattered over the Citadel.

Whatever had attacked the Normandy had the power and size of a reaper and the prowess of a geth. Whatever had been guility of destroying the frigate, it wasn't Reaper or Geth.

So who did destroy the Normandy?

It was an answer the Illusive Man would endeavour to find out.

But meanwhile, he had Reaper tech to study. He wanted to see just how the Normandy had defeated Sovereign and how to exploit the reaper's weakness so it could be used on other reaper ships in the coming war.

Because war was coming and when it arrived...

Shepard and Cerberus would lead the galaxy into battle.

"The years that followed your death were hard, I won't lie..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"But you recovered..."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I certainly did. But we'll get to that later. Right now, I had a pilgrimage to finalize..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER THREE:

WELCOME HOME, PILGRIM

August 23, 2183 {Translated Khelish Time}

Thirteen Hours, Forty-Three Minutes.

Main Bridge, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Zulu System.

Machinist Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Huzzi, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Major Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Neema.

Tali took a deep breath as the door to the Neema's bridge flew open. Stepping inside, the entire bridge crew of the ship erupted in cheers and shouts, the quarians welcoming back the pilgrim from her journey. Tali instantly noticed Han'Gerrel standing beside his command chair, his hands not in parade rest (surprisingly) and clapping. Han'Gerrel was a long time best friend of her father's, so he was one of many who welcomed her back the most.

She could then see Shala down below and to his right, also clapping. Upon seeing her niece, Shala rushed forward and embraced Tali, who returned the hug happily. Shala was like a mother to Tali and she had the overprotective urge to worry. When she had gone on pilgrimage, Shala had worried alot, but she tried alot to hide it.

When Shala let go and followed behind Tali, the quarian was able to see that even Veetor had come. Veetor was one of the 'psychological embalanced' people on the fleet. Like Kal, he had grown up on the Rayya and was a childhood friend of Tali's. He was always afraid of large crowds and was alittle bit 'loopy' in the mind, but he was okay. Seeing him here was a surprise; he must have been terrified. Even now she could see him melting into the background.

Tali also saw Kal standing in the left side of the crowd, the major standing in parade rest with his best friend and second-in-command, Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, a female quarian who just happened to be an EOD specialist. Kal's kind of woman. He gave her a quick nod as he went past; his version of saying 'it's good to have you back.'

And standing not too far away, and evidently the most excited about Tali's return, was her wannabe boyfriend. She sighed in exasperation as Peta desperately tried to make himself known to her and let her know he was there. Of all the things in the fleet, he was the least she was looking forward to coming back to.

It wasn't Peta's personality she hated; he was actually a nice guy. He was friendly (although alittle overzealously friend around her), resourceful and an adept mechanic. The Yala clan had always been known for their mechanical genius; just like the Zorah clan was known for their engineering marvels and ability to produce amazing machinists, such as herself. He had completed his pilgrimage merely a year ago and finished it in a week, having used his mechanic abilities to get a quick temp job.

His personality was fine; his infatuation with her wasn't. They had met when she was ten years old, at which he was already thirteen and just hit puberty. It had been some time after her mother's death and Rael had taken her to the Buku to talk with the ship's captain; who just happened to be Peta's mother. His father had been killed earlier when a feud on the ship had broken out between the Yala clan and the Nara clan.

But, she digressed. When they met, it appeared that Peta had an immediate obsession with her, which really creeped her out, especially since she was ten years old. She hadn't seen him again until he popped up on the Rayya over a year later. He made the excuse that his mother wanted to give him better schooling, but she knew he had managed to persuade her into letting him go to the Rayya just so he could be near her.

And that's when he pestered her to no end. When Tali was sixteen, he had asked her out to watch the stars on the observation deck. Being a teenager, she accepted. However, after he tried to remove her mask to kiss her, that had been the end of any successful attempts by him to get into a relationship with her. During class, he would catch glimpses of him checking out her body; mostly her breasts or buttocks. She simply ignored him.

When he finally left on his pilgrimage, he promised to bring 'something special back for her', to which she had basically told him to not bother. When he returned, he had given her an upgraded omni-tool, to which she reluctantly accepted. Afterwards however, she had seen its uses and it continued to serve her until Marcus had bought the crew new, spectre ones. However, she had kept Peta's omni-tool purely out of kindness.

And now, the man would stop at nothing until Tali was his wife and was sleeping in his bed. Unfortunately for him, he would be waiting all eternity, as Tali had already found true love in one man, and he was now gone. Once upon a time, she may have had feelings for Kal, but those either never developed or just never happened and were just used as an excuse to shake Peta off.

Ignoring Peta's attempts to garner her attention, she continued towards Han'Gerrel's command console. The cheering stopped when Han'Gerrel raised his hand. Shala joined the crowd as did the quarian marines previously escorting her. Tali could see Doroli in the crowd now and her heart stopped when she caught a glimpse of her father's red veil.

Stepping forward, Han'Gerrel came within a meter of Tali. This was it. This was Tali's big moment; when she would leave childhood and become a fully-fledged adult.

"Pilgrim," Gerrel started, "You have come aboard my ship for unknown reasons on a ship of extravagance and power not witnessed within the fleet's ranks. What is your intention here?"

It was the first question. Tali was nervous and was slightly shaking; not enough to attract the crowd's or Gerrel's attention however.

"Captain of the Neema, I have come far and wide," Tali answered, following tradition, "I have travelled among the stars and through shoals of dust to come here. As my journey came to an end, I realized, I must find a home to which I can join. I would find family in that home. I seek that home here on your ship, captain."

Gerrel huffed, "My ship? And what makes you think I want you on my ship? You may have come far and wide, but how do I know you will not be a burden upon my family? Upon my ship?"

Taking a deep breath, she answered calmly, "I bring gifts of good fortune. They come with my intention of joining your home, your family, your crew. And so, I can become mature."

"Present these gifts so I may gaze upon them and deem them worthy of my time," Gerrel demanded.

Tali nodded and kneeled on the ground; her left leg forward and right leg on the ground, behind her. She lowered her head in respect as she rifled her pockets, finally locating her first gift; the geth data. She then stood up and looked towards the crowd and held it up in both hands as was customary.

"Crew of the Neema, I bring forth my gift!" She then turned back towards Gerrel, "I give you information on our most wretched nemesis; the geth. I present to you fleet positions, current geth evolution strains, geth weaknesses and strengths and strategic data."

Everyone gasped in amazement as they began chatting amongst themselves. Shala widened her eyes in amazement and Kal told Madi about how he knew Tali would do good. When looking at Kal, the marine turned and gave her a thumbs up, which was his way of saying 'you did good.' Peta just didn't care; he was too busy gazing upon her. She rolled her eyes and turned back as Gerrel just looked blankly at the data.

Then she remembered something else, "And that's not all, captain," Tali stated, "I bring a second gift. One not equal in value, but still very significant."

Everyone gave a 'whoo' of curiosity and the room was silent as he repeated her kneeling action from before, holding the second OSD up.

"I present to you; data on alliance prototype stealth technology. On this disk is information containing classified alliance research that will allow for the creation of stealth drive technology, rendering us invisible to geth sensors."

This time, Gerrel wasn't happy, "We informed you that pilgrims are not to bring stolen items!"

Tali shook her head, "Not stolen, given. A friend of mine; a man named Engineer Adams, entrusted me with the data. Confirmation can be provided if nessacary, but this has not been stolen, I assure you."

Everyone, once again, gasped in amazement.

Kal's voice rose in the background, "Damn Tali, not only did you bring us data on the geth and stealth drive tech, you were also one of the Heroes of the Citadel that kicked Saren's ass and sent the geth running," Kal then raised his hand and raised his hand to his fellow marines.

"I declare Tali a honorary marine and not only that but I christen her," Kal paused for effect for pumping his fist in the air, "Tali, the geth slayer!"

The marines began cheering Tali's name and she blushed a deep red. She hadn't received such praise before and it wasn't long before the entire crowd began cheering, even Shala. When the crowd had quitened, Tali turned back to Gerrel.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," Gerrel began, "You have brought gifts and a reputation that not only make you the most dangerous and acclaimed quarian in this room," There were a few chuckles in the room at that, "But they make you a member worth having. You have proven yourself to be a valuable asset to this crew and that you would not be a waste of resources."

"As we join together to rejoice in this momentous moment, I give Tali my own christening," With that, he put a hand on Tali's right shoulder and urged her down the steps until they were at the bottom. As he raised Tali's hand into the air, similiar to Kal's fist pump, he cheered.

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema!" The entire room erupted in cheers and Shala hugged Tali once again and to the quarian's surprise, her father approached her. Shala let go and walked off to let her have some time with her father.

The moment was awkward. They hadn't ever talked much and now that they were mask to mask, there wasn't anything to say. Nothing could be said to explain how frustrated she was with her dad at how he neglected her. Eventually, it was Rael who spoke first.

"Tali, I know words can't be issued to explain how much I've neglected you but..."

Tali just stood quiet, waiting for him to say the three words she so desperately wanted to hear.

"But I just want you to know that I'm so very proud of you right now," Rael continued, "The things you have brought forth, it makes me envyious of this vessel. You've chosen a fine ship and crew and a damn fine captain. I've known Han for a long time, he's an excellent captain. Listen to him and you'll do just fine Tali."

Tali sighed in frustration at his reluctance to just say that he loved her. How hard was it to tell your daughter this? However, the fact that he said he was proud of her was something of a surprise and a bittersweet event.

"Thanks dad..." Tali said, trying to keep the disappointment and sarcasm out of her voice. She succeeded mildly.

Rael laughed, "Come here, this asshole of a father has a hug for you."

With that, the two embraced. It was a rare occurence. To have her father hugging in such a fatherly manner was something that mostly never happened during her time on the fleet. When they let go, they both laughed. However, the embrace had reminded her of the fact that she had never informed Rael of her relationship with Marcus and it caused fresh tears to form. As they fell, she thanked the mask once again.

"Tali'Zorah," Gerrel said and Tali turned to talk to him. The crowd had since dispersed and Kal and Peta had stayed behind to speak with Tali. Rael nodded to his daughter, patted her shoulder and then hastily left.

"Yes, captain?" Tali asked.

"You should go to the ship's clean room," Gerrel stated, handing her the access codes, "Your new suit is awaiting you. I think your current one is a little to...childish, don't you think? I had my wife model it for you. She says it should bring the 'inner woman' out on you, whatever that means. But first, I think a couple of people would like to speak to you. I'll have you report to me tomorrow morning for your duties. For today, get some rest. You earned it."

"Thank you, captain." Saluting Gerrel, she then turned and headed towards Kal and Peta; Gerrel returning to the shuttle bay; he had a meeting to continue.

"Excellent job out there ma'am," Kal announced, holding out his hand to shake Tali's. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she ignored the hand and hugged Kal, who reciprocated it hesitantly. When they were done, Tali nodded.

"I think you showed them who was boss," Kal continued, "Just be careful, I might start taking commands from you soon, the rate you're going. Had you done any of those things as a marine, you'd have been shot up to captain immediately. You sure you'd rather not be a marine?"

Tali shook her head, "I've had my share of combat and to be honest, it wouldn't be the same without the team I served in. Besides, I think an engine room is just my kind of environment."

Kal raised a brow behind his mask, "Old team ma'am?"

Tali sighed, "You don't think I defeated Saren and the geth by myself did you? I served in a team and the bonds I made with them; inseperable."

"Who were they?" Peta eagerly asked.

"Well, there was Ashley, who I guess was the group's hardass soldier. She was a bit racist to start off with but we grew to be close friends. Unfortunately, she sacrificed herself on Virmire to make sure the bomb went off to destroy the geth base."

"She's a damn hero in my books, then," Kal declared.

"Then there was Kaidan," Tali continued, "Who was the group's sentinel. Him and his tech armor. You should have seen him; he was a blazing devil on the battlefield. He made killing geth troopers seem like a simple temp task. And there was Wrex, he was the team's krogan."

"A krogan?" Peta asked with surprise.

"Don't worry, he was still the brutally ruthless kind," Tali joked, "But he was the one who helped me build up my shotgun skills and made me tougher. So if I fight like a krogan, you know where I got it from. He was also a biotic and loved shotguns; so I guess he was great. He left after the battle of the citadel though. Had to unite the krogan clans."

"Oh, and there was Garrus, he was the team's turian. He was an excellent sniper and he was quite the joker. We both used to argue over which weapon was better; his sniper rifle or my shotgun."

"There was also Liara, who was our little asari researcher. She was kinda shy but she got used to combat real quickly. Packs a punch with her biotics too. We had to kill her mother though, because she was indoctrinated by Sovereign."

"Indoctrinated? Sovereign?" Kal and Peta seemed to ask in unison.

"Tell ya later," Tali stated, "And finally, there was the commander. Marcus Lee Shepard."

"The Hero of the Citadel," Kal continued, "Tough son of a bitch was the Liberator of Elysium, Butcher of Torfan and Survivor of Akuze before he saved the galaxy from those geth assholes. My respects to him. Heard he died a couple of days ago."

"I know, I was there," Tali said melancholicly, "But you said he was the survivor of Akuze? He never mentioned that. How did you know?"

Kal huffed, "Because I was there. Went there for my pilgrimage. Witnessed first hand what the thresher maws did to his squad. I was the one who gave him a ride out of there on my shuttle. Poor bastard was traumatized to shit. Looked like he had just seen Tasula herself."

Tali was fully aware just how dangerous thresher maws were. If you took a worm, enlarged it until it was the size of a a human football field, gave it teeth and pincers, natural armor and the ability to spit acid, then you had a thresher maw. They bred incredibly fast too; a single spore was all that was needed to make a single thresher; and those spores always came in hundreds. Tasula was also one of the quarian ancestors; however, she was mostly compared to being the ancestor you 'didn't stuff around with or you'd find yourself in hell.'

"So yeah, I'm not surprised he didn't mention Akuze," Kal finished, interrupting Tali's musings, "It was pretty damn ugly; seeing human limbs and blood flying all over the place is enough to make anyone sick to the stomach," Kal stopped for a second and looked at Peta then Tali before sighing, "Well, I hate to cut the celebration short but I've got to return to the Rayya. Got marines to train. I'll see you around, Tali."

Tali nodded but stopped Kal before he left, whispering into her secure comm link with him, "Please make sure you take Peta with you when you leave. I don't have time for his...obsessions."

Kal chuckled lightly as he answered, "Ha, don't blame you. If I were you I wouldn't have time for his bullshit either. I'll get rid of him for ya."

Tali nodded her gratitude as Kal put a firm grip on Peta's shoulder and steered him away. He objected, but Kal continued to shove him away anyway, the two of them disappearing behind one of the doors to the bridge, leading to the shuttle bay. Sighing, Tali left the room, heading for the Neema's clean room.

She had to ask for directions numerous times as it had been a while since her last visit to the Neema and she had gotten used to the layout of the Normandy. She was still testing out her new name in her mind. Tali'Zorah vas Neema. I like it. Has a nice ring to it. After weaving in and out of numerous populated areas, she finally located the ship's clean room.

After uploading the required code to gain access, she stepped into the room to find the suit set up on the 'mating' bed (It's called that because that's usually what clean rooms are used for). Tali was quick to approach it and pick it up. She was absolutely amazed by it. The veil was her favourite color as well, which was an added bonus. Without hesitation, she activated the clean room's decontamination unit and once it had finished, immediately began stripping off her suit.

A few minutes later, her old suit lay in a heap on the floor and she was stark naked. It wasn't a feeling she got to enjoy all the time; this was probably the second time it had happened; the first being after her birth. She felt sadness when she realized that she would have liked this moment to have been reserved to when she revealed herself to Marcus. She gave a sigh at the realization of how that was, now, never going to happen.

Picking up the new suit, she spent a while learning where all the new accessories went and how the new systems worked. When the suit was finally on and all the clasps and seals had been sealed, she looked in the room's mirror to see a much different Tali. Not only did she look like a more mature woman, but she looked...sexier.

She tossed the last thought away as she gathered her old suit and visor, deciding to keep them in memorial to her old self. Stepping outside, she began to head towards her predesignated quarters, which were also provided by Gerrel on the OSD. When she arrived, she found her bunk cramped inbetween two others. Placing her stuff under it, she hopped into it and closed her eyes, going to sleep.

She dreamt of her future on the fleet.

It wasn't a good dream.

{Loading...}

August 23, 2183

1313 hours.

Apartment 21, S Block, Hyperion Apartments, Shalta Wards, The Citadel.

Marksman Garrus Vakarian.

Garrus cursed to himself numerous times as he entered his apartment on the Citadel. A mere forty minutes ago he was striding into the Council chambers, with the intention of becoming a turian spectre and forming his own team to fight injustice and crime, but also stop the reapers, in honor of Shepard.

But all that came crashing down in an instant. Not only did the Council reject his request to become a spectre, but he was also given a warning by C-Sec that if he caused any trouble, he would be immediately arrested. With no spectre status and no team, he was left with nowhere to start. Sighing, he began to strip off his armor when a knock resounded on the door he just entered through.

Turning around, he looked at the door as if getting read for it's imminent attack. Eventually, after a second knock, he opened the door, the interface sliding open to reveal another turian standing behind it. He wore a shirt that had a single red line aligned vertically on the front with numerous yellow stripes; the rest of it was blue. His facepaint was also completely blue; the colony of Ygumbu.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Garrus asked curtly, his frustration from the last few minutes radiating in his voice.

"My name's Lantar Sidonis," The turian stated, wringing his hands while constantly looking behind him, "I need your help. You're Garrus Vakarian, one of the heroes of the citadel, right?"

Garrus nodded his head, albeit slowly, "Yes. What's the problem?"

"Well, I-"

"There he is!"

Sidonis' head snapped behind him in an instant and Garrus had to look around the turian to see who it was. A krogan, leading two vorcha, were at the bottom of the alleyway, wearing no armor but holding pistols at their side. Upon seeing Sidonis, the trio charged. Sidonis yelped and ran behind Garrus, but the marksman wasn't about to retreat.

From the way the krogan commanded the vorcha, he guessed they were affiliated with Blood Pack; one of the three major mercenary organizations. Blood Pack ranked lowest of the three when it came to well-trained troops, mechs and weapons, but they ranked highest in terms of sheer numerical superiority. Only two known species were allowed to join Blood Pack; krogan and vorcha.

Vorcha weren't a very popular; some could say that even quarians looked down on them. They were feral and not very intelligent creatures, mostly keeping to themselves or raiding worlds in the Terminus Systems, where their homeworld was located. They had no military or fleet to speak of, no government, no civilian populace, no economy, no nothing. They were essentially renegade idiots who had nothing to live for except be used as cannon fodder or to find something to kill.

Their eyes were something creepy though; they were naturally bloodshot, which meant they were always the same, blood red color. Their body was scaly and very reptillian, with a head much like an asari's if the tentacles stuck out in all directions and was scaly. The vorcha also had deadly canine teeth; razors that were a testament to the vorcha's carnivorous status quo; they literally ate the flesh of their enemies, dead or alive.

The krogan ordered the vorcha to attack and, the morons they were, they let out a war cry before charging forward, pistols raised. They fired, but their shots missed almost completely and Garrus countered their attacks in hand-to-hand fluidly. He had learned alot from Marcus, but the vorcha weren't bright enough for martial arts to begin with anyway. Grabbing the pistol out of the right hand of the left vorcha, he shot and killed it, before finishing off it's companion.

The krogan charged forward, but quickly met his hand to a steady burst of pistol fire to his head, killing him faster than he could regenerate. Dropping the pistol, he closed the door and turned to Sidonis, who cowered nearby.

Garrus shook his head as he reassured the turian, "It's okay Sidonis, I took care of them. But how the hell did you wind up on Blood Pack's priority list? You have to piss them off quite alot to get their full attention."

Sidonis was hesitant to answer, "I was on Omega when it happened. I can't remember exactly how it happened; I was drunk at the time, but I somehow got myself into the situation of owing this Blood Pack merc; I think his name was Troug. He was a krogan of course. I couldn't pay up, so I fled to the Citadel. I knew they'd come after me, so I came here for your help."

"You were on Omega?" Garrus asked. Everyone knew where and what Omega was. It was called the galaxy's 'crime capital' for a reason. And, ironically, it served as the defacto capital of the Terminus Systems, located in the Omega Nebula. It had once been one gigantic asteriod; 44.7 kilometers in diameter. However, when the asari discovered it, they had built one gigantic mining platform and following that, a city, ontop of it. However, a mercenary attack on the station thousands of years ago forced the Council to abandon it; round about the time when the Terminus systems broke off from Council space and formed their own region of space.

Omega was now nothing but a disgusting hellhole. The mining centers had long been put out of operation and last he heard, an asari by the name of Aria T'Loak served as the defacto ruler of it. She kept the mercenaries who used it as a headquarters in place and made sure nothing messed with her. Apart from that, Omega was lawless. A criminal's paradise. If you wanted the worst kinds of rapists, pedophiles, murderers, thieves, mercenaries and the lot? You came to Omega, because that's where they basically lived.

Omega had a population of seven point eight million. That was over seven million of the galaxy's scum and criminal masterminds.

"Yeah," Sidonis admitted, "My parents promised me a new future on Omega. That was before they told me they were mercenaries working for the Blue Suns."

Blue Suns. Another of the three major merc businesses. They rated top of the rank and file in terms of well-trained soldiers and had a budget to fit; they had alot of gunships. As it stood, the Blue Suns was the most wealthy and most influentical of the three organizations. They had an economical empire to match too. They only hired batarians, humans and turians. Three of the galaxy's deadliest military powers. How fitting. However, it was occassional that a quarian on pilgrimage looking for easy money would become a Blue Suns merc.

It was now that Garrus realized just how much he hated crime. He hated all the injustice and severity of it all. It's one of the reasons he wanted to follow in Shepard's footsteps; he wanted to be like him; an intelligent leader with the decision making skills to command a large squad into battle against a powerful foe. Instead, his spectre status was rejected and his attempts to build a team rendered moot.

Then he thought of the possibilities of forming his team on Omega. The one had most outstanding feature of this choice was plain and simple; Omega was lawless. The Citadel had a bunch of regulations that ruled out viglanteism, but on Omega that wasn't a problem. As long as you didn't make Aria's life a misery, you were free to do what you wanted. It was also the base of operations for the main mercenary companies; perfect.

When it came down to it, Omega was the best place to conduct his operations. He would be undetered, he wouldn't have to worry about security getting in the way and he could find the weapons he needed in the station's black market trade. Garrus smiled as he turned to look at Sidonis. And Sidonis could be my second-in-command. He's managed to severely piss off the Blood Pack, so I guess he's okay. Plus, he'll be safer if he stayed with me.

"Sidonis, how would you like to help me put a stop to crime on Omega?" Garrus asked.

Sidonis creased his brow at the turian viglante, "How would I help you with that?"

"Easy. You've messed with Blood Pack and lived," Garrus answered simply, "I want you as my second-in-command. We'll go to Omega and form a team. You can help me. We'll take the best of the best and form the best squad to take on the mercenaries of Omega. We'll put a stop to crime for good."

Sidonis seemed to consider this for a minute, "Well, I can't deny that it sounds tempting."

Another minute of silence passed before Sidonis spoke up again, "Okay, I'm in. So, we're heading to Omega, you said?"

Garrus nodded as he headed towards his bedroom to pack. Due to his new status as a hero, he had plenty of credits, which meant enough to purchase a ticket to Omega, "Yes, it's the best place to fight crime without being hindered by C-Sec regulations or the lot. It also means better access to weapons and deadly people willing to help us out. Trust me, as much as Omega has criminals, it'll have a decent amount of people looking for merc blood."

It didn't take long for the turian to pack. He only had some personal items and his reaper sniper rifle. He had heard on the extranet about rumors of numerous militaries taking a 'step forward' and switching from mass effect field powered weapons to one's utilizing the geth's thermal clip systems. Garrus saw the advantages and disadvantages of this, but he still kept his sniper. Besides, a professional gunsmith like himself could easily modify the weapon so it was compatible with thermal clips. Simple.

After checking that his apartment was secure and making sure Sidonis was well fed, the two turians set out for the spaceport.

A new life of viglanteism. He was looking forward to it. It was time to make a difference.

{Loading...}

August 24, 2183

1659 hours.

Main Laboratory, Level 13, Lazarus Station, Remus System.

Lazarus Science Chief Albert Wilson, The Illusive Man.

Wilson waited as the quantum entanglement communicator completed the visual upload. Quantum Entanglement communications were a complex thing; however, in layman's terms, it was a holopad that allowed the hologram of someone to be uploaded to another location, allowing for visual communications on a broader scale. Right now, he was setting up communications with the head of Cerberus himself; the Illusive Man.

Finally, the visual feed completed and the holographic figure of the Illusive Man stood before him. He was surprised to see TIM standing to begin with; he always usually sitting down sipping his whiskey or smoking his cigar. However, he still kept his lit cigar in his hand, so Wilson knew that not everything had changed.

"Wilson, I presume you have a status update," TIM assumed.

Wilson nodded while activating his omni-tool, "I've managed to contact Doctor Chakwas and Jeff Moreau and we're just waiting on their reply."

TIM nodded as he lit another cigar, "Excellent, but I've also begun construction of Project: Phoenix. When Shepard wakes up, he's going to need a ship and a crew. Give me a list of potential candidates."

Wilson rushed through his list of Lazarus units before finding what he needed, "Well, the list is as follows; Sarah Patel, Vadim Rolston, Jenny Goldstein, Thomas Hawthorne, Richard Hadley, Zach Matthews, Burt Cartwell, Bernard Patricks, Brynn Cole, Willow and Jon Pertwee. We also have two new recruits; Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly. They recently signed on after hearing about Shepard's downplayed death. They're loyal supporters of his, sir."

TIM seemed to hesitate for a moment, "I want Patel, Rolston, Goldstein, Hawthorne, Hadley, Matthews, Cartwell, Patricks, Daniels and Donnelly assigned to the Phoenix. Also, if Moreau, Chakwas and Adams accept our offer, have them assigned to the Phoenix as well. Moreau has an excellent flight record and it will do us good if Shepard has familiar faces on his crew. Also, the ship will need an AI interface, so I can keep a watch on him and his crew."

Wilson visibly flinched at the mention of an AI, "You want to incorporate what into the Phoenix's design?"

"An AI," TIM repeated, "As bad as AI history is, this one will be under Cerberus control. I've already had personnel capture the one that went rogue on X57 and had a look at it. Apparently it had developed self-awareness, not common in VI's and they were intrigued. I've sent it over to you so it can be transformed into an AI. We'll call it the 'Enhanced Defense Intelligence,' or EDI for short. I'll send you the exact specs I want on it when you've received the VI."

Wilson nodded but wanted to ask one more thing before the Illusive Man cut the link, "Sir, just what are we going to call Shepard's ship? I mean, Phoenix is just a temp name, isn't it?"

TIM nodded, "Yes of course, it's a placeholder title and nothing else. The official name, should Shepard agree, will be something he'll be comfortable." TIM then smiled a big grin, taking another puff of his cigar.

"We're calling it the Normandy SR-2."

{Loading...}

August 24, 2183

1731 hours.

Urdnot Camp, Hagalok City Ruins, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka.

Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Overlord Urdnot Wreav, Chieftain Gatatog Uvenk.

Wrex sighed loudly as Uvenk continued his rambling. The krogan was half his age and was a child compared to Wrex, but he knew that without Uvenk, he wouldn't be able to unite Clan Gatatog under his rule, so he let him live. Uvenk's father was Verx, the krogan battlemaster he had destroyed on Therum during the Eden Prime War. Of course, Uvenk was kept unaware of this. If he found out, war between Urdnot and Gatatog would break out. For all Uvenk knew, he thought it had been humans who killed his father.

Wrex shared a glance with his blood brother, Wreav, who gave him the same irritated glance that showed that the both of them were sick to death with Uvenk's ramblings. Clan Gatatog had made it clear that they demanded alot of things for this alliance to work, but just how much hadn't been certain until now. Uvenk's demands were just a nuisance now.

Wreav may have been Wrex's blood brother, but that didn't mean they liked each other. In fact, they hated each other. Wreav had never gotten over the fact that their father treated Wrex with more respect then he did Wreav. Wreav, unlike Wrex, wasn't a biotic, so it was unfit to become a battlemaster and forced to take the position as Chieftain's adjutant. However, when Wrex 'murdered' Jarrod and left Tuchanka, Wreav had immediately assumed control, becoming chieftain of Clan Urdnot.

That all changed years later when Wrex returned just over a month ago. Wrex had ordered Wreav to surrender his position, but he refused, deciding to follow tradition and fight over the throne. It had been obvious who had won. Wreav was dangerous with a shotgun, but Wrex had more experience and was a seasoned battlemaster. With Wrex in control, Wreav quickly found himself as an adjutant once more. And he hated every second of it.

However, it was a time like this where two foes had to share agreement. Both of them hated Uvenk, both of them wanted him to shut up and more importantly, just wanted this over with. The majority of Urdnot had been welcoming of Wrex's unification idea, but a small minority weren't, including Wreav. With majority consensus, Wrex assembled a meeting among the clans. Most accepted, some, specifically Clan Weyrloc, decided to remain in their own ways. So far, all have changed that motion except Weyrloc.

All the major clans, including Urdnot, Drau, Forsan, Ganar, Gatatog, Hailot, Jorgal, Jurdon, Jax, Khel, Nakmor, Quash, Raik, Ravanor and Thax had accepted the peace agreement, with only a few needing to refine a few things. All the clans had chosen the Urdnot Camp as their capital and now had ambassadors living there, along with a few clan shamans. Clan Ganar had problems initially, but quickly rectified them, which wasn't surprising, as Ganar's 12th Chieftain had been the founder of the Blood Pack.

When Uvenk was finally finished, Wrex sat up in his throne and nodded curtly, "Yes, yes, all these demands will be met. Now go squabble somewhere else where noone can hear you." Wrex dismissed.

Uvenk grunted with frustration as he left the throne room, storming down the ramp and back into the camp, pushing past the two guards stationed there. The Urdnot camp was anything but impressive. The throne he sat in was just cracked stone, with a large hole in the ceiling revealing the harsh sun of Aralakh itself. The place was a testament to the state the krogan were in; the whole place looked like it had been bombed five times over.

In fact, the camp was set up in what used to be a krogan traffic tunnel, where large amounts of civilian vehicles travelled through or, during the krogan civil wars, where a regiment of armoured vehicles or troops could advance through. Now it was nothing but emptiness, one half having been blocked off by collapsed rubble, where his throne now resided.

He sat on a elevated platform where a small ramp lay to his left. This lead down into a krogan atrium sort of place. Down to his left was a varren pit; where krogan would pit their varren pets against each other for credits. Ahead of this was a firing range, where the krogan armourer worked and tested new weapons on the local pyjak infestation.

To the right and above the shooting range was a large garage where they kept the transports; mostly being tomkahs. To the left of that was the 'research lab', where what could quite possibly be the only krogan scientist alive, Fortack, resided, still looking for that cure to the genophage. It was a goal that could never be achieved, not with the CDEM (Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission) battlestations orbitting up above and watching their every move.

Before Wrex could move, one of the krogan comm techs ran up to him, shouting.

"Chieftain, you have a message coming in from a...Tali'Zorah?" The krogan reported, handing the chieftain a datapad before running off.

Wreav scoffed, "You deal with quarian filth? You really have grown soft Wrex."

Wrex just dismissed his brother with a wave of his hand, too busy reading the contents of the datapad. Wreav grunted before leaving, deciding that he would rather not waste his time on his brother. Wrex was glad he did; the overlord was starting to get on his nerves.

Which he regretted doing. Rediculing his brother would have been ten times better then reading what he just read. He collapsed in his chair from his standing pose, absolutely shocked by the news he was reading. His eyes were stuck on that one paragraph. ...there was nothing we could do. He went to save Joker and did so, but he was spaced in the process. Shepard's dead, Wrex. He's gone. We're the only ones who can stop the Reapers now. I hope you're okay and please, try not to get yourself killed old friend. Tali.

Wrex shook his head as he tossed the datapad away. He couldn't believe his battle brother was dead. It was unthinkable. He had always seemed so indomitable. Now he was dead and he had to mourn him. With a sigh, he got up and moved towards the garage. He would take a tomkah to the hollows and honor the death of his battle brother. It was all he could do.

"So, as you can guess, those were pretty depressing times."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Tell me more. I want to know what happened following the days Shepard died."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Um...you are Shepard, remember? First person perspective."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

- Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, tell me what happened."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Well, the events following your death were pretty empty of any real stuff happening until probably November in the same year. It was the day the Omega wars began..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER FOUR:

LAZARUS

November 11, 2183

1940 hours.

Colony Center, Colony Grandeur, Northern Hemisphere, Horizon.

Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Colony President Lilith Abraham.

It had been a total of four months since Shepard's death and the destruction of the Normandy. Four long months that might as well have been decades. It was four long periods of hell for the former staff lieutenant.

The day after everyone left, Kaidan said his final goodbye to Doctor Chakwas. Adams had already been transferred and left hours before, so it was just him and Chakwas left. After giving a last farewell to the good doctor, he had boarded one of the alliance shuttles in the area and left on the SSV Perugia for Arcturus Station.

A day after leaving the Citadel, the alliance cruiser arrived at Arcturus and he was immediately debriefed by his superiors, accompanied by Admiral Hackett and the Admiral of the Navy. It was determined he would be deployed to Feros to help with efforts to repair the infrastucture. After accepting his assignment, he had immediately left for the colony, not hesitating in getting back to duty.

The mission to Feros was dull; all he did was lead a small, fireteam of marines to help defend the colony from any mercenaries or pirates in the area. His posting there had barely last a fortnight before he was reposted to a shipboard garrison aboard the Tokyo. That lasted about two months before he was ordered back to Arcturus.

Apparently the alliance had begun a colonial negoitation program with any existing human colonies in the Traverse and Terminus. They wanted to make sure their colonies were adequately defended from enemy attack, as colonies in both regions had been mysteriously disappearing. The Alliance's SIA (Systems Intelligence Administration) had been smart enough to link the disappearences with the Normandy's destruction; they started just after the attack.

The Alliance was able to narrow it down to three possible factions; the batarian hegemony, the geth or cerberus. Any one of them could be involved, which was why Kaidan and a small marine garrison were being stationed on Horizon; a major human colony on the edge of the Terminus; if the unknown enemy attacked, Kaidan would be able to identify them and confirm. The Alliance also had a tech team deploy on the planet to set up GARDIAN defense towers; additional firepower always came in handy.

And up until now; Horizon was where Kaidan was assigned. Prior to Horizon however, he had been promoted to Staff Commander, mostly out of necessity to create a better image for the Alliance; it would look bad to the public if a hero of the citadel wasn't promoted for his actions. It would seem like discreditation. Kaidan simply didn't care.

Night after night, Kaidan would think about Ash. Her sacrifice on Virmire had been a big topic among the crew, but eventually they learnt to come to grips with it and moved on. However, they weren't as close to Ashley as he had been. Their relationship had barely developed before she was cruelly taken away from her in a blaze of atomic fire.

He kept telling himself she did the right thing; that she sacrificed herself to stop the geth. He knew full well. But it didn't change the fact that he had only just fallen for the marine before she went out and got herself blown up. He had almost made the rash decision of blaming Shepard; of pinning the blame on him and saying that had he moved quickly enough, they could have saved her.

But with Saren's interruption and the time they had left before the bomb detonated, he knew that Shepard couldn't have gotten to her in time. And now, throughout Kaidan's dreams, he would always hear Ashley's final words. How she wanted to say it, but never got the chance. Wasn't allowed the chance. It was then that he realized just how lucky Shepard had been; Tali had survived the campaign with Saren unharmed.

Then he remembered that Shepard was dead and now, like him, Tali mourned her dead lover, although a little more...painfully. Kaidan hadn't known Ashley for very long and so their relationship never developed to that stage; but Tali and Shepard had alot of time; enough time to develop a bond that proved to be utterly devastating to the quarian.

He was brought out of his musings as the door to his cabin opened. He had been playing a game of chess with Lilith Abraham, the colony's leader, when the door had opened. He wasn't all that good at strategy games; give him a weapon and soldiers, and he would direct. Give him chess pieces and a board, and he would fluster. It just wasn't him. But Lilith had insisted it would help kill the time, so he had given in. It had proven quite fun, but as expected, Lilith beat him every single time.

Looking up, he saw Gunnery Sergeant Kahleigh Waters standing in the doorway, her pose stiff and jointed. She was popular among her troops; she was snappy and prone to frustration, but she was generally kind and easy going. Her past was a long and dark one; apparently she had run away from home when she was six as her parents had planned on selling her to batarians just to gain enough money to feed themselves. She was then rescued by another marine, he took care of her until she was old enough to sign up.

Returning the sergeant's salute, he stood up to address the soldier, "Come in and sit down sergeant, we were just about to start another game.

Kahleigh held up her hands, "That won't be nessacary sir. I came to grab you; it's happening again."

Kaidan sighed, "I'm getting sick of these little riots," He gave an apologetic nod to Lilith as he moved to leave, taking his pistol with him, "We'll continue this later." Lilith nodded, not even bothering to clean up the game set as she left with him, the human giving her own frustrated sigh as she followed quietly behind the two marines towards the GARDIAN tower.

The colonists of Horizon weren't big Alliance fans; they blamed them for their troubles and firmly believed they were the reason the colonies were being abducted. So, naturally, when the Tokyo appeared over their world to drop off a squad of alliance marines and techies, they were expectedingly unhappy.

Ever since then, they had tried their best to disrupt the construction of the GARDIAN towers. Their riots were mostly headed by the colony's mechanic, Delan, who was one of the biggest critics of the systems alliance. He constantly made it clear just how much he despised their polices and how he would stop at nothing to remove their 'stink' from their colonies.

Finally reaching the site of the tower, he saw a large group of colonists surrounding the central tower. A squad of marines were in a tight circle, all wielding riot shields as they held off the rioters. Delan encouraged his fellow colonists to keep attacking, hoping to wittle down the marine's morale so they collapsed. Kaidan was having none of it.

Raising his pistol into the air, he fired multiple times into the air, moving forward as he did. Every time he fired, the colonists would move out of the way, not willing to attack a marine who was armed. Hearing the click of an empty weapon, he grabbed a fresh thermal clip from his waist and slipped it into the slot on his predator pistol, reloading it. It had been three months since all weapons had been fitted out with thermal clips and the general consumer response hadn't been friendly.

Rising his predator into the air one more time, he fired three shots, making sure the colonists were completely backed off before summoning Lilith to the center stage. He was good at halting a crowd, but he couldn't convince them to stand down. They wouldn't listen to a member of the alliance. However, Lilith, as the colony's leader, would be able to convince them. They would listen to her.

"Everyone, stop this now!" Lilith demanded.

"Get out of the way, Abraham!" a female colonist shouted, "We need to get rid of the alliance scum! We'll all be taken if this keeps up!"

"They're only taking colonies with alliance influence in them," Another shouted, "If they see we're not connected with them, they won't take us! We need to get rid of them!"

"The alliance only wants to protect us!" Lilith negoitated.

"Like hell they do!" Delan spoke up, "They're only doing this to protect their own political self-image! They don't give a damn about us! Get rid of them!"

It was time Kaidan stepped in and stopped this, "ENOUGH!" Everyone fell silent at the sound of the marine speaking up. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Stop this immediately. You may not like it, but we're here to stay. The Alliance is doing everything in it's power to stop these attacks and unless you cooperate, you'll be taken just like the others. We don't know who's doing it, but we'll get to the bottom of it."

Delan shook his head, "And why should we trust you? How do we know this isn't the politicians at Arcturus' words?"

"Because you don't have much of a choice," Kaidan deadpanned, "It's either us or them. Whatever they are. You either cooperate with us or be taken. Take it or lose it, but the alliance has already decided."

With a huff, everyone began to clear out. Delan gave one last shout.

"Nothing but bloody dictators, you alliance morons are," Delan declared, "Every. Last. One of you. You might as well switch to dictatorships now. Don't even given us the chance to dictate the future of our own colony. You twindle your thumbs and do nothing. You're useless. The lot of you."

"It's for your own good," Kaidan stated simply.

"Up yours!" Delan spat, leaving the area. Kaidan sighed, letting his predator slip into the holster on his hip.

Yeah. This was hell alright.

{Loading...}

November 13, 2183

1111 hours.

Upper Atrium, Abandoned Hotel, Housing District, Omega.

Merc Leader Garrus 'Archangel' Vakarian, Lieutenant Lantar Sidonis, EOD Specialist Fal Pash, Marksman Talan Huvik, Machinist Mak'Var nar Terez, CQB Specialist Caity Matthews.

Garrus watched as his squad got into position. It had been four months since Sidonis ran into his apartment and told him he was being chased by Blood Pack mercenaries. Alot had happened since then. The two turians had travelled to Omega where they were forced to meet with Aria, who apparently recognized Garrus as one of Shepard's cohorts. She then gave him free rein of Omega and one rule; don't mess with her. Simple enough.

Without intention, they headed to the lower section of Afterlife; one of Omega's most popular strip clubs and Aria's HQ on the station. There, they met Fal Pash, a batarian who had a score to settle with Eclipse; the third of the major mercenary organizations that specialized with tech and mechanized warfare. Only salarians, asari, humans and elcor could join. You also, like other merc companies, got the occassional quarian.

Pash also had an obsession with explosions and therefore the trio became the basis for his counter-merc squad. Garrus was the leader, Sidonis was his second-in-command and Pash was his demolitions expert. It hadn't taken long for a sizable squad to form and within a month, he had formed a twelve-man squad filled with some of Omega's most hated criminal haters. You had batarians, turians, salarians, humans, a hanar and hell, even a quarian tech! It was perfect.

After being rejected his spectre status back on the Citadel, Garrus had overheard Bailey talking to one of his clients about something and he said '...I'll come down on that asshole like a servant of Archangel...' Upon that, Garrus had immediately looked it up on the extranet. Apparently, in human religions, Archangel was the title given to the angel Michael, who lead an army of angels to defeat Satan's armies of hell. So, essentially, Michael was a fighter for justice. It suited him.

So when Garrus and his squad began their unrelenting gang war against the mercenary bands of Omega, they all knew him as Archangel; the man who was a bane to merc operations and feared across all the station. Bounties were put on his head and all three of the major merc groups, including a few of the lesser minors, were out to kill him and his team. Garrus specialized in two fields; disrupting merc drug-running operations and protecting civilians from mercs.

The citizens of Omega had dubbed him a hero; like a space batman, they would ironically say, a homage to his nickname within C-Sec. Many called him and his squad heroes; others called them guardians, sentinels, angels and many more. But their enemies only called him Archangel, wanting him dead more than anything else.

And now, right here, he was about to raid a Blood Pack operation. The Blood Pack district commander on Omega, a krogan by the simple name of Weyrloc Garm, was among the blood pack forces that were taking part in the operation. Numerous vorcha pyros and troops aligned the walls of the bridge, all lead by six krogan warriors, all armed to the teeth with heavy shotguns, pistols and even rocket launchers.

Weaponry had evolved alot over the months; many of the major weapon manufacturing companies had died out and only the major ones survived to keep building weapons; and by were they devastating; the M-920 Cain was proof of that. It was a huge rocket launcher that fired a tiny nuclear warhead. It didn't had the same devastating impact of a full-scale ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missle), but it was enough to devastate everything within a three hundred and ninety meter radius.

Of course, there was nothing that deadly on Omega; but he sure wish there was. His old, outdoubtedbly outdated, reaper sniper rifle rested in his hands, the scope peering over Garm. He watched as his squad continued to assume the directed positions. Blood Pack would cross the bridge where Pash had deployed numerous C10 explosive charges.

Talan, the team's salarian marksman, sat behind a barricade down below, with a ample view of the bridge ahead. Mak'Var, the team's quarian engineer, sat to the left of the bridge, just a few meters inside the building to keep him away from the coming firefight, sat with his back to his cover, ready to deploy his drone and unleash total fury on the enemy ranks with his powerful and obsolete M-7 Lancer assault rifle.

Caity Matthews, the team's human close-quarters specialist, had her scimitar shotgun at the ready and was twitching for a fight. Having lost her husband and children to Garm in a Blood Pack raid on her home, she was just itching to kill the bastard. Her eyes had lit up with old fury long past. She longed for that krogan's blood and today, she would get it.

And finally; Sidonis. He stood with his tactical cloaking device at the ready, sitting behind a piece of cover exactly thirty meters from the bridge's center. He had a carnifex hand cannon model pistol at the ready, being the commander of the forces down below. The rest of the squad were in flanking positions surrounding the mercs and were waiting for the order to unleash hell on the enemy.

Carefully, Garrus calculated how long it would take for the Blood Pack to reach the halfway point on the bridge. If he timed it right, the explosion would mortally wound Garm and leave the mercs confused. With his fire support from the upper level, they would take care of the enemy quicker than they could say 'oh shit, it's Archangel!' Textbook work.

He just had to time it right. Just had to wait for the right momen-

He heard a krogan's voice crackle over the comm, "Halt! We've got explosives! It's Archangel!"

Garrus cursed under his breath in turian. Well shit. No point now. Signalling Pash on the comms, the batarian detonated the C10 charges. The bright flash that followed shredded the bridge completely and totally, destroying it and killing numerous vorcha and the two krogan at the front of the pack. They had inflicted fatalities on them, but Garm had survived, unscratched.

Without missing a beat, his team rose from their dens like the dead from a grave and a tsunami of gunfire pounded the blood pack from all sides. Garrus managed to take down a vorcha with a headshot, the animal's head exploding in a shower of gore. Some of the merc's varren tried to get a meal from his squad, but they never got within a meter before being gunned down or blown up from rocket explosions.

Finally, his scope landed over Garm's thick head. Before he could fire the killing blow however, Caity rushed in, shotgun in hand. He spun around and Garrus' round whizzed past his head. Now aware that Archangel had a bead on him, he rolled out of the way, sending Caity hurling in the other direction and into a wall.

Seeing his position now breached by a very large krogan, Talan began his immediate retreat, switching to his own carnifex pistol and trying to slow the krogan's advance. This proved unnessacary. Pash, with a overly large missile launcher, game from the left and fired missile after missile at the juggernaut.

Blue streaks of light streamed towards Garm, but he easily sidestepped them and rushed towards Pash, smashing the launcher out of his hands and sending him hurling into a wall. Having had enough, Garrus decided he needed to finish Garm off himself. Dropping his rifle, he equipped his vindicator battle rifle and jumped over the ledge, landing on the first floor below. He was wearing his helmet, to keep his identity a secret.

Looking up, he saw Garm's glare lock with his. The krogan entered a battle stance as he equipped his shotgun, lowering it upon the turian. Garrus followed suit with his vindicator and pretty soon, they found themselves in a locked position. Garm was using a claymore heavy shotgun and that made Garrus wince. Claymores were of krogan design and were probably the most lethal shotguns available. What was worse, was that only a krogan could use them. Anyone else would have their arm broken from the recoil.

Garrus watched Garm closely as his team members fought the blood pack in the background. Garm had a nasty sneer across his face, his claymore at his side and ready to fire.

"You've lost Archangel," Garm spat, "My reinforcements will be here soon and you and your team will die. I'm going to rip you limb from limb, turian."

Garrus didn't respond. He just kept watching the krogan, waiting for the blood pack leader to make his move. He'd have to be extremely careful; he couldn't engage him in close quarters, as that shotgun of his would rip through his shields, armor and flesh with a single shot. He could run, but that wouldn't help defeat Garm in the long run. In the end, he went right for the...explosive approach.

Without warning, he popped a frag grenade from his belt, primed and threw it at the krogan's feet. Garm's attention changed to the explosive device inbetween his legs and he immediately dove for cover, his shields shattering as they took the blast head on. This gave Garrus enough time to leap into cover of his own, firing a steady, four-round burst into Garm's cover to keep him suppressed before reloading.

"You can't hide forever Archangel!" Garm spat as he peeked over his cover to see that Garrus wasn't waiting to shoot him, "You'll have to fight me eventually!"

With a snort, he fired another burst at Garm's cover, the krogan falling back behind his cover, "True, doesn't mean I can't delay the inevitable though."

Garm just growled as he prepared to charge forward. He wasn't a battlemaster, so he had no biotics to utilize. He wasn't an engineer or a infiltrator and certainly no vanguard or adept. Some would call him the ultimate shock trooper. Krogan could regenerate damaged flesh pretty damn well, but Garm was a freak of nature. He had medical implants that allowed him to regenerate ten times faster than any other vorcha or krogan, making him close to unstoppable. Invincible would be a little farfetched, but it wouldn't be far from the truth.

Just as Garrus prepared another shot, the blood pack leader's claymore popped up from his cover and fired, a deep, resounding boom echoing through the room as the weapon of mass destruction fired. Garrus had a mere second to duck from the shot and he did it just in time. Had he not moved instantly, his head would have been torn right from his torso. Scratch that; his torso would be nonexistent.

The shotgun slug instead hit the wall behind him, penetrating deep, continuing for at least 120 milimeters. He almost shat himself when he caught a glimpse of Garm charging for his cover. Garrus attempted to slow him down by firing a two round burst into the krogan's torso, but despite the large amount of blood, it barely halted him. Regenerating faster than he could say 'oh shit', the krogan rammed into Garrus and threw him into a wall.

Garrus was sure his shoulder was dislocated when he hit the wall, but it didn't matter. If he didn't break the krogan's hold, he was fucked. Without hesitation, he remembered one of Wrex's tips for dealing with a krogan when pinned like this. First, aim for the krogan's balls. Since they had two testicles more than other species, it would be double the pain.

Garrus felt his foot connect with the area inbetween the krogan's leg and he yelped in suppressed pain. Following this, he jabbed his talons into the krogan's eyesockets, causing the krogan to not even bother in suppressing his cry of agony as blood oozed from the sockets. Garm lessened his grip, allowing Garrus to worm out of it and retrieve his discarded vindicator. And before he escaped, he fired a single round into Garm's hand, causing him to drop the claymore.

Kicking the shotgun away, he backed away five meters. The krogan had already recovered from the attack. Turning, Garrus saw that the krogan wasn't even bothered by the steady flow of blood from his eyes. A matter of fact, he had already regenerated and the blood stopped flowing. With a toothy grin, he began to approach the turian.

What does it take to wound this son of a bitch. I need explosives. Lots of explosives.

He keyed his comm as he began his retreat, "Pash, talk to me. I need explosives right about now."

A moan came from the comm, "As in?"

He rolled his eyes, "Enough to take out a krogan who can regenerate his wounds faster than a human could piss."

"Argh...too much information," Pash responded, "I'll see what I can cook up. But we've got to wrap this up quick; Talan spotted Blood Pack reinforcements inbound towards us on hegemony-model kodiak shuttles. They'll be here in less than three minutes."

Nodding his confirmation, he cut the comm and retreated up the stairs. Hopefully he'd be able to give Pash more time to set up the charges if he took Garm to a more closely walled area...or that could end up being the turian's downfall.

Finally, Garrus found himself backed up against a door and his talon squeezed against the trigger of his battle rifle, never letting go as he pumped round after round into the krogan. Garm knew when to quit; he took cover just as the last round penetrated his left kneecap. He could regenerate fast, but nowhere near THAT fast.

Garrus fell to the ground and took out his predator pistol, firing round after round into Garm's cover, keeping him suppressed. Eventually, he was forced to stop to reload his vindicator. When he had, he continued his suppression fire. It wasn't long before Pash came to the rescue, missile launcher in hand. Garm widened his eyes at the sight of the batarian wielding the heavy weapon and jumped off the balcony just as the first missile impacted his former position, ripping it apart.

Garrus nodded his thanks and strained to pull himself up, a painful throb in his arm. With Pash's help, he was able to get up and armed his battle rifle in his non-disabled arm, moving down the steps in pursuit of Garm. Before they could catch up though, they could here the familiar sounds of kodiak shuttles approaching. Time was out.

Cursing, he shouted into his comm, "Everybody split up and exfil! Regroup at the Den, but make sure you've lost them first! Archangel out." With that, Pash and himself ran for their lives, not looking back as numerous vorcha, varren and krogan mercs flooded the building. By the time Garm returned, holding his claymore again, the team had disappeared.

The krogan simply took out his rage on his vorcha neighbour, crushing the creature's head under his foot as he left the room, trailing vorcha blood from his appendage as his blood pack boarded the shuttles and left. He would fight Archangel again and when he did, he would finish him off, once and for all.

{Loading...}

November 19, 2183

1217 hours.

Security Wing, Level 13, Lazarus Station, Remus System.

Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

Lazarus Station. A Cerberus Facility. The place where they were making miracles happen. Four months ago, Cerberus had located Shepard's body on Alchera. Well, if 'locating' can even be the right term. For one, Shepard's body wasn't even in the one area. It was scattered all over the Normandy's crash site and even beyond that. It had taken a solid week to find every single piece of flesh that was left of Shepard's body.

Secondly, it wasn't even his body anymore. What was left was just bits of molten flesh. His brain had been burnt to a crisp and what few bones were found weren't even essential. Just a few phanlanges and a piece of toe bone. However, this was useful as all the Lazarus team had to do was clone the DNA found on the bones (or what's left) and use it to flashclone exact copies of the original product through a process called 'bio-synthetic fusion'.

Ever since bringing the ex-spectre's remains back to the station, he had been locked away on an operating table in the main laboratory and they had been working on him ever since. As a security officer, he didn't have authorization to access the labs unless it was an emergency, and therefore he wasn't able to witness what went on in there. Only a few select scientists with the proper clearence, Wilson and Miranda were allowed inside.

Rumors spread like wildfire that the process was going well and that the process of rebuilding Shepard's body was almost complete. But that was defintely all it was; wild speculation. The process of rebuilding a body had never been done before and would take at least another three months to finalize. They had to reconstruct dead body tissue, replace all vital organs, rebuild all bone marrow, regenerate his brain structure and a bunch of other scientific shit.

And then it would take another six months at best to even awaken him. Bringing back the dead was a delicate process and one never attempted before; it was extremely imporant that they not mess it up or they could risk turning him into a husk or overload his brain. Apparently the cybernetics would reanimate his body while also keeping his memories and free will intact, but he just wasn't sure anymore. He put faith in the doctors.

And now he walked alongside Miranda as they approached the research wing. They crossed a narrow bridge threw the last section of the security wing, where numerous LOKI security mechs stood on guard. Boy were they basic toys with SMGs, but they were useful as cannon fodder. LOKI mechs had essentially no armor and no shields, with just a shuriken model SMG at their disposal. They had shit for brains and if compared, were probably dumber than even vorcha.

Luckily, the mechs were programmed to recognize humans as friendlies. All Cerberus personnel on the station had IFF (Identify Friend-Foe) tags that allowed them to be recognized by the mechs. Anyone non-human would be identified as hostile and fired upon. And LOKIs weren't the only form of security on this damn station; they had FENRIS mechs, which served as robotic attack dogs that would destroy enemy shields and YMIR mechs, which were the tanks. They had heavy weaponry built to take on a squad of krogan. For Cerberus, they were cheap too.

On their way inside the research wing, they passed numerous cerberus security officers as well, along with the occassional combat machinist. Most of them didn't even have armor; they wore standard cerberus uniform with a predator or carnifex pistol at their hip. The machinists had omni-tools, but that was about it. Only Jacob had any kind of combat experience and he was deadly with a shotgun.

Finally, they reached the main lab. It wasn't overly big and it was situated right beside one of the station's observation decks, allowing them a clear view of Parnack, the yahg's homeworld, outside. The yahg were a primitive species that hadn't achieved spaceflight yet; but they were five times worse than a krogan. They were taller, stronger and more bloodthirsty. The planet was quarantined as a 'no-fly zone' after a council diplomat team was murdered by the yahg after attempting contact. Perfect plase for a disclosed Cerberus facility.

Just before Miranda hit the panel on the door to open it, she turned towards Jacob and leaned against the door, crossing her arms.

Jacob huffed, "Come on Miri, just one peek? It can't hurt." Jacob pleaded.

Miranda shook her head, "I've said it before, No. I'll say it again. No. One more time. No! Want one more?" Miranda stated, with her often cold 'ice queen' act. Jacob and Miranda had known each other for a while and had once been close, but that relationship dissolved quickly after the Council assassination incident years ago. Miranda was nice underneath, to an extent, but she kept up her bitchy persona just to make sure her subordinates stayed...subordinates.

Jacob sighed heavily, "Come on! What's the problem with looking? It's not like spilling it out to the other officers is going to hurt our morale or something."

Miranda rolled her eyes, "Ever heard of gossip, Jacob? Alot of it happens in Cerberus. If word got out that we were resurrecting Shepard and got into the hands of the Alliance, what do you think would happen? No, I can't allow that to happen and neither will the Illusive Man. Now leave. You've got your duties; we'll talk in the mess hall later on."

Jacob simply nodded and saluted, "I'll be in the security wing...doing the usual. See if any of the LOKI mechs need maintenance. And keep an eye on that Wilson guy, Miri. I don't trust him."

Miranda nodded and waved a hand for Jacob to cease saluting, "Duly noted. I don't trust him much either, but this is his station, so I can't have him transferred. Besides, he's a genius, so I guess I'll have to put up with him for now. Besides, I've got you to watch my back, don't I?"

Jacob gave a warm smile, "Of course. Good luck with Shepard."

Miranda laughed, "I don't need luck, remember? I'm 'perfect.'" She used air quotes to punctuate her statement. It had been what her father had said when he perfected his creation; Miranda wasn't an ordinary human, she was genetically engineered and grown from a test tube. She was engineered to be perfect.

Jacob chuckled and turned to leave. When he was out of sight, Miranda used her omni-tool and transmitted the required codes, opening the door and stepping inside. Once it had closed behind her, she locked it again, making sure noone could get inside. The lab was of decent size; twenty meters in length and ten in width. All the tables had been removed except for the one Shepard's body now resided on. Observation windows littered the left side of the ceiling, while numerous pieces of medical equipment and monitors littered the room. Scientists wandered about, perputuating their important work.

Noticing the sound of the door opening, Wilson sighed. The ice queen bitch had returned. He began to hate this woman as soon as he started working with her. It was times like this that he wished the Illusive Man had placed him in charge of the project. It was his scientific division, afterall. But TIM's decisions were final, so he was stuck with the ice queen.

Turning and putting on the best fake smile he could sport, he handed Miranda one of the dataslates, "There's the data on the progress we're making. It's going well. We've reconnected all the major bones and we just need to inject the cybernetic implants to fuse them together. That'll take a few more weeks to complete, then we can begin regeneration of his entire body. That'll take a few more months, then..."

"Then we can awaken him. I know how long it'll take Wilson, I'm not some rookie off the street," Miranda snapped, pushing the datapad back into Wilson's open hands as she approached the table.

Wilson tried his best to hold in his irritated sigh, but he couldn't help but let loose a low grunt, slamming the datapad down on the desk harder than he thought he should. Miranda gave him a sideways glance, but otherwise, continued eying her masterpiece project. And current moment, there was nothing to look at that was remotely Shepard-looking. It was just bits of flesh, blood, bones and meat. The body was mostly reconstructed, with the forging of Shepard's retina having been completed. Most of his face was also on the way towards completion.

For now however, they still had a while before he could be totally reconstructed. All the cybernetics, the tranfusions...it'd be another year before he could be revived, possibly even longer. But, they had to make do with what they had. There was no room for forfeit; TIM would not be happy to have poured two billion credits into a project she forfeited. No, the revival had to continue.

"What's the update on the construction of the new Normandy?" Wilson asked, as he stood on the opposite side of the table.

"In construction," Miranda stated firmly, "The Illusive Man is having trouble acquiring the stealth drive blueprints from the alliance, but it won't be long before he gets his hands on them. From what I know, the specs are beyond anything the original Normandy had. It'll have more decks, better weaponry, slightly slower but bigger and by far, more advanced. It'll also come equipped with some of the best crew Cerberus has to offer. From what I've heard, Jeff Moreau and Karin Chakwas have accepted our invite and Adams is still considering it."

Wilson was impressed, "Just what kind of weaponry are we speaking of?"

Miranda noticed he was prying for too much info, "That's classified."

Wilson sighed, "Crew?"

"Also classified."

"Then what isn't?"

"Nothing crucial."

Miranda's short and blunt answers started to irritate him, but he decided to let it slip. If he was that interested in learning about the Normandy, he'd just ask TIM directly. Cerberus hadn't done much to disturb the Normandy's crash site except scan some of it's crucial components. There was a huge chunk of the SR-1's engine core still left, but most of the tech was damaged beyond repair and couldn't be recycled.

The occassional body still left on the ship was found and taken back to Earth to be given a proper burial. They also found numerous journals, some including Charles Pressly's and Tali'Zorah nar Rayya's. The information on them was corrupt however and the datapads were left within the frigate's wreckage. After retrieving Shepard's body, what was left of the ship was left there. The dead body of the hero that had slain Sovereign, a testament to the enemy they now faced.

The Illusive Man was vague on exactly what they were facing, but apparently they were bringing Shepard back for a new goal now; one that didn't just involve preparing for the Reapers. A new enemy had appeared on the galactic map; and it was abducting entire human colonies, one by one. It couldn't have been geth; they hated all organics and didn't have the technology to abduct entire colonists without a fight and be gone within four hours.

It wasn't the Reapers themselves either; although, unlike the geth, it was well within their technology for such abductions, the evidence pointed to otherwise. Only one Reaper was present in the galaxy, and that was destroyed. Also, the Reapers preferred to leave dragon's teeth all over the place. At all sites, not a single dragon's teeth was to be found. Also, footprints of where the Reapers land couldn't be found either. No, it wasn't Reapers and it wasn't geth.

Whoever it was, they had a vendetta against humanity. All the colonies that disappeared were all human; not a single asari, turian, salarian or any alien colony was taken. This enemy hated humanity and was declaring a personal war against them; for what? They weren't sure. But TIM was sure it had something to do with Sovereign's destruction at the Citadel five months ago.

And now, Shepard was their last hope to stop them. The Alliance was unwilling to fight the enemy directly; only putting in peripheral support and false promises. TIM had decided that Cerberus was going to have to act; despite being a terrorist organization, they had a sufficiently large budget and fleet, allowing them to make a significant foe for their enemy; or at least, somewhat. But with Shepard leading them, they would be unstoppable. Of that, TIM was sure.

"Wilson, activate the neural scanner. I want to see his brain activity," Miranda ordered, breaking Wilson's train of thought.

Nodding, he activated it and directly it at what was meant to be Shepard's head. It would be a long year of reconstruction.

But Cerberus was sure that it was worth it.

{Loading...}

November 22, 2183 {Translated Khelish Time}

Fifteen Hours, Three Minutes.

Passenger Compartment, QMFV Kodiak Shuttle, Inbound for QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet.

Mission Leader Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Platoon Leader Prazza'Sal vas Idenna, Corporal Yitsak'Cqi vas Jykkza, Private First Class Myr'Jorin nar Gmyl.

Tali stared intently out of the shuttle window and down upon the world below her. They had just wrapped up another mission on Pheiros, and they had turned up with nothing. Four months had passed since Marcus' death and she had copped better than she expected. She still cried herself to sleep most nights, but he didn't occupy her nightmares that badly anymore. She had healed sufficiently, but not fully.

However, she found herself unable to fall for anyone else. Peta was still persistant in his attempts to be with her but apart from that, she hadn't really had an interest in anyone else. It was either because none of the males she knew were relationship material or that she thought she'd be dishonoring Marcus if she found someone else.

She had been an engineer on the Neema for quite a while and efficiently became the chief engineer's second-in-command, but that was before the three weeks that followed. It was September when her father approached her, inviting her to an admiralty board meeting on the Rayya. She was reluctant at first, but she eventually accepted.

When she got there, she learned that the geth data had been handed over to Xen for examination and the quarian, surprisingly, applauded her for it. It allowed her a much broader view of how the geth had come to evolve over the years. The stealth drive technology had been given to her subordinates, who were now testing it on the Moreh. If it passed all tests, it would be officially commissioned aboard the Heavy fleet corvette, Hutbyk. It would be the fleet's first stealth capable vessel.

Tali had been informed of the fleet's current status, and none of it was good. The fleet was dying, to put it bluntly. It had served them for three centuries, but now it's time had come, like an elderly man facing his inevitable death. The liveships were low on resources and fear that the Nuustu's nutrient vats were failing had spread throughout the fleet. It, of course, was closer to the truth than they feared. They had a mere six years before the Nuustu became contaminated.

They were also running low on ships to salvage and that mean the ships they had, were going to fall apart and possibly kill the crews onboard. This meant that if the liveships failed, the migrant fleet would run out of resources to sustain. Starvation would overcome them and the last of the quarian race would die. The quarians were facing extinction once again, and the conclave was terrified.

Zaal'Koris however, had a solution. He proposed the one thing that he always supported; the search for a new homeworld. The admiralty and the conclave didn't like it, but they had to admit he was right. But in their view, it would be a temporary world. The majority of the fleet still praised the idea of liberating Rannoch and taking back the Perseus Veil. It was a war they couldn't win; not in their current state.

So, the conclave elected to send out science teams; small units of Xen's best scientists escorted by a marine unit, would deploy on a world and test it's chirality. If it was dextro, they would select it for colonization, grasping on the hope that the Council didn't take notice. They would also check to see if the planet was habitable to all forms of life.

It hadn't been long before Tali otped for the military life; she joined the marines. Gerrel and Kal's insistance was only one of the minute reasons she joined them. She mostly joined it because she wanted to make a difference and to get over Marcus' death. Enduring harsh training from a even less friendly sergeant would help with that.

But apparently she didn't need training; her actions on the Citadel proved that. She got immediate access to the military and was offered the rank of Platoon Sergeant. She accepted this and quickly blitzed through the ranks, quickly reaching Lieutenant and commanding a large platoon. Finally, she was given the position of mission leader, leading all marine units that escorted the science teams.

She found herself in the unfortunate place of leading Prazza's platoon. He hadn't been happy at all when he heard that 'the admiral's little girl' would be leading his team. He had muttered under his breath at times and at others, completely undermined her command. She tolerated it and made daily complaints to the Corps command, hoping they would do something about it. For now, she was stuck with his arrogant attitude towards her.

However, Yitsak and Myr proved to be a different story. Yitsak was young, having only just completed his pilgrimage two weeks ago before jumping into the marines. He was young and rash, sometimes second guessing Prazza while at others, he followed commands to the letter. His clan, Clan Cqi, had a strong dislike towards admirals, but he seemed genuinely kind towards Tali. The two became friends quickly and Tali would sometimes give him tips in combat that Marcus had given her.

Myr was brave and young and was on pilgrimage. Although not all that common, quarians would choose to join the army reserves for their pilgrimage. This kind of pilgrim was called a 'pilgrim troop' and he/she wasn't required to bring back a gift, but instead was allowed to join a ship when he/she had reached a certain level of status in the military. For Myr, that was sergeant, then he planned to join the crew of the Neema as well, having alot of respect for Admiral Gerrel.

Her omni-tool beeped in the darkness of the cabin and she opened it to find a message from Garrus. She smiled behind her mask. The rest of the crew had promised to stay in contact, but it was mostly the young quarian and brash turian viglante who stayed true to that promise. They had become close friends, some would even say best friends, had stayed in frequent contact. Last time he had contacted her, he was about to lead his team to raid a Blood Pack operation on Omega.

Opening the message, she read. She laughed quietly at the usage of her username. Garrus had suggested it.

To: TheNaughtyQuarian7

From: TheHandsomeTurian2

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Omega

Damn it Tali, I was so close! We had them, but then that son of a bitch slipped right out from under us and escaped. I made the tactical decision to retreat. It was the right one; we almost died.

I hope you're doing okay. Fleet life sounds real hard and I hope that dickhead, Prazza isn't giving you too much trouble. I guess being a marine is a pretty huge turn for you. I just hope Shepard's death isn't hurting you too much; you don't seem to stop thinking about him. I miss him too, but I don't think he'd want you to be holding on like this. Just...don't slip too far. I'm still here you know; I'd hate to lose the only friend I have left. Well, only friend who keeps in contact anyway.

So, heard much from Liara? Or Chakwas? Or Joker? Hell, what about Wrex? I haven't gotten a response from him. You did tell him about Shepard's death right? He'd be pissed if we kept him out of the loop. If you haven't, then you better hope he watches the news alot. Bound to turn up there.

Anyway, g2g (got to go ;)) Sidonis wants to talk with me. I hope you'll be okay. Be safe out there. This turian will be mighty lonely if you do and get yourself killed.

From: TheHandsomeTurian2

To: TheNaughtyQuarian7

Tali smiled at the sentiment. It was nice to have such a good friend; one that cared for her. He was worried about her and she felt herself reciprocating it. She at least had the safety of the fleet; he had to compete with the constant danger of mercenary attack. His life on Omega had him watching out for his back almost 24/7. It was a life she enjoyed not having. But in a way, she regretted not accepting Garrus' offer to join his team. She wanted to watch his back. She just had to rely on his senses to keep him alive, now.

She typed up her message and sent it.

To: TheHandsomeTurian2

From: TheNaughtyQuarian7

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Omega

I hope you're okay too. I just returned from Pheiros and I'm fine. The mission was a failure though. We've still failed to find a suitable planet for habitation. It has me scared. The continuation of my people is now based on whether the science teams I escort find the relevant information. I know it's their job, but I feel like seventeen million lives are riding on me, you know?

And yes, you bosh'tet, I know what g2g means. Don't be smart with a machinist. xD.

And please, you be safe. I've at least got a fleet to protect me; you've only got your friends and I'm not sure if you should trust them completely. I wish I could help, but I've got a duty to my people to fullfill and I don't want to let them down. Just...be careful. Don't do anything stupid to get yourself killed. You're the only real friend I've got apart from Reegar, and he's not exactly someone you get social with all the time.

Keep your finger on the trigger and your mind ever alert; I'd hate to collect your dead body from Omega when your job is over.

From: TheNaughtyQuarian7

To: TheHandsomeTurian2

She felt like the last part of her message had been a little cold, but she wanted to push her message across; if he died, she would forever hate him. Just as she began contemplating what the next planet would bring, she felt the shuttle land. They had arrived back at the Neema.

Waiting for the shuttle's thrusters to disengage, she stood up and holstered the armageddon shotgun she had held before her. It had been entrusted to her by Marcus and she was damn sure she'd look after it. The only real modification she had made to the weapon was swap the mass effect field generator powering the mass acellerator for a heat sink so she could utilize thermal clips. All clips were universally designed so they could be used in all thermal-based guns.

Hitting the shuttle door, she stepped outside, followed closely by her platoon. Prazza followed quietly behind her, not making a sound. Tali liked this. She always got headaches from Prazza's voice. The rest of the platoon followed just as silently, apart from the occassional chatty ones. She was greeted by Han'Gerrel and Rael'Zorah, both of them nodding to the platoon as they returned and headed to the armoury. Rael stopped her.

"Yes, sir?" Tali asked.

Rael looked at Gerrel as if waiting confirmation, but apparently he didn't need it. Rael looked back at Tali and spoke, "We need you on another salvaging mission. I want you to take your platoon and land on Gei Hinnom. Geth were spotted on the planet and we could use the salvage."

Tali sighed inwardly. This was also a secondary mission Tali would get. Aside from looking for suitable homeworlds, her father would also send her out to geth inhabited worlds to send deactivated geth parts back to Rael's research ship, the Alarei, so he could design weapons to fight the geth. It was all in secret preparation for the inevitable war against the geth. Koris was kept in the dark about it as was most of the conclave. Only Xen, Gerrel, Rael and Tali knew about it.

She was kinda sick of these missions actually. The only reward she got out of it was a pat on the back and the reassurance that she would get to do another one soon. Although, the upside was that they were getting better and better prepared for a war with the geth. The Battle of the Perseus would begin soon at the rate they were going. And, if they could get a suitable world to live on, they could focus on salvaging more ships and instead of converting them into space houses, they could make more warships and possibly construct some servicable battleships or dreadnoughts.

"Yes sir!" Tali snapped a crisp salute before leaving, not even sharing a second glance with her father. Ever since he had said he was 'proud' of her, which she still doubted he meant, he had gone back to neglecting her. The only time they interacted was inbetween missions and during briefings, where he'd be giving her orders. Orders. Orders. More Orders. She might as well have been a soldier. Had he just forgotten that he even had a daughter?

Tali sighed as another message popped up on her omni-tool. Then a second beep. Frowning, she looked at her inbox to find two messages awaiting her. Selecting the first one, she was confused at first but gradually began to understood who sent it and was disgusted.

To: Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

From: Anonymous User

Subject: Your current neglect

You may remember me. I helped you on the Citadel during your pilgrimage. Fist betrayed me. My name is the Shadow Broker and we are much closer than you may think. I wish I could say more, but you'll have to trust me. Do you know your friend Garrus? The current predicament he finds himself in?

Of course you don't. However, that is not the topic of discussion. If you continue to report the actions of your missions to me, I can keep you safe and provide you with the best intel. Sound good? I only want to help your people, Tali. Do stay safe.

From: Anonymous User

To: Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

Tali was puzzled by the message but would consider it. The Shadow Broker was a powerful man, or woman, or people, that would make a favorable ally to the fleet. Accepting his/her/their help would be vital to the flotilla's continued survival. It could change the course of their downfall expodentially. But for now, she would merely consider it. She hadn't forgotten how unreliable the broker's agents were; Fist had betrayed and tried to kill her. She hadn't forgotten that.

When she read the second message, and found it to be by Garrus, she was confused by the bluntness, the feeling of defeat in the message. It took her by surprise and both enraged and confused her. She felt angry at Garrus' sense of defeatism, while confused by the simpleness of the text.

It read:

There won't be a body to recover.

"This was quite awhile after your death. As you can see, our lives were dull during those four months, so I saw that skipping a few months would be beneficial. Not that my life was exciting, I just thought that raising the Shadow Broker was crucial to repairing your memory."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Why was the Broker so important?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Well, let's just say that the broker played a large role in both our lives quite a while later. At least a year after those events. But that's besides the point. I think I'll skip now to the new year."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"New year?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Twenty-One-Twenty-Four. That's right, the new year."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Sorry if I haven't answered many of your questions, but most of you have guessed by now that that the next five chapters will be during the times  before  Shepard's comeback. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten Liara. In fact, the next chapter involves her. And a special note for Dividing MDH, NO, unlike Keelah Se'lai, this does not focus on Tali's POV of the two years of Shepard's death, but focuses on everyone. I just thought I'd clear that up before you made any more pointless comparisons to what's a completely different fanfic (aside from it also being a Tali romance)

Also, the final installment of this quadrilogy, which is based on ME3 and is called 'Holocaust', will take adaptations previously made in HICH. So yes, alot of it may change but overall, it will have differences from ME3 and HICH, so don't get too optimistic. As for HICH, I don't think I'll get back to it,  at all . I've promised and tried my hardest, but I just can't find inspiration to do it. I sincerely apologize, knowing and understanding that maybe my apology isn't enough. But for one fanfic to succeed, another has to die. Unfortunately, that means HICH has to be the latter.

This doesn't mean it's permanently dead; just dormant, for the long-term. Most of you will have moved on by the time it's rebooted; and that's fine.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER FIVE:

LIGHT YEARS AWAY

January 3, 2184

1350 hours.

Private Room, Eternity Bar, Nos Astra, Illium.

Prothean Researcher Liara T'Soni.

Liara sighed quietly as the calm music of the Eternity Bar played in the background, her drink sitting idly before her. The five months that passed since the incident over Alchera had been the worst for Liara. She had promised her friends and told herself that she would continue her job as a prothean researcher; digging up whatever she could on Prothean countermeasures for the Reapers.

But the genocidal machines had been unbelievably thorough in cleansing the galaxy of all evidence of their existence; not one killabyte of data could be found on the information pertaining to the Reapers. Not one bit. She had gone to Ilos afterwards discreetly to converse with Vigil, but the VI had finally lost all power and had been permanently inactive since a week after Alchera. With Vigil dead and Sovereign gone, there was no way to either prove the Reapers existed or how to defeat them.

Now she felt hopeless. She had rescinded all other funds towards her project, declaring it a failure. With her career as a prothean researcher over, she had no idea what to do; all her friends had moved on. Kaidan worked for the Alliance, Tali was on the Flotilla, Garrus was getting himself killed on Omega on the otherside of the galaxy and Wrex was on Tuchanka, uniting the clans. They had all become better than before; and she had downgraded, big time.

She felt hopeless; like a child and in some ways, that's what she was. A child still fumbling in the dark and needing mummy to hold her hand. The thought of her dead mother, Matriarch Benezia M'Soni, just brought tears to her eyes. She remembered how on Noveria, she had been forced to put a bullet through her own mother's head to free her of Sovereign's will. It had been the hardest thing to do in her whole life time.

Now her mother was buried on Thessia; where she belonged, at home with her people. Maybe that's where Liara should be; afterall, it's where she was born. A return to the asari homeworld would be fully justified given the circumstances of where her life had taken her.

But now she found herself on Illium; one of the most economically rich asari colonies in the Republics, located deep in the Terminus Systems. Illium was the beating heart for the slave trade and illegal activities. She didn't ever let it's beauty deceive her; Illium was a repulsive place. Of course there was the few people who actually followed the law and Illium even had it's own police force, but that was merely to make Illium look more tasty.

Many species required Illium's services too; the Migrant Fleet came here regularly to refuel and Illium even had shipyards, where they build numerous MSV vessels and even a few warships for the Alliance or Hierarchy.

Liara took another sip of her Thessian wine before looking back up at the vidscreen before her. The asari bartender and manager of the bar, who turned out to be a matriarch by the name of Aethyta, had given her private access to the room for a couple of hours. Liara had thanked the matriarch in kind before leaving for the room, even eavesdropping on a turian male trying to flirt with a quarian woman on the nearby sofa.

She just watched the latest news; the status on the geth, numerous alliance recruitment advertisements, using Shepard as their posterboy along with a few ads for quarians and volus, dealing with suits and employment. Well, maybe not all people were racist. That thought was put in a trash can when Khalisah showed up next, the woman's aura always seeming to piss some poor bastard off.

Then came a vid about an asari justicar named Samara. Justicars were an ancient order of asari that were essentially the Republics much less refined version of Council Spectres. Essentially, Justicars had a code that forbade them from engaging in illegal activities. Once committed, they were not allowed to start a family, get bonded, have children or any other civilian right. Once committed, they had one purpose; to protect the innocent from the wicked. A justicar's methods could be brutal and ruthless; lead by their code, they would slay any who would dare engage in illegal study or hurt civilians. In many ways, they were like human Samurai.

Justicars however, were now a dying order. Not many asari were willing to commit to something so...empty. They weren't willing to give up such basic things for the code. As a byproduct, the justicar order now had a mere sixteen individuals, Samara being one of the most famous. Apparently she had taken up the duty in her matron stage; after her daughter, known by all as 'Morinth', ran away from home and became a serial killer. Samara then did the one thing no mother should suffer through; she swore to find her daughter and kill her.

Samara was now a matriarch; she had been a justicar for many centuries and during that time, the search for her daughter had raged on. Along the way, the justicar had completed her duties and saved many lives and today, it showed once again. Apparently an asari mother had lost her young 13 year old baby daughter in a flood on Nevos, but mere hours later, Samara turned up, holding her in her hands. The justicar hastily left, continuing her quest to kill her daughter and rid the galaxy of crime. Garrus would had done well hiring her.

The next news theme dealt with Kasumi Goto; the master thief, completing another flawless robbery. The next showed a drell assassin, Thane Krios, completing another successful assassination on a man named 'Jax'. The krogan barely saw it coming. The next news reports were mostly the same; People do important things; criminals die, innocents die, explosions here and there, the galaxy is a fucked up place, yeah. That was the essence of these reports.

Starting to get a headache, she turned off the vidscreen and chugged the rest of her drink. Sitting down on the table, she sat in the quiet space, not making a single sound except her light breathing. This silence was a reminder of what she had lost; what the entire Normandy crew had lost, that half year ago. Liara's life had taken a dramatic change when she met Shepard; either for the best or the worst, but either way, she knew she would give anything to serve under him again. Or at least someone like him.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?"

Liara immediately snapped her attention to the opened door. She actually hadn't seen it open. She had been too...enraptured in her thoughts to even bother to notice. Waiting for her answer was a short but sterdy Drell; his green scales lighting up in the light of the room, pale, black eyelids staring deep into her eyes.

Drell were a species that evolved on their former homeworld of Rakhana. They were very reptillian, but surprisingly amphibian in looks. Many humans nicknamed them as 'frogs' for their facial structure. They had a single pair of eyes, just like most species, which, in turn, blinks horizontally instead of vertically like most species. Not alot was known about drell females, as they mostly stayed on their new homeworld, Kahje. Males were physically very strong and were known for being excellent assassins.

Eight hundred years ago, like the quarians, the drell lost their homeworld but before different reasons. The drell had developed their industrial might so largely, that they had contaminated the atmosphere, causing the planet to be uninhabitable. The drell cried for help and the hanar were quick to answer, saying it was 'the will of the protheans to intervene.' Yeah, that didn't help the quarians much.

So the drell were relocated to the hanar homeworld where they would then later call home. However, only three hundred and seventy-five thousand drell managed to escape Rakhana; the remaining nine billion perished either from the breached atmosphere or as civil war enruptured the planet as they fought over resources.

The drell had adapted to Kahje, but there was one lasting side effect; and it was called Kepral's Syndrome. Every drell had it; the drell were used to the rocky and dry deserts of Rakhana and therefore weren't prepared for the wet, ocean world that Kahje was. To counter this, the drell are forced to live in a climate-controlled dome city called 'New Haven'. However, this didn't stop the production of Kepral's syndrome, an infection that cuts off the body's ability to provide oxygen. The drell has a mere twenty-four years to live; then the body's lungs cease functioning and they die.

An impressive feature of drell was their eidetic memory. This, in itself didn't come at birth, it merely came from the drell's need to know the exact location of every resource, therefore giving birth to the ability. It allowed the drell to relive memories in complete detail; remembering every smell, how things felt, how the events followed and how it happened. It was amazing. This is why Drells made such good spies and assassins; they could memorize the layout of a building with no problem at all and how best to eliminate their target.

Drell weren't assassins by choice either; it was part of the deal upon living on Kahje. In return for stopping the drell's extinction, the drell offered themselves to the hanar as indentured servants. So the drell eventually were, at birth, commited to joining the hanar military, becoming assassins, spies or helping out in hanar businesses. A fair favor for their saviors.

Liara smiled, "Of course, what's your name?"

The drell smiled back as he sat down, "Feron. Feron Moza."

Liara smiled, "Liara. Liara T'Soni. So what is a drell like you doing on Illium?"

Feron's answer wasn't immediate. He had been hesitant about it, "I'm...I...It's nothing." The drell then went silent. He looked blankly at the wall ahead of him. Liara examined the drell's features and noticed he looked...worried. Afraid. He's scared. About what?

"You seem worried about something," Liara pondered, "Something the matter?"

"It's nothing."

Silence once again. Eventually, Liara just decided to leave it. She had no idea why she even asked this drell for his name. It was stupid. What stranger goes up to someone and asks for their name? It's foolish! Just as the asari got out the door, she noticed four mercs at the bar. They were wearing fully-sealed helmets with two glowing eyes for vision; the helmet of a mercenary. They were orange and black uniforms. She didn't recognize them. Feron's voice sounded behind her.

"Oh crap," he muttered, "They've found me."

Before she could even register what the drell had said, he was gone. Turning around again, she heard a loud bang. Whatever it was, the grunt that followed was enough to alert the mercs at the bar, who halted their questioning of the matriarch. The two salarians and the human picked up their weapons and rushed towards the scene. Feron fled, the mercs charging after him.

Liara just decided to ignore it. It wasn't any of her business and she'd just get herself into trouble. Yet again, mercs were running through the streets. She'd fought geth and krogan, a few mercs wouldn't be above her pay grade. Yet again, she didn't feel inclined to get involved and instead just returned her drink to the bar, thanking Aethyta for the room before leaving for her skycar.

Just as she reached it outside, she watched Feron drop off the edge of a balcony, landing below. The mercs followed without any trouble, using high-tech jet-thrusters in their boots to soften their landing and continue their chase. Liara continued to convince herself that she was not getting involved. As the skycar's door closed beside her, she lifted it up and over the edge. Seeing Feron again, she gave in.

Damn that drell. What is it about him that's making me so...generous? Without even thinking about her next action, she descended her skycar so it hovered just beside the platform that the drell was running parellel to. Feron spared her a glance as he kept running and was surprised when she opened the door to his side.

"Get in!" Liara shouted.

Feron was about to object when a shot whizzed past his head. The unknown mercs were catching up. Cursing to himself, he leapt into the car and Liara slammed the door shut, taking off from the platform and disappearing into Illium's skyways.

"Thanks..." Feron grumbled.

"You're welcome," Liara responded half-seriously and half-sarcastically, "Those mercs wanted you dead. What did you do to piss them off so bad?"

"Not them, him," Feron stated, "They weren't ordinary mercs, they were agents. Agents of the Shadow Broker."

Liara frowned, "And why would he want you dead?"

Feron felt hesitant continuing, "I may have assassinated one of his best agents. He's been tracking down ever since. I thought hiding on Illium would help, but apparently not. Miss T'Soni..." He then halted. It took him a few seconds to realize just who had saved him. With a look of shock, he turned towards the asari, "Wait...the Liara T'Soni? As in the Hero of the Citadel?"

Liara smiled, "Yes, that Liara. I didn't know there were that many Liara T'Soni's. And please, it's just Liara. Only my mother called me that."

Feron nodded, "Well, I really didn't think I'd be saved by one of the heroes to the citadel. I'm in better luck than I thought. Do you...have an apartment we could go to? I need to find a way to get off this planet. It's not safe here for me anymore; nowhere is. The Shadow Broker knows everything; there's nowhere good enough to hide from him or his private army."

"I can help," Liara said, hitting a realization, "I know a friend who can get you the best hiding place. Even the Shadow Broker can't touch you."

"Oh really?" Feron asked, thoroughly interested, "A place where the Broker's information network can't breach? And where might this be?"

Liara smiled smugly, "How would you like to visit the Migrant Fleet?"

{Loading...}

January 8, 2184

2234 hours.

Main Plaza, Slums, Gozu District, Omega.

Merc Leader Garrus 'Archangel' Vakarian, Machinist Mak'Var nar Terez, CQB Specialist Caity Matthews.

Garrus used his vindicator battle rifle to scan the area ahead of him. Just the same thing; an empty street. It was late at night and most of the populace had gone to sleep, mostly because of the Blue Suns prowling the district. The merc organization policed the entire district; something that would end if Garrus had anything to say about it.

His vindicator scope landed on a lone turian, his avenger assault rifle limp at his side. Cracking a smile, he fired three perfect headshots into the turian, his body falling to the ground with a barely audible thump. He then quickly dove back into his cover, ejecting the spent clip and loading a fresh one into the slot.

"Mak, you getting anything out of the local network?" Garrus asked his quarian companion, the quarian's pistol holstered as he fiddled with his omni-tool.

Two glowing orbs locked with the turian's, "Not a peep. Either the Blue Suns are using radios or the network has gone offline. Either way, there's no signs of comm traffic in the district, at all."

Garrus nodded, activating his eye visor to see if he could get anything. They weren't here to clear out the district of the Blue Suns; he'd have brought the whole if he wanted to do that, not to mention he'd need a battalion to do that. No, he was here to investigate reports of a salarian apparently having caused trouble for the Blue Suns in the area. Anyone who was a threat to mercs was a friend to him. He remembered the famous human quote. The Enemy of my enemy is my friend.

"I've got nothing on radar," Caity stated, "I'm going to go on recon. Scout it out. Get a feel for where the Blue Suns defenses are strong and weak. Meet back here." Caity was always the one to immediately assume what she was doing. She didn't like taking orders, but trusted Garrus enough. The human was eager to kill mercs; he knew that much, but her problem with following orders was quite inconvienient.

"Alright Caity," Garrus responded, "Just keep to the shadows the best you know how."

Caity gave him a wry grin, "I am the very best." With that, the girl's tactical cloak activated and she disappeared, the disturbance in the air that signalled where she was hiding evaporating as she sprinted off, the sound being her footsteps, which also grew ever more distant.

Garrus smiled as he turned back to Mak, "So, Mister Var, shall we go and see what all the fuss is about?"

Mak nodded, unholstering his sidearm and readying it at his side. The two dextros immediately sprinted towards the barricade that had been set up half way into the plaza. A Blue Suns fortification. A human soldier appeared over the barricade. Cursing his luck, Garrus was about to run if it wasn't for the sound of Mak's knife unsheathing. Just as he turned, he watched as the knife flew through the air and hit the merc in the throat.

Blood spurted out in gushes, the human trying to block the blood loss. As he did this, the quarian reached up and grabbed the human's head, pulling him down so he hung from the barricade, the human forced to look at Mak as the quarian jerked his head in the opposite direction, snapping it.

The body fell to the ground and Mak ripped out his knife, wiping the blood on his suit. Garrus grinned, if not sadistically. He's been listening to what I tought him. The quarian simply nodded to the man and walked past. If the quarian had no mask, the turian would be able to see that he was grinning just as widely. With a shake of his head, the turian spun around, vindicator in hand, and followed behind.

The two of them snuck through the district, taking out the occassionally nosey blue suns officer as they traversed the empty streets. Their target apparently ran a clinic in the district, so it wouldn't be hard to find him. Apart from the occassional blue suns fortification in the area or enforcement checkpoint, there was nothing standing between them.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in a small alleyway. Just ahead was the door to the clinic. It should have been a simple matter of walking through the front door; if it weren't for the blue suns mercs trying to break the door open. One engineer, with three turians and a human guarding his back. The engineer was clearly a batarian, but given their species' reputation, he wasn't too bright in his sector.

Garrus motioned for his quarian companion to target the batarian engineer with an overload while he used his reaper sniper rifle to take down the lead turian. They were ill-equipped to take down a merc squad, but they would damn try. Besides, if he good catch them with their shields down, he might have a chance to cut them down with his vindicator.

Before this could happen however, the door slid open and the engineer erupted in flame, the batarian mercenary screaming as he fell to the ground, burning alive. Garrus watched as the sounds of a Tempest SMG sliced through the air and the rounds ripped the lead turian's head apart and ripped into the left turian's chest.

A grenade arrived at the feet of the one human merc, exploding in a burst of fragmentation as the human was ripped apart and the turian thrown against the wall. It wasn't long before their salarian target arrived from inside, finishing off the injured turian with a burst from his SMG. Garrus was able to get a better look at the salarian.

He wore a white salarian-made lab coat; showing his obvious professionalism. The symbol of the salarian Special Tasks Group was located on the left breast of his uniform, showing his obvious former affiliation with the black ops organization. He was missing a horn on the left side of his head, with numerous battle scars on his face.

He had a black metal collar around his neck, extended from a metal 'arm'. For what purpose it served, he didn't know. He had a strange feeling he recognized this salarian and the voice only confirmed who it was.

"Blue Suns persistant," the salarian mumbled, "Overly cocky for police force. Shouldn't attack clinic. Bad choice, injure innocents, police meant to protect them. My job now." Garrus' suspicions were confirmed. This salarian was Mordin Solus; the salarian soldier who had fought alongside Shepard's team during the Battle of Virmire under Kirrahe. What was he doing here?

"Mister Solus?" Garrus asked, standing up while holstering his vindicator. Mak looked at him weerily, but stayed put, covering his back.

"Yes, know you were there," Mordin stated a matter-of-factly, "Inform your quarian colleague that all is well."

Mak huffed before standing up, knowing he had been found out. He deactivated his omni-tool, holstered his pistol and stood beside Garrus.

Mordin's eyes squinted as he examined the turian before him, "Met before."

Garrus nodded, "On Virmire."

The salarian let a grin cross his face, "Ah yes. Turian marksman; ability to investigate suggests involvement in legal detective studies. Not Omega type however; not scum. Not from around here. Armor suggests...Archangel? Ah yes. Viglantism is the norm these days. Good to see you fighting for the cause. Would do so myself. However, patients to heal, people to protect. Much work to do. Yes, yes, yes, yes."

Mak sighed, "Can't you talk slower?"

Mordin nodded, "Yes, yes, yes. Will. Try. To. Slow. Down..." The salarian paused for a moment and then shook his head, "No, no. Can't do it!"

Garrus held his hand up to halt any further comment from his quarian colleague, "You run the clinic here? I thought you were a solder in the STG."

"Half-correct. Quit STG after some...horrible things went wrong," Mordin explained, "Now work in clinic. Healing many people; some kills killing dangerous mercs. Many things to do; shame to put skills to waste. Still, I wish you luck in defeating Omega's inhabitant mercs," Mordin then paused, "But presence here suggests you're looking for me. Only reason for that would be that you need a doctor or want to recruit; is quarian facing allergic reaction? Foolish being out of suit. Could kill him."

Mak groaned, "'He' is right here. And I'm not having an allergic reaction. We're here to recruit you."

Mordin shook his head, "As said before; would love to, but people to heal, people to save. Too many variables. Could attract unnessacary attention. Attacks against clinic increase. Patient danger high probability. Too risky. Patient safety a priority. Cannot jeopardize."

Garrus sighed in defeat, "If I could gurantee full protection for this clinic, would you then join us?"

Mordin shook his head, "But you do not have the men to spare to protect a clinic. Option is illogical. Most likely trying to win me over."

Garrus's mandibles flexed into a grin, "You've caught me. We'll get out of your way doctor. You've obviously got people to look after," He then activated his omni-tool and sent his contact number to Mordin's, "If you need our help, just call."

Mordin nodded and smiled, "Need help? Former STG agent. Can handle self. Will call on help if absolutely nessacary. Goodbye for now." Without a second glance, the salarian spun around and headed back inside, doors sliding shut behind him. Recalling Caity to rendevous at the rally point, Garrus and Mak headed back.

That was...interesting?

{Loading...}

January 9, 2184

Twenty-Four Hours, Forty-Six Minutes.

Crew Quarters, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Ogpa System.

Second Lieutenant Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

Tali quietly lay in her cot, not making a sound. The rest of the crew had been long asleep, having entered the day cycle. Han'Gerrel lay asleep at the head of the long line of cots, fast asleep, as was the majority of the crew. She gazed up at the ceiling as she tried to get some sleep, but she just couldn't.

After six months, Tali still hadn't fully recovered from Marcus' death. She knew she should have moved on by now, but it had been buggering her from the half year since her unionmate's death and now it was frustrating her even more. She wished for him to be alive so much; for him to walk in and act as if nothing had happened. It was six months too late for that.

And now he occupied her thoughts; the things they had done during their brief time together and the things they never got to do. Her foolish dream of marrying him, building a house on Rannoch and having children had been overly ambitious. Now it had no chance of happening. Of course she'd eventually find someone else to love and cherish, but none of them would have the same effect as Marcus had on her.

Deciding sleep wasn't going to arrive quickly enough, she opened her omni-tool and tapped into her suit's systems. She played her long list of human music, foremost being their techno beats called 'dubstep.' As the song 'Freefall' played in her helmet, she tuned it down so noone could hear her and she began to access her messages.

Nothing that interesting. Garrus had responded to her last message with 'recruiting someone, talk later' and Kaidan hadn't even bothered replying. Joker and Chakwas had suspiciously dropped out of contact, along with Adams just a day ago. She had tried their civilian accounts, but even those were silent. Garrus had no idea what was wrong. Wrex had replied to her previous messages with the usual short and blunt responses, but that was expected for someone like him. He was busy all the time.

Seeing a message sent by Liara in her inbox though? That was totally unexpected. The two of them had been out of contact for five months, mostly due to both parties having been equally damaged by Marcus' death. Tali had the nagging suspicion that it was out of jealousy that Liara didn't contact her, but she quickly ignored that. Paranoia on her part.

Hesitantly, she opened the data package, not knowing what to expect. When she saw it, she was confused and shocked.

From: Blueytheasari21

To: TheNaughtyQuarian7

Subject: Refuge

Hi Tali, I know we haven't been in contact for absolute ages, but something important just came up. I was on Illium when I bumped into this drell in the eternity bar. His name is Feron. He's on the run from the Shadow Broker's agents and is on the lookout for a safe place to hide; out of the Broker's reach.

I suggested the Migrant Fleet. Even the broker has limits and I severely doubt he's willing to provoke a confrontation with the quarian navy over one drell. I know it's alot to ask; but he's willing to be useful. He's got basic engineering skills and knows how to handle himself in close-quarters combat. I've provided all the food he needs and he should only be with you for a week. Just enough time for him to disappear.

I'm really sorry about not contacting you. I've been lacking in my messaging duties and I truly apologize.

Also, what do you think about me becoming an information broker?

To: TheNaughtyQuarian7

From: Blueytheasari21

Tali shook her head as she looked at the message, both angry and confused. Liara, after all this time, has the dav to request a favor from her? Did she think she could just disappear and then pop up again and think things would be fine? And she wanted to harbor a drell fugitive into the flotilla? What was she thinking? Her people didn't run refuge services!

And become an information broker? Was she even serious? How could the young, shy and innocent asari take on a job that required ruthless efficiency and careless operation? Could she even handle something like that? And why would she ask Tali? She was a quarian engineer who was the most elite and what she did and had advanced leadership skills that she adopted from Marcus. She knew next to nothing about information brokering.

Typing up her response, she looked through the web and noticed her old bookmark. Opening it, she immediately found a site with the simple title of 'Quman Sex Relations: Step by step precautions on the perfect relationship with your quarian partner.' Tali sighed and sunk into her bunk, as if embarrassed that someone would see it.

It was the page she had looked up on the human extranet during her time on the Normandy SR-1. It was after they had begun their relationship and she had used the sight to learn more about...that. She needed to be prepared for when she finally revealed all of herself to him and they made love together. Of course, this had been a couple of days before the Normandy's destruction.

Marcus had died without ever seeing what his girlfriend looked like. It is why she felt so selfish; if Liara had been his girlfriend when he died, he would have died with something to remember. All he could remember with Tali would be her ancestor's forsaken visor. Finding the music repetitive and just dragging on, she turned it off on her omni-tool and lay back down. Slowly, she closed her eyes and dreamt of the usual; Marcus and herself. She'd have the occassional...wet dream...but most of them were just about them shopping, talking or teasing each other. They were bittersweet memories.

Just before sleep overwhelmed her, she made a mental note to ask Admiral Gerrel about Feron in the morning.

"Two months later and disaster strikes. One that caused morale in the fleet to collapse for a short period of time. It was the day the quarian race realized that the geth weren't our main enemy anymore. We had a new one."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"And that was?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Cerberus."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Dav: Male Testicles. Human Translation: Balls.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER SIX:

WARRIOR LINE

April 5, 2184

1204 hours.

Urdnot Camp, Hagalok City Ruins, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka.

Chieftain Urdnot Wrex.

BANG. BANG. BANG. Again and again, Wrex's claymore shotgun would report and again and again, a pyjak would fall to the high-powered shells, their tiny bodies ripped to shreds by the heavy weapon. Shooting pyjaks and fighting off the numerous varren or vorcha who stumbled into Urdnot territory had become the only thing that occupied Wrex inbetween all the political meetings and talks of a genophage cure.

Nine months in total had passed since he received Tali's dreaded message. Since he had heard of his battle brother's death. He would have been happier if Shepard died in the glorious field of battle; instead he was killed by the one enemy no weapon can fight; space. What a terrible way to go. Of course, if he had been a krogan, the suffocating in space part could have been avoided. He had sent a krogan team to recover his brother's remains; but they were already gone when they got there.

After that, he had tried keeping in contact with his battle comrades as best as possible. He was glad to know that Tali had heeded his warrior wisdom and utilized in battle; she had killed many geth and pirates since her return to the flotilla and was one of the migrant fleet marine's most decorated officers. That and her abilities as a combat engineer made her a worthy foe. If she ever came to visit, he would pit Wreav against her. The krogan had always doubted other race's strengths, and Tali would prove a valuable contradiction to that belief.

Within those nine months he had been continuing to unite the many tribes and clans of Tuchanka. Many 'demigovernments' had been set up over the nuclear wasteland of a planet, with some delusional enough to believe they are republics or have imperical value. This was of course moot, because as soon as they saw a Urdnot company lead by Wrex himself headed their way, they immediately surrendered. Krogan were proud, but they didn't mess with Urdnot. Noone did. Well, except Weyrloc.

That was the way it had been in all those months. Back and forth politics with aside of blowing shit up. It was a mundane and boring life, but it was worth it if it built towards a possible future of his people; One that hopefully wouldn't involve a Second Krogan Rebellions. Not only could the galaxy not another conflict with the krogan; as it would leave them easy meat for the Reapers, but he wanted to steer the krogan into a better lifestyle. Wreav may not agree with his policies, but he would rather be eaten by Kalros then forfeit his ambitions. He wasn't Jarrod.

On occassion, Wrex would visit the hollows and the area where he had slain his father. The red blood left by the dead krogan was still there; scorched into the earth like ancient wall paintings, a testament to how feral the krogan have become. If not for Wrex's intervention, the krogan would have become no better than the vorcha, and they already had a bad enough reputation.

His claymore fired once more as it took a charging varren in the head, ripping the front half of it's body off, leaving a messy congregation of flesh and brain matter. He laughed sadistically as he watched a klixen charge his position; finally, a challenge. Klixen were insectoid creatures; looking alot like Earth beetles with blood red bug armor and four strong legs. Also, they had the tentency to breathe fire. Well, maybe the humans were thinking about klixen when they invented the myth of dragons?

A jet of flame erupted from the klixen's mouth, shooting towards the krogan like a supersonic missile. Wrex took the blast head on; his shields taking the brunt of the blast. Deciding he'd take this worthy adversary head on, he holstered his claymore and 'bull-rushed' the creature. If it could look surprised, it probably would, having to see five hundred pounds of sadistic krogan charging at it. For reasons Wrex didn't understand, he always pictured the klixen as rachni and himself as a overlord in the rachni wars.

The krogan picked up the klixen and slammed it back into the ground. The Klixen itself, having no bones, just screeched loudly from the impact as Wrex slammed his fists repeatedly into it's head, crushing it under his strength. He noticed a orange glow eminating from behind him, like a flame on a candle.

He turned around to face the enemy undoubtedbly moving to kill him, only to see nothing there. Seeing the glow still pulsing, he looked down to see that it wasn't an enemy moving to attack him only for him to kill it brutally, but it was his omni-tool, beeping to let him know that he had an incoming message. With a grunt, he pressed the button.

"Wrex," Wreav's face popped up on the holographic vidscreen hovering above his omni-tool.

Hearing something stirring behind him, followed by a low growl, usually being the forerunner to a varren pounce, Wrex held up his left hand to halt Wreav's speech while using his right to grab the neck of the pouncing varren. With timing only fitting of a veteran battlemaster, he clasped his hand around it's throat just as it completed the pounce, the varren clawing at his back and desperately trying to break the krogan's death grasp, yelping pitifully as it tried futiley to escape it's doom.

With a simple twist of his wrist, he snapped the varren's neck and dropped the beast, before turning back to his omni-tool, switching to audio instead of video.

"What do you want Wreav? I'm busy," Wrex grapped the body of the dead varren and used it as a club against another varren. The animal yelped as it was hit, falling to the ground pathetically before getting back up, trying to impress the nearby varren female. Wrex rolled his eyes as he raised his shotgun, blasting the male away before turning his attention to the alpha male.

The females were obviously here for show; Wrex must be part of somekind of varren courting ritual; whatever male took down the krogan, would get the female. Ugh...disgustingly familiar to our old traditions. Didn't quarians use to do that as well? Or was that humans? With a grunt, he let out a battle cry; something that was universal to every species, even the non-sapient ones like the varren around him. Fight me. I'm right here.

The varren could smell him. Wrex could smell them. They could all smell each other; it was the smell of blood.

"You've got a visitor who's requesting to see you," Wreav informed Wrex.

"Put them on hold," Wrex answered, "I've got a glorious battle to finish!"

"You're shooting pyjaks Wrex," Wreav deadpanned, "That's entertainment, not a battle."

"You're saying there's a difference?" Wrex equally deadpanned, smiling as the alpha male made it's move. The body mass of both varren and krogan clashed, their bodies interwined as they tried to murder the other. All the time, the varren tried to bite the krogan's throat or claw at his armor; Wrex just toyed with it. If varren could understand the concept of humilation, this one would feel it right about now.

"She insists on seeing you," Wreav continued.

Getting bored, Wrex headbutted the varren and quickly twisted it's lighter frame so it lay under him, with the krogan ontop. With one massive yank, the krogan tore the varren's head from it's spine, causing an explosion of gore as he lifted it into the air, the blood of an alpha varren staining his face. He liked it.

Turning, he saw the varren back off. The alpha was defeated. The females looked to be in fear and disgust; both at their pack leader's destruction and the krogan's physical omission of strength. With a bark from the krogan, the varren once again tried to attack the krogan. The varren leapt at the same time. Wrex battered the four of them aside with hardly any effort, only one varren managing to sink his teeth into the krogan's arm. With a roar, he ripped the varren off his arm and threw it to the ground. With a stomp of his foot, the varren's face was seemingly absorbed by the ground.

Forgetting the other four varren for an instant, he turned to see them charging once more. Before he could bring his fists to bear however, the silhoutte of a dark figure appeared. The report of a shotgun went off, the first varren being ripped apart. His counterpart met his friend with a swift kick from the agile figure followed by a second blast. The other two backed off.

He examined the figure and how agile she was. Her movements were graceful and fluid; her attacks precise and deadly. She had the body of a goddess, with the fury of an ancient warrior. Her shotgun was pathetic compared to his claymore, but her actions with it made up for it. The orange glow of an omni-tool appeared and one of the varren was shot by electricity, killing the creature via electric shock.

He quickly found the figure by his side, firing a final shotgun round into the final varren. She did not meet his gaze except to give him a wink and he immediately knew who she was. Smiling, the two of them both barked loudly in their own tongue, scaring the enemy off.

"Well, it's good to see you're worthy of the throne you sit on," the figure stated, holstering her shotgun, turning towards the krogan, "I may have had to make a remark about your masculnity if you weren't. Imagine it 'Urdnot Wrex; defeated by a pack of varren.'"

"Hey, just remember who taught you," Wrex smiled, "So, Tali, what brings you to Tuchanka? I didn't think the flotilla would give us a passer by. Just warn them to stay away from any major tribes while they're getting resources; we bite. So does Kalros. So does the varren. And the local threshers."

The quarian chuckled as she sat ontop of one of the stone pedestals, "You're really going to have to tell me what in ancestors name Kalros is one day. But don't worry, it's not your planet we're mining resources from. Totally different system actually."

Wrex raised a brow at that, "Oh really? What system might that be?"

"The Dranek system. We're mining the planet Sazgoth for platnium. Apparently the planet is rich in the stuff and the fleet could really use it. I just figured that since we were in the same cluster, I might pay you a visit. Reegar wanted to accompany me, but I managed to convince him to stay with your krogan brother. By the way...charming man."

Wrex snorted, "Tell me about it. He's been a pain in the ass since day one. I don't see how my mother tolerated him or my father. If he weren't such a good adjutant, I would have banished him a long while ago. That and he's my brother."

"He actually threatened to have our shuttle blown out of the air," Tali explained, "That changed once we were on the ground however. He decided he'd try to kill me, but I don't think he counted on my marine escort, especially since Kal dropped one of his warriors and pulled a bluff off."

Wrex smiled, "Bluff? What kind of bluff?"

Tali giggled, "One that involves your camp, our shuttle and alot of explosives. You do the math."

Wrex guffawed, "Your Reegar guy has a quad. Are there any other quarians like him?"

Tali nodded, "Plenty more. And don't let our admirals fool you; they fought their way to their position and Gerrel was a Lieutenant General in the marines before he became the captain of the Neema and then an admiral. I've seen him take down a platoon of geth all by himself with just a carnifex pistol and a single frag grenade."

"I'm sure he's nothing like you though," Wrex added.

"I saved the Citadel from an entire geth fleet and a reaper. As far as Gerrel's concerned," Tali paused for effect, "I'm practically the sword of the ancestors."

"So when are you leaving?" Wrex asked the quarian.

"Tomorrow," Tali answered immediately, "The mining only takes a couple of hours and the fleet will be gone afterwards. The Neema is staying behind per my request. I thought I'd spent some time with my mentor. Well, half-mentor. Afterall, you did the weapons, Marcus did the martial arts."

Wrex gave a snarky grin, "And I bet that's not all he taught you..."

Tali rolled her eyes, "Very funny Wrex. Anyway, I better go relieve Kal before he gets into a fight with Wreav. I'm sure he'll win, but I'd rather save your bother the humilation. Not to mention it'll look bad for you to have a weak adjutant." Tali then proceeded to leap off the stone block, waiting for Wrex.

"Very true," Wrex then shook his head, "If you weren't so...fleshy and trapped in a suit, I'd confuse you for a krogan."

Tali let her hands slide onto her hips, "Oh really? I'm 'fleshy?' I think I'm pretty feminine, thank you very much."

The both of them continued to tease each other as they returned to the throne room. Wrex had noticed more and more just how much Tali had matured over those nine months; she was no longer the shy, dependent and young, stuttery quarian he had met all those months ago. Now, she was independent, strong-willed, a fantastic warrior and a worthy commander. He watched the way she ordered her marines about; he didn't know if Tali was born a natural leader or if she learned from Marcus, but she was excellent at it.

He also noticed the way Kal would look at Tali; and he knew exactly what it meant. It was the look that Wrex used to catch Tali giving to Shepard. The look that showed admiration and inspiration. It was the look of someone in love. Wrex felt sorry for the man. Shepard may not have been in the picture anymore but knowing Tali, she would rather be alone for the rest of her life than find someone else. It was that simple.

Many hours of talking followed; Wrex and Kal had a arm wrestling match, with Wrex winning in the end, but not after significant resistance from the opposite side. After that, talk; warriors talked about warriors, while Tali would ask about how Wrex's life had been, with the krogan reciprocating the gesture. A few hours later, Wreav decided to ruin the mood.

"This has to stop," Wreav demanded, "These...quarians, have been in our camp too long."

Wrex growled, "Wreav, why must you try my patience? Tali and her warriors will leave when they see fit and as chieftain, I will allow it."

Wreav took a defiant step forward, "You dare to call these thieves and beggars warriors? They know nothing of strength! They know nothing of honor or virtue! They are nothing but weaklings!"

Wrex snorted, "Know nothing of strength? Wreav, you couldn't tell a varren from a pyjak. These quarians have more quad then you'll have in a couple centuries."

Wreav fumed as he stepped within inches of Wrex's face, the quarians remaining stoic. Tali however became more rigid, ready for a fight. Kal was ready to aid her if the time came, his Revenant light machine gun ready in his hands.

"You dare question my strength? Then prove yourself! Why don't you face me! We will fight! Urdnot needs a strong ruler, not someone who's willing to let suit-rats invade our motherland!"

Wrex was about to accept the request when he felt a light three-fingered hand land on his shoulders. Turning, he saw Tali, with her hand on his shoulder and looking at Wreav, her pose defiant.

"No Wrex. If he thinks us weak, then I shall prove him wrong. Leave him to me."

Kal was quick to object, "Ma'am, I must object-"

"No Reegar, I don't take insults against my people lightly," Tali snapped, "This krogan filth thinks himself above us. I shall prove him wrong. I shall show him the true virtue of our people. Try not to get involved too much. If I get overwhelmed, you have my permission to put him down."

"And mine," Wrex added, shooting a glare at his blood brother.

Wreav pounded his fists, "This'll be easy. When I'm done, you'll be screaming to your ancestors, quarian female."

Tali shook her head as she cracked her knuckles, a large group of krogan forming around the arena as the quarian and krogan prepared to battle it out, "My name is Tali. Zorah Tali, of Clan Zorah."

"Whatever," Wreav piped up, "I'm still going to pummel you, Wrex and the rest of your fellow parasites that dare defile our planet."

Before Wreav even realised, a piercing pain shot from the area between his legs. He doubled over, holding his quad. He looked up to see the quarian in a defensive stance; hands up, on her toes and back straightened as best it can. The quarian's eyes met his own.

"Come again?" Tali said, pretending to not have heard him. Boiling in rage, the krogan charged forward, refusing to let the pain inbetween his legs stop him from destroying this female. He would not be disgraced in this way; not by her kind.

But the quarian had already expected this. It was typical of krogan to use their body weight to their advantage. It worked for slow moving species, but not against quarians. Her people relied on agility and speed over brute strength and brawn. Quarians were smart and agile combatants; and it showed in Tali's movement.

She strafed to the left, the krogan missing her by a hearbreadth...but that was the point. Sticking her leg out, she tripped the krogan over, causing him to stumble and fall. She moved to finish him off before the fight began, but he wasn't done. He rolled onto his back and leapt backup, infuriated by the quarian.

"Quarian filth!" Wreav spat, reaching behind his back and activating his shotgun. Again, Tali was prepared. She had noticed that the weapon was of an obsolete make; it had been manufactured before the battle of the citadel and the krogan hadn't bothered to modify it so it was compatible with thermal clips; meaning it was still vulnerable against her sabotage attacks.

Extending her arm, her omni-tool lit up and she tapped the button that highlighted her sabotage program. Hacking into the shotgun, her omni-tool overclocked the heating compacitors on the weapon and overheated it, rendering it useless. The krogan tried to fire, but the weapon exploded in his face, the result of trying to fire an overheated weapon. Tali had no weapons on her; she was vulnerable, but the fight was more legitimate and Kal would know to kill Wreav before any serious harm came to her.

Wreav, having recovered from the explosion, rushed forward to meet her again, launching a left hook towards the side of her mask. She ducked under the swinging arm and spun her leg around, footsweeping the krogan's leg. He fell to the ground with a massive thump and before he what was happening, the quarian had straddled him.

She then wrapped her legs around his throat before laying on her back behind his head, using her legs to hold him in a headlock. The fight was over. Wreav had no choice but to forfeit or he would suffocate from Tali's tightening grip. Letting a surrendering yelp, Tali let go and leapt to her feet, bowing to the krogan, as was traditional.

"Ma'am, remind me to never piss you off." One of the marines commented.

"Noted," Tali smugly grinned behind her mask.

Wrex chuckled.

His little quarian indeed.

{Loading...}

April 7, 2184 {Translated Khelish Time}

Thirteen Hours, Fifteen Minutes.

Main Bridge, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Medusa System.

Major Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Lieutenant Colonel Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Second Lieutenant Prazza'Sal vas Idenna, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema.

Tali stood in parade rest upon entering the room. On her left was Kal, who was a rank higher than her and to her right was her subordinate, Platoon Commander Second Lieutenant Prazza'Sal. She despised his very presence in the same room with her and he reciprocated those feelings right back at her. Luckily, or rather hopefully, that wouldn't be much longer.

Nine months passed now and Tali was a major, commanding the sizable and honorable Rela'tiz company. It had once been Kal's command, but that was before he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given umbrella command over her unit. Her company was part of his Wys'trek battalion and therefore was firmly under his authority as battalion commander.

Prazza was still in command of Olo'gogp platoon, which of course wasn't part of her company, but part of another unit altogether. Thank the ancestors for that. Murmurs went through the fleet of Tali being her father's successor on the admiralty or the even more popular rumors, of herself becoming a captain of a vessel. By now, they should be right. A marine of her status should have been given instant captain status, but she rejected it, not believing she was ready for the responsibility of such a command.

So here she was, leading a company of some of the most elite quarian marines in the flotilla. They were part of a special group of special ops troops called the Skylords, nicknamed the 'psychos' by the others on the flotilla. They specialized in HALO (High-Altitude Low Orbit) jumps and all kinds of missions that were too high-risk for the standard marine. They were the best of the best.

Tali had been typing up her AAR (After-Action Report/Review) when she had been called to the bridge. She didn't know what it was about but apparently it was important. She had heard rumors about a human ship entering the fleet a couple of hours ago, but they were unconfirmed at best. But could that be why she was called up? If so, why do they need me, Kal and Prazza on it? It doesn't make much sense unless...

No, if the humans wanted to attack them, the attack would be dealt with harshly. She was sure that wasn't the case. It wasn't long before Gerrel finally entered the room, moving to stand infront of him. When he stopped, they all snapped crisp salutes, the admiral returning them before putting them at ease.

"Are you aware of why you're here?" Gerrel asked.

The trio shook their heads. Tali didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Gerrel nodded, "We've got human visitors. Four of them; two human males, a female and a...child. I've heard she's got a human condition called 'autism' and has biotics. They are seeking asylum on the Idenna currently. Captain Ysin'Mal is accepting of their needs, but requires a security force to help them around. His current marine squad isn't enough."

Tali noticed Prazza twitch out of the corner of her eye. The Idenna was Prazza's homeship, so it was expected he'd feel abit twitchy having humans on the ship where his sister worked.

"And you want us to help defend them?" Kal asked, raising a brow. Asking them to do it was like getting a general, an admiral and a private to protect a merc. It wasn't just odd; it was against the chain of command. This was a job for subordinates, not commanding officers like himself and Tali.

"No, this job goes to Prazza and Tali. I called you here for a different reason," Gerrel informed him.

"Why me, sir?" Tali asked.

"Because apparently this human child is important. If we show that we're willing to protect her with some of our best, it will make us look good infront of the alliance. They might even give us some resources."

Tali rolled her eyes. This wasn't about goodwill, it was about resources. For her people, it was understandable, it was resources they desperately needed. The whole idea just didn't sit well with her; they may have well have kept the child hostage and propose an extortion.

"I understand, sir." Tali spoke up, Prazza nodding afterwards.

"Good," Gerrel stated, "Then you may depart. The Idenna is still in it's day cycle, so you shouldn't be intruding. A shuttle is waiting in the shuttle bay."

With a salute to Gerrel and a nod to Kal, Tali turned to leave, following reluctantly behind Prazza. Just before the doors closed behind her, she heard Gerrel start speaking to Kal. Turning back around, she almost jump backwards when she saw Peta there.

"Hey," Peta said cheerfully.

"Hi," Tali replied lamely, trying to push past him. She succeeded to a degree, but he just followed alongside her.

"Where you going?" Peta asked.

"On a mission."

"What kind?"

"A mission."

"You're sexy when you do that."

Tali suddenly stopped and rounded on Peta, "Enough! Will you stop trying to flirt with me! I'm not interested in you in any degree! The only man who I loved is dead and I'm not interested in being with you! So stop trying!"

Peta snorted, dropping his cheerful demeanour in a second, "You'd rather be with a human who can't even give you children!"

Tali pointed an accusing finger at Peta, "He doesn't need to! He was there for me when I needed him while all you did was try and get me into your bed so you can use me as your personal baby-making machine! I will not be used like that! AM I CLEAR!?"

She practically shouted her last sentence. She half enjoyed it and felt half-ashamed of yelling at him like that. He may have been an insufferable bosh'tet, but he didn't deserve that kind of treatment. She was just so sick and tired of his advances towards her.

"Fine," Peta gave up, "Just know that if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me. When you finally realize, which you will, that I can love you alot more than he ever could, I'll be waiting."

"Whatever," Tali spat before leaving. She felt relieved to have him out of the way. No more of his advances.

Now she had to get to the Idenna. It should be a fairly easy mission. Just protecting a child and a few humans.

How hard could it be?

{Loading...}

April 7, 2184 {Translated Khelish Time}

Thirteen Hours, Thirty-Nine hours.

Shuttle Bay, Hensa-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Idenna, Migrant Fleet, Medusa System.

Major Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Second Lieutenant Prazza'Sal vas Idenna, Captain Ysin'Mal vas Idenna, Corporal Seeto'Hodda nar Idenna, Staff Sergeant Isa'Pall vas Idenna, Yalu'Sal nar Idenna.

Tali waited for the shuttle's hatch to full open before stepping out onto the deck of the Idenna. Prazza was quick to follow behind her and it wasn't long before they found themselves in the presence of a large amount of quarians; a security detail along with a few other quarian civilians and the captain.

Tali and Prazza immediately saluted the Idenna's captain as he came into their view, the captain quickly returning the gesture to put them at ease.

"Captain Mal, I'm Major Zorah and this is Second Lieutenant Sal, reporting for duty. We were informed that we'd be protecting some high value targets." Tali introduced.

Ysin nodded, "Correct, major. They are currently on the bridge, but I can assure you that they are safe. Due to the length of your stay, I have prepared two beds in the crew quarters. If you have any belongings you'd like to put away, then be sure to visit. I will have Staff Sergeant Pall show you there. For now, I must return to the bridge and speak with our guests."

Tali and Prazza, once again, saluted the captain as he left, his posture strong and firm, telling of his authority. Prazza, although he didn't like it, looked to Tali for permission to leave. Nodding, Tali watched as Prazza hugged his sister Yalu and began talking silently with her. The young girl was due to leave on her pilgrimage tomorrow morning. She guessed Prazza's visit to the ship was a bit of good luck for him.

After greeting each other, Prazza and Yalu, as well as Tali, followed behind Sergeant Pall as she and her security detail escorted them to the crew quarters. She recognized Seeto from the way he walked around. His posture was weak and the only reason he was serving as a marine is because his father talked him into becoming a pilgrim troop. So here Seeto was, completing his pilgrimage as a marine aboard the Idenna, his birth ship.

The halls of the ex-batarian cruiser were packed with busy civilian life. Engineers executing maintenance, marines on patrol, couples walking the decks while whispering words of affection into each others ears; she even saw a mother walking by, her child wrapped in a sterile bubble as she carried her around the decks of her birth ship.

Tali smiled as she remembered that had once been Meru carrying her around, with Tali in the bubble. Meru would always take her to the observation deck on the Rayya and show her the stars and then point to where she thought the Perseus Veil might be. Tali had been two when she started doing it. The memory caused her eyes to tear up; it was a time when her father didn't neglect her.

It didn't take them long to reach the crew quarters. They looked and were much the same in general layout to the Neema; what used to be the galley, brig or storage compartment of the ship was converted into a sleeping area, with beds lined up and cramped together for the best use of space. There was no more than half a meter of space between the beds and most were just a flat padding with a pillow on it.

Isa showed them the two pads currently occupying the end of the room and to the right, both looking exactly the same as the rest. Not eve bothering to choose, the two then left, thanking the sergeant as they did.

"I'll see you later, bro," Yalu said to her brother as she hugged him once more, "I just need to get mum and dad. I think they'll be more than happy to know that you're here. You should come with."

Prazza shook his head and, Tali would be pleasantly surprised, she thought he was smiling behind his mask, "I've got some duties to attend to but when I get the time, we'll see. I'll see you later little sis. Love you. And tell mum and dad that I love them too and I look forward to seeing them again. It's been too long."

Yalu nodded and practically skipped down the hallway, the little youngster so full of energy. Tali smiled. It was energy once had; back before she left on pilgrimage. Her father would patronize her, but Shala would just smile warmly and tell her to calm down afterwards. It was youthful innocence Tali had long given up on after Marcus' death. A tear streaked down her cheek once more at yet another painful memory.

Trying to brighten the mood, for her sake at least, she turned to Prazza with a forced smile, even though he couldn't see it.

"You're sister's quite nice," Tali commented, "It'd be nice to meet your parents too."

Prazza's tone in his response was half-hostile and half-cheery, "Oh really? How do you figure?"

"They just sound like really nice people," Tali shook her head, crossing her arms, "You don't have to be so defensive Prazza. I meant no harm in my comment."

Prazza nodded his head, "Sorry ma'am. It's just...I've never been a big fan of your policies with my men. Won't happen again."

Prazza's word actually sounded genuine. Usually he'd comment sarcastically or make some stupid comment to go with it, but this time there was nothing. He was genuinely apologetic, and it surprised her.

"That's okay," Tali finished, "Now come on, let's get to the bridge. See who and what these humans are and why they're here."

Prazza nodded, vouching to follow behind the quarian. Isa, Seeto and the rest of the staff sergeant's men stopped halfway though.

Isa raised her omni-tool, bringing up what looked like a message of some sort, "A second human vessel just got flagged by the Dorosibi. It's lightly-armed and appears to be a corvette of some sort. It's just launched a shuttle. Wait..."

Tali and Prazza watched Isa with waiting looks. Finally, the female quarian spoke up once again, "It's the Cyniad. It's requesting permission to dock."

Prazza's eyes widened, "The Cyniad? Isn't that one of our shuttles? What was that doing on a human vessel?"

Isa shook her head, "I don't know. The registration checks out, so it's not a fake. Hell, even it's IFF is pinging back on all RADAR and LIDAR frequencies. Feda'Gazu, she's the ship's scout leader, took the shuttle along with a squad of some marines to investigate some deal she made with Golo'Mekk on Shelba."

Tali fumed, "Golo? As in Golo vas Nedas? The exile? Why? She was made aware of the rules that deal with exiles; no interaction with them whatsoever! And of all the exiles she interacts with, it's Golo?"

Golo was one the rare few quarians who got exiled by the fleet; due to the lack of resources, it was the only form of punishment they could carry out on traitors. Golo, orginally having been a crewmember on the Usela, had been a violent man and had shown complete disregard to his fellow crewmates, entering a sociopathic state to his fellow colleagues; even his family was shut out.

All that changed ten years ago. The quarian apparently came into contact with a race called the collectors; a race of enigmatic beings whose purpose and origin is unknown, but have been known to kidnap members of many different races and were very...unusual in terms of their requests; they'd request three salarians who were left-handed, turians who had bigger muscles, humans with different iris colors, all sorts. And once they had their specimens, they would disappear behind the Omega 4 Relay, only accessible by them. Any other ship that attempted the relay never returned. And Golo was contacted by them.

They wanted two dozen 'pure' quarians from the flotilla and in exchange for his cooperation, they would provide him with pieces of their technology, which was extremely advanced even by modern standards. Golo agreed and attempted to sell his family and part of his crew to the collectors, but was found out and arrested. Not long after, Golo was accused of treason and exiled from the fleet, the quarian being left to rot on Omega. If out of irony, Omega was located in the same system as the Omega 4 Relay.

And now he wanted to meet some of the Idenna's crew on Shelba. Something wasn't right. Tali could smell it. She could feel her gut telling her. Marcus would call it 'gut instinct', and it was telling her that all of this was wrong. Had Feda walked into a trap? No, Feda brought a squad of marines. Even Golo has low chances of killing her in the midst of that.

"Oh don't worry, Feda was fully prepared for his betrayal and attempt to get back at the fleet," Isa reassured them, "That's why she brought a squad of marines, a heavily-armoured shuttle and the fleet's best kinetic barriers. If Golo tried anything, she'd have been ready. No, it's just Golo decided to feel generous all of a sudden and provide some tech to the fleet. Feda was interested, but she wasn't stupid. She knew Golo would pull something."

"Ma'am, the Cyniad is requesting permission to dock," Seeto announced, "Hilo'Jaa, the shuttle's pilot, just recited his code. It's the one of safety. The captain's accepted the request and wants us to report there immediately as per decontamination protocols."

"Let's go do what he wants then," Isa stated, "I can't wait to see Hilo again. He and I are meant to be getting married tomorrow, just after we see Yalu off on her pilgrimage." Isa snapped a crisp salute and left, Seeto and her marines following behind her. Tali patted Seeto on the shoulder before they left, before then continuing with Prazza towards the bridge.

"Something about Golo's offer doesn't sound right," Prazza piped up, "He's never been that generous. What if it was a trap?"

Tali shrugged her shoulders, "Feda brought marines with her and a quick getaway. If it was a trap, Golo is either back on Shelba or dead. Don't worry too much Prazza, I'm sure Feda is just fine. Why are you worried so much?" Tali wouldn't admit it, but she was too. Not just for Feda, but for her marines. Golo wasn't usually this confident.

"Feda is Yalu and myself's aunty," Prazza added, "So yeah, I have a right to worry. But yeah, I guess you're right, what could go wrong?"

Tali smiled as they continued for the bridge, enjoying getting to know Prazza in a more friendlier tone, "Exactly. So don'-"

She never got to finish that sentence as an explosion rocked the ship. It wasn't enough to shake it, but they could feel it alright. Are we under attack? No, we can't be. We're in the fleet; if a ship attacked us, it'd have to be the human vessel or one of the fleet's warships, and the latter doesn't seem likely. None of them do actually. Then it hit her as she turned towards the shuttle bay. Wait, the explosion came from inside the ship, not the outside. Which means...

Tali didn't waste any time in ripping out her shotgun and Prazza knew when to whip out the pain; following up with his own assault rifle as he chased after her. They arrived at the shuttle bay, only to find one of the doors opened. Heat bursted out through it like a wildfire, with a fellow quarian marine backing out of it, firing a steady stream of fire through the doorway.

The rest of his squad followed and when the gunfire subsided, she noticed the battle was over. Whoever had boarded them, it was over. But how did they board us to start with? Judging by the female's suit, that's Feda, which rules out the Cyniad and my shuttle only had me and Prazza aboard. How the hell did they attack us?

Nodding to Feda, she noticed something wasn't quite right. Her suit sagged a bit, not really striking her as the skintightness that quarian female suits were usually like. Even her breasts seemed to be...deflated, which was odd, as that probably suggested that she was female...

The realization hit her in an instant. Her eyes trailed their forms. Their feet were bulged out and too big for the suit. There was two holes in each glove where two, pink fingers poked out of them. The eyes behind their helmets didn't glow, it was just a dull faceplate. Their posture was straight, with no bent legs or arched back.

This wasn't Feda or her squad. These were impostors; which meant the decontamination team were ambushed, thinking these were allies, which meant Isa, Seeto and the rest of the marines were dead. Without thinking, Tali knew what to do next.

Raising her shotgun, she fired a high-velocity slug straight into Feda's chest, ripping the suit wide open. Prazza was about to retort when the unknown hostiles turned their weapons on the pair, immediately opening fire. Tali was forced to watch from behind their cover as numerous units of the unknown hostiles poured past them, heading for the bridge. Following behind them was a human followed by a familiar form.

Golo.

Gunfire and screaming could be heard along with screaming. The crew was under attack. Powered by fury, Tali leapt at the next passing impostor, which turned out to be Feda and slammed the fake quarian and slammed her mask into the wall hard and repeatedly, either knocking out or killing her. Either way, Tali emptied a shotgun blast into the back of their head just to be sure.

Lowering herself and knowing Prazza had her back, she ripped the suit of the enemy. This was definitely Feda's suit, the impostor liking having killed her before stripping her of it. Tali didn't want to think of the image that brought to her mind; naked quarian bodies tossed into a shuttle and left to rot. It enraged her even more.

When she saw the five fingers, the toes and the color of the body, she knew exactly what species this was; humans. The human vessel suddenly made sense now; they weren't giving the Cyniad a ride, the shuttle could easily travel, they had either killed the crew on Shelba and hijacked the shuttle, or lured them aboard and then killed the crew, using their suits as disguises to full the decon team into trusting them. Poor Seeto would never have stood a chance.

Tali then saw something out of the corner of her eye. No, it couldn't be. Not here. Not now. Ripping the left shoulder off, she saw what she most dreaded. The one insignia she didn't want to see. The one that usurped her fury and turned it into a blazing rage that made her want to rip her enemies limb from limb. It brought back images of the past. Ones long gone. Two golden lines flanking a golden hexagon.

Cerberus.

But why would the pro-human terrorist organization attack the flotilla? What had they done to them? Or was it just a human racist crusade? Was it happening just to prove human superiority? It didn't matter; what did matter was that Golo had helped cerberus commandos get onboard and she was ending this now. She muttered blessings for Hilo and the marriage that would never happen. The torture her fellow quarian must have gone through to get that passcode. He was either now dead or dying from the undoubtedbly agonizing torment.

Taking her shotgun and pumped by pent up rage, she lead Prazza down the hallway and into the main area where the commandos were attacking. The humans attacking was one thing, but what she saw them doing was unforgivable. Unethical. Seeing what she was seeing, she knew but one thing; they all needed to die. Slowly. Painfully.

She watched as they butchered quarian civilians left and right. The mother she saw from before lay in a puddle of her own blood, her child still wrapped firmly in her arms during a last ditch attempt to shield her child from the firefight. Security desperately tried to fight off the attackers, but compared to the more heavy-training of the professional commandos, they stood no chance.

Screaming with fury, she charged two lone commandos who had cornered a younger quarian, probably no more than ten years old. One of the humans turned, but not before a shotgun butt hit his mask, shattering it and sending him backwards. The other commando tried to retaliate, but found himself the victim of having a knife stuck in her throat.

With her dead, Tali grabbed the knife and repeatedly stabbed the commando, both at the same as he screamed for mercy. But she showed none. She had watched as children were forced to watch their parents gunned down relentlessly, followed by them as well. No, fuck mercy. These human scum didn't deserve any of it.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she continued stabbing the commando unforgivingly, making sure to continue his misery. Finally satisfied, she ended his life with a shotgun blast to the chest, the commando's stolen suit now soaked with blood. The quarian major's own suit was coated with blood, a puddle of it collecting on her mask as she wiped it off. Standing up, she watched as Yalu was carried away by two cerberus commandos, her parents crying for mercy.

Prazza shouted words of objection, but she held out her hands to stop him. He was infuriated by her gesture but she held firm. She knew he would hate her, but there was nothing that could be done for Yalu. Not after what she saw another marine pulling out. Taking aim, the marine fired his rocket launcher, the projectile detonating at the commando's feet.

Prazza screamed as he watched Yalu disappear in a haze of bright white. In the aftermath of the blast, nothing remained of the quarian or her two captors; nothing but blood and gore coated the walls, floor and ceiling, followed by red flames as they licked the walls. She could hear Prazza's sobbing, as well as his parent's. He shoved past her, cursing profanity at her for stopping him. She ignored him in favor of stopping the rest of the violence.

She was relentless. She systematically annilihated every single commando. She showed no mercy, no self-control. She killed them at her own will; sometimes brutally, sometimes quickly. Occassionally, she'd escort some children to safety or help escort some civilians to different area. When she finally reached the bridge, she didn't know what to think of the sight before her.

Golo's dead body lay on the floor; but it wasn't her kill. A human woman was hugging a young human child and then she realized who had killed the exile. Lowering her shotgun, she nodded her understanding. All around her lay death and decay, rotting bodies and destroyed lives. The morale of an entire crew had been shattered by this attack. Cerberus had declared war against the Migrant Fleet by boarding the Idenna. The ship would be avenged.

Tali quietly weeped as she traversed the destruction that lay around her. The only people she knew to survive the attack was Prazza and his parents, herself and the captain. The casualities numbered over sixty; nine percent of that being children. She couldn't understand why an attack like this was nessacary; why Cerberus had to resort to mass murder to put their point across. Now she realized why they were called terrorists; this attack was cowardice and therefore a personal attack against the quarian people.

Cerberus had made a new enemy today; not that it meant much, but she knew it would bite them in the ass the next time the flotilla dropped by. And if she ever found their HQ, she would personally request to have the Neema nuke it from orbit using what limited nuclear arsenal they had. She would do it for the Idenna.

It wasn't long before Tali came face to face with Prazza; his posture enlightened with fury.

"You res'tak bitch!" Prazza spat, "Why did you stop me!? You got my sister killed you pathetic sack of shit!"

Tali knew her decision was justified. She didn't mean that she enjoyed standing by as Yalu, the quarian who could have been on pilgrimage by tomorrow, was blown apart by the marine's incoming missile, but if she had let Prazza go to save her, then he would have been shredded in the explosion as well. She knew his sister knew this too.

"You would have gotten yourself killed had I not stopped you!" Tali retorted, catching the attention of a few nearby quarians and Prazza's parents.

"Fuck you bitch!" Prazza snarled, "I could have saved her!"

"She was already dead!" Tali responded in kind, "Even if there wasn't a rocket heading towards her, those soldiers would have surely shot her before you could do anything! Don't act as if I'm the villan here! Blame Cerberus!"

Prazza shook his head in disgust, "You don't understand! I could have-I could-"

Tali shook her head, "No, you couldn't have. If your sister was still alive, she'd say the same."

Prazza just pointed an accusing finger at her, "How dare you pretend to know her! You know nothing! Hear me? Nothing!"

Before Tali could respond, his parents stepped in and, surprisingly, supported Tali's side of the argument.

"Prazza, darling," His mother choked out, barely able to speak due to her sobbing, "The major is right. She-She wouldn't want this."

Prazza was shocked to know that even his parents wouldn't back him up. He chucked glances at both his parents and Tali, not knowing what to think. Eventually, he backed into a nearby wall and slid onto the ground, curling into a fetal position and sobbing. Prazza would forever hate Tali for what she did; and she was perfectly content with it, if it meant another marine got to live.

And as much as she hated it, her eyes fell once again onto the dead mother shielding her child and now the scene was even more horrible. The woman's husband was leaning over her dead body, cradling it and the child as he wailed, screaming with sorrow. And she saw why. Not only was his wife dead, but a bullet had penetrated the sterile bubble. Due to the rush of bacteria, the child's immune system could barely put up a fight, and she died shortly after. The engineer tore her eyes away, realizing that clean up had to be done. And she needed Prazza's help. It was time for her inner commander to come out.

Do what Marcus would have done.

"Prazza, get up and stand to!" Tali barked.

Prazza immediately shot up, standing to attention in an instant, years of military training drilled into his head like programming.

"You know what to do!" Tali declared, "The captain has most likely already contacted the nearest liveship for medical aid. I want you coordinating any CASEVAC (CASualty EVACuation) teams. There's also going to be a large amount of civilians recovering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Syndrome), so I want you on call. Stay alert and keep your cool. I'm going to get a sitrep from the captain."

Prazza nodded and immediately executed his task as Tali nodded moved towards the ship's bridge, nodding to his parents as she passed by.

Ancestors forgive me.

"The Cerberus attack on the Idenna was remembered by all quarians forever. Even today we still gun down anyone carrying their logo. They'd attacked us personally; enough to make us hate them. Alot."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"So what next?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Well, my anecdote is coming to an end. Nothing really happened during the rest of that yearly period. Garrus managed to piss off some more mercs, I rose through the ranks to become a Colonel and Liara became an information broker, intent on tracking down and destroying the Shadow Broker after the kidnapping of her friend, turned lover, Feron."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Wait, what? You never mentioned they were lovers; in fact, you barely mentioned them."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I went on what Liara told me during that period. What I didn't tell you is that she sent me a message shortly after her one about Feron's refuge, telling me about what had happened. After that, she ceased contacting me, telling me she was going to become an information broker. Apparently she had gotten real close to Feron; enough to want to declare a one-woman war against the galaxy's most influential information dealer."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"So...where are we jumping to?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Like I said, my personal experience is coming to an end. All the key aspects of my life and the life of your former comrades has been told and now it must end. Of course there is still the tale about the fall of Archangel, which I'll get to later. For now, we'll jump to July 19, 2185, just about two years after your death. The phoenix was rising. The ashes being brought together. You were coming back to me."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Author's Note:

Yeah, remember how I promised you ten chapters on this? Yeah, well, I was close enough. To be honest, the next chapter I had was going to be called 'Turbulance' and after skimming through it recently, I realized just how pointless it actually is. I'm surprised I didn't see it. It's essentially filler for the inevitable chapter of Shepard's return and served absolutely no purpose to the story; offering no fuel to go with.

So yes, the next chapter will be Shepard's return; of sorts. You'll see when it comes. This is where Prophecy really starts to get interesting; this was mostly just build up. ;)

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER SEVEN:

ALOT HAS CHANGED

July 19, 2185

0703 hours.

Main Laboratory, Level 13, Lazarus Station, Remus System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

Twenty Seconds. Twenty short, but surprisingly long seconds. Probably the longest seconds of his life. That was the amount of time that had passed since his death over Alchera. Twenty be damned seconds. He was sure that he should be with God now; not going to Heaven, but simply with god, as the old jewish faith stated. But he had been pushed away. He didn't know why, he didn't know how, he just know he did. He had heard God speak it.

Or he thought he did. Either way, he had been willed into existence. Or had he? He found himself in a long, black room, wearing nothing but a robe, with nothing on underneath. He felt vulnerable, weak and unnatural. Something wasn't right about this whole thing. He was dead. He knew he was dead. He had been spaced, run out of oxygen and been thrown into Alchera's atmosphere; he was dead. There was no rescue team.

And yet, here he was, standing in this room. How was this possible? Did God's hand play in this like it did during the battle of the citadel? Or was this all just somekind of illusion? His mind mocking him as he was slowly dragged from the mortal realm of existence and into the arms of god, his soul leaving his body forever. If this is what death felt like, then he hated it. All he could think about was the people he lost and how he never got to say goodbye to any of them.

Mum. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I left and died like dad did; never saying goodbye.

And Tali. I...I'm sorry too. I just hope you move on and find someone else. You're an amazing girl; don't let my death hinder your ability to feel alive. I'm not worth it. I never have been. Why mourn over a simple soldier?

Marcus immediately looked up from his makeshift robe and saw that there was now spontaneous lighting. All kinds of colors danced on the floor and all over his body; with explosions of purple and pink, red and blue, green and yellow. It was beautiful. Although, he was still left questioning where the lights had come from.

Then, out of nowhere, came the slim, feminine frame of his lover. Tali. She stood with her hands on her hips, poking out one hip and doing that seductive pose she would always use to tease him. He reached out a hand to touch her, but it was almost as if she wasn't even standing there, but rather kilometers away. He would run and try to grab her hand, but she would always stretch out of reach. Then he heard Tali speak, as if taunting him.

"You left me," She taunted.

"I didn't want to!" He shouted back.

"You've left me a jibbering wreck," she responded, as if unperturbed by his words or ignoring me, "You've ruined me. How could you die on me?"

Before he could answer, distant voices spoke, as if in his head.

His heart-rate is climbing. How is that possible? Did you check the cybernetics?

He didn't recognize the voice. It was a human female, that much he could tell from the voice and the accent was Australian. Whoever this person was, she seemed busy, rushed and worried, all in one. A second, unknown voice; this one an american-accented human male, entered through.

I don't know what's happening. His heart-rate should still be zero. His lungs...they're active! I'm trying to stabilize! If he wakes up now, he'll be uncontrollable!

You think I don't know that? Inject him with the strongest sedative you have. I don't care how much; just make sure he stays under! He's not ready yet!

The voices started to irritate him. He wanted them removed. He wanted them gone. He wanted to stay dead; to be saved the torment the image of Tali's form was giving him. What if this is what death is like? Torturous voices and painful memories taunting me?

It's not working! He's still waking up! I can't stop it!

Slowly, Marcus felt the dream fade away. Tali's form disappeared and the lights ceased. The ground beneath his feet vanished as a bright light entered his vision. The brilliance of it was too much for his eyes to handle and he covered his face, as if shielding himself from the light of an atomic blast.

He felt his eyes opening. No, that couldn't be possible. How could his eyes be opening? What was going on? Was this another dream? It had to be. He fell into a planet for godsake! Noone could have saved him and definitely couldn't have survived it! He was for all intents and purposes, dead!

With his eyes fully opened, he examined the room. His eyes were surrounded by bouts of pain, but they were too dull to really annoy him. The room he was in was illuminated by a bright light; observation windows opening onto another deck up above. At least he thought it was a deck; he could have been in a ground facility for all he knew.

But he definitely wasn't on Alchera anymore. As he looked around, he saw numerous pieces of scientific equipment; ranging from neural implanters, cybernetic fusors, X-Ray screens and other materials. He could tell he was lying down and he could tell he was hooked up to a monitoring machine; he could hear the steady beeping of his heartbeat.

As he got up, he could see who the people were. To make sure he was in a dream, he hit himself on the leg and felt a jolt of pain. His eyes widened at the realization that this wasn't a dream. But how the hell am I alive? This defies the laws of life! The woman to his left was looking at one of the monitoring devices, typing rapidly on a terminal infront of her.

She wore a white catsuit, with a black belt tightened around her waist. Her hair was raven black and flowed down her head, stopping past her shoulders. Her butt was a little too big to ignore in his peripheral vision, but he got the feeling he wasn't in a formal military facility. Definitely not Alliance. Captured by mercenaries?

Before he could see who the male was, the woman had turned around, revealing the rest of her features. Her face was smooth and beautiful, but the most obvious thing that his eyes caught on to was her breasts; they were simply too big. What was worse, was that her suit was so skin tight, that they almost bulged out. Jesus woman...have some modesty.

"Commander Shepard, you're awake," the woman said shakily, "I'm Miranda Lawson. We need to put you back to sleep. You're not-"

The woman's words became mute as his eyes fixed upon the insignia resting on her left breast. It was the symbol of injustice and murder. It was the source of his hatred and wrath, as well as his prejudice. It was the symbol of human disgrace; an organization that shouldn't exist, but did. One he swore to destroy as soon as he picked up a rifle.

Without letting the woman named Miranda finish, he grabbed her around the neck and closer to him, breathing on her face as he glared menacingly at her.

"You're Cerberus," Marcus spat, but before he could say much more, he saw his hand. That hand. Whatever it was. His skin was peeled away and revealed bits of bone, enough to make him sick, but what he saw latched to his bones was worse. Cybernetic bits and pieces and were latched to his bones, glowing with orange ferocity.

With renewed hatred and fury, his grip tightened around her throat as he summoned his biotic powers. He needed to get out of here.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?"

Miranda suddenly found herself flying across the room within seconds, her body slamming into numerous pieces of equipment before collapsing onto the floor. Marcus found that his biotics were causing him unbelievable pain, but appeared to be stronger than normal. The other cerberus scientist tried to restrain him, but found himself the victim of a headbutt, followed by a punch to the nose that knocked him out.

Confused as to what to do, Marcus bade a beeline for the door. But Miranda wasn't letting him escape that easily; keying her omni-tool, she put the station on high alert and ordered all units to tranquilize him. Just as Marcus reached the door, he found it closing. Before it did however, he reached out his hands and stopped it. He was shocked. These doors were extremely powerful; being able to cut solid titantium in half. Whatever they had loaded into his body augmented his strength majorly.

He also noticed that the door's design was different to usual ones, looking more like a geth's design; instead of a side panel, it had a glowing holographic interface in the middle, which you had to tap to open the door. He rolled his eyes as he looked at the door; having two Cerberus logos on it.

It didn't take him long to open the second one either, only to find himself face to face with two more Cerberus servants. One tried to fire what looked like a striker pistol at him, but he reacted with reflexes he didn't know he had. Within seconds he had the man pinned in an arm lock and the other guy unconscious via tranquilizer dart. He also noticed that the internal structure of the weapon was different. Where the hell am I?

As he ran up the stairs, he looked into a window and saw his reflection. He stood frozen, disgusted by what he saw. His body didn't even look human; he looked more akin to a geth, just with flesh and bones as well as cybernetics. His chest was in the process of being skinned over, with the section over his longs the only place still transparent. He had numerous scars all over his body that glowed the same orange light that his hand had; even his face had the same scars.

His eyes looked like that of a Terminator; glowing a dull orange. He looked absolutely hideous. Just what the hell have Cerberus done to me? Hell, how can I even say... It was then that he realized just who he should get to. Tali! I have to find Tali! She'll be shocked to know I'm alive, but it's better than dead! It was then that he remembered his appearence. What will Tali think? Can the Alliance remove half of this stuff? Am I even human anymore? Hell, I'm supposed to be dead! For all I know, I could be a clone or a synthetic impostor!

Throwing these thoughts aside, he looked up the stairway to his right to see two mechs headed towards him. He immediately recognized them as LOKI defense mechs. They were dumb little things that lacked even a basic VI; mostly run by an outdated computing software. They had no strategic capabilities and were good for nothing except common cannon fodder or a distraction.

His right hand immediately snapped up and launched a biotic singularity, lifting the two dumbass mechs off the ground and into the air, dropping two weapons of a type he didn't quite know, except it looked alot like those SMGs he had read about when he was a child about the Second American Civil War. But they haven't manufactured those for ages. Just what facility is this?

He simply and casually walked past the floating mechs, letting the singularity deal with them. When the door was closed, he saw the interface glow red and if he understood right, that meant it was locked. He saw that the other door was locked as well. Great. A fucking lockdown. Now what do I do? He searched around for options, but he wasn't really seeing any. He had to think quickly. Cerberus would get to him soon.

Just as he lumbered into the middle of the room, both doors unlocked and two squads of Cerberus commandos entered, all bearing avenger and...diamond back assault rifles? He also noticed a few more LOKI mechs. A young man with a Cerberus uniform stood out from the squad that had entered from his goal door. He was obviously african-american, judging by the way he carried himself and the color of his skin.

From behind him, came the whole too memorable Miranda; her australian accent identifiable from a mile away.

"Please Shepard, just let us help," The woman pleaded.

Marcus' head snapped towards her, "Help? You've turned me into a cyborg! Tell me...am I even human anymore? Just what the fuck have you done to me? And where's my friends! If you've so much as hurt them, I'll tear you apart and feed you to the fucking thresher maws on Akuze. Nothing like a taste of your own medicine, huh?"

Miranda was shocked. This wasn't the Shepard she had read up. He was more calm and negoitable. This one was filled with rage and vehemence. But she couldn't blame him; waking up to find yourself in the home of over a hundred of your enemies would be enough to piss anyone off.

"You're friends are mine," Miranda gulped, "Moved on, actually. They got over your death. Made new lives. Have for a while, you know."

Marcus glowed with biotics, ableit unstable and shifting. Everyone in the room felt it, even if the human didn't intend it. Even some objects in the room lifted and fell at will. His biotics were too unstable; anymore and he could fry his brain from overload. Damn it, haven't even inserted the L4 implant yet.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!? Moved on? Made new lives? I...I've only been unconscious for twenty seconds!"

Miranda shook her head, "You weren't unconscious Marcus and certainly not for twenty seconds. Not by a mile."

Marcus rolled his eyes and pointed a finger directly at her, "Don't fuck with me! People don't just rise up from the grave! Once they are dead, they stay that way! You can't play god!"

"Too the contrary," Miranda pointed out, "We did. Cerberus pored thousands of resources into bringing you back. You're our number one chance at stopping the Reapers."

Marcus calmed down a little, confused, "Say I believe you. Just how long have I been...'dead'" He finished with air quotes, still not believing the Cerberus woman. He had no reason to and he certainly wouldn't start trusting the likes of her. Not after Akuze. He wouldn't go through that again. Not with Tali.

Miranda gulped, "This is going to come as a shock to you-"

"How fucking long!?" Marcus demanded.

"Two years," Miranda blurted out, ready to fight if Shepard lost control. However, he didn't. He just stood there, his pose frozen. She couldn't imagine what was going on within his head right now; losing two years of your life and feeling like it had only been twenty seconds would suck to anyone; not that necromancy was a common thing, anyway.

"Two...years?" Marcus couldn't bear it. I've lost two years of my life? Just gone? And what about the Reapers? What about my friends...I...Tali...has she moved on? Found someone else? I...no, this can't be happening!

Before he had anymore time to contemplate it, he felt a sharp bite in the back of his neck. He pulled out the dart just as he fell unconscious on the ground, nothing but his steady heartbeat to worry about. Miranda nodded her thanks to Jacob for having put the man down before he did anything else irrational. She immediately turned to the two commandos holding up Shepard.

"Get him back to the lab and set back up on the table. He won't be ready for another month," Miranda said, moving out of the way as the soldiers dragged Shepard back to the lab. She rubbed her temples at the mess this had caused; Shepard wasn't supposed to have awoken yet and already he knew too much. It was information he wasn't ready for.

All she knew is that she had a report to file. The Illusive Man had to know about this.

{Loading...}

July 19, 2185

0721 hours.

'Humanity's Sanctum', Upper Level, Cronos Station, Anadius System.

The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

Cerberus' leader waited patiently as Lazarus Station connected their quantum entanglement communicator. It was state of the art technology; being able to develop a crystal-clear hologram of the messenger using photosythesized digital images. It was advanced tech and only Cerberus used it to it's full advantage. Now he was getting an unscheduled call from the station. It had better bring good news.

He took a puff of his cigar and watched as Miranda's form came into full view, dataslate held under her right armpit. He sighed as he lay his hand in his hand, dipping his cigar into the ash tray to his right.

"Miss Lawson," he began, "This is unexpected. I wasn't expecting an update for another month. This is ahead of schedule."

Miranda gulped as he answered, "We've had a...complication."

TIM sighed in annoyance at her use of cryptic messaging, "Just get to the point. I hate failures, but what I hate more is people who dance around it."

Miranda straightened her posture and cleared her throat as she responded, "Shepard woke up ahead of schedule. I told him of his situation. To say he was angry would be the colossal understatement of the century."

TIM raised a brow, "And how was this bad? If he's awake now, that just means he'll be able to fight earlier."

Miranda frowned, "Sir, you of all people should know that he shouldn't have woken up. The state he was in...he would be in a period of unbelievable pain, not to mention he almost tore the place up trying to escape."

"What was the damage done?"

"Two jammed doors, six neural scanners, three X-Ray machines and two LOKI mechs."

TIM shook his head as he once again took a snuff of his cigar, "The mechs and equipment are replacable, but the doors will take some time to fix. Not that it matters; Shepard is alive and we know he can kill. We also know that he has some basic memory, do we not?"

Miranda nodded, "He seems to remember the Normandy's destruction and his crew. As far as that however, we're in the dark. We're finishing what work we have now and he should be ready for service as soon as August. Are you sure we should not inform his crew? If they found out we've been harboring him or if he finds out that his quarian friend thought he was dead..."

TIM shook his head, "It's too late for that now; two years is too long to be dead, especially for people who have moved on. Besides, informing his quarian friend that he's alive and under a Cerberus flag would end any friendship they had. I do believe you remember what happened on the Idenna. No, keep them in the dark and inform Chakwas and Joker of his awakening."

Inputting the data onto her datapad, she looked back at her leader, "What about the Normandy? How's that coming along, if I may ask."

"Progress is going far better than expected," TIM responded in his usual calm demeanour, "It took some time, but the stealth drive was acquired and is going through...upgrades. The Normandy is all but complete at this stage; just running pre-flight checks, inserting the stealth unit and getting the damn elevator to operate. They can't get it to go at the right speed. Also, I've considered adding a vehicle to the ship, much like the Mako."

Miranda raised a brow, "Won't it be difficult to get our hands on an alliance vehicle, sir?"

"We have plenty of alliance cruisers under our flag," TIM retorted, "But no, I will not be adding a Mako. I think it would be wise to move Project: Firewalker under the Normandy's umbrella project."

"Firewalker, sir?" Miranda asked, "You mean the prototype mobile artillery unit? The one with powerful missiles but armor like tissue paper?"

TIM rolled his eyes, "As it stands, the time required to upgrade the Hammerhead's armor will take too long. It will have to be upgraded as the mission progresses. For now, it has a operable weapon system and jet thrusters that put the Mako to shame. It is technology no other species has; Shepard will be unstoppable with it."

"So we're giving the only unit we have to a guy who can't drive. I'm sure you've read his dossier," Miranda stated, crossing her arms, "Firewalker cost millions of credits to develop. That's twenty-two million credits down the drain."

"I have faith that Shepard will be able to operate the Hammerhead much easier," TIM deadpanned, "Besides, we've already poured two billion into him and have enough to create a whole fleet of Normandys and thousands more like him. Five million is a small sacrifice."

Miranda smiled, "We have to be the richest terrorists in the galaxy."

TIM pointed his cigar at Miranda to punctuate his point, "Not terrorists, revolutionists."

Miranda nodded, snapping a crisp salute, "Yes, sir. You'll have another report by August."

Before Miranda left and TIM could turn around, Miranda's voice spoke up again.

"One more thing sir."

TIM turned back around, his patience ringing through his cool and calm voice, "Yes?"

"I have...worries about Wilson. I don't trust him. Something about him makes me shiver. I sense...I don't know, like something's wrong about him."

Miranda thought she heard him sigh, but it was just him letting out a puff of smoke from his cigar, "As I'm aware. He's an odd man, but the way he acts is anything but subtle. I've had his contacts list shortlisted and I've discovered that he's been a double agent for many organizations before joining Cerberus."

"So you think he could be working for the Shadow Broker? Maybe the Alliance?"

"It's entirely possible. For now, I recommend keeping an eye on him. I don't expect him to stay loyal for too long but if you think he's going to jeopardize the safety of Project: Lazarus, then you terminate him. I don't care how you do it, just keep Shepard safe."

"I'll have Jacob keep tabs on him as well. Lawson out," Miranda then finally signed off, her orange holographic form disappearing.

{Loading...}

July 21, 2185

1020 hours.

Mining Platform 017, Mining Sector, Kenzo District, Omega.

Merc Leader Garrus 'Archangel' Vakarian.

Nothing yet. That's all he had seen so far. Nothing. Just nothing. His scope scanned the area like a bird of prey seeking out it's next meal, his talon over the trigger, ready to end the life of the first Blood pack mercenary his sights fell over. He was alone, with his team back at the Den, safe and tight, working over their attack plan on Tarak's base of operations, the leader of the Blue Suns on Omega.

Only a few hours ago had he been woken up by Sidonis. The turian had gone out to buy some items in the Omega Markets that was located near Afterlife, but had come back looking like he had been to death by a dozen krogan. His left mandible was limp, his eye blackened and numerous bits of body oozing blood. He had informed Garrus that the Blood Pack had captured him and beaten him. During his interrogation, he had overheard them mentioning Garm leading a blood pack smuggling operation in the Mining sector of the Kenzo District. Shortly after, he had narrowly escaped.

Garrus had insisted on taking out the smugglers by himself, not wanting to bring a fully-equipped team for something like this. Besides the fact that the mining sector was a dangerous battlefield and had a dozen areas where a good marksman could lie in hiding, take out his enemies, and never reveal him or herself. So now here he was, about to catch them completely off guard.

He had a mere fifteen minutes until they passed through his area on the way to the Mytay District, where they would exchange it with some red sand dealers. Garrus had strongly considered leaking the location to the Eclipse, who owned the district and watching as the two mercenary factions killed each other. The Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack may have been the top factions, but they hated each other to death. They had recently ceased all operations against each other, but he had simply ignored it. An alliance between them was as likely as a krogan scientist.

So now he waited. Patiently. Silently. Quietly. He only paused to take a bite of his ration bar and a drink from his water canteen but apart from that, he remained absolutely still, not making a single sound. The smooth steel exterior of his sniper rifle felt like human skin under his exoskeleton, a feeling of bliss. He should feel sadistic for thinking a rifle could feel like happiness, but too an expert sniper, it shouldn't be surprising. Afterall, he had spent two years as Archangel and pissing off every mercenary company in existence: the Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack, Talons, The Dark Raiders, The Primals, and many more.

Hell, he'd even dealt with religious mercenaries. Ha! Mercs of faith! The Christian Zealots, The Jewish Boilers, Islamic Al Queda, Hindu Servants and even a few human mercs who believed in the quarian worship of their ancestors and the turian enlightenment of the spirits. And of course, the hanar servitude of the long extinct protheans. If you included the geth worshipping the Reapers, then he'd probably killed servants belonging to every religion in existence.

Five minutes. He readied his rifle and leaned over the platform he was using for his sniping position. The heat was like fire on his face, but it was tolerable and a nessacary sacrifice for such a good position. He was within 20 klicks of his target's path, so that guaranteed him a good hiding spot while remaining within range.

He waited and he waited and five minutes later, there was no sign of the Blood Pack convoy. Sidonis' information had been accurate to the very last second, so they should be here. He decided to wait a little bit longer. Maybe the convoy had been delayed by Aria's mercenaries or something. Ten minutes he waited and still no sign of them. Eventually, he decided he'd contact Sidonis.

His omni-tool took a whole minute to get an answer as it beeped a bright-orange to signal that he had a stable connection. With a look of annoyance, he watched as Sidonis stepped into view, his face still covered in beating marks. Garrus was confused by the turian's surroundings; he looked like he was in a shuttle and not the Den. What was he doing? He also looked...ashamed.

"Sidonis? Where are you? The Blood Pack convoy didn't turn up. Are you sure your information wasn't falsified or you just misheard about the timings or existence of it?" Garrus asked. He watched as Sidonis lowered his head, looking ashamed about something. He heard the pilot call out, saying "We've just departed from Omega." The turian's eyes locked with Garrus' at that.

"Why are you leaving? Sidonis, what the hell are you doing?" Garrus demanded, practically shouting at his comm as he packed up his sniper rifle and abandoned the food sack, opting to slide down the ladder. Something wasn't right.

"I'm sorry Garrus, they got to me. Tortured me," Sidonis said, his voice shaky, "Said they'd kill me slowly if I didn't let up."

"What the hell do you mean? Who!?" Garrus growled, not liking where this was going. He raced for his skycar which was parked perfectly nearby. He slid on his helmet as he reached it, ripping the door open and tossing his sniper rifle in, quickly keying the ignition.

"The Blood Pack. I lied to you Garrus. I'm so sorry." Sidonis admitted.

"What the hell did you do?" Garrus' voice began to lower, visibly pissed. Not only had Sidonis lied to him, but he didn't like what he thought Sidonis had done. He can't have. Please tell the turian he didn't. The skycar ascended and began to speed out of the district at full-speed back to the Den.

"When I was interrogated, I didn't overhear anything about a convoy. I made it up to lure you away from the Den," Sidonis admitted. Garrus snarled as he realized where this was headed. He began to speed up, "Garm and his men said they'd rip me apart if I didn't tell them where the Den was. So I-"

"You told them the location of our hideout!?" With his fears confirmed, Garrus didn't even bother trying to be discreet. He barelled through Omega's traffic on the way to his hideout in the Joto District. The Den had once been an office building, but had long been abandoned since Aria took over the station from Patriarch, the station's original krogan ruler who now served as Aria's trophy and puppet.

"I had to. They were going to flay me alive!" Sidonis retorted, "Garm and his Blood Pack have joined forces with the Eclipse and Blue Suns! They left to attack the Den an hour ago!"

"Our team won't see it coming! They won't stand a chance!" Garrus responded, "How could you betray us like this you spineless coward!?"

"They were going to kill me," Sidonis repeated.

"You betrayed everything you stood for. You betrayed your comrades; you're friends. You're a coward, Sidonis. A spirits be damned coward. We trusted you! I protected you! I gave you a home where you could feel safe and this is how you repay me!?"

"What's done is done. I'm sorry it had to end this way," Sidonis replied, "I've left on a shuttle. I'm not telling you where I'm going and by the time you get off the station, I'll be long gone. I will no longer exist. Don't bother coming after me."

"Listen closely you spineless fuck," Garrus growled menacingly, "I won't stop until I find you. When I do, I'll fucking kill you and I'll finish what Garm didn't. I will personally carve the names of the friends you betrayed into your fucking skull. So don't think for a FUCKING SECOND, THAT THIS IS OVER! DO YOU HEAR ME! I'LL FUCKING FIND YOU AND KILL YOU, YOU MOTHERFUCKING-" Garrus never got to finish as Sidonis cut the line. The turian viglante slammed his fist into the panel in anger. The console's GPS beeped to let him know he was now closing in on the Den. As he rounded the corner, he saw the Den come into view.

From what he could see, the bridge splitting the abandoned shopping plaza and the Den was all but devoid of mercenary forces. But as he got closer, he could see that the building wasn't empty. Numerous vorcha and a few krogan littered the building, probably looking for his team. Good. That means they're still alive.

He made sure to gently lay the skycar next to the building and he creeped out, holstering his sniper rifle and pulling out his vindicator. Comming his omni-tool, he tried to contact his team. No response. Most likely under radio silence. He swore he heard a choking sound, but he dismissed it more out of denial than optimism.

He rushed inside, fitting a silencer on his weapon. He gunned down two vorcha guarding the side entrance and swiftly ended a third with the butt of his weapon and a shot to the back of his head. He visibly reeled back upon seeing Caity's body lying on the ground. Slowly approaching her and rolling her body over, he sighed in anger as he saw her open eyes and the entry wound left by an omni-blade. She was dead.

Omni-blades were a new design among the military and mercenaries alike. It was a program for military-grade omni-tools that allowed for the holographic but solid projection of a extendable omni-blade, which acted as a normal blade, but was made of pure energy and was more painful to be killed by due to it's plasmatic properties. It was one of the many omni weapons designed; others being omni-shields, which acted as a giant roman shield made of energy and omni-bows, which was a holographic projection of a crossbow that fired explosive plasma bolts.

Silently mourning Caity, he moved further inside and managed to catch a krogan by surprise, silently slicing his throat open with his own omni-blade. He then quickly eliminated his two Blue Suns cohorts. Sidonis hadn't lied about that; the three mercenary companies really had teamed up. His team must have really pissed them off to get people who hated each other to death to team up against them.

He quickly moved up the stairs, noticing what looked like Pash's dead body thrown into the corner, nothing left to identify; Pash's head was the only identifiable part of the batarian, with everything else having been blown apart by a claymore weapon or some other form of explosive. Another comrade dead because of Sidonis' treachery.

He quickly made his way back down the stairs and cleared the rest of the area, finding the numerous bodies of his team; ten dead, with only Talan and Mak unaccounted for. He hoped, more than anything, for one of them to be alive. His hopes dwindled as he reached the top of the stairs and turned right, seeing Talan's dead body lying flat on the floor, face towards the ceiling and sniper rifle tossed a few meters away. Never even got to fire the weapon, from the looks of it.

Before he could declare his team dead, he heard muffled moans from behind him. Turning, he saw the face of a sealed door. Inputting his code, he unlocked and opened it, only to watch as Mak collapsed into his arms. The quarian moaned in deep pain, cradling his leg. Garrus let out a sigh of relief as he lay the engineer down on the ground and up against the wall. Upon seeing his injuries, Garrus felt like he'd been shot twice in the back.

Mak's right leg was gone, nothing but a bloody pulp. His mask was cracked, but not shattered and he was riddled with gunshots. His omni-tool emitter had been destroyed in whatever firefight he was in and his drone was missing, probably destroyed as well. Mak began to mumble something again.

"What is it Mak?"

He mumbled.

Garrus then noticed that his vocalizer wasn't flashing. Unlatching the quarian's helmet, he ripped it off and tossed it away, revealing the quarian man's face. He was surprised when he was met by a human looking face; his eyes glowed lightly, with two tattoo like lines on his upper features. His ears were slightly pointed, like an elf. Of course. His features were smooth, part of his use he guessed, but that was ruined by the blood that streaked from his mouth. The poor kid.

"First quarian face, huh?" Mak interrupted Garrus' examination and the turian immediately snapped his attention back. He needed to stay focused.

"I'm going to get you out of this," Garrus reassured the quarian, activating his omni-tool and preparing to administer some medi-gel along with omni-gel to fix his suit. Before he could, the quarian had held up his omni-tool and forced the turian to look. Garrus did just that and looked to see that it was the quarian's lifesigns he was looking at.

Suit Damage: 92%

Medi-Gel Supply: 0%

Omni-Gel Supply: 0%

Heart Rate: Low.

Body Damage: Left Leg Amputated, Right Leg Sprained, Blood Sugar Levels Low, Blood Loss Significant, Tissue Damage Severe, Multiple Other Life Threatening Injuries.

Chances of Survival: 5%

Garrus gave a defeated sigh as he leaned back. He gave a humorless chuckle at the predicament and shook his head. He then looked into Mak's eyes. The quarian managed to give off an aura of sadness, of defeat, of pain. He was visibly dying and there was nothing the turian could do. Before long, the engineer switched off his omni-tool.

"There's nothing you can do for me, Garrus," Mak spoke up, his voice low and full of agony, "The best you can do is avenge me. Find Sidonis. End that...traitor. Just...don't let it plague you. The mercs are united against you now, but I know you'll make a tough target for them. You always were a stubborn piece of shit."

Garrus gave another laugh, this one also devoid of comedy. He was sitting here, on his ass, watching as his quarian friend died; and scarily enough, he could picture Tali in his place. The young and vibrant quarian, so full of life and innocence, ready to take on the galaxy and go on massive adventures, with a gigantic, unstarving curiosity to quench. Only to have that innocence brutally murdered and that curiosity bloodsoaked, leaving a dead and dying woman who realized one thing; she hated the galaxy.

And when he thought of Tali, he could only imagine Mak; what if she had suffered his fate? What if she was gunned down by the geth or pirates? Mak was one hell of a kid, and now his parents weren't even going to get his body back. He would be forever lost; his parents completely oblivious to his death on Omega, dying for a justified cause. A hero that was eternally silenced, his name forgotten or never known. The hero that never was.

Blood caked the floor around the quarian, relentless in the amount that poured out. Mak didn't have long. Garrus just sat there, chatting with him, for all it was worth. Mak was going to die, there was no denying it, but he shouldn't spend it alone. Noone deserves that. Except maybe the bastard that caused him to die in the first place. Sidonis would pay in blood.

A few minutes later and it was all over. Mak's lifesigns flatlined and his body went limp, his head falling to his side. He was gone, taken by whatever ancestors he worshipped into the high skies to live the rest of his life in spirit form. He silently gave a prayer to Talos, hoping the turian spirit would welcome Mak into his embrace. It was then that he closed Mak's eyes and rested his body on the ground, hands folded on his chest. He followed suit with the rest of his squad, laying them in a straight line below.

Picking up his vindicator, he stepped into the team's original debriefing room, this time alone. His team was gone, it was just him now. He had failed to live up to Shepard's legacy; he had gotten his team killed because he was all too trusting. I'm sorry Shepard, I've failed you. I tried to be like you, and I failed.

There was only one option now. He stood up the windowsill, looking out over the bridge. A good sniper could hold position here for days, maybe months. A good defendable position. He lay his vindicator on the sofa in the middle of the room, where Talan would sit and crack jokes to Sidonis and the gang about his many kills. He then extended his reaper sniper rifle and took position at the window.

He then hacked into the area's comm systems, making sure the mercenaries could hear him. He then spoke, loud and clear, his tone full of anger and the promise of vengeance.

"Jaroth, Garm, Tarak. If you can hear me, listen carefully," Garrus growled, "You've invaded my home. You've murdered my friends. The people who swore to take down the scum of the galaxy; that's you. Now hold your temper tantrums for a moment. I hope you realize just who I am. And just who you're fucking with. I helped take down an army of geth, I took down Saren Arterius and I sent a shit load of krogan straight to hell. I'm handsome, I'm downright beautiful. I have the eye of an eagle and the reflexes of a cat. So, think of this as you charge my base to kill me,"

"I'm Garrus Vakarian. I am the Archangel of Omega. And you are on my hit list."

{Loading...}

August 2, 2185

1411 hours.

Shuttle Bay, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet currently in FTL inbound for Zeus Aluticus Cluster.

Colonel Tali'Zorah vas Neema, First Lieutenant Prazza'Sal vas Idenna, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema.

With a strengthened pose and a stronger demeanour, Tali steadily entered the shuttle bay of her homeship, the Neema. The door's haptic interface flickered out of existence and the door slid open, prompted by her omission. As the quarian stepped inside, she saw Admiral Gerrel already standing next to the shuttle and, unsurprisingly, Prazza in parade rest.

Ever since Cerberus' attack on the Idenna, Prazza had hated her. It had seemed that they were finally going to get along and then Cerberus came along and killed his sister. He had had a burning hatred for her ever since. It was one of the reasons he was only a First Lieutenant; he had disobeyed her orders or questioned so much that he wiped out any chances of promotion. But Prazza simply didn't care.

Ever since then however, Tali's military career flourished. She was now a Colonel, with Kal's old Wys'trek battalion now firmly under her command. Kal had since been promoted to Brigadier General, commanding her battalion while also leading Tael Regiment. Prazza of course, was still stuck with his old platoon and probably would stay that way if his behaviour kept up. Rael had occassionally come to visit her on the Neema, but their meetings were always awkward and never lasted long.

Tali kept up her brisk pace until she stood next to Prazza, facing Gerrel. Whilst there, she snapped a crisp salute.

"At ease, Colonel," Gerrel immediately said afterwards and the engineer ceased the salute, hands resting at her back in a parade rest. Tali remembered the days when she had to be prompted to do that. It had been Marcus who drilled that military precision into her head and now look at her; commanding an entire battalion and on par with a navy commander, which meant she ranked next to him. He'd be so proud of me.

She noticed the shuttle bay had numerous marines around in it and noticed that alot of them belonged to Prazza's platoon. Confused, she turned to Gerrel to ask, "If I may ask admiral, just why is Prazza's platoon present? If this is a mission for him, I don't know what you'd need me for."

She was sure she heard Prazza mumbling under his breath, but she ignored it. Best not to know what kind of insults he was throwing her way.

Gerrel nodded, "Prazza and his platoon are indeed here because they are on mission. You're here because you'll be their mission leader."

Prazza's posture was unstable as he answered, "Sir, we all due respect, I don't need-"

"It's not in your position to question the admirality's orders, Prazza. Especially not Rael'Zorah's and mine," Gerrel snapped, causing Prazza to slip back into parade rest, "Colonel Zorah will be leading your platoon as mission leader and you will obey her orders to the letter. It's that or you'll find yourself in the position of a private. Understood?"

Prazza simply nodded in response. If Tali could see his face, she would see him giving her his best sneer. It was Tali's turn to question.

"Sir, why am I required as mission leader for a platoon?" Tali asked, "I'm a battalion commander, a colonel, not a platoon leader. Prazza's platoon falls under my juristiction and therefore it would make more sense to have the entirety of my battalion assist on the mission so I can lead them better. Group cohesion if you will."

Gerrel nodded, "If you were launching a defensive operation or major offensive, then you'd be correct. But this is not the case. This mission calls for a small team, in this case a platoon, to land quietly and discreetly."

"A stealth mission? Special operations?" Prazza asked.

"Exactly," Gerrel nodded, "But not just any stealth mission. This one's a rescue operation."

Tali raised a brow. I'm used to storming geth strongholds, boarding pirate vessels, infiltrating merc bases and acting as security for warships, such as the Idenna. A rescue mission is definitely something new and I can see why a battalion would be a detriment to such a mission; a force of three-hundred quarian marines storming a facility to save someone would attract too much attention and the target might get killed before we can rescue them. Yes, a platoon is more discreet, more stealthy. I can do stealthy.

"Who are we rescuing sir?" It was a simple question.

"I think you know him. He's one of ours," Gerrel added causing Tali to raise her brows again. She had to stop doing it; noone could see it, "His name is Veetor. Veetor'Nara."

Tali felt her jaw drop. Veetor had gone on pilgrimage four months ago. Noone had told her just where he was going for his pilgrimage, but she guessed it would be somewhere safe and beyond any crowded areas. Veetor always had a fear of crowds and claustrophobia; so it would be somewhere large and spacey with next to noone around. If there was more than six people, it was a crowd and he didn't like it.

"Veetor? What kind of danger is he in that requires us to extract him, sir?" Prazza beat her to the punch, asking the question before she could mouth it from her lips. She both hated and forgave him for it.

"That's exactly it. We have no clue," Gerrel answered cryptically, "When he left on pilgrimage, he went to the colony of Freedom's Progress; it's a human colony located just on the border of the Terminus systems, in the Quebec Cluster, Arilus System. He preferred working among humans and promised to help them deal with maintenance for at least five months before they gave him a huge stock of dextro food to take back to the fleet and complete his pilgrimage with."

"I'm guessing the humans betrayed him," Prazza spat out without hesitation, "The primates are unpredictable."

Tali snapped her head towards him with a look of rage, "Not all humans are like Cerberus, Prazza. Alot of them are good people. I would know; I served alongside one and he treated me like an equal."

"Yeah, and we all know why. To get inside your suit," Prazza rumored.

Tali wanted to rip his mask open and watch him die, but Gerrel's voice stopped those thoughts. She immediately turned back to Gerrel, straightening her posture.

"Apologies. Won't happen again sir." Tali and Prazza stated in unison.

Gerrel nodded and then continued, pacing as he did, "Approximately five hours ago, all contact with Freedom's Progress ceased. Not a single transmission, not even a low-band wave. Completely silent. Even Veetor's omni-tool isn't responding to our attempts to communicate. We've looked at all the variables and we've come to one conclusion."

"We fear Freedom's Progress may be another victim of the constant disappearence of human colonies. Some unknown enemy is responsible for abducting entire human colonies on the fringes of the Terminus and inside the Traverse. Close to fifty-seven human colonies have already disappeared and we think Freedom's Progress has already fallen. If so, we want you to land before the human authorities arrive and evac Veetor. Considering the scale of the attacks, the enemy only wants humans and won't abduct a quarian. He's still alive, or so we believe."

"Will the Neema provide transport?" Tali asked, knowing full well what she had to do. Veetor may be loopy, but he was her friend and Marcus certainly didn't abandon friends, so neither would she.

Gerrel shook his head, "You'll be going in via shuttle. The Neema will attract too much attention and cause the Alliance to think we're looting the colony. That's the last thing we need. A shuttle can get in quick and quietly without drawing attention."

Tali snapped another salute. It held no militaristic meaning, but held a promise; the promise to bring Veetor back. Whatever enemy humanity was facing had no quarrel with her people and if they did, she would end them. Her people knew of the Reapers and unlike the Council, they believed her and used it as one of the reasons to find a temporary world so they could prepare for the sentient dreadnoughts' invasion.

"We'll bring Veetor back sir. That I can guarantee you. Anyone trying to stop us will be gunned down like any other geth. If alliance marines, we'll talk them down. I'll make sure Prazza and his platoon get the job done sir."

Prazza was probably grimacing behind his mask. Good for him.

Gerrel simply nodded, "Good. You depart now. Depending on our distance from the Quebec Cluster, it should take you two days to get to Freedom's Progress and four days to reach us in the Zeus Aluticus. I'd wish you luck, but I doubt the Heroine of the Citadel will need it. I should wish luck to those who oppose you. They need it most."

Tali smiled at the admiral's compliment and both herself and Prazza snapped one final salute before Gerrel left the shuttle bay to return to the bridge. Tali opened the hatch to the shuttle and was about to enter when Prazza spoke up behind her.

"You may be captain Gerrel's favourite, but that doesn't make you mine," he hissed.

Tali didn't even turn to him as she entered the cockpit, "Doesn't bother me Prazza."

"Just remember this Colonel," Prazza continued, "These are my men. If I have to disobey your orders, I will."

"And remember this Lieutenant," Tali snarled back, regretting the words as they rolled out of her mouth, "Your sister will roll around in her grave if you do."

Prazza snarled as he slammed his fist into the shuttle wall and moved out of her view. Tali cursed at herself for doing it; it was true, but it hadn't made the situation any better, if only pissing Prazza off even more.

Tali sighed as she booted up the main systems. Relations between herself and Prazza would never be the same again. But that didn't matter.

She just had to make sure Prazza didn't stuff up.

"The rest is yours. Do you remember what happened on August 2? The day you woke up officially?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I think I do...yes! YES! Yes, I do! I was back on Lazarus still, and I'd just woken up. However, the scenery wasn't the same as it was the first time I woke up and I found myself escaping in a much different manner."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

And this is where the story finally picks up and enters ME2. I hope you enjoyed the back story and continue to enjoy what I give you ahead. Not alot will be different, but I will be mingling story arcs a little, if you catch my drift. ;)

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER EIGHT:

BACK AND BETTER

August 2, 2185

1411 hours.

Main Laboratory, Level 13, Lazarus Station, Remus System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

So he was alive. He was actually alive. He hadn't died over Alchera, but had actually survived, recovered by his long time. The more he thought about it, the more it made him sick. He was alive and well, his friends oblivious or dead and he was in a Cerberus facility, a known enemy to the Council and the galaxy. He couldn't care less about the Council anyway; from what he had heard, they had swept his problems and friends under the table and he hated all three of them for it. Did Anderson get kicked out?

And now he was here. On Lazarus Station, from what he gathered, alive but not dead. If he ever saw his mother or friends again, he would have alot to explain. And what about the Alliance? He was technically KIA. And the Council? Did he even count as a spectre anymore? He had alot to catch up on and alot of time to do it in. The Reapers also hadn't invaded yet, meaning there was still time. Tons of time if he heard right.

He also had alot of time to think about the one woman he cared about more than anything; Tali. So much can happen in two years and his favourite quarian engineer that was so full of spunk and curiosity had most likely moved on with her life. He felt selfish for hoping she hadn't; that he just wanted to continue their relationship from where it left off. But if she had found another man, then it wasn't his place to rip her away from the life she now had. If he truly cared for her, he would allow it and not complain.

It just felt hard to come to terms with two years of lost life; Tali had seemed like the ideal woman he wanted to spend his life with and now she had probably moved on. And what of Garrus? The brotherhood he had developed with the turian had been tough, but not unbreakable. Had the ex-cop heeded his wisdom and found otherways of upholding justice? Or had he slipped back into his old ways without even meaning to?

Multiple questions he wanted answered so much. What had become of Liara? Kaidan? Joker? Chakwas? Adams? His mum? Anderson? And what about all the people he had saved during the Saren campaign? All those lives on Feros, Noveria, Virmire, Therum, The Citadel. What if Cerberus was lying to him? Did he have any reason to believe them? What if he was actually a clone? What if his friends were brutally murdered by them or even held prisoner by the terrorist organization? What if the Council had been overthrown? What if this was somekind of illusion manufactured by the Reapers to trick him into a false sense of security? Could he just be like those husks they had fought?

Now that was paranoia. He highly doubted Cerberus or the Reapers could be capable of such things, but he knew one thing was possible; Cerberus could be lying. He was definitely alive, but had Cerberus really said all those things just so they can lure him into working for them? Did he have a control chip in his brain? And for that matter, how did he get resurrected in the first place? Wasn't necromancy scientifically impossible? Of course the Reapers could achieve it, but could Cerberus?

Shepard, wake up! Now!

He ignored the voice in his head. The woman. Miranda Lawson he heard them call her. She was Australian by accent. Marcus didn't like her at all, especially due to her tendency to assert authority over everyone and everything. It was a quality about her he preferred to avoid, but he couldn't deny that she was physically attractive. She was like the perfect woman. Almost. The only woman he'd give that title too, and only out of opinion, would be the one that now thought he was dead.

Shepard, you really need to wake up now! We don't have time for this! Wake up now or you're dead!

He took notice of that. He didn't know whether he should take that as a threat or whether it's a warning. Knowing Cerberus, it would likely be the former. However, considering their side of the story and how they had supposedly brought him back from the dead, it didn't make sense for them to go through all that effort only to kill him. So that left the warning part sounding all the more likely...

Wake up goddammit! This facility is under attack!

That did. Warning it was. It was time to wake up.

Suddenly, he felt his eyes opening. As he did, his vision was overwhelmed by a bright light, causing him to squint. He managed to overcome it however and his entire body was covered, knee to toe, in a dull aching sensation. He could hear muffled gunfire in the background, followed by the occassional bang. Looking up, he noticed the observational windows outside that allowed people on the upper deck to look down. Now he saw a firefight outside, along with barely contained fires raging. He could also hear the station wide emergency alarm going off.

Sitting up, he groaned as his body objected in pain.

"I know you're not exactly ready yet," Miranda said again, Marcus realizing that noone was inside with him and that the voice was coming from a comm system, "But you need to get moving. There should be a locker nearby with some basic N7 armor we acquired along with a standard M-3 Predator pistol. Now get moving!"

Marcus, although not happy about it and still confused as to what was going on, obliged and sat up on the table, immediately feeling unclean as he looked upon the Cerberus uniform he wore. Oh you have got to be kidding me...

"Well don't just sit there! Move!" Miranda screamed once more, her voice demanding. He immediately leapt off the operating table and approached one of the many lockers and opened it via the green haptic interface. Sitting there was a pile of N7 armor, but of a different make; instead of looking like a swimsuit with armor plating over it, this looked like actual armor. It was made of polished titantium, with red and black streaks all over it, symbolizing the N7 colors. The N7 insignia was also located on the right breast.

Picking up the chestplate first, he fitted the armor on, finally finishing by latching the helmet on, which was much the same as it was two years ago, being largely unchanged. He then picked up what they called a 'Predator' pistol, which looked the weapon the two cerberus agents had used when he tried to escape.

"This weapon doesn't have a mass effect field generator," Marcus pointed out as he examined the weapon, steadily approaching what looked like the door he had damaged last time. The battle outside raged on, not halting at all. Whoever their enemy was, they were relentless...and resourceful.

"That's because weapons don't use mass effect generators anymore. We abandoned them for a heat sink design," Miranda explained, "The geth used it and therefore it was a more efficient manufacture and all the weapons made today come with heat sinks now. In layman's terms; who use ammunication now, aka 'thermal clips.'"

"Isn't that more of a step backwards than forwards in weaponry evolution?" Marcus pondered, finding the area where the supposed heat sink was meant to be. Finding no ammo around, he gave up and holstered the weapon, happy to see that at least magnetic holsters weren't tossed away.

"This is trivial. We should focus on getting you out of there," Miranda said, changing the subject to more recent matters, "I'll tell you everything you need to know later. You'd better hurry though. The mechs are closing in on your position."

Marcus raised his eyebrows at that, passing through the clearly wrecked doors.

"Mechs? I thought they were part of the security."

"They were, until someone reprogrammed them. Now they're attacking every on sight that isn't a fellow mech. It's a massacre. But everyone is expendable; we need to get you out of there! Think you're combat skills are still up to scratch?"

Marcus didn't like Miranda's logic in terms to labelling the crew as 'expendable', but in his eyes, they were Cerberus and he didn't really care. Finding a red, glowing object on the ground, he picked up and was presently surprised to see that it fit into the heat sink. With clicking sound, the weapon activated and signalled that it had ammo. Now he knew what thermal clips looked like.

"You'd better believe it," Marcus stated, entering combat mode. From what he could tell from his HUD, his shields were lighter than his old suit and the armor not has versatile, but it was enough to fight off mechs; as long as he didn't come into contact with any YMIRs, he should be fine. Raising his pistol, he pushed forward and up the stairs.

He picked up two green dots on his motion tracker and was about to dismiss them when he realized the mechs were still technically registered as friendlies. This was confirmed an SMG burst hit him in the side, his shields taking the blast. Spinning, he fired one and then two shots into the LOKI mech's head.

The mech's head exploded in a small blast of fire, causing the now useless piece of scrap to fall to the ground, destroyed, SMG falling with it. He quickly did the same to it's partner, ending both mechs quickly and rapidly. The predator he noticed had a large magazine capacity and packed a punch. It would do for now. He also noticed that thermal clips were universal and could be used in all weapons.

Relieving the mechs of their thermal clips while also taking one of their SMGs, which was designated a 'M-4 Shuriken', and, like the predator, was the standard SMG for all military units, even outside Cerberus. Deciding that an SMG might come in handy, he slipped it onto his left hip and continued past the door and entered the room where his original escape attempt had ended badly.

The room was in flames and the uniforms of numerous Cerberus security guards and scientists could be identified among the flames, all dead. Holstering his predator, he pulled out his shuriken and surveyed the wrecked room, only to watch as four LOKI mechs seemingly rose out of the flames, attacking him on sight.

Luckily, they really weren't that smart. They didn't even use tactics or cover; they just strolled casually towards him, firing as they did. With precision capable of a recruit fresh out of basic, he took down every mech he came into contact with, before reloading and continuing through the door nearby.

"Miranda, do you know who reprogrammed the mechs?" Marcus asked, entering a corridor with a glass panel looking into another corridor. He watched as five cerberus commandos, all armed with avenger assault rifles, were slaughtered by a YMIR mech's heavy machine gun. Finishing them off, the giant walking tank then disappeared into the flames, blood soaking the walls.

"I have some idea, but I need to get to the bastard to find out. You just keep on going. There should be a door to your right. Take it and follow the corridor to the main security wing. Hopefully Jacob can help-" Miranda tried to say. Only static followed.

"Miranda?" Marcus asked.

Static once again. Something was jamming her, which meant he was on his own. Continuing down the corridor, he opened the door at the end and ended up in what looked like a cargo transfer bay. A small lift sat to his right with a bridge down below. He watched as two more cerberus scientists, all armed with predator pistols, were gunned down as they fleed a fireteam of LOKI mechs.

It was now that he noticed a strange, heavy looking weapon laying next to the body of a dead commando. Picking it up, he made a quick once over of it. The weapon had the look of a heavy shotgun, but the middle section was cut off by a large bulbous section that arced over the top. It also had a second handle at the end of the weapon's barrel. Reading the side inscription, it read 'Elanus Risk Control Services: M-100 Grenade Launcher'. Marcus raised a brow. The last time he had encountered ERCS was on Noveria, and he had no idea they made weapons, especially grenade launchers.

But he wasn't one to argue. Seeing the weapon had five grenades already in the slot and had only spent one of six of them, he took aim with the weapon and prepared to fire in the middle of the advancing group of mechs.

Without even aiming properly, he pulled the trigger and let loose a single projectile, the grenade landing perfectly in the center of the hostile enemy group. It connected with the head of the mechs, exploding in a flurry of fire and destroying the four of them. Impressed by the weapon, he holstered it on his back and reequipped his skuriken, taking the elevator down to the level below and progressing across the bridge.

There wasn't much resistance from that point on to the security wing. Most of the corridors were filled with the bodies of dead soldiers and scientists, guards and mechs. He found a few terminals containing information on Lazarus, including how they managed to bring him back and what there plans were. He even found info on Wilson, the man who cooperated in his resurrection. Apparently he had bad views of Miranda, labelling her a 'ice queen.'

Finally though, he left the research wing behind and came across the security sector. The area was open; just a large area with numerous rooms below and a bridge extending across the middle. Scorch marks littered the walls along with some holes. To his left was another door and a platform, but it was occupied by a group of LOKI mechs firing upon him. He immediately took cover next to a cerberus guard holding a predator pistol.

Marcus examined the man. He had skin of an african-american and he realized that this was man that had blocked his escape a month ago.

"Commander? I didn't think you'd be up yet," The man commented, stopping only to reach out of cover and reached out with his biotics, ripping a mech from it's position and tossing it violently across and into a wall, shattering it like bits of glass. The man then returned back to his position, "I ain't complaining though. These mechs are a pain in the ass."

"I didn't exactly think I'd be in a Cerberus facility either. But...here I am!" Marcus responded with an unusual amount of loathing. He didn't mean it, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't used to conversing with cerberus troops unless it was at gunpoint.

"Fair point. I guess today is full of surprises," The man responded, before firing another burst of fire at the enemy, "I'm Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor by the way and I can help you with any questions you might have. Of course, most of the little details were explained when you first woke up, but we didn't go into detail. I can tell you the specifics, but the rest will have to be explained when we get the hell off this station. Deal?"

Marcus nodded, before suddenly leaping up and summoning a biotic singularity. His biotics were more focused this time and he didn't feel a resurgence of pain when he used them. The mechs were torn from the ground they so happily treaded their mechanical feet on and Marcus emptied SMG bursts into each one of them, finishing them off easily.

Jacob stood up and surveyed the aftermath of the singularity, visibly impressed.

"Leave it to you to make it seem almost casual, commander," Jacob spoke up before quickly turning to Marcus and saluting, "Now to address the questions you wanted answered. What do you need to know?"

Marcus didn't even hesitate in asking the one question that he wanted answered immediately, above all else, "What happened to Tali'Zorah?"

Jacob looked regretful when he answered, "That I can't answer. I'm just a lowly security officer; I'm kept off the loop on those kinda things. You'd have to ask the Illusive Man about that. Afterall, he is going to want to speak to you when we get out of here."

Marcus quickly stepped forward, making sure he was inches from Jacob's face, "Just you remember this; I'm not working for him or Cerberus. I don't care if you brought me back or not; I'm not working for terrorists."

Jacob held his hands up defensively, "Noone's forcing you to do anything commander, we only want you to listen to what we have to say. The Illusive Man didn't bring you back just for the Reapers, you know."

Before Marcus could ask for elaboration on that, Jacob's omni-tool began to beep rapidly and the soldier leant down to activate it. A familiar voice came through it. It was the voice of the male human who had helped resurrect him. Wilson.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone on this frequency?" Wilson's voice seemed hurried and panicky, while also concealing some kind of pain, "Respond goddammit!"

"This is Jacob. Wilson, is that you? Where the hell are you?" The soldier demanded.

"I'm over in D wing. Some bastard LOKI got me in the leg. I've got mechs closing in on me and I doubt my omni-tool can hold them off for long. Is Miranda with you?" Wilson asked.

Jacob shook his head, "I don't know where she is. But I've got Shepard with me; he's alive and well, and also kicking ass."

Wilson's voice didn't sound as excited at the prospect, "S-Shepard's alive?" gunfire could be heard over the comm and the scientist's voice returned in an instant of panic, "It doesn't matter! Just get down here now and get me out of here! Damn it, they're getting closer!"

"Roger that Wilson," Jacob acknowledged, unholstering his odd looking shotgun, "Stay on this frequency."

Marcus eyed Jacob's weapon oddly, "What shotgun model is that?"

Jacob looked at his shotgun before looking back at Marcus, "What, this old thing? It's an M-22 Eviscerator model. It's not used by the other races because it's manufactured by Cerberus shunkworks; only Cerberus personnel use it. Handy weapon."

Marcus rolled his eyes as he took point, motioning for Jacob to follow. Hopefully the cerberus soldier understood rank enough to know that Marcus was his commanding officer and would follow his lead. From the sound of footsteps behind him, apparently he did. Good, at least that was one thing he liked about Jacob.

They traversed the security wing pretty easily. Apart from a light amount of LOKI mech resistance, they didn't encounter many hostiles and made it to D Wing's server room without missing a beat. The mechs Wilson referred to were looming over the human, raising their weapons to kill him. Before they could, Marcus tossed them aside like ragdolls with his biotics, finishing them off with headshots before approaching Wilson, who lay on the floor, blood oozing from his wound.

"You Wilson?" Marcus asked, watching as Jacob administered medi-gel to the man's wound.

"Well what do you think?" Wilson spat.

Ignoring the backhanded comment, Marcus helped Jacob assist the scientist in standing up, watching as Wilson regained his balance and picked up the predator discarded at his feet.

"Wilson, do you know where Miranda is?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, over in C Wing. That area is crawling with mechs though, so I very much doubt she's even alive." Wilson replied.

"It'll take more than mechs to stop Miranda," Jacob piped in, "She's alive."

"Yeah? And how do we know she wasn't the one to reprogram the mechs?" Wilson asked.

"Miranda was nowhere near the mech's server rooms when that attack began. She was in her office, over in C Wing, where she is now."

"Okay, maybe she didn't," Wilson said, continuing his conspiracy theories, "What if-"

"Will you shut up," Marcus snapped, causing Wilson and Jacob to snap their attention to him, "I don't trust any of you at the moment so we'll keep it at that. Now let's just get to a shuttle before the mechs decide we're a priority."

The two men nodded, following behind Marcus as they continued to battle their way through the base. Once again, the resistance was extremely light, with only LOKI mechs focusing on them. Any YMIR or FENRIS mechs must have been focusing on the more highly populated regions of the station. Finally, they reached the shuttle bay and Wilson ran for the door, keying the code.

"Well, I guess I don't need you anymore," Wilson piped up, aiming his weapon at Marcus with a triumphant stare, "I've got the shuttle, you've got nothing. I hope you enjoy your mech frie-"

Just as the door opened and Wilson turned to pass through, a predator pistol extended and the barrel touched Wilson's forehead. He stared down the barrel, his triumphant smug grin disappearing as it turned into a look of sheer terror as he looked upon the person holding the weapon.

A shot rang out, echoing through the room as Wilson's body fell to the floor, pistol falling from his grip. Marcus looked at Wilson's body in disgust as Jacob watched the feminine form of Miranda step inside, pistol at her side. Marcus looked up and met Miranda's gaze.

"I guess I don't have to tell you that Wilson was the one who reprogrammed the mechs and tried to kill you?" Miranda asked rhetorically.

"Why did he? He was working with you, wasn't he?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, but Wilson has never been devoted to Cerberus' ideals and goals," Miranda stated, looking over the scientist's dead body, "Now it's obvious. He was a traitor from the beginning. Probably worked for Cerberus just to bring us down but when we began to resurrect you, he took the chance to kill you. That obviously failed."

"Obviously," Marcus repeated, "We should go back and see if there any survivors. They could-" Just as Marcus turned around to save them, Miranda spoke up.

"Commander, I know how you're morals are, but I can assure you, anyone who is not here right now is either dead or trapped and about to die. Everyone here is expendable. They all died for you."

Marcus was about to retort when Jacob came to Miranda's aid.

"Miranda's right," he stated, "Everyone here knew what they signed up for with Lazarus. They were ready to give their lives for the project, for you. They were willing to die."

"And right now we need to leave," Miranda stated, "This shuttle can take us straight to Minuteman Station; it's one of our facilities located in the Quebec Cluster, Irisa System. It's about a day's flight via shuttle from here. The Illusive Man can explain the rest to you there."

Marcus gave a reluctant nod, following the two of them onto the kodiak shuttle. As the hatch closed and he sat down, the shuttle powered up and took off out of the hangar, leaving Lazarus Station behind. Plotting the coordinates, the shuttle entered FTL, heading for Minuteman station. Miranda and Jacob sat opposite of him; remaining quiet.

Marcus took off his helmet and let it sit at his side. Rubbing his face, he began to think of how this meeting with the Illusive Man will go. He wasn't overjoyed to be conversing with what he called a terrorist leader, but if there was something Cerberus was good at, it was information. Using that info, he could find out what happened to his friends and how to link up with them. He might even find Tali.

For now however, he was stuck in a shuttle with two cerberus agents for a whole day. He might as well make the most of it.

"And that's how you escaped the Lazarus facility? So what happened next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"You did."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

Short chapter you say? Well...shuddup I say.

Also, Tali is awesome sexiness.

Am I high? Possibly.

Am I going full retard? Most likely.

Am I waiting for a mate? Yep.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER NINE:

RUN IN WITH FATE

August 3, 2185

0753 hours.

Shuttle Bay, Level 10, Minuteman Station, Irisa System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor.

Marcus sighed as he felt the shuttle come into contact with the station's shuttle bay; they were finally here. During the entire period of time that passed between leaving Lazarus and getting to the other station, Miranda had made sure his memory was intact and in turn, he would interrogate them for answers. All in all, Marcus' memory was perfect and Cerberus' intentions clear; he was brought back to stop the disappearences of human colonies as well as stop the Reapers.

The supersoldier stood up and watched as the kodiak's hatch opened, omitting them onto the deck of Minuteman station. It was much the same as Lazarus, just much more bigger and wider. Where Lazarus had looked like a spire in space, Minuteman had a more semi-circle design to it. It was unique. Minuteman was also much more heavily protected, with a sizable Cerberus fleet on patrol outside. No match for an alliance battlegroup, but still able to put up a fight.

He was greeted by a young woman who orange hair; a ginger, no less. She wore alot of makeup, but not as much Miranda apparently. Her posture reminded him of Jenkins before his death on Eden Prime; full of excitement and curiosity. Her smile seemed genuine, but he wasn't falling for it. She was Cerberus, and he didn't trust her.

"Hello, commander!" The young girl practically squealed, "I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers! Nice to meet-" The woman had been motioning to shake Marcus' hand, but he had pushed past her, ignoring the woman as he moved towards the comm room, where Miranda had told him the Illusive Man would be waiting.

Just as Jacob passed on the way to the armoury and Miranda to her terminal, Kelly stopped Miranda.

"Is he always that...hostile?" Kelly asked. She was supposed to be the psychologist on Shepard's crew, serving to help the crew if they had any problems they needed dealing with. Due to her degree in social engineering, she had been perfect for the job.

"No," Miranda answered immediately, "I think he's hostile to you because of the uniform you wear. He hates Cerberus."

Without waiting for Kelly's response, Miranda turned back around and headed down to her console.

Marcus hit the haptic interface for the door and watched as it opened fully, omitting him to a flight of stairs leading into a dark room. Moving down them, he ended up in a small, dark room with a circular panel in the floor. Stepping onto it, he watched as he was scanned. It was odd, the sensation felt ticklish but also very smooth. It was then, when he looked up, he realized he wasn't on Minuteman anymore.

He was now in a much wider room, circular in shape but dark all the same. A bright pulsating red star shone brightly into the room, the station orbitting it clearly being very close. And then, he spotted Cerberus' leader; there, sitting in a leather chair facing him with a cigar in hand and whiskey in the other, was the Illusive Man, husk like blue eyes staring at him.

"Teleportation? I didn't think it was possible," Marcus added.

TIM held down a chuckle, "Not teleporation, no. You're still on Minuteman Station, you're just being projected via hologram. My one is a smaller model, and therefore I can only see you. However, your one is more advanced and therefore projects a hologram of not just me, but the entire room. I can't blame you for thinking you teleported. Quantum Entanglement can be very...convincing."

"I thought we'd be meeting face to face," Marcus stated, crossing his arms.

"I had to take precautions. The people at Cerberus are all too aware of your prejudice against us, even if it is mildly misguided," TIM stated, taking a puff from his cigarette, "But I assure you that Cerberus is the least of your problems right now. We both know who is the real threat."

Marcus knew what he meant without even thinking, "The Reapers. Glad to see someone listened."

TIM nodded, "Good to see your memory is up to scratch, and unlike the rest of the galaxy, Cerberus isn't weakened by political stop signs; we operate and do things the better way. How are you feeling?"

Marcus rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Stop trying to make me feel like I'm at home, because I'm damn well ain't. And if you think acting all friendly will get me to join Cerberus, you're sadly mistaken. I'll never join the likes of you."

"Although I believe your hatred of us is misguided in some terms," TIM started, taking a sip of his drink, "I would never force you to join us. That isn't my intention at all. I merely brought you back to keep doing what you do best; fighting Reapers, and right now, the threat they pose is greater than ever. I'm sure you're aware of the disappearence of our colonies in the Terminus and Traverse?"

Marcus nodded, "And that it's progressively getting worse. Miranda informed me after my wake up call."

TIM nodded, "Then you'll know that it's highly likely this is connected to the Reapers. These attacks commenced just after the destruction of the Normandy and your death, so we believe these abductions and your death are somehow connected. I've had my best agents look at the data but with one of them a dead traitor and the others unable to find anything conclusive, it's been nothing but deadends."

"What about my old team? What happened to them?" Marcus asked.

"Ah yes, I thought you might be curious about that so I've had my various sources scrounge up what they could," TIM informed him, "Urdnot Wrex, as you know, is currently on Tuchanka. For the past two years, he has been uniting the krogan clans and from what we've heard, he's been largely successful. Kaidan Alenko had many repostings and we've found it currently impossible to track down his current whereabouts. All we know is that he still serves the Alliance and is on colonial posting."

"Garrus Vakarian tried to become a spectre and continue in your legacy, but from what I've heard he was rejected. Afterwards, he left the Citadel and, like Alenko, we've been unable to track him down. Liara T'Soni is currently on Illium, but what she does there is an unknown. Apparently all the agents I've sent to gather more info have mysteriously vanished. Your mother is still in the alliance and is still commanding the Orizaba..."

"And Tali? What about Tali?" Marcus asked.

"Ah yes, Miss Zorah," TIM said with very well hidden disdain, "Your quarian friend left the Citadel shortly after your death and returned to the fleet to complete her pilgrimage. We haven't been able to figure out what happened to her since. So, far now, you're girlfriend is currently out of reach."

Marcus was infuriated by that. How the hell does he know about my relationship with her? "How the hell do you know about that? Have you been keeping tabs on me?"

TIM shook his head, "Information is business commander and the Shadow Broker pays handsomely. I had to know how you'd react to entering a new world and I must say, I didn't expect the quarian. Still, it'd be best if you don't try to contact her."

"And why the hell wouldn't I?" Marcus demanded.

"Because it's in your best interests," TIM answered cryptically before elaborating, "It has been two years since you died, commander. Your quarian has most likely moved on with her life. Now tell me, just what is the point of reopening old, healed wounds? What if she has found a new man to be with? What would be the consequences of you interfering with her new life?"

Marcus was about to say he had no right to decide that, that he had no idea what Tali was like. But as much as he hated to admit, the Illusive Man was right. Tali had probably found someone else to be with and as much as he loathed the thought, there was no point in contacting her to say he was alright. What would be her response? She would probably hate him for disappearing for two years and then contacting her. Besides, why would she believe the story of resurrection? Hell, she could think he's some Cerberus impostor.

"I guess you're right," Marcus admitted, feeling defeated, "But what now?"

"Right, straight to business. I like that," TIM stated, "Go to Freedom's Progress. It's a colony that's just recently disappeared, round about a day ago. Take Jacob and Miranda down to the surface and find out what happened before the Alliance show up to claim the area. If you find any clues as to what did this, then we may be able to find out who's doing this and stop them."

"I've only just woken up and already you're giving me orders?" Marcus declared, his posture straightening.

"Not orders, direction. Guidance," TIM countered, "I'm simply giving you a suggestion as to where to start. The rest is up to you. If you find what you need there, then you can be on your merry way. However, if you do find the resources Cerberus has to offer useful, then do come back to us. Cerberus is not the enemy here Shepard; we want the Reapers stopped just as much as you do."

"It's not the side you choose that I hate, it's the morals," Marcus responded.

"Cerberus is for the betterment of humanity Shepard, but we are not racists," TIM declared, "What we do here is for mankind's benefit, but if a few aliens get killed to pursue that goal, so be it."

"And that's exactly the kind of attitude I've come to dispise," Marcus added, "I'll go to Freedom's Progress and I'll find out what happened to them. And I will bring the evidence you need."

With that, Marcus ended the call, turning to leave.

{Loading...}

August 4, 2185

1300 hours.

Town Center, Main Plaza, Little Rock, Freedom's Progress.

Colonel Tali'Zorah vas Neema, First Lieutenant Prazza'Sal vas Idenna.

Tali looked outside the shuttle window to see that they were descending rapidly into the town's central area and she readied her shotgun. Signalling the rest of Prazza's squad to follow. The pilot had long taken over piloting the shuttle, as the flight had taken two days, so it allowed her time to think. Now they were about to land on Freedom's Progress, and she was about to ready to leap out and tackle whatever wanted to kill her.

She felt the shuttle vibrate as it came into contact with the ground, the vehicle ceasing all movement as the engines disengaged and the landing thrusters deactivated. With the engines locked, the hatch opened and the marine platoon spread out, one by one, securing the area quick and easy. Prazza lead them while Tali acted as overseer with her shotgun scouring the area for hostiles. The team's sniper reported nothing.

And that was just it; there was nothing, not even a sound. Apart from her platoon, the colony was totally devoid of life; not a single lifeform to be seen. What made less sense was that there was no signs of any struggle or battle. Whoever had taken everyone had done it before any defense could be done and that was just downright impossible. What kind of enemy could take an entire colony without any retaliation whatsoever? Hell, the only sound to be heard was a humming terminal nearby and the sound of quarian feet scuttling around the place.

"Ma'am, I don't like this. There isn't a single human lifeform in this area. I've checked," one of the marines stated, "But I am picking up the IFFs of numerous defense mechs as well as one quarian lifesign boxed up in a bunker just a klick ahead of our location. I believe it's in the city's assembly area, just across from the cargo port and seperated by a blast door."

Tali nodded, "Then that's where we go, but I don't trust this place. Whatever came here to take these colonists has considerable technology at their disposal and that could involve motion jammers to disguise their IFFs. We'll split up into three teams; Hotel, Kilo and Sierra."

"Prazza," She began, turning to the lieutenant, "You take Kilo team; that's Pol, Li, Gyu, Ora and Tipil. Circle around the left and cut through the houses. Usil, you take Hotel; that's Ketev, Usak, Setlv, Notari, Ashra and Mgar. Same as Prazza, but take the right. I'll take Sierra team with Devo, Myr, Xwa, Leewee and Yhj. We'll push through the center. We'll all link up at the mayor's office. Do a sweep; clean the area of hostiles. Good luck. The rest of you stay with the shuttle and defend it."

With that, they all moved out, Prazza without objection. Leading Sierra team, Tali lowered her shotgun and hit the haptic interface of the nearest bunker, motioning for her team to follow before closing the door behind her. Slowly, and steadily, they moved forward, checking every nook and cranny. It wasn't long before Hotel team reported that the mechs were hostile; reprogrammed by Veetor to attack anyone trying to get him. Obviously whoever attacked the colony had really spooked him out.

Luckily, the only mechs they found as an issue were a few LOKI and FENRIS mechs. FENRIS charges were a pain, but they were easily dealt with by the team's techs, so therefore she didn't think much of it. The more mechs her team plowed through, the closer they go to Veetor. Within two minutes, they would arrive at the mayor's office and the platoon would push forward and into the assembly area. They would evac Veetor and all would be fine.

At least she hoped it was that easy.

{Loading...}

August 4, 2185

1309 hours.

Main Atmosphere, Little Rock, Freedom's Progress.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor.

"ETA to Freedom's Progress two minutes." The shuttle's VI reported.

Marcus' examination of his face in the shuttle's window reflection ceased at the VI's announcement and he put his helmet on. Apparently Cerberus had done an excellent job at fixing him up and he no longer looked like a fleshy geth. Apart from the few scars that glowed a dull orange on his face, he was exactly as he was before. Hopefully the scars would fix themselves up as well.

"When we land, what do you plan to do, sir?" Jacob asked, sticking to formality. Marcus hadn't been too happy about Miranda, as she had the tendency to have a superiority complex and therefore thought she was right all the time. She also never wore armor into combat, as she was dropping in with just her catsuit. He'd have to fix that. Jacob at least wore armor and sticked to formality; something he liked. Jacob had been an ex-Corsair; the alliance's version of spectres just with more regulations. He then got the attention of TIM and here he was; working for Cerberus.

"Obviously, due to the nature of the attacks, looking for survivors is pointless," Marcus stated, leaning forward in his seat, "So we should stick right to finding out just what attacked the colony and how best to prevent it from happening ever again. We'll spread out, cover as much ground as possible, then meet up at the mayor's office. Once there, we'll compare our findings and return to Minuteman. Hopefully we'll find out who's doing this."

Miranda simply nodded while Jacob gave a stern 'aye, aye sir' to accompany his acknowledgement. It wasn't long before the shuttle finally touched down on one of the colony's landing platforms, the shuttle's engines deactivating and landing thrusters shutting off. The hatch popped open and they stepped out into the cold, empty night filled colony.

He had been provided with what he wanted; a basic M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle, a M-3 Predator Pistol, his newfound favourite; a M-4 Shuriken and a M-22 Eviscerator shotgun. He clearly didn't like wielding the cerberus crafted weapon, but he had been told that it was a efficient model and decided to go with it for now. Besides, after this he'd probably go back to the alliance and get a proper weapon, depending on what they had.

During some talk on the shuttle, he found that Jacob was proficient with pistols and shotguns, much like Tali, and that Miranda preferred SMGs and pistols. Although Miranda had a better model of SMG than his; as hers was a M-9 Tempest, he still carried a Shuriken, as apparently they had a surprise for him later on where he would get access to get better tech, but that depended on his decision to leave or stay.

Without hesitation, took position on the left side of the door, motioning for Miranda to take the opposite side of him and Jacob to hit the door's interface. He had to give it to them; they at least knew military precision, moving and executing his orders quickly and rapidly. Jacob hit the door and they rushed inside, Marcus taking point with his avenger levelled. Not a hostile to be seen. What was worse was the ever present smell of fresh food and drinks, left untouched. What enemy possesses such power?

No blood stains, no broken dishes, no scorch marks or bullet holes and no spent thermal clips. Not a single sign of battle or a struggle. Quickly, they moved outside to see if there was anything evidence there and once again, found nothing but the quiet sound of the breeze and the ever empty balconies and streets.

Just as he stepped outside, an SMG burst pinged off the wall followed by another. Spinning to his left, he let out an irritated groan as he saw six LOKI mechs round the corner, immediately opening fire on them, followed by two FENRIS mechs that were content with bullrushing their position, but were met by Jacob's twin shotgun rounds entering their blood red optics.

"These mechs shouldn't be attacking us," Miranda pointed out, taking apart a nearby LOKI with her SMG before ripping apart another with her biotics, "They're programmed to recognize humans as friendlies. Someone, like on Lazarus, must have reprogrammed them."

Marcus hit an epiphany, "Which must mean someone is still alive around here. We may have discovered the best evidence yet; a witness!"

Miranda shook her head as Jacob took down the final mech, "But what if...whatever attacked this colony, were the ones to reprogram them? What if they just did it to slow us down or have a little extra fun?"

"There isn't much logic behind that, Miranda," Jacob spoke up, "What would be the point in that? They've already cleansened all evidence, what would be the point of reprogramming the mechs to attack whatever came here? It makes no sense. Shepard is right; someone is here and we have to find them."

Marcus nodded, "Which is why we'll go with the original plan; split up. If you find the survivor, bring them to the mayor's office and we'll link up there." Nodding, Jacob leapt over the bridge they were on and onto the street just a few feet below. Before he could be noticed, he disappeared into the shadows. Miranda quickly retraced their steps into the bunker, but taking an alternate route while Marcus continued to push forward and towards the mayor's office. For all they knew, the survivor could be the mayor herself.

The cold night air brushed against his armor as he moved forward. Apparently there was some aerial defense drones as well; flying adversaries that were similiar to geth assault drones he had encountered in the past, but just as dumb as the mechs and without the offensive firepower that it's geth counterpart had. The drones had armor like tissue paper, so they fell like flies. He was beginning to think more and more as to why these mechs were even developed. They were about as useful as a soldier without arms. Cannon fodder at best.

Another squad of mechs and a flight of drones later, he reached the mayor's office. In case he startled the person into thinking he was hostile, he silently crept up to the side of the door, readying himself to hit the door's interface and open it. Just as he did, he heard voices. Synthesized voices, low but clear. It was clear the survivor was in here but he knew something else; he'd have to add a plural to that. There wasn't just one survivor; there were multiple. There was definitely a conversation going on in there and from what he heard, the communications were jammed, so it couldn't be a offworldly source.

Raising his rifle and bracing it against his shoulder, he set it to stun rounds; the survivors had been through what was likely to have been a traumatic experience and he might have to stun them if they were delirious. With a inhale of breath and the cold night to support him, he palmed the interface and charged, crouching on the floor as he sat there with his weapon raised.

What he saw was definitely not what he expected. Instead of the human survivors he thought he'd encounter, delirious and mumbling in fright, he saw an entire platoon of suited aliens, their opaque visors hiding their faces while giving away their bright eyes, their skintight suits portraying numerous features. Hearing the door open, they all turned around to see him, immediately raising their weapons to take aim on the lone human; a mass of rifles, SMGs and shotguns turning to face him as he crouched their confused. Soldiers, but not human soldiers.

Quarians? What in the world are quarians doing here?

Before he could say or do anything, the quarian that looked like the platoon leader or sergeant; visibly male by his height and apparent build, immediately yelled at the human, "It's one of the Cerberus scumbags who landed here! I saw their shuttle! Kill him! Shoot him now!"

Marcus had no idea what to do. And he knew people hated Cerberus, but the hatred he was seeing, burning in their physical features, looked personal, like they wanted to rip him limb from limb, and that was hatred for the organization even he couldn't conjure. Just what did Cerberus do to the quarians to garner so much hatred? It must be recent; Tali had no idea what Cerberus was when I first met her.

Just as they were about to fire, he stood up and dropped his weapon, "Stop! I'm not Cerberus! I don't want to harm you! I'm friendly!" He realized just how futile this attempt was. The quarians weren't going to back down and he didn't have much evidence in his favor; no alliance shuttles had landed.

"He's wearing N7 armor, maybe he's telling the truth," One marine spoke up.

The male didn't look happy at that, "Bullshit! Cerberus probably stole it! They are humans, are they not? The primate scum probably had it stolen! Just kill him!"

Before they could however, a loud, authoritive but feminine voice rose up above the yelling and the marines ceased all movement. The voice was familiar, he would recognize it from anywhere. But it couldn't be. Not here, not now. Not after all this time. The coincidence was just too much.

A female quarian pushed through the crowd, not the quarian he expected. "Stop! Hold your fire!" She then turned to Marcus, her eyes piercing his. If this was Tali, as he expected, then her suit had changed significantly. And the authority in her voice; did she command this platoon? He had to keep the smile from creeping upon his face; Tali had matured, that much was certain. Before he could continue his musing, the quarian spoke.

"You, human. T-tha-that voice. I-I rememb-speak again," The quarian ordered, raising her pistol, "Speak now or so help me I will fire!"

There was only one word he could say right now. Only one word. Only one question he could spit out, "Tali?"

The quarian's body went limp. She seemed to lower her weapon slightly, her posture weakening. He saw the sadness in her posture, the reaction she had to hearing her name. Yes, this was definitely Tali. It had to be. She had changed, but this was definitely the Tali he knew and cared about all those years ago.

Miranda and Jacob quickly entered the room and raised their weapons at seeing the quarians. Before they could fully raise them, Marcus raised his hand and ordered his team not to fire and to lower their weapons. They objected at first, but when Marcus turned around and gave them a glare strong enough to melt through a reaper's armor, they did what he said and dropped their weapons.

He turned around, only to see the male from before laugh humorlessly, "Not Cerberus. Yeah, and he thought we were just stupid suit-rats."

"How do you know my name?" Tali demanded, raising her pistol once more. He wasn't used to being at gunpoint with the woman he loved, but he needed to take this carefully. Two years was a long time to be dead.

"It's me Tali-" He tried to reason.

"Stop saying my name! I am Miss Zorah or Colonel Zorah to you, Cerberus bosh'tet!" Tali growled, her marines also raising their weapons. Marcus was surprised at the rank she mentioned. Tali, my Tali, is a Colonel? Damn, she's done good while I was gone. At least all my teachings on leadership didn't go out the window.

Taking this slow, he tried to reason with her, "It's me, Colonel. I am Commander Shepard. I came back."

"You lie!" Tali hissed, "You're nothing but a Cerberus copy! A clone! An impostor! How dare you disgrace the man I loved with your very existence! I will end you! You don't deserve the armor you wear!" Tali's voice was full of distress and denial and he wanted nothing but to hug her and tell her it would be alright. But doing that would probably end with a shotgun hole in his face so he took things slower. He then realized the one thing that prove his existence as Marcus Shepard. The one thing Tali would remember.

"Remember that geth data I gave you Tali?" He said, using her real name, uncaring of the consequences, "Did it help you complete your pilgrimage?"

Tali's posture weakened once again and she ordered her men to lower their weapons before turning back to Marcus. She slowly approached but stopped a meter away from him, gaining control of herself.

"How do I know they didn't implant that memory inside of you?" Tali asked, choking up as he could hear it in her voice. He could visualize the tears forming in her eyes; the tears of happiness and of hope.

"Okay, how about one they can't imprint," Marcus stated, "Remember that day where we went to the models shop? And then we went into an alley way and we finally fixed our relationship? How we...admitted the feelings we had for each other?"

Tali stood still for but a moment. She then broke her trance and stepped forward, lifting her hand to the side of his face. He felt her fingers stroke his cheek, as if touch alone would confirm his identity. He didn't care; he sighed contently at her touch, not wanting her to let go and apparently she reciprocated the feeling. Suddenly however, she stopped and moved back, realizing that they were in an occupied room.

That was about to change, "Prazza, take your men and wait outside."

The man Marcus now recognized as Prazza was quick to object, "Ma'am, we don't have time for this. We need to get to Veet-"

Tali spun around to face him in an instant, "Take your men and get out! Now." The last word that came out of her vocalizer was like ice; if Tali could breathe it, the room would be frozen right now. Prazza, reluctantly, signalled his men to leave, following behind them, growling as he did. As he stepped outside, the door closed behind him.

Tali's eyes turned to him and glanced between his team and himself. He got what she meant. He turned around, "Both of you wait outside. We need some time."

"But commander-" Miranda began to object. It looked like Marcus had his own Prazza to deal with.

"Miranda, learn to follow orders and get outside."

For a second, it looked like Jacob and Miranda wouldn't leave, but eventually Jacob just left, door closing behind him. Miranda rolled her eyes.

"I swear to god Miranda," Marcus growled, "If you don't get the fuck outside right now, I'll make sure your returned piece by piece to the Illusive Man's front door."

Miranda didn't even flinch at his threat; possibly being used to them. Go figure. With a final grimace, she left. Even Tali had felt the iron in Marcus' voice; one she hadn't heard before. It was cold and ruthless, but that all evaporated when he turned to face her again, warmth in his eyes. She immediately relaxed her tense posture, holstering her pistol. How does he do that? Can he possess people or something?

"Marcus?" Tali asked, finally saying his name rhetorically. It felt alien on her tongue after so long.

"It's me Tali," Marcus smiled and laughed, taking the quarian up in an embrace, "It's definitely me."

After about a second, Tali returned the embrace and both of them broke it when they felt content enough. Marcus noticed that it had been two years and their relationship would be a bit shaky; so he avoided kissing her on the visor like he had done all those years ago. He couldn't just launch their relationship from it had been before; it would take time to rebuild. But at least he had Tali back; or so he hoped.

The words that came next were pretty sudden, "Tali...are you seeing anyone else?"

Tali chuckled and broke away from him, doubling over. Marcus found himself smiling at that; so he just waited for her to finish her laughing fit. He was pretty sure the answer was clear just by her response.

When she was finished, she regained her composure and stood up, "Two years? Two bloody years and that's the first question you ask me?" Before Marcus even knew what was going on, Tali's hand met his cheek in an instance of speed, sending him reeling back in pain. When he looked back, Tali was a meter away.

"Two years, Marcus! Where the hell were you this entire time!? Why didn't you contact me? Didn't you care enough to at least let me know you were alive!? I thought you were dead! All this time, you let me grieve!"

Marcus regained his own posture, "I was dead Tali, dead. Those entire two years, I was just a corpse on an operating table."

Tali shook her head, "Impossible. You're ly-"

He grabbed Tali's arms and shook her, "I'm not lying! You have to trust me when I say I've been dead these two years! Cerberus brought me back; they gave me my life back! I only just woke up a couple of days ago!"

Realizing how he was holding the quarian, he let go and moved back, clearing his throat. Tali had been mortified by how he had manhandled her, but she saw past that for her harsh reasoning. Marcus had tried to defend himself and she had lost faith in him. She immediately felt ashamed of herself.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean- I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay," Marcus reassured her, rubbing the quarian's left arm tenderly, "You couldn't have known. Maybe when this is over you can tell me about what I've missed out on. For now, I've got some leads to chase up. What are you doing here anyway? You didn't kidnap the colonists did you?" The last one was a tease, a lopsided grin creasing his features.

Tali lightly pushed him back, noticing his grin, "No, we didn't take your colonists, so you can rest easy tonight," The quarian retorted, "No, my platoon, or Prazza's platoon, is here under my command to rescue a quarian named Veetor. He chose to do his pilgrimage here as he finds humans comforting to be around rather than...say...the other Council races."

Marcus nodded, picking up his avenger as he did, "It would appear we have similiar goals then. At first we thought the reprogrammed mechs were the job of a surviving colonist, but if Veetor is anything like you, then it's likely he was the one to reprogram the mechs and may have seen what abducted the colonists; so I think we should team up to rescue him."

"I don't trust your squad, no offense, but they're Cerberus," Tali said the organization's name like it was poison; wanting nothing more but to throw it away.

Marcus raised a brow, "The galaxy hates Cerberus but your people seem to genuinely want to wipe them off the map. You're going to have to explain that one to me."

Tali shook her head, turning away, "Later. For now, we need to get to Veetor and rescue him. I trust you to make sure your squad don't do anything rash."

"You know me, Tali," Marcus started, grinning as he winked, "I'll keep 'em in line. Just make sure that Prazza guy doesn't shoot me in the back. He seems intent on murdering me."

Tali nodded and he was sure he could see a smile in her eyes, "I'll have your back, Marcus. Don't you worry about that," she then extended her shotgun, "So let's go kick some mech ass. Not exactly like old times but...it's close enough."

Marcus smiled, keying his omni-tool. Seconds later, Miranda and Jacob took positions behind him, weapons out and ready. Just as he was about to head outside with Tali, her voice from behind him stopped him.

"And Marcus?"

The man stopped for a moment, turning around and smiling warmly as he did, "Yes?"

"It's good to have you back. I mean, it's really good."

He chuckled, continuing his trek outside with his friend at his side, "It's great to be back."

Tali moved up to take point, needing to make sure her team would not open fire on her new found allies. As the door opened however and they looked outside, it looked quickly apparent that Prazza and his platoon had gone up ahead without orders.

Tali fumed as she hit the wall with the butt of her shotgun, "Idiotic bosh'tet! He's never trusted my orders and now he's run off with my ancestors forsaken platoon! Can you believe that? My entire unit; turned against me! Morons! Ta'zit!"

Marcus put a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her but both of them stopped as gunshots were heard in the distance. The group turned towards the source of the sound and heard an explosion followed by a scream. A very quarian sounding scream.

"Keelah. Marcus, we have to save them!" Tali stated, running up ahead before he could respond. Nodding, he followed after her and out of necessity, his squad followed, weapons in tow. They were forced to fight through numerous LOKI and FENRIS mechs once again but like before, it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

Finally, they reached the cargo port where a large blast door lay wide open. Gunfire streaked through the doorway and into the open area, the quarian platoon currently in combat with mechanized forces. But from the sound of it, they weren't winning. Marcus motioned Tali to take cover behind the door's side along with his squad while he scoped out the situation. When he turned the corner, he saw just what was causing the quarians such hassle.

The bunker in which Veetor was situated in was seperated by a courtyard of sorts which served as the colony's assembly. In the middle of that assembly was the source of the platoon's predicament; a YMIR mech, and it had the element of surprise and heavy firepower at it's disposal. He watched on in horror as three quarian marines tried to retreat, but were gunned down by the mech's HMG. It trapped one surviving female marine under it's feet, reducing her head into tiny bits of unidentifiable flesh and blood.

Looking across, he saw the platoon was decimated. Only a few quarians had survived, and two of them were injured, with the third trying to apply medi-gel to their gruesome wounds. Two more marines tried to reach their position in the opposite bunker, but were caught in the explosion of one the YMIR's rockets. Looking across, Marcus found what was left of Prazza's body; just mangled bones and flesh. That mech had to be stopped.

"Tali, in a second I'm about to do something stupid and I want you to get to the bunker of there and see to those marines; keep them safe. Miranda, Jacob, riddle that thing's shields. Bring them down as much as you can."

Before he could charge out, Tali had his arms, "Whatever you're about to do just...be careful." By the look of her posture, she was worried.

"I can't promise that. I can promise I'll be back with seventy percent of my body intact though." With that stupid grin of his, he charged out, firing his assault rifle directly at the mech's midsection. The YMIR took immediate attention to this, seeing that the one hundred pounds of human in medium body armor was a more immediate threat than helpless quarian marines.

He watched Tali on his motion tracker make a beeline for the bunker. He watched as one of her overload's hit the mech, but before it could attack her, he fired again, regaining it's attention. Miranda and Jacob flanked from both sides, pouring fire from their SMGs and pistols into the mech. Too slow and too dumb to counterattack both of them, it stopped all locomotion and focused soley on Marcus. Too late.

The N7 soldier managed to close the distance between him and the mech much faster than he had predicted. Within seconds he was sliding under it's legs and was directly behind it. Not programmed to enact melee retaliations, the mech just stood there as he leapt onto it's back, the soldier rendering all the mech's heavy weaponry and shielding moot. What had once been a hellstorm of fury was now reduced to a helpless inanimate object.

Reaching into one of his pouches, he pulled out a fragmentation grenade and found the design to be different, but the trigger was the same. Priming it, he thrusted it into the mech's optics, shattering the glass protecting it and wedging it inside. Leaping off the juggernaut, he ran back and watched as the YMIR turned around to attack. Before it could move even 140 degrees, it's head exploded, causing the mech to topple over, destroyed.

Miranda and Jacob nodded to him as he passed, the soldier entering the bunker in which the quarians were stationed. Tali was kneeling down next to one of the young quarians, her head hung low as she checked his injuries. Noticing his presence, she looked up at him, "Go ahead and get Veetor. I'll join you in a minute; I just need to tend to these wounds. Did you find Prazza?"

Marcus nodded solemnly, "What's left of him, yeah."

Tali sighed, "He always was an insufferable bosh'tet, but I can't say I'm pleased he's dead. It doesn't matter now. Just get to Veetor and find out what happened to this colony. He's bound to know. I just hope it was all worth it."

Nodding, he ordered Miranda and Jacob to follow him into Veetor's bunker and free the quarian. Entering the room, they were prepared for a jibbering, terrified quarian holding a pistol and attempting to defend himself. Instead, they found him sitting at the bunker's control station, back to them as he accessed numerous systems, reprogramming the colony's defenses to his will and monitoring other areas. Multiple screens stood infront of him.

Lowering his rifle, he holstered it and motioned for Miranda and Jacob to do the same. Unarmed, he approached the seated quarian, standing less than three meters away from him.

"Veetor? It's safe now. They're gone."

Veetor's voice was hurried and panicy, "Monsters gone now. But they'll be back. To finish the job. Never leave job finished. Too much collateral damage. Not safe. Have to hide. Come back for me."

"Veetor? Really, we're here to help." Marcus pleaded with the quarian, but it was obvious that Veetor either wasn't listening or was too deep in his own fear to hear them. He was about to walk up and stop the quarian, but saw the screens turn off, one by one, leaving them with glowing triangles with statement marks in them, covered in static. The quarian stopped typing, turning towards them.

Marcus turned to see who did it and found Tali striding into the room, holding up her omni-tool. Nodding to him, she deactivated her omni-tool and stood there, motioning for Marcus to continue. He smiled. She trusted him to deal with the situation. Turning back to Veetor, he kept up his smile.

It was Veetor who spoke first, "You...survived? But how did you-they didn't take you? But they take everyone. The swarms are very thorough. Monsters too good at work. Noone escapes. How did you survive?"

Marcus eyed his cohorts with a worried look before turning back to Veetor, "Monsters? Swarms? Who did this Veetor? Who took the colonists?"

Veetor shook his head, "You didn't see them. You not survivors. You saviors, alliance maybe. I also see fellow fleet-sister among your group. The monsters and swarms take them all; every last one. No time to retaliate. No time to fight back. You want answers; I will show you them." With that, Veetor raised his omni-tool typed in a few more commands, the screens flickering back on, but showing footage from the surviellance cameras, all in different areas. The time was stamped August 2.

They watched the screens as an immense swarm of bug-like creatures swarmed over the colony, attacking the colonists. They fled, but stopped in their motion, as if frozen in ice. An unusual current of energy encased their bodies, immobilizing them. The bugs, or 'swarms' as Veetor referred to them, swamped the colony and froze everyone in a matter of a minute. That explains the lack of battle signs.

Then the swarms retreated and in came their enemy. They were humanoid, that much was certain. They had three fingers and, like the swarms, held a bug-like appearence, even giving off clicking noises, communicating with their allies. Their heads were twisted and oddly shaped, with four eyes vertically aligned. He remembered seeing them from somewhere, but he couldn't place where. They moved around, carrying small pods and placing the colonists in them, before sprouting wings like those of a fly and taking them up to what looked like an enormous dreadnought. He immediately recognized it as the one he saw two years ago. The one that destroyed the Normandy. So they are connected. But who are they?

In the middle of the group was one that stood out; it was the same as the others, but was alight with acidic fire, scorched marks like cracks all over the body, eyes glowing with hate filled intent. It directed the others with intimidation and strength, it's voice low and strong, filled with dread. This was obviously the leader, or at least one of it's lieutenants.

It didn't take long before Miranda to speak up, apparently recognizing them, "My god...that's..."

Marcus looked at her, as if expecting answer, but got it from Tali.

"Collectors. They're collectors." Tali declared.

Marcus raised his eyebrows at them, Veetor apparently falling back into his chair and muttering to himself, "Collectors? What the hell are Collectors?" He looked to Tali for answers.

"They're an advanced race that are believed to live beyond the infamous Omega 4 Relay; the point of no return," Tali explained, "They occassionally pop up out of nowhere to exchange their advanced technology with people for specimens; and when I say specimens, I mean 'living' people. A traitor of my people named Golo had gotten himself exiled for trying to hand over twenty-four 'pure' quarians over to them. That was before Cerberus allied with him." Tali then shot a glare over at Miranda, to which the woman pretended not to notice.

"So basically they're mysterious and noone knows where they live?" Marcus finished.

"Well if evidence is anything to go by, it's fully possible they live beyond the Omega 4 Relay," Miranda stated, "We can't prove it because apparently the collectors have the relay rigged to only allow them passage. Anyone else who use it is either destroyed, sent into oblivion, vaporized, sent somewhere else, erased, we don't know."

"All we know is that any ship that goes through it, never returns." Tali concluded.

"Great, an enemy we barely know anything about," Marcus stated, "At least with the geth we knew their basic history. I've never even heard of Collectors before."

"Not surprising. They aren't all that famous; they only pop up every once and a while and are gone before you can say 'oh look, a collector'. They leave no finanical trace or a twig of their existence. Once they get what they want, there's rumors that they just kill the people after dealing with them. Better to do that then hand over their technology to some mercenary with money."

"But now they're abducting your colonies," Tali piped up, "Collectors have never conducted such abductions on such large scale before. Usually there's an exchange, but they're just taking the colonies. Whatever purpose they have in store of your captured colonists, I don't think it's good Marcus."

"Me neither," Marcus admitted, "Veetor, anything else you can tell us?"

The quarian shook his head, happy to be included again, "No words. Data on omni-tool."

Miranda nodded, "Good. Let's grab the quarian and call the Illusive Man for extraction."

Tali immediatly stepped in, standing to Marcus' side, "What!? Look at him!" She pointed at the terrified quarian, "He's sick and scared! What he needs is his parents and medical attention, not an interrogation! I won't let you Cerberus scum touch him! I'll kill you first!"

Jacob immediately stepped in, "We only want to ask him a few questions. He'll be retur-"

"What, like the Idenna!?" Tali spat, causing Jacob to back away, "I won't let...murderers take a kid of his age off to an interrogation room. No, he's coming with me."

That caught Marcus right away. Idenna. Murder. So Cerberus has done something to the quarians that involves murder and a ship called the Idenna? Well, that solves that then.

"Miss, we must insist on-" Miranda began, but was cut off by Marcus.

"There is no 'we', Miss Lawson," Marcus declared, "Veetor goes with Tali. He can give us his omni-tool data and we'll let him go back to the fleet."

Miranda wasn't about to give in though, "Commander, you can't let personal feelings-"

"Miranda, learn to shut it," Marcus snapped, "I don't know if the Illusive Man is okay with second-guessing or backchat, but I certainly won't tolerate it. You either follow my orders or you can take the next Alliance scout ship back home, but I run this camp and I've made my decision. Veetor goes with Tali. You want to argue this more, then I'm sure Tali would be more than happy to talk. Now shut it."

Tali grinned behind her mask at the sight of the annoyed look on Miranda's face, but the Cerberus woman didn't even respond, just motioning for Jacob to follow her outside, door closing.

"I'm glad you're still tugging the strings, Marcus," Tali said.

He chuckled, "You've mucked up the expression. It's pulling the strings, not tugging the strings."

Tali couldn't help but smile as she nudged him, "Shut up. I'm out of practise. I'll get the hang of it eventually."

With a sigh, he asked the big question that had been on his mind the entire time, "Tali, I could really use people I could trust on the mission I'm sure to embark on. The Collectors need to be stopped, and I need my friends on side, including you. Will you join me?"

Tali felt her head droop as she began fiddling with her fingers at her waist. She got control of herself before it got out of control however and then turned to her right, motioning to Veetor.

"Veetor, why don't you go wait outside. Ask for Myr; he'll take you back to the shuttle. And stay away from those Cerberus bosh'tets."

Veetor nodded, limping past her, apparently having an injury. As the door closed behind him, it left them both alone in the room. Finally, with a sigh from both parties, Tali turned to Marcus and his smile dropped. Her posture didn't look good; it radiated something else; regret? Sadness?

"I can't," Tali deadpanned.

Marcus was disappointed, but he didn't demand answers. He knew she had her reasons. Besides, he had been gone for two years, said hello and asked her to join him again. She had the right to reject or at the very least hesitate to in joining him.

"Why not?" Marcus felt the question roll off his lips. No anger consided in his words, only sadness.

"Marcus, believe me when I say this; I'd love to join you. I'd be more than willing to toss my life aside to join you. Ancestors know how much I want to. But it's not that simple. You've been gone two years; I have obligations to my people. There's a mission I must complete; it's due to happen within the month. I'd be willing to have someone else lead the mission, but it's just too dangerous for anyone else to do; I can't risk someone else dying, doing a task I should have done. No, I need to do this. For my people. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Marcus immediately said, closing the distance between them but not wrapping his arms around her, "I understand. I do. I can't just waltz in and pretend everything was fine Tali; it never will be the same again. But what about us? What will happen to us? I need to know Tali; did you find someone else?"

Tali immediately shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, "Of course not! I spent a whole year mourning and the next leading military expeditions. I didn't have time for love. Even if I did, noone caught my interest. There is one man who is still gunning for me, but he doesn't have a chance. Besides, you're back, so I think his chances of tagging me are 'nill now."

He smiled as he hugged her back, but quickly seperated when he remembered the mission she mentioned, "So this...mission, you must embark on...how dangerous is it?"

"It's in geth space, deep inside the Far Rim," Tali admitted, "That should tell you."

Marcus' eyes widened with horror, "The Far Rim!? Tali, that's suicide! The geth will kill you!"

Tali nodded, "Which is why I alone must lead it. It's too dangerous and important for anyone else to do. If I survive that, then I'll join you in a heartbeat."

"You know damn well that the odds of that are slim as fuck," Marcus stated firmly, "Even for you."

Tali smiled, "I know," She gently stroked his cheek, three-fingers gliding across his skin like silk. The feeling was bliss, "I just...I'm sorry."

"No, sorry isn't good enough," Marcus declared, "You tell me what planet your headed to right now."

"Marcus, you know I can't. The punishment for revealing classified military intelligence is accusation of treason. I'll be exiled." Tali stated.

"You can do it via my new account. It's encrypted and is secure enough to ward off the best salarian hacker. Please, tell me now. I want to help."

"You have a mission to do and so do I." Tali retorted.

"As far as I'm concerned, your safety is the mission. Tell me what planet your heading to and what system right now. I don't care if I have to arrive on a goddamn fighter; I'll be there as soon as it happens."

Despite herself, Tali felt humbled at his sense of concern and overprotectiveness. Noone had felt that way towards her; except her late mother and Aunty Shala. And even then, they weren't N7 infiltrators, the liberator of Elysium, Hero of the Citadel and a Council spectre. She smiled. She knew she would face heavy consequences for this, but she she had to. Marcus' expression was too much for her to ignore.

"Haestrom. The planet is Haestrom, located in the Dholen System. It's in the Far Rim, which is right nextdoor to the Perseus." Tali spat out.

Marcus smiled, "Haestrom? Wasn't that orginally a quarian colony? You know, before the war?"

Tali nodded sadly, "And it will be again...someday..."

Marcus nodded, kissing her on the visor, "I promise to be there. It's a home call for you, of sorts, and I want to be there to enjoy it with you."

Tali giggled, "Providing the geth give us one half of a chance."

He smiled with his big stupid grin, "Not up to them. They don't like it and they can deal with an angry human and his favourite quarian."

The two of them continued to enjoy each other's company for awhile until Miranda radioed in, stating that an alliance scout vessel had just dropped out of FTL and would arrive at the colony in two hours. With a sigh, Marcus realized it was time to say goodbye, if only for awhile. The rest of the quarians had returned to their shuttle and Miranda and Jacob were prepping up theirs. Marcus turned to Tali one last time, both of them next to the Cerberus shuttle.

"You've got my extranet address. Message at least once a day," Tali stated, giving Marcus one last hug.

"And I'l see you soon." Marcus stated, turning to enter the shuttle but before the hatch closed, Tali spoke once more.

"And be careful, Marcus. Cerberus can't be trusted. You don't know what they did to my people; they are murderers and traitors. They'll stab you in the back at some point; possibly betray you."

Marcus smiled, glancing at Miranda and Jacob at the back of the shuttle, the two agents engaged in animated conversation, "Don't worry Tali, I'll keep an eye on them. And if they do, I know just who to call."

Tali smiled, "Keelah Se'lai Marcus. May the ancestors watch over you."

With that, the kodiak's hatch finally closed, Marcus watching as Tali walked off, her back to the shuttle. He watched her slender form retreat into one of the buildings, heading for her shuttle. He would see her again; in awhile at least. But for now, he had to report his findings to the Illusive Man. Sitting down opposite Miranda and Jacob, he looked out the window as the kodiak climbed into the atmosphere, leaving Freedom's Progress behind.

He had decided to work with Cerberus for now; they had resources he could exploit and he had to admit that Miranda and Jacob, although untrustworthy and the former sorta irritating, were still very skilled soldiers and would make valuable additions to his squad. Tali was merely the beginning; he would make sure to bring back the entire old gang. The collectors hadn't a single clue who they were messing with.

Turning to Miranda, he sighed and closed his eyes, ready for sleep. It was a long travel back to Minuteman station.

And a long partnership.

"Freedom's Progress changed my perspective on being brought back. It gave me something worth living for. Worth suffering through Cerberus bullshit to acquire."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I loved you. I still do. And it wouldn't be long before we were back together."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Indeed. And if being back alive, packed full of synthetics and seeing the love of my life again was shock enough, I didn't see what was coming next."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TEN:

NOSTALGIC MOMENTS

August 6, 2185

1152 hours.

Communications Hold, Level 14, Minuteman Station, Irisa System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, The Illusive Man.

Marcus sighed irritably as he walked down the staircase towards the communicator room. He had felt a great weight taken off his shoulders when he had bumped into Tali on Freedom's Progress and had felt happy ever since. He had woken up from the dead, found Tali still single and was confident he could continue their relationship, even if it would take time to rebuild; time he most certainly had. But now he had to report back to Cerberus' infamous leader; which wouldn't be fun at all.

The main reason behind this was because TIM had been right; Cerberus did have enormous resources that Marcus would use to his best ability and Miranda had even mentioned a gift that Cerberus going to give him if he stayed. Despite his gut telling him not to, he couldn't resist the temptation to find out what that gift was. Still, he didn't like working with terrorists and he knew he would come to regret it, but now it seemed like the best option. Logic triumphed over emotion this time. He walked in with full armor, his weapons left behind and his helmet as well.

It wasn't long before he found himself standing on the communicator; the room's sensors once again scanning him as they projected his holographic form to the Illusive Man's even more illusive location. He watched as the bright light of the system's sun enveloped him and the room the Illusive Man called home materialized before him. In his usual position, was TIM himself.

"Shepard, I heard the mission down on Freedom's Progress was a success and you found out who was behind the attacks," TIM stated in an almost smug manner. He didn't seem all that surprised.

"Yes, I did and I've decided to accept your help. But you don't seem all that surprised," Marcus stated, raising a brow at the man.

TIM shook his head as he snuffed his cigar, "Information is my business and it works well for me. I thought the collectors were behind the attacks; I just needed proof. And now I, we, have it. However, you're willingness to accept our cause is something of an unexpected turn of events but not one I don't appreciate. Together, we'll put a stop to the collector threat."

"I'm guessing you knew about Tali being there too, didn't you?" Marcus asked, he had to know.

"As far as my resources go, the Migrant Fleet is out of my reach," TIM assured him, "So bumping into your quarian friend on Freedom's Progress wasn't something I saw coming. I'm sure you dealt with the situation, however?"

"You can bet," Marcus said, finding himself smiling, "Also, she seemed to hate Cerberus more than anyone else I know. Just what did Cerberus do to her people to warrant such prejudice? I don't care if it's classified; I want to know."

TIM held his hands up in defense, "It's hardly classified; something like that can't be kept a secret. In essence we had a little...misunderstanding with the quarians. They were harboring one of my agents' daughter on their ship, so I got help from a quarian exile and boarded the Idenna. The mission was a failure though and the girl's been missing ever since."

Marcus fumed in anger, "So you gave them authorization to butcher quarian civilians? Tali told me what you did and it was murder! Cold-blooded murder and for what? A child? Did it ever occur to you that the child may have been there because she wanted to be there?"

TIM didn't even flinch from the accusation, "It wasn't anything personal, just a matter of cerberus' interests. What happened during that time isn't any of your concern and I'm not willing to dwell on it. We have much bigger threats to deal with; like the collectors. Their abductions have to stop; you know this just as well as I do."

"Agreed," Marcus stated, "What's our next step?"

"You build your team," TIM stated, "And I don't mean your old team; they've most likely moved on. I mean a new team; you will need the best of the best to succeed. I've already pulled up the dossiers for four I think will suit your services most. One is an excellent sniper, another a brilliant scientist. The last two are also a scientist and an unbelievably powerful biotic, the latter of which I'll have to discuss with you about later. I've had the dossiers uploaded to your private terminal."

Marcus raised his brow, "And you're saying that you hadn't expected me to join Cerberus? It sounds like you had this planned out since before I got back. And what do you mean 'private terminal', I wasn't aware I had one."

TIM smiled, "I have my methods. And about the terminal; I don't think you've been informed of your new vessel. While I'm at it, I might as well introduce you to your new pilot. I think you'll like him; he's one of the best. Now I must go; you can't defeat the collectors with just weapons and I have to find out what they're up to behind that relay. Miranda and Jacob will accompany you; now good luck."

Marcus nodded as TIM ended the call and the N7 almost jumped at the sound of the familiar voice behind him as the call ended, turning around to see the one man he thought he'd never see again; even wearing a Cerberus uniform and cap.

"Joker?" Marcus asked out of disbelief.

"It's good to have you back, Shepard," The pilot greeted back, a big grin on his face.

{Loading...}

August 6, 2185

1205 hours.

Drydock, Level 7, Minuteman Station, Irisa System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.

"Joker, what are you doing with Cerberus?" Marcus asked the pilot as the two of them traversed Minuteman's corridors, passing numerous scientific areas, security guards, mechs and scientific personnel. The station was much larger than Lazarus and probably of a different classification due to the design differences between the stations. He would have been impressed by the stature of Cerberus' forces, especially their fleet, if it hadn't been for the cerberus logos pasted on every single wall he came across.

Joker grinned widely at that, "Easy. The Alliance essentially grounded me after what happened over Alchera and I had nowhere else to go. Besides, what would you have done? Stay with a faction that had basically disowned you, or join one that had said that they were going to bring your friend back to life and give you a purpose again?"

Marcus nodded, "Point. What about the others? Not the ground team, I know what happened to them, but what about Chakwas? Or Adams?" He left Pressly and Johnson out, remembering how they had been killed during the attack. He mourned their deaths, but had long since gotten over them. He hadn't gotten to know them very well and didn't take their deaths as hard as say, he might have taken Tali's or Garrus' if they died.

Joker nodded, "Chakwas is back and working with Cerberus too. Don't worry, these uniforms are just for show," Joker declared, tugging at his shirt with disgust, "We're only here for you. We don't work for them, we work with them; which I've heard is going to be for alot longer than we thought now that we have these collectors to deal with. Life was much simpler when it was just geth and a rogue turian we had to worry about."

Marcus snorted, "Tell me about it. What about Adams?"

Joker shook his head sadly, "He refused the offer. Chakwas tried to convince him, but he said he wasn't having any of it. Alliance officer through and through he said; he'd never betray them to join Cerberus, even for you. He even expressed his doubts at what Cerberus said about you and I couldn't blame him; resurrection isn't exactly like curing cancer."

Marcus nodded in disappointment, "Had it been for the alliance not sweeping the reaper threat under the rug, I'd have agreed with him, but now I can't go back. The Alliance and the Council have turned their backs on me and the Reapers, and it's up to us to finish what they should have started."

Joker nodded as they reached the final stretch to the dock; a single corridor, "We're with you on that commander. Just a pity that the old ground team won't be joining us; I really liked Tali and Garrus."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Tali would always occassionally hang out in the cockpit and we'd chat and Garrus and I would just trade jokes all the time. Those were the good old days."

"They certainly were. I met Tali on Freedom's Progress; she couldn't join us now, but pretty soon, I think she will. So don't worry, it's not all bad. And no matter what TIM says, I'm still going to search for the old team. I'm not one to abandon my friends."

Joker smiled at the use of the Cerberus leader's nickname, "And they'll have a shiny new ship to serve on, piloted by none other than myself, of course."

Marcus raised a brow at that as they reached an observation corridor that ringed around the dock. It was dark inside and he could barely make out the inside. Joker slowly limped over to a console under the windows, grinning from ear to ear.

"They only told me about this a week ago," Joker informed him, "I'm surprised they went to all the trouble of building this ship for us. Chakwas was more than ecstatic when she saw it. I'm sure you're going to love it."

Walking up to one of the glass panels aligning the walls, he crossed his arm and raised a brow at the former alliance pilot. Hitting the switch, the lights of the dock began to switch on, one by one. Joker came to stand next to him, crossing his own arms and waiting for Marcus' response as the final light switched on. Marcus was lost for words at the sight beheld before him; two years worth of melancholy vanishing.

There, hovering in the dock, was a sleek and beautiful new vessel. It was big; twice as big as the Normandy. It shared mostly the name design as the old frigate, except the wings at the back were 'clipped', with only the wing sections remaining and the prongs removed. The engines looked more powerful than before and more sleek. The gold and white colors of Cerberus aligned the stealth frigate's exterior, with a single one of the terrorist organization's insignia's aligning it's port side. And, glistening along it's side, was the exact letters he had expected from a ship of it's design.

CAW Normandy SR-2

He grimaced at the site of the letters 'CAW' (Cerberus Assault Warship) lining the vessel's designation, but the word 'Normandy' brought a smile to his face. He was home; the ship he commanded and lead into battle was reborn with him and would be his to command once again; his weapon against the collectors. The Normandy would could get the chance to avenge it's predecessor.

"You think this is cool?" Joker piped up, breaking the spectre from his trance, "You should check the inside. It's fucking awesome, I tell ya."

Marcus nodded and motioned for Joker to lead the way, to which the pilot excitedly accepted limping up ahead as the soldier followed him, continuing to examine the new Normandy's sleek outline and overall massive exterior. It would probably be slower than the original and definitely not as manevuerable, but it would still outrun any cruiser in the council fleets.

It wasn't along before they crossed the threshold seperating them from the ship and entered the Normandy's airlock, activating the all too familiar decontamination suite. However, the annoying VI was absent, and he thanked Cerberus for that. It had been useful in calculating firing solutions, but it was annoying for everything else. As the decon cycle concluded, the 'geth designed' door opened to omit them entrance into the vessel.

The greeting was much the same with a deck splitting off to the left and right; cockpit to the left, flight deck to the right. He gazed into the cockpit and found the design to be the same, although the observation windows on the ceiling had expanded and had shutters to close over them. The pilot's seat was much larger and the work stations on the left and right upper area were removed, leaving only three pilot areas, along with a captain's chair in the middle of the cockpit; his seat.

Miranda and Jacob were already waiting for him so they decided to show the commander the rest of the ship, Joker retreating to his seat in the cockpit, smiling all the way. Marcus lead the way turning to walk down the flight deck. It was much the same, but much brighter and filled with cerberus crew members executing their numerous tasks and preflight checks.

When he stepped off the flight deck and out into the actual CIC, he found it was definitely larger than the original's. Numerous stations, just like the ones aligning the flight deck, were situated around it's cirumfrance and the middle table holding the galaxy map was much the same. Infront of the galaxy map held a holographic view of the Normandy and all it's systems. Quite impressive.

As he moved along, he came along the ramp leading up to the galaxy map. To it's right was a terminal where a young cerberus woman worked eagerly and to the left was, what was explained, as his private terminal. Why it wasn't up in his cabin he had no clue. Seeing Marcus, the young woman looked up and smiled holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Commander Shepard, an honor to have you onboard," The woman greeted, "My name is Yeoman Kelly Chambers. I'm the ship's psychologist; I can deal with people's affairs and troubles as well as settle them, whilst reporting them to you. I can also inform you when you have new messages on your terminal."

He shook her hand and smiled, "I don't think that'll be nesscary. I'm quite capable of checking my own messages and I usually talk to the crew myself anyway. I'm sure you'll make a nice addition to the crew anyway." With that, he continued examining the ship.

Where the entrance to the debriefing room once was, was now an elevator which apparently replaced the stairs and allowed access to every part of the ship. Where the door leading to the left stairs once was now lead into a storage room which then lead into a Tech and Research Lab, essentially a large R&D Area. The right door lead to the ship's main armoury, which was where Jacob worked. Miranda was apparently his XO, which he cringed at the very thought at. Linking the armoury and the lab was a corridor which then lead to the main debriefing room.

Walking into the door to his left, he watched it unlatch and slide open to reveal a small room, cubed room. It served absolutely no purpose and he found himself questioning why it was even there. Storage compartment, maybe? Another door was at the opposite end of the room and they quickly stepped through it and into the actual Tech Lab. As he looked around, he awed at the impressive technology in his presence and the amount of equipment just lying around for some scientist to get his hands on.

To his immediate right was another door that presumably lead into the corridor that seperated the armoury and debriefing room. To his right was a holographic terminal that was, he assumed, a terminal for placing requisition orders and requests. Not far to the right of that terminal was a desk, most likely where the ship's resident scientist would be working and ontop of it was a private terminal and numerous pieces of lab equipment. Directly behind the desk was an observation window which, once again, had reinforced shutters.

Next to the corridor entrance was a large, glass tank on another desk and around that was more lab equipment. A matress lay to the back of the room and an observation window allowed him free view of the engine room two decks down; giving him a clear view of the ship's new drive core. An impressive sight indeed; he didn't have to imagine Tali's reaction when she came to see it.

With his inspection of the tech lab complete, they moved into the corridor, which was extremely short. Not surprising considering the space between the lab and armoury. To the left was another door leading into the debriefing room, to which he decided to check out first. As the door opened, the room looked entirely different from the original Normandy's. Instead of a viewscreen at the back and seven chairs surrounding the cirumfrance, there was a single observation window at the back allowing a clear view of the drive core and a single table in the middle of the room, a large, oval hole cut into the middle of it and no chairs. He noticed that the table had a holographic projector as a hologram of the Normandy was hovering above it.

Miranda also told him that the table could be retracted and serve as the projector for the ship's quantum entanglement communicator, just like the one he used to contact the Illusive Man on Minuteman Station. He marvelled at having access to his own communicator, but he imagined it was mostly for the Illusive Man to get reports from him. Stepping out, he headed into the armoury, hoping to be just as impressed as he was with the Tech Lab. Still, he found it odd to put an armoury right next to the ship's command center.

As the door opened, he found that he would have no quarrels with this part of the ship either. The room was as large as the tech lab, if not larger as it didn't have the trouble of that useless box seperating it from the CIC. Benches upon benches of weapons spread out as far as he could see and up to forty weapons lockers; some for the ground team and others for the ships' commando security detachment. Apparently the Illusive Man made no expense for men and firepower and donated a squad of his most elite commandos to the Normandy's crew. He figured he'd need them. He saw that most of the lockers were named, and three had his first name, Miranda's and Jacob's etched into them. Rows upon rows of weapons could be seen, some looking more lethal than others. Standing infront of the bench closest to the observation window, was Jacob, which was just across from the corridor's door.

Like the Tech Lab, this room also had a viewing window allowing observation of the engine core below. Jacob, hearing the door open, put down the assault rifle he was so happily cleaning and gave a snarky grin at the look of sheer awe on the commander's face. Aside from the quarian he apparently fell in love with mentioned on the dossier and the turian C-Sec officer he heard mention of, weapons were the man's best friend. He loved them and this armoury was heaven.

"Like what you see commander?" Jacob asked, breaking the spectre from his trance. Former spectre. He'd have to visit the Citadel and see about that at some point. The Council had alot to answer for.

"You'd better know it," Marcus grinned even wider, "Is my locker full?"

Jacob nodded, apparently hitting a realization as he motioned for the N7 to follow him, "Certainly. I've just finished cleaning and double checking your equipment. Don't worry, you've got state-of-the-art weaponry. We tried to retrieve your Diamond Back assault rifle and Armageddon Shotgun, but they've been discontinued and your ones appear to have been disintegrated in the Normandy's crash."

Marcus shook his head, "I gave my shotgun to Tali. As far as I know, she still has it. Besides, I'm pretty sure after seeing the weapons I just saw, my favourite weapons will be obsolete anyways. What do you have for me? If you have a geth pulse rifle, I'll make sure you get five promotions. That weapon worked wonders in the short time I had it."

Jacob chuckled as they reached his locker, "Unfortunately not commander; geth are a bit hard to come by these days. However, I think you'll be impressed by this, all the same. You'll have to enter your access code, I don't have the authorization to open it."

Marcus nodded, inputting his code. Watching the locker flip open, he looked inside not only to see his shiny new weapons, but also a state-of-the-art, masterly crafted suit of heavy combat armor as well. For their sake, the armor was either not of Cerberus design or they had them removed. Good; Tali's team was bad enough, he didn't want to imagine what anyone else's reaction would have been like.

Picking up his new assault rifle, he examined it. At least he guessed it was an assault rifle; from the design, it was more likely to be a heavy rifle or battle rifle. The design was very abstract; it had an open shoulder brace, reinforced trigger point and seperated into two horizontal sections; the bottom serving as the barrel while the upper half served as a red dot sight. A scope was positioned on the top of the weapon as well. Turning it over, he widened his eyes at the N7 logo on the weapon's other side.

"This weapon's N7. Top of the line stuff," Marcus pointed out.

"Top of the line is right. I've tested that baby and it has almost no recoil, but firepower heavy enough to give a krogan pause. Accurate, deadly and packs a punch. Makes our standard Mattock Heavy Rifles seem like plastic cap guns. It's called a N7 Valkyrie heavy rifle and it's definitely your kind of weapon."

With a smile to accompany his expression, he placed the Valkyrie pack into it's position in the locker and pulled out his new pistol. This weapon wasn't N7, but it did look powerful. It a grey polymer finish as well as a sleek design. Solid steel with firepower to accompany it. While the predator looked light, this looked heavy.

"That's a M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon," Jacob stated, "It has pretty big recoil but I'm sure with your cybernetics, you'll barely notice it. Like the Valkyrie but has way more stopping power. Limited magazine size but it makes up for that in firepower. Think of a shotgun, except smaller."

He grabbed the SMG next. It was the same model as Miranda's, a Tempest. The shotgun was apparently a Claymore shotgun; possibly one of the most lethal shotguns in the galaxy had only the krogan had the strength to deal with it's recoil. But Marcus was different; thanks to his enhancements, he could handle the kickback. He was starting to love them more and more.

And now came the armor. It was an unusual design; it had a sleek chrome exterior with a silver outline, followed by streaks of red. The helmet covered the entire head, with a breathing apparatus on the outside with red slit to act as his visor. The form of a red dragon was painted on the front of the armor, with numerous pieces of armor plating covering it's outline. It was a piece of work and looked very heavy.

"That armor is some advanced hardware, commander," Jacob piped up, "It came straight from Earth's Urban Combat Championships. It has power cells that costs as much as a EUCC (European Union for Coastal Conservation) rookie's contract. It has everything. That armor will keep you alive; that much is certain commander."

Marcus nodded as he finished examining the armor, not sure whether he should wear the armor meant for sports or proper combat armor. Still, he'd wear it for now whenever the time came. For now, he had a tour to complete. Motioning for Miranda to continue, he followed her outside and into the elevator, Jacob closing and locking his locker. He watched as the door for the elevator closed and Miranda hit the button for the Crew Deck.

Just like the old Normandy, the elevator was intolerably slow, but slightly faster. What felt like half an hour later they arrived on the Crew Deck, only for the door to open and a wall with the initials 'SR-2' to greet them. Stepping out, he found two corridors leading off to his left and right; a port and starboard observation deck from what Miranda told him. In these corridors was also a male and female restroom along with life support on the port side. He decided to check out Starboard Observation first.

Inside was a single couch, followed by, as the name suggests, a large observation window allowing free view of the dock's walls, but soon, a free view of space. Numerous assorted pieces of comfort and luxury were scattered all over the room, including a book case and reading table. Nodding his head, they continued to the port side, where he quickly checked life support; nothing interesting except a dark gloomy room, a case for storing equipment, a desk, camper bed and a window allowing observation of the engine core. This ship certainly had alot of those.

Then they entered Port Observation. It was much the same as Starboard, but with some differences; another window allowed observation of space and three couches were in the middle of the room. Numerous bookcases occupied the left side of the room while a bar was located on the right; a numerous assortment of alcohol accompanying the place. It was nice and he knew where he'd be coming to blow off some steam after missions. With a nod, they continued into the refurbished mess hall.

The place hadn't changed much apart from being slightly bigger. His quarters looked to be in the same location but when he looked, he saw that it wasn't his, but his XO's; Miranda's quarters. The mess table was the same but another one had been added on the other side of the pillars. A kitchen sort of arrangement was added next to the sleeper deck and one of the cerberus cooks was hard at work preparing food. The sleeper deck was aligned with sleeper pods and at the end of the deck was the gunnery control station. The medical bay was in the same location but when he went inside, he noticed just how much bigger it was. More tables, more equipment and Chakwas' desk was right next to the door, just on the left. A door at the back of the room lead to a room he wasn't allowed to enter for now. After exchanging pleasantries with Chakwas once again, they continued back towards the elevator, only for the ship's cook to call them over.

"Commander Shepard!" The man boomed, taking the man's hand and shaking it eagerly, "The same's Rupert. Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner! I'm the ship's cook! No more basic rations; you get proper food now! Here, have a taste!" The cook offered a spoonfull of a soup he was making and Marcus sipped it eagerly. Hiding his disgusted look and pretending to like it, he gave the man a thumbs up and they continued towards the elevator. Once inside, Miranda hit the engineering deck and Marcus finally swallowed.

"Gardner's cooking isn't the best, but at least it's something," Marcus pointed out. Miranda just remained silent. He also noticed that engineering had a whole deck to itself now. Must be damn big. As the door opened, he was immediately greeted by a long corridor that extended horizontally across from the elevator. To his immediate left and right were doors that lead to engineering while at both ends of the corridors was apparently the cargo bay and the Port Storage Compartment and Garbage Disposal. The corridor was aligned with observation windows that allowed a view of the shuttle bay down below.

Turning to his left, he moved through the door and found a stairway that lead further down. Ignoring it, he moved passed the second door and into engineering itself. He was greeted by two consoles manned by two cerberus engineers; introduced as Gabby and Kenneth. Ken was scottish and cheeky to an extent, while Gabby was the one that was more american and kept him in check, while both of them were great friends. Apparently they weren't even Cerberus; they were Alliance and served on the Perugia during the Battle of the Citadel, but when they saw Marcus' warnings get downplayed, they left and joined Cerberus to serve alongside him.

Another set of consoles exactly like theirs was four meters across from them; presumably being the chief engineer's console, which was absent. Seperating these four consoles was a pathway that lead into the main control room, where the drive core was situated and it's control terminal. Unlike the original Normandy's drive core, this one was much bigger but didn't turn and twist like the gears on an engine and didn't glow bright blue; it was a simple, large, grey spherical object that hummed and vibrated with energy. Once again, it seemed the chief engineer was absent.

"Where's the ship's chief engineer?" Marcus asked Miranda as they left, saluting Ken and Gabby as they left and stepped into the elevator, heading down to the shuttle bay.

"The ship doesn't have one," Miranda stated, "Currently, Gabby and Ken run engineering. The Illusive Man wanted the best of the best. He tried to get in contact with Adams and propose a post for him, but he rejected it."

Marcus nodded as he felt regret pour over his features. No Adams. Although, when Tali joins the ship...yes. If she's a Colonel in the quarian military, then I have no doubt she'll make an excellent chief engineer. Adams would be proud.

Finally, they hit the final deck. The Shuttle Bay. It was definitely large; it stretched out for what seemed like hundreds of meters, but was actually only thirty-one meters in length. Two Cerberus-style Kodiak Shuttles rested in the Normandy's bay, all tethered to launch pads on both the port and starboard sides, with a single hangar bay door at the end of the hangar. Two air control consoles rested at the front of the bay, with numerous heavy metal support beams holding up the ships' integrity. It was pretty damn impressive.

Seeing all the decks checked out, Marcus and Miranda stepped back into the elevator and he watched Miranda hit what appeared to say Deck One. Good, back to the CIC. He wanted to leave for Omega immediately; the dossier mentioned a skilled marksman and a brilliant scientist were located there and that's where he'd begin his search for recruits.

"Now the final deck. I think you'll like this one the most commander," Miranda stated cooly.

Marcus raised his eyebrows, "Another deck? What else could you possibly have?"

"Your quarters of course," Miranda stated as the elevator finally arrived at the ship's top deck, the door opening into a small area. 'Captain's Quarters' was etched on the wall, followed by a Cerberus logo. Rolling his eyes, he followed Miranda inside. What met his eyes was beyond belief.

His new quarters were huge. From what he saw, there was two platforms to the room. The first platform, the one they stood on, contained a large 'L-shaped' room with no door to his right which contained a large desk. A terminal and large amounts of datapads lay on the desk, presumably his working area. A glass fibre window which Miranda told him was not only a protective case for any ship models he decided to buy, but also acted as a vidscreen for conversations. To the back of that was a restroom; a sink and a shower cubicle, accompanied by a toilet.

Along the left side of the wall was a large aquarium or fish tank, packed with crystal clear water and numerous fish and underwater plants. A railed stairway lead onto the second platform. At the back of this platform was a large queen-sized bed, with sheets that were pure white and two large plush pillows. Cerberus didn't exactly care about turning the interior of a warship into a luxury liner. To the right was a small circular desk with an L-shaped sofa to surround it. To the left of his bed was a stool where a picture frame lay followed by a lamp. On the other side was something similiar, except with a music station accompanying it. An observation window was put into the ceiling of the cabin, just above his bed, but also had shutters. He'd have a difficult time waking up to that.

"This is my quarters? Don't you think this is all a bit overboard?" Marcus questioned the woman, only to find that she wasn't present anymore, the doors closing behind her. He snorted, "Could have at least given some warning." With a sigh, he climbed the stairs and fell into the seat at his desk, finding another picture frame located on his desk, right of his terminal. Smiling, he got out his omni-tool and synced with the frame, uploading a picture he had taken of Tali, the quarian trying the best to smile behind her mask. The result was just adorable. He was surprised his omni-tool had surprised his crash landing into Alchera, but didn't question it too much. He was alive, logic could go fuck itself.

He sighed as he smiled at Tali's picture. Soon she would be back onboard and then he'd have to reunite the team. It'd be just like the old days.

He hit the intercom on his desk and selected the cockpit. An unknown feminine voice answered through the comms.

"Yes commander?" Marcus didn't recognize the voice at all. It was alien to him.

"Who's this? I don't believe we've met," Marcus stated.

"I am the Normandy's Enhanced Defense Intelligence. The crew refer to me as EDI," the voice answered.

He nodded, "Ah, the ship's new VI. Could you inform Joker to set acourse for Omega as soon as possible, please?"

The voice didn't take anytime in answering, "Of course commander. I must also inform you that I am not a VI. I'm a fully-aware AI."

Marcus felt his head hit the table faster than EDI could finish.

This'll be fun.

"Of course, my initial reaction to EDI was less than subtle. Afterall, I had devoted my life to destroying the geth all those years ago, and they were as close to AI as we were going to get."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I'm sure I remember my reaction being quite the same, but we all got used to her, didn't we?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Certainly did. I miss her, too. Tell me, did she survive the war Tali? Did she survive what I...what I did?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"No. She didn't survive Mark, I'm sorry. But that's the point, we need to think about the present. Now, you had just gotten the Normandy and you had headed to Omega. What happened next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Next stop, criminal haven. I think I'm going to need a soda to get through this one. Omega was like what my alter-ego imagined in his private time."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

I AM OMEGA!

August 11, 2185

1042 hours.

Dock, Dyuko District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

Hearing about Omega was one thing, seeing it in all it's criminal, repulsive glory was a whole different story. As soon as he had stepped out of the Normandy's airlock, the putrid stench of the place and the sheer state it was in was enough to confirm his opinion of the station. With a inhale of breath, he must coughed back out the annoying smell that kept sifting up his nose. It was repulsive and extremely unpleasant.

The hallway they walked along was gloomy but lit. Numerous piles of garbage litted the corridor, along with what looked like a putrid pile of vorcha excrement. The Citadel may have been dirty, but it was at least subtle. Omega wasn't even trying. He walked down the corridor with Miranda and Jacob flanking his sides, all three of them armed and armoured. On Omega, it was best to bring all the weapons you could. And in his Blood Dragon Armor, he'd make an intimidating foe indeed.

He strolled down the corridor with only one goal at hand; find the recruits he needed. EDI, as much as he didn't really trust the AI, and neither did Joker apparently as they argued constantly, had provided up-to-date info on them. Apparently Archangel had pissed off every merc on the station along with his team while the salarian who's name was Mordin Solus, a salarian he had fought with on Virmire was helping cure a plague that had caused an entire sector to go into quarantine.

As they moved down the corridor, he watched as a salarian in ragged clothes rushed down towards them, a large, coy grin on his face.

"New visitors, always welcome!" the salarian declared as he came to a stop in front of them, "Pay you good, lots of work, plenty to do!"

The salarian didn't get to say much more as a batarian, two turians and a few humans approached from outside, the batarian shoving the salarian aside. Marcus visibly flinched at the sight of a batarian, but he made no further motions, deciding to see what this man wanted.

"Leave Fargut. Aria T'Loak requests an audience with these humans," The batarian declared, shooting a glare down on the salarian.

"Of course, Moklan! Whatever Aria wants!" The salarian named Fargut declared, running off as the turians allowed them passage. Marcus dropped his grip on his SMG to the side of his torso. Obviously the batarian was one of Aria's cohorts, sent by Aria, the ruler of Omega, to escort them to her den. He really didn't have time for this however. Before he could object, the batarian named Moklan spoke up.

"Commander Shepard. It's not every day a dead spectre turns up here. Aria wants to know what brought you to Omega." Moklan stated.

"I'm on a dangerous mission to recruit the most elite to destroy the collectors, who are threatening human colonies. Two of those people are on Omega and I've come to acquire their services. That's all your...leader needs to know. Besides, I wasn't aware that she even knew who I was." Marcus replied bluntly.

"We had you and your ship tagged as you entered the Terminus. Aria has sent me to escort you to Afterlife. She wants to speak with you, as she does all new visitors here. She doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"That's too bad, because I don't have time to waste with petty greetings." Marcus responded aggressively.

The batarian growled, "Noone keeps Aria waiting. They usually end up dead."

Marcus smirked, "If that were Saren's policy, it didn't work for him, did it? Do you really think I'm intimidated by her? I fought an army of geth and krogan, killed the Council's top spectre and died before being revived. I don't think some asari is going to be a problem for me, especially as I already took down an asari commando squad before."

"Commander, I think now is the time to be pragmatic," Miranda spoke up, "Aria could have valuable intel on our recruits; afterall, she does rule this station and therefore knows everything that goes on in this station. She would be our best bet."

"Miss Lawson's statement is logical," EDI piped up through his helmet's comm system.

Marcus sighed as he motioned for Moklan to lead them to Afterlife, "You lead, we'll follow." With that, the batarian and his group of paid thugs began to lead the trio towards Afterlife, the capital of Omega in many respects. As they passed through a door on the right, they were omitted into a massive hub of activity. Members of numerous species moved about, trying not to be caught in Omega's every day violent schedule. To the left was mostly a rapid transit terminal, or a kind of it along with a less than scenic view of Omega's cityscape.

To his right was two footpaths that extended towards two doors that lead into the district's shopping sector. Directly ahead of them was a massive structure with the blazing letters 'AFTERLIFE' looming over them. An animation of pure fire played inside the letters, a reference to its name sake. The music from the strip club was so intense and loud, he could hear it from his position outside. A short flight of stairs lead up to a blast door that allowed entrance to the club. A elcor bouncer was outside organizing a long line of people trying to get inside, its monotone voice arguing with an annoyed human and his turian girlfriend.

And to think this place had originally been an asari asteriod minerals mine. Now it was nothing but a dump. He resented even standing on the rock. Moklan continued to lead them up the stairs, the elcor moving to protest. When the batarian stated that their presence was demanded by Aria, the elcor immediately backed off, just in time to stop the human who had attempted to sneak in, dragging in his girlfriend, but to no aveil.

The doors slid open, omitting them into a long corridor that lead towards another blast door to which the main club must have been located. Again, the entire corridor was illuminated in an intense crimson glow from the animation of flames on the side walls, sofas aligning the walls. A very particular group of batarians in the corridor turned towards them, ignoring Moklan and moving straight for Marcus.

"Hey, human. I don't like your kind and I'm sure as hell not going to tolerate your-"

Before the batarian even got to finish his sentence, Marcus had already reacted. His foot shot out to kick the batarian in the knee, emitting an audible snap as the batarian screamed in agony. One of his companions tried to come to his assitance, launching a right hook to Marcus' head, but the man reacted with lightning reflexes, grabbing the arm and twisting it before headbutting the batarian. The rest steadily backed off before running off. Miranda raised her eyebrows while Jacob looked impressed. Nevertheless, he still had to ask.

"Uh, commander. Was that really nessacary?" Jacob asked.

Marcus shook his head, "I don't tolerate racist bullshit. Now come on, we've got a date with the queen of Omega." Without waiting for an answer, he continued, seeing that Moklan had waited for them. Miranda and Jacob quickly followed. As the blast door opened, they were able to see Afterlife in all it's grandeur.

The music was beyond intense, it was ear-throbbing. The central platform was a ring surrounding a spire like structure that had the close up feed of one of the many asari strippers dancing up on the spire's upper platform, the many asari pole dancing as they executed numerous sexual poses. He hated these places. They were a symbol of the repulsive society they lived in.

Numerous tables and a bar lay to the right of the club while the entrance to a private room was on the left. They followed Aria's bodyguard around the center platform and up a set of stairs to Aria's perch; her 'inner sanctum', as he preferred to call it. Inside was a squad-sized group of bodyguards, with the asari he assumed was asari sitting in the middle of a sofa overlooking the club. She wore a black and white leather vest which, to her credit, hid a modest amount of cleavage and wore other things typically assiociated with crime bosses. She had numerous facial markings but most of all was her intolerable smug grin; something he didn't like at all. Moklan made a swift leave, allowing a turian to bring up his omni-tool and run a scan of the spectre.

Marcus chuckled lightly to himself, causing the turian scanning him to raise his brow.

"If you're looking for weapons," Marcus began, unholstering his SMG and shining it infront of the turian, "You're not doing a very good job."

Aria smiled darkly, "I had to know it was actually you. It could have been anyone wearing your face. Cloning isn't exactly unachievable."

With the turian's scan over, he backed away, telling Aria that they were clean.

Marcus nodded, "You run Omega?"

Aria laughed loudly as she stood up, looking down upon the club like a queen would her subjects. She radiated power and authority; likely decades of intimidation under her belt. She suddenly stopped, before raising her arms into the air dramatically.

"I AM Omega."

Miranda and Jacob raised their eyebrows at Aria while Marcus remained unimpressed. The asari had a way with words, but she wasn't a philosopher. With a grin that could freeze water, Aria turned, arms crossed and hips swayed.

"But you need more, don't you?" Aria declared, "Everyone always needs something and they call come to me," The asari then raised her arms as if reading off a long list, "I'm the boss, CEO, queen, if you're feeling dramatic. It doesn't matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule." With that Aria fell into her couch, her smug grin larger than any he'd seen on anyone else's face. It made him cringe.

"Don't fuck with Aria." With the asari's introduction concluded, Marcus just crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I'd like it more if it actually mattered to me," Marcus stated, "Still, it's catchy, I'll give you that much."

Aria chuckled, "I like you, Shepard, but don't think flattery gets you somewhere. Ask your questions and leave. I have things to do and mercs to dispose of." With that, the asari crossed her legs and Marcus sat on the chair opposite her.

"I need to know where I can find Archangel and a Professor Mordin Solus." Marcus pondered.

Aria nodded, "Ah yes, the viglante wanting to make a difference and the doctor who never shuts up. Both of them are in equally dangerous situations. Archangel is holed up in some abandoned building. Last I heard, his team got slaughtered by the Blood Pack and he's managed to get the major merc companies to unite against him. Only a matter of time before he's dead. As for Solus, he's trying to cure the plague in the Gozu District. Apparently it's lethal and infects every species aside from vorcha and humans, the former being immune to diseases anyway. Blue Suns used to own that place, but that changed when the plague rolled in."

Marcus' eyes widened when he heard one of his recruits was in trouble, "What district and general area is Archangel in?"

Aria huffed, "Look, if you want to get in with the fun of killing him, just go join the Blue Suns downstairs. They're looking for young freelancers looking for an easy score to use as troops to storm Archangel's hideout; apparently he's made life hell for Tarak's forces, killed Jaroth's brother and has a personal vendetta with Garm. I'll warn you though; the freelancers are just cannon-fodder. They literally just throw you into his line of fire."

Marcus smiled and laughed, "We're not here to kill him, we're here to recruit him for an important mission."

Aria raised her left brow, "You'll make alot of enemies by teaming up with Archangel. The Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack want his blood. You'll be declaring a personal war."

"Trust me, they're nothing compared to what I've fought." Marcus countered.

"Believe me, I know," Aria responded dryly, "Now if that's all, I have a quarantine to maintain and mercs to feed. I really don't need Tarak charging in here getting all angry because I didn't supply him with fresh weapons and freelancer fodder."

Marcus nodded and left, Miranda and Jacob following behind him, not saying a word. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned to face Miranda and Jacob.

"You know what's about to happen, don't you?" Marcus stated.

Seeing Miranda and Jacob nod, he smiled, "Then let's go do it. Archangel is relying on us to save his sorry ass, and I'm not going to disappoint. Let's go get 'recruited'" With that, the trio headed down towards the hiring area. They were completely unaware of just what they'd have to face.

{Loading...}

August 7, 2185

1755 hours.

Mess Hall, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Destination Unknown.

Colonel Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

Tali sat at the mess hall table, happily munching on her nutrient paste. It was mostly quiet at this time of hour, with the crew mostly out working. Second shift in engineering had recently concluded and she had no marine training sessions scheduled. So here she was, alone with her thoughts. Able to enjoy them and fall into them. She enjoyed every second.

Seeing Marcus on Freedom's Progress had been something totally unexpected and thought to be impossible. But it had happened; he had popped up like nothing had happened and they had embraced. She had almost regretted doubting him, but she had to be sure. Now that she was she felt happier than ever. Her life finally had meaning once more. She thought of what would happen on Haestrom; whether Marcus would arrive soon enough; to save her, or watch her die.

It was a mixed bag. Bottled up emotions just came flooding out one by one in no particular order and she was helpless to hide them. It's why the mess hall was such a good refuge for her; noone to hear her emotional outbreak. At times she felt confused, sad, ashamed and angry. But overall, she felt an epic euphoria that continued to overthrow her other emotions. It was fantastic. She couldn't wait until she was with him once more.

Tali's thoughts were interrupted as she heard the door open and she looked up to see who had entered. To her surprise, it was the powerful and authoritive walk of Kal that greeted her, the brigadier general moving to sit opposite the woman, a tube of water in his hand.

"Ma'am," Kal greeted, "Didn't expect to find you in here."

Tali laughed lightly, "Neither did I. I guess I just need time to think."

"About Shepard?"

Tali hesitated before nodding.

Kal chuckled, "That's one hell of a man you've got after you. Had it been a damn turian, I'd be chastising you for your choice in men and I'd probably kill him soon after. But Shepard; that's a man I trust. You've got quite a man."

Tali was lost for words. She didn't think she was that obvious, "But how did you-"

Kal simply shrugged, "Word gets around quickly. Some of the survivors of your platoon apparently saw you get intimate with him and started telling everyone. I was bound to get the gossip travelling to me pretty fast; sucks when your unit is under my command."

Tali began wringing her fingers, "Does...you know..."

Kal seemed confused at first but moments later, pieced it together, "Oh! No, no, no. Your father has no idea; I've made absolutely sure he didn't find out. I can't imagine the fit he'd have if he learned his daughter was mating with a human. As for Shala, she's pretty oblivious to it all. I've made sure it stays within the marines. As far as I know, no civilian will ever know."

Tali nodded her thanks, "Thank you. I care about Marcus and want to be with him, but I can't have my father finding out. The reprecussions..."

"I know."

With that, they fell into silence, nothing else to be said. After awhile, Tali spoke up again.

"How's Veetor doing?"

"Healing pretty well from what I've heard," Kal explained, "Considering his reputation and the situation he was in, he seemed pretty okay when he was taken to medical. Doctor Elan'Shiya is taking a look at him right now."

Tali smiled behind her mask, "I can only imagine why..."

If she could see his face, he'd probably be raising an eyebrow, "Imagine what, ma'am?"

"Oh, nothing, you wouldn't understand," Tali teased, "And please, for the love of the ancestors, just call me Tali. Have you forgotten you're a higher rank than me? If anything, I should be calling you 'sir', you're deserving of all the credit."

Kal shook his head, "I'll try to keep that in mind. But we have to keep things professional, don't we, Colonel?"

Tali groaned, "Please, it's just Tali. When we're off duty, we go by first name basis, okay?"

Kal raised his hands in defense of himself, "Rightio, ma'am."

Tali decided she'd let that slip and decided to talk to him about something else, "Kal, have you noticed that Peta hasn't been harassing all that much?"

Kal nodded, "Yeah, so? He's probably learnt that flirting with a marine colonel isn't the most brighest idea; especially when she has a combat drone, a shotgun and had personally put down the rogue spectre Arterius himself."

Tali rolled her eyes, "I just don't know. I've never known Peta to be one who just gives up. And he's never been a lover of finales; forfeit isn't his game."

Kal smirked, "What, you think he's hatching some diabolical plan?"

Tali slapped him on the shoulder, "Bosh'tet. I just don't like his silence, that's all."

"Listen ma-, I mean Colonel, I mean-whatever. Listen, I know he's been a bit of a mute but he may just be coming to terms with rejection. You know how us males are like."

"Trust me, I've had experience," Tali stated, sighing, "But that was back during the times of the old traditions and the bos'makaz. You know full well that those traditions died on our homeworld when we left it behind after the great war. Males aren't the same; females are more desperate for children these days that they'll take any male they can get."

"That's because our race is dying. It's practically a necessity. I'm surprised the conclave hasn't declared it a law or something," Kal dictated, "But that's hardly the point. Peta got rejected and he doesn't like it. Besides, to be honest, you had plenty of males to fall for other than him. Peta just makes me feel unclean. He feels like the bacteria that gets into your suit during battle repair."

"Talking about females," Tali added, giving a snarky grin as she leaned in, "I think Madi might be looking for a male to take comfort in and I think she's got her eyes on you." The quarian added a wink for emphasis.

Kal snorted, "Madi and I are marines; we both know that it's likely we won't see each other again. Everytime we go on a mission it's like writing our death notes. I don't see the point in battlefield romance if it be ended by a simple suit breach or lucky pirate."

Tali shrugged, "Marcus seemed to be able to look past that. He lost half his squad on Elysium, lost the rest on Torfan and then lost his second squad on Akuze. And yet, we're both in love. It's not about the loss Kal, it's about the memories. Collect them while you still can. Besides, I've seen you and Madi in action. You two coordinate like a pack of wolves hunting their prey. You know the geth don't stand a chance against you two."

"Wolves?"

"It's a human animal. I'll explain it later."

"I think we've got time to explain it now."

"You're not escaping talking about Madi. You know you'll have to make a move on her at some point."

"Why can't females make the first move?"

"Because-"

Before she could explain the necessity of a male confessing his feelings to a female, the door opened again and omitted a familiar but unexpected form. Peta.

The quarian appeared to glare at them from across the room before sitting down next to Tali. Right next to her, and it almost appeared like he was getting as close as he could to her. Even rejection didn't seem to spell it too him.

In truth, despite Tali's rejection of him, Peta still had strong feelings for her, he just did well at hiding them. As he watched Tali talk to Kal, ignoring him, he continued to secretly watch her as she spoke. Without them noticing, he opened his omni-tool and secretly keyed the icon to activate his nerve-stim pro on. Turning off his vocalizer, he silently moaned as he continued to eat his nutrient paste.

He knew Tali didn't like him. He was more than aware. But in a land full of blackmail, knew the most perfect one of all. Maybe if I tell Rael'Zorah that his daughter is dating a human, he'll make her change her mind?

Maybe he would. Maybe he wouldn't.

{Loading...}

August 7, 2185

1530 hours.

Medical Bay, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Destination Unknown.

Pilgrim Veetor'Nara nar Rayya, Chief Medical Officer Kaso'Dbi vas Neema.

"Veetor, I need you to stop shaking so I can take a look at your suit, please," Kaso requested. Keelah, he was being unreasonable. He kept mumbling about monsters and swarms and shuddered so much that he couldn't get him to stop.

"I want to see my parents. Need to complete my pilgrimage. Need to tell them of the monsters," Veetor continued ranting. He didn't understand. Why was he being held here. Why did the doctor want to look at him so badly? Why was it that important? He just wanted to see his parents on the Rayya. He wanted to be removed from the noise of the people. They scared him. He was scared. He wanted peace.

"You can go home as soon as I can look at you," Kaso responded.

Still, Veetor was reluctant, even after he reduced his movements. He didn't want anyone touching him. They weren't normal; doctors weren't normal. He knew they wanted to put him alone, away from the other people, away from his parents. He didn't want to leave them though. He wanted to be alone, but with mum and dad. He wanted to feel safe. This doctor wasn't making it easy.

Suddenly, they both heard the door open to their right and both turned to see who had entered. In the doorway, omni-tool raised, was a single quarian woman wearing a long blue veil, her mask a shade of amber. Like all females, she had a very slim and attractive build, her suit skintight. He recognized this quarian; the one who made him feel safe. The doctor he could trust. The good doctor.

"Ah, you must be Doctor Shiya," Kaso greeted, lowering his omni-tool, "I'm glad you were able to come. Veetor has been most uncooperative."

"What did he request?" Elan'Shiya asked, taking a scan of Veetor. For a brief second, Veetor felt entranced with her eyes and stunning veil. Blue. That was his favourite color. It reminded him of the ocean; long and calm, full of tranquility. Just like Elan'Shiya. She had been his medical practitioner onboard the Rayya and they had slowly become acquanited. However, Veetor felt a strong feeling in his chest whenever he was near her. He didn't know what it was, but it always seemed to be there when she was near.

Kaso sighed, "He requested to see his parents. I told him-"

"Then that's exactly what he needs, you primal idiot," Elan scolded, "Veetor is traumatized and needs proper care, not some doctor prodding him with an omni-tool," Elan's voice became softer as she turned to Veetor, "Veetor, you're coming with me back to the Rayya. You'll be able to see your parents. I'm sure you're absolutely exhausted. Don't worry, you're pilgrimage has been cancelled. Captain Kar'Danna has made you crew of the Rayya."

Kaso fumed, "Under who's juristiction-"

"That of captain Kar'Danna vas Rayya." Elan slapped in.

"A captain has-"

"Kar has no authorization on the Neema, I know that you bosh'tet," Elan interrupted again, snapping towards Kaso and taking a menacing step towards him, "But Veetor is a member of the Rayya's crew and a captain's responsibility and authority extends to crew, no matter the vessel they harbor. And if that's not enough, Admirals Gerrel, Raan and Koris authorized the transfer themselves, as have I, as medical officer of the Rayya. Come Veetor, you're going home."

Veetor nodded eagerly and followed behind Elan, the woman dismissing Kaso with a wave. The man snorted as he went back to his desk, not happy with the events that had just transgressed. Veetor wringed his hands as he caught up with Elan, moving into a stroll next to the woman as they approached the shuttle bay.

"Doctor, thank you for taking me back," Veetor thanked.

Elan simply nodded, "It was per the parental request you be brought back and Captain Kar'Danna isn't known for rejecting the requests of his crew. Besides, the last thing you need is Kaso poking at you. The man's obsessive."

Veetor continued to smile as they continued towards the shuttle bay. He couldn't wait to see his parents again. His nightmare was over.

For now.

"And so now, we went off to save the Archangel. The Guardian of Omega. Sentinel of the Innocent. So many names, but we only had one for him."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I don't know. I think I used to know him as the Bosh'tet."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"True. Anyway, we joined up as freelancers for the Blue Suns. Now all we needed to do was head out to the district Archangel was in. It wasn't just a recruitment mission now; it was a rescue op."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

For all those who were begging for a Veetor/Elan fanfic, I've made an exception. Instead of making an entire independent fanfiction for it, I've decided to go with just implementing it into Prophecy and possibly the last two sequels. I won't be focusing on it too much, but at least you get alittle of what you want.

Also, have any of you played Metro: Last Light? If not, I recommend buying it. It is a game with fantastic atmosphere and characters. It also has a great soundtrack, with one particular track being very sad. If you want to know the name of the track, it's called 'Redemption.' Great game. Failed as a horror game in my opinion, but was better as a great story driven game. Try it out.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWELVE:

CONFLICT ARISING

June 6, 2251

1838 hours.

Main Bridge, Archangel-Class Battleship CSV Blood Horizon HA-6, Maginot Line, Athena Nebula.

Terra-Rannoch War.

Captain Xerxes vas Blood Horizon.

"Sir, we're picking up activity near Thessia."

"Tag and track. Inform orbital control. Maintain position."

"Copy. Activity being tracked. Intel relayed to Orbit."

Xerxes sat back in his command chair. The numerous human and quarian crew members on the bridge were idle, either performing stationary tasks or just sitting there, nothing to do. That's what orbital postings usually were; boring. They got plenty of action from Covenant raiders, but nothing out of the ordinary and those usually happened once a week. The Covenant would consolidate a small task force, then throw themselves at them. They would be obliderated by the Maginot defensive line and they would repeat.

The Maginot Line was located in the once inhabited Athena Nebula, in the Parnitha system. The defensive formation was located above the planet Tevura, where the border between Dominion and Non-Dominion space was formed. The Maginot Line was named after the great defensive line used in WWI by the French and briefly during World War II on Earth. During the First World War, it was known as an impenetrable defense which is why this defensive line was christened in it's name.

The Maginot Line was powerful. After the firing of the Crucible to end the Reaper threat during the Reaper War, many of the mass relays were disabled, mostly along the border to the currently known Dominion space. How perfectly convenient. The only large formation of relays still active for use in the region was in the old nebula, which is why the line was constructed. The Line consisted of numerous orbital gun stations, all with high-powered thanix main guns and a large fleet consisting of ships from the Systems Coalition, Quarian Totalitarian Republic and the Krogan Confederacy. All spearheaded by the pride of the quarian/geth fleet, the Deep Savannah; a massive dreadnought-carrier captained by Lord Admiral Nizo'Gerrel vas Deep Savannah; Han'Gerrel's eldest daughter.

The more Xerxes looked upon Thessia, the more he felt deep sorrow for the asari people. The geth platform known as Xerxes was constructed shortly before the Battle of Constantinople, seventeen years after the war began. A friend of his, a drell by the name of Kolyat Krios, had told him about the asari's dreadful fate. During the early days of the war, the Council, when they still controlled the Citadel, had tried to intervene in the Human-Batarian conflict by sending envoy ships. This failed when the vessels were shot down by the coalition vessels, causing total war to erupt.

The asari became the first target of the Coalition. It was a horrible, drastic fate and they were utterly ruthless in their war against the asari. Xerxes had been programmed to believe the asari had started the war by ordering a nuclear strike on Earth, but the drell's words had told him otherwise. By the time the turians and salarians finally intervened, the asari had only the Parnitha system left, and that didn't last long. The remnants of the asari navy put up an amendable fight, but from the losses they suffered during the conflict with the reapers, they were no match for the combined coalition's forces. The war was quickly taken to Thessia itself and it hadn't been long before the bombs fell; nuclear fire decimating Thessia.

What was left of the once beautiful planet was a desolate wasteland; Tuchanka's successor in blood. The asari fled for all it was worth; with the asari military reduced to nothing and the republic crumbling around them, they had no choice but to flee. It got even worse when the Second Battle of the Citadel broke out, with the coalition invading the Citadel. Thanks to sleeper agents produced by the Coalition's new intelligence agency, Prometheus, they managed to disable the Citadel's defensive systems and the fleet poured in. They didn't stand a chance. During the commotion, the council was assassinated and the asari's fall was complete. What was left of their proud race was now scattered amongst the stars, a shadow of their former glory. The Justicars were also nothing but a shattered memory, the last of them, Samara, having gone into hiding.

So there it was Thessia; nothing but a floating rock of slag, it's beauty sapped away like water on a stream. He shook the thoughts from his head. He was geth and had only two purposes; to serve the quarian republic and defend it's glory; and to destroy the enemies of Rannoch. If he had to nuke a few more worlds, so be it. For the glory of the republic, he kept telling himself. All of them are acceptable losses.

"Sir, activity build up. I think it's another attack."

Xerxes immediately sat up, "Inform the Deep Savannah. Raise shields and charge up the thanix gun. Load up the missile banks. Give me a view of the Parnitha relay. Sound the general's quarters."

He watched as the relay came up on the main view screen, the relay scorched and numerous pieces missing; all after effects of the event known as the Thessian Fallout. One by one, numerous sections of the ship reported in. Engineering, Mess, Security, Armoury, Port and Starboard Cargo, Port and Starboard Guns and finally the bridge. With all units called in and ready for battle, he waited. Before long, his communications officer reported back.

"The Deep Savannah reports that the fleet is being mobilized. We've been ordered to cover the left flank and all orbital guns are waiting for target priortization. Savannah moving to front of formation and Admiral Gerrel has ordered the fleet to assume arrowhead formation."

Xerxes nodded for the navigation officer to perform the task, watching as the battleship moved into position infront of the left flank, where a single carrier and it's destroyer escorts were assuming battle formations, a large picket of interceptors acting as a mobile shield for the carrier. Before long, the relay began to pulse with blue energy. The batarian ships were coming through.

The first covenant ship was a batarian cruiser, followed by numerous turian frigates and virtual alien keyships. The turians were another race who had been fractured by the war; however, it was due to their own self-destruction. After the Palaven Revolution, the turian military splintered and their allegiances became disjointed. Some joined the Coalition, while others became mercenary companies, joined the Covenant or simply destroyed themselves. Palaven itself, along with the Apien Crest, was now within Earth's realm of occupation. The Virtual Aliens owed their existence to the turians and therefore joined them out of allegiance. Before they knew it, the enemy fleet had turned fully and were moving with all speed towards them.

"Target the lead warships and fire the missile pods. Leave the flagship to the Savannah. Helm, bring us full starboard, all broadside." Xerxes ordered.

He felt the ship tilt slightly as they moved into attack position and he caught a glimpse of the enemy fleet opening fire. Streaks of MAC rounds and missiles shot through space, impacting the Maginot. Most of the attacks were focused on the Savannah, which, like most dreadnoughts of the current age, possessed shields adapted from Reaper technology. Essentially, all the shots pinged off harmlessly and the Savannah responded with a bright green beam of light; a sight that would have terrified them back in the Reaper War. The weapon cut through space and impacted the lead batarian cruiser, bypassing it's barriers and slicing the ship cleanly in half, explosions ripping through the ship's hull as it died. Xerxes quietly contemplated on the ship's total crew.

Two moments after assuming attack position, he was informed of a flotilla of turian frigates and two lead virtual alien keyships, he ordered the missile pods to be unloaded for the Falcon Compass, the fleet's carrier, to deploy bomber wings to harass the enemy keyships, as they were by far the most powerful of the covenant's fleet. The reason they were named keyships was due to their design. Shaped like a key, pure and simple. Keyships were probably on par with a dreadnought in terms of armor, but when it came to actual weapons and shields, they were as weak as a light cruiser.

The Blood Horizon's starboard side lit up with weapons fire as numerous missiles erupted from it's weapons banks, homing in on their enemies. One of the turian frigates tried to evade the first salvo, as it was directly in the brunt of the attack's path, but soon found it's shields annilhated and armor ripped to shreds, leaving the ship helpless. It was soon finished off, along with a few other disabled frigates by the returning bomber squadrons after they finished distracting the keyships.

One of the keyships actually managed to close the distance with Xerxes' battleship, but it didn't really matter to him. Before he had time to fire the thanix cannon, one of the planet's orbital guns fired a thanix missile directly into the ship's bow, literally shearing the ship's bow off and leaving a gaping hole where the ship's crew flew into space. It didn't take long for his ship to finish it off with a few shots of the GARDIAN turrets.

The second keyship attempted to regroup with the rest of the failed assault, but, once again, one of the orbital guns didn't give it a single chance as it scored a direct hit on the ship's engines, disabling the vessel and allowing pursuing corvettes to pick it off. Seeing that that the bulk of the enemy force had focused on their center, he didn't worry too much. For a faction that had turians on their side, they weren't very strategically aware. Attacking the enemy's center is a suicide maneveur, especially when the Savannah and the majority of their heavy forces; meaning the geth and krogan vessels, were focused there. The krogan ships and the geth merely seemed to team up on them, laying waste to the enemy while the Savannah ripped apart the enemy keyships.

Then came the final phase of the battle; the enemy's routing. Taking what was left of their woefully equipped fleet, the enemy retreated back through the relay, the line securing another victory. As he announced secure from battlestations and ordered the ship to return to it's original patrol position, he pondered on why the Covenant just threw ships at them. It was almost like they were probing; trying to get a feel for where their forces were...

Whatever it was, Xerxes dismissed. Right now, he had just received a message from the collective on Rannoch stating that the Republic had just approved sending a republican envoy, strictly quarian representatives with a krogan bodyguard lead by Battlelord Urdnot Grunt, to Alpha, the capital of Sanctum territory.

Hopefully it went better than the Covenant peace treaties those ended in perputuated war. And dead politicians.

What was the point anyway? What was keeping them from simply nuking the enemy homeworlds? They had the fleets, the resources and the men. What was stopping them? Even politicians had to understand that the Dominion was superior in terms of resources, military, politics, colonial advancement and overall imperial strength. Destroying the Covenant should have been a simple matter.

Something wasn't right. He got the feeling that the geth and the quarians, hell, maybe all the species of the Dominion, were being played. Like pieces on a chessboard.

And he felt like the person pulling the strings was close to a checkmate.

June 11, 2251

1226 hours.

Docking Bay 1029, Dyuko District, Sanctum Financial Zone, Alpha.

Terra-Rannoch War.

Ambassador Veetor'Nara pav Rome, Baltazar, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Battlelord Urdnot Grunt.

Alpha. What had decades ago been known as Omega. Funny how something can turn from a rotten, stinking sinkhole into a place that even rivalled the Citadel in beauty. Many would consider the Sanctum the last great remnants of the Council; a symbol of the once thriving galactic community that had been extinguished by greed, lust and conflict. What was supposed to be a peaceful golden age had turned into political power after political power battling it out for supremacy on the galactic stage.

Aria had once been the queen of Omega, now it seemed her daughter, Sata, was the Empress of Alpha. If he could, he'd be putting up posters of just how peaceful Sanctum is compared to the rest of the shithole the galaxy had turned into; Palaven reduced to a disgraced state, Thessia nuked beyond habitation, Irune and Dekunna shocked into pacification and submission and the Raloi's homeworld only remains because the Dominion allows it through blackmail. The only ones to survive the shittopia were Kahje and Sur'Kesh, the latter of which was grasping for dear life anyway.

So Alpha, in all it's greatness, was essentially the homeworld for many. The asari saw it as a homeworld, the volus and the elcor saw it as a safe haven and the salarians saw it as a stage of operations. He'd have suggested calling it Sanctuary, but they all saw how that name worked during the Reaper War and what a fuckfest that ended up being.

As they walked through the prestine hallways towards the Council's chambers. The place was a bussle of activity; asari, elcor, volus and people of numerous species walking around freely. There were even geth, quarians and humans; mostly people who wanted nothing to do with the ruthless policies of the Dominion and wanting to be free of the conflict. Humans and their quarian wives or husbands moved around freely, children inbetween them. Science really had come a long way. And it had been all because of Shala'Raan and Tali'Shepard. Ancestors bless them.

"This place is too peaceful," Grunt moaned, "I need something to kill."

Veetor huffed, but before he could respond, Pythagoras beat him to it, "We have come here on a diplomatic mission, Grunt-Battlelord, not to ascertain violence. Veetor-Ambassador, I think it would be better judgment only to allow me, Aristotle and Baltazar inside. The latter are battle platforms and will be able to protect you just as much as a krogan guard will."

Grunt snorted, "I said I was hungry for battle; didn't say I was going to rush out and meet it. I'll keep my hunger under. For now."

Veetor nodded, motioning for them to follow as they pushed through the crowd. As Veetor looked around, he spotted a yahg walking by, looking very suspicious. He thought he had caught the lumbering beast watching him earlier. He decided to let it go as they moved inside the Council Building; the original location of Afterlife itself apparently.

His three geth companions weren't that uncommon of a sight to him; he sees them basically all the time. Baltazar and Aristotle were both battle platforms, being fully equipped for battle. Baltazar was good at hand-to-hand and with assault rifles while Aristotle preferred the scope. Pythagoras was just an ambassadorial unit, made for that sole purpose. Baltazar was a deep shade of dark black, his platform being that of a geth shock trooper. Aristotle was more of a geth destroyer model, but with a different paint job; instead of typical crimson red, he was a more green and red. Pythagoras was a blue color, using the standard 'trooper' design. Baltazar carried a heavy pulse rifle while carrying a few plasma grenades. Aristotle had a Titan anit-material rifle and medium armor.

It didn't take long for them to arrive outside the door; the group being stopped by what looked to be raloi bodyguards. Raloi looked alike what humans would call gorillas, but with a more developed face and much more slim in shape. They held assault rifles and shotguns and didn't look all too welcoming of a trio of geth and a squad of heavily-armed krogan bodyguards ending up at their doorstep.

"I'm Ambassador Nara of the Quarian Republic and I represent the quarian people," Veetor began his introduction before turning to his geth companion, "This is Pythagoras, ambassador to the geth people. We have come here on peaceful terms. I assure you that the dominion wishes no harm against the sanctum or its people."

"Sounds like a load of horseshit," One of the asari guards, who he hadn't noticed, spoke up, "You bastards destroyed my people and my homeworld. You wanted redemption? You could have at least given us a new home!"

Veetor shook his head, "I regret what the Dominion did to Thessia, but I find myself amused by your statement. Doesn't your situation mirror my people's in many respects? Maybe this is the ancestors way of wreaking retribution upon those who caused my people misery and melancholy. So you think of that while you're condemning my people for unfair conduct. You brought it upon yourselves. We were merely the ancestor's sword. Their judgment is unquestionable. Now, as I have said before, we are here on peaceful terms. We do not wish to incite conflict."

The asari was about to call out again when one of the raloi held out a hand infront of her. The asari's building biotic power had been growing until she stopped at the sight of the raloi's hand, both sides turning to watch the guard.

"I just got confirmation from the Council," the guard announced, "You've been given clearence. I'll have you and your men escorted to the main chambers. They'll be waiting for you."

The door opened and they followed the raloi inside, immediately finding a security checkpoint waiting for them. Veetor walked through along with his guard, the scanners going off almost immediately. They were immediately dismissed however by the rachni checkpoint master. Veetor was carrying a heavy pistol as personal protection. Rachni weren't all that familiar on stations like Alpha, as they preferred to keep to themselves. Their homeworld was in Dominion space, but they were bound to the Declaration of Galactic Unification, written by Marcus Shepard himself, which stated strictly that the rachni were to be left alone and that any rachni systems were not allowed to be colonized by a foreign power, which meant that rachni multiracial colonies didn't exist. However, the rachni had to assist an allied power in times of war, which meant the rachni were peripheral support for the Dominion's empire.

Rachni fleets and armies were devastating and it was a good thing they hadn't been called upon yet. If they had, taking Titan, the defacto capital of Covenant space and all it's inner colonies would have been not only too easy, but a complete genocidal slaughter. But just because the rachni were allies, didn't make trusting them any easier.

The council building was a wreathing mass of mazes and micro-structures, but it didn't take long before they reached the heart of the building; the chambers. It was of odd design, upon exiting the elevator they entered a massive circular room with a raised platform ten meters above which had a desk type furniture ontop where five empty diases were located; the council members. On the floor of the massive room was the Sanctum's insignia; it was basically the spectre's original one, but rearranged to symbolize the unity that Sanctum provided.

Standing in the middle of the room, Baltazar lead Grunt and his squad to a position circling the room. Aristotle, whilst unnoticed, had activated it's tactical cloaking device and run off to locate a good sniping position; apparently he wasn't the only one to be weary of the yahg outside.

It wasn't long before the Council members moved in. The first was the asari empress of Alpha, Sata, moved to the middle third platform, whilst the raloi councilor took position on her left, the salarian on her right, the hanar on the salarian's right and the drell on the raloi's left. It was common knowledge that the drell had reclaimed their homeworld and built a political empire that had rivalled the human empire. Of course, this was only because the dominion supplied them with arms and technology with the hope the drell would be bound to them by oath; another ally in the growing war with the Covenant.

Veetor straightened his stance as Pythagoras took position on his left, also straightening his posture. It was funny; Veetor never would have thought he'd go from the psychologically ill quarian who had a stupid crush on his doctor to being one of the most influential politicians in the quarian republic. Plus he finally got to marry Elan. He sighed in sadness as he remembered her death all those years ago. Taken by the enemy but avenged by him. Oh yes, he avenged her. It was that day that Veetor had defeated his fears. By then however, it was too late to enjoy it.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he looked up as Sata spoke.

"Ambassador Nara, you have come to us with the premise of peace. Not exactly something you picture when thinking of the Dominion," Sata stated.

Veetor nodded, "The Dominion is known for many things, but never as negoitators. I know we've been ruthless in the past, but the Praetor and the Prime Candidates have stated their desires for peace. This war with the Covenant has been going on long enough. We need to destroy them once and for all if we are to repair this galaxy. It would be a disgrace to the Avatar's name if we didn't." The Avatar was the name given to Marcus Shepard by the quarian people. To humans, it would mean 'Greatest Knight.'

"You destroyed his name when you began this charade," The raloi councilor spoke up, "You used his name as a scapegoat for your genocide. It is because of you that Thessia lies in ruin and Palaven is but a memory."

"All mistakes. Ones that can be redeemed," Veetor replied.

"Redeemed? Thessia will take tens of thousands of years to recover from the destruction you have unleashed upon it. And another million for the environment to return to it's former glory. A million years too long. The quarians at least had a world to return to, we don't have any! You destroyed my people's pride and dignity!" Sata retorted.

Veetor wanted to retort but couldn't. She was right; the Dominion was meant to be a consolidation of the 'inferior' races of the galaxy; to show the strength of what those four species could do; humanity, quarians, geth and krogan. Instead, they had become the nightmares of a child's mind. Asari children cannot go to sleep at night without the thought of quarian and human soldiers raiding their homes and butchering their families. The images of the bombs dropping on cities, massacring thousands; hell, millions. Billions. And if this war continued, that number would soon rise to the trillions. The Dominion had become corrupted; the morals were wrong, the politics was wrong, everything about it was wrong. The Coalition ceased to exist after the reaper war; what exists now is but a dead, evil husk.

Before Veetor could say anything, a sniper shot rang out. Before he could ask what was going on, a quarian mercenary fell from the upper decks and onto the ground, marksman rifle clattering next to them. Aristotle's voice came into his earpiece.

"Creator Nara, mercenary forces detected. Mostly yahg, quarians and geth. Insignia suggests Shadow Broker."

Veetor cursed his luck, turning to his guards, "Copy that Aristotle. Cover us. We're going to evac to the ship. We're hightailing out of here," he then turned off his earpiece and spoke to his group, "Grunt, you're finally going to get what you want. You're taking point. Baltazar, cover me and Pythagoras, we're taking the rear. Aristotle will give us sniper support."

Grunt let out a slow methodical chuckle, before equipping his Claymore Mark IV shotgun, leading his squad outside. Veetor turned to see the Council being evacuated. Good, don't have to deal with that. Veetor immediately followed behind Baltazar, who had equipped his heavy pulse rifle and was protecting the rear with two other krogan soldiers.

Why would the Shadow Broker be trying to kill me? I thought he was on our side? Damn, I knew we couldn't trust him. Information brokers don't work for a certain side; they're like mercenaries. They'll work for any side who's willing to pay up.

The security checkpoint was a jossle of activity. The rachni guarding the checkpoint was mutilating a quarian female merc before it was picked up by a large, juvenile yahg and ripped in half, the towering beast letting out a roar of defiance. Krogan were big, but yahg eclipsed him completely. They had to be the size of a YMIR mech and three times as strong.

Grunt didn't show any sign of caring though; he charged the yahg, unloaded a single round from his weapon into the yahg's midsection. It's barriers took the brunt of the blast, but staggered, allowing Grunt to bypass his shields and fire a single shot into the beast's head. It exploded in a shower of gore and Grunt simply used the beast's body to crush a geth that had been using it as cover.

Two more geth troopers tried to flank them, but Aristotle dealt swiftly with them with two, clean headshots; they're optics exploding in a flurry of sparks and ripped metal. Baltazar's shields phased as a quarian vanguard hit him with a warp field before charging at the geth like a biotic missile. However, instead of strafing, Baltazar met the quarian midflight, using the butt of it's weapon to hit him across the head, throwing him into the ground. Before the quarian could get up, Baltazar crushed his head with his foot, using his rifle to gun down two charging geth.

With most of the shadow broker's forces eliminated, Veetor charged through the door. That was was too easy. Just as the door opened and Grunt and his team rushed past him, he saw just why the shadow broker had barely attacked them. They were merely delaying them.

For the very bomb that sat before him.

"Shit! Double back! Double-"

The explosion drowned out his words.

June 11, 2251

1310 hours.

{UNKNOWN LOCATION}

Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni.

"Miss T'Soni?"

Liara snapped her attention to the floating drone before, turning away from the data she had been analyzing. Alot of information, so much of it and so little time to dig through it. She was convinced that the raloi councilor on Alpha was dirty and when she went through more of his private info, found that he was an informant feeding intelligence to the Covenant. She had sent her mercs to assassinate him and she was waiting for them to report in.

Glyph, her info drone and VI assistant, continued, "Mercenary Forces dispatched to Alpha to eliminate Councilor Arhak have reported back as assassination failed. Council was evacuated before assassination could complete. Bomb detonated and has put Ambassador Nara in a comatose state along with damaging a couple of geth platforms and injuring Battlelord Grunt."

Liara slammed a fist into the console, "Those idiots! Now the Dominion will think I've gone double agent! And is Grunt okay? Will he survive?" She hadn't known Grunt all that much, but he had served on Marcus' crew during the fight against the collectors and war against the reapers, so she needed to know he was okay.

"Battlelord Grunt is the perfect krogan. He has a regeneration rate superior to average krogan and vorcha. It is most likely that Urdnot Grunt has recovered sufficiently to only be suffering from a limp, which will most likely disappear after some medical attention. Regeneration only works with flesh, not bones."

"As I'm aware, Glyph. Thank you. And also have the lieutenant in charge of that operation report to me immediately. We need to talk."

"Lieutenant Vass'Teel was conducting the operation from this base. She is waiting outside."

"Then bring her in."

With that, the door opened and Vass stepped inside.

"You wanted to see-"

She never finished as Liara unholstered her pistol and emptied five clips into the quarian's head, killing her instantly.

"I don't need incompetent field commanders," Liara declared, holstering her pistol and she ordered nearby units to remove the body, "She probably cost me some of the Dominion's resources. Now I have to rectify this. This is the bit I hate; political chess."

"Would you like me to get you a line to the Praetor, Miss T'Soni?"

"Yes, Glyph. That would be nice. Get this sorted out before it all falls apart."

And so another period of tedious work began. She really needed to look at hiring competent people.

July 6, 2251

1242 hours.

Main Living Room, Shepard Residence, Savior's Canyon, Rannoch.

Mistress of the High Senate Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch, Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth, Interrogation Subject 001.

Tali handed him the cup of coffee as she sat down. She smiled as she watched him sip the drink. Marcus was slowly starting to come back to her; and after a few more months of interrogation, he would have all his memories back and she would have him again. Not that that was a good thing. She was incredibly old; Marcus hadn't aged a day. She would die soon, leaving him all alone. Did she really want to bring her husband back only to subject him to a lonely life?

Reia seemed to melt in the background as she seemed to be in a happy conversation with Carter. She ignored them mostly because she hated Prometheus. To think she worked for them at one point. Instead, she went back to sipping her own dextro coffee while Marcus sipped his own.

All of a sudden, Marcus spoke up, "Tali, just how old are you?"

Tali was taken aback by the question, but she answered respectably, "Ninety-One. As you probably know, my birthday is in August. August 3 to be precise."

Marcus chuckled without humor, "Actually, I don't remember that."

Tali let a grim smile cross her face and she gently rubbed his arm, "You will. I promise. But, answer me this. What will you do when I'm gone? I'm an old woman Mark; the only reason I've managed to live this long was due to my battles during the war and my constant work on the Senate. What will you do when I'm gone?"

Marcus shrugged, "If I'm ever released by Prometheus, I'll probably rejoin the military. Without you, I've got nothing to look forward to. The kids don't need me; they've grown up. Hell, I don't even remember us having kids."

Tali laughed, "Technically we didn't and technically we did. Don't worry; it's not artificial insemination or adoption; these are our actual kids, right down to the last strand of DNA. However, you never really saw me give birth. You were...You..."

She let that comment trail off. Both of them knew the implications of it and didn't want to think about it. It wasn't really something they needed to think about, and wasn't the main thing on both their minds. They couldn't bare the thought of not having each other. It hadn't been something they had prepared themselves for since the Eden Prime or Reaper Wars.

It wasn't long before Reia came in to ruin the mood, "So, are we ready to continue this interrogation, or what?"

"When I'm ready and Mark is ready, yes." Tali retorted.

"Prometheus' patience wears thin, Miss," Reia stated acidly.

Tali shot the woman a glare, "As Mistress of the High Senate, I have certain abilities that allow me to overrule a Promethean's request. As of now, I'm using that proxy power. So, commander, shut up and let me do the talking. If not, I'll just have to inform Promethean Command what a naughty little girl you've been."

Reia snorted and was backing off when Marcus spoke up.

"It's okay, I'm ready. I want my memory back as fast as possible," he declared.

Reia gave a sigh of relief upon his statement, "At least someone has a basic rudimentary understanding of what kind of clock we're on here."

Tali rolled her eyes again, "I have a pretty fundamental understanding of what I'm going to do to you commander if you don't shut your mouth," the quarian retorted before resting a hand on Marcus', "Now, you were at Archangel, correct?"

Marcus simply nodded and Tali got out her datapad once again.

"Archangel was close. We knew he was. He was in a tight spot, but we were going to bail him out."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"But what happened? You make it sound like it didn't go according to plan."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Tali, nothing  ever  goes according to plan. We did what humans do best; we wing it."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

Incase people are wondering, yes, I based Tali's birthday off of my own. Mystery solved.

If any of you are still confused about the history about the 'future' of mass effect's universe (all events transpiring after 2186 and the Reaper War), then I will make an independent information page dedicated to explaining the mythos behind it. Remember, it's only required for people who need to understand the story. Alot of the time I won't be able to explain everything in the chapter and therefore will have to leave that to the information page. However, that page won't be my main concern or focus, and all effort will go to Prophecy. However, the thought is there.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

ARCHANGEL

August 11, 2185

1119 hours.

Private Room, Upper Afterlife, Dyuko District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

"Is this where we sign up?"

Marcus and his compatriots stood in the all but empty room as the batarian blue suns merc looked up from his console, staring up at them. Apart from his console, himself, a few couches and the three of them, the room was completely empty and devoid of life.

The batarian seemed to examine him, as if looking for anything wrong his posture and overall look. If the batarian had a chance of showing any emotion, then it fell pretty damn short.

"Yeah, sure is," the batarian finally replied, "Can't say I'm not surprised though. We've had freelancers signing up all day, but none as heavily armed as you are. It's about time we got someone who looks like they can actually fight. I've put you on the list as a blue suns freelancer; just remember that this does not make you an official member of the Blue Suns, Eclipse or Blood Pack. You are a freelancer, period. Understood?"

"Perfectly," Marcus replied, "Can you tell us just what we're up against?"

The batarian scoffed, "Not a chance. I'm merely a recruiter; you'd have to ask some of the group commanders in the district area; they'll fill you in. For now though, one of our guys is waiting at the rapid transit hub to take you to our AO," The batarian then turned to look around them, "Send in the next one!"

Marcus merely shrugged as he turned to leave, Miranda and Jacob following, as always. He didn't know if he should call out the batarian on his attitude or simply beat the information out of him, but something told him he wouldn't need it. He was an N7; he could handle himself and a single mercenary, no matter how hardcore, was nothing to him.

As he was about to leave however, the door opened to reveal a young human male teenager, probably no older than 17, walked inside, orange leatherjacket and beanie on along with steel-capped boots. The typical adolescent trying to act tough. Not only that, but this kid had a M-3 Predator pistol in his grip and was heading for the terminal. This teenager actually wanted to sign a death warrant only to have himself thrown at a highly-trained mercenary. No, he wasn't going to allow this.

He held out his arm, halting the kid who fixed him with an annoyed glare, "What?" The kid blurted out rather frustratingly.

Marcus fixed him with a hard glare, "I've think you've got the wrong place."

The kid snorted, "No, it's the place. I asked the recruiter outside; he said this is where I sign up to take on Archangel. And that's just what I'm going to do."

"Kid, this stuff isn't like what you see in movies. You're going to get yourself killed," Marcus stated, "This mercenary is dangerous and if you're not careful, you can end up a dead body on the street. Is that what you want?"

The young man simply didn't care, trying to push Marcus aside but failing due to the man's stronger grip and posture, deciding to shout in his face instead, "Let go of me, old man! What I do is none of your business!" He then pulled out his predator and waved his weapon infront of the man like a trophy, "Besides, I paid 30 credits for this thing and I plan to use it."

Marcus then immediately knew how to get the message across to the rebellious teenager. He let go of him and snatched the cheap looking pistol out of the man's grip and before the kid could object, he repeatedly smashed the pistol against the wall. Either due to his enhanced strength or merely because of cheap mass-production, the predator came away from his bashing a broken piece of hardware; the heat sink now damaged beyond usage. With a satisfied look, he tossed the pistol at the kid's feet, the man looking distraught at looking upon his now useless weapon.

"Trust me, you'll thank me for it later." Marcus stated and before the kid could even retort, his squad and himself had left the private room, leaving Afterlife behind as they approached the rapid transit hub they had seen to the right of the building. They rapidly approached a skycar that had a blue suns batarian leaning against it, the mercenary looking incredibly bored. Upon seeing the trio approaching, he stood up.

"You must be the freelancers the recruiter just radioed in about," the batarian declared before motioning to the vehicle, "Get in. I'll take you to the Den. It's where we've got Archangel holed up. Won't be long before we get him and with your help, I think we'll win."

Marcus simply gave a dark grin under his helmet upon the man's words, moving to sit inside the back of the vehicle, followed quickly by Jacob and Miranda, the merc sitting in the driver's seat. You won't win, but Archangel will. It's that man's lucky day.

With that, the skycar took off and sped off into Omega's skyline, heading for Archangel's hideout; the turian unaware of his approaching rescuers.

{Loading...}

August 11, 2185

1143 hours.

Reconfigured Mercenary Base, Abandoned Shopping Plaza, Joto District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

The skycar landed with a thump and the doors flew open. Marcus immediately stepped out, seeing that the overall layout of the repulsive backwater station hadn't changed much from the area they just left. The Joto District wasn't all that fancy, although apparently it had been abandoned for quite a while; a testament to Omega's original rulers. That's why it was called the Joto District; In asari, Joto meant 'abandoned'. Now he saw why.

It didn't take long for Miranda and Jacob to follow behind him and he watched as the skycar took off once again, disappearing into the station's vast city as it returned to pick up further recruits. Walking up the steps, he saw many mercenaries hanging around; mostly Eclipse and Blue Suns. The Eclipse were mostly working on numerous defense mechs; mostly LOKI and FENRIS mechs, while the Blue Suns seemed to be impressed by the fresh meat sent in their battle against Archangel.

Finally, they arrived at the top and was greeted by yet another batarian blue suns merc. Do they have a fetish for these guys? Did the batarians subjugate the Blue Suns while I wasn't looking? I thought the turians were the dominant race in this merc company.

"Finally Tarak gets some men who looks like they can actually fight," The batarian stated, "The name's Salkie, and by am I glad to see some hardened soldiers sent into the fight. Archangel's been annihilating our men one by one and even the Eclipse's mechs can't do it. Hell, even managed to disable Tarak's Mantis Gunship with just his sniper rifle. But with our new YMIR mech and you guys, I think it's only a matter of time before we get him."

"Who's Tarak? And why do you seem to be having so much trouble with this guy?" Marcus asked, geniunely curious. He knew Archangel was good, but this guy seemed to good. Even he couldn't take down three major mercenary companies without having to fall back at least once.

"He's the leader of the Blue Suns in this district and acts as the umbrella commander for our 'alliance' with the other merc companies. He basically runs this entire operation," Salkie informed him, "As for Archangel; he's got good ground. There's a bridge seperating us from the Den and so far it's been the only way to get to him; and that's just his killing ground. The man's such a good sniper that he slaughters our men before they make it across. Ruthless butchery. However, that's changed. Tarak's got a new plan that involves sending an infiltration team along with the freelancers. With luck, he'll be too focused on you guys to bother with our infiltrators. Then we take him out."

Marcus nodded, "Thank you for the information."

Salkie nodded, "Sure. You should check in with Sergeant Cathka when you're ready; he's down near the bridge in the prefab armoury we set up; he's still trying to get Tarak's gunship up and running again. Archangel really fucked up that thing's ignition system. Cathka's had to replace it."

Salkie then left, leaving the trio alone. Making sure noone was listening in, he keyed his comm to the Normandy. He might not like the idea of an AI onboard the ship, but unlike Tali, he'd be able to see the tactical advantages of it. It didn't take long for EDI's voice to speak up.

"Yes, commander?"

"EDI, I need you to access the schematics for the Joto District, Abandoned Shopping Plaza. Can you find me an alternate route into the Den that doesn't require crossing that bridge?"

"Checking...," EDI replied. Seconds later, she replied, "I've completed my scans and I've found no new data. All data points towards the bridge being the only way across. There is an access junction located behind the Den, but without access to Omega's entire mainframe, I won't be able to gain access for you as it has a password override that hasn't been used for centuries."

Marcus cursed under his breath, "Thank you EDI, let me know if you find anything else." With that, he cut the comm and turned to Miranda and Jacob, the latter of which had a grin on his face.

"No way around, so we've got to help Archangel somehow. Only to do that is to severely hamper their efforts to kill him."

"Precisely," Marcus stated, "They said they had a YMIR mech and that Cathka was fixing their gunship. If one of you can find a way to reprogram that YMIR like Wilson did the mechs on Lazarus Station, I'll deal with Cathka."

The rest was old news. Marcus went around trying to pry information from the merc leaders. Jaroth, the district salarian eclipse leader of the eclipse apparently lost his brother in a red sand drug running operation when he was killed by Archangel and his team. Jaroth had sworn to avenge his brother's death while also wanting to stop the turian's attacks on his drug operations. Just another scumbag to kill in the end.

Garm, the district krogan blood pack leader wasn't much better but definitely much more aggressive. When he talked to Jaroth, the salarian seemed to be uncomfortable even talking to him, but he at least tried subtlety. With Garm, the krogan simply didn't care. He made Marcus feel like a parasite, the krogan seeming to be disgusted by the human's patience. His vorcha troops were also pets to him, as he witnessed the krogan casually kill the animal with his powerful claymore shotgun in a demonstration of his impatience with him.

Then, finally, came Tarak, the leader of the Blue Suns and a batarian. What do you know. He wasn't Garm in the overly aggressive factor but he was still pretty hostile. He had found him leaning over a holo table along with numerous other group commanders, along with one of his female human lieutenants. Tarak had shown an extreme irritatability with the human and had eventually ordered his men to escort him out, saying he was too busy plotting 'Archangel's damnation' to bother with human 'filth.'" His lieutenant didn't seem too happy about that statement, but kept quiet about it. All the while, his team was undermining their operation from under their noses.

Eventually they met back up and approached Sergeant Cathka who, yet again, was a batarian, but this time had his helmet on, his eyes non-visible due to his opaque visor. The batarian's voice was deeper than the other's while also sounding more croaky.

"You Cathka?" Marcus asked.

The man simply nodded, opening his omni-tool to scan the gunship he was repairing, "Sergeant Cathka," The batarian then lit a cigarette and put the butt in his mouth as he set back to work, "If you're the new meat they just sent in, then you'd better get ready. Tarak's going to launch the attack any moment now and I don't think you guys want to be fiddling around when he does."

Marcus crossed his arms, "Why's that?"

Cathka chuckled, "Because he's ordered his men to shoot anyone who pussies out, that's why. You fiddle around, you're technically pussying out, so they shoot-" Before he finished, his omni-tool beeped, loudly.

Looking out the glowing device, he nodded, "It's time! The attack's started! The infiltration team is on the move and Tarak wants all freelancers moving now! You'd better get your ass moving!"

The batarian quickly turned back to the gunship, placing a arc-welder on the crate next to him as he pulled apart the gunship's numerous panels, examining it's inner workings. Instead of leaving, Marcus quietly snuck up to the crate and looked between the batarian and the arc-welder. He seemed to hesitate for a second before picking it up and switching it on, turning back to Cathka, electric energy flowing through the tool.

Hearing the sound, Cathka stood up and demanded to know who was there, but before he could turn around, Marcus was at his side, thrusting the device into Cathka's throat. The batarian screamed in agony, but over the sound of the firefight outside, noone could hear it and would merely think of it as another freelancer falling dead. Electricity flowed through the batarian's body as well as a non-stop current of red blood flooding from the man's throat. Leaving it in his neck, Marcus dropped the man's body on the ground.

"You're working too hard," He muttered to Cathka's corpse, quickly turning around and pulling out his Valkyrie, pushing past Miranda and Jacob as they stared on in shock. The Shepard they knew didn't kill unless it was nessacary; but they had just witnessed him kill the batarian in cold-blood. Shaking themselves from their surprise, Jacob equipped his shotgun and Miranda her SMG as they rushed to follow Marcus out onto the bridge, where they saw the mass amount of dead freelancers and witnessed the infiltration team on the other side. He smiled as he slapped a fresh thermal clip into his heavy rifle.

Let's go rescue Archangel.

{Loading...}

August 11, 2185

1157 hours.

Upper Level, The Den, Joto District, Omega.

Garrus 'Archangel' Vakarian.

Here they came. The big attack. The one where the Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse finally grew some brains and attacked him in force and utilizing an infiltration team. It would be Garrus' death in the most probable outcome, but he didn't care. He stopped caring when Shepard died. He stopped caring when the mercs murdered his team and Sidonis betrayed them. He had nothing left to live for; he'd already sent his last goodbyes to his friends. He would not be coming back from this.

Through his helmet, he watched as the freelancers amassed at the barricade the mercs had set up at the end of the bridge. A futile gesture considering his vantage point and Garrus' usual MO, but he let them delude themselves into a false sense of security. Whatever helped them sleep at night. Keying his omni-tool, he entered his contacts list and hesitated over the icon of his father. Eventually, he pressed it. Solona, his sister and his mother already knew.

He didn't take long for the call to connect, the face of Hierarch Thotous Vakarian appearing on his screen, "Son? Garrus, is that you? Just where are you? I haven't heard from you in ages. The first time in awhile."

Garrus smiled as the first wave of freelancers charged. With a steady precision and a strong talon, he lowered the crosshairs over the lead freelancer, a young asari, and fired. The shot tore through her skull, throwing her body limply to the ground. He didn't hesitate in switching to his next target, an adolescent hanar. Again, his rifle recoiled in his hands, another enemy eliminated.

"And probably my last, dad," Garrus responded, "I'm on Omega."

"I hear gunshots," Thotous stated, "You in a firefight?"

"More like a slaughter house; for them," Garrus chuckled, "But it looks like they'll eventually get to me. I have to run out of thermal clips at some point. You ever heard of Archangel, dad?"

"Yes. He's that hotshot viglante that everyone calls space batman." Thotous retorted.

"Yeah, and remember how he's a turian and how he has a problem with the law? Sound familiar?"

"I see." Was Thotous' enigmatic response.

Garrus' rifle fired once, twice, thrice and finally four times, taking down four my enemies. He watched as the infiltration team slowly edged across the bridge. He tried his best to target them, but he would always get pinned by some trigger-happy freelancer or occassionally one with a grenade launcher or missile launcher. He thought he spotted a freelancer in blood red armor; the only one with armor. A freelancer who's armed? Probably one of the higher ranked mercs. Can't say I recognize the configuration though.

Following the armoured man was a human woman in a skin-tight catsuit holding a Tempest SMG while a man in lighter armor and coffee brown skin holding a shotgun. What got him really heated was the insignia on the woman and man's shoulders; Cerberus. What sort of bet do they have on him? He didn't remember attacking Cerberus operations; then again, the merc ops he disrupted could have been linked to Cerberus in someway.

"Thing is, I might not survive this dad," Garrus declared, lowering his sights over the heavily armoured leader. He would do it for Shepard; he owed it to the man to take down a few Cerberus scumbags. He owed to Tali, who's people were slaughtered in their own home. He owed it to his brothers-in-arms. To his best friends.

"Don't give me that attitude, son. You fight like hell and you die razing your enemy. You remember the turian motto?"

Garrus nodded, "A turian can never be broken. He has a heart of iron, a head of steel and the armor of Talos." He recited the motto completely, "I'm not a defeatist father, but if I don't make it; just remember that I always loved you. I know it sounds really cliche, but I'm out of smartass one liners to say; I think generic is just fine with me."

Thotous chuckled, "As do I. Give them hell son; I expect nothing less of a proper turian. I just want you to know-"

His father's words suddenly became background noise when he moved to kill the armoured Cerberus soldier, but he stopped. The man had just shot one of the freelancers in the back of the head before throwing another off the side of the bridge with his biotics. His two companions immediately aided in this, gunning down the freelancers one by one. The Cerberus leader reminded him of Shepard; his determination in battle, his lethal attacks and deadly efficiency. Garrus suddenly remembered a quote Shepard had taught him. A human saying. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

"Father, I think my chances may have just doubled. I think I might survive this afterall," With that, he closed the commlink and immediately began assisting the Cerberus troopers. They may be the enemy, but right now their help was entirely welcome. If they proved hostile afterwards, he would kill them and go down fighting.

{Loading...}

August 11, 2185

1208 hours.

Lower Level, The Den, Joto District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

The last merc desperately tried to scream as Marcus drove his omni-blade across his throat, slicing it open with a crackle of energy as the freelancer fell to the ground, suffocating. He ended his misery with a SMG burst to the head. Miranda had showed him the new add-on to his omni-tool, and he thought it was a great successor to his old knife.

Running inside, they followed behind the infiltration team. They apparently thought nothing was wrong. It didn't take them long to figure out otherwise when Miranda picked up one of the blue suns troopers carrying the bomb and slammed him back into the ground, the sounds of multiple bones shattering echoing through the room as numerous eclipse and blue suns soldiers spun to face their enemy.

Marcus shot forwards like a biotic missile, slamming into the nearest eclipse merc and sending the asari flying into a wall, her skull caving in from the impact. He immediately rose his SMG and slid into a crouch, emptying an entire clip into a Pyro's shields, using his biotics to rip the flamethrower from the merc's hand and crush it, causing it to explode in an inferno that engulfed two other mercs.

He reloaded his SMG behind cover before switching to his heavy rifle again, lowering the scope over a hiding salarian eclipse engineer, the shot ripping through his shields and the second tearing his skull open and killing him faster than he could react. In no time, the infiltration team had been neatralized. He loaded a thermal clip into his rifle before moving upstairs, weapon level. Seeing no more hostiles, he lowered it and ordered Miranda to open the door leading onto the balcony as Archangel had most likely locked it. Before she could try however, it unlocked and opened of its own accord.

He stepped inside first, rifle at his side. Standing at the edge of the balcony and looking down on the bridge was a blue-armoured turian, reaper sniper rifle across his chest and helmet obscuring his features from view. As he stepped further inside, the turian spoke.

"Impressive for Cerberus, but just because you saved my sorry ass doesn't mean I forgive and forget," The turian turned to face them, raising his rifle. Marcus' look of shock was hidden by his helmet, "So how about it? You and me? One on one."

Resisting the urge to rip off his helmet, he instead said the one name he thought of when he heard that voice, "Garrus? Garrus Vakarian, is that you?"

The turian seemed to falter and he slowly lowered his sniper rifle, "How the hell do you know that name? Does Cerberus have a dossier on me?" Marcus was confused at first but then realized that his helmet distorted his voice, alot like quarian helmets made their voices sound more synthetic then they actually were.

"No, it's just that it's a name I could hardly forget," He then reached up and took off his helmet, "Especially when we spilled blood together."

Garrus' rifle, instead of lowering further, just fell to the ground as the turian ripped off his helmet and threw it onto the couch, the turian's features barely aging a day. He looked the same as he did two years ago.

"Shepard? But how- No! NO! That's not possible! You're dead!" Garrus shouted.

"Trust me, that's what Tali's reaction was. But I promise you it's me. I'm no impostor or clone; I'm the genuine article."

"You saw Tali? I'm not surprised she freaked out! We all thought you were dead! Where the hell were you all these years? Tali was a wreck!"

"I was dead, Garrus. Two years I was dead. Expired. For intents and purposes, non-living. But Cerberus brought me back; spent alot of resources doing it to. Got a bunch of new stuff too, but I'll talk about that later. I only woke up like a week ago. And don't worry, this alliance with them is purely temporary. I work with them, not for them."

Miranda looked less than pleased at Marcus' statement while Jacob showed no reaction to it at all, probably not caring. Garrus then laughed loudly and pulled Marcus into a brotherly hug, the two of them slapping each on the back as they broke the embrace, "You crazy bastard! Wait, I need to know you're really you. Which weapon makes me cringe?"

Marcus smirked, "Shotguns."

Garrus cursed under his breath, "Damn it. I was kinda hoping they made you into a sniper rifle liking trigger happy. I need somekind of leverage against Tali and Wrex."

Marcus full on guffawed this time, "Remember on Ilos? The time when you scored that shot on that armature and then Tali saved your ass with a shotgun? Just admit it Vakarian; shotguns are supreme. They are like what Francis Kitt is to Shakespeare."

"I'd rather marry a hanar prostitute," Garrus retorted, "So, just how is Tali? Let me guess, you two kissed or something? Was it linking of suits?"

"No, that would kill her."

"I know, I'm just messing with you. But honestly, have you at least tried-"

Miranda sighed, "Don't mean to break up the little reunion, but we have Eclipse inbound across the bridge. I think they're done with freelancers and are sending in the big guns."

Garrus scowled at the Cerberus agent, but nodded, moving towards the windowsill, Marcus and his squad following, "You're right. They've tried this before; it's gutsy, I'll give them that. I guess they finally grew enough krogan testicles at their wheat farm to finally have the courage to charge the bridge. It's all for nothing though; I've got you now."

Marcus gave a mock moan, "Please don't tell me you're going to use that when you propose to a woman."

Garrus shrugged, "Nah, I was saving my best one liners for that. That was mostly from what I could scrounge up from the human's worst insults vocab. Lots of interesting stuff. But do tell me, just what is a cock goblin?"

Marcus groaned, "Something you'll never get out of me in a thousand of your lifetimes. Now, Eclipse mercs wanting to kill us? Back on track?"

"Hey, you started it," Garrus grinned before an elbow from Marcus stopped him, "Yeah, well if you were thinking of escaping, you can forget it. That bridge is the only way out. The only way we're leaving is if we can severely weaken all three of the organizations' forces and then take out their leaders which means Jaroth, Garm and Tarak have to die. Here and now. Right now, Eclipse is charging, so that means Jaroth and lots of mechs."

Before he could say much more, the giant YMIR mech Salkie mentioned before smashed through the barricade and moved forward with terrifying menace.

"Oh crap," Garrus moved to take cover, but Marcus stopped him with a solid grip on his soldier.

"Just watch," Marcus stated and so they did.

As expected, the YMIR mech immediately turned on his eclipse owners, heavy machine guns tearing into the eclipse troops and ripping them apart, while also using a rocket or two to dispose of large groups. When the mech was finally hacked back, it's shields were gone and Garrus took it out with a single shot to it's optics. By then however, the eclipse forces had been left decimated and only Jaroth and a few of his squad were left charging the bridge.

"He's all yours," Marcus declared, peppering the eclipse squad below with rifle fire as he primed a handful of grenades. Garrus nodded and lowered the sights of the eclipse leader and fired, the shot piercing the salarian's shields and punching through his left eye, the salarian's retina exploding in a fountain of blood as Jaroth fell to the ground dead. Eclipse's leader was dead.

"Yes! I've been dogging that bastard for months! Now I've nailed him and his brother. Eclipse's operations on Omega are definitely going to be alittle more than chaotic now that he's dead. Line of succession on this station is pretty vague. I guess they never expected Jaroth to actually be taken out."

Marcus filled as he tossed his grenades, the cluster landing ahead of the merc squad and immediately detonating, sending the enemy squad flying; either as full bodies or just as dismembered body parts. After eliminating the final eclipse resistance, they lowered their weapons, taking the time to reload.

"With Jaroth dead that leaves the Eclipse out of the equation. I'm surprised they never used their mechs though," Garrus declared, "That leaves just Blood Pack and Blue Suns left and if I know them as much as I think I do-"

The entire building shook as a large explosion rumbled the structure. It was only a few seconds long, but it was long enough to notice. It had come from the lower levels and from further behind the building. Garrus apparently knew where.

"That would be Garm and his cronies," Garrus stated, "If I'm right in guessing, he's just blown open the rear junction and will have forces spilling in from all three sides. There are emergency hatches that were built in case of a gas leak. Seal those to cut them off; it'll slow them down long enough for us to cripple the Blue Suns and get out of here." The turian then suddenly stopped as he turned to face the bridge, a wave of Blue Suns mercs storming the Den, "And then there's them."

Marcus knew exactly what to do, although he didn't like it, "Jacob, you stay here with Garrus and fight off those hostiles. Miranda, you're with me, we're going to seal some hatches." Jacob nodded and moved to join Garrus, who was already assuming a defensive position and Miranda simply followed him out of the room, downstairs and below, to where a door leading to the rear junction was located behind the stairs.

Marcus surveyed the area, finding nothing but empty storage crates and lockers. The place was lit in a dull, crimson red glow that seemed so intense that you'd think that emergency alarms were going off. Turning left and down a set of stairs and at the end of a corridor, was the first hatch. Marcus could already see the Blood Pack troops charging down the corridor towards them, krogan leading vorcha into battle. Without hesitation, he ordered Miranda to bombard them with warp fields while he made a run for the hatch's panel.

Before he even finished the command, Miranda had already picked up the lead krogan with her abilities and thrown him backwards into his soldiers, crushing three vorcha under his weight. He tried to get back up, but Marcus put three clean shots through his forehead with his rifle. It didn't take long to reach the panel and it was a simple matter of a quick override to lock it. With the first hatch sealed, he turned right and headed down another corridor into a large cargo bay where, located on the other side, was the second hatch.

Unlike the first however, this one was already breached and numerous vorcha were spilling out, varren trailing their sides and krogan taking point. Upon seeing the duo, they immediately opened fire, varren charging at them almost immediately. One of the varren tried to rip his head off with it's powerful jaws, but he never gave the beast a chance as he took out his shotgun and fired point blank into it's open mouth, rupturing it's face like a tomato.

Seeing that a few vorcha were trying in vain to flank him, he moved to counter, grabbing one of the snarling vorcha up and over his cover, only to slam back down infront of him as his omni-blade sprung to life, bringing the energy blade down on the vorcha's face in one swift movement, killing the creature instantly. His vorcha comrades tried to fight back with their Blood Pack Punisher SMGs, but he had already moved behind the second vorcha and knocked the weapon out of it's hands, snapping it's neck.

The third vorcha charged uselessly at him, but he simply strafed it and sliced down on it's neck with his omni-blade. Due to uncontrolled speed however, he actually decapitated the vorcha rather than slit it's neck, the animal's head rolling across the floor as it's corpse collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from the wound, never seeming to stop.

He quickly moved forward, gunning down more of the Blood Pack's forces as he went. Soon, he reached the hatch, killing a krogan that had attempted a stealthy approach. Slapping the panel, the hatch sealed, leaving only a few vorcha and a krogan inside to deal with, which were swiftly targeted and killed before they moved on to the final hatch; one located in a much more claustrophobic area.

Garrus' voice flooded into his ears, "Shepard, how's it going with those hatches? These Blue Suns are getting persistent."

He keyed his helmet comm to respond, "Two hatches locked down tight. Moving on to final hatch, should be done soon. Shepard out."

With that, Miranda and himself moved into a corridor full of piping and abandoned cargo. Obviously an area meant for forklifts. And what was waiting for them at the end of the corridor; a vorcha pyro, it's flamethrower levelled at them as it pulled the trigger. A jet of flame hit empty space as the two of them dove for cover, hot fury burning through the space they had previously occupied.

He knew just how to dispatch of this nuisance. He signalled Miranda to distract the vorcha while he got his rifle levelled at it's exposed back; a flame tank strapped there. While the vorcha was busy trying to torch the Cerberus agent, he moved out of cover and fired a single shot into the tank, causing a spark of flame to pop out. Firing a second, he shot ignited the exposed gas and caused the tank to rupture, an explosion of flame enrupturing the vorcha and his comrades, the blood pack soldiers screaming in agony as they were burnt alive.

They quickly rushed past them and turned the corner on their right, where the corridor leading to the final hatch appeared. A large looking krogan with numerous varren and vorcha around him stood in a corridor behind the hatch and fixed eyes with Marcus. The two of them seemed to stare each other down before they charged, but not at each other; but for the hatch switch. However, due to the krogan's weight and Marcus' cybernetics, the latter was able to reach the hatch long before the krogan could, sealing it. The krogan dived under it, but was caught under the hatch, the door digging into the krogan's flesh before the force of the thing sliced him clean in half.

Ignoring the gory sight, they returned to the Den. He tried to comm Garrus and Jacob, but he had gotten no response. With ever increasing worry, he double timed it back to the Den and once inside, found the source of Garrus' problem; a massive krogan with a claymore shotgun and blood red blood pack heavy armor stood in the middle of the room, ordering his vorcha soldiers to search the room piece by piece.

Before the krogan, who he recognized as Garm, could move however, he had fired a single shot at the vorcha closest to him, dropping the creature and causing Garm to spin towards him in rage. He cried a battle cry and ordered his troops to attack Marcus.

"Kill them! I'll deal with Archangel!" Garm bellowed before charging up the stairs. Marcus wouldn't let that happen. With renewed determination, he charged forward bashing a few vorcha aside effortlessly. Before he could do much more, a few vorcha managed to level their rifles at him and fire, downing his shields. But they were soon met with biotic might; the ex-spectre gripping them in a azure glow before unleashing something horrible to them; he reaved them. It was something he hadn't done except to Sergeant Stirling back on Noveria two years ago.

He left Miranda to deal with the remaining vorcha, as they were hardly a threat and immediately chased after Garm. The monolithic krogan had already breached the upper level and he could hear things smashing inside along with the occassional claymore being fired. He rushed inside to see Garrus on the ground and Jacob knocked unconscious against the wall, a large bruise across his forehead and Garm stood over the turian, a wicked smile on his features as he moved to crush the turian's head with his foot.

"It's over Archangel!" Garm shouted but his foot suddenly stopped as he was thrown into a bookcase by Marcus' biotics, the human moving towards Garm with murderous rage. Garm immediately stood up, discharging his claymore at Marcus. He simply raised a biotic barrier and deflected the shot before following up with a uppercut to Garm's jaw once he was in range.

"Shepard, don't! This guy isn't a normal krogan! He'll crush you, don't be an idiot!" Garrus objected.

Marcus ignored him as he then followed with a kick to the krogan's knee, causing the krogan to fall to his feet. Before the human could continue his assault, the krogan shot an arm out and send him flying to the ground, a massive pain in the human's chest as a few of his ribs almost broke. But they didn't; his enhancements held them together. I'm like the bloody wolverine.

Garm picked up his shotgun and lowered it at Marcus but jerked in surprise as Marcus yanked the weapon from his grip and threw it into Garm's face. Before he knew what he was doing, he had executed a left combat roll and scooped up the krogan's dropped claymore and had stood up, raising it so it was facing Garm. The krogan simply looked doubtful; Marcus was fully aware that krogan's were the only ones with the strength to hold the heavy shotguns. But Marcus wasn't an ordinary human; he was a supersoldier.

He squeezed the trigger and the weapon discharged in his hands. The weapon kicked back against him, but he wasn't sent flying, but instead treated it like it was any other shotgun. He gave a dark smile at the look of sheer terror on the krogan's face; shields shattering in a cyclone of sparks, a huge metal slug piercing his armor and causing Garm to let out a cry of agony as he doubled back. Now was his chance.

Marcus charged forward and knocked the butt of the weapon across Garm's face, causing the krogan to be further staggered and the ex-spectre loomed over him, shotgun raised at Garm's face. Before the krogan could even cry in defiance, the weapon fired once again and the krogan's face disappeared in a flood of gore, his corpse falling to the ground, physically decapitated by the power of the super shotgun.

"Holy shit," Garrus exclaimed as he stood up, using his left arm to support himself, "What kind of shit did Cerberus give you? I've never seen a human fight a krogan in hand-to-hand before and survive; even you."

Marcus merely smirked, deciding he liked the claymore and threw away his current shotgun, switching it for the heavy shotgun, "Cerberus put alot of stuff in me when they brought me back; cybernetics included. I'm faster, stronger and can take more damage. Might even have regeneration abilities. My ribs feel like steel and I can use my biotics alot longer too."

"Sounds like you're some kind of supersoldier," Garrus remarked, snorting, "Just what we need. A man I thought was already invincible now turns up and makes krogan look like pansies. Next you'll be telling me you conquered the spirits and used the Reapers as slurpies."

Marcus simply shrugged and he approached the windowsill as Garrus picked up is sniper rifle, Miranda tending to Jacob who was only beginning to stir. It wasn't long before Garrus was back at his side, sniper rifle across his shoulder.

"You got Garm. I've been gunning for that tough bastard for months. Guy's a freak of nature," Garrus explained, "So without his freaky ass controlling things, that now leaves the Blood Pack out of the equation which now leaves us the Blue Suns and Tarak. And if I know them, the Blue Suns are the more militaristic of the three groups. They are hardcore and probably the most well-trained of the groups. So if I know Tarak's tactics well enough..."

The windows to their right exploded with a large bang as the four of them turned. Jacob was up and stated that he was fine; the bump on his head was superficial. Ropes, presumably ziplines, appeared at the edge of the windows as Blue Suns mercs dropped inside the building, weapons raised and seeking cover. Marcus ordered them into cover and used suppression fire to keep what looked like Tarak's female lieutenant from before. She held a large weapon, presumably the revenant light machine gun he heard about.

Just as he took cover, she raised herself once more and her revenant let off a roar of fire, heavy rounds tearing through the space he occupied before. He immediately primed a frag grenade and tossed it down the hallway before moving to the opposite side. The grenade detonated, downing the shields of a few blue suns mercs and causing them to seek new cover. Having successfully flushed them out, he opened fire, gunning the mercs down before they knew what happened. Once again however, the merc lieutenant had found him and opened fire again.

His shields erupted and one bullet caught him in the chest, but before the merc could finish him off, her head exploded, her body and revenant toppling to the ground as Garrus smirked, reloading his rifle.

"What was that about shotguns being better?"

Marcus grinned as he equipped his claymore, shining it before Garrus.

"Oh, now that's just unfair. I'd need a Widow rifle to compete with that." Garrus objected.

"Too bad," Marcus remarked as he charged forward, lining up his new shotgun with the nearest target; a turian blue suns centurion, tech armor glowing in the dark, but was a blue color instead of orange. Moving within range, his shields absorbed the turian's SMG fire before unloading a heavy slug into the merc, his tech armor exploding as he went flying, torso torn apart and blood gushing from his wound. The surrounding mercs scattered.

He slotted a new round into the weapon and fired again, this time ripping apart a nearby human. The remaining mercs had meant to flank him, but from what might have been an intelligent move turned into strategic failure as the mercs turned their backs towards his squad, allowing them to tear into the enemy. When the last merc fell, Marcus approached his squad.

"That won't be the last of them," Garrus declared, "There'll be more. Check the lower level. I'll give you cover fire from this level."

Marcus nodded as he ordered Miranda and Jacob to follow behind him, moving through the door and down the balcony. Already they could hear the shattering windows as Blue Suns mercs rappelled inside, moving throughout and taking cover. From what he could see, an entire platoon of mercs had just deployed inside the building.

He ordered Jacob to cover the top of the balcony while he took Miranda and moved down to the bottom level, watching as Garrus positioned his rifle up above. The Blue Suns were well organized; two legionnaires with revenants were taking point while the bulk of their force moved up the rear. Before the lead legionnaire unit could fire however, he used his biotics to thrust the weapon sideward, causing the turian to fire on his companion instead of Marcus, heavy rounds shredding the turian merc. The legionnaire tried to break Marcus' hold, but Miranda placed him in a stasis, allowing Marcus to slit his throat with his omni-blade and then following his attack with a shot with his claymore to a charging batarian, sending him flying.

The fight was pretty short. Combined with Garrus' sniping flushing out numerous mercs from cover and allowing Marcus and Miranda to gun them down, but Jacob could inform them when the mercs were attempting flanking assaults. In no time, the merc platoon had been neatralized. Still no sign of Tarak himself. Maybe the batarian didn't like getting involved in battle. Maybe-

His musings were interrupted by the sounds of a gunship's rumbling engines. The Blue Suns gunship was operational. But I killed Cathka! How did they fix it!?

"Archangel! I'll teach you not to fuck with the Blue Suns!" Tarak bellowed, the sound of a gunship's chin-mounted main gun opening fire. Marcus didn't care that he had no heavy weapons; he needed to save his friend. Mantis gunships were durable vehicles and could prove extremely deadly to ground units; even Garrus. He charged up the stairs and arrived inside the room just in time to watch as Garrus fell behind the sofa, his purple blood all over the floor. The turian had lost his footing, machine gun wounds all over his body as he tried to breathe.

"Garrus!"

Before he could get near the turian, the gunship fired a single anti-vehicle rocket, the explosive missile hitting Garrus in the face. A human wouldn't be able to survive such a blast, but turians were different and Garrus' recharged shields acted as a saving grace. Nevertheless, Garrus was sent hurling across the room, rolling across the floor until he stopped in the middle, the wounded side of his face where the rocket hit facing the ground, hiding the extent of the damage. Purple blood gushed from the wound and he wanted to help his dying friend, but was forced to take cover as the gunship opened fire again.

Then he saw Garrus' discarded reaper sniper rifle. He glanced between it and the gunship's exposed cockpit, Tarak's cocky batarian expression clear as day as he wreaked fury on the building, firing rockets and HMGs at full auto. He had but one shot. One shot to save his friend, or avenge his death. Miranda was already radioing the Normandy for a medical evac, so all that was left was taking down Tarak.

He rolled across the floor and took the rifle, raising it. He wasn't a sniper, but it couldn't be much harder than aiming his rifle. He lowered the scope over Tarak's smug face and fired. Once. Twice. Finally, he fired a third time. The first shot shattered the cockpit of the Mantis gunship and left Tarak vulnerable. The second shot took right in the chest, causing him to scream. He tried to retreat, but the third bullet had already been fired. It hit him right inbetween the eyes, killing the batarian. With it's pilot dead, the gunship spun out of control, weapons firing as Tarak's dead body slumped against the controls.

Marcus dropped the rifle and watched as the gunship slammed into the bridge in a triumphant inferno, flame and wreckage flying in all directions as the bridge broke apart from the impact, sending it falling into the chasm below, taking the gunship's debris and Tarak's body with it. With the enemy finished, he rushed towards Garrus' limp form, Jacob already scanning his body and Miranda lifting the turian onto his back.

The sight of Garrus' face was horrific; the shields had lessened the impact, but the missile had still done terrible damage. Parts of the turian's scales were torn off, revealing singed, bloody and torn muscle, the turian looking like the terminator but without the red eyes. Turian flesh hung of the edge of his face and purple blood oozed from his muscles and from his mouth, gurgling sounds leaving his mouth as he began choking on his own blood.

"Miranda, you idiot!" He then turned Garrus back over, "He almost choked to death!" They continued to watch over Garrus, Marcus making sure no mercs tried anything as they waited for the medical shuttle to arrive. A few minutes later, it did. Upon Chakwas' supervision, they picked up Garrus and lifted him onto the shuttle where they then sped off back to the Normandy. This would either be the day where he watched a friend live and join him once again...

...or die before his eyes.

"Garrus' wounds must have really scared you."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I'll admit, I didn't think he'd make it. But he did, and I now we know him as the guy who gave the saying 'I took a missile to the face' a whole new meaning. Not many can claim they survive such a shot."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"So what happened next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Back to Omega. We still had another recruit...or recruits. Turned out Mordin wasn't the pickup we had on Omega."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

QUARANTINE BREAK

August 11, 2185

1317 hours.

Debriefing Room, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, Docked with Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

Marcus sighed long and hard as he leaned on the debriefing table. It was the after mission briefing and he was talking with Miranda and Jacob about the mission's aftermath. Garrus would have been there if he hadn't been hit by a face to the face and forced and was currently in surgery. Doctor Chakwas had stated that the injuries were so bad that the only way to save Garrus was to implant cybernetics similiar to Marcus' into his face.

"Even due to Archangel's injuries the mission was a success," Miranda stated, "Once he has recovered, which might be in the next week, we'll have our first recruit up and running. All we need to do now is pickup Professor Solus and our job on Omega will be done. However, we do have one more recruit on Omega..."

Marcus raised his eyebrows at the cross-armed woman, "Another recruit? I thought we'd picked up all the ones we needed on Omega aside from Mordin. I wasn't informed of a third recruit."

Miranda simply nodded, "That's because the Illusive Man's data just updated and states that one of the recruits has moved to Omega. His name is Zaeed Massani. I don't need to explain why he would be an asset to this mission. I'm sure we've all heard of him."

Marcus' eyes had widened at the mention of Massani's name. Everyone knew the name of the most infamous and feared bounty hunter of the galaxy. He was a human and had once been in the alliance military, but had soon quit and turned mercenary. Rumors said he once worked for the Blue Suns but after being reported killed by Vido Santiago, the founder and overall leader of the Blue Suns in general, he popped up on the radar a month later and began a ruthless personal campaign of war against the Blue Suns. He hated them to death. He was infamous due to his reputation; he was known as the unkillable mercenary. He could see why the Illusive Man would see him as a useful recruit for their mission.

"And he's just popped up on Omega?" Marcus asked rhetorically, "Sounds obscenely convenient."

Jacob shook his head, "I know what you're thinking commander, and that's not it. Actually, Zaeed knows we want to recruit him and is on Omega per the Illusive Man's request. Due to his stature as a mercenary, the Illusive Man promised him a substantial amount of money to help us in our mission. Zaeed accepted and although he doesn't trust us, he will help us. All we have to do is make the pickup. He said he had one condition for joining us though."

Marcus quirked a brow at that, "And that is?"

"He said he wanted help in assassinating Vido Santiago," Miranda explained, "Apparently he's been tracking him across the galaxy for twenty years and thinks he's finally found him and wants our help in taking him down. Vido's just a merc and I really don't think he's going to be that hard to take down. I mean, you took down a reaper. What's one merc leader compared to that?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders, "You have a point. We'll pick up Zaeed later, but first I think we should focus on getting the professor to join us. Until then, I'm going to go check on Garrus and see if he's okay. Meet me back at the airlock within the hour."

He heard the sound of the door opening and before he could look up to see who it was, a voice spoke up, "That won't be nessacary, Shepard."

Marcus' head shot up to see Garrus standing in the doorway, standing casually as if he'd just gotten winded and just stood up to dust himself off. However, the entire right side of his face was horribly scarred, with numerous stitches all over along with an orange glow; not as powerful as his own, but still present. Also, a large chunk of the turian's armor collar was missing, leaving the edges singed. The professional sniper looked none worst for the wear though, looking otherwise unscatched.

"Tough son of a bitch. Up and moving already," Jacob commented.

Marcus smirked as he turned to the ex-marine, "That's kinda what my old crew was like in a nutshell. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

With a nod, Jacob saluted and left, Miranda following behind which left Garrus and Marcus alone in the room. After a while, Garrus cleared his throat and paced the room, admiring it's serene edges.

"First I find out you're alive and now I'm standing on something that I would have considered a ghost ship two years ago. Just why did Cerberus go to all this trouble to bring you and the Normandy back? What do they want with me?"

Marcus looked at the turian with a tired look and stood up, stretching until all his muscles popped and he gave a satisfied sigh. His helmet lay on the table; the rest of his armor served only to be a stiff reminder of his status as a hardened killer and how much he just wished he could quit the military life. For a soldier who's only known life was just that, it was kinda hard to see him retiring someday. Yet again, he had a certain woman that might be driving him on a crash course for the gates of retirement.

"You know when I said I'd met Tali? Yeah, we bumped into each other on Freedom's Progress, a human colony in the ass-end of nowhere," Marcus explained, pacing around the room, "She wasn't as confused as you were and it took me some time to convince her I was the real deal. When she did, we investigated the place and found the colony had been abducted by the Collectors."

Garrus' mandibles twitched, "I've heard of the bastards; heard a human marine blew up one of their ships on Fehl Prime when the collectors tried to abduct the colony. And trust me, collector ships are goddamn massive. Their only slightly bigger than Sovereign, but they are still damn big; and heavily armed if I heard correctly. Apparently the GARDIAN turrets couldn't penetrate it's shielding; it was that powerful."

"Yeah, well I found out they were responsible for destroying the Normandy," Marcus revealed, "And now I'm on a mission to put a stop to their abductions and find out what they want. The Illusive Man is convinced they have a connection with the Reapers, and I'm inclined to agree. The attacks are just too coincidental and well-timed. So far now, I'm working with them and using all the resources they give me. Don't worry, it's only temporary. Once the Collectors are gone, I'm leaving."

"Glad to hear it," Garrus remarked, "I'm sure Chakwas and Joker, who I just had a lovely conversation with, are only here for you too. And trust me when I say this, but if you ever need someone to watch your back, then you can rely on me. I've got my eyes set on Cerberus. I don't trust them one bit. I'm surprised Tali didn't join you though."

Marcus sighed, "Believe me when I say I really wanted her to join and so did she. But she had a duty to her people to complete and some kind of suicide mission in geth space that she had to command herself before she could get permission to join my mission."

Garrus looked flabbergasted, "And you let her go alone!? You're her boyfriend for spirit's sake! And you just let her land on some planet that just happens to be crawling with her people's worst enemies!?"

Marcus shook his head, "You think I'm that retarded, Garrus? Of course I didn't; her mission happens within the month and she told me she'd send me a message when it happens so I can join and help her; I've killed more geth than any quarian alive, so I doubt we can fail. Her mission's on Haestrom."

Garrus nodded, "Sorry, it's just that Tali's was literally destroyed when you died and I can't stand the thought of her dying on some geth-infested world after seeing you again and hoping to join you. That's just cruel."

Marcus simply shrugged, "Shit happens, we move on. But we can't afford to think of emotions now; I'm about to lead a one ship war against an entire race of enigmatic beings with technology that rivals the Reapers. We're going to need the most firepower ever mustered, to outfit this ship with the most advanced weaponry and the most lethal squad-sized army ever mustered. I need the best of the best; and you're one of them."

"The elite of the elite," Garrus smirked, "And what am I? The professional sniper?"

Marcus nodded.

"And I guess that makes Tali the 'mistress of engineering?'"

"Now you're being overdramatic."

"You know me; I like to be a smartass."

The two of them chuckled before Marcus turned to leave, "Check with Jacob in the armoury about armor and weapons; I'll also make sure you're assigned a sleeper pod. Meet me at the airlock in an hour, on the dot."

Garrus waved a dismissive hand, "Oh don't worry, I'll find my way around."

Within a final grin, Marcus left the room, door closing behind him. Yes, Garrus was but the beginning. Soon he'd his old squad back; and they would once again fly into the hornet's nest to confront the beast.

Except this time, this beast was fast. And they were on a timer.

{Loading...}

August 11, 2185

1422 hours.

District Entrance, Shopping Sector, Dyuko District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

And back to the criminal underworld they went. Or in Omega's case, the criminal overworld. This time however, they weren't going to be signing up to become freelancers just so they could pretend to kill some professional merc, who they are actually recruiting, who turns out to be his best friend and gets hit in the face with a gunship's missile. No, this time, it was as simple as surviving a district infected by somekind of plague.

After hearing what Aria said about the plague affecting all races except humans and vorcha, he had tried to convince Garrus to stay onboard. However, the turian had been extremely persistent and had stated that his new armor had a seal up protocol that allowed him to fully seal it and brought along his helmet as well. The turian had gotten a new set of armor as his original had been too heavily damaged from the explosion of the rocket. The ripped up part of the collar was the damage that was visible.

So now, it was the four of them travelling into Omega's shopping center and towards the entrance to the Gozu District, where apparently Mordin Solus had set up a clinic to try and cure the plague. The dossier on the salarian hadn't done much in the way to explain how he had gone from being an STG soldier under the command of Captain Kirrahe to being a professor and doctor in a clinic on the Terminus' capital. The man had certainly changed jobs. It made him wonder just what happened to Kirrahe and Rentola in the days following the Virmire battle.

The dossier had stated though that as well that despite being a doctor, Mordin hadn't completely forgotten about his days as a STG agent. Apparently he'd had many problems with the Blue Suns. Despite the merc's owning the district and being the top mercenary company in the galaxy, they couldn't kick Mordin out because everytime they tried, they would be found dead. Of course, this was due to Mordin's retaliation. He was apparently ruthless in the protection of his patients.

They passed what looked to be a group of Jews huddled in a group and praying. It wasn't that a few asari were among the group that confused him; but they decided to take refuge on Omega of all places. Not the friendliest of places. Instead of focusing on that question, he turned right and headed down a corridor that passed a grouping of apartments and finally ended at the elevator leading to the Gozu District's slums.

Surprisingly however, they found a young human woman wearing ragged clothing trying to push past a turian holding a avenger assault rifle wearing no armor but some ragged clothes similiar to the human. Due to his lack of mercenary insignia, he guessed he must have been one of Aria's men; ordered to stop anyone trying to enter. Part of the quarantine, no doubt.

"You have to let me through!" The woman pleaded, still trying to push past, "My stuff is still in there! I don't want some looter getting nosey! Please let me in!"

The turian shook his head, "Noone is allowed through because of the plague lady, and that means you too. Aria's not taking any risk of anyone becoming a carrier."

The human rolled her eyes and placed hands on her hips, "Humans can't be infected, you idiot. Now let me through!"

"Just because you can't be infected by it doesn't mean you can't carry it," The turian retorted, "Now leave before I'm forced to injure you. Besides, Blood Pack vorcha infest the slums down there. They'll kill you if you're not careful, especially with the gang war going on down there."

Marcus approached quickly and stood to the woman's left, the turian taking notice, "Let me guess, you want access to? Look, I'll tell you the same thing I told her. You're not-"

"What if I said I could help cure this plague?" Marcus butted in.

The turian looked wideeyed, "Excuse me? You look able to take down a krogan platoon, but you don't strike me as the medical type."

"Assumptions can kill," Marcus replied, "But no, I'm not. However, I'm looking for someone who can. His name is Mordin Solus and I need his help in a mission to stop the collectors from abducting human colonies. However, this plague seems deadly and needs dealing with. If I got rid of the mercs down there, maybe he could concentrate more on finding a cure than fighting some damn vorcha off."

The turian seemed to contemplate this for a minute before answering, "Okay then, couldn't hurt. When looking for Solus, just keep your eyes peeled for his clinic and make sure to stay out of most confrontations. Trust me, I wasn't joking when I said gang war. The whole place is a battleground for the Blue Suns and Blood Pack."

Garrus quirked an eye at that, "Why's that? I thought the Blue Suns owned that sector."

"They did, but that was until the plague rolled in," The turian explained, the crossed woman still not moving, "Most of the Blue Suns in the district at the time were batarians and turians, and as you know, only humans and vorcha are immune to it. So when the plague plowed through, the Blue Suns were struck a severe blow; most of their forces were killed off by the plague within a week and the Blood Pack jumped on their chance to attack. So far the Blood Pack now control almost sixty-eight percent of the district, with the Blue Suns being pushed back day in, day out. Due to the Blood Pack being mostly vorcha, the plague didn't effect them. It was like food on a plate."

"This is one of the days I actually feel sorry for the Blue Suns," Garrus muttered.

"We'll head through and end this quickly then," Marcus declared, leading his team towards the elevator door, palming the controls as the turian stepped aside.

The woman was apparently outraged, "You're letting them in but not me!? You son of a bitch!"

The turian shrugged, "He's got a grenade launcher. Now get lost."

The woman simply stormed away, apparently not happy with how things had gone. Marcus smiled at the turian's statement, eying the offending piece of weaponry on his back. After seeing the weapon's usefulness on Lazarus, he had finally decided to take it with him. It never hurt to have some heavy weaponry to fall back on. The turian simply nodded to them.

"I'll radio head to let the other guards know you're clean," The turian promised just before the doors closed and the elevator began it's descent into the bowels of Omega. The elevator actually managed to be faster than the ones on the Citadel and the Normandy combined and got them to the Gozu District extremely fast. When the doors slid open, they were welcomed into an empty corridor, the area devoid of life.

He unholstered his Valkyrie rifle and moved forward, his team also extending their weapons. Garrus got out his apparent favourite; Cerberus' Mattock Heavy Rifle. The weapon was like the valkyrie but not as powerful. However, it still packed a punch and would prove useful against enemies like the vorcha who used little to no armor at all.

After finding the area empty, they moved down the corridor to their right where a large barricade blocked it halfway, two humans with rifles raised guarding it. Upon seeing them approaching, they lowered their weapons.

"You're allowed through," one human declared, "Just be careful. It's a battlefield out there. The vorcha and Blue Suns are at each other's throats. Also be careful of some bandits; alot of the locals think humans are the cause of the plague and will kill any of you on sight." With that, they resumed their posts, the squad using one of the empty shops to move around the barricade and continue.

At the end of the corridor was a door to the right with a single turian guard, clad in fully sealed armor, stood to the left of, guarding it. The haptic interface was red. Noticing them approaching, the turian looked at them and nodded as he raised his omni-tool and unlocked the door.

"Good luck in there," The turian offered, stepping away as the door opened to reveal stairway going down, "The Blue Suns and vorcha are shooting anything that moves."

With a nod of compliance, Marcus lead his team down the stairs. Up above was a sign with the simple letters of the 'Gozu District'. Once at the bottom of the stairs, they were greeted by a huge atrium with a single pathway leading straight away and a larger area to the right with areas alight with fire; burning corpses infected by the plague.

At the end of the path was a single door with no haptic interface; presumably malfunctioning. Standing guard next to the door were two Blue Suns troopers; both human. An area off to the right lead further into the district, which is where they needed to go. He could also spot what looked like a wounded batarian, on the ground and leaning heavily against a pillar as he coughed heavily.

He motioned with his hand for Garrus to extend his rifle and target the left trooper while he lowered his rifle over the right one. With both mercs in their sights, they squeezed single shot bursts, Garrus' penetrating immediately and killing his target while it took a second shot to penetrate the right merc's shields.

Both mercs dead, they moved up and right, Marcus stopping and lowering his rifle as he crouched down next to the batarian. The batarian's eyes went wide at the sight of him.

"Human!" The batarian snarled, "Get away from me! You brought this plague, this infection! You're people are the reason I suffer! That we all suffer! You're people brought this plague upon us just so you could own the district. I wouldn't be surprised if you came here to loot me. Leave me alone!"

Marcus kneeled next to the sick batarian, raising his omni-tool and taking a scan of his vital signs; they were weak and if he didn't get help soon, he would succumb to the parasite and die. He had to find Mordin quickly and hope that the salarian had a cure.

"I'm not here to loot you. I want to help you," Marcus stated, giving the batarian an offering of medicine. It wasn't designed to help with plague victims, but it would at least dull the effects for a while, "And why does it have to be humans who engineered it?"

The batarian rolled his eyes as he pushed the commander's arm away, "Because you humans are the only ones immune to it! It makes sense that you'd have created it! Only you're people can thrive in this kind of environment!"

As much as he hated to admit it, there was logic behind the batarian's words. Humans weren't the only ones immune to the parasitic plague, but the vorcha certainly didn't have the brains to create art, let alone a virus. Either way, he refused to believe that humans were the main cause of this. There had to be somekind of other factor playing in this. Someone else who was pulling the strings. Maybe Mordin would have the answers he needed.

"Look, I understand you're distrust," Marcus reassured the batarian, restarting his attempt to give him medicine, "But I need you to trust me. I'm looking for Professor Mordin Solus; I need his help but maybe he can help you."

"The...professor?" The batarian began a new fit of coughing, "The human...appeaser? I hope...the blue...suns...burn his clinic...to the ground...salarian bastard..."

Noticing the batarian's situation deteriating fast, he opened his mouth and shoved the medicine in, giving the batarian no choice but to swallow. When he did, it only took a few seconds for the batarian to recover.

"Not...poison?" The batarian stated, confused, "You helped me...I'm surprised. I may still believe you're people were responsible for the plague but...I think you are...better, than them. Just who...are you?"

Marcus nodded, helping the batarian stand up, "Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy and N7 Special Forces."

The batarian visibly seemed shocked by the name and Marcus remembered why. Butcher of Torfan. Luckily, the batarian seemed to dismiss that, mostly out of the fact that he had just saved his life.

"Could you tell us where Mordin's clinic is?" Marcus asked, trying to skip the awkward silence.

"Of course," The batarian offered, pointing down the path behind him, "It's not too far ahead. The clinic is located on the far side of the district. He's taking in refugees and offering help to those infected by the plague. I was afraid to go to him before after seeing what he did to those...blue suns mercs that tried to cause trouble but...maybe he can help."

Marcus quirked a brow at this, "Just why is Mordin so dangerous?"

The batarian seemed to shake, "The Blue Suns tried to press him for protection money. He killed them. Stunned them with some kind of toxin, and then gunned them down like it was some kind of joke. I've never seen anything like it. Rumors say he was originally with the STG, and damn, I'd believe it. And after he killed them...he put their bodies on display outside the clinic...as a warning to others who tried to threaten him. He's got dangerous written all over him."

Marcus nodded as he turned to Miranda and the woman simply shrugged, "I told you the Illusive Man's intelligence was reliable. When he says the best, he means the best."

He quickly turned back to the batarian, "Thank you. When I see Mordin, I'll tell him you're here and have someone sent to pick you up. Right now, just lie low and stay out of trouble."

The batarian nodded and slid back to the ground as Marcus ordered Garrus to take point while he assumed the rear, the four of them pressing forward and up a short flight of stairs.

Along the way they managed to find multiple dead bodies, all victims of the plague but some had been gunned down by mercs, most likely to control the spread of the infection. Some of the bodies were either burnt to a crisp or were just left lying there to rot. He wasn't a pretty way to go, and it had seemed alot of the victims had been locked inside their own quarters and starved to death. Poor bastards, the lot of them. For some reason, most of the victims appeared to be batarians.

It wasn't long before they entered and even larger area than the first; a large ransacked shop lay to the left while a parking lot was to the right. Just as they hit the center, they spotted a barricade manned by numerous batarian and human blue suns mercs; squad-sized. Most likely remnants of their forces trying desperately to hold onto the outskirts.

But even that looked hopeless; the mercs were firing behind them, not at them, which meant that the Blood Pack were attacking the barricade. Marcus and his team sneaked up and moved along the barricade, circling around and waiting until the mercs finished themselves off. When the gunfire stopped, they spun around the corner and opened fire, hitting the enemy's flank.

To their surprise, it had been the Blue Suns who came out victorious. The numerous bodies of vorcha mercenaries littered the room, flamethrowers and battered-looking assault rifles laying on the floor infront of the two survivors; two batarians. They made short work of the mercs and continued on down another set of stairs and through a sealed door that Miranda made short work of with her limited hacking skills.

After opening the door, they were greeted another long corridor, with an entrance off to the left and a right entrance leading to a balcony. He motioned for Garrus to take the balcony.

"I have a feeling whatever we see around that corner ain't going to be friendly and we're going to need sniper support. Besides, I'm sure they'll be pissed to find out Archangel's still alive."

Garrus chuckled, "What? They think I'm dead?"

Marcus nodded, "From what EDI told me, they think Tarak killed you in that rocket blast. So for all intents and purposes; Archangel is dead."

Garrus gave a wry smirk as he took the steps up to the balcony and he took Miranda and Jacob to the end of the corridor, assuming position on one side as he peaked in.

As he predicted, trouble was there to greet them. A squad of Blood Pack vorcha were patrolling the halls, teeth bared and snarling as they searched methodically, lead by their krogan commander. The krogan wore fully sealed armor, as did most of the species that were vulnerable to the disease. Taking out the krogan warrior should send the vorcha into disarray.

He commed his helmet, "Garrus, do you have eyes on number one tango?"

"Hot copy, eyes on krogan confirmed. I have a bead on said target. Requesting permission to engage."

Marcus simply nodded, "Take him down."

A loud bang resounded through the hall as Garrus' shot connected with the krogan's skull; blood staining the ground as the krogan collapsed onto the floor, dead. The vorcha paniced as they unleashed wildfire, not knowing where to shot and resorting to shooting in all directions. Leaning out from his cover, the valkyrie heavy rifle barked in his iron grip as he fired three shots and the nearest three vorcha he could spot, taking them down in clean shots. Vorcha were obviously too dumb to use shields or any form of armor.

However slow they were, the vorcha at least understood the meaning of cover. They all moved behind supply crates as they occassionally gained the courage to lean out of cover and take a shot at them, to which they usually had their face bitten off by Garrus' reaper sniper rifle.

Having enough of the pop-goes-the-weasel style they were fighting in, he summoned his biotics, dark energy channelling through his body and enveloping him in a cool breeze. He then leaned out and summoned a singularity, the large field of azure light exploding in the space above the vorcha, pulling them out of their cover and into the air. Without hesitation, his team cut them down without so much as blinking. With the singularity ended and the Blood Pack troops defeated, they pushed forward and towards Mordin's clinic once more.

"The Blue Suns have given up a lot of turf," Garrus observed, catching up with the trio, "This doesn't settle well with a mercenary company that's used to being top dog around here. They'd usually get reinforcements from Tarak, but with him dead and a large portion of their forces wasted on trying to kill me, I don't think that'll be too far coming."

"So we're crossing into Blood Pack territory," Marcus declared, "The no man's land. Stay frosty people, let's not get caught off guard, especially not by damn vorcha."

"It's a pity, I kinda feel sorry for the Blue Suns," Jacob spoke up, "They used to police this sector and from what I've heard, they actually looked after the residents. Now this plague has them losing more and more territory."

As they continued on, they encountered another patrol of Blood Pack; mostly just vorcha and a few varren. They were easily disposed of and it wasn't long before they finally reached the clinic, located down a flight of stairs from an abandoned mechanic's store. The store was guarded by a few LOKI mechs; the sight making him roll his eyes. He never really understood the dependence on such useless robots. They were stupid, lacked any tactical recognition and overall had bad aim. You were better off giving a rifle to a civilian. At least they'd actually aim it right.

Upon entering the clinic, they found it teaming with life; batarians, turians, salarians, asari, humans, even a few volus and an elcor; all either seeking refuge from the gang war outside or from the plague. Or both. After getting directions, they managed to find Mordin himself in a makeshift lab; the salarian's white labcoat standing out in the harsh light of the lab. He was working on some kind of datapad and ordering numerous doctors around. Once again, more LOKI mechs, but with assault rifles. The salarian seemed to have a SMG strapped to his hip; a tempest by the looks of it.

As he stepped into the room, Mordin stopped his work and turned to face him, eyes unblinking.

Clearing his throat, he spoke, "Professor Mordin Solus?"

The salarian was fast as he moved forward, opening his omni-tool and scanning the four of them, smiling as he turned it off, "Hmm. Don't recognize you from area. Too well-armed and armored for refugees. No mercenary uniform. Quarantine still in effect." Mordin turned back to his desk.

"Here for something else. Vorcha? Crew to clean them out? Unlikely. Vorcha a symptom, not a cause. The plague? Investigating possible use as bioweapon? No. Too many guns, not enough data equipment. Soldiers, not scientists. Yes. Yes. Hired guns, maybe. Looking for someone? Yes! But who? Someone important. Someone valuable. Someone with secrets, someone like me..."

Marcus shook his head and smiled as he took his helmet off, hoping the salarian would recognize him. From the look Mordin gave him, he did.

"Ah! Commander Shepard. Fought alongside you on Virmire. Was under Kirrahe's command and still in STG; not anymore. Helped stop Saren. Battle unpleasant; Gunnery Chief Williams lost. Nuclear explosion; crude but effective. Hold. The. Line! Very good speech. Kirrahe always was good speech maker."

Marcus' smirk disappeared at the mention of Ashley; the soldier he had left behind to die on Virmire. She had given her life to stop Saren, to make sure the bomb went off and destroy Saren's base. It had been a sacrifice he would have avoided if he had the choice, but he couldn't have. Ashley had done what was expected of her; and it was because of that that her memory moved on. He couldn't imagine what Kaidan was going through in the years after her death.

Shaking himself from his musings, he looked back at Mordin, "Yes, I'm glad you remember me. Just what happened to Kirrahe and Rentola?"

Mordin shrugged, "Presumably still serving in STG. Said they'd keep their promise; help stop Reapers when time came, despite salarian orders saying otherwise. Council dismissed you, Kirrahe didn't. Kept promise. Will keep promise. Not here for social gathering, however. You're hear for something else. Plague not of interest to you. Blue Suns loss of territory not a concern. Looking for me. Working for Cerberus, unexpected. Why would Cerberus be interested in me?"

Marcus rolled his eyes at the words 'working for', "I don't work for them, Mordin, I work with them. It's a temporary arrangement. I've come to ask for your help in a critical mission."

Mordin seemed contemplative, "Mission? What mission? No. Too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague spreading too fast. Why is Cerberus interested in recruiting me? Not like Cerberus to recruit aliens. Strictly human; aliens a threat to supremacy. The need for a salarian unexpected."

Garrus seemed to chuckle to himself in the background; the salarians were smart buggers, but Mordin put a trademark to the stereotype of fast talker; he seemed to be never be out of breath as he spoke in rapidfire.

"We're on a mission to shut down the Collectors. They've been abducting entire human colonies and they need to be stopped. Me and my crew will be that stop."

Mordin smiled, "Explains why Archangel is here," he nodded to Garrus who simply smiled back, remembering the time he had asked the salarian to join his team all those months ago, "Collectors? Interesting. Plague hitting these slums is engineered, not natural. Collectors one of few groups with technology to design it. Have devised that collectors created plague specifically designed not to hurt humans. Fascinating. Our goals might be similiar."

The former STG agent then opened his omni-tool, "But must stop plague first. Already have a cure. Need to distribute it at environmental control center. Vorcha guarding it. Need to kill them. Vorcha responsible for plague. Human blame misguided."

Marcus simply nodded, "Don't worry Mordin, you know how I roll. We've fought geth and krogan before, remember? I don't think a few vorcha are going to present a problem."

Mordin simply smiled before deactivating his omni-tool, "Difficulty never in question. Just stated nessacary mission parameters. As weak as vorcha are, present problem for distribution of cure. Their involvement is...problematic."

Both of them looked around in surprise as the entire room was flooded by a large vibrating sound, the room growing slightly darker. Mordin cursed under his breath. Garrus sighed heavily.

"When you hear sounds like that, you know something's gone wrong. It's not exactly subtle." Garrus remarked.

Mordin activated his omni-tool and scanned the room, "Vorcha have somehow shut down environmental systems. Trying to kill everyone. Need to get power back on before district suffocates," The salarian then produced a vial, placing it in Marcus' opened hand, "Here, take plague cure. Program into master control panel and reactivate oxygen filtration systems to distribute across district. Also, Daniel. One of my assistants. Went into vorcha territory. Looking for victims," he then took a deep breath, "Hasn't come back."

Marcus nodded as he placed the cure vial in Miranda's hand, the Cerberus agent placing it inside a pouch on her belt, "We'll have the systems up and running and the cure launched by the time we get back. And we'll tell you if we see Daniels anywhere."

With that, Mordin returned to his work, Marcus taking his squad and leaving the clinic through a rear exit. The path to the environmental control center wasn't an easy one. As they scanned the numerous abandoned corridors of the district's industrial sector and numerous shops, all they had found was a mass amount of Blood Pack forces. The vorcha were practically all over the place and they found more than their fair share of krogan warriors.

It hadn't been long before they came along an empty room full of vorcha and what sounded like a screaming human. Weapons raised, he opened the door and fired off a long spread burst from his SMG, taking down the three vorcha closest to the door before Jacob used his biotics to trap the last two in a biotic field, allowing Garrus to take them down with his mattock.

There was a human, a doctor by his uniform, lying on the ground, dead telling by the long slit like wound that encroached his throat. Turning him over, Marcus cursed under his breath as he read the name tag. Junior Assistant Ricky Daniels. He closed the doctor's eyes, the petrified look in his eyes too much to bare. After cleaning up the body, they continued on their way and kept pushing towards the ECC.

After eliminating a few more vorcha boom-squads, they finally arrived at the ECC. The room was huge, if a room is what you could call it. Giant, turbine fans hung from the ceiling, their monolithic blades no longer spinning, deactivated. In the center was the control board; a large set of controls linked up to the district's mainframe. Large support struts kept the place stable while two catwalks, above and below, lay to the left and right. And directly ahead of them, was a squad of vorcha.

The feral beasts turned towards them in haste, snarling and growling at them as what looked like their leader turned to face them, teeth bared.

"Human, how did you get here?" The vorcha snarled, clearly not pleased and his blood pack punisher SMG lay at his side. At least the vorcha were capable of speech; although that was probably just his translator at work and they were speaking in whatever language the vorcha even had.

"We've come to stop the plague that you brought here," Marcus declared, "Now you can either leave peacefully or, damn me if you will, I will have to fight my way to that control board. Why did you bring the plague here anyway? I know you didn't create it; the Collectors did. What do you get from killing an entire district full of people?"

The vorcha shook his head in discontent, "Collectors want plague! They give us good stuff! They give us lots of good tech for our services. We give plague, we get good stuff. We turn off fans, bring heat. Me love heat. Vorcha love heat. Perfect home. We rule this district. Aria will know the strength of vorcha! But you would make cure, bring back the cold!"

"I don't know what the collectors offered you, but they'll betray you," Miranda told them, "You're idiots to trust them."

"You lie!" The vorcha growled, "You deceive! But you would put cure in air! I kill you first!" With hesitation befitting of a toddler, the vorcha moved to grab his SMG. With immense speed, he drew his pistol and fired a single shot into the vorcha's head, dropping him to the ground as the rest of the vorcha troops opened fire.

The vorcha guarding the control board weren't much of a threat; they were too slow to really halt their advance, so they pushed through with ease. Once infront, he inserted the cure and watched as it flooded the systems and ventilation systems. But it was all for nothing if he didn't get those fans up and running again.

"Miranda, Jacob, take the left and get fan one up and running. Garrus and I will take the right. Move!" Marcus barked, taking Garrus as the team split up. He suddenly realized it was a good idea; not only would they cover more ground, but the amount of vorcha forces guarding the second fan was much greater than the ones on the left.

Didn't make it a challenge though; most of the vorcha didn't even use cover and the occassional inexperienced krogan sniper was outmatched by Garrus' professional style. With the blood pack forces decimated, they entered the fan secondary control room and hit the switch to turn it on. He watched as the fan's spun faster and faster until they were at dizzying speeds, wind howling through the area like a hurricane. It wasn't long before Miranda and Jacob checked in, stating the the first fan was operational as well and all blood pack forces were neutralized.

And with that, they double timed it back to Mordin's clinic.

{Loading...}

August 11, 2185

1558 hours.

Mordin's Clinic, The Slums, Gozu District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Professor Mordin Solus.

"Professor?" Marcus asked as he approached the salarian, the ex-STG agent looking at his omni-tool as he scanned numerous ex-victims, all cured of the disease.

Mordin smiled as he handed over his job to his assistant, "Commander. Cure dispersed. Little to no trouble. Not unexpected. Unfortunately, Daniels has not returned. Either still missing or dead. Suspect the latter due to your white knight complex. Pity. Good man. Had lots to learn."

Marcus sighed sadly, "I wish I could have gotten to him sooner."

"Do not blame self. Not your fault. Daniels my responsibility," Mordin countered, "Will mourn death later. Remember you had critical mission requiring salarian scientific and combat expertece. Will be happy to join you. Must clean up here; belongings to return. Presume ship docked near Afterlife; will meet you there. Many things to do. Look forward learning much about collectors. Enigmatic species; much to learn. Will meet you when I can."

Marcus nodded, taking his squad and leaving. Another man on their team to charge into hell. When push came to shove, they would have to locate the collector homeworld; and when they did, it'd be the only way to put them out of business. If the collectors truly were in league with the reapers, it would take everything they had to stop them. Collector technology was far ahead of their own by a large margin; not as good as the Reapers, but still considerable. The geth were one thing; the collectors were a whole new league. At least machines were predictable. The geth might as well have been amateurs.

And now one more man would be following him into hell. He just hoped that his efforts were all worth it when the time came. Then he thought of Tali; of how, soon, she would be joining him too. Following him into a collector-infested purgatory. He didn't know if he could stand the sight of her dying in his arms; if he could lose another friend. I've already lost Ashley. I can't lose anymore friends; especially not Tali. We'll defeat the Collectors, but when the Reapers come...

That's when the real war will begin.

"And that's when Mordin joined the crew. I think Kelly called him a 'hamster on coffee.' I always liked him; he so nice to me. He was funny, lovable and caring. And certainly a brilliant doctor. I think he'd give Xen a run for her money. I miss him though."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Mordin was like many of the Normandy's crew; they started as just simple soldiers and scientists; brought together to fight an enemy none had the balls to look in the eyes. To take the fight to their home where none dare venture. But, like all those who served with us, they became more than comrades. They became family."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

OMEGA'S OUTLAWS

August 11, 2185

1608 hours.

Harrot's Weapons and Maintenance, Shopping Sector, Dyuko District, Omega.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

"So what are we doing, exactly?" Garrus asked.

Marcus simply shrugged, "Buying stuff I guess. See anything you like?"

Little to no time had passed since their mission in the Gozu District. Curing the plague in the area had been an unexpected detour, but in the end, they had recruited Mordin Solus and now had another elite member to add to the crew. When Mordin returned to the ship, which would be in half an hour, he would debrief him and get him set up in the Tech Lab. Apparently the Illusive Man had chosen Mordin for a secondary reason; to develop a way to counteract the paralyzing agent of the seeker swarms. Apparently Garrus had gotten set up in the gunnery control center which to him, was no surprise at all.

News reports stated that, with the plague gone, Blue Suns reinforcements were rushing into the district and were able to take the disorientated forces of the Blood Pack by surprise. Soon, the Blue Suns would have kicked out the remnants of the Blood Pack and would have full control of the district once more. That, and everyone now knew the vorcha had been the carriers of the disease, not humans. All in all, it had been a good mission.

Now they were in Harrot's Weapons and Maintenance store owned by an elcor named Harrot. Miranda and Jacob had returned to the ship to make sure the tech lab was ready when Mordin arrived. Garrus had decided to stay with him and check out the nearby stores to see if there was anything they could use for their mission. So far they had found nothing but obsolete weaponry and old devices. Nothing worth purchasing.

With a sigh, the two of them left the store in search of somewhere else they could pour credits on; anything to give them an edge against the collectors. But so far they couldn't find a single thing that could do just that. But when you go looking for quality items on Omega; that's expected. He never knew why he bothered in the first place; the only other he could go was the Citadel. Besides, he still had to inform Anderson and the Council that he was still alive. Udina would be ecstatic. God knows he hated that man. Yet again, he hated the whole Council, so what else was new.

With nothing of interest in the upper shops, the duo headed down a flight of stairs leading into a lower area of the shopping sector. A corridor lead off straight ahead while also splitting off to the left. The forward path lead into Lower Afterlife while the path to their left lead to the only shop on this level which out to be a shop called 'Kenn's salvage.' Numerous vorcha sat around the shop, snarling as they fought amongst each other over scrap or just sat, snarling at anything that merely walked past.

Stopping infront of the shop, they found it wasn't all that impressive; a simple desk sat infront of him with a terminal serving as the cash register. Off to the left, behind the register, was a small machine of unknown purpose while a shelf holding numerous items hung at the back. And right on the right of the shelf was the one item he never thought he'd find here. It was a T6-FBA coupling. When he had visited Kenneth and Gabby down in engineering, Ken had immediately complained that the current couplings made it so maintenance had to be daily. But if they found a T6-FBA, then they'd be able to extend that to weeky maintenance, allowing them to concentrate more on other important shipboard operations. Now he just had to find the store's manager.

"Bosh'tet!" A male voice cursed.

Turning, he saw a male quarian stand up from the unknown machine, carrying a arc welder in his hand, much like the one Cathka had used. Surprised at seeing a quarian, as they were very rare, he smiled. He surmised that the guy was probably on his pilgrimage. But how did he end up on a backdrop station like Omega?

"Um...hello?" Garrus asked awkwardly, leaning on the store counter. Noticing them, the quarian was almost startled when he turned towards the two heavily armed soldiers before him. His eyes widened in panic, "Please don't tell me Jarrot sent you," the quarian begged, "Tell him I need more time!"

Marcus held up his hands, "Calm down, it's okay. We're not here to shake you down but...what's this about problems with Jarrot? Is your pilgrimage not going too well?"

The quarian looked surprised that a human would know anything about pilgrimages but answered despite his suspicions, putting the arc welder on a front bench. He looked worn out, "When my pilgrimage started, I came to Omega hoping to earn some fast money so I could bring back a starship. I knew my pilgrimage wouldn't be anything like Tali'Zorah's was, I mean she was a damn hero, but I wanted to impress my people. But then I realized that business wasn't all that easy and I quickly found myself without money. That's when Jarrot took me in and now I run this store. But I'm linked to him through contract and unless it's broken, I can't earn enough credits to get a ticket off this station. I'm stuck here."

He smiled under his helmet at the mention of Tali and immediately took off his helmet, setting it on the counter, "You seem to have a big problem. That's what I do; I solve problems. My name is Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy and I might be able to help. What's your name?"

The quarian looked visibly shocked, "The Commander Shepard? As in the Tali'Zorah's commanding officer? Keelah, it is such an honor!" The quarian held out his hand to shake Marcus', to which the human eagerly shook it, smiling at the quarian's excited posture.

"Now, you're name?" Marcus asked again.

The quarian immediately straightened his posture, "Of course! Sorry, got ahead of myself! My name is Kenn. Kenn'Raan nar Koleps."

Marcus allowed a small grin to crease his features, "How many credits do you need to get that ticket, Mister nar Koleps?"

Kenn begin to play with his fingers, a gesture he had seen Tali doing quite alot during the Saren campaign. He felt his grin widen at he memory, missing the quarian more and more.

"One thousand credits," Kenn stated with shame, "An amount I'm no closer to reaching. Thanks to Jarrot, I might never see the fleet again. It's a lesson I've learnt from going to Omega for my pilgrimage. But I'm quarian; my people are survivors. I'll adapt. I hope." The quarian showed no signs of believing his own words. Self-assurement that everything will be fine. He knew that feeling all too well; he had felt it in the pit of his stomach after watching his squad get devoured on Akuze.

The memory of Akuze caused his smile to deminish, but he still searched his pockets, pulling out two five hundred credit chits. He then placed them on the counter, Kenn looking at them as if they were aliens; but also with a look of hunger in his eyes, the need to take them but not wanting to be selfish. Another comparison to Tali; maybe it was endearing trait all quarians had. If so, he was loving the quarian species more and more.

"Go on, take it and get out of here," Garrus butted in, "Shepard's a paragon on high when he's like this. If he gives you a thousand credits, he doesn't expect 'no' as an answer. Anything less than a yes is his own form of no. Better to just take it and remember that he's giving you a second chance. Don't waste it."

Kenn seemed to eye the two chits a while longer before snatching them off the counter and holding them tight in his hands like they were his life source; as if they'd keep him alive. And in a way; he will. Kenn immediately looked up to them and thanked them a final time.

"Thank you so much, commander," Kenn thanked, "I won't forget this!" With that, the quarian left, practically running off. Garrus turned to Marcus and he could see a smirk creasing the turian's mandibles.

"I know what-"

"Quarian filth!"

Marcus' and Garrus' heads snapped in unison towards the vorcha grouped around the entrance to the path they had just passed, seeing Kenn spread out on the ground, both chits dropped infront of him. The quarian was moving to collect his chits as numerous vorcha encroached around him, apparently not happy. Marcus knew he had to stop the ferals from tearing the poor quarian alive.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Kenn pleaded but was rewarded with a sharp kick to the chest, reeling him over and causing him to drop his chits.

"Leave this kid alone, it was an accident," Garrus ordered the vorcha, but he either didn't listen or couldn't care less.

The vorcha kicked Kenn again, hitting him near the mask, but hitting his shoulder. Marcus, realizing this could turn from roughing up to a severe bacterial infection for the quarian and possibly death, he moved in, grabbing the vorcha by the throat with his arm and thrusting him into a wall, his look able to burn through thick steel.

"It wasn't a fucking request. You either leave this kid alone or I'll use your head as a banner display on my ship's hull," Marcus practically growled, his voice full of venom. Even Garrus seemed intimidated by it. Garrus had never heard Shepard speak like that before. He knew Shepard as a man seeking peaceful whenever he could; but Shepard just seemed to be ignoring that for straight up threats. Either way, his finger brushed against his rifle's handle, preparing for a fight. With the vorcha distracted, this allowed Kenn to get back up, collect his chits and run at full pelt out of there. At least the kid was safe.

The vorcha all snarled in unison, weapons being unholstered. Marcus reacted with inhuman speed and brutal effiency, his hands clasping the vorcha's head as he yanked the other way, snapping the creature's neck as he dropped the pinned vorcha and spun around, weapon raised. Vorcha were idiots and useless warriors, but in the numbers they were in, they totally outnumbered himself and Garrus. But he knew that just letting them gun them down wasn't an option and his grenade launcher found refuge in his hands, a grenade already in the firing chamber. Garrus had his mattock levelled and ready to fire.

"Kill the humans!" The vorcha immediately opened fire, assault rifle rounds tearing through the air. But that was it; only a single salvo broke through and most of the fire was focused on Marcus; his shields shattered and two bullets ripped through his armor, leaving gaping holes in the chasing as he grunted in pain, but remained in his posture. Garrus' shields shattered and he got a single shot to the shoulder, but that was it.

Because the vorcha suddenly had someone else to deal with. A roar of gunfire poured from the stairway leading back up to the upper shopping sector, the sound of the weapon being recognized as a vindicator battle rifle. Vorcha fell, one by one as they shifted priorities. But by then it was too late; most of them had been gunned down and the rest of the vorcha were just charging relentless at their unknown helper.

Deciding to help, Marcus and Garrus attacked the vorcha's now exposed rear, eliminating the rest. Popping out a thermal clip, he loaded in a fresh one, as did Garrus per his orders, not wanting to take chances in case their supposed savior turned out to be one of Aria's guards or some other merc. They waited, weapons lowered as the man came into view.

The first thing he noticed was the man's face; he was literally covered in scars. His features were hardly recognizable due to the amount of cuts, scrapes and scars along his features. One in particular cut across his forehead, being the largest of all of them. The man had seen alot of combat; perhaps even more than Marcus himself if the wounds told a different story. His right eye also appeared to be cybernetic; a pale white in color. His hair was close to bald but stood enough to make out its brownish color.

The man's armor was lighter than his and definitely not as advanced and, like the man, had obviously been through battle; scars, bullet entry points and even a few scorched sections showed through on the man. The way he walked meant he wasn't military and as he assumed, most likely meant he was a mercenary, probably a bounty hunter or hitman due to him being alone. No, Hitmen are subtle and precise. No, definitely a bounty hunter. His right shoulder piece was bigger than the rest, protecting alot of his head. When the man spoke, it was a calm, deep tone that also sounded a tiny bit raspy.

"Damn, you two really do know how to pick cheap fights," The man commented, deliberating kicking a snarling vorcha over before executing him with calm, precise ease. The act of killing barely phased the man, showing his experience in the art of war, "After reading your dossier, I thought you'd have been fighting fucking krogan."

Marcus wasn't too convinced by the man's act, "State your name, rank and intention," It had only just been then that Garrus noticed the Blue Suns insignia on the man's neck. His grip tightened around his mattock.

The man rolled his eyes, "Goddam rank and file type are ya? The name's Massani, Zaeed Massani with no forthcoming rank and the intention to send alot of fucking collectors straight to the ninth circle of my personal little hell. Illusive Man filled me in on your little light brigade; He's willing to pay up and I'm willing to shoot something. Seems like a fair deal."

Marcus loosened the grip on his rifle holstering, ordering Garrus to do the same. The turian was confused, but he did as ordered, holstering his mattock rifle and trusting in Marcus' instincts.

"So you're our secret third recruit," Marcus stated, eying the man, "Saying you're not what I expected would be a bunch of BS, so let's cut the crap."

Zaeed simply nodded, "Good. The sooner I get to shooting shit the happier I'll be. I'm sure 'ol llusive told you about my little...what's the word...providation? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours?"

Marcus nodded, "I'm fully aware and we will try to get to it as fast as possible. I've got other recruits to pick up, one being an apparently powerful biotic and a krogan scientist."

Garrus snorted, "Krogan scientist? Do you just look for the utterly rare types on purpose? What is he, a warrior scientist? Now that'd make my day."

Marcus simply shrugged, "Don't know, I guess we'll find out when we get there. But first, I've got a date with the Council and Anderson. We've got nothing else here so I guess we'll get back to the Normandy and head for the Citadel. Mordin should be onboard by now. I'll take you there Zaeed."

Zaeed simply moved aside without a word, the duo moving past as Zaeed moved in close behind, the mercenary slotting in a fresh thermal clip before holstering his vindicator. Now they had a ruthless bounty hunter to add to their list of team members; not to mention he was the bounty hunter. The one everyone feared. The one who's very name caused whole mercenary organizations to send everything they had to fight him.

And soon, it would be the collectors sending their forces to fight them too.

{Loading...}

August 12, 2185

1730 hours.

Crew Quarters, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Q System.

Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

Promotion. Tali had recently been promoted to Brigadier General. By the time she finally joined Marcus, she would be a general at this rate. Hell, she probably outranked him already; and that didn't settle well with her. It didn't matter though; quarian military command didn't override one from a foreign force unless it was in a joint-operation. But even then, she'd still take orders from her commander. Her...captain.

Her shift currently wasn't over and she wasn't working in engineering. She was to debrief some marines later in the day but for now she had some downtime. She leaned on her bed as she looked blankly into the room. Her omni-tool was opened and she was preparing to send Marcus a message; but the problem was, she didn't know what to write.

It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was that she didn't know what could be said. How's it going? How many collectors have you killed? Hope you're okay? The more options that ran through her head the more she was sent into indecision. In the end, her typed her message, hoping that it would be enough.

To: Marcus L. Shepard

From: TheNaughtyQuarian7

Subject: I miss you!

I hope you're doing alright. All is well on the Neema; or peaceful at least. It won't be long before the Haestrom mission. I remembered my promise to email you and here I am. I just wish there was more I could say.

Seeing you back from the dead is still unbelievable. I'm glad you're back, more than glad actually, but it's just that I've never witnessed resurrection before. Just...watch your back. I really don't trust Cerberus. They may have good intentions now, but when the collectors are just a distant memory, and trust me, they will be knowing us, they might not figure us to be an asset worth keeping. Please be careful.

I can't wait to rejoin the crew. After all these years...it's a pleasure to know you're alive...far away, but alive all the same. And soon, I will rejoin you in yet another insane quest into the unknown. I just hope we don't make a habit of this. As if the Reapers weren't worry enough. I heard Garrus joined your crew too; at least I'll have that bosh'tet to look forward to as well. That's all I need; my two best friends to protect me on a ship full of my enemies.

I also forgot to tell you back on Freedom's Progress that not everyone ignored your warnings about the Reapers. Although I don't like her, Xen did take me seriously and it wasn't long before the rest of the Board agreed. My father, the insufferable bosh'tet he might be, agreed as well and the fleet is being prepared for war. I just thought you should know; at least you have one ally in the coming war ready to fight.

I miss you alot. Hope to see you soon. Keelah Se'lai to you Marcus.

From: TheNaughtyQuarian7

To: Marcus L. Shepard

Content with the message, she hit the send button and sat on her bunk, picking up one of the marine debriefing pads and examining it. Kal'Reegar was out on special assignment and that left Tali in temporary command of his Hametzo Division. Apparently Kal had been selected to lead a small skylord strike team to some uninhabited world to eliminate a pirate base that had abducted one of their pilgrimages. Those bosh'tets were about to find out what happens when you mess with the Migrant Fleet. Her people looked after each other.

Tali didn't even bother to turn around as the door behind her opened. She was too engrossed in her work to realize just who it was who had entered. Before she could turn to see who it was, Peta had moved and sat on the sleeping pad to her left.

"Hey Tali," Peta greeted the quarian.

Tali rolled her eyes behind her mask, "Hello." She replied, the implications of the word ringing hollow in her mind. She really didn't feel it.

"What are you doing?" Peta asked.

"Work," Tali responded curtly.

"What kind of work?"

"One that includes leading a marine division."

"Okay then."

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Peta spoke up.

"So...Tali, I was wondering, would you like to...um...watch a movie with me? I've...I've got it on my omni-tool."

This time, Tali couldn't take it. She honestly thought Peta had gotten the point, but here he was, pressing it. She wasn't interested in a relationship with him; why couldn't he get that? She'd have a better chance with Kal then Peta, and he was her official brother!

"Must you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That," Tali snapped, "Why can't you simply leave me alone? I could understand if you were just being a friend, but it's clear this is something more. Do you understand the friendzone, or do you not?"

Peta seemed equally frustrated, but for a different reason, "Of course I do! But I don't understand why you don't want me! We've been friends since we were children! I could give you children! I could make you happy; I could protect you!"

"I don't want you because my heart already belongs to someone else!" Tali retorted, datapad falling into her lap.

"You'd much rather have that primate as a mate? You're biologically incompatible! You can never give him children! But I could give you that chance! A quarian husband that would love and cherish you, not some human degenerate."

Tali realized she could never have children with Marcus. It was a sad, unfortunate truth. Her body simply wasn't designed to be compatible with humans. It tore at her everytime she thought about it, but it hadn't stopped her. She wouldn't ever leave Marcus for anything; and she'd even sacrifice the ability to have a family just to be with him.

"How dare you!" Tali snapped back, "He has done more for me than you ever will! He's looked after me, protected me and cared for me! I don't care if we can't have children; that's not what love is all about! Reproduction isn't what it's all about Peta!"

Peta just gave a snort, "And what if I told your father about your little fling with your human commander? What if word spread across the fleet that Rael'Zorah's famous daughter; slayer of the geth and heroine of the Citadel, was found to be sleeping with a human? Could you imagine the outrage? I can practically hear them right now."

Tali slammed her fist onto the bed, causing her datapad's glass screen to smash. He had the dav to use blackmail to get her into his bed? And what if she did decide to have sex with him? What would it achieve? She'd feel none the better and would lose Marcus. She could only imagine the look of betrayal on his face as he realized she had married another quarian; why didn't even love. Reputation be damned; let the fleet know. She wouldn't care. Besides, she was pretty sure Peta was just bluffing.

"Then tell them!" Tali counter-dared.

Peta looked taken aback, "W-what?"

"I said tell them!" Tali repeated, "Go and inform my father. You see, I don't care. I care about Marcus so much. I love him. And if you think I'm going to give up the future I could have with him for you, then you're wrong."

Peta seemed visibly defeated, "Why do you hate me so much? I thought we had something..."

Tali felt genuinely sorry for the quarian. She understood the feeling; of loving someone and then finding out they had someone else. She had had a similiar feeling on the Normandy; on Feros, when she had watched Liara hug Marcus. It had been revealed to be a non-intimate embrace, but at the time she had thought Marcus had gone for Liara. The thought had torn her apart; and now Peta felt the same about her.

She lay a hand on mechanic's shoulder, squeezing it gently, "I don't hate you, Peta. I just don't love you. We never had any chemistry between us; it was never going to work out. I'm sorry. But I know deep down that I love Marcus and I want to spend my life with him. A life I can't spend with you. I'm sure you'll find another woman who can love you the way you want me to, but you're day isn't going to be today. Can't we just be friends?"

Peta sighed heavily, apparently having finally accepted the way things had gone, "Yes, of course we can. I'll always love you Tali, but I know you can never love me back, and I've now come to accept that. I hope you find happiness with the one you do love. I better get back to engineering; still much to do."

Tali nodded and watched as Peta left, the quarian feeling tears streaking down his cheeks. He had meant what he said; he still loved her, but he could at least...No! How can I accept this? I've had a crush for her since I was nine! And to find that some other boy got to her? Maybe if I had dated her when we were teenagers; maybe I might've gotten to her first. But now I've lost my chance.

Once he was in a area of the ship that noone was in, he growled loudly and slammed his fist into the bulkhead, tears pouring down now. He slipped onto the floor, holding his head in a fetal position inbetween his legs. Maybe in another life...

Then his omni-tool lit up, alerting him to a message marked as important. He wished he could wipe away the tears as he opened the message in his omni-tool. As he read through it, his features creased from sad into a look of satisfaction. He now had a purpose; a way to get what he wanted. And as he stood up to head for engineering; he began formulating the pleasures of having such an alliance.

To: Peta'Yala vas Neema.

From: Anonymous Source.

Subject: Your current predicament.

I've taken special notice of you and recognize the situation you find yourself in. Maybe we can reach some sort of arrangement. I have a large amount of resources and agents and I'm sure you know just who I am. Information is my busines and I'm sure we can use that as a means to a certain end.

Tali'Zorah may not realize how deep your feelings go for her, but I do. And I'm willing to help you win her over, even if by force. I only require that you help me in return. This message will delete after being sent. You can send a reply via the encrypted address at the bottom of the message. I look forward to further exchanges.

From: Anonymous Source.

To: Peta'Yala vas Neema.

{Loading...}

August 12, 2185

1734 hours.

Crew Quarters, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Q System.

Ree'Nara vas Rayya, Tpi'Nara vas Rayya, Veetor'Nara vas Rayya, Chief Medical Officer Elan'Shiya vas Rayya.

"So basically, you want Veetor to visit you for weekly check ups?" Ree asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I want to make sure he recovers fully from his traumatic experiences. The Collector attack hit him hard and I need to make sure he's recovering well. His wellbeing is my priority." Elan responded in kind.

Veetor seemed to blissfully be outside of the conversation. He seemed to be intently staring at the ground, his mind wandering through space. Elan smiled warmly at the thought of where Veetor's mind was wandering. His mind was unique; even though he excluded himself from others, he was very creative. He was a talented engineer and speaker; it was just a pity that due to his phobia of crowds, that creative mind would never see the light of day. But Elan saw the potential; and she took special note of it. It was...attractive, she might say.

But Veetor's thoughts weren't where the doctor thought they were; his thoughts were centered around her. The young quarian had been trying to understand his feelings; everytime he saw Elan or was in her presence, he felt a tingling sensation. Whenever she touched him to do medical examinations, he felt his entire body tense. It was a blissful feeling; a sense of feeling safe, a sense of...what was it!?

"How does that sound, Veetor?" Elan asked, his parents eyes on him as well as the doctor's.

Veetor's eyes looked up to meet Elan's, glowing eyes seeming to pierce his mask and give him that same blissful feeling. The more he looked at her, the more he noticed her curves, the way her veil flowed across her body, the blue color of it being beautiful amongst her body. Her glowing, soft eyes brought him solace while everytime he looked at her, he just wanted to hold her close.

Am I...attracted to her? Could it be that? I've never had a crush on a girl before; but am I falling for my own doctor? Is that practical? Should I tell her this? I probably should. But what if she already has a mate or is married? No, Elan always said she was single and that she had no interest in any of the men. Am I in love with Elan'Shiya vas Rayya?

This caused Veetor to shiver, but he tried not to show it in his posture, "Yes yes yes. Very good, very good."

Then he looked away. The physical and mental flood of emotions was overwhelming and he had to find a way to put a cap on them. He just didn't know if he could. He might as well tell her; what harm could there be? You're Veetor'Nara; the natural coward of the fleet. Scared of crowds and now scared of telling a woman you're in love with her. The worst Elan could do is tell him she's married or has a mate and be done with it. That, or she's not interested. What was the chances of her being interested, anyway?

Elan continued to examine Veetor's posture and immediately found her eyes wandering his body. Unlike most males, Veetor didn't have the heavily-built muscles that came with a marine or heavy lifter. But his body was still bigger than a quarian female's, and for some reason she found his body to be...alluring. Veetor's voice was calm and low; something that sparked bliss in the woman. When she realized her eyes were drifting, she blushed. Am I attracted to my patient? To Veetor'Nara? He truly is a unique man; but what is the point of telling a guy who's scared of crowds that you're in love with him?

Two mutually thinking minds clashed as Elan stood up to leave, shaking both his parent's hands. When Elan turned to leave, Veetor stood up, alittle too quickly, but tried to turn attention away from himself, "Could I...walk with you, doctor?"

Elan had almost stated she was busy; but she guessed she had the time. Maybe I can tell him of my feelings for him. Get it over with. Elan simply nodded and Veetor followed her out of the room, both of them walking side by side towards no certain area of the ship. Both of them were silent, Veetor having no idea what to say and Elan wishing she could say something. Instead, both kept their silence. It was a long, drawn out silence that the both of them loathed.

Inside both of their minds was a war of attrition; Veetor and Elan's minds both trying to knock down the barriers of their emotional egos so they could finally spit out the things they wanted to say. But for now, the walls wouldn't budge.

Soon however, their pointless wandering found them arriving at the most unlikely destination; the observation deck. Upon arrival, they both found the area empty apart for a quarian couple at the end of the corridor, who were holding each other close as they examined the stars; lovers seperated by suits. Elan came to a stop by the observation window, looking out into the vast expanse of space itself, the shape of the Andromeda Galaxy painted on the horizon due to the fleet's proximity to the edge of the milky way.

Veetor joined her, but not in looking out into space, but to looking at her. Once again, his eyes travelled down her body, taking note of every curve. She was beautiful, as most quarian females were, but he felt Elan was special. He loved her, he knew that much and all he had to do was tell her that. He felt that their walk that had brought them to the observation deck hadn't been coincidence; his subconscious had done it on purpose. His eyes spied the couple ahead and knew that now was a better time than any. Clearing his throat, he prepared to do the most gutsy thing he had done in his entire life.

"Elan, I...I..." Veetor tried to stutter out.

Elan's visor turned to face him, waiting for him to finish his sentence as the quarian's hands fell to his waist, fiddling with themeselves. He knew this was it; she was waiting. The point of no return. What's there to lose?

"Elan, I...have feelings for you. I...I think I'm attracted to you." Veetor spat out and from the look of Elan's posture, he knew he had creeped her out. A patient, most likely much younger than her, just told her that he loved her. I'd be creeped out if I was in her position.

Before he could walk off, Elan had grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her. He was expecting her to berate him for what she might have thought was somekind of a sick joke or a lecture about patient/doctor differentials, but she instead did the unexpected. She stepped closer until she stood but an inch from him, faceplate following suit. Her voice was low, but calm and it sent shivers down his spine.

"Veetor, I feel the same way," Elan admitted. Veetor felt every bone in his body suddenly weaken; almost as if they had just disappeared. He had never felt so happy to hear those words in his life. Before he could react any further, Elan brought her visor to lean against his. Veetor stopped his erratic movements and just looked into her entrancing eyes, bodies so close that the warmth from both of them could be felt. Hands met hands before meeting waists. They tapped faceplates; the closest thing to a kiss quarians could get.

Then they just stood there; Veetor resting his helmet on Elan's shoulder as her hand wrapped around his waist and they looked into space together, the deck now occupying not one, but two couples. Veetor had never felt happier in his life.

Now he just had to find a way to make this work without screwing up.

"That's one hell of a way to meet a recruit; having them save your ass. Zaeed always seemed distant and a bit hostile, but I guess I learned to live with it."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Zaeed was always a mixed bag; but did you expect with a man who's basically labelled as a 'gun for hire?'"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"So I gather it was straight to the Citadel for you next."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Certainly was; and boy did I have an earful for the Council. But they weren't the only ones I had 'reunions' with. There was Anderson, a few friends from C-Sec and one hell of an annoying reporter who I'm sure you know. The Citadel was also where I think I met one of the most unusual of our recruits."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"And probably one of my best friends..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Author's Notes:

ArchReaper! Where is that sex scene between Elan and Veetor? I was promised suit-linking! Unacceptable! Blasphemy! Don't make me grab a stick and stick it so far up your ass that you'll be shitting-

Soooooooo, anyway I'd like to officially state that Collector (Guest) is a total, glucose-lacking defficient paragon of everything not to be in terms of human life. He/she is like the fungus that grows in areas I'd rather not mention (mostly for my own sake; I don't want to be known as the author who started a new epidemic of fanfictionitis. We already get enough of that from bad fanfics). I hope Collector is reading this, so he/she knows that their bacterial ass will be mentioned in this fanfic; before getting his ass kicked by Shepard and Tali awesomeness.

Hell, not even that; you don't deserve the honor of being killed by Shepard/Tali, let alone be in this fanfic. Be gone unholy beast! I will destroy you with my...{Insert Borderlands weapon here}. Just...yeah, I'm out.

Keelah Se'lai and...oh look! A chimp with an AK-47!

*runs off*

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

ONLY MOSTLY DEAD

August 12, 2185

1417 hours.

Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

Marcus sighed happily as a warm, tired smile crossed his lips. He had recently finished reading Tali's message. It was a welcome relief to the amount of situations he had gotten into lately; saving Archangel to find it was Garrus and almost lose him to a missile to the face, curing a collector-engineered plague and then helping a quarian only to meet his third recruit in the midst of a firefight. For all intents and purposes, he was actually relieved to leave Omega behind. As he saw it, the place was a hellhole and he didn't want to think about what Aria would think of three major organizations getting decimated on her station.

After sending the quarian his reply, he switched off the terminal and leaned back in his chair, examining the display case where he kept his ship models. He had collected numerous ship models; a geth cruiser, asari destroyer and batarian mining vessel among them. He had also collected what they were calling a 'geth dreadnought', which was actually a model of Sovereign. Apparently it was a geth creation. Bloody fools.

He gazed at the picture on his desk; Tali's opaque mask making the quarian a two-legged enigma; just what did she look like? Of course, he didn't care if he knew saw her face, but it was still something he'd always find curious. The more he looked at her picture, the more he felt intoxicated; the more he needed to hold her again. It was driving him mad. But he knew he couldn't afford to be selfish; both of their people's needed them.

He stood up and walked over to the aquarium that adorned the wall of his cabin; his reflection gazing back at him. He winced at the numerous bullet wounds that adorned his body, all from the battles he had fought on Omega in the shortspace of time he had been there. Surprisingly however, Chakwas had stated that he was healing from them faster than normal; apparently he had a less-advanced version of the regeneration krogan and vorcha had. He could heal, but it wouldn't be near-instanteous like theirs was.

He almost didn't recognize the reflection looking back at him; he kept picturing that face of steel that stared back at him during his first escape attempt back on Lazarus. He had lookd more machine than human, and that scared him. What as he? Was he really human anymore? What if he really was a clone, just programmed to have emotions? What would Tali think?

But then the metal face was gone; replaced by the one he now had. He looked exactly like he did two years ago; but lacking all the battle scars he had acquired on Elysium, Torfan and Akuze. Even the scratch marks he had gotten from his battle with Saren on the Citadel were gone; wounds well earned. He remembered the smell of burnt ash after he defeated the abomination; Saren's words echoing in his head. Thank you.

Now they were replaced by new scars; not proper ones, just areas left behind by the Lazarus project. They glowed with bright orange intent, but they weren't as bright as they had been on the shuttle over Freedom's Progress. They were slightly less bright now and the scars seemed to have shrunk. Chakwas had assured him that over time it would heal; the cybernetic's slow regeneration taking place.

There was no doubt that he was far superior to his original self in terms of combat; armor and weapons aside, it was his cybernetics that were the real guns on his body. They granted him speed and strength alike normal humans, making him almost as strong as krogan and as fast as a quarian. His reflexes were nowhere near a synthetic's but they were still faster. He remembered the feeling of lowering his rifle; how it felt so fluid, so casual, almost as if all the years of combat he had gone through had made using a rifle scope as easy as breathing.

And that's what truly scared him; that he wasn't just a soldier fighting for the survival of his people anymore, defending Earth and all his colonies. He worried that he was becoming the ultimate warrior; a man forged in the heat of battle and born to kill, slay and destroy the galaxy's enemies. In essence, he was the galaxy's guardian, their sentinel. I am the Archangel. But he didn't want to fight; it was just the only life he had every known. But then he met Tali...could I really drop everything to live a happy life with her? Could I even do that? The Reapers are coming and I don't even know if we can beat them.

With a heavy sigh, he shook his head and opened the door to leave his cabin; he didn't have time to consider the possibilities of his future. He had a war to win, races to save. Tali's protection mattered above all else; but not above the galaxy's. He'd head to the mess hall and start doing his rounds there; see how the crew were doing, especially Garrus, Mordin and Zaeed. He felt he'd need to get a feel for their personalities. He needed everyone to be in the game; a distracted soldier was a liability. A concentrated one was a lethal weapon.

The elevator didn't take as long to reach the Crew Deck as he thought it would; probably because he's gotten so used to their incredibly slow speed. When he finally reached the crew deck, he stepped out and turned around, heading into mess hall. The middle table was full with numerous cerberus crew members, including a few of the ship's commando detail. The table behind that however was only occupied by Crewman Hawthorne. Passing him, Marcus arrived at Gardner's galley, the man currently squatting behind the counter pulling out numerous packets of food. When the man finally stood up, he was surprised to see Marcus standing there.

"Commander! Sorry, didn't see you there," Gardner exclaimed, "What can I do for you?" The man had a very heavy californian accent. It was unusual, considering how the accent was dying off but still welcomed.

"Just a snack. Maybe a protein bar," Marcus requested, "Anything you really need while we're on the Citadel?"

Gardner simply shook his head, handing the man a bar which he took thankfully, "Nothing I can't get myself. I want to improve the food rations we currently have, as the crew aren't enjoying them; Cerberus don't differ much from the Alliance in terms of proper food. Omega was a no go, but I'm sure the Citadel will have the facilities I need. I'll just have to wear something over this uniform; I know how much aliens hate us."

Marcus nodded, unwrapping the bar and taking a bite out of it. The taste reminded him on the bars he had back on the Normandy SR-1, "What do you think of Cerberus, Gardner?"

Gardner crossed his arms and fixed his commander with a stare, "I think what this organization stands for is human purity and independence. Humanity needs to stand tall and recognize it's differential from these alien morons. I'm fully devoted to the Illusive Man's cause. No matter what you think of our methods, we do what we can for humanity. And in my opinion, if a few aliens have to disappear for that dominance? So be it."

The man's attitude reminded him of Pressly in many ways. However, Pressly just didn't trust them; he didn't want them dead, "You're going to be working alongside alot of aliens, Mess Sergeant. I hope we're not going to have a problem because I won't tolerate racism on this ship."

Gardner shook his head and held up his hands in defense of himself, "Of course not! I don't hate aliens, I just know that the end justifies the means. If we have to sacrifice the entire asari race to destroy the reapers, would you do it?"

Marcus felt he knew the answer but when it came down to it, he didn't. The genocide of an entire species was a horror among many, but to do it so the rest of the galaxy can survive? Could he really commit that sort of a crime just to destroy an enemy? Wouldn't I be no better than them?

"No, I wouldn't. There's always another way," Marcus declared, "And destroying an entire race isn't it. I'm not going to sacrifice people needlessly."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left, first heading up the ramp towards the gunnery control station to talk to Garrus. Gardner seemed like a good man, but he didn't nessacarily agree with the morals that the man followed. It seemed to be the general consensus of all Cerberus crew members; with the exception of Kelly, who seemed to genuinely like aliens, but still believed in Cerberus' ways. Ken and Gabby technically only joined Cerberus because of him, as did Chakwas and Joker, so that didn't count.

The door to the gunnery control area opened quickly and allowed him entrance. It wasn't an overly large room; there was a weapon's bench to his left along with a pile of crates to the left and the room was illuminated in a dull red glow. A single console occupied the room, with the rest of the room taken up by a large door; most likely used to deploy bombs or some form of explosive ordnance. Standing before the main control console was Garrus, the turian hard at work. Next to him, on the right, was a camper bed. Apparently Garrus had no need for a sleeper pod.

Hearing the door open though, the turian stopped what he was doing and turned around, nodding at Marcus as he did.

"Finally come to see me at work?" Garrus asked.

"Among other things," Marcus stated, finishing his bar as he moved to sit on the crates to the right of the room, door closing behind him. Marcus had one question still on his mind that he wanted answered. It had been nagging at him for quite awhile.

"Garrus, back on Omega, the dossier said you had a team. Just, what happened to them? I saw body bags lined along the wall back at your old HQ," Marcus asked.

Garrus' smirk turned to a grim expression within seconds. The turian turned to his console, leaning heavily against it and presumably trying to find the words he needed to say. Marcus didn't hurry him; it was an understanding between best friends. He had no intention to rush him through it.

Finally, the turian managed to mouth the words he needed to say, "One of my...team betrayed me...betrayed us. Blood Pack got to him and made him talk. Then he fled. By the time I got back my team was dead and only one of them was alive. And he didn't last very long. The body bags were them; bodies put to rest."

Marcus lowered his head solemnly. Losing Ashley on Virmire had saddened him, but for Garrus to lose his whole team to a traitor? He couldn't relate to that sort of pain. Mutuality just wasn't a present.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Marcus stated, "But it's not your fault."

Garrus wheeled on him in a second, "Not my fault? I should have seen Sidonis' treachery the moment I let him join my team! My incompetence cost my team their lives! But Sidonis isn't going to get away with it. I promised him I'd find him and kill him. That I'd avenge the deaths of my squad. Make him pay for his betrayal of my trust. Our trust."

"Revenge isn't always the way, Garrus," Marcus stated, "Redemption isn't exactly unoptional."

"He's beyond redemption," Garrus declared coldly, slamming his clenched talons into the console, "He was beyond it when he decided to run away instead of face me. Instead of sacrificing himself for the team. Now I know I'll be better when that turian bastard is dead. I will find him, but not today. Not now."

Marcus simply nodded; a non-verbal acknowledgement between two soldiers. Mutual agreement said not in words, but by gesture and trust. Instead, the N7 veteran changed the subject.

"So...the collectors. What's the estimate of our chances of success, Garrus?"

Garrus felt a smirk replace his grim expression, the memories of Sidonis' betrayal fading away for the moment it seemed, "I don't know. They're powerful, numerous and have technology far beyond even the geth. They'll make the Eden Prime War seem like a charity ball. But hey, they already killed you once and all that did was piss you off. I can't see it stopping you now."

Marcus simply laughed, "And when the time comes I'll have my quarian girlfriend and turian brother-in-arms at my side, sending them straight to hell. Just makes me wonder if they have their own Sovereign, their own Saren."

Garrus shook his head, "You know what Vigil said back on Ilos. Sovereign was the vanguard the reapers leave behind after every cycle. Now that Sovereign is destroyed and the Reapers can't get to us using the Citadel, it'll take them years to reach us from dark space. So no, I don't think we have any reapers to worry about. But if they have their own Saren? I guess time will tell."

Marcus sighed, "Makes me wonder if the collectors were once just a peaceful race and had been converted into slaves for the reapers. What if they were like the geth, Garrus? Brought to war because one Reaper and his turian servant brought them the chance."

"I hope you're not making the geth out to be good guys," Garrus teased, "I'd have to contact Chakwas and announce a medical emergency. Tali would probably slap you and give you a rerun on quarian history."

Marcus laughed, "Of course not. I just...I don't know. All I do know is that the collectors aren't going to last very long with us on their tail now."

Garrus smiled a predatory grin, "Damn right. Now if you don't mind, I am in the middle of some calibrations. The Normandy has a whole new set of weapons and I really want to get a feel for them. Let me know when we reach the Citadel; I want to be there to see the looks on the Council's faces when they see you're alive."

Marcus simply nodded and chuckled, getting up and off the crates and exiting through the door. He decided he'd talk to Chakwas next. He hadn't spoken with the doctor very much when she had come aboard, apart from the short time he spent with her while he got cleaned up after picking up his first recruits on Omega.

He hit the door's interface and stepped inside, seeing Chakwas sitting behind her desk to his immediate left. Hearing the door open, Chakwas turned and smiled when she saw Marcus.

"Shepard, what can I do for you?" Chakwas greeted, spinning in her seat to face him.

"I could ask you the same," Marcus replied, "We'll be at the Citadel within a couple of days and I wanted to know if you wanted anything while we were there. Medical supplies, anything at all?"

Chakwas shook her head before nodding slightly, "Well, there was one particular thing I wanted...but it's overly expensive..."

"We have a huge Cerberus budget to eat away from so don't hold back, doctor," Marcus stated.

"It's no necessity, I'll tell you that, just a...personal pleasure," Chakwas replied in kind, "I was hoping to acquire a bottle of serrice ice brandy. It's something I reserve for special occassions but I lost my last bottle when the Normandy was destroyed two years ago. I was hoping to get a replacement bottle, but if it's too much..."

Marcus held up his hands to stall further protest from the doctor, "No, I'll make sure I find some during our stay there. I need my crew fed and concentrated. If a little alcohol keeps my people on track, then so be it. Besides, we'll have to share a bottle at some point. I haven't been able to have a decent conversation with you."

Chakwas gave an even warmer smile, "That does sound lovely. But I gather you have work to do so I won't keep you. Just try not to get shot too much this time; I might have signed up to heal soldiers, but usually different ones, not the same ones."

He simply grinned, "I'll try."

With that, he left the medical bay and found himself moving to stand infront of Miranda's office; the area where his quarters used to be on the old Normandy. With a sigh, he tapped the haptic interface and the door slid open, allowing him to step inside the room. As the door closed behind him, he took time to observe the large room. To his left was an observation window and to his right was a large desk type set up with Miranda sitting on one side, typing into her terminal and a chair on the other side.

The back of the room was another room where a queen-sized double bed was located, mostly the same as his own, surrounded by numerous sofas and yet another observation window right to the left. This ship was built with alot of them. Aside from him, Miranda appeared to have the most extravagant quarters on the entire ship. As XO, that wasn't surprising, but on an alliance ship, it was damn well unheard of. Even his old captain's quarters weren't this extravagant.

Miranda turned from her terminal to face Marcus after having seen him enter.

"Ah, commander. I didn't expect to see you in here," Miranda greeted, motioning for the former spectre to take a seat opposite her desk. Doing as she asked, he sat down and leaned forward, fists clenched ontop of her finally polished desk.

"I'm just doing some rounds. Getting to know my crew," Marcus stated, "The past week has been hectic with the betrayal on Lazarus and the battles on Omega and we haven't really gotten the chance to talk. I wanted to know more about you. How did you come to join an organization like Cerberus, anyway?"

Miranda sighed, "I guess you do deserve some answers," she then turned off her terminal and mirrored Marcus' own position, "I guess it started back on my birthworld, Jerusaleum IV. My father was a very wealthy man; and by wealthy, I mean he used to own Microsoft, Apple, Conatix and quite a few mercenary organizations before they died out from overexposure to today's technologies. Truth is, I'm genetically perfect because I wasn't born naturally. I was grown out of a test tube."

Marcus widened his eyes, "I see."

"His name was Henry Lawson and when he grew me, he wanted me to continue his 'dynasty' of perfection. I was to be his crowning achievement; the beginning of human perfection, given form. He gave me anything I wanted; if I demanded it, I'd get it. Anything money could by. Hell, even if I asked for the Citadel he'd probably find someway to get it. But in the end that wasn't enough; I wanted a normal life, not to be treated like a puppet. And that wasn't enough for him."

"So you struck out?" Marcus asked.

Miranda shook her head, "No. He replaced me. You see, I wasn't the first. I was just the one that succeeded and showed better progress. There were many before me, and like the ones before they all had problems with them that made them imperfect; so he replaced them before killing them. He then grew...another one. She replaced me. But in the end, I saw that she failed to and before I he could kill us both, I rescued her and fled. The Illusive Man saw the predicament we were in and took us in, promising to protect us from my father. Henry had alot of resources, but they were nothing compared to Cerberus' so he just gave up."

"So what happened to the other one?" Marcus asked, confused.

"I sent her away to a place somewhere safe, under careful protection from a close friend who helped us escape," Miranda stated, "She has a family and is going to college soon. She lives on Illium. The Illusive Man has agents watching her 24/7. In repayment for his help, I accepted position as his right-hand man. Apparently being 'close to perfect' was enough for him. I owe him my life."

"Sounds like it," Marcus agreed, "But that doesn't mean you have to agree with the ideals."

Miranda rolled her eyes, "I know what you think of Cerberus and I've heard it many times. It's not going to change my opinion. You can hate Cerberus all you want, but in the end we are doing something good, even if many view it as biased. Someone has to look out for humanity."

"But through terrorism?" Marcus retorted.

"I wouldn't call it terrorism," Miranda replied, "That's not our style. Of course there's always going to be the occassional cell that goes rogue and does indeed go terrorist, but that's not the Illusive Man's command."

"Oh, then I guess the attack on the Idenna wasn't his order then?" Marcus snapped.

Miranda fixed the man with a harsh stare, "The attack on the Migrant Fleet was...regretful. If anything, Cerberus has learned something from it."

"Yeah, that you slaughtered innocent civilians and it was all for no reason."

"It wasn't all a moot invasion," Miranda stated, "One of our agents wanted his autistic child returned to him but she had fled from Grissom Academy along with Kahlee Sanders. We tracked them to Omega and then finally to the Migrant Fleet, onboard the Idenna. A quarian exile, Golo, helped us get inside and we tried to retrieve the girl, but like you know, it ended in slaughter. Grayson turned traitor, the girl now lives on the Idenna which is no longer part of the fleet and Kahlee has returned to Alliance space."

"You murdered men, women and children over a fucking child," Marcus stated in poorly hidden disdain.

"Look, I'm not asking you to like our MO but it gets the job done," Miranda replied, turning back to her terminal, "In the end, it might be decisions like that that need to be made to defeat the Reapers or maybe even the Collectors."

Miranda didn't need to say it but it was clear as day; this conversation was over. Standing from his chair, he simply turned and left, palming the interface to her door and leaving, heading for the elevator. Once he stepped inside, he hit the button for engineering. He wanted to check up on Ken and Gabby as well as it's latest inhabitant. Apparently Zaeed had set up in the garbage disposal section of the ship; probably preferred the solitary confinement.

When the elevator stopped on the engineering deck, he waited for the door to open before stepping out and heading into engineering itself, taking the door to his left instead of the right. Miranda's last words to him were still rolling around in head. In the end, it might be decisions like that that need to be made to defeat the Reapers or maybe even the Collectors. The thoughts felt like self-betrayal, but he had to admit that she had a point. It might very well take large sacrifices to stop the Reapers. Whole cities. Entire worlds. Star systems. . Possibly...even an entire species. No, I won't let that happen. I'm going to save them all; I just need to find a way.

The second door opened and he was welcomed to the sight of Gabby's back. Kenneth was nowhere to be seen, but he guessed he might have been hard at work in some other section of the ship. Hearing Gabby's voice confirmed his thoughts as he moved to stand right next to her, seeing the engineer's omni-tool lit up.

"Now insert cooling rod B into junction B." Gabby ordered.

"I'm trying, woman," Ken replied, "It ain't all that eazy. It takes precise motions to do dis stuff lady."

"Whatever," Gabby replied. From what Marcus could now see, Kenneth had gone crawling into engineering's tight crawling spaces. Deciding not to waste their time, he quietly left, making sure not to attract their attention. Apparently the FBA couplings he had acquired from Kenn's workshop on Omega had really helped with things. Leaving engineering, he made a beeline straight for garbage disposal.

When he entered the room, he found it had changed. It was still a large boxed area; nothing much to it. However, Zaeed really had decorated the stuff with his belongings. To his left was a bunch crates covered in merchandise such as a krogan blood pack helmet, a models of a turian frigate and asari pleasure liner and what looked like a rusted, avenger assault rifle. Judging by the design, it was from a time before the introduction of thermal clips to galactic weaponry. At the back of the room and to his far left was the actual garbage disposal; a conveyor belt sending crushed trash into space through a small hatch.

Sitting at the back of the room was Zaeed, the man polishing his vindicator battle rifle. Upon seeing Marcus approaching, the grizzled merc veteran stood up, leaning his battle rifle against the wall, and laying the cloth over the barrel as he stood.

"Finally come to check on me, have you?" Zaeed asked, "Took your damn time. Would have thought you forgot about me. You got something for me to fight yet?"

Marcus shook his head, "No, not yet Zaeed. I just came to talk."

"I'm not a sociopath, but I'm not exactly a chatty person," Zaeed replied immediately, "I've got better things to do than talk. And if you're trying to do that 'touchy-feely' crap on me where you try to lecture me about my 'connection to my inner being' shit, then you can forget it. I don't have time for fucking shit like that. Too much goddam effort involved. Rather be shooting something."

"I'm not that kind of person," Marcus said, grinning, "It's Kelly you should be worried about if that's what you hate. I just wanted to make sure you were settling in. Also get to know my crew better."

"It's simple. I'm a merc. I kill things. Shoot first, ask questions later is the logic I go by. If there's a problem that needs fixing, you call me. If it doesn't need fixing, I shoot the guy who said it did. Simple as that. Now I just want Vido dead and the money that TIM has so generously offered."

"So you're just doing this for the money?" Marcus asked with, this time, better hidden disdain.

"Pretty much. It's what makes the world goes round, doesn't it?" Zaeed replied, "Without fucking creds, you might as well be living like a quarian. And I sure as hell don't dig goddam enviro-suits. Too much whining and bitching involved."

Marcus nodded in acceptance, eying Zaeed's rifle, "Why do you keep that rusted rifle?"

Seeing him look at his avenger, Zaeed laughed lightly, "Rusted rifle? That there is my beloved jessie. That rifle and I have seen alot of combat together; killed many mercs and pirates. We spilled blood together, Jessie and I. One day though, she just stopped working. I went to have a tech look at her, but they said nothing could be done. She just collects dust now."

The way Zaeed looked at Jessie was pretty unusual. It mirrored much of how he looked at Tali; except he was in love with a quarian woman. He wasn't sure whether loving a rifle built to kill was breaching the barriers of normalcy or whether it was purely symbiotic; like what a collector thinks of his artefacts and collector's items. Either way, it was obvious Zaeed wasn't the kind of man who loved socialism and he decided to leave.

"Let me know if you need anything Zaeed." Marcus stated before leaving. If the old mercenary had an answer, it wasn't forthcoming. Once in the elevator once again, he hit the button for the CIC. He hadn't spoken much to Kelly and he felt he had been pretty rude to her in their first meeting. He'd also have to properly talk to EDI while also see what Joker was up to. He had hardly spoken to the pilot as well. The more he saw these familiar faces, the more he yearned to see Tali again. Get ahold of yourself. I doubt she's thinking of you as much as you're thinking of her. You're a soldier; do soldier...stuff.

When the elevator arrived at the second deck, he walked right up to Kelly, the excitable woman already turning to greet him with a huge smile on her face. Despite his earlier treatment of her, Kelly didn't seem to care and just continued to greet everyone with a optimistic edge that made Tali look like a amateur. He had to admit that Kelly was attractive, but that was mostly because of a thing he had for red heads. But that had been during his time in school; and boy, did he get alot of ginger girls.

He shook the comical thought from his head, thinking instead whether Tali might be a redhead. Do quarians even have hair? What if they're like turians or asari? Both thoughts dissipated when Kelly greeted him.

"Good day, commander. I hope all is well." The yeoman greeted happily.

"It is," Marcus replied in kind, "Look, I just wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior. You didn't deserve to be treated like that. I was just...a little skeptical of Cerberus at first."

Kelly, once again, managed to defy all odds and brighten her already vibrant smile; it seemed it would take a geth boarding party to hampen the woman's charming demeanour, "Completely understandable. Alot of people distrust Cerberus and when I read your file, I was fully prepared for your skepticism. I just hope we can work past that so we can focus on what's important. Cerberus isn't the enemy here."

Marcus simply nodded, "I've noticed that. So I guess you serve as the ship's psychologist?"

"Ship's councillor, if you so wish," Kelly replied cheerily, "I can talk with people about social problems and report back to you on their morale level. I can tell you if they're distracted, depressed, angry or confused. It will allow you to assess the ship's morale and improve it if need be. I also double as the ship's yeoman; I serve as the ship's chief in all clerical duties."

"Excellent," Marcus stated, before holding out his hand for the yeoman to shake. Kelly immediately accepted the gesture, "I can see we'll get along just well, Chambers. Keep up the good work; this operation doesn't just depend on my squad. It depends on the crew too; including you." With that, he let Kelly get back to work and walked into the Tech Lab, seeing Mordin hard at work at a glass case; apparently he had grown a seeker and was running experiments on the creature if his injection of numerous fluids into the tank was anything to go by.

Without turning around, the salarian spoke, "Ah, Shepard. Hello. Welcome. Nice little lab you have here; very advanced. Liked the challenges of the clinic; limited resources, provides more challenge. Still impressive setup. Lots of work, much to do. Many resources. Working on agent to counteract seeker swarms. Tests show slow success, but still noticable."

Once again, the salarian's rapidfire speech never ceased to amaze him. It was unbelievable that the salarian never even stopped for breath. He walked over to the position where Mordin was, standing next to the tank and examining it along with him.

"I'm glad you like it," Marcus stated, noticing the sleeper pad at the back of the room, "I also see you made yourself at home."

Seeing Marcus' gesture to his bed, Mordin turned to look at it and then back at the tank, a smile on his face, "Feel better sleeping in lab. Salarian lifespan short. Am a scientist; much work to be done. Many cures to circulate; quarian immune systems, kepral's syndrome, many human diseases, so much more. Start with this though; resources significant. Great chance of success. Afterall, did work on genophage project."

Marcus widened his eyes at that, "You worked on the genophage?"

"Worked in modification, yes. Realized a while ago that krogan were adapting to genophage. Took Maelon and research team and worked on modified genophage strain; tests proved successful. Managed to use resources in STG to disperse over Tuchanka. Genophage modified. Krogan breeding back to normal. Would take many centuries to start adapting to it again."

Marcus shook his head, "You perpetuated a mistake. When you defeat an enemy, you kill them, you don't draw out their death needlessly."

Mordin seemed unphased, "Did what was needed. Have no regrets. Salarians made mistake by uplifting krogan. Genophage corrected that mistake. Has kept krogan inert; prevented second war."

"Still doesn't justify destroying an entire people's future with a virus that slowly kills them. I served with a krogan once. His name was Wrex," Marcus explained, "He told me about what the genophage did to his people. You've reduced them to barbaric animals and reduced their home into a wasteland. Whatever humility they had was taken away when you destroyed their future."

Mordin shook his head, moving to stand behind his desk and opening his terminal, "Tuchanka's current state not of salarian doing. Krogan nuclear war reduced Tuchanka to current state long before salarian uplifting. The end doesn't matter. Did what was right; genophage a nessacary evil. Please, Shepard, do not wish to talk more about it. Made my choice. Made justified decision given circumstances. Stand by it."

Marcus simply nodded and left Mordin to his work, leaving the tech lab through the corridor leading to the armoury. Now to speak with Jacob. He was learning more about his mismatched crew every day. Miranda was grown from a tube. Garrus got betrayed. Zaeed loves his rifle. Mordin modified the genophage.

His conversation with Jacob hadn't been eventful. When he stepped inside the armoury, he had found the ex-marine doing pushups, apparently not in the mood for chit-chat. They had talked about Jacob's past career as an alliance corsairs and how he watched the downfall of Marcus' career from within Cerberus. Marcus had been the posterboy for the alliance's recruitment adverts until he was taken off and replaced by someone else after his death.

It wasn't long before he found himself at the cockpit; just in time to witness an argument between EDI and Joker.

"Well I'd like some privacy every once in a while and not some AI looking down on me!" Joker shouted at the AI's face. It was now that Marcus got see the synthetic's virtual form for the first time; it reminded him of a pawn on a chess set with a ring around it; she was also transparent and had a bluish color. She also had crystal-shaped lines moving from her sides, moving rapidly in each direction everytime she spoke.

"What are you two arguing about?" Marcus asked.

Joker immediately spun his chair to face the commander, "Personalization of my work space. EDI's throwing a fit over it."

EDI was quick to defend itself, "Cerberus regulations are clear Mister Moreau. 'Personalization' does not include grease on my bridge cameras."

Upon Marcus' raised eyebrow, Joker gave a sheepish look before returning to his usual demeanour, "It's just mad at me that all it's footage of me looks like a dream sequence!"

He simply shook his head, "Are you two going to make a habit of arguing? I never thought you'd be losing your sanity over an AI, Joker."

Joker didn't even answer that he just frowned before turning back to his console. EDI simply winked out of existence. What an interesting crew he had.

{Loading...}

August 15, 2185

1521 hours.

Main Dock, Level 27, Zakera Ward, The Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

It was different seeing the Citadel again; especially the Zakera Ward. Alot had certainly changed, especially C-Sec. Security had tightened up and the Citadel was still under repairs from the Battle of the Citadel two years ago. He also noticed that a decently large amount of alliance warships, mostly cruisers and destroyers, were part of the Citadel fleet now, with the Destiny Ascension remaining as the flagship of the awesome armada.

But that's where the changes stopped. Marcus sat in the skycar, piloting it through the Citadel's skyways, Garrus sitting next to him. The Normandy was much bigger than it's predecessor, and therefore it couldn't dock with the Zakera Ward, which was used to park much smaller vessels like standard frigates, corvettes or freighters. Not destroyers which the Normandy was now essentially the size of if not a little bit smaller.

Eying the parking lot just outside the C-Sec Customs Unit, he brought it down to park inbetween two other skycars, deactivating it's engines and stepping out, closing the door behind him. The skycar had been provided by C-Sec as what they claimed was a courtesy. However, he thought it was simply because the Normandy was registered as a Cerberus vessel and that letting a Cerberus kodiak land near a C-Sec customs bay would arrouse suspicion.

As he approached the customs desk, he noticed a fireteam of C-Sec SWAT troopers, a sergeant yelling commands at them. He was immediately reminded of Sergeant Bailey. He wondered how the man was doing or if he was even on the Citadel anymore.

"I wonder if that bastard Entricas is still in command down at Shalta Wards," Garrus pondered, "Always hated that bastard. I also heard Palin was killed during the Citadel attack by geth soldiers; I can't exactly remember who would succeed that poor bastard as executor. Guess we'll find out." Marcus was barely listening to the turian's words as he arrived at the custom's desk, greeted by a tired looking human female C-Sec officer.

"Halt," The woman said with a authority her posture didn't show, "You're not authorized to carry weapons on the Citadel. I'll have to confiscate those along with whatever armor you're wearing unless I can see your permit. Even then, I will have to confiscate that grenade launcher you have on your back."

Garrus scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah, Shepard, why did you bring that thing anyway?"

Marcus shrugged, "It's the Citadel, remember what happened last time? We were fighting Fist and his thugs to rescue Tali. I'm not about to go wandering onto the Citadel with 'shoot me, I'm unprepared' written on my back Garrus," With that, he turned and opened his omni-tool, hoping that his outdated spectre credentials were still viable. As he showed the woman, she immediately nodded.

"Commander Shepard, Former Spectre? Those credentials are out of date."

Marcus simply nodded, "I'm here for a meeting with the Council. Councilor David Anderson can vouch for me."

The woman held up her hands, "That won't be nessacary. You're the Hero of the Citadel, one who's supposed to be dead but a hero nonetheless. Just head through the security checkpoint and you can be on your way. I'm not equipped to authorize your passage; I just make sure you're aware of what's going on."

With that, he nodded to the officer and passed through the door, walking down a corridor towards a turian officer and a console to the left. Two windows showed what appeared to be an interrogation room to their left. Security on the Citadel had definitely been upped up a significant notch.

Seeing the two men approaching, the turian officer looked up and immediately asked them to stop, activating a system on his console that began a scan of them. Beams of light washed over their bodies, giving x-rays, bioscans and many other readings. They began to beep loudly as the scanners picked up numerous weapons. But it also pinged. The turian frowned as he looked at his terminal, cancelling the scanning process.

"What's wrong?" Garrus asked.

"Sorry, sir, problems with the scanner. It seems to think you're...ah...dead."

Marcus sighed and rolled his eyes, "I'm getting that alot. It's a pain in the ass," He regained his posture and nodded, "I was only mostly dead however. Is there anyway we can fix this up? I have a meeting with the Council."

The turian simply nodded, jabbing a talon towards the door behind him, "Speak with Captain Bailey. I'm afraid he's the only one who can help you with that."

Marcus and Garrus exchanged glances, both raising eyebrows. Apparently Bailey had stayed in C-Sec. Not only that, but he had gotten numerous promotions if his rank was anything to go by. It was nice to know the man had survived the days in C-Sec. Yet again, seeing humans in C-Sec originally had been rare. Now it was incredibly common due to humanity's new place in the Council; it gave them more power.

With a nod to the officer, they passed through the door and found the C-Sec office to the immediate right. They also found Bailey, having hardly changed from two years ago, talking with another female human officer.

"I don't care what you have to do...just get him to talk! Make him scream alittle if you have to." Bailey ordered and the officer immediately saluted, running off. Bailey immediately turned and his grim expression turned into a grin.

"Well look who decided to show up," Bailey greeted from behind his terminal, "I never thought I'd see you again Garrus, but Shepard? How the hell is it that you're even alive? News reports two years ago said you were dead."

"I was. For the most part," Marcus explained awkwardly, "It's a long story. And we have a problem that relates to that. Scanners pinged up that I was still registered as KIA. No surprise there, I guess."

Bailey typed somethings into his terminal and information flashed across the holographic screen. He gave a tired sigh, "I see the problem already. My console says you're dead, I know you were dead and you were dead. But you're here, so you're not dead. So the media was wrong. Goddamn figures," Bailey replied.

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "Aria T'Loak was more worried than you. I could be some impostor for all you know."

Bailey gave a humorless laugh, "We have the best screening equipment this far side of the galaxy. Those scanners can sample DNA from skin flakes. Hell, if you have unregistered gene mods, they can even figure those out."

Marcus simply nodded with Garrus idly standing by, talking with another officer. Obviously trying to get up to date. Old C-Sec habits die hard obviously.

"One of your officers said you could me with that."

Bailey nodded, "Usually you'd have to go through the Station Security Administration to reactivate your IDs. Then to Customs and Immigration to regain access to the Citadel itself. And probably a stop by the treasury. You'd be surprised at how many people used 'spent a year dead' as a popular tax dodge."

Marcus knew Bailey was getting somewhere, so he let him continue.

A grin creased Bailey's features, "But I can see you're a busy man," He then reached across his terminal, hand hovering over a button of some sort, "So how about I press this button right here, and we call it done?"

"Couldn't we both get in trouble for that?" Marcus asked.

"There's no way to fool the DNA scanners in that tunnel. You're definitely you. Why wait in long lines and fill out a mass of useless hardcopy paperwork to get the same place?" Bailey's voice rose as he spoke before he slammed his fist into the table, "The Council does everything by the book! They've had thousands of years to write it. Sometimes things need to get done without a committee vote. Sometimes you have to work outside the book; otherwise you're just predictable. Especially if criminals have a copy of the same book."

Marcus simply nodded, "That'd be great. My meeting with the Council is going to be irritating enough, I don't need capitalists harassing me because I dodged some tax being dead for two years. Thank you, captain."

Bailey held a hand up to stall him, "It's just Bailey. Everytime someone calls me 'captain', it just makes me feel old. And trust me, I don't want that. Not when I've got kids on Earth I want to see at some point. It's not my time to go all grandpa yet."

With a grin, he lead Garrus out of the office and towards a rapid transit terminal just across the street. Asari, turians, humans, hanar, elcor, volus and species of all kinds wandering the streets; moving from shop to shop; all blissfully oblivious to a threat far greater than anything they could possibly imagine making way towards their galaxy; technology far beyond their comprehension ready to burn their worlds to a crisp. Marcus tried to shut out the images of Earth burning in his mind; entire nations succumbing to Reaper indoctrination. Instead, he hit the pad and waited for the taxi to take them to the human embassy. That's where the meeting would happen. He was expecting it in the Council Chambers, but he guessed it was still off limits due to the pieces of Sovereign's wreck that crashed into it.

The taxi eventually arrived at took them to the presidium, dropping them both off just outside the Citadel embassies. Avina was apparently still operational, as the VI was quick to greet them, recognizing Shepard's ID. He once again thanked Bailey. The place had gone through renevations, but it was still the same basic design and it hadn't been hard to find the human embassy. Hitting the door, he stepped inside to a pleasant sight.

There, leaning over the balcony, was Anderson. Hearing the door open, Anderson turned to them, a warm smile on his face. He hadn't changed at all; his position of authority, his firm jawline and raven black hair. His eyes held kindness while also demanding respect. An N7 veteran forged from the horrors of war, a mentor built from the mercy for one rookie who didn't know when to give up. Anderson was a pleasant sight if there ever was one.

The two brothers of battle met quickly, hands clasped in a brotherly handshake which quickly changed to a brotherly embrace. When finished, they stepped apart, still chuckling at the irony of it all.

"Damn Shepard," Anderson said, "When the reports said you were alive...I couldn't believe it was you. I had to see for myself. But to get past customs...it has to be you. Damn, how the hell did you do it? Your team said you were spaced!"

"I was only mostly dead," Marcus replied sheepishly, "It's a very long story. Where's Udina?"

"You mean my advisor?" Anderson responded, "Probably taking care of the mundane chores that he seems to love doing. Being Councilor isn't what it's made out to be; sometimes I preferred it when I was a captain commanding a warship into battle and troops on a battlefield. I even got offered promotion to Vice Admiral under Hackett. Can you believe that? And I rejected it because of what you wanted! You owe me big time, Shepard."

"I'm just glad to see that you've done good to maintain yourself," Marcus replied, "You've barely aged a day."

"Two years sounds like more than it actually is. Anyway, what about this meeting with the Council? I think they should be connecting any second now."

Sure enough, the three holoprojectors in the room lit up and the holographic forms of the three councilors appeared; Tevos, Sparatus and Valern. Tevos was always the calm one who was willing to listen to reason while never losing her cool, having an unshakable position of power. Valern was the smart one and quick on his feet, never doubting or supporting Shepard, but staying on the side of salarian logic. Sparatus was the big pain in the ass; the turian was a pure representative of turian stoicism; a stubborn mind with a warmonger's logic. He had been the one to doubt Shepard during the Saren campaign.

Valern was the first to speak, "Commander, your return...is much unprecedented."

Tevos nodded her agreement, "It is good to have you back, commander. Although, we are confused as to how you are still alive. Reports stated that you died over Alchera when the Normandy was destroyed. You were caught in the planet's gravitational well and sucked in."

Marcus nodded, "I was indeed dead, Councilors. For two solid years, I was dead. But Cerberus had been rebuilding me during that time; they have brought me back using cybernetic technology."

Doubt washed across Tevos' features, "This is also troubling. We were informed that a vessel similiar to the Normandy had docked but with Cerberus colors. You're alliance with this enemy of the Council is most troubling. The punishments for this, 'treason', is execution."

Anderson immediately stepped in, "That's enough! Shepard is no traitor! Whatever alliance he has with Cerberus is most likely beneficial on his part! I'm a councilor as well and I won't let this whitewash continue!"

Marcus held a hand up for Anderson to stop, immediately adding his own words of vehemence, "And what I'm disgusted to find out is that my friends, my brothers and sisters-in-arms were just tossed aside and forgotten! That you ignored my warnings about the Reapers and swept them under the rug!"

The Council immediately began at the word 'reapers', but it was Sparatus, of course, who stepped in. In retrospect, Marcus should have saw it coming. The turian councilor had always been his biggest critic.

"Ah yes, 'reapers.' The race of sentient starships supposedly waiting in dark space," The turian then waved a dismissive hand, using air quotes over the word 'reapers', "We have dismissed this claim."

"But you saw the evidence yourself! You saw what Sovereign could do!" Garrus shot in.

"What we saw was nothing more than an advanced geth dreadnought," Valern retorted, "There was no evidence to support your claim of a race of sentient starships intent on wiping us out. Saren merely had Sovereign built to deceive the geth; it was clear they worshipped the reapers and if they believed Sovereign was one of their gods, they would willingly follow Saren's command; it is the only logical reasoning. The design is reminscent in itself of geh architecture; the proof fits. Sovereign was nothing but a lie orchestrated by Saren to fool the geth; and to fool you."

Marcus wasn't done though, "And what about Vigil? Hell, we even spoke to Sovereign itself on Virmire!"

Tevos shook her head, "By the time our researchers reached Ilos, Vigil was already without power and had gone into permanent shutdown. As for your talk with Sovereign, it could have simply been an advanced AI construct deployed by Saren to support his convenient lie and his mission to trick you."

"You see?" Sparatus added, "The Reapers are nothing but a myth! One you insist on perputuating!"

Disappointment wasn't the word he could use. No, furious was the word. He had sacrificed a friend on Vimire to stop Sovereign and the geth and these councilors had basically said that the cause she fought for never existed. They were spitting on her corpse. Insult upon insult ontop of a nuclear grave. His eyes narrowed to slits as he renewed his assault.

"I cannot believe you. Every. Single. One. Of. You," Marcus growled, "I sacrificed human lives to save this Council. An entire fleet! And what do I get? What do my friends get? To be swept under the rug and told they fought for nothing! Nothing! My friend, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, gave her life for you bastards! And what do you have to say for it? Nothing but a puddle of saliva created by the spit you leave on her grave. You honestly have the audacity to tell me that the Reapers don't exist? You saw it for yourself. Hell, you even admitted to it. Don't give bullshit about how you 'dismissed it as a claim'. Because you know what? That claim is coming to bite you in the ass!"

Before he could continue his barrage of insults, Anderson stepped in, hand squeezing the man's shoulder, "Shepard, why don't you tell them why you're really here?" Marcus met the man's determined gaze. He saw the thing that Anderson knew; arguing with the Council was pointless. They were dead straight on believing the reapers didn't exist and that wouldn't ever change. But what he could do is tell them what he was doing.

Marcus simply nodded, "Despite our...disagreement, I do believe I've come to ask for your help. I'm on a new mission that requires a temporary alliance with Cerberus, as much as a bane that it is. I'm sure you're fully aware of the abduction of human colonies and we've discovered the culprit; the Collectors. I'm on a mission to stop them." He left out the bit where he believes that they work for the Reapers. No point in telling them that.

Tevos widened her eyes at that, "The Collectors? You are full of surprises, commander. The collectors are enigmatic, yes and their technology is far superior than anything we've encountered, but we never would have guessed they were responsible for such attacks. We wish you luck in stopping them. We have but one gift we can give you to aid in your mission."

Marcus was tempted to tell them that they had already promised one gift and that had been swept under the rug just like his warnings. He wanted to tell them to shove their gift up their ass. But his better judgment had him doing otherwise.

"I would accept this gift," Marcus responded instead, reluctantly.

Tevos nodded, "If you so wish, we would re-instate your spectre status; that is all the support we can offer without causing political strain on an already scared society. Being a spectre once more would at least make it so you can conduct your operations unhindered."

Valern nodded but added his own word, "However, we must ask you keep your operations limited to the Terminus systems. As much as we believe that the collectors need to be stopped, we can't risk you inciting a war between us and their peoples over some human colonies. You must understand that we are still trying to recover from the geth attack two years ago. We're not ready for another war with the collectors, especially an enemy that has far superior technology."

Marcus nodded, "Then I accept."

Tevos nodded, "We welcome you back to the Spectres, commander. We hope that the resources of the Council are enough to overcome this foe you have sought to defeat. Goddess be with you. This meeting is adjourned."

With that, the holographic forms of the three council members winked out of existence, their insufferable presence at an end. What a brilliant meeting. He had been hoping for ships; instead all he got was his spectre status back. Yet again, he shouldn't have expected so much from the councilors; politicians were devious little deceivers, whether they liked to admit it or not.

He turned to face Anderson, annoyance all over his face, "Well that went well."

Anderson simply snorted, leaning against the table, "Could've been worse. At least you can do what you want now. When the Council say restricted to the Terminus, they really mean 'I don't care what you do, just don't annoy me.' I was a little surprised about the collectors though. They aren't geth Shepard; they certainly aren't numerous, but they aren't exactly batarians either; they are equipped. They aren't Reapers, but they are powerful. I've seen what their ships can do; don't underestimate them."

"I defeated Sovereign and I'll defeat the Collectors," Marcus responded confidently, "I'm raising a team. I've already got five people ready to go."

Anderson nodded, "Yes, I already noticed Garrus had joined you. What about Miss Zorah? The quarian that was on your team."

Garrus nodded at the mention of his name, "I met Tali on Freedom's Progress but she had a duty to her people to complete before she could join us. As it goes I've got a salarian scientist, an ex-corsairs, a great, if egotistical, biotic, Garrus and Zaeed Massani."

Anderson looked on at him in shock, "Massani? You have a habit for attracting the strongest, Shepard. I have faith that you know what you're doing." With that, Anderson returned to the balcony, leaning against it as Marcus joined him, Garrus deciding to wait outside. Marcus observed the Presidium; it's beauty had returned. For a moment he remembered the smell of smoke and raging fires as he traversed the place, dead civilians littering the area and gunfire echoing through the halls. It was almost as if the place had never been attacked by the geth at all. The beauty was all a lie; the Citadel was just a death trap. One that had been broken.

"How do the repairs go? The Citadel was pretty hard hit after the war," Marcus asked.

Anderson sighed, "They're still going. Shalta Ward has almost fully recovered and Zakera Ward is getting there, but the rest of the wards didn't fair good. Romulus Ward was the hardest hit and it's literally going to take another ten years until it's back to it's original state. Kikowani wasn't damaged to start with. They of course moved to repair the Presidium and Citadel Tower first, so they're back to normal."

"Why didn't we have the meeting there, then?" Marcus asked dryly.

Anderson simply arched his brow, "I think we both know the answer to that."

It didn't take long for one very particular question to arise in Marcus' mind, "Anderson, do you know what happened to Kaidan?"

Anderson nodded, "He's still in the alliance, if you want to know and on a colonial posting. Beyond that, I can't tell you anything more, not while you're allied with Cerberus, I'm sorry. It's not that I don't trust you, but Cerberus could have eyes anywhere. Kaidan's mission is too important to be compromised."

Marcus simply nodded and patted the man on the shoulder, causing the councilor to turn around. Shaking hands, Marcus said his goodbye, "It was nice seeing you again Anderson. I hope our next meeting can be when I come back to tell you the collectors are stopped and we can pop our heads out again."

Anderson gave a weary chuckle, "I look forward to that. For now, I think you've got alot ahead of you. I wish you luck. I'll try and get Hackett on the line and inform him of the good news; same with the rest of the alliance brass; Admiral Garrong will be most pleased to know one of our toughest N7 survived. I'll also have to inform your mother."

Marcus flinched at the mention of his mother; Hannah Shepard. He hadn't seen her since his mission to stop a batarian terrorist attack on Terra Nova during the saren campaign all those years ago. He had planned on visiting the Orizaba after scouting Alchera to introduce Tali, but that of course never got a chance to happen. He felt so stupid for not attempting to message her. She must be worried sick.

"Thank you Anderson. I-" Before Marcus could finish, he heard the door swish open and when he turned around, he literally flinched away in irritation. It was Udina; striding towards them with a look of anger on his face.

"Councilor, I wasn't made informed of Shepard's arrival or your meeting with the Council," Udina complained.

Anderson simply rolled his eyes, "Are you forgetting that you're just my advisor, Udina? You don't seem to get that I'm in command here. I'll have you informed of such things when I see fit to tell you. You're presence wasn't nessacary and you didn't miss out on anything. Shepard just got his spectre status."

"And let me guess...more nonsense about the Reapers?" Udina asked.

Marcus couldn't hide the further disappointment from his face. Udina too? Figures. Anderson is the only politician on this bloody station so far not to have swept me under.

Anderson didn't seem in the mood to put up with Udina's crap either, "I'm sure you've got many...things, to do ambassador, why don't you just do that? I've got other things to do and Shepard has places he needs to go. You are dismissed."

Placated, Udina simply left, anger showing in his every step until he was out of the room, door closing behind him. Anderson simply chuckled.

"That's the kind of bullshit I put up with from him everyday, son," Anderson stated, "The sacrifices of the office. Anyway, you'd better get going before the Council changes their mind. Placation only works when you're not pissing them off. After that; they go feral."

Marcus simply nodded and left, door closing behind him as he left the office of his oldest mentor. Garrus leaned against the wall, apparently trying to flirt with some asari secretary, but upon seeing Marcus, immediately said goodbye and moved to follow him. From the look on the asari's face, she was thanking him in every asari dialect she could muster.

"I watched Udina walk in and out of there like a infuriated turian would if he found out he was evicted from the military," Garrus stated, "What happened in there, anyway?"

"He got all pissed about how he wasn't invited to the party, that's all," Marcus stated, tapping the rapid transit terminal for transport back to the Zakera Ward dock.

Upon returning to Zakera Ward, the two of them had decided to look around the shops. As promised, Marcus had collected a bottle of serrice ice brandy from the Dark Star Lounge and some more food supplies from a pretty decent supermarket. The two of them traded banter during the entire time, enjoying the time they got to spend out of combat as just friends. That was soon ruined by a familiar figure running up to them.

"Commander Shepard! Commander, could I have one moment with you please!"

Marcus groaned as he turned to the source of the voice and found none other than Khalisah Bint-Sinan Al Jilani running towards them. She had interviewed them two years ago as a reporter for Westerlund News. Unlike Emily Wong, who had interviewed him shortly after the Battle of the Citadel and was much nicer, Khalisah obviously had a biased agenda that involved putting Shepard in a bad position. And moments later, she ended up on the ground with a bloody nose. Now, she had the audacity to interview him again.

The reporter stopped infront of them, Garrus abandoning the spectre, mandibles creasing upwards in mirth. The reporter's viddrone hovered beside her, camera locked onto Shepard.

"Commander Shepard, Khalisah Bint-Sinan Al Jilani, Westerlund News. We met on the Citadel almost two years ago when you were fighting Saren and his army of geth."

Marcus leaned back and crossed his arms, eyes narrowing on her with a glare, "I remember. You tried to make me look bad. Got picky about who I chose as my crew; made a few snide comments about them as well. If you think-"

Khalisah held up her hands in her own defense, "You have to understand that I was just doing my job, commander. The people have the right to know about what goes on behind the scenes. If you're willing to have another interview-"

Marcus sighed in frustration before giving in. He had time to kill, "Fine. Shoot."

The viddrone lit up for a second, telling him that it was now recording. Khalisah cleared her throat before asking her first question.

"Sources claim you were at the heart of the Presidium during the Battle of the Citadel. It's fair to say the course of the battle hinged on your words," Khalisah paused for dramatic effect, "If true, then you were the one who told Admiral Hackett to assist the Destiny Ascension, costing hundreds of human lives and securing the continued dominance of the Council."

Marcus immediately stepped in, clenching his fist and trying not to punch the womana after her statement. Instead, he knew just what to say, "The turians lost twenty cruisers. Each one's crew was around three-hundred. The Ascension, the asari dreadnought we saved, had a crew of nearly ten thousand."

Khalisah tried to butt in, "But surely the human cost-"

"The alliance lost eight cruisers and two frigates," Marcus interrupted her, "Shenyang, Emden, Jekarta, Seoul, Madrid, Cairo, Cape Town, Warsaw. We also lost the Hong Kong and the Beijing. I remember them all. They sacrificed their lives not for the continuation of the Council, but to save thousands of lives that they realized would have died if they hadn't stepped in. It is why they are still honored today."

Khalisah looked less than pleased, "Commander, you can't possibly-"

"I don't care what people thought of my decision," Marcus stated, "I chose not to let my racism or hatred define me; I didn't save the Citadel fleet because of three stubborn morons. I saved them because I wouldn't stand by and watch as ten thousand honorable men and women die simply because I hated politicians. If we let hatred define who we are, then we're finished. Humanity has known racism every since before we landed on Luna; it's time to set aside our differences or it'll be our downfall."

Before Khalisah could even answer, his fist impacted her jaw once more, sending her hurling into the ground, drone following. Khalisah spat blood out of her mouth as she watched Marcus and Garrus leave, heading for the C-Sec office.

"You son of a bitch!" She shouted after them, "I'll make sure everyone sees that!"

Marcus simply smiled, "Good! It'll be a laugh!"

It didn't take them long to file through the security corridor and reach their skycar. Before he could step into it though, a jumpy voice sounded behind him.

"Well, look who it is!"

Not recognizing the voice, turned around and spotted a advertisement booth with a hooded face on it. Two eyes seemed to glow from behind the hood, the obviously human woman smiling. Her lower lip at somekind of marking on it. Stepping away from the skycar, Marcus approached the booth, eyebrows raised.

"Um, just who are you?"

"Don't you know?" The woman asked cheerfully, "Oh that's a pity. I thought I was joining your crew."

"A recruit?" Garrus asked.

"Recruit? Sounds funky," The woman simply laughed, "Cerberus told me you required my services. Kasumi Goto, Master Thief, at your service."

Marcus widened his eyes when she said Master Thief. Why did Cerberus think a master thief was going to be useful in stopping a force like the Collectors? Does she even have basic combat experience?

"If you're a master thief, why haven't I heard of you?" Garrus asked. He had been an ex-C-Sec cop and therefore would have known about someone like Kasumi. Judging by the name, Marcus had to guess she was japanese.

"Professional, but not famous," Kasumi responded, "Heard you wanted to stop the Collectors. Sounds like fun. I said I'd join your crew. Cerberus offered some money, but I don't really need it. I'm free of charge. But I do have one little mission though. A heist of sorts."

Marcus rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to rob a bank, if that's what your asking."

"A bank? Oh no no no, I don't steal money, I steal works of art. I think I have the Mona Lisa somewhere," Kasumi stated before getting back on track, "No, will be stealing but consider it, stealing something back."

Marcus gave an exasperated sigh before nodding, realizing he was talking to an advert booth, "If you're willing to join the crew, could we stop this? It looks silly for me to be speaking to a advertisement."

"And so goes my mystique," Kasumi stated, "Fine. I thought it made me mysterious, but if you dislike it that much..."

He heard the sound of a tactical cloak deactivating before Kasumi's voice shouting to signal she was above him. Looking up, he saw she was standing on a support frame, smiling and waving at them. She jumped down next to them, allowing him to see her fully. Her hood hid most of her face while she seemed to wear a suit. Nothing like a quarian suit, but a suit nonetheless. With a final cheery wave, Kasumi activated her cloak again and disappeared.

Garrus seemed unimpressed, "Oh goody, we are now effectively hiring criminals. Zaeed didn't really count, but that thief definitely does. Still, I don't really see what use she can be apart from a good infiltrator."

Marcus simply shook his head, "Welcome to the Normandy; where the oddest types find refuge."

"So alot happened I guess during that short trip to the Citadel."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I didn't trust Kasumi that much at first, but I grew to trust her eventually. I think by the time of the Reaper War, I considered her a little sister. I trusted her with my life. Besides, she gave you someone to talk to other than Garrus and me."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Definitely. I miss her. We've kept in contact, but apart from apparently visiting Virmire, I haven't seen much of her. Anyway, back to the story. Where did you head off to next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"To Korlus. To recruit a particular krogan scientist."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

ONE WITH THE FLOW

August 15, 2185

1837 hours.

Port Observation Lounge, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Korlus.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Master Thief Kasumi Goto.

Marcus hesitated outside the door. Should he step inside? Kasumi could still be moving her stuff and he didn't really want to interrupt her work. Yet again, he did need to speak with her. He needed to know that the professional but not famous thief wouldn't cause any problems around the ship or steal anything that she shouldn't.

As soon as Kasumi had joined the crew and the frigate had departed the Citadel, he found out that the young thief had decided to occupy the lounge in port observation; she claimed that it was peaceful and her free view of the space beyond would be all the peace she needed. When she told him this, he had seen pain in her eyes. It had only been for an instant, but he saw it. Before he could have pondered it further, the thief had entered the elevator and left. Now was his chance to speak to the thief.

He had just left his cabin and gotten something to eat from Gardner before moving to speak with Kasumi again. Gardner had been ecstatic when he had given him the food supplies he needed and although Gardner's cooking skills didn't largely increase, he did make stuff better than standard issue ration bars; and that was something at least. He was planning on giving Doctor Chakwas her brandy when he had finished talking to Kasumi. The bottle was held firm in his hands.

Eventually, he hit the haptic interface and stepped inside. The lounge remained largely unchanged aside from the rearrangement of the sofa to face the port window and the new assortment of art adorning the wall; he even saw the Mona Lisa occupying the back wall. If an asari artist had walked in and seen these works of art, he could only imagine the asari's look of shock. He even saw that the bookcase was now fully occupied by the thief's books, apparently being an abett reader; that or she stole them as well.

"Hiya, Shep." The thief's voice piped up.

He spun around to face the thief, Kasumi's petite form appearing above the sofa, arms crossed along the edge. She had a devillish smile, innocence entering her eyes. He could only imagine her using the same look to fool the police if they caught her; or if they ever did. She is a Master Thief, after all.

"I see you've settled in quite well here," Marcus pointed out, motioning towards her art collection and bookcase. For her part, Kasumi looked proud and impressed by her collection, her grin ever widening.

"It's a nice place, I like it alot. I hope you don't mind that I claimed it? I'll give it up if you don't want me here," Kasumi replied, her grin ceasing and replaced by a look of promise. But he wasn't fooled; Kasumi was doing what she did best. He could only think of what might have happened had she decided to work for the SIA instead of being a thief. She would have made one hell of a spy.

"I have a feeling you don't mean that," Marcus retorted, playing off the young woman's lie.

Kasumi giggled, "Most definitely; this place is too cozy. I wouldn't leave it if a krogan took a crap on the carpet. Cerberus said you were perceptive, but that's just ridiculous. Noone's ever seen through my innocence."

Marcus simply shrugged, "It's a gift."

"Obviously," Kasumi stated simply, turning back around to plop down on the couch, "Excellent judge of character wasn't an exaggeration at least. I met some of the crew during my short time on the second deck; I may have had a peak in your cabin too. You've got a quarian girlfriend? Very nice."

Marcus ridged an eyebrow at the woman, "You entered my cabin without permission?"

"Very naughty, ain't I, Shep?" Kasumi replied, shrugging in mirth, "Don't worry, didn't go into private stuff. Still, I haven't really seen this quarian girl of yours anywhere on the ship so I'm just going to guess that she's not here right now."

Marcus simply nodded, sitting on the couch next to the small thief, Kasumi crawling into a fetal position and smiling, "She'll be joining us soon again though; she just has a mission she needs clearing up on. What do you think of the crew? Anyone you like?"

"Garrus seems like a tough guy," Kasumi stated, "Scars on his face and everything; he doesn't like me though. Keeps looking at me weird. He has that look in this eyes; tell me, was he a cop? I'm kinda getting the impression that he was or still is."

"He was an ex C-Sec detective so yeah, I can understand his skepticism."

Kasumi merely shrugged, "I don't like Zaeed much; seems like a real grizzly bear...with a battle rifle. Mordin is just a hamster on an energy drink."

Marcus actually felt himself laugh at that, "Energy drink? I thought it was 'coffee.'"

"Coffee is too mainstream on this ship; besides, Kelly has copyright on it," Kasumi grinned, "This way she can't excuse me of plagerism. Can't argue with a thief; I'm an expert at this stuff. So apart from asking me what I think of the crew, what did you come to talk to me about?"

"Just seeing if you're getting settled in. I'm sure you're aware of the kind of mission I've hired you for," Marcus stated.

Kasumi nodded, "Not my usual MO, but I guess it's a nice change. Can't say I can get used to combat though; I've always been one for the sneak in, sneak out, not breach in, break out. Explosives just make me slightly jumpy."

Marcus patted her on the shoulder, "Maybe you'll get used to it. I'm taking the whole ground team onto Korlus; apparently our krogan scientist has Blue Suns using his services and I highly doubt they'll just give him up to the guy who fucked up their operations on Omega."

"A few mercs? I can do that," The thief replied, "Just as long as no YMIR mechs or giant squid ships are involved, I'll be fine."

"Squid ships?" Marcus asked curiously.

"The Reapers, Shep," Kasumi deadpanned, "You're not the only one who knows they exist. I was on the Citadel when Sovereign started dropping hell on everyone; I've seen what they can do. I know what they are going to do."

"They won't destroy us. We can stop them," Marcus stated with confidence he didn't feel. All he had was the Migrant Fleet on their side; the Council had abandoned him and the Alliance had betrayed him. It was just Cerberus and the quarians; and he doubt he could get them working together at all. Their chances of survival was basically nothing. If the Reapers invaded now, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"As I'm aware; just the pessimistic side of me," Kasumi sighed, "Just seeing what Sovereign did...and there's hundreds more of them waiting to invade the galaxy?"

"Thousands. Possibly millions. I don't know," Marcus corrected.

"So all we have is hope? I'm just going to hope that this is goes like Star Wars," Kasumi stated.

"Star Wars?" Marcus asked quizzically.

"A classic," Kasumi replied, "Just think of it like this. Reapers invade, we rebel; and against all odds, we defeat them once and for all. Moral of the story; good guys always win."

"The protheans didn't win," Marcus responded dryly, "Neither did every other cycle before them."

Kasumi rolled her eyes, "They didn't have Star Wars and cliche movie fliks to tell them that good guys are awesome, bad guys suck. All we need is hope; you should give that more credit than you do. It's not weapons, soldiers or ships that win wars; it's hope. Because without that, what's the point in fighting?"

Marcus had to pause to consider Kasumi's words. There was a ring of truth to them; the second world war wasn't one without the hopes of nations that the Nazi's could be defeated. The visigoths didn't destroy Rome without the hope of doing it. Alexander didn't conquer the persians or the indians without the hope of doing it. General Korbut didn't defeat the separatists at Liberty without that same optimism. It's why Korbut won the american second civil war.

"You're right," Marcus replied, "The Reapers can be defeated; they aren't invincible and destroying Sovereign proved that. We just need to build a force to prove that; and I don't care if I have to drag the Council kicking and screaming to the war summit table; I will have that force ready to face the Reapers head on."

Kasumi smiled devilishly, "You see, hope is awesome, Shep."

"I've known you for a day and already you're the one giving me speeches," Marcus shook his head at the statement, "I think this is the start of something beautiful."

Kasumi quirked her eyebrows, "I hope you're not asking for me to share you; I'd rather not compete with your girl."

"You know I didn't mean-"

Before he could say anything more, Kasumi had activated her cloak and disappeared. He chuckled as the door closed, the thief having escaped. She was a cheeky one, that much was obvious. With a sigh, he stood up and opened the door, remembering the bottle in his hand. Instead of heading into the elevator like he had just planned, he headed for his previous destination; the medical bay.

When he arrived inside, he found the doctor, again at her desk. She turned around and smiled, placing down the datapad she had been looking at attentively.

"Commander," Chakwas greeted.

Marcus smiled as he held the bottle of brandy before him, "Got you that ice brandy you wanted."

Chakwas smiled warmly as she accepted his offering, taking the bottle, "Commander, thank you so much. You know what we should do? We should share a glass. Commander Shepard, will you have some serrice ice brandy with me?"

Marcus smiled back, "Of course. We haven't gotten a chance to talk much. And please, just call me Shepard; you've earned that much, doctor."

"Very well...Shepard." Chakwas said before grabbing two glasses from under her desk and placing them ontop, pouring the alcoholic liquid into each glass before sealing it tight and putting it in her desk, moving to sit down while Marcus sat down on the bed across from Chakwas, smiling.

The two of them drank and talked for a while. It was refreshing; to be able to talk with who he considered to be his friend. He also knew he could let himself go; there wasn't any Alliance regulations to worry about that involved consumption of alcohol on duty. Cerberus simply didn't care for such menial things. It was talks like this that he needed, it assured him that he had friends to rely on. They joked and laughed, talking about times they had on the old Normandy; funny moments with Johnson and Pressly, and other times with the other crew.

"...then Kaidan just pumped up his biotics, picked up Jenkins and threw him into a wall!" Chakwas shouted, standing up and pretending to be Kaidan as he threw Jenkins. Before long, Chakwas sat back down and continued, "For a second, Jenkins didn't move and just stared at Kaidan and I thought he'd broken something! But then he jumped up, tall and proud and shouted 'That was awesome!'"

Marcus laughed laughed long and hard. He didn't know whether it was the alcohol or genuine humor at the topic. He gathered it was a mixture of both. Chakwas then sighed, he smile falling from her face.

"I always loved the Alliance. Cerberus lacks the same...enthusiasm."

"This alliance won't be long doctor," Marcus stated, "When the collectors are defeated, I'll be cutting them off. I've never been one to like, tolerate or remotely trust Cerberus, especially not the Illusive Man or his attack dogs."

"You mean Miranda and Jacob," Chakwas added, finishing off her drink.

"Not so much as Jacob, but Miranda. She's completely loyal to the Illusive Man; not to mention she's my XO."

"She doesn't have to be."

"What do you mean by that?"

Chakwas sat her glass on her desk, leaning forward, hands on her lap, "You're in command of this vessel. You can choose who your executive officer is. If you don't want Miranda to be your second-in-command, then don't have her like that then. You could easily have Garrus be your XO; I know you've been grooming him up to be a leader. You could practically tell from his situation on Omega."

"Or Tali..."

"Tali? I know you love her commander, but do you really think that's a good idea? She's good with an engine but I don't think command suits her."

Marcus simply raised an eyebrow, "Chakwas, when I saw her on Freedom's Progress, she was a Colonel leading a platoon. The only reason her platoon was decimated was because the platoon sergeant was an incompetent asshole. Hell, last message I got, she's a Brigadier General now. I've compared our ranks doctor! She now officially outranks me! My rank maybe Navy, but convert me to a marine and I'd be a Colonel."

Chakwas seemed visibly impressed, "The girl has become very capable. Back on the old Normandy, you'd always give her those hand-to-hand combat training sessions in her cabin. I heard she managed to beat Garrus at one point. A very capable woman."

"That's because Garrus isn't the only one I was grooming for leadership. Tali may be an engineer, but when the Reapers come, her people need someone strong to lead them into battle...when I first met Tali, I saw strength in her. If she can lead engineers, then I can get her to lead marines. I'm just happy that all those times I spent training her weren't put to waste."

"I know Tali and I don't think she cares that she outranks you. She'll still follow your command," Chakwas stated fully, "But commanding marines and being the XO of a warship are two very different things. Besides, do you think TIM will be very pleased that you replaced his right-hand woman with a quarian marine?"

"I've long since stopped caring what he thinks of me. My ship, my rules," Marcus concluded. In all honesty, he didn't know if he wanted Tali being XO. It would mean she'd have to stay behind most of the missions to look after the ship, and that bothered him more than anything. He wanted her at his side; to know she was watching his back. In the end, Garrus seemed the much better option.

"Thank you for this Chakwas, but I'd better get back to work. Lots to do before we reach Korlus," Marcus declared, sculling the rest of his drink and shaking Chakwas' hand, moving to leave. As he opened the door and moved to leave, he turned around and addressed one of EDI's consoles to his left.

"EDI, what's our ETA from the Imir system?"

"Commander. We are approximately one day out from the Imir System."

"Thank you EDI. Tell me when we're two hours out from Korlus," Marcus finished, leaving as the door closed fully.

"Affirmative. Logging you out." EDI replied in her monotone, slightly attractive, voice. Soon they'd be at Korlus; and when they landed, they would have an army of Blue Suns to fight. All to recruit a krogan scientist. I'm recruiting the elite of the elite. I already have Mordin and salarians are the best scientists in the galaxy. Why would I need a krogan scientist? If anything, I should be recruiting Wrex.

Whatever this scientist was, it didn't matter. He just had to recruit him. With a sigh, he entered the elevator and headed to his cabin. When he opened his terminal, he smiled at the message in his inbox. Tali. He would read it later. Instead, he brought up the dossier on the krogan scientist and began reading. Warlord Nakmor Okeer was his name. Apparently cast out by his own people for his fanatical and brutal scientific methods. Something about needing to 'outinfect' the genophage. Apparently this guy was getting somewhere.

And the more he read, the more he was sickened. He wasn't going to like this recruit.

{Loading...}

August 15, 2185

1346 hours.

DARK SPACE.

NAZARA.

Silence. We listen. The organic inferiors squabble among each other; oblivious to the Nazara's cries for harvest. They are coming. The galactic harvest shall continue. Worlds will burn. Races will die. We shall harvest. It is for their own good; their salvation. The indoctrinated will follow our commands. Gather resources. Prepare the humans for ascension.

Sovereign-Nazara failed. His voice has been silenced by the inferiors. The humans grow strong. They grow aware. We have been cut off. This cannot be allowed to continue. Ascension and Salvation are envitable. We are eternal. We are pure synthetic supremacy. Many call us the Nazgul. The Keepers called us the Farbringers. The Inusannon called us Agents of Time. The Protheans called us the Reapers. This cycle calls us the Reapers. But we are Nazara. What they choose to call us is irrelevant. Their destruction will be their grace.

We offer salvation and they resist. For millions of cycles we have contemplated this. We do not understand this resistance to purity. We offer them superior life. They reject our gift. But they cannot. Force is what we use. They fight, they resist. We destroy. They cannot begin to comprehend our existence. The Protheans failed. The Inusannon failed. The Keepers failed. The Almagtoss failed. The Precursors failed. This cycle will fail.

Even now we approach. Their end approaches with us; we bring them higher life. They can look to gods, ancestors and other deities to save them but they shall be abandoned for even deities understand the greater necessity of our ultimate plan. We bring order to the chaos of evolution. Synthetic and Organic union is impossible. War is envitable. The Catalyst tried solutions. The Catalyst saw only one possible solution; harvest of all galactic life.

The Catalyst chose me to be the first of the Nazara. I am born in the form of my creators. They too resisted. They spoke of betrayal. We only offered ascension. The Catalyst offered them higher life. And now we offer the same. We shall assume control of their ascension.

In the black void of space, a fleet of hundreds. Thousands of Nazara glide through space, the tiny pinprick of the milky way growing ever closer. This cycle's time was growing short. Dreadnoughts of destruction, catalysts to death. They will resist just like all the rest have. We offer salvation. We enforce it.

We are Harbinger.

{Loading...}

August 15, 2185

1852 hours.

Cargo Bay, Datzzzha-Class Heavy Cruiser BRS Batzzzha, Memphis City, Ferris Fields.

Division Regent Balak Uhtero, Lord Regent Salvak Terrili.

The cargo bay of the Batzzzha opened with a loud creaking sound, numerous gears working in unison to open the door of the massive ship. When it finally finished opening, the batarian crew were greeted by the beautiful green scenery of the planet of Ferris Fields. The stark contrast of the planet compared to Khar'Shan's harsh forests. The sky was a greenish color; perfectly matching it's green fields. The planet had no ocean; a world of pure grass. It was why it was named Ferris Fields; just grass as far as the eye could see.

The Batzzzha had once been a proud ship; having once belonged to the batarian hegemonial navy. Now it was but a ruin of it's former glory; a mere shadow. The ship had rusted all along it's hull and most of it's weaponry had to be removed so the ship could stay intact. It barely had the firepower of a frigate now; much less a corvette. It was slow and wieldy and it wouldn't be long before she had to be decomissioned. What had once been a military warship though; was now a slaver vessel.

Balak had been tasked with leading a division of batarian slavers to enslave the colony of Ferris Fields. They would sack the colony, kill the local alliance garrison and then take the civilians as slaves; their women would make great entertainment for his men. The Lord Regent himself, Salvak Terrili, had come to oversee the operation himself; the dictator of the batarian hegemony. He was a harsh and efficient ruler, the last of his line. After him, there would only be him. The Uhtero's. And Balak would impress. But that wouldn't be for another six years. But he could wait. The old fool had to die at some point.

He felt the grip of his vindicator battle rifle; the tip covered in rust. He hit his comm almost immediately and began ordering his troops out. The city of Memphis was exactly 20 kilometers away. They wouldn't have detected their cruiser landing and by the time they could formulate a proper defense, they would be swarming the colony. They would reach the colony within forty-five minutes on foot. They had been forced to use old style walkie-talkies; for some reason their communications were being actively jammed. The communications officer was sure that the humans hadn't blocked them, as the signal was far beyond the alliance standard. Still, they had to be on edge. The alliance could be anticipating an assault.

"Lord Regent, we move north. We should reach the human city in forty-five minutes."

Salvak smiled grimly, "Good. Move now. The longer we take the long we give the enemy time to prepare. I'm looking forward to the spoils. Memphis is meant to be a highly populated city; and that means lots of slaves. I expect a lot of money from this little raid."

Balak simply nodded and moved forward and out of the hangar bay. They began their trek towards the city. It was mostly uneventful, the only wildlife being a few space cows and ferris beetles. All in all; nothing of note. Eventually, forty-five minutes later, they reached Memphis.

Despite his hatred of humans, their architecture was something to admire. Whilst batarian design was more militaristic, human design was utilitarian. Tall, glistening skyscrapers of marble white adorned the horizon, the distant hint of skycars flying by dotting along the cityscape. A large freighter floated through the city's industrial sector; so very majestic. The city was kilometers in length, spanning along the horizon as the system's twin suns rose in the east. It was a pity such beauty was about to be set alight by the weapons of the hegemony. The spoils of war were great.

"Launch the attack," Salvak ordered, "Balak, attack from both sides. Don't give them time to retaliate."

The assault was in full motion. It took them another twenty minutes to get into position, but when they did, they attacked. The small alliance garrison was no match for the batarian attackers, and even the gunship support that they did have was taken out by their heavy weapons. The city's sirens sounded and Balak merely laughed; they were trying to evacuate, but even the city's council must realize it was a futile gesture.

The city was overwhelmed within minutes; the civilians tried to run, but his division had them surrounded. There was nowhere to run. Just as he was about to sound victory, he heard a air-shattering boom pierce the air. They all looked up, recognizing the sound all too much. It was the sound of an alliance warship. Only a few colonies had ever had alliance pickets protecting them, but they hadn't even detected a ship in system.

Lowering into the city, like a god descending from the heavens, was the protruding bow of an alliance frigate. The ship righted itself until it hovered over the city, guns adorning its hull. Before Salvak could even declare retreat, an even louder boom shattered the air, this one much louder than the frigate's. And much more frightening.

The air crackled with lightning. Boom after boom shook the earth, causing his men to stumble. Was it a dreadnought? Could they be that paranoid? If so, he could only imagine their next fate.

Then, almost out of nowhere, a beam of pure orange fury ripped through the clouds, impacting the alliance frigate. Balak felt a grin crease his features as shields were shattered and armor melted and twisted. The ship was cut clean in half, the frigate's bow smashing into a nearby skycraper, sending debris in all directions. Within a matter of seconds, whoever had saved them, had completely destroyed a frigate in a single shot. Even dreadnoughts had more trouble than that. What ally befell them? Was it even an ally?

Then the next horror befell them. A swarm of insects, like a horde of black marching across the sky, flooded the city. It was like a perputual army; swarms and swarms of insects just covering the city in a think blanket of black. Balak gritted his teeth as the bugs swarmed past. To his surprise, they ignored his troops and went straight for the humans. They screamed and tried to flee, but were overwhelmed by the bugs. The insects bit them, causing them to stop all motion and freeze in place, eyes still able to move as they gazed at them in terror. Men, Women and Children just froze in place, unable to move.

This terror continued for what seemed forever before the swarm finally lifted, the insects disappearing as quickly as they came, dissolving into the atmosphere. Then came the booms again. Like overly loud drums. Then, as if descending from space, came a solid pillar of hell itself. It was absolutely massive; but it was definitely a ship of some kind. It descended until it rested in the city's center, towering over the largest skyscrapers. It had to be over two kilometers in length. It looked very insect like; like a honeycomb of beehives.

Then the insects again; they weren't the same ones, but were slightly bigger. They landed all over, including a small squad of them before his men. They were odd; two-legged and armed monstrosities with odd looking assault rifles and curved, triangular heads; four, orange glowing eyes aligned their heads horizontally; wings like flies stopping as they ceased flight, landing without fault. They were covered in chitin; natural armor of unknown origin. They made clicking sounds, but never talked in any language he understood.

He watched as they moved; dragging strange pods alongside them as they collected their human victims and placed them in the floating coffins, completely ignoring the batarians as if they weren't even there. When a pod was filled, the two insects accompanying it would take it up in the air and fly off into their gigantic dreadnought.

What added to the terror was, what he assumed, was the leader of the group. He was like the rest but his body was riddled with cracks, all glowing with fiery orange, heat and fire radiating off it's body. It moved around the area, ordering more of them around. The more he saw them, the more he recognized them from the folk tales of failed raids on human colonies. Collectors they call them. Snatchers from the Shadows.

Just as he thought the collectors would leave them alone, one of his men just had to be an idiot. He stepped before the leader of the group, moving right into his face and causing the thing to stop it's movement. It didn't even raise it's weapon as the batarian shouted in it's face.

"These are our slaves! Go find your own, bug!"

Before he knew it, the leader had reacted faster than anything he'd ever seen before. It's body brightened as it raised it's hand to grip the batarian's throat, three strong fingers locking around his neck as they squeezed, the leader's gaze piercing his soul. The leader spoke, and it's voice was so intimidating that even Balak shuddered from it.

"Batarian, your resistance matters nill. We do not care for your petty operations. In time, you will be harvested. It is the law of the galaxy. We bring order to the chaos. These humans will ascend, while you must wait for your harvest which is yet to come. You are merely bacteria against the Nazara's purity. You are not worthy of harvest."

And with that, the collector leader snapped the batarian's neck, dropping his body to the ground as he simply walked over the corpse, ignoring the other batarians. After seeing what he did...after what it did...none of his men dared step in their way. When the Collectors had finished with their business, they left quickly, their leader leaving along with them. But then he saw something unusual; as it flew off, it's body turned to the normal form of the one's around it. As it did, the thing spoke.

"Releasing Control."

With that, the collectors were gone and had taken all the humans with them; men, women and children. Huddled back inside their dreadnought, the ship lifted off, a massive boom shaking the ground as it's engines ignited like a great rocket, fire and smoke bursting from all sides as it shot up into the atmosphere, leaving a column of smoke in it's wake. When they were done, no evidence of them even being there was left except for the large crater where their ship had landed and taken off.

"Lord...Lord regent, s-s-status." Balak commed, shaking slightly.

"I know," Salvak replied, "Return to the ship. This is neither defeat or victory, my comrades. I think we've just seen what's been taking these colonies."

Balak simply nodded and ordered his troops to return. The Collectors had been taking the human colonies, but for what purpose, was unknown. All Balak knew was that it couldn't be good. The leader's words; they not only pierced his ears, but his skull. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and Balak had a feeling that great evil was at work within the Collector's armies. Just what though, was a complete unknown.

"And the Collectors abducted Ferris Fields. Balak told me about it when I met him again on the Citadel a year later."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I know. I think Hawthorne's little brother was on the colony when the Collectors abducted it. But that's not important right now. So...you were heading to Korlus?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Yes. To recruit Doctor Okeer...or the Warlord as the krogan called him. Once we landed, it didn't take us long to find out just why he had Blue Suns protecting him. Not only protecting him, but  using  him."

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

PRIMORDIAL BEGINNINGS

August 16, 2185

1555 hours.

Junkyard, Outer Compound, Krogan Breeding Facility, Korlus.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Professor Mordin Solus, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

The doors were open before the shuttle even touched the ground. Marcus lifted his rifle so it was aimed towards the ground as he leaped from the aircraft to land on the ground. He was followed closely by the rest of the team as the kodiak ascended just as quickly and took off into the atmosphere to avoid any blue suns anti-aircraft personnel on site. They took cover behind some of the junk in the area as a squad of the mercs rounded the corner.

"Okay people," Marcus barked, "Let's keep this simple. We get Okeer and we get out. The Blue Suns are obviously using this man to breed an army and noone wants that; the last thing we need is an army of genetically perfect krogan being unleashed by Blue Suns troops. Any research we can find is to be destroyed once Okeer is extracted."

With that, he signalled Kasumi to activate her cloak and flank the enemy's rear while he got Mordin to hit their left with a tech mine. Zaeed would hit their right with a incendiary grenade and Garrus, himself and Jacob would cut down the rest. Quick, clean, simple. When he gave the go, his team moved with lethal effiency. By the time the three of them finished off the mercs, only four were left standing. He scanned the area and after seeing no other hostiles, he motioned for them to push forward.

"I heard gunfire on the perimeter," a female voice shouted over the compound's PA system, "I wasn't aware Okeer had another batch of his failed berserkers to shoot. Delta and Baker Squads, move to the outer compound and investigate. I've just lost contact with Yankee Squad."

"Someone loves the sound of their voice," Garrus mumbled as they pushed through the junkyard and out onto a upper platform with an aged looking metal barriers. Upon turning right around the corner, they encountered two batarians and a single human who seemed confused; probably over the loss of one of their squads. He signalled Kasumi to once again activate her cloak and take the left batarian while they cut down the rest.

From behind his cover, he heard the sound of a cloak disengaging and a knife extending; quickly followed by a choking sound. Without hesitation, he swerved the corner and took aim at the second batarian, firing a squad squarely in his face. Before anyone could eliminate the human merc, he immediately dropped his weapon and fell to the ground, hands infront of him.

"Don't shoot! Please don't shoot! I surrender!"

He held out his hand and ordered his squad to lower their weapons, deciding to instead interrogate the merc. However, he did keep his weapon up out of vigilance; he wasn't going to let his guard down. The merc looked on at him in sheer terror; the spectre could smell the urine from his position three meters away.

"Start talking before my trigger finger gets itchy," Marcus snarled, pushing the barrel into the man's forehead.

"W-what do-do you want to kn-know?" The man squirmed.

"Who's in command here?" Marcus asked.

"Lieutenant Commander Sierah Jedore," He stuttered.

"Good, now-" Before he could finish, a male voice entered the merc's comms.

"Unit 6, Squad Baker, report. Jedore wants an update on those berserkers that took out Squad Yankee. Sitrep immediate, how copy?"

The merc's eyes seemed to meet Marcus' for a meer second. Marcus met his with a dark, smug grin.

"Get rid of your friends," Marcus basically growled into the man's ear, his voice menacing.

The merc didn't even answer as he scrambled for his mic, "Unit 2, we've got-"

A shot echoed through the junkyard that hit the mic and sent it flying across the area, the human looking at it in sheer fear. Marcus kicked the man over and sent him sprawling onto the ground, holstering his weapon as he activated his omni-tool, keying his omni-blade. The man desperately tried to crawl away, but the back of his neck was met by one of Marcus' large boots.

"Wrong answer," Marcus snarled and sent his blade sinking deep into the man's spine. The man stopped squirming and with superhuman strength, Marcus lifted the man from the ground with just the blade, yanking it back out. The merc's body fell back to the ground, blood pooling around his dead body. Marcus slowly and methodically approached the mic on the ground, picking it up and placing it to his ear.

"Unit 6!? I heard gunshots. Fall back to Squad Delta's position. Unit 6?"

Marcus growled into the mic, "Unit 6 is dead; I killed him, and I ain't no krogan. My name is Commander Shepard, and tell Jedore that she is now on the hit list of the Hero of the Citadel." With that, he dropped the mic and crushed it with his boot, motioning for his squad to continue advancing into the facility.

It didn't take them long to reach the location of Delta squad; and they definitely weren't prepared for what they had in store for the mercs. The Blue Suns squad had the advantage of higher ground, but that didn't count for anything if you weren't prepared for your enemy. These mercs weren't. So when Marcus' squad hit the enemy mercs, it was like being hit over the head with a frying pan. Within seconds, Delta squad was eliminated.

Jedore's voice came up over the speakers once more, "There is only one measure of success! Kill or be killed! Perfection is your goal!"

"I'm really starting to get sick of her voice," Marcus growled.

"It's giving me a headache," Garrus responded, mandibles curled in a smile, "I think I hear a walking talking pill for that."

With the Blue Suns in the outer compound dealt with, it was only a matter of time before reinforcements arrived. They headed left and down further into the outer compound, heading right and entering the inner 'sanctum.' From what he could tell from the collapsed scaffolding and raging fires, there had been combat; the berserkers were getting more lethal. As soon as he moved further inside, squad behind him, he found out he was correct from the sound of gunfire to his right.

A group of Blue Suns stood on the upper platform, mostly turians and batarians, all raining down fire on a trio of krogan berserkers, all armed with pistols. They fired at the mercs, but even for krogan they didn't stand a chance against the better weaponry of the Blue Suns forces. The krogan were cut down very quickly, bodies unable to regenerate due to deformities made from their unnatural creation.

Marcus quietly signalled Garrus to target the leader while he ordered Zaeed to prepare another fire grenade. The mercenary apparently had a sadistic obsession with using incendiary weapons. The morals may have been something Marcus disagreed, but he couldn't deny the results. Zaeed was ruthless, but efficient.

Taking cover, he made sure he had his rifle extended and levelled. When he lowered his hand, the assault began. The sound of Garrus' sniper rifle firing cut through the air, hitting the lead batarian in the head in a red mist. At the same time, Zaeed threw his grenade, the explosive ricocheting off the wall and landing at the enemy's feet, detonating in a fiery explosion. The mercs screamed as they were engulfed, either falling to their death or being killed by the blast. Seeing as the grenade dealt with the hostiles, Marcus ordered his squad to continue.

They found themselves moving deeper into the compound as they reached what appeared to be the outer shell of a ancient freighter. Marcus was surprised to notice the khelish inscriptions on the wreck's hull; the vessel must have crashed an odd three centuries ago. Or before. The ship looked like a heavy freighter; but it had been long dead. A massive hull lay on the outer side of the wreck; most likely the entry area of mass acellerator. Inside was a squad of blue suns desperately trying to hold back an advancing krogan berserker with a grenade launcher.

The weapon continued to create thumping sounds as grenade after grenade fired from the weapon, detonating as it hit the mercs' lines, killing them off, one by one. The mercs certainly didn't see Marcus coming until one of their men was enveloped in biotic power and thrown away like a rag doll. When they finally took notice, Marcus' own launcher joined in harmony with the krogan's.

When the last merc was blown to pieces by the heavy weapons, Marcus holstered it, turning to the krogan who was now looking at him. The krogan wore a full helmet, meaning he couldn't see his features. Mordin was hesitant towards the krogan, but lowered his weapon when Marcus ordered it. The krogan spoke, surprisingly, with a low voice, unlike the deep, gruff voices of other krogan he'd met like Wrex.

"You are...different," The berserker stated with confusion laced in his tone, "New. You don't smell like this world. Seven night cycles, and I have only felt the need to kill. But you...something makes me speak."

Marcus nodded, crossing his arms as best he could in the armor that he wore. Mordin looked confused.

"Seven night cycles? Only a week old? Size and skill with weapons supercedes this. Even with krogan." Mordin stated.

Zaeed snorted, "Makes goddam sense to me. They breed the fuckers to full size so they are ready to kill. His birth wasn't natural; he was synthetically developed. The little shit must have failed bad if the mercs don't want anything to do with him. I know the Blue Suns; they don't kill a resource worth maintaining."

The krogan shook his head, "Bred? No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother. Survival is what I hear in my head. Against the enemy that threatens all my kind. But I failed even before waking. That is what the voice in the water said. That is why I wait here; I must amend for my failings."

"Interesting," Kasumi spoke up, cloak deactivating around her like the unveiling of a curtain, "But that doesn't explain how you can talk at only a week old."

"There was a scratching sound in my head and it became a voice," The krogan explained, "It taught things I would need; walking, talking, hitting, shooting. It is all I need."

Mordin nodded, apparently taking all this data in. Marcus noticed something flash in the salarian's eyes, turning to address him, "You spot something Mordin?"

The salarian nodded, "Think I may know what Okeer might be trying to accomplish. Only theories, however. Breed krogan, try to find ways to overcome genophage. Okeer believes krogan are weaker than before and during the rebellions. Thinks genophage is cause of this. Thinks he can develop a krogan that is free of the genophage; a krogan bred to kill whilst retaining strength of pre-rebellions krogan."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "So Okeer is creating all these berserkers just to see how he can create the ultimate krogan? What's the point in building one krogan that's immune to the genophage?"

Mordin simply shrugged, "Once again, only theories. Possibly truths however. Cannot know for sure. Okeer will tell."

Marcus simply nodded before slapping the krogan on the shoulder, "We need to find Okeer. Do you know where we can find him? I need him for a mission."

The krogan nodded, pointing into the wreckage of the ancient quarian freighter, "Okeer has a lab set up. Works with an asari and some human called Jedore. Merc leader. Okeer is glass mother. He hates these mercs and doesn't like playing with them. Jedore hates him equally; uses him. He doesn't like it. Some of my kin managed to break loose like I did. We didn't like being used as targets; so we rebelled. They will soon fall."

Marcus saw Zaeed smile at the sound of that. Figures, considering the man wanted him to help kill Vido, the founder of the merc organization in the first place. Marcus gave the krogan one final pat and offered him the chance to come. The krogan refused, saying that his place was at that exact spot; saying he must wait for glass mother's return; to relieve him of service.

And so they travelled into the freighter wreck through the hole. It was big enough to fit a kodiak shuttle or a mako through; so it was big enough for them. They had no telling of what waited for them inside.

{Loading...}

August 16, 2185

1613 hours.

Storage Compartment, Unknown Heavy Freighter Class Wreck, Krogan Breeding Facility, Korlus.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Professor Mordin Solus, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

When he said the ship was ancient, he wasn't joking. Most of the ceiling had basically caved in, with parts of the floor boards having been pushed up from ground and vines growing through and under the ship. Weapons lockers and storage crates littered the place; most likely from the Blue Suns, not the original ship's cargo. What passed for corridors were now wide open spaces; the walls having corroded and dissolved into nothing. They came across many rooms, but the doors were either jammed or the rooms didn't exist anymore. Khelish was written on the walls, but without Tali around, he couldn't translate it; it was an ancient form of khelish his translator didn't understand.

They even crossed a few rooms with full quarian environment suits; most likely used for EVA during the time the freighter had been in service. There was even ancient quarian work uniforms; but most of the fabric was torn or dirtied. As they moved further into the ship, they started getting the gist that most of the blue suns mercs weren't even present or had retreated. Gunfire could be heard, but it was distant and restrained.

It was only when they forced a door open into a large area that the gunfire really got loud. It seemed that it was what used to be a engine room of some sort; now it was just a large junkyard; the outer walls non-existent and the area was just a large area full of bridges and collapsed support platforms.

But the room wasn't empty. Inside, a large battle between krogan berserkers and blue suns mercs had erupted; and this time the mercs didn't have the upper hand. Mercs were getting slaughtered left and right, with most mercs deciding to abandon their posts and routing. But not all were focused on the krogan it appeared as a sniper shot hit him in the left shoulder with such force that he spun until he hit the ground. He groaned in pain as he felt the sniper rifle round. It had pierced his kinetic barriers and armor, but it had stopped it just enough so it didn't full penetrate his skin; it still hurt though.

He struggled to his feet as Garrus retaliated with a counter shot, apparently having spotted the merc sniper. Mordin and Jacob were already moving to engage the mercs and krogan around them, with Zaeed and Garrus staying behind to provide support for Marcus and Kasumi sneaking past the mercs to recon the area ahead. All in all, his team had impressed him. It wasn't his old team, but it was just as effective.

When he got back to his feet, the mercs had fallen back to a facility located just outside the ship's hull and the krogan were defeated. The Blue Suns were rapidly losing ground to the krogan rejects; and with his team pressing on their territory, it wouldn't be long before their resources were exhausted. Garrus noticed his shoulder wound and asked to check it, but Marcus insisted he was fine, letting his armor patch up the wound with medi-gel as they pressed on and into the Blue Suns stronghold.

They finally reached the entrance into the main facility, where, from their high vantage point above the base, they saw a squad of Blue Suns with two heavies setting up missile launchers, moving to defend the main gate. On the other side of the gate was a group of krogan; one moving towards the gate. Utilizing his brute strength, the krogan lifted the metal plating blocking the entry way and threw it away. Before he could doing anything else however, a missile caught him in the stomach, throwing the krogan back, dead.

Seeing as there could be more krogan moving towards the base and not wanting to be flanked, Marcus left Garrus behind to provide sniper cover while the rest of the team moved inside. The turian nodded, hefting his rifle as he went prone. Marcus and his team made short work of the berserkers and the mercs were little different. Seeing the missile launchers as useful weapons, Marcus took one and replaced his grenade launcher with it; making sure to take a few missiles for good measure.

The resistance they encountered was poor at best. Jedore had obviously focused the majority of her troops on stopping what she thought was a krogan advance, and in the end had sacrificed most of her forces. Many even tried to desert her, only to be gunned down by his squad as they fleed towards the entrance; the only avenue of escape. Despite her forces weakening, Jedore kept shouting orders over the PA, not a single bit of fear in her voice. She would have made a good commander in the Alliance or UNAS army.

Still, despite this, progress to Okeer's lab was easy. Within a few minutes, they had covered most of the facility and encountered only pockets of resistance. With Garrus covering their backs, the krogan berserkers wouldn't be a problem. But when they crossed the main threshold into the research section, what they found was disturbing. Numerous krogan bodies littered the ground; either rotting or having just arrived. All rejects of Okeer's ultimate goal.

It didn't take long to reach the warlord's lab. They still hadn't encountered Jedore, which meant she had either escaped somehow or was with Okeer himself. He hit the door panel to move inside and was surprised when he saw a familiar asari waiting inside. She was working by a basic utilitarianistic desk, with a basic camper bed next to it and a dead krogan body ontop. She looked even more shocked to see numerous armed soldiers in her office.

"Please don't shoot!" The asari pleaded. As he looked at her, he fumed. He can't believe this bitch betrayed her promise.

"Rana Thanoptis? What are you doing in a place like this...again? Didn't the Eden Prime War teach you anything?" Marcus growled, ordering his team to lower their weapons. They did so, but he could tell Zaeed had his eyes on her.

Apparently the asari scientist recognized the voice behind his helmet, "S-Shepard? But they said you were dead! I read the news reports!"

Marcus sighed as he widened his arms, as if showing off to a crowd of fans, "Well...here I am. Alive and well; not to mention pissed off at what I see." Rana Thanoptis was an asari scientist. He had met her on Virmire, inside Saren's geth fortress. She had been helping Saren study indoctrination and breeding krogan. He had let her go out of moralistic necessity. But now she was here, doing the same work, different set up.

Rana glanced between the dead berserker on the bed and Marcus, shaking her head, "Don't worry! I didn't sign up because of Okeer's work! The Blue Suns told me I'd be working on a cure for the genophage! You see? I'm not testing on live subjects anymore; it's just dead corpses!"

Marcus sighed. She was right, she technically wasn't doing anything wrong, but working for Jedore or any merc wasn't right. These people were ruthless, especially Jedore, and he wasn't about to let her off the hook. He motioned towards Zaeed.

"Zaeed, tie her up," Marcus ordered before turning to a shocked Rana, "I told you not to do this crap anymore, and what do you do? You wait until I'm dead and do the same thing over. Maybe you should have just done what I told you to. When I've recruited Okeer and dealt with Jedore, I'm going to take you back to the Normandy and we can see what the authorities on the Citadel want to do with you. I'm sure C-Sec will be happy to arrest a known associate of Saren Arterius."

Rana tried to object but was stopped as Zaeed roughly shoved her into the wall, spinning her so she faced the wall. He made sure Zaeed didn't rough her up too much before entering Okeer's lab.

The room was very long; being the size of the Normandy's CIC alone. It was much like a corridor; and more so than a lab. To his left were numerous beds with krogan bodies resting on them, along with a large glass tank filled with water and a screen and terminal at which a fairly large krogan was standing at, working. He gathered that this was Okeer.

Inside the tank was a krogan like no other he'd seen before. He was massive; smaller than Wrex, but larger than any of the berserkers he'd seen so far and dwarfing Okeer. He wore large body armor, colored a dark, dull grey color. The krogan didn't have a crest like that of other krogan; but more like solid bone across his fore ahead and a more pronounced jaw. Must have been Okeer's latest berserker.

Observation windows aligned the right of the room, allowing a perfect view of the room inside. Lines upon lines of pods like the one in the lab aligned the room, all filled with berserkers; most likely the rejects. The room was completely empty from what he could see; all except for one human female merc pacing along the room, hand at her ear piece. She had long, flowing blonde hair and would have been quite beautiful if it weren't for the scars on her face and massive widow anti-material sniper rifle on her back. That must be Jedore.

Hearing the door open, Okeer turned to face his squad and Marcus got to see the krogan's features in full. His face was covered in scars and wrinkle lines; signs of his age. His crest was black with a tinge of red along with a blue-colored eyes. He wore, not armor, but krogan clothing; odd for a krogan with the title of Warlord. The krogan smiled a toothy grin.

"Ah, here you are," Okeer announced, "I've watched your progress."

Marcus raised his eyebrow as he holstered his SMG, ordering his squad to lower their weapons as well as Zaeed entered the room, throwing Rana onto the ground as he put a foot to the back of her neck, rifle at the back of her head.

"Stop squirming, bitch." Zaeed snarled.

"Easy Zaeed. She's a prisoner, not a ragdoll." Marcus stated before turning back to Okeer. Zaeed simply rolled his eyes before releasing his foot, instead settling with having his vindicator lowered over her head.

Okeer continued before anything could be said, continuing to type at his terminal, "It's about time you showed up too. The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs." The krogan's voice was deep; deeper than Wrex's if you could even think about it.

Marcus merely cleared his throat before responding, "I take it you're Okeer? You don't seem particularly caged...or grateful that I'm here."

Okeer simply snorted, letting out a low, short chuckle, "You may claim to be here to help, but the formerly deceased Marcus Shepard is not a sign of gentle change." The krogan then fixed Marcus with a piercing glare, somehow meeting the spectre's eyes through his helmet.

Apparently Okeer noticed Marcus' hesitation to respond, "Surprised? All krogan should know you. I'm sure Rana...," Okeer then looked over at Rana's struggling form on the floor, Zaeed merely smirking at the asari's effort, "...has already recounted your actions on Virmire."

Marcus, sensing that Okeer wouldn't be particularly happy if he knew about what Saren's facility had held, which was the promise of a genophage cure, was quick to react, "I did what I had to do. That facility wasn't going to cure the genophage, it was going to weaponize your people. I couldn't let that happen. I'm sorry."

Okeer seemed surprised, "Oh...but I approve!" This apparently took Marcus by surprise once more, "Saren's pale horde were not true krogan. Numbers alone are nothing. The mistake of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made."

Marcus seemed to consider this as he let the krogan continue, Okeer turned and walked up to the closest observation window, looking down upon his warbred krogan, "I gave their leader the rejects for her army. But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here." Okeer then headbutted the window in anger, the glass cracking from the impact as he turned back to face them.

Marcus nodded, "Good, because I'm here to recruit you for a dangerous mission. Ever heard of the Collectors?"

Okeer smirked, "A dangerous mission that involves a race noone, not even the salarians, knows anything about? I see. Collector attacks have increased. A human concern. However, I do see the need for expertise. Very well, I shall help you, but on one condition."

Marcus narrowed his eyes, "Name it."

"My prototype," Okeer motioned to the tank that settled in his lab, unmoving but ever active, "He is perfection. The final product. If he survives, it will ensure that all my rejects weren't for nothing. He is the pinnacle of krogan strength; he is a symbol of what the krogan once were before the genophage. With him, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer...to be ignored. He is non-negoitable. Besides, he might even prove a worthy asset in your personal army...if the right krogan can teach him the ways of combat. That means me. Two for the price of one, hmmm?"

Marcus liked the sound of it. A krogan scientist and a pure krogan soldier bred for war. That spelt disaster for the collectors whenever they ran into them. He smiled as he turned to face Okeer, "Deal. I'll have Joker bring down some heavy lifting equipment with the shuttle; that tank looks heavy and I don't think even a krogan could carry that much. Not even you Okeer."

Okeer nodded, "Of course."

"Also, how did you come to know about the collectors anyway? You seem to have a history with them." Jacob spoke up, pointing the krogan out.

"I have sold many krogan to them in exchange for their technology. All of which has been consumed by my prototype. Not only is he the strongest krogan in current existence, but he is also fused with collector tech; a lethal foe, if I do say so my-"

"Attention! I've tracked the krogan release! It's Okeer! Go figure." Jedore's voice came through the PA once more and Okeer looked down through the window. Marcus did so as well and found Jedore looking straight at them, fury on her features.

"I'm calling 'blank slate' on this project," Jedore declared, "Gas these rejects and start over from Okeer's data! Flush the tanks!" Before anything could be said, Jedore equipped her scimitar model shotgun and activated her tech armor, an aura of blue energy surrounding her like armor. With that, she ran off into another room, disappearing from sight.

Okeer looked around frantically as one by one all the valves in the room popped open to omit a lethal gas. Marcus immediately sealed his helmet and his squad sealed theirs; good thing he ordered them to come helmeted.

Okeer pounded his fist on the terminal as he eyed his krogan achievement, "She's that weak-willed? She'll kill my legacy with a damned valve!" With that, he spun to look at Marcus, "You want my help on your mission? Then kill Jedore and reverse the gas process! My legacy is no use to you dead!"

Marcus nodded in acceptance as he equipped his rifle and ordered his squad to follow him to the lower level. Zaeed stayed behind to watch Rana. He knew about krogan nervous systems and how it would filter the gas out; so he didn't need to worry. Instead, he focused on Jedore. As they ran down the stairway, he contacted EDI.

"EDI, I need you to access this station's mainframe and close off the valves! Stop the gas release process! Can you do it?"

EDI's response was immediate, "I'm accessing it now. Security is poor and the gas can be stopped. It should only take a second..." Just as the door opened, he saw all the gas valves cease, "The gas has been stopped. Only a few subjects were killed but Okeer's project was not among them."

"Thanks EDI!"

Marcus scanned the room with his rifle, but saw nothing. Instead, he heard it. It was a thud; one that shook the ground with everyone, seeming to get closer and closer. Eventually, he saw the source of the room noise appear around the corner and widened his eyes in shock at what he saw.

It was a gigantic mech; bigger than a YMIR mech and about 15 foot high. It was covered in armor plating, all the color blue of the Blue Suns. The main cockpit was made of glass, but it was thick tempered glass and sitting at the controls was Jedore. The mech had two arms; the left holding what looked like a form of heavy machine gun while the right was a heavy blaster, firing explosive rounds that were probably equivalent to that of a Mako's main gun. The vehicle had thick but small legs, carrying the massive bulk of the mech with it. It was a walking death machine.

Jacob's eyes widened in shock, "It's a fucking Atlas! Take cover!" And they did so in record timing as a tsunami of machine gun fire poured over their heads, tearing into the wall behind them. Jedore's voice could be heard; not through the PA, but through the mech's onboard speakers.

"I've read up on you Shepard," Jedore snarled and her next words sounded too smug for his liking, "I'm going to make you my bitch."

With that, she fired a heavy round; the burst hitting one of the tanks infront of them and toppling it forwards, crashing into the ground. Marcus dodged it nimbly as he found himself in plain view of the mech. He flared up a biotic barrier just in time to avoid a massive burst of assault fire, Jedore instead moving to charge the man. Marcus simply strafed, as the mech was too cumbersome to move fast. Jedore attempted to melee him, but he simply ducked under the swaying arm and leapt onto the mech, landing on the side. Before Jedore could react, he had unholstered his SMG and had shoved it into the cockpit window.

"Then you missed some parts."

A burst of fire cracked the cockpit followed by three more bursts that shattered it. A fifth, sixth and seventh hit Jedore in the stomach before he leapt off the mech and landed ahead of it, the mech collapsing backwards as it's operator lost control, hitting the ground with a massive bang. But not before Jedore fired one final shot; aimed directly at the lab.

And at Okeer.

Before Marcus could do anything, the windows exploded, the round hitting Okeer and sending him flying further into the lab, injuries unknown. Marcus fumed as he approached the mech, his team already recovering as he stepped ontop. Seeing Jedore, with blood pooling from her mouth and stomach, he simply unholstered his SMG and kneeled next to her, ordering his squad to move upstairs to check on Okeer.

"You know Jedore, I'm really starting to hate you mercs," He said, raising his SMG so it aimed at her head, "You're like a bad itch; I have to scramble to get rid of it." Before Jedore could respond, he fired and her body went limp. With a sneer, he quickly loaded a fresh thermal clip into the weapon before rushing up the stairs and back into the lab. What he found caused him to curse loudly.

A large section of the window had been torn apart by the blast, taking some of the wall with it, including damage to Okeer's terminal. Mordin was at Okeer's lying form, blood pooling around the krogan's body. as Marcus came to crouch next to the krogan, Okeer turned to face him, eyes wide as he grabbed the spectre by the collar of his armor and pulled him closer so their faces were inches apart.

"You...gave me time...Shepard," Okeer grumbled, blood pouring from his mouth as he tried so speak. Mordin looked at Marcus and shook his head. There was nothing the salarian could do, "If I knew...why the collectors...wanted...humans, I would tell you." The krogan gave a wet cough as he let go of Marcus, the human deciding to stay close. Okeer continued.

"But everything is in my prototype," he stated, "My legacy...is pure. This...one...soldier, this grunt. Perfect." Mordin's omni-tool beeped rapidly, stating that Okeer's lifesigns were failing. Just as Okeer's eyes closed, the krogan muttered his last words.

"Keep it...safe."

His lifesigns flatlined as the krogan went limp. Okeer was dead.

Marcus sighed as he stood up, hands on his hips as he glanced over at the large tank holding the massive krogan that Okeer called his 'legacy.' The way Okeer said it, it was almost as if he had destined the massive perfected berserker to replace him. Either way, their original recruit was dead, only to be replaced by another one. A krogan scientist was one thing, but a perfected krogan shock trooper? Priceless. His help in stopping the collector threat would leap boundries.

He commed his earpiece, "Normandy, this is Shepard. Come in, over."

Joker's voice filled the comms, "We read you, loud and clear."

"Send the shuttle. I'll upload our coordinates," Marcus ordered, transmitting their location to the orbitting frigate, "And tell the pilot to bring heavy lifting equipment. Okeer is dead but we've got another package to bring onboard. And he's a big one."

With that, he turned to his squad and sighed as he ordered Garrus to return to their position. With that, they began to clean up the place, while Zaeed took Rana outside to wait for the shuttle. Marcus sighed as he leaned against the wall, sliding to the ground. What a day it had been. He sighed heavily as he looked at Okeer's body and then over at his prototype's body, the krogan scientist's words echoing in his mind.

He might even prove a worthy asset in your personal army.

He'd have to see for himself.

{Loading...}

August 16, 2185

1632 hours.

Main Engineering Corridor, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.

"Well? Don't just stand there you lazy shit, help us push this damn thing!"

Zaeed's voice shoke Marcus from his reverie as he joined in helping pushing Okeer's tank into the starboard cargo bay. It was an area just opposite of Zaeed's place of residence, and seemed like the perfect place to put the krogan until Marcus figured out if he would be helpful or not. After a debriefing in the comm room, Miranda had stated her worry of letting the krogan out of the tank; to which Mordin promptly agreed with her. Zaeed simply didn't care and Kasumi wasn't even there; most likely having snuck out. Jacob supported the idea of letting him out and Garrus had already come to trust Marcus' judgment.

Marcus already knew he had to open the tank; He was one recruit short and going by Okeer's data, the krogan would prove invaluable in combat due to his genetic perfection. He was stronger than any known krogan currently alive, probably more so than even Wrex. Going with his logic, it meant that he had to open the tank and hope Okeer had imprinted 'loyalty' on the beast. Hell, he didn't even have a name for the krogan. Okeer sounded good, but he didn't think the berserker would agree with taking a dead man's name.

With his added strength, they were able to push the giant tank into the small room, taking it to the back. Port Cargo wasn't all that impressive; if not less impressive than garbage disposal. It was a simple room extending to the right where observation windows allowed a view of the shuttle bay and pieces of cargo littered the area. When they finally reached the edge of the room, they all stopped and let out short, reserved breaths. The tank was heavy, that was for sure. Even the shuttle had had trouble carrying the damn thing.

With the heavy lifting done, they just had to open it. A task Marcus would handle personally. He turned, dismissing both Garrus and Zaeed, who promptly left as he turned back to face the giant tank and the krogan inside. He remembered Kelly's warning to him.

Please be careful when you decide to eh...birth him. His personality is completely unknown.

Marcus also remembered when she had informed him of the recent abduction of Ferris Fields. He knew time was running out, and he needed the best soldiers. The best people. This krogan was one of them. He couldn't afford to play it safe anymore.

As if summoned by his thoughts, EDI spoke, "The subject is stable, Shepard. Integration with onboard systems was seamless." He guessed she must have been speaking about her integration with the tank. How she had done so in that amount of time was obvious. She was a cyberwarfare AI; she did stuff like this without even thinking. EDI continued to explain.

"The subject is an exceptional example of the krogan species, with fully formed primary, secondary and tertiary organs, where applicable. No defects of any kind. Not even the telltale genetic markers present in krogan marked with the genophage are present. I cannot judge mental functioning without personal experience."

Marcus knew what he had to do. He could feel the claymore shotgun at his waist. He would only use it if he had to. With an intake of breath, he looked back up at the tank, "Then open the tank EDI. I'm letting him out."

EDI wasn't quick to give in, "Shepard, Cerberus protocols are very clear regarding untested-"

"I don't give a damn about Cerberus protocols, EDI," Marcus growled, "Open the fucking tank. It wasn't a question."

EDI took longer than normal to respond, "Very well, Shepard. Control has been rerouted to your omni-tool. The switch - and the consequences - are yours." With that, EDI's voice ceased speaking, leaving Marcus alone. With a final sigh, he reached up and activated his omni-tool, hitting the switch to open the tank.

He took a step back as the secured panels began to hiss loudly before popping open, letting out a steady cacophony of pops and hisses. Water was sucked out of the tank and into a rear compartment as air was pumped into it. Finally, the glass door flew open and the massive krogan fell onto the floor, eyes shooting open as he used his hands to stall his fall. He let out a low, non-threatening growl as he coughed out what water was left.

The krogan then rose to stand, ableit unsteadily, but when he stood to full height, he towered over Marcus, almost reaching the size of a YMIR. When the krogan looked up, Marcus could see his blue irises; reminiscent of Okeer's eyes. His eyes were unfocused, but when they finally focused on the spectre, the krogan leapt forward and rammed into Marcus, pinning him against the wall with his right arm as the krogan fixed the human with a piercing glare.

When the krogan spoke, his voice was low but deep. Nothing like Okeer's, but similiar to the krogan they had talked with back on Korlus.

"Human, male," The krogan stated, seeming to scan the spectre, "Before you die, I need a name."

Marcus responded without hesitation, "My name is Commander Shepard, and I don't take threats lightly."

The krogan shook his head, a look of grim determination on his features, "Not yours...mine. I am trained, I know things, but the tank...Okeer's couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow."

Before Marcus could speak, the krogan ignored him and continued to speak, "Warlord...Legacy...Grunt...Grunt. 'Grunt' was among the last. It has no meaning. It will do."

The berserker's grip seemed to tighten on the spectre, not letting go, "I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."

Marcus knew what krogans were like and responded in the way Wrex taught him to, "I have a good ship and a strong crew, a strong clan. You'd make it stronger."

Grunt replied without hesitance, "If you're weak and choose weak enemies, then I'll have to kill you."

Marcus smiled darkly, "Our enemies are numerous and powerful. They are known as the collectors. Trust me, they are strong."

"They'd better be," Grunt responded, "But if you decide that-"

Marcus had had enough. Without waiting, he felt the claymore shotgun on his waist fold out into his hands as he walked the krogan across the head, releasing his grip. Before Grunt could charge again, Marcus had the claymore aiming at the krogan. Instead of snorting, the krogan smiled.

"Offer peace in one hand and arm the other," Grunt pondered, "I think I might like you Shepard. I will fight for you Shepard. Whenever you call upon me for battle, I will answer. My weapons are your weapons." With that, Grunt turned around and returned to his tank, smiling as he examined the massive piece of machinery.

Marcus lowered his shotgun and holstered it, examining the krogan, "Would you like proper arrangments?"

Grunt simply shook his head in response, "I do not need fancy places to sleep. This will do. I seek only combat, not comfort. Comfort is for the weak, combat is for those who are deemed worthy."

Marcus, without looking back, left the room, smiling as he went.

That was alot easier than he thought it would be. He felt a sharp pain flow up his spine, but was surprised it hadn't snapped. Apparently his cybernetics reinforced all the bones in his body. He wasn't unbreakable, but he wasn't porcelain either. That was good.

Because the collectors wouldn't expect anything less.

{Loading...}

August 16, 2185

1822 hours.

Outer Hull, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, In Orbit over Ilos, Refuge System.

Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Neema.

Tali sighed through her helmet as she glided through space towards the junction she was targeting on the Neema's hull, cable keeping her attached to the ship. Tali wasn't a big fan of EVA tech work, but it was something she got used to over the two years of serving on the Neema and in the marines. As a marine, they had to do many EVA attacks on pirate bases and a few Cerberus research labs, so EVA training was the norm. Besides, with Kal as a member of the Skylords, who practically had to do EVA assaults quite alot, she was well trained. Luckily, she wasn't in a combat situation; she was within the safety of the flotilla; the place she called home.

And out there, in some unknown region of space, was her mate. Her future husband. The man she loved; out there, among the stars, saving the galaxy's inhabitants once more. And would soon be going to rescue her life as well. The thought of the imminent mission to Haestrom was daunting, and it filled her with dread. The images of Marcus coming to cradle her body as she slowly died of suit ruptures; the sounds of numerous marines around her dying...it was too much.

Instead, she didn't focus on it. Instead, she focused on her work; that power junction wasn't going to fix itself. And if she didn't, then the entire crew would suffer the same fate her mother did; bacteria infection in the clean rooms and lack of oxygen. Down below was the planet where the end of a war had begun.

Two years ago had the Normandy orbitted Ilos and a geth fleet had guarded it's secrets. It had been when they landed on the planet and learned of the Citadel and the Mass Relay's true purposes and who built them. It was where they met Vigil. It was where they found the Conduit; a back-door onto the Citadel. It was where the beginning of the end for the galaxy had started; but where they began their own crusade to stop it.

She remembered the old city ruins; statues of the long dead protheans and some other kind of race littering the abandoned streets. Skyscrapers that were no doubt once majestic and tall, were now nothing but rubble consumed by the overgrowth and plant life. Ilos was one giant grave site for the prothean people. The last evidence of their existence. There had been questions on whether Ilos had been the prothean homeworld, but that had been quickly answered by Vigil, who stated it was just a research facility, not their homeworld.

Tali sighed as she returned to work, her omni-tool lighting up as she scanned the junction's contents. Working on another junction, only a few meters away from her to the upper left, was Peta, the young male she now called friend working on a similiar job. Tali had been happy when Peta had finally accepted that their relationship wasn't mutual and decided to stay as friends; it made life alot easier. But in the end, Tali still got the feeling that he hadn't quite gotten over it. He seemed distant, less willing to talk to her. She was even sure she caught glimpses of him looking at her when she wasn't looking.

Gerrel's voice entered her reverie, "Chief Engineer, how's it going out there? The fleet's making speed for the relay and we don't have time to dwadle."

Tali was quick to respond, "Almost done. Peta looks almost finished as well. Give us two minutes."

Gerrel's voice was annoyed when he responded, "Very well. You've got two minutes; make good use of it. Admiral Gerrel out."

Tali mainly just rolled her eyes as Gerrel cut the communications line. The admiral had seemed more annoyed than usual, and for good reason. Apparently Rael and Xen had been using Tali's data to develop ways of counteracting geth weaponry and tactics; essentially, they were developing tools of war to be used in retaking Rannoch. A war the flotilla was still ill-prepared for, but wouldn't be rushing into. The two admirals had conducted his research and their main lab ship, the Alarei, which was of the same class of ship as the Neema.

She knew of Xen and Gerrel's opinions; they favored war, and so did Rael. Shala was a unreadable anomaly while Koris clearly favored looking for a new homeworld. Tali herself sided with war; she wanted to destroy the geth and stand triumphant on the world of her ancestors as they wreaked vengeance upon the geth for the billions slaughtered in the Morning War. Xen however, wasn't as obsessed with the war itself as Gerrel was, and her father seemed much the same; Xen just used the war as an excuse to continue her research, along with her infatuation of eventually taking back control of the geth and returning them to the mindless slaves they were before the war. Also, she got to test her toys in the conflict.

Her father was just an unknown. He wanted the geth wiped out, but he also seemed alittle like Xen; wanting to take control of them instead. Rael had always promised to build her a hosue on the homeworld, but point was there to such a promise if it wasn't one that could be kept? Gerrel was just angry that he was losing Rael's favor; he was afraid that he was losing him to Xen. Gerrel didn't want the geth enslaved; he wanted them completely annihilated. And Tali completely agreed with him. No geth was a good geth.

The Eden Prime War only reinforced hers and Gerrel's opinions. Koris' argument had always been that the geth only exiled their people because they didn't want to die; because they wanted a future just like every other species. But it had gone beyond that when the geth burned and pillaged the colony of Eden Prime; it had gone beyond that when they joined Saren and Sovereign, bombed Feros and attacked Therum. It went beyond that when they assaulted the Citadel itself! It wasn't about survival; the geth hated organics and wanted them all wiped out!

And so now she had another reason to hate her father. It was just one neglectful event after another.

It didn't take long for the junction to be repaired and she returned to the outer access hatch. Peta was fast behind her. But before he reached the hatch, his tether caught on something and he tried to figure out what it was. But when he tugged, the cable ripped and he went flying into space. Tali, not knowing what else could be done, leapt out of the hatch in pursuit of the quarian. With the cable still attached to the hatch, she could be reeled back.

She managed to catch up with him quickly and she grabbed his hand, comming their assistant to pull them inside. Within moments they were back inside the Neema, hatch sealing shut behind them. Artificial gravity took hold and Tali soon found herself landing on Peta's chest. She scrambled to get up, Peta doing so as well. Their assistant contacted Gerrel and told him that it was all systems go, and Tali made with due haste towards the cockpit, where her father and Gerrel would be waiting. Rael had taken leave from the Huzzi to inspect her position on the ship, and she wasn't at all happy about it.

It didn't take her long to navigate the halls of the Neema with Peta at her side and reach the bridge. When she did, Rael and Gerrel turned to face her immediately, Peta seeming to melt into the background. Tali was surprised to see Elan there as well, as the ship's medical professional was Kaso. Elan was supposed to be on the Rayya looking after Veetor.

"Brigadier General Zorah," Gerrel addressed, Tali standing with her posture straight and at attention, "Admiral Zorah would like to have a talk with you. I'm sure Doctor Shiya would as well. There are...medical evaluations to be done. Mechanic Yala, you may take your leave." Gerrel then moved back into his command chair, Peta leaving without hesitance. He seemed alittle eager to get out quickly. Tali simply ignored it in favor of saluting her father before following him and Elan into another part of the ship.

Once alone, Tali turned to face Elan, "Elan, why are you here? I thought you were looking after Veetor on the Rayya?"

Elan nodded, "I still am, but I transferred to the Neema for a little bit because Admiral Zorah requested it. He wanted me to help him with some medical matters concerning you."

"Shiya, I told you I'd be the one to tell her that." Rael hissed.

"Tell me what? Medical matters? What is it about me that requires medical attention? I'm a fully capable migrant fleet marine!" Tali declared proudly, crossing her arms over her breasts.

"It's got nothing to do with your military profession," Rael stated, "That's Gerrel's area. No, I'm talking to you about something else. Please, sit down. Elan, get the file up on your omni-tool."

Tali was reluctant at first, but finally accepted as she sat on one of the crates in the room, Rael sitting opposite her while Elan tried her best to melt into the background. It didn't work however, as Rael was constantly addressing her. It appeared Elan really didn't want to be part of this. What's going on here?

"Tali..." Rael began, dropping formality, "I've come to talk to you about something that's recently come to my attention. From what I've heard, you're currently...single. Single in that you have not chosen a mate yet. You are aware of our tradition, are you not?"

Tali sighed heavily. It was this talk. No wonder Elan wanted nothing to do with it; she herself was also single with no chosen mate, but she had a feeling that was changing due to her sudden eagerness to be with Veetor. It was a thought that made her smile; that such a stuttery, incoherent man like Veetor could attract such an attractive young female like Elan. Especially a doctor. How do I tell father that I've chosen a human for my mate?

"Yes, I am," Tali started, trying to skirt the issue and avoid bringing up Marcus, "And I will tell you when I've chosen a mate. My status as a marine makes it difficult to start lasting relationships. I've seen many marines die under my command...many of them bonded or married. Some had children."

Rael nodded, "As I'm aware, but you and I know that isn't the problem, don't we? I know about your commander. That human you served with...your original captain. I know about your little...relationship with him. You must realize that it is nothing more than a childish dream. He can never give you children and you can never marry; or bond for that matter. You would be a fool to choose him over a proper quarian husband."

The words that rolled out of his vocalizer made horrible memories spark up. She knew who had set him up to this, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions, "I don't know how you know about that, but my personal relationships are none of your business. And if you brought Elan into this thinking that she may...get me hooked up with some quarian, then you're entirely wrong. My heart lies with Mar-Shepard."

Rael slammed a fist into the crate he sat on, "Stupid bosh'tet! You're making our clan look weak! Think of what the clan matriarch would think!? Are you really willing to bring disgrace to Clan Zorah? There is no possible reward that can be becoming of this pairing! This isn't Fleet and Flotilla! You were a child then, but you grew up!" Rael stated, using her childhood to reinforce his point. When Tali was young, she would invite friends with her to watch a copy of Fleet and Flotilla with her on her omni-tool. It was her favourite movie mostly because of the interspecies romance between a quarian and a turian.

Tali immediately stood up for herself, "I can think for myself! I will not be restricted by tradition! I have freedom! And I will choose who I want to love! You cannot change that!"

Rael wasn't giving in, "You'd rather have the disgusting primate? His kind had barely developed proper communications when we were exiled by the geth! His scum of a species had only just stopped destroying each other with swords when we reached the pinnacle of our empire! You should be proud of being quarian! Instead, you bicker about love? Love has no place in the greater scheme of things!"

Tali scoffed, "Is that what you said about Meru when she died? Did you say that as she weeped by her bedside? As she whispered reassurance to your ears and you held her cold, dying hands?"

Rael took a step forward and Elan decided to bail out, "Don't you dare bring your mother into this! She was everything to me! When I lost her, it tore me apart!"

"You loved her to the ends of Rannoch and Palaven! And you have the audacity to condemn love when you let if flourish within you twenty years ago! I am not the one who is wrong! You are!" She immediately poked him in the chest.

"That's because I let it control me! I let love define me!" Rael retorted, "I let Meru dominate my life! And I realize now that it was a mistake! I discovered that love is pointless! That it only serves to weigh you down!"

"Then what's the point in living if you can't have happiness..." Tali said, trailing off.

"There isn't! Not anymore! Not since we lost our homeworld!" Rael punctuated by motioning towards their surroundings, "Take a look around you! Our people were once a proud race child! We ruled the stars along with those three bosh'tets! But then the geth took that away from us! We are pathetic now! Forced to live off scraps of food just to survive! We're lucky not to be the vorcha and even they are luckier than us because they at least still have a homeworld!"

Tali hit an epiphany, "That's what this is about! You don't want me to love a human because you feel that he'll use me as a weapon to punctuate human superiority!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Rael spouted, "Don't let him fool you! He'll just use you! The next thing you'll know, you're a slave to his will! You'll be at his knees, day and night and you'll be wishing you listened to me!"

"Then you don't know him at all!" Tali hissed, "He's nothing like that! He gave me protection when I needed it. He made me who I am! I'm a Brigadier General! How do you think I got the skills to be one? From him! He cared for me, protected me and gave me life! Before him, I was nothing! After him, I'm a fully capable woman! And all in no part thanks to you!"

Rael was taken back by her sudden attack but didn't give in, "I am an Admiral of the Board. I will order and can order you to cease contact with him. It's within my power as head of the board and an admiral."

Tali felt tears in her eyes, "That's it then? I'm just another subordinate to you? I'm a ancestors be damned daughter! Why can't you just love me like every other father!"

Rael didn't know what to say as Tali continued her rant.

"I just wanted a father! I wanted someone who would spend time with me, show me the face behind his mask! I wanted to spend time in a clean room with you where we could just speak face to face, no masks! To show you the woman I've grown up into! I wanted you to love me like an actual father! But I guess that's too much to ask. I'm not your daughter, I'm just another one of your adjutants! Why can't you just love me..." She felt herself wanting to sob, but she couldn't. She was a damn hardened marine; she had to act like it. She had a heart of steel.

Rael didn't know what to say. When he finally spoke, it wasn't in the authoritive tone he had found himself using before, "Tali...I'm sorr-" He rested a three-fingered hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her but she shook it off, moving towards the door, anger in her every step. When she reached the door, she turned to face Rael once more.

"I'm not you're daughter, I belong to Meru."

"But...she was my wife. My daughter...I loved you." Rael tried to stutter but Tali was already gone, her last words all that was left for him to remember.

"Feels like another universe now."

"Grunt. I'm pretty sure he's still alive and working for the Dominion. Last I heard he was injured on Alpha by an explosion. Some misunderstanding between the Shadow Broker and the Dominion's military."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Tough son of a bitch. And believe me, when we finally met the collectors face to face, he showed them what 500 pounds of pure krogan was like. He made a ICBM strike seem like mercy."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER NINETEEN:

SILENTIUM

July 7, 2251

1834 hours.

Wastelands, Northern Hemisphere, Trebin.

Terran-Rannochian War.

Prometheus Commander Carter Dielheart, Captain Jaris 'Siren' Paltarons, Caesar, Warlord Urdnot Mordin.

The Wolverine transport bumped up and down as the vehicle continued to move along Trebin's mishap surface; desert dunes disturbed by the movement of the heavily armoured vehicle. The wolverine was a combination of a tank and a transport, with a troop compartment at the back and a heavy anti-vehicle main gun mounted on top, used as a form of AAA while also acting as a weapon against enemy tanks. It had been used on the frontlines during the PA Wars, and was a joint quarian and human design. So efficient that it was still in service thirty years later.

The compartment was small but he didn't complain. Nobody did; not when on a mission from Prometheus HQ itself. Gerrel secretly headed Prometheus and had developed the organization into a powerful force; it was the Dominion's replacement to the SIA and their answer to the STG. Carter quietly slept in one of the seats, wearing full light standard issue minotaur dominion combat armor, with his Grim Reaper assault rifle on his back. Jaris sat to his left, conversing with one of the quarian marines next to him.

Caesar remained still ahead of Carter, his geth body as still as a statue, most likely connecting with the geth consensus main hub back on Rannoch. Mordin was staring out the fibreglass port on the tank's main hatch; gazing out into nothing while marines conversed around him. The jolting of the vehicle didn't wake Carter. He slept through this stuff; he'd even slept through worser conditions than this, mostly combat or artillery strikes.

The wolverine they occupied was one of a trio in the convoy. They had been deployed via Tikkun-class geth dropship, dispatched by the Archangel-class Battleship CSV Marcus Shepard, where two gunships had provided escort. Now they were in a convoy of three wolverines, all moving towards an abandoned mine once used my ExoGeni seventy years ago to conduct an investigation into what appeared to be reactivated reaper technology that had laid dormant for quite awhile.

Trebin hadn't really been targetted as an area for colonization by the Dominion due to the harsh climate. Sandstorms were a constant on the planet and they were due to be hit by one any second. This made the construction of a colony impossible as any workers would be killed in the sandstorm; not to mention that the resources on the planet weren't particularly plentiful.

Right on time, a sandstorm hit the convoy. They were mostly unaffected by the storm, with the only noticable difference being the darker surroundings and a slightly more forceful jolt in the vehicle's movement. Carter's comm crackled to life and he was jolted awake.

"This is India Golf Niner-Niner," one of the gunships reported, "We're getting some severe interference with our equipment in this storm. We're going to have to break off; can't risk going any further. Returning to home ship, India Golf out."

Carter simply shrugged it off and disengaged his comm, going back to sleep. Mordin just continued to look out into nothing; the massive raging storm outside blocking his vision of Trebin's vast landscape; vast, but empty. The talk in the vehicle was just something he tuned out; Mordin wasn't a social man, he was born for one thing and one thing only; the defense of the krogan confederacy and the sovereignty of the Dominion empires. He had no other purpose.

He had been trained by his father, Urdnot Wrex, himself and afterwards, became a commando in the krogan marines. He now served as a Skylord, a section of the dominion military originally founded by the quarians, but was now the special operations/black operations division of the empire's military. He was the best of the best; skylords were orbital demons; when they dropped in, you knew that you were being invaded and that there was surely a dominion fleet not far behind.

Mordin thought about Tuchanka; how much he missed the desert plains, the raging storms, the hordes of varren and the women. So many children. He had never gotten a chance to say goodbye to his mate before he shipped off to Epitaph Station. Aside from the Citadel, Epitaph was the biggest Dominion space station in existence. It served to replace Jump Zero, which had been destroyed during the Reaper War.

Mordin was shaken from his reverie as the vehicle came to a stop and the main door opened. The sandstorm had passed, for now; they came frequently, but never lasted long on a planet like Trebin. While the marines fiddled with their harnesses, Mordin just jumped out, followed quickly by Caesar. The geth and himself didn't need harnesses due to their ability to remain seated without them. That and their size and strength.

Carter followed behind, leading the marine squad that poured out of the Wolverine. Mordin had to admit that the human was quite intimdating; the way he carried himself was all too perfect: his posture showed someone you didn't mess with lightly. With his helmet on, he looked even more intimidating, reminding him alot of a merc helmet but more advanced.

It wasn't long before they were all cleared out of the wolverines; all taking positions around a large mine shaft leading into Trebin's surface; it was ancient, structure reminsicent of technology from seventy years ago. Mordin narrowed his eyes at it. Why was a mine owned by a long dead corporation so important that they sent a battleship to investigate?

The thought skipped his mind as Carter's voice spoke up, "Whiskey and Uniform squads, cover the entrance to the mine and let noone inside. Mike and November squads are with me; Mordin, you take Mike squad. We'll go inside the mines and find that reaper tech. We tag it, we extract. Remember that raw reaper tech still emits indoctrination signals, so make sure to activate your signal jammers before going inside."

Mordin nodded and the marines activated their signal jammers; it was technology used to jam the effects of indoctrination, scrambling it and reducing it to a incoherent noise and nothing else. Had this technology been developed during the Reaper War, it would have been invaluable in defeating them. They might not have even needed the Crucible, but they had won, so it didn't matter anymore.

Carter nodded for Mordin to take point with his squad, and the krogan did so without hesitation. Caesar was part of his squad and already had his shotgun out and ready. They moved up the ramp and entered the mine, a long tunnel leading into the underground structure. It was dank and smelly, with filthy water running down the main pipe. Where the water was coming from was any one's guess. It was dark, so they all activated their flashlights as they moved further inside, looking for a light switch.

"Can't see a damn thing," One of the marines commented, "This bloody flashlight doesn't help much."

As they continued, they heard a disgusting sound of flesh crushing flesh as one of the marines cried out, "The fuck?" When the marine focused the weapon on the source of his complaint, they found the lifeless eyes of a husk looking back at them.

"Jesus Christ!" The marine shouted, launching backwards.

"It's dead Brendon," His fellow marine commented, pushing him in mirth, "Has been for a while. Probably killed by the Crucible explosion. Looks like it's been dead for seventy years. Nothing but a rotting corpse now."

The marine named Brendon regained his composure, straightening himself and trying to look reinforced, looking at his commander and shrugging. Mordin let a smirk crease his features as they continued downward.

It wasn't long before they finally found the main structure of the mine itself, and with it, a light source. Switching it on, some of the blood literally drained from the marine's face at the sight they saw. Dead husk, among dead, among dead husk, covered the mine's floor, hundreds of the dead creatures literring the floor, the synthetics in their eyes completely dull and empty. These husks had indeed been dead for a very long time.

"Grow some fucking balls and get moving inside. It's just dead husks, nothing you haven't seen already," Carter barked, pushing past them and walking directly into the ocean of dead abominations. Caesar was quick to follow, the geth, despite having emotions, still incapable of feeling discomfort as he moved past and Mordin followed behind. Father taught him never to feel fear. Fear was a weakness, one that krogan did not inherit.

The marines, although reluctantly, followed. Before long, they had crawled through the dead bodies and past the abandoned machinery, locating their goal; one, giant reaper artifiact. It was very bug like; exactly like reaper design specs. Mordin moved to touch it, and felt incoherent noise fill his head. He simply laughed. It's trying to indoctrinate me. How precious. Mordin instantly backed off, moving to turn towards his marines when Carter approached the object. Pushing past Mordin, he touched the object, smiling.

Before he could say anything, the sound of something moving was heard. Mordin raised his weapon, as did his squad, and the source of the sound. Mordin widened his eyes as a human came into view, wearing battered looking medium armor. The armor didn't look like the standard package, looking too old. The systems alliance insignia rested on his left breastplate, and the flesh on his face was torn away, revealing cybernetics beneath.

Carter didn't look all too worried however. Actually, he looked pleased, "Now who is this?"

The man answered in a husky voice, "My name...my name...my name is..." Before he could answer, he fell face first into the ground, unconscious. Carter immediately turned to two marines and ordered them to pick up the injured human, Mordin frowning at him, "You know this human, don't you?"

Carter gave a grim smile to the krogan, one that made him cringe, "He's the main reason we're here."

Caesar answered before he could, "We were informed that this operation was to acquire reaper tech."

Carter was quick to answer, "Reaper tech? Are you that stupid? We've got plenty of the stuff; Prometheus has plenty of it! No, we used it as a guise so I could get two certain test subjects to help me with something. We need to test this man's ability to kill, he is to become the flagship of our victory over the Sanctum and the Covenant."

Mordin looked shocked, "The...Sanctum? We are at peace with the Sanctum!"

"Not for long we won't be. The Sanctum will cease to exist when Prometheus has reached it's full potential."

Caesar was quick to react as it brought it's rifle level with Carter's head, "You are a traitor to the Praetor and the Prime Candidate! You're disloyalty and betrayal will not be tolerated!"

Carter was quick to raise his pistol to level with the geth, "You fucking stupid machine. The Praetor isn't important! He's an ignorant fool who will meet his time when it comes! As for the Prime Candidate? Well...he's the one who ordered this in the first place."

A shot fired, the geth not seeing it coming; mostly because Carter didn't fire. It was a marine from behind, assault rifle round ripping through Caesar's metal chasis, the geth's optics losing light as white liquid poured from it's limp body. Caesar fell to the body, inactive. Dead.

Mordin was so shocked by Carter's sudden betrayal that he didn't see the marine turn their weapons on them. Before he could move, weapons fire poured into his back, sending him reeling forward onto his knees as blood poured from his mouth. Carter quickly approached the large krogan and squatted next to him.

"Don't worry big guy, I'll make sure you're dead before you hit the ground, so you shouldn't fret too much. Besides, you won't be around to see the Sanctum fall."

Mordin waited for his regeneration process to kick in, but it didn't. All he felt was immense pain. He realized that the teams had been ordered to use hammerhead rounds; rounds that rendered krogan and vorcha regeneration inoperable. They had effectively destroyed his chances of fighting back. This had been planned all along.

"The...Praetor...will...have your head!" Mordin tried to get out as he slowly choked on his own blood, the thick substance clogging in his throat as he desperately tried to breathe.

"I assure you, he won't," Carter stated, just as the human nearby began to stir, "Oh look, it seems our man is waking up. I think he'd like to have a word with you."

Carter got up and moved away, motioning for his two marines to drop the injured human infront of the krogan. The human looked up, pure hate in his eyes, a rage so pure that he could literally feel the heat eminating from him. Carter moved up to him and whispered in his ear. When Carter was finished, the human moved to rip Mordin's off; and considering the man's cybernetic, he could probably do it, but what happened next took him completely off guard.

A massive screech echoed through the mine and the marines aimed their weapons in all directions, not knowing where the screams were coming from. Carter looked unperturbed while the furious human tried to escape, only to be caught by the two marines once more. Then a voice entered Mordin's head.

Do not worry, Sings-Loyalty. Your song will not conclude yet. We will rid you of the treachery-singers.

Mordin immediately recognized the tone and the voice and smiled a grim smile.

Rachni.

The screech reached an epic crescendo as a seemingly endless horde of red chitin swarmed towards the marines, who immediately opened fire. Carter didn't even bother, instead ordering the two marines holding the human to retreat outside, not willing to sacrifice his prize. The rachni swarmed around Mordin and assaulted the marines, tearing them apart with a mass of claws. One particular rachni, a brood warrior by the size, approached him.

Your song may rest now, Sings-Loyalty. We will take you to Protection-Singer.

Mordin gave in, his eyes seeming to close as the brood warrior picked him up and left, the rachni army following behind, leaving behind a pile of blood and gore that were once dominion marines. When Mordin woke up, he'd have to warn the Praetor and his father. If the quarians and Prometheus were planning to invade Sanctum, then they had to be stopped. He wouldn't stand by as Alpha burned. He wouldn't.

But for now, all he could was rest. That's all he could do. He needed it. His body demanded it. And he gave into it. For now, he had an army of rachni tending to him, and last time he checked, they were loyal to the Praetor. He knew he was in safe hands.

But when he got out, he'd make Carter pay.

July 7, 2251

1834 hours.

'Courtyard', Triard Avenue, Dolo City, Zada Ban.

Terran-Rannochian War, Invasion of Zada Ban.

Faith.

Calculations. Plans of ambush set out in his head. Silence. Silentium in his head, but silentium does not fill the streets. Only Anger. They march across the city; very vehement. The quarians. The humans. The krogan. The geth. They march across their city; destroy everything in their past. Once proud city of the Tilthan people; his people who the galactic rulers call the Virtual Aliens. Faith was a proud Tilthan. He once lived on the homeworld; Ishani. It was beautiful. Lots of snow. Much ice. Now it was just a distant memory.

The Tilthan people once thrived. They had an advanced society and their technology was enhanced. It was nowhere near the galactic standard, but it was still good enough that they inhabited their entire solar system; building basic space stations to mine and colonize planets while also building a sizable fleet. They were a beautiful race; and Ishani was the most beautiful planet of them all. But eight years later, their sun, Valash, went supernova, destroying the entire solar system and destroying their entire civilization.

However, the Tilthans had known this was coming and prepared accordingly. Knowing they couldn't hope to evacuate in time, they built a massive spaceship of unmemorable size. Seeing no other choice, the Tilthans uploaded their consciousness into the ship's databanks. The Tilthans had the special ability of psychic thought while also possessing a unique, downloadable brain. They were only able to upload one billion of their people into the vessel's supercomputers before the ship was forced to leave, watching as their homeworld was destroyed.

For 8,000 years, they had travelled the stars. They had actually arrived from another galaxy; the M33 the people of this galaxy called it. It had taken the majority of that time to reach the milky way and due to their immortal lifespan, as a consciousness, all one billion survived the journey. They came into contact with the Citadel Council, and were given refuge. That was seventy years ago; in the year 2185. Things were different then.

The Tilthans were peaceful; not warmongers. However, contradictory to common belief, they were not pacifists. They had conducted war, and knew how to fight, they just hadn't fought a war in many millenia. Wars among their people were rare; civil wars were downright unheard of. But here they were; fighting for the Covenant, against the Dominion.

Faith looked below into the streets. It was horrifying. He was in the largest structure of the city; a building only known as the 'Courtyard' and was on the fifth level, looking down on the city. Everything was burning. Buildings toppled; bodies littered the streets as they lay deserted, skycars deserted. Covenant troops lay dead, having lost in the defense of the city. Faith watched in horror as a Dominion light cruiser, krogan in design, descended from the sky to bear over the city. This only happened when the Dominion were sure they had conquered a city.

In this case, two things could happen; they would either deem the city habitable and a valuable prize, and order the fleet to secure the region or they'd see the city as useless and order it's vaporization. When that happened, the entire fleet would descend and weapons called 'Earthsplitters' would be deployed to level the city. Earthsplitters were a terrifying weapon that utilized plasma particles to create a weapon more powerful than a thanix cannon. When the weapon fired, it literally vaporized anything in it's path. The Dominion used it to either burn cities or fight superdreadnoughts. Or, in worse case scenario, which was rare, to burn entire worlds. It was warfare at it's cruelest. It appeared they even favored it over nuclear fallout.

The enemy cruiser loomed over the city, unmoving as ground AAA batteries fired at it. They did nothing but simply peck at it's shields. It would take over a million rounds to penetrate just the shields. Fire poured into the streets, with the occasional few firing into the air, shots from AA or AAA guns. Artillery pounded fortified positions from the city outskirts and surgical strikes from covenant bombers tried to hinder the dominion's advance, only to be shot down by enemy fighters. Thick smoke occupied the skies; if there was a few more, the sky would be black.

Faith immediately went prone as he heard the telltale sounds of an approaching Wraith heavy tank. Any remaining covenant forces immediately took to cover, trying to find anywhere to hide. Just as they got to cover, the enemy force came around the corner, Wraith in the lead. The vehicle was massive, hovering above the ground like a giant rock.

The Wraith reminded Faith of what humans called a Armadillo, just without the head and tail. Or the spikes. Ontop of the 'shell' was a massive twin mounted heavy cannon, with a light mass acellerator HMG mounted inbetween. The Dominion insignia adorned it's hull, the vehicle covered in heavy armor and shielding. It moved along the streets, crushing anything directly in it's path. But the Wraith was just one vehicle in a convoy.

Numerous wolverines and hammerheads trailed behind it, accompanied by a regiment of quarian, krogan, human and geth troops, marching alongside the vehicles. The convoy just marched through the street, guns scanning the building as they seeked out targets. Even a few Atlas mechs were in the convoy, controlled by quarian or human operators. A few geth assault drones flew alongside the vehicles as well. Faith sighed with resentment as a few covenant soldiers in one of the buildings across the street made the foolish decision of firing on the lead tank.

The Wraith's main gun spun to face the building and fired, a molten blast of superheated metal firing and ripping the front half of the building wide open, allowing a squad of quarians and krogan to move inside, followed by a Atlas providing support as they stormed the building and killed any survivors. When they were done, they returned and the convoy continued. That was all the battle was now; just the Dominion going from building to building, killing whoever they could find and taking women and children as POWs to be shipped back to Dominion space. Unlike the batarians seventy years ago however, they gave them the offer of serving as paid workers or they would be sent to a prison facility called Refuge Station deep in quarian space.

Faith waited until the enemy convoy was gone before slipping out of the building and landing below. Tilthans could jump considerable heights without injuring themselves, so jumping from five stories wasn't that big of a deal to him.

He quickly crossed the street but didn't get far before a quarian voice shouted to him.

"Hey you, Tilthan! Stay where you are and hands where I can see them!"

Faith was quick as he spun around and fired, taking the quarian full in the chest. He snarled khelish profanities before Faith finished him off with a shot to the faceplate, killing him with a single shot as he continued across the street and into a nearby building that once served as a chemist. But just as he stormed in, he suddenly stopped at the sight of two humans and a quarian kneeled down on the ground, murmuring something.

When he got close enough for his translators to pick up what they were saying, he found they were speaking khelish and hebrew alike, all seeming to be preaching jewish prayers. Faith moved up behind them and was about to shoot them when he stepped on something. He couldn't tell what it was but it didn't matter; it got the dominion soldier's attention. The three of them turned around and raised their weapons.

They just looked at each other from across the room, noone firing. Faith had no idea how or why, but when he looked into their eyes, he saw regret. They...mourned what they were doing. It suddenly made sense. They hadn't been just praying for their own lives...they'd been praying for forgiveness.

"You don't have to kill me you know," Faith stated, hoping his assumption was right.

His luck held, "Our superiors...they'll shoot us if we don't. We have direct orders to kill any covenant personnel in the city." The quarian spoke up, weapon shaking in her hand.

Faith lowered his weapon, "You don't have to tell them I was even here. They can't kill you for not shooting something that doesn't exist."

They seemed to hesitate a bit more before lowering their weapons, "We're sorry...we're so sorry. I didn't want any of this. It's...the Dominion. They made us do this. I was...I was forced to fight. When they said we were fighting for the continuation of the Dominion at Shepard Academy, I didn't think they meant this."

Faith nodded, "Go back to doing what you're leaders want you to. But know this; I do not blame you for what you did. You had no choice. I just hope revolution will be your freedom in the time to come. Pray to your gods for a quick end to this terrible war."

With that, Faith left, taking multiple packets of medi-gel as he passed back out onto the street. Just as he thought the path was clear, he heard a terrible trembling noise. It was one that he had heard only in nightmares. Great feet tredding upon cities. The once lethal foe turned into a war machine for those they tried to harvest. Faith immediately ran back into cover, watching as one, giant leg slammed into the pavement fifty meters away, followed by four others as a massive bass roar pierced the air.

A thanix beam cut through a nearby building opposite his, most likely killing it's intended target. Faith watched as the giant heavy assault platform, the one hundred and sixty meter high monolithic tank marching across the street as it continued it's cleansing. Faith let out the breath he had been holding.

What had just passed, had once been a Destroyer-class Reaper. They were far smaller than Sovereign-class Reapers, which were used as dreadnoughts by the Dominion fleets, but still quite deadly. That Reaper had once been it's only living sentient being, but after the Crucible fired, it was just an empty shell. When the Dominion found out a way to rip out it's central processors and add a pilot, they jumped on the oppurtunity. Now they had the entire reaper fleet at their disposal.

Destroyers were now used to mop up ground resistance. They were more efficient than ground forces and could cover more ground alot faster due to being able to fly and it's powerful main gun and armor chasis. Faith knew time was running out. The fight for Zada Ban was lost. If he didn't reach the outskirts soon; he'd be burned just like the rest of the city. He could already see dominion dropships dropping from the sky to extract their forces. He even heard the signs of more ships entering atmosphere.

An hour later and Faith reached a cresent hill that overlooked the once-flourished metropolis. Now it looked like it had survived an apocalypse; which, in some ways, wasn't far from the truth. Faith watched as the reaper destroyer from before lifted from the ground and shot up into the atmosphere, it's job done. Numerous quarian battlecruisers as geth destroyers circled the city, weapons at the ready as what the Covenant called the 'Agents of Splitters' moved into position.

Faith turned his eyes away from the brilliant light of the Earthsplitter firing. Just like a nuclear explosion, if you looked at an earthsplitter firing directly, the light was bright enough to melt your retinas off. When he turned back around, he saw the full horror of the mighty Dominion's arsenal.

Beams of bright blue light rained incineration over the city, melting entire blocks at a time. Within half an hour, there would be no city to speak of. It'd be completely gone. Faith simply turned around, heading in the general direction of a Covenant evacuation center. He would get off Zada Ban and head to Titan. Warn the government. They needed to know that the Dominion was pressing their attacks.

He just hoped he'd get there before any more worlds fell to these devastating weapons.

Before Silentium befell them all.

Gunfire filled the area. Batarians and turians filled the streets as Thane took cover, his rifle braced firmly against his chest. He looked up to see if his foes were still there, and his confirmation was gunfire that bounced off his cover. Thane immediately ripped a grenade off his vest, primed the grenade and threw it over his cover, waiting for the telltale sound of an explosion before rolling out his cover and letting off a stream of gunfire before slipping back into cover again, this time behind a mako wreckage.

He managed to get one turian in the leg and multiple after batarians in the chest before he rolled into new cover. Thane activated his HUD and looked at his radar. Only six hostiles. A larger red dot popped up. Make that six and one really big one. Just as he looked out of cover to survey his target, he caught it. A massive Atlas mech; weapons bared on his cover.

Thane widened his eyes as he made a run for the buildings behind him; managing to get inside a supermarket entrance booth before the Atlas fired, machine gun shots missing him by a hairbreath. He slipped into cover as the Covenant soldiers renewed their advance, trying to hit Thane but to no aveil. Just when he contemplated running out, a tactical cloak deactivated next to him and the next thing he knew, he found Reby squatting down next to him.

"Hello Shepard," Reby smiled, "Thought you could use some help."

Thane was about to object when the reverbration of another Atlas cannon shot hitting his cover stopped him, forcing him to focus on his current enemy. He only got one chance at this. He turned back to Reby.

"What are you doing here?"

"Helping you."

"Do I look I need it?"

Another explosion.

"Yes."

Thane growled as he rolled to the other side, narrowly avoiding a stream of fire, "Fine. I'm going to try and charge that hostile mech. If you can draw their fire, I might make it."

Reby nodded, glowing eyes fixing with his as her rifle collapsed into her hands, fingering the grip as she prepared to lay down fire. Thane was already looking away, surveying his surroundings. Reby checked her ammo counter and found she had a full power core loaded and ready to go. Thane then looked back at her, raising her hand before swatting it downwards a few moments later.

She turned from her cover and took aim at a turian to her furthest left. She opened fire, sweeping the entire area as the turian and batarian shields soaked up her fire, but forced them into cover. Only the Atlas reacted, moving it's main gun and firing at Reby's position. It hit her cover, but Reby was already back behind cover before the projectile hit.

Thane was already sprinting though. The quman had already leapt out of cover and was charging the Atlas at full speed. He closed the distance pretty quickly, grenade already in his hand. The Atlas fired, but it's machine guns merely grazed his side, the soldier crossing the distance and jumping onto the cockpit, sticking the grenade on it's side as he pulled back, keeping the covenant troops pinned with sporadic fire from his rifle.

Thane had positioned the grenade just above the Atlas' fuselage; so when it detonated, the fuel ignited and the mech was blown apart, pieces of wreckage littering the area and a few turians being thrown across the space. Thane felt a grin crease his features at his victory. It was short lived however as a growling sound was heard behind him, huge footsteps approaching. As he turned, he watched as Reby flew past, her back hitting the wall as she slumped back to the ground, unconscious. Thane immediately faced the source of her attacker.

A massive female yahg, bronze armor emblazoned across her huge body, stood, towering over him; massive fists clenched at her side. Thane didn't move. Yahg were the Covenant's answer to the krogan and geth; they were powerful shock troops that could easily engage ODIN or Atlas mechs in combat, easily countering them in sheer height. Yahg were even stronger than krogan; which was saying alot.

Thane tried to raze his weapon to fire at the beast, but he wasn't fast enough. A goliath hand swatted him to the right, skidding across the ground while his rifle flew through the air and landed twelve meters away. Thane felt searing hot pain wash across his hip, guessing that numerous bones were broken. He tried to stand, but quickly found he couldn't as the pain intensified, so blinding that it forced him back to the ground.

He turned to see the yahg stomping towards him. He noticed that Reby was still unconscious and couldn't help him. Thunder rocked across the sky, rain pouring from the sky to hit the city landscape. The yahg stopped next to him. He glanced one more time, only to see Reby's body missing. With wide-eyed fear, the yahg raised it's foot and moved towards Thane's body in a crushing moment. He closed his eyes, awaiting his immediate death.

YOU DIED.

Thane swore as the two words crossed his screen.

RETRY.

EXIT TO MENU.

EXIT GAME.

He sighed as he pressed exit game and the holographic projection disappeared, leaving him in the quantum entanglement booth. He leaned against the railing before pushing himself up and heading outside, palming the door. Once outside, he found Reby leaning against the wall to his left, smiling.

"Have fun?"

Thane glared at her, "Where were you?"

"Quit the game. It was getting boring being a spectator. Being dead sucks."

Thane simply shrugged, "I got killed by that yahg. I think my final score was seventeen kills. That's...170 points in total. You?"

Reby felt a smile cross her features, "Thirty."

Thane groaned as Reby let a chuckle rumble out of her mouth, "Don't worry Shepard, you'll beat my score some day. You have to. I'd get pissed if you didn't."

With that, the two friends left the suite, letting the next team on. After checking the leaderboards, Thane found himself in twenty-first place with Reby ranking above him. Armax Arsenal Arena still existed seventy years after it's foundation. Thane and Reby visited it regularly to practise their combat skills or to simply have fun.

After leaving the arena, they stepped out onto the Silversun Strip, not knowing what to do next. They found advertisements for the Dominion military and products all over the place. Apparently there was one particular product that was the absolute rage at the moment. It was a modified version of the virus developed by Mordin Solus and Shala'Raan that allowed quarians and humans to produce cross-species offspring. It was how Thane had been born in the first place. Apparently now it had been modified so it could be used by all races.

There was also posters used to recruit people for C-Sec; apparently policing the Citadel was more difficult now due to all the Covenant and Sanctum refugees seeking safety on the monolithic station. There was always batarians and or other people protesting against the unfair laws emplaced on the Citadel. As was evident by some of the posters that dictated Dominion race's purity and superiority.

Number one rule of the Citadel; don't fuck with C-Sec, they don't fuck with you. Thane couldn't remember how many times he had seen C-Sec SWAT teams raid homes to take out covenant terrorists and activists. Riots on the streets were common. Fact of the matter was that the Citadel just wasn't safe these days. Not since it had orbited Earth.

Thane and Reby walked down the streets as they passed a group of turians arguing with what looked like a quarian officer and two krogan. They made sure to leave immediately, as they knew just how those ended up. Turian refused arrest, quarian took them in by force. Turian continues to resist; gunfire ensues. Turian winds up dead. Justice on the Citadel was fucked up.

Finally, after what seemed like a while, they came across the 'Reapen Raven' Dance Club. Reby, eager to check it out, wanted to have a look and Thane decided to follow, passing a human and quarian bouncer on the way in, both men exchanging conversation.

Entering the club; they found it to be a buzz of activity. As the name suggested, there was a massive model of a sovereign-class reaper with raven wings hovering in the middle of the dance floor, numerous flashing lights eminating from it to light up the club and it's dancefloor. Humans, quarians, geth, krogan, turians, batarians and races of every flag and trade were crowding the dance floor, go all at it. Only the rachni didn't join in; the bugs more coped to running then dancing. Instead, they simply watched from the side.

"Hey there baby!" Thane and Reby twisted their heads to see a strong looking human male approach Reby, the man smiling as he waved at her. Reby waved back awkwardly, not knowing what to do with an obviously out-of-reality human.

"Want to dance and share a couple of drinks with me?" The human asked, slidding next to her and sliding his arm over her shoulder. For some reason, they made a low, but inaudible growl crawl out of his mouth. The very sight of the human touching his friend made his skin crawl like maggots moving in unison.

"Um...sure." Reby declared hesitantly, turning to Thane and waving, "I'll see you later."

With that, the human lead Reby over to the bar, arm sliding to around his waist. Thane didn't like the look on the human's face, especially how he looked at Reby hungrily. Reby had been his friend for years and they had grown especially close; it was a close-knit relationship where they looked out for each other. Thane had a bad feeling about the guy and decided to keep an eye on him; if he tried anything...

As Thane followed behind, he suddenly found his view blocked by a female turian.

"Hey there, hot stuff."

Oh for fuck sake.

Thane rudely pushed the turian aside, ruining her attempted seductive pose as he continued to spy on the human and Reby. The turian looked less than amused, storming off in anger. Thane simply didn't care as he followed behind the human. Apparently, he didn't have to as the human turned towards him, sitting next to Reby on one of many stools.

"Hey! Want to share a drink with me and my crew?"

Thane noticed this human's 'crew'; two krogan, a geth and few burly looking quarian males, one of them who seemed to have a quarian and human woman hanging off him like arm candy. Thane tried not to let the look of repulsivity roll of his face as he accepted the offer, moving to sit opposite the human. He wore a white tuxedo, with white sneakers and shades, a small, but prominent black moustache occupying the area under his nose, along with shortly cropped fiery-red hair. He wore a large tatoo on his face; it looked something like turian facepaint.

The human quickly turned back to the salarian bartender, "Three drinks; one for me, my friend here and this smoking hot babe right here," The human squeezed his arm around Reby's shoulders, the quarian offering a weak smile in return. Thane felt his arms tense at the words 'smoking hot.' Is it the fact that he's saying the words about your friend just to seduce her that annoys you? Or is that you're not the one saying them?

Thane was shocked by his thoughts and quickly shoved them out as a dextro ale reached him, the salarian working with rapid effiency. He slowly picked it up, watching as the human interacted with Reby, sake a slow, cautioned sip of his drink.

"So babe, what's your name?" The human asked, a big grin on his face. Any other pathetic slut or whore would have giggled at his seducement. But Reby wasn't a slut or a whore. She was a marine. And she certainly wasn't pathetic.

"Reby."

"Sexy," the human responded, "My name's Sean. Sean Oswich. You go to clubs, alot?"

"Sometimes. Mostly on duty though, so don't get the time."

"On duty? Police?"

"No," Reby responded, "Marine."

The human slapped his leg, "Well I'll be damned. I've snatched myself a smoking hot, sexy quarian marine. Catch of the day!"

She is not a catch.

The words desperately wanted to erupt from his mouth, but he kept his tongue. He wasn't about to make a fool of himself infront of his best friend.

The human twisted in his seat to face Reby, "About a dance?"

Reby nodded, taking Sean's hand as he led her out on the dancefloor, losing themselves in the crowd. Thane held his ground, eyes locking with one of the krogan across from him; the lumbering beast fixing him with a acidic glare.

"I know what you're thinking quarian," the krogan commented, "What the boss wants, the boss gets. The girl obviously doesn't want you, so why bother protecting her?"

Thane had no choice but to respond, "She's my best friend and I care about her. And if I have to keep her safe from scum like you, then I will. She will not be treated like some...sex toy." He made a disgusted glance towards the quarian with the two women hanging off him, the man currently squeezing the butt of his quarian companion as he hugged her lips. He turned away in repulsion.

The krogan chuckled, "The boss is a powerful man. That bitch is his."

Thane felt his finger squeeze around the bottle, "You'll keep your fucking hands off of her."

The human whore spoke up, "Ooooohhhhh...I think this one's jealous."

Thane ignored the offhanded comment. He knew he didn't have feelings for Reby; it was just friend to friend protection. But he couldn't ignore the feeling that he was jealous. That scared him. Reby was his friend. Why was he jealous about her choice in men?

Because he's not the one for her. He'll just use her.

"Well, you gonna answer?"

Thane had been too deep in his own thought to notice the krogan's question and looked up, "What question?"

"Are you going to fucking stop us? The boss has been known to...share those he snags. I mean, the last human we snagged was a hottie and we had a great time ganging up on her."

Thane's eyes narrowed, "I won't just stop you; I'll rip your fucking balls off and force them down your throat, you aracht."

The krogan's eyes widened in pure blood rage as he threw the stool away and slammed his fists into the bar counter. Thane knew he had really pissed him off. Aracht was Kra for 'filthy excuse of a warrior'. It was the greatest insult to a krogan, and Thane had learnt it from Uncle Wrex, who had visited him as a child on Rannoch.

Before anything could happen, Sean returned, holding Reby's hand.

"What's going on here, Smil?"

"He called me an aracht!" The krogan roared.

"And?"

The krogan looked perplexed.

"Our friend here is an honored guest. You will treat him with the due respect he deserves. This young lady says he's her best friend. So if he's her friend, then he's my friend too."

The krogan was quick to object, "I won't-"

Sean rolled his eyes as he looked to his geth. The machine nodded, unholstering a silenced pistol and firing into the krogan's kneecap, causing him to kneel over in pain. Sean ignored the krogan on the floor as he reassumed his previous position, Reby reassuming hers although reluctantly. Both of them had sidearms with them at all times and he knew Reby was rubbing the grip of hers at that very moment.

"That was some nice dancing," Sean complimented, letting his hands explore Reby's waist, "It allowed your beautiful hips to really sparkle. Not to mention that excellent ass."

Sean then dropped his hand and squeezed her buttocks, Reby seeming not to care or not react. He could tell from her features though that she knew where this was going. Before she could meet Thane's glance, Sean escalated the matter further.

"You know babe, I'm getting hard for you right now," He leaned closer, his breath tickling the light purple skin of her neck, lips brushing against her pointed ear, "I think we should find somewhere...private, don't you?"

Reby didn't move for a second. Thane thought he was suffering from hallucination when he saw her lean in and let him kiss the nape of her neck, cooing softly which for someone caused a shiver in Thane. He shook it off so he could continue being shocked. She smiled as she replied to Sean, leaning in close, "I think so too...darling." She then wrapped her lips around his, letting go almost instantly as she stood up, heading towards the private rooms, swaying her hips seductively. Sean followed behind her, eyes hungry as he examined her lithe form. He chased after and it wasn't long before they disappeared behind one of the doors. Thane couldn't believe it. Reby had actually gone for it.

Reby was actually going to let that piece of shit violate her.

The krogan who had been shot had regenerated and stood up, grinning, "See? She left you."

Thane grumbled in response and was about to leave when his omni-tool beeped. He stopped, seeing the message was from...Reby? He checked the time and found it had only just been sent. Thane opened the message to examine it, ignoring the feeling of disgust in his stomach as he imagined Sean taking her.

He somehow felt happier when he saw the message.

To: TheShepard101

From: TheLostParadigm2

Subject: N/A

Tilgra in the grasses, tilgra ready to strike. Two warriors ready to fight, tilgra destined to fail.

From: TheLostParadigm2

To: TheShepard101

He grinned darkly. When he and Reby were kids and still in high school, they had both come up with the catchphrase which they'd use whenever they were in trouble and sent for help to their friend. So if Thane got in a fight against a foe numerically superior to him, he'd simply send the message and sent the cavalry in. He realized Reby's plan now; why she hesitated. She wasn't having sex with Sean; she was dealing with him, using his sexual drive to lure him into a trap.

And she was sending him the signal.

The krogan walked over and stood next to him on his right as his omni-tool winked out of existence, "What's so amusing quarian?"

Before the krogan could continue, Thane's right hand shot up and grabbed the back of the krogan's head, slamming it into the table as he pushed the stool away and stood up.

The krogan backed away, one of the quarian males moving forward, shotgun at the ready, "Okay bosh'tet, you either fuck off or I'll-"

Thane's reaction was instant; he swatted the weapon away as his right fist connected with the man's lower jaw, reeling him back as the shotgun clattered to the floor. Before the male could do anymore damage, Thane picked up the weapon and used the butt to hit the man across the face, knocking him out. He found the weapon to be empty, and dropped it, turning back to his enemy. A weapon used only for intimidation. These people are real tough, aren't they?

The krogan was already charging and the geth aiming it's weapon. Thane merely kicked the krogan in the balls, using him as a shield to block the geth's shots, the krogan moaning in pain as the shots pierced his back. Before the geth realized what Thane was doing, the krogan flew into him, Thane ramming both of them into the counter, crushing the geth while sending the krogan up and over the counter, thundering into the other side, sending the salarian bartender scrambling.

He turned to see the last quarian trying to aim his weapon while the man with his two sluts used them as meat shields. As much as the women repulsed him, he wasn't willing to kill them as they were technically innocent. Instead, he aimed carefully and managed to hit the quarian's peeking head, body slumping to the ground as the women screamed and ran. Before Thane could move, the last quarian and his rapidly reacting krogan companion aimed weapons at the soldier.

Thane was going to raise his hands when a gruff voice shouted across the room, the sound of clattering armor sounding next to him.

"This is Citadel Security! Weapons on the fucking ground and hands where I can see 'em!" Thane turned to see his saviors; a trio of armored human officers aiming pistols at the group. The quarian and the krogan complied, lowering their weapons and kneeling on the ground, hands behind their head.

"You two, buddy!" The human ordered, waving his pistol at Thane.

He activated his omni-tool and brought up his marine ID, showing the officer's his identification, "This men attacked me. I merely defended myself, officers."

The human nodded, saluting the marine and lowering his weapon, turning to the two prisoners. Thane motioned to them that a unconscious krogan was behind the bar too. Turning to the private suites, he moved towards them. Now to see what Reby got up to.

July 7, 2251

2044 hours.

Private Suite 05, Reapen Raven, Shalta Ward, The Citadel.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Reby'Reegar pav Rannoch, Crime Boss Sean Oswich.

As the door closed behind them, she noticed the haptic interface lock as it turned crimson red. Reby saw what looked like a queen sized bed in the room; it was obvious this room was meant for people who wanted a private show with strippers. Reby watched as Sean took off his sunglasses, revealing green eyes before he pushed Reby against the wall and pressed his lips to her, taking her in before he tried to get her to the bed. Oh they would.

So she acted her part. Her left handle pulled his head in and she pretended to enjoy the kiss as he parted and started kissing her neck, her other hand moving to inbetween his pants, stroking his erect member. And boy, it was erect. He hadn't been joking when he said he was horny for her. She felt him return the gesture, hands clasping around her core and poking. She issued only a faked gasp.

Reby was no virgin. She had had sex many times before during in high school when she had been dating one the quarian students. So she was kind of a professional at this. It made her act all the more convincing as she felt his body heat press against hers, hands leaving her core as the groped her breasts.

She roughly pushed him towards the bed, playing the part of a sexually aroused quarian desperate for a good fuck. She unbuttoned his shirt and ripped it off, shoving him into the bed.

"Oh, I'm going to fuck you good babe." Sean announced.

Reby let a pleased smile return his, whilst moving to grip the knife on her back. Climbing onto the bed, she gently stradled him.

"Yes...yes you will."

Sean smiled and was so focused on her looming breasts that he didn't notice the knife appear to his left. He never noticed it until a sharp pain burned up from his hand, turning to see a knife pinning his hand to the bed, the quarian twisting it. He screamed in pain, the quarian covering his mouth with a three-fingered hand, shutting him up as he spat into it. Reby reeled her hand away in shock, fixing him with a glare.

"You wanted sex, but I'm sorry, you're not getting it from me," Reby then smiled, "Because I don't give a fuck."

Before Sean could attack her, she clasped her hands around his head and yanked, a loud snapping sound entering the room as she snapped his neck. She silently crawled off the bed, grabbing his ripped shirt and throwing it ontop of his dead body, still able to feel the areas where the human had left his kisses on her bare skin; the area where he had groped her breasts. It made her feel unclean.

Just as she sheated her knife and went to open the door, it opened for her, showing Thane standing there. He was about to ask what took her so long when he saw the halk naked dead human on the bed.

"Ahhhhh" He said instead, Reby rolling her eyes as she pushed past him.

"Don't 'ahhhhhhhh' me, you sound like a vorcha. Now come on." Reby ordered, Thane following behind her. After telling the C-Sec officers where to find Sean's body, they left the club, laughing as they did. It was all in a days work for the duo.

Author's Notes:

What, you think I was actually going to write a sex scene? What's that? You HOPED for one? Well too bad, I'm not writing what amounts to a 'rape scene'. Besides, I'm saving the smut until later...for when Tali does it with Shepard. But that's a while away, so keep your organs where they belong; zipped away.

On a lighter note, Bill Gates has been shot!

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY:

THE PRICE OF REVENGE

August 19, 2185

1200 hours.

Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Orbit Over Zorya.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Soldier Grunt, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.

Marcus sighed as he stepped out of the elevator, immediately making his way towards the starboard kodiak shuttle. He had swapped his valkyrie heavy rifle for a M-76 Revenant light machine gun due to the kind of mission they'd be embarking on. He'd even let Grunt borrow his claymore, swapping the heavy weapon for a simple scimitar assault shotgun. Grunt would put it to better use anyway.

It had been a day ago since the Normandy and hit the Citadel and he handed Rana over to C-Sec. Bailey had been ecstatic, saying that the asari scientist had been a war criminal ever since the end of the Eden Prime War, and that having finally nabbed her was a big win for C-Sec. After leaving, Marcus head set a course for the coordinates of their next recruit; a powerful biotic convict by the name of Subject Zero, or by real name, Jack.

But before they could reach their destination, Zaeed had confronted him and informed the spectre that he had finally found the location of Vido and that they should act before he got away. Seeing as the merc wouldn't take no for an answer, Marcus had their course changed to head for Vido's location. Now they were in orbit over Zorya, the Faia System, Ismar Frontier Cluster.

Apparently Vido and a medium-sized army of his Blue Suns mercs were situated on Zorya; a multispecies colony with a population of one hundred and forty-eight thousand. It's capital was Thun. Apparently Zorya was also the beating heart of the entire Blue Suns organization, the mercs acting as the colony's police force. Their HQ was situated in the city of Thun itself, but Vido had taken a medium-sized force to capture a refinery owned by the Eldfell-Ashland corporation, named after it's founders, as it was a human company. The Blue Suns apparently held the workers as slaves at the refinery, giving Marcus another reason to raid the facility.

So now here they were; about to launch an all-out assault on a corporate refinery overrun by a small mercenary army. It was why he was bringing such heavy weaponry; he had even left the less heavily armed people behind, the exception being Garrus as he didn't think he'd need the turian. He even brought Grunt to, one, to test him out, and two, because he was a pure krogan. Enough was said.

Marcus wasn't surprised to see Zaeed already at the shuttle, the man having his arms crossed as he leaned on the shuttle's hull. He twisted his head as soon as he heard Marcus approach, smiling. Once Marcus had loaded up on the shuttle, it hadn't been long before Grunt and then Jacob arrived. Grunt, as was obvious, was thirsty for some combat and would make him all that more dangerous on the field. The spectre knew he could use that. The krogan didn't have biotics like Wrex, but he made up for that in raw krogan power and brawn.

"I've read up on these Blue Suns mercs," Grunt declared as they moved inside the shuttle, Marcus barking to the pilot to take off as Zaeed sat closest to the hatch and Jacob opposite him. Grunt preferred to stand up as Marcus sat down next to Zaeed, "They were responsible for Okeer's death. This is good. Okeer would love for his legacy to reek vengeance."

"Whatever, I just wipe the smug grin off of Vido's face," Zaeed stated, "Son of a bitch has been running for twenty goddam years. It's time I let the noose loose."

Marcus nodded, "Vido is our first priority, but remember, there will be civilians in that refinery too, so we have to watch our fire."

Zaeed rolled his eyes, "Vido dies. It doesn't matter who gets caught in the crossfire."

"Zaeed, you will not be shooting any civilians. Otherwise, I'll shoot you myself." Marcus said dangerously. Zaeed simply shrugged, moving back to looking out the kodiak's hatch window as the shuttle took off, gliding out of the Normandy's shuttle bay and descending into Zorya's atmosphere, locking onto Vido's coordinates.

Marcus closed his eyes and let his head bob down, not listening to Grunt's mumbling as the krogan contemplated the battle ahead of him. Zaeed and Jacob said nothing, just sitting there, the former gazing out into space and the latter just doing nothing. Marcus simply let his mind wander; resting his mind. He hadn't gotten much sleep since the battle on Omega, and it was taking it's effect on him. After this mission, he'd probably go up to his cabin and take a nap for a bit until they rendevoused with the prison ship.

He thought of his mother. How worried she would be. She must be royally pissed, having to learn of her son's survival through the Alliance and not her own damn son. He'd have to talk to her at some point; maybe even locate the Orizaba and talk to her. Then thoughts of Tali sprung up. He wondered what might transpire on Haestrom when the time came. And then what would his mum think of him dating a quarian? He knew the response wouldn't be negative, but what if she took it the wrong way? What if she thought he was...using her? And had she listened to his warnings about the Reapers?

He didn't need to think about that. It wasn't nessacary. He'd love Tali no less, even if his mother didn't like it. During his entire time serving in the Alliance, he had never fallen in love or had the time for it. He always followed a simple mantra. Romance has no place on the battlefield. That had been his original way of thinking. But now that he had someone he loved; he wasn't willing to give her up. And what of her family? What would her father think of him? Did he think him worthy of his daughter?

These thoughts and many others were violently cast down when Zaeed hit him on the armored shoulder, jolting him awake. As he turned, he saw the hatch was opened and all there was to see for miles was thick jungle canopies, greenery all over the place. He could feel the heat diving into the shuttle, unrelenting. Marcus nodded and stood up, the thought of Tali never leaving his mind as he unholstered his revenant and stepped out into the harsh, Faia sun. Then it was back to business, as usual.

{Loading...}

August 19, 2185

1228 hours.

Outer Outpost, Nerada Jungle, Eldfell-Ashland Refinery, Zorya.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Soldier Grunt, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.

"Jacob, right side, move! Grunt, draw their fire!" Marcus barked.

Gunfire roared across his cover as the Blue Suns tried to keep them pinned, but too no aveil. As soon as Grunt popped up and opened fire, they immediate focused on him, allowing Marcus to stand up and unleash a torrent of machine gun fire, his revenant tearing through shields, armor and flesh like it wasn't even there as merc after merc fell. Eventually they got into cover, Marcus squatting back behind cover as his revenant's magazine was depleted, popping out a molten clip as he slapped in another one, hearing a satisfying clicking sound.

It was then Jacob's time to shine as the cerberus operative hit the enemy's right, taking them behind their cover. One of the human mercs, a pyro, tried to attack Jacob from behind with his flamethrower, but didn't get far before Grunt hurled into him, 500 pounds of super krogan smashing into him and breaking almost every vital bone in the merc's body as it was thrown uselessly into a tree, body limp and dead.

Grunt let out a sadistic laugh of satisfaction, as he ran into what was left of the Blue Suns platoon, shotgun tearing into them as he picked them off, one by one. Any shots that hit Grunt forced him into cover, but almost five seconds later he was already regenerated and charging into the fight again; he was regenerating faster than even Garm did. Marcus didn't regret bringing him on the mission at all.

With the enemy platoon dealt with, they continued to clear the outpost, making sure they hadn't missed any of them. After taking a breather and time to reload, they continued. Noone had been wounded; with only Zaeed being injured. But that had been merely been a bullet grazing him and the bounty hunter had been quick to shrug it off, calling it a 'bite' in comparison to other wounds he had sustained.

The jungle trek was met without resistance. Obviously Vido was more tactically aware than Tarak and Jedore; he had withdrawn his forces to the refinery, taking the time to most likely fortify his position. Unfortunately, Marcus was a N7 and was hardcore military. He had predicted ahead. Instead of hitting the refinery directly, they'd be hitting from the side. Grunt had the explosives on him; having taken some from the pacified outpost.

It took some time, but it wasn't long before they came across a waterfall, water plunging into a deep chasm below. The only way across was a bridge, which had been retracted. However, that was easily reversible, with the controls to bring across the bridge on their side. Just as Zaeed activated the bridge, Marcus stepped up to him. Suddenly, a voice popped up from Zaeed's position. He turned, seeing him holding one of the Blue Suns' communication devices.

"This is Commander Santiago," A human male voice stated, voice deep, "Fortify the front gate and hold. If any of you retreat and the intruders are still alive, I'll kill you myself." Zaeed then growled as he moved to cross.

"Sounds like he hasn't changed."

Marcus shook his head, "I have a feeling you're going to tell me just why you hate this guy."

Zaeed merely scoffed, "I knew he was a sadistic bastard back when we started the Blue Suns. The Suns only got meaner after he staged his little coup twenty years ago," the merc explained, "So yeah, we have a fucking past. Glad to see you took notice."

Marcus widened his eyes in shock, "You founded the Blue Suns? Why wasn't I told?"

Zaeed answered with annoyance in his voice, clearly taking Marcus' tone for anger, "Because it's not common knowledge. Vido wiped me out of the records," The merc paced, shaking his head, "He ran the books. I led the men. Worked real well for a while. Then Vido decided to start hiring batarians. Cheaper labor, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said."

Marcus raised an eyebrow as he titled, "Twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge over something like that."

Zaeed's face creased into one of rage, standing towards Marcus, "A grudge!? Vido turned my men against me! He paid six of them just to restrain me while he put a gun to my head!" He then made a drilling motion with his index finger into his forehead, "Then he pulled the trigger! For twenty years, I've seen that bastard everytime I've closed my eyes...Every time I sighted down a target. Every time I heard a gunshot."

Marcus nodded in realization, noticing the man's change of tone. This wasn't a grudge, this was something that truly haunted him, just Akuze had haunted the spectre many years afterwards.

"So don't you call that a fucking grudge."

Suddenly, Marcus realized something. Zaeed. A human. Had survived a gunshot to the head. Something that should have killed him, "Wait, you survived a gunshot to the head. How the hell...?"

Zaeed let a grin cross his face, anger fading away, "Rage is a hell of an anasthetic."

Just then, Jacob returned, running towards them and out of breath, "Shepard, we need to go, now. Grunt and I just ran into a enemy squad and I think they know about our counterattack. If we want this to work, we'd better go now."

Zaeed simply sneered, vindicator grip already in his hand as he pushed past Marcus and sprinted down the bridge, past Jacob, "Bring it on, you son of a bitch!" the merc shouted to the jungle, as if hoping that his adversary would hear his words of exclamation. That he'd hear the verbal challenge brought on by the man who he had betrayed.

Marcus and Jacob were quick to follow and they quickly met up with Grunt, who was kicking the dead bodies of numerous turian and human blue suns mercs to make sure they were dead. Without waiting for Grunt, they rushed past and towards the eastern entrance to the refinery. Zaeed's hijacked comm unit crackled to life once more.

"Squads Charlie, Delta, Foxtrot, Mike and Papa, mass at the gatehouse. Move!" barked the batarian voice. Good, the Blue Suns were still expecting an assault from the northern gatehouse. That meant only a small force, or none at all, would be there to greet them at the east entrance. Then it'd be a simple matter of locating Vido and taking him down. Then they'd liberate-

"Shit!" Zaeed barked as he fell to the ground, missile narrowly missing the group as it zoomed past, impacting the ground nearby and setting fire to the nearby undergrowth. Marcus turned to the source, finding a turian holding a missile launcher, accompanied by a Mako. Marcus cursed his luck as he dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding a blast from the Mako's main gun. Without waiting, he simply dropped his revenant, pulled out his missile launcher, and took aim at the stolen alliance vehicle.

Grunt, Zaeed and Jacob were already leaping for cover by the time Marcus squeezed the trigger of the missile launcher, the projectile flying out of the chamber and shooting towards it's target. The rocket hit the Mako just above the cockpit, tearing the shields, but not breaking through. Without waiting, he keyed a program on his omni-tool Tali had given to him. It was an overload unit used to disable kinetic barriers given to her by her father, and this one had been modified by her to target larger geth like the colossus models. He never had to use it, but it might just work on vehicles. Opening the program, he aimed at the Mako and pressed activate.

A jet of electricity shot out of his omni-tool and hit the Mako, causing electricity to taze the entire vehicle. When he looked, he grinned in triumph as Zaeed fired his rifle, seeing the shots ping off the Mako's now exposed exterior. My Tali; helping us even when you're not present. Without waiting, he took aim with the missile launcher again and tried to fire. Before he could though, the Mako located him and fired it's main gun.

The shot missed and hit two meters away behind him; but it was enough to lift him into the air and send him flying forwards, shields gone. He hit the ground with a grunt and he groaned in pain as his mouth slammed shut from the impact, bitting his tongue. He rolled over and aimed the launcher from his upside down position, firing the missile. It zoomed towards the vehicle and hit home; striking the turret and causing it to explode in a brilliant flash of light.

Dumping the launcher, Marcus equipped his SMG and rolled back over, firing sporadic bursts into the bewildered mercs. They tried to retreat, but his team cut them down. Grunt, who had also been thrown across the area by the blast, had gotten up and his fire joined theirs as they picked off the survivors.

Shaking his head to get rid of the dull effects of the shellshock he was experiencing, he motioned for Jacob and Zaeed to breach the Mako and kill any passengers. Meanwhile, he went to stand up, already tasting the coppery taste of blood still fresh in his mouth. He picked up his launcher and holstered it, followed by his SMG as he searched for his revenant. He found it, hiding behind a few bushes. He quickly picked it up and moved to join Zaeed and Jacob, who were already moving towards the wide open gate.

Marcus looked the sight of his revenant, scanning the room. There was a balcony over looking the room directly ahead along with another door to the entrance of the facility; gas pipes and fuellines occupied much of the room. His suspicions of a trap were pretty much confirmed when three squads of Blue Suns mercs; human, turian and batarian, all arrived over the balcony, lowering their weapons at the group. Suddenly, the leader of the group, a african-amerian looking human male, appeared over the balcony, blue tech armor active.

"Zaeed Massani. So you've finally tracked me down." The voice that rolled out of his mouth was recognizable as soon as he spoke. This was Vido Santiago.

"Vido."

He noticed Zaeed move to raise his rifle, but he immediately stopped at the grip when all three squads focused their weapons on him, "Don't be stupid, Zaeed. I have a whole company of bloodthirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command."

Marcus felt his blood boil. This man was strategically intelligent, but he used his men like resources to be disposed of and replaced. It reminded him of Josef Stalin. 'Death solves all problems - no man, no problem.' This man must be the living embodiment of the bastard.

He noticed Zaeed looking around the room, trying to spot somekind of weakness. Oblivious to Zaeed's plan, Vido continued his smug speech, "Actually, take your shot. Give my men a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are. Again."

Zaeed didn't even hesitate as he unholstered his vindicator and fired pointedly at a fuel pipe behind Vido, missing the man and hitting the pipe, causing gas to hiss as is it fumed out. Vido merely chuckled as Zaeed moved beside another gas valve and Marcus and the team took cover.

"What was that? Gone nearsighted, old friend?"

Zaeed peeked out of cover again, taking aim at the pipe one final time, "Burn, you son of a bitch."

His vindicator barked once more, the fuelline exploding in a torrent of flame as one of the nearby squads was consumed by the fire, throwing Vido into the railing with a grunt. The man fixed a glare at the bounty hunter, who fixed him with the same expression. Rage covered Vido's face.

"You just signed your death warrant, Massani. Men, take down this piece of shit!"

With that, Vido limped away, three squads taking his place and raining fire down on them, keeping Marcus and his team pinned. With fire already brewing all over the place, Marcus wanted to bark at Zaeed to get down when he saw him priming a grenade and placing it on the fuel valve he was using for cover, "Zaeed! Don't-"

Before he could continue, Zaeed had rolled out of the way and the grenade detonated, triggering a chain of explosions to rip through the balcony. The mercs were tossed around, some falling off the balcony and others being thrown into walls, some even being engulfed in flames; either way, they all met a quick end. Marcus fixed Zaeed with a piercing glare, but didn't have time to argue about it. Vido was getting away and the refinery was falling apart.

They rushed through the door and down the next path, encountering two mercs with avengers trying to delay them. The best they did was harass them, with Zaeed simply headbutting the lead merc and Grunt throwing the other aside. When they reached the door to follow Vido, they heard screams of help breach through the walls of the refinery. It was the sounds of workers trapped inside, fires enveloping them. Zaeed didn't seem to care; too busy opening the door.

"There are people still trapped inside," Marcus stated.

"Let them burn. Vido dies, no matter the cost."

Sick to death of Zaeed's stubborness, Marcus clenched his fist and punched Zaeed across the jaw, causing the man reel backwards. He cradled his face, turning towards Marcus with a look of anger on his face, "We do not sacrifice innocent lives of the sake of the mission! Do you understand me? This isn't about your lust for vengeance anymore! You're recklessness has endangered human lives and we are damn well going to do our best to clean up your mess!"

Zaeed was quick to retort, "And if Vido gets away? What then!? What the fuck shall you do then? I'm not going to lose twenty years of my life over some goddamn civvies!"

Marcus had an idea in an instant, opening his omni-tool and pressing Garrus on his contacts list, "We're not going after Vido. But he won't escape either."

Garrus was quick to answer, "You've reached the Vakarian hotline. I'm either running calibrations or I'm in the middle of a suicidal mission to stop genocidal machines. Please leave a message after the beep."

No beep followed.

"It's me Garrus, and I know you're there."

"At least I tried," Garrus responded immediately,"What can this turian do for you?"

"We've got a situation. Zaeed here decided to blow up the refinery and now we've got civilians to save. But that could mean Vido getting away. Do me a favor and deploy the shuttle to these coordinates and stop him for us. Kill any troops with him but leave him alive. Zaeed will deal with him. I've pissed him off enough already."

"Copy that Shepard. I'll take Kasumi and Mordin with me." With that, the turian hung up. Marcus instantly spun towards Zaeed, "Happy now?"

Zaeed let a smirk cut his features, "You're full of surprises, you moral pain in the ass." With that, Zaeed leapt down from the platform, moving towards the inferior of the refinery. Marcus was close behind, with Jacob and Grunt taking up the rear.

They were inside pretty quick and the place wasn't pretty. Fires occupied everywhere, with the whole place just falling apart. However, it didn't take them very long to reach the trapped civilians. It had been a simple matter of shutting off the emergency lockdown, as it caused the doors to lock and trapped the workers inside. With the workers outside, Marcus and his team made best speed towards Vido's platform. Hopefully Garrus had gotten there in time.

When they reached what looked like a cargo port of some sort, they found themselves wedged between the remainder of Vido's forces and Vido himself. It became a fight for survival from there. The Blue Suns forces never seemed to stop coming; not to mention they had a YMIR mech guarding the exit to the outside platform; most likely deployed to hinder their progress.

But Grunt had no such fears. He recklessly charged the enemy mech, ramming it head on. With uber strength, Grunt literally sent the YMIR stubbling into the wall, the mech unable to reset itself; not used to being moved due to it's sheer weight. Grunt then shoved his claymore into it's midsection, unloading a shot that crippled the mech's leg motors, causing it to fall to it's knees. Bent over, the YMIR stood no chance as Grunt pumped a final shot into it's optics, causing the mech to topple to the ground, defeated. The krogan roared in victory.

This proved a big bonus as the mercs focused on Grunt, allowing them to take them from behind. They dispatched the survivors and let the remainder retreat, Zaeed seeming more worried about Vido escaping. They chased after the bounty hunter, moving through the exit gate and out onto the main platform.

As Marcus looked across the platform, he could only manage a smile. He smoking wreckage of a mantis gunship lay in the forest, shot down. What made him smile even more was the kodiak shuttle parked on the platform; but it wasn't Garrus', it was theirs. Garrus, ever the man of style, had actually taken the mobile tank Cerberus had put on the ship and used it to stop Vido. The vehicle looked odd in design; with a main body much like the Mako, but with two 'wings' that acted as the hover thrusters and the main turret ontop. Unlike the Mako, it had no wheels, hovering above the ground, but was parked perfectly.

Dead Blue Suns littered the area, either blown apart by the Hammerhead's firepower or gunned down by Garrus' team. Kasumi leaned against the tank while Mordin and Garrus kept Vido still; the man kneeling on the ground. Upon seeing Zaeed, Vido's smug look changed to one of sheer terror. Marcus rolled his eyes at the man's sudden change of demeanour.

As soon as Zaeed reached Vido, he gave the man a swift kick to the quad, causing him to double over in extreme pain. Garrus let go, letting Zaeed finish off the bastard. The great leader of the Blue Suns; nothing but a sack of trash. For a organization based around military-trained mercs, this man was more grunt then he was commander. Mordin walked over to the shuttle, followed by Kasumi, who seemed disturbed by the sight of Zaeed beating Vido. Garrus just watched on.

Zaeed grabbed Vido's head and pulled it back so he coud look him in the eyes, shouting in his face, "Piece of shit! You caused me twenty years of pain, you treacherous sack of goddam excrement! I should wipe the fucking floor with you! But I won't-I'm not in the mood today for gore. I just want to see you dead!"

"Please Zaeed, think this through!" Vido pleaded, "I could give you control of the Blue Suns again! It'd be just like before!"

Zaeed shook his head as he let go of Vido's head, unholstering the pistol at his hip and raising it to the back of Vido's head, "No Santiago, nomore deceit, no more bullshit. I've spent twenty goddam years hunting you down. I don't show mercy to those who betray my trust; especially not you, bloody cunt."

Vido tried to raise himself again, but a shot echoed through the jungle, Vido's body going slack on the floor from the massive hole in the back of his head, red blood pooling around his dead body. Twenty years of the merc's life wasted searching for this piece of filth. This bastard who turned his own men on him. And now he was dead at the man's feet; hunger for vengeance fullfilled.

Marcus sighed as he let Zaeed have a moment to himself, instead moving towards the shuttle, taking off his helmet as he did. His tongue stung with pain from biting it earlier, but it seemed the blood had stopped running; his regeneration most likely kicking in. The back of his armor was most likely scorched from the Mako round blast, but he'd fix it back on the ship. He instead stepping into the shuttle, throwing his helmet onto the seat to him as he collapsed into the seat. He was quickly joined by Kasumi.

"Tough day, Shep?"

Marcus huffed, "Just so much as tough but...exhausting."

Kasumi nodded under her hood, "I understand that. Kinda felt like that after the fighting on Korlus. I'm a thief; Keiji taught me how to fight, but I don't usually go into full combat missions. This is my first time."

Marcus quirked an eyebrow at the petite thief, "Keiji?"

The master thief was quiet for a moment and once again he saw that sadness in her eyes; but it only lasted a minute, "He is a...good friend of mine." With that, they both went silent. It didn't take long for the Normandy to descend, moving to pick up the Hammerhead. Garrus drove it into the Normandy, and Zaeed was quick to follow, leaving Vido's dead body where it lay.

With Mordin, Grunt and Jacob inside, the hatch closed and they docked with the Normandy. Once inside, the stealth frigate ascended into the atmosphere, Joker taking the ship up and away from Zorya. Away from the Faia system. They needed away from that particular place. After all the absurdity of the mission, Marcus went up to his cabin, having stripped his armor in the armory and had Jacob repair it, deciding to take that nap he promised to himself. As soon as he hit the bed, he was asleep.

He imagined what Tali was up to at that very moment.

{Loading...}

August 19, 2185

1245 hours.

Debriefing Room, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, In Orbit over Ilos, Refuge System.

Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Huzzi.

Tali stood perfectly still in the light of the debriefing room. It wasn't really a debriefing room; just a space on the ship that had been cleared a little to serve as a debriefing room. The mission they were briefing Tali and Kal on was top secret and highly classified, meaning that holding such a mission briefing on the bridge where numerous ears could hear was out of the question. Tali was glad Koris wasn't present; as he probably would have whined on about the unethicalities of the mission. Suit-wetter.

It was about the Haestrom mission. This was it. They were finally doing it. They were literally within two day's travel of the Far Rim Cluster, where Haestrom was located. The point of the mission was to take a ship, which in this case was the Hutbyk, a heavy fleet corvette, and enter the Dholen System where they'd land on Haestrom undetected with the Hutbyk's stealth system. Once on Haestrom, they'd hide the Hutbyk and set up a secure facility at an old military barracks within the city ruins. They'd be taking an entire company along with them; her division would attract too much attention and alert geth forces on the planet. They would be gathering specific information.

Dholen was dying. That wasn't the problem though; it was how fast it was dying. Dholen was meant to have two billion years left before it went supernova; according to current estimates, at the rate Dholen was decaying now, the system would cease to exist in just over two hundred years. What was causing the acelleration of the planet's death was unknown but the Admiralty was determined to find out. Tali would be leading a science team, accompanied by a company of skylords, to Haestrom to research what was going on. Apparently Dholen was also effecting Haestrom's atmosphere; filling it with mass amounts of deadly radiation. Thanks to the suits, they didn't have to worry about that. Kal was military leader and would be leading the skylord company.

Prazza and his platoon had originally been going on the mission, but due to their untimely deaths on Freedom's Progress, only Myr would be accompanying them. So now here they were, discussing it.

Considering they'd be using stealth technology, it should be an easy mission; the likelihood of geth detection was moderate at best. So why did she fear death? Because mere thought of going into a geth controlled cluster with a corvette and a company of soldiers wasn't exactly hopeful. They may be skylords, but they were in enemy territory, and they had the homefield advantage; more troops and knowledge of the landscape. The quarians hadn't occupied Haestrom for three hundred years; the geth still occupied it.

But Tali had fought tons of Tali before. Gei Hinnom had been her first time. Then Therum. Then the geth strongholds. Feros. Noveria. Virmire. Ilos. The Citadel. She had fought and destroyed more geth than anyone person in this room; even Gerrel or Kal had killed that much. Tali was known as the geth slayer by all those on the fleet. It made geth apologists depise her; like Koris. It made many quarians worship her. It was why they had high hopes for this mission; Zorah, the geth slayer, was coming with them. That was the pressure. The fact that everyone believed in her. They believed she'd get them out of there alive.

She was afraid of getting them killed. But she knew Marcus would be there for her. He'd be there to save her and her fellow quarians. She knew it was a breach of military confidentiality, but she had to do it. She'd be saving lives. In the end, Tali may be the geth slayer, but Shepard was her mentor. Her teacher. The god of war himself. The man who had fought Saren and won. He would save them, not her.

"So it's settled. The Hutbyk will depart for Haestrom in an hour. Any questions?" Xen asked, looking at Kal and Tali, who both shook their heads. Xen had a major interest in the mission and she knew why. Science was Xen's speciality; her field. If it hadn't been for being an admiral and the captain of the Moreh, Xen would be deploying with them. Tali looked over to her father, who appeared to be avoiding eye contact with her on purpose. Whether out of shame or self-admonishment, she didn't quite know.

"Then this meeting is adjourned. May the ancestors gift you with good luck. Keelah Se'lai." Raan finished, Xen crossing her arms and picking up a datapad to examine the data again.

"Keelah Se'lai," everyone returned, Tali and Kal turning to leave. When the door closed behind them, they moved down the corridor, moving towards the armoury to grab their gear. Tali would bring her armageddon shotgun; she'd probably need it. Kal chuckled at the absurdity of it all.

"Haestrom, huh? I guess this is where the geth slayer, shines, isn't it?"

Tali sighed heavily, "I really wish you wouldn't make me out to be some kind of hero."

Kal nudged her in the shoulder, "Well, that's because you are a hero. You're the Hero of the Citadel!" Kal then noticed that she was looking a little stumped; her shoulders were hung low and she was wringing her fingers. It was a fashion she hadn't used for a year; since then she was a hardened, authoritive marine. She hadn't the need for such nervous stances; she was drilled to ignore such gestures. But now, this Brigadier General, was fidgeting her hands like she had just passed graduation.

He stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You okay, ma'am?"

"Please Kal," Tali laughed halfheartedly, "It's just Tali."

"Still working on that ma'am," Kal responded, "But why so down? Something I should know? This isn't about your bosh'tet of a father, is it? I saw you looking at him during the briefing."

The quarian engineer shook her head, "No, nothing like that. I'm just sick of being heralded as everyone's savior. Every single quarian is depending on me to get them out safely; what makes it worse is that I've slayed geth and I'm a brigadier general; lot of people's lives will be riding on me. An entire company and science team; depending on me to get them out alive."

"That's the pressures of command," Kal stated, pulling her into a corner and wrapping his arms around her. It was a thing that was reserved for lovers and family; and Kal was a big brother to her. He rubbed her back gently as Tali held onto him, "You've got to make decisions that are going to weigh heavily on your consciousness; but they have to be made. Leaders need to become mindless so that others don't have to be. It's the way the system works; it's a fucked up system, but it's nessacary."

Tali simply nodded as she let go, Kal pushing away, but keeping hands on her shoulders. Tali chuckled, "You know, only one other man has held me like that. And not in the way you have. I'd give anything for him to be with me right now."

"And who's that? The corp gave me guns, not intellect." Kal joked.

"Commander Shepard," Tali admitted, seeing as the area they occupied was empty, "Marcus Shepard. He's my mate."

Kal smiled behind his mask, "A human, ma'am? You've outdone yourself. Two heroes in love, out to save all life as we know it? Sounds like an old Rannochian folk tale."

Tali laughed, louder than she thought, "You make me out to be some kind of angel."

Kal shrugged, "You might be. I've seen lots of good marines, good men, fall for you, but never get to live long enough to express. I know our people's women are beautiful Tali, but I think the main reason that Shepard guy fell for you is because you make the asari seem like they're not trying hard enough."

Tali blushed beneath her mask, "He hasn't even seen my face."

"You don't need to. We're quarians," Kal explained, "We don't need to leave the suit just to show our true virtue. And you were right about Elan and Veetor."

Tali widened her eyes, "How so?"

"They're together," Kal stated, "As in a couple. I honestly never saw it coming; but they are. Not quite suit-linking, but I doubt that's far away."

Tali and Kal traded banter much like this for awhile all the way to the armoury. When they had their weapons, they went to the hangar to get prepped for the mission. Tali was still scared, more so than ever before, but her time with Kal had alleviated some of her trepidation. She also secretly knew Marcus would be there to save them all. She believed in him; and that's all the faith she needed.

She believed in him; and the ancestors would deliver him.

{Loading...}

August 19, 2185

1310 hours.

Garbage Disposal, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Hourglass Nebula, Osun System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.

"It feels good to know that bastard is dead," Zaeed admitted, taking another, drawn out sip of his alcoholic beverage, wiping his lips, "Rage is a great anesthetic, but like all anasthetics, it wears off. It feels good that Vido's dead and that I killed him, but it doesn't feel all that good now. I should feel fucking great!"

Marcus shook his head as he rejected the bounty hunter's offer of a drink, "It might seem satisfying, but you quickly become hungry for more. That's what corrupts people. You can't let yourself lower to that level."

Zaeed slammed a fist into the bulkhead next to him, "Don't give that bullshit! That might work for you, but I've killed tons of civvies before and I never lost an sleep over it! I've killed fucking batarians, asari commandos, turian soldiers and the best krogan battlemasters! Don't bother with speeches! That's how it's been, and that's how it goes!"

"Don't tell me that you look down the barrel of your rifle and love gunning down defenseless civilians!"

"I do! I goddam love it!" Zaeed barked back, "Call me retarded if you want, but I love the death. The smell of blood arouses me. The sight of dead corpses makes me feel better. Ever heard of the quote, 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning?' Well, I love the smell of blood in the morning! It motivates me! How do you think I became the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy? It wasn't because I played nicely!"

"And do you think I became the Hero of the Citadel by butchering civilians and drinking their blood?" Marcus followed his statement with by standing up and moving forward so his face was inches from the merc's, "You seriously fucking think that I love murdering people by the hundreds? Slaughtering mercs and savoring the smell of their rotting corpses? No! I do it because it's nessacary!"

"I can't change who I am! It's who I fucking am!" Zaeed retorted but before more could be said, his face twisted backwards, blood dripping from his nose as he looked towards Marcus in anger.

"That is a load of horseshit and you know it! You can change!"

"Don't lecture me, Shepard. You ain't no bloody saint," He could see Marcus' confusion, so he continued, "I read up on you! And I read about what you did to that ERCS guard on Noveria; she used reave on the bitch!"

Marcus remembered the memory quite clearly. They had been raiding the Synthetic Insights Office for a turian named Lorik Quinn so they could acquire evidence for him that lead to administrator Anoleis' corruption. Sergeant Kaira Stirling however, confronted him and took her threats so far that she outwardly threanted to pop Tali's suit seals. This had been after he first admitted he had feelings for her, after he thought she had been creeped out by him. Outraged by the threat to the quarian's safety, Marcus had snapped and had captured Stirling in a biotic reave; an ability to utterly brutal that it involved the formation of warp fields inside the body; ripping apart interior organs and causing profuse bleeding.

He shook the memory away, "She threanted the life of a friend I considered very special to me. I...snapped. It's one of the times I couldn't control myself. But I didn't enjoy it. I've had nightmares about it since, ableit rarely. But they are still there. The point I'm trying to make Zaeed is that people can change. That means you can too."

Zaeed sighed heavily as he fell back into his seat, wiping the blood collecting under his nose away before it dried up. He went to take another swig of his drink. When he was finished, he looked Marcus straight in the eyes and nodded. Whether out of agreement or the alcohol in his system, he didn't know.

"Fine, Shepard. I'll let the matter sort itself out. I promise I'll be sober when we hit Purgatory. I've heard of Zero before and can't wait to see him in person."

Marcus simply smiled, turning and leaving peacefully. Marcus heard his omni-tool beep, but he ignored it. He had to. The events that had transpired on Zorya were burned into his mind. Vido's death. Rescuing the civilians and watching the refinery fall apart. He had done Zaeed's mission, and now the merc was devoted to the mission ahead of them. Marcus felt like he was sacrificing alot just to defeat the collectors. Hell, he didn't even know where they lived, let alone actually faced one yet. All he'd done was fight mercs; he hadn't fought a single collector yet.

And yet, he knew they were out there somewhere. Just watching. Waiting. Finding new colonies to attack. If he didn't stop them soon, every human colony would disappear.

And then it'd be the whole galaxy who suffered next.

"And now you went off to recruit Jack. That must have been...interesting."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I'm not even sure that's the way I'd put it."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

A review recently posted asking if Reby was Kal's sister. No she is not; as explained in Enigma, she is his daughter. If she was his sister, I would have mentioned her in the present storyline. I have not, because she hasn't been born yet. This is why I've told you to read Enigma, as tedious as the first few chapters are, because it will help you understand the story of Prophecy even more; same will be with the following installments. Reading the previous stories is a sure fire way to getting to understand the story alot more.

Still working on that information page. ;)

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

I WAS FROZEN TODAY!

August 20, 2185

1348 hours.

Customs Unit, Titanic-Class Maximum Security Prison Starship MSV Purgatory, Osun System, Hourglass Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

Marcus picked up his pace as Zaeed, Kasumi and Garrus followed closely behind him. Due to the fact that they'd be simply picking up Jack, he had decided he didn't really need to bring a full squad. Nevertheless, Zaeed and Kasumi had accompanied him out of curiosity and Garrus simply out of paranoia, saying that you can never trust the Blue Suns, especially after killing their leader.

The halls of the purgatory were quite large; with the corridor they traversed being overly massive. Rows upon rows after large, square shaped observation windows allowed a clear view of space outside and the Normandy docked below, along with the spinal section of the gigantic prison ship. Titanic-Class in this case was definitely the right word, even if it was simply named after the Titanic itself, not it's size.

Before long, they finally reached the actual customs area. As expected, a full squad of Blue Suns mercs were waiting, a numerous assortment of weapons equipped with them. Marcus was beginning to wonder if his encounters with them would ever end. Omega. Korlus. Zorya. Now the Purgatory. He was beginning to wonder if the Blue Suns had secretly wiped out the Eclipse and Blood Pack while he wasn't looking. Luckily, they wouldn't be fighting the Blue Suns this time. The Illusive Man had already paid the mercs; so all they had to do was make the pickup.

A Blue Suns turian, recognizable by his stature and the specially crafted helmet, quickly approached, raising a talon to halt them, "Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard. You're package is being prepared and will be ready for you shortly. As this is a high security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before you proceed."

Marcus shook his head, "I'm taking any chances with Blue Suns mercs. I'll be keeping my weapons; if you want to push the matter, I'll have to punctuate why."

The door at the top of the ramp opened, with another turian merc, in what looked like rather bulky heavy blue suns armor, walking out. The turian lacked any actual markings, meaning he must have been one of the few turians to be disgraced. To be disgraced was to be removed from the records of the colony you lived on, including the removal of the facepaint used to identify the colony you lived on.

"Everybody stand down," The turian ordered, obviously the leader, "Commander Shepard, my name is Warden Xictus Kuril and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out; you must realize that my men are only following standard procedure."

Zaeed was quick to answer, "It's my standard procedure to keep my gun."

Marcus gave the merc a scolding look before turning back to Kuril, "My...subordinate here maybe a little rash, but he is right. My guns will stay with me." He made sure he was careful to not put Zaeed on the spot. The Blue Suns might not take lightly to having their founder's assailant on their ship and cut the deal. He didn't need that.

For a moment, it seemed Kuril would push the matter. His small, turian eyes stared into Marcus', as if wondering if he should just shoot the spectre. In the end however, he relented, "Let them proceed. Our security detail is more than enough to deal with three armed guests."

The turian merc infront of them suddenly lowered his weapon, moving to the side and allowing his team to proceed. Kuril immediately motioned for them to follow him, which they were quick to do, not wanting to dwadle longer than they had to. They moved up the ramp and quickly moved past the door, entering a corridor who's walls were literally windows; allowing them a clear view of the prison blocks below.

"We're bringing Jack out of cryo now," Kuril declared, "Once the funds are transferred, you can be on your way. Right now I'm taking you to the processing section of the ship. It is where you can wait to have Jack prepared. We have to run some decontamination protocols before transferring the prisoner to your custody."

Kuril then motioned to the area they were in, crane-like mechanical arms moving blocks, most likely prison cells, around the bay like someone moving pieces on a chessboard; inserting cells in places while moving others somewhere else, "Cell Block Two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the population."

Garrus scoffed, "That's an understatement. This place is maximum security."

Kasumi deactivated her cloak, having been invisible during the exchange in customs, "Place is so tight that I don't think even I could get out of here."

"Each prisoner's cell...," Kuril continued, ignoring the banter as they moved down the corridors, "...is a self-contained modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlock as an...example." The turian then gestured to three empty spaces in the cell block, showing the cells that were missing, "The ship is made of thirty cell blocks identical to this one. We house thousands of criminals."

Marcus felt himself whistle at the amount of cell blocks mentioned on the monolithic vessel. This cell block alone was huge; he couldn't imagine twenty-nine of these also layered throughout the ship. The turian then suddenly stopped in the middle of a third corridor, turning to face them, talons on his hips, "We can put the whole facility on lockdown at a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."

Marcus decided it was time for some questioning, "What about Jack? If I'm recruiting him for my mission, then he must be pretty strong. Tell me about him."

Kuril looked visibly nervous, messing with his thumbs in nervousness, "Cerberus...hasn't told you? Jack...i-is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy and very powerful. You'll see soon enough. I lost alot of men to her when she managed to break free of her cell. We've had her in cryogenic stasis ever since."

Marcus shuddered. If a man such as Jack could make a Blue Suns commander look visibly frightened, then he was the kind of man Marcus was looking for. Brutal, deadly and powerful. Three words in a sentence that meant disaster for the collectors.

"How did you end up running this ship?" Garrus asked, practically being the only one still present. Kasumi had gone to the windows and was observing the guards and prisoners down below while Zaeed was intimidating a guard, a human female.

Kuril simply shrugged, "I was in law enforcement on Palaven when I got sick of seeing criminals escape into the galaxy, allowed to carry on their crimes," Garrus nodded in agreement, understanding Kuril's point. He had felt the same when C-Sec let Saleon escape. But Shepard fixed that at least, "You could hire bounty hunters, but they aren't exactly dependable." Marcus was glad Zaeed didn't notice that particular comment.

"So I hit upon this idea," Kuril continued, "Keep the criminals in space and the galaxy is a safer place."

Marcus quirked an eyebrow, "What makes you so sure of that?"

"We're in space. Not only are you surrounded by mercs, but there is nowhere else to go. Shuttles are locked and the only escape is the airlock. Space is the best prison in existence. There's just no escaping it."

Marcus simply nodded, understanding the sentiment, "And you do this because you think it's nessacary?"

Kuril sighed heavily, "Everyday...I see the worst sapient life has to offer. Governments are too soft; unwilling to make the difficult choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe; I think they were surprised when the Blue Suns stepped up to the task."

Zaeed stepped in, apparently having enough annoying the human merc, "Maintaining a population of scum like this can't be goddam cheap."

Kuril shook his head, "We can cut corners that governments can't, and each prisoner brings in a fee from his or her homeworld. These individuals are violent and their own homeworlds pay well to keep them secured here."

Garrus raised a brow, "And what happens if, say, a homeworld doesn't pay up or refuses to do so?"

"We explain that we can't maintain the prisoner without their help, so we'll be forced to release him/her onto their homeworld at an unspecified place and time."

Garrus growled, "That's a fucking extortion racket."

Kuril waved a dismissive talon, "You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives. These are despicable people and I'm keeping them locked up!" Kuril then wiped his talons, as if wiping them clean of some sick substance.

Marcus rolled his eyes as he held his hand up to forestall any response from Garrus, "Then let's just get this over with."

Kuril nodded, motioning for them to follow.

As they passed, they saw two dangerous looking prisoners confront each other. One was a severely burned looking human male who punched a salarian in the face. They both immediately got into a brawl, catching the attention of three nearby merc guards. After a moment of hesitation, a batarian merc raised his omni-tool and locked up their suits, freezing the prisoners and allowing the mercs to take them back to their cells.

Finally, they reached a fifth corridor, where Kuril turned around a final time, "I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway," he then motioned to the curving corridor directly ahead, "Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the super max wing." Kuril then fixed Marcus with a lingering gaze before returning back through the door they just went through, disappearing.

Kasumi deactivated her cloak once more, "That guy creeps me out. I don't like him. Something in my gut tells me he's bad. Real bad."

Marcus simply shook his head, "We'll see. Come on, we've got a psychotic prisoner to pick up." They moved down the corridor at a fast pace. They passed numerous Blue Suns guards, patrolling the halls, giving the group moment-long glances. Some were seen chatting with each other while others patrolled alone.

Then they passed the interrogation rooms. Marcus forced himself to stop at the sight of a turian merc and a human merc arriving at one of the cells, the human unholstering his pistol and unsheating a shock baton, opening the cell, causing the prisoner to fall back in fear. He then saw Marcus and held his hands out to him.

"Please! Buy me! I'll do anything! Just please buy m-" He was cut short as the merc brought down his baton, causing the prisoner to scream in pain as the merc began his onslaught, beating the crap out of the man. Marcus felt a twinge of sympathy of the man; he probably deserved it, but that was just too inhumane. Kasumi averted her eyes, trying to shut out the man's screams for it to stop. Marcus was finally forced to confront the turian.

"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back." He growled.

The turian, avenger assault rifle in hand, turned to address the spectre, "This is a massage compared to what his victims went through."

"That doesn't make it right. You're just as bad as the prisoner if you revert to his methods to get information out of him." He stated.

"So what? This son of a bitch signed his death papers as soon as he took his first life. This man is a convicted rapist, mass murderer and butcher. He's commited crimes you can't even fathom; he's raped women and then chopped them up while they were strapped to his bed. He's also a convicted pedophile, if rape wasn't bad enough."

"Then put the fucker out of his misery," Marcus stated, grabbing the turian's arm, "Don't prolong his death. You gain nothing from it and in the end, you're no better than him."

The turian sighed, looking at the human being beaten before looking back at the spectre, "Yeah...yeah, I guess you're right," he then turned to his friend, comming his comms as the door was soundproof aside from the screams that easily pierced the walls, "Quit beating him. Just kill the guy."

His human campanion stopped for a second, looking at him in confusion, "Why? I'm not even done introducing myself to this sick piece of trash."

"Just kill him. Then we'll take out the trash." The turian stated, Marcus taking his squad and continuing on their way. They heard the gunshot echo from the turian's comm, marking the prisoner's demise.

As they continued past, Marcus couldn't help but cringe at what he heard. He heard prisoner's recounting past kills, even relishing in it in a way that made Zaeed look like a paragon.

"...oh, I fucked her good..."

"...I can still hear the screams...I love it...oh yes..."

"...she was a witch...and she was black..."

"...quarians make for a good kill...especially the pilgrims...I can still hear his screams...yummy..."

Finally, Marcus and his team escaped the house of horrors and arrived at outprocessing, which was in a short corridor just ahead. A corridor leading off to the right curved to the left ahead and lead into the cryo processor. He hit the haptic interface to enter the room, surprised by the size of it. It looked more like an office; with rows after rows of desks lining the room; all of them being empty aside from the single receptionist, a human woman with the blue suns insignia on her shoulder pads, who looked up upon hearing them enter, looking bored with her elbow on the desk and head in her hand.

"Outprocessing is just at the back of the room. Big ass door, can't miss it," she stated in a monotone voice, going back to looking at her terminal with the same bored look she had before they entered. Marcus nodded and motioned for his squad to follow him through the room, making their way through the office before arriving at the door. When the door opened however, they found what looked like an elevator. Entering it, they looked for a panel. Confused, Marcus snapped around when he heard the door close and the haptic interface flash red.

"That son of a-"

Kuril's voice came over a hidden intercom, "My apologies, Shepard, but you're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. I'll make a fortune selling you to the right people; maybe the batarians would appreciate me handing over the butcher of Torfan to them. They'll pay good. I think the right people will pay well for capturing the great Kasumi Goto, the Master Thief! And Archangel; yes, you'll make a wonderful collector's item. And let's not mention Zaeed Massani; I can't believe I nabbed the great enemy of Vido Santiago. He'd be so pleased."

Marcus arched an eye at Kasumi, who simply shrugged and Zaeed laughed, "Yeah, well that son of a bitch is dead. Killed him myself."

Kuril's response was delayed, "It doesn't matter; I might get paid more if I kill you myself. I might even taken his place as leader of the Blue Suns. An added bonus. I once again apologize Shepard. Goodbye." Marcus felt the cell move and numerous switches begin twitching. They had to act fast. He spun to Kasumi.

"What happened to professional, not famous?"

Kasumi held her hands up defensively, "Hey! I can't help it if I make a little bit of a legend of myself. Besides, last time I checked, we were trapped in a cell, so I'd say we've got higher priorities right now, Shep."

He nodded, looking at the interface, "Can you hack it?"

Zaeed simply laughed, "Fuck that. You're forgetting something..." He then unholstered his vindicator and fired into the door, riddling it with holes and ripping apart numerous pieces of circuitry. It wasn't long before a bang was heard and the door slid open, "...they didn't build these things with armed prisoners in mind."

Marcus gave the old mercenary a grin as he equipped his valkyrie, motioning for Zaeed and Garrus to take point while Kasumi took the rear with him, activating her cloak and unholstering her SMG as Kuril's voice came over the intercom, "Shepard is loose! Patrol Golf, engage immediately."

Marcus felt himself rage at the PA, "Go to hell, Warden! I'll send you there myself!" With that, they moved forward, watching as the bored receptionist ran out of the room, running past a squad of Blue Suns mercs charging into the room, using the desks as cover.

It was a little too much to hope for no combat.

{Loading...}

August 20, 2185

1400 hours.

Outprocessing, Titanic-Class Maximum Security Prison Starship MSV Purgatory, Osun System, Hourglass Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian.

Marcus kicked away the body of the now deceased merc, the trooper having been the turian from the interrogation room. His team made sure all the blue suns hostiles were eliminated before securing the doorway, scouring the corridor for enemy hostiles. Apparently Kuril was too busy consolidating his forces to keep Marcus and his squad checked. That, or he wasn't accounting for the spectre's unplanned escape.

"Okay, the area looks clear," Marcus whispered behind him, "We'll take the left and head into the cryogenic stasis chamber. We'll have to break Jack out. Eliminate any blue suns mercs you come across; shoot to kill."

Zaeed and Garrus nodded their affirmation, moving ahead and taking the left, running into two awaiting mercs. The troopers fired, but the lone batarian of the pair never got to continue before Garrus' omni-blade met his neck, followed by Zaeed entering hand-to-hand with the other human. Unable to combat the veteran's alliance combat training, Zaeed defeated the merc and fired a single round into his head, allowing them to continue.

"Shepard's trying to free Jack!" Kuril announced over the comm, "All available squads converge on cryo immediately! Stop Shepard!"

They ignored Kuril as Garrus palmed the interface for the door. Instead of opening, the door hissed as it changed from green to red. Kuril had locked it. Marcus immediately turned to Kasumi, who set about hacking into it. With a satisfying beep, the interface turned green and Garrus palmed it again, this time opening the door fully.

Inside was a large control center, with observation windows lining the front, obviously allowing a clear view of the cryo chamber below. Standing at the main control console had to be a operations tech, wearing light Blue Suns armor and with a predator pistol holstered at his hip. He was obviously human by his stature. Four guards, two turians, a batarian and a human, flanked him, likely being assigned to guard the chamber. Luckily, they didn't hear the door open.

Motioning to Kasumi, he ordered her to deploy a flashbang into the middle of the group and for them to raise their weapons in preparation to storm the room. Kasumi acknowledged her readiness and he ordered her to deploy the grenade, watching as the flashbang soared through the air to land at one of the female turian's feet. She noticed too late.

A massive bang echoed through the room, Marcus' squad looking away from it. The mercs weren't so lucky at the blast blinded them, causing them to drop their weapons in confusion. The tech hadn't been looking at the blast and therefore was confused when he saw his guards flailing around helplessly. Everyone's ears were filled with a ringing sound except the turians and Garrus, as turians were immune to the deafening effects of flashbangs.

Marcus and his team activated their omni-blade, dealing with the blinded mercs swiftly. The tech unholstered his pistol and went to shoot Zaeed, but his hand was met by Marcus' fist, the pistol being slapped out of his hands before suffering a powerful kick to the chest, sending the tech flying through the observation window and falling to his death. A loud crack was heard a second later.

Marcus ordered Kasumi to get to work on the terminal while Zaeed made short work of the door's control interface; gunfire ripped through the circuitry, the merc assuring him that no merc would be getting through it in a hurry.

He looked down upon the cryo area; there wasn't anything of note except the giant, circular sealed tube in the ground of the room, sealed by a huge and 5 meter thick slab of solid titanium. Icy vapor seeped out through the cracks, a testament to the prisoner's cryogenic containment. And they were about to set him loose. He widened his eyes in horror at the protection surrounding the cryo tube; six YMIR heavy mechs. He felt his heart drop. How the fuck do we take that down? I should have brought Grunt...

Joker's voice crackled into his comms, "Commander? You okay down there? Kuril just ordered the Blue Suns to hijack the ship. EDI's dealing with them, but what about you?"

He shook his head as he saw Kasumi continue to frantically type at the terminal, cursing in japanese as she continued her work, "Yeah, Kuril tried to take us as prisoners and sell us. Guess he forgot that I was the Hero of the Citadel and that we had weapons. We're in the cryo chamber breaking Jack free now. I want you to get Miranda to take Grunt and every cerberus commando we can muster to push through towards us. How copy?"

Joker's answer was instant, "I read you solid. EDI's informing Miranda and Grunt now."

"Copy that, Shepard out."

"Shep!"

Marcus turned to Kasumi, who had stopped typing at the terminal and had turned to him.

"Bad news I presume?"

"Tashikani," Kasumi replied, "I can get Jack out, but Kuril's rigged the whole system. I was able to override it, but I was forced to take some short cuts. I'm sorry, but it was the only way, Shep."

"What Kasumi? What did you do?"

"Kuril's made it so that when we release Jack, every cell block on the ship opens."

Marcus cursed under his breath at the revelation. If I want to release Jack, I have to release every prisoner within 30 cell blocks. Fucking wonderful.

He hesitated for a couple of seconds, weighing his options. He had no choice. He needed Jack if he was going to defeat the collector threat. It was a nessacary evil.

"Do it," Marcus ordered, "Kuril brought this on himself."

Kasumi hesitated for but a second, before going to type at the console, hitting a final release button. His team gathered around as they watched the ice vapor increase in intensity until it fogged the room, watching as five meters of titantium rose out of the floor. The YMIRs turned towards the slab, weapons activating in preparation to battle Jack. Just as the titantium disappeared, Jack's full form appeared.

He was restrained to some sort of device. It held him in place and numerous straps and injectors attached to it. But when their eyes finally landed on Jack, confusion washed over their faces. Jack wasn't a man.

It was a woman.

The first thing they noticed about her was that she was basically stark naked. Well, if you could count straps covering her nipples and a pair of loose nit jeans clothing then she wasn't fully naked. Her head was shaved to the point of basically being hairless and her lips were very puffy, covered in layers of thick, red lipstick. Her body was also covered, knee to toe, in tattooes.

"Jack's...a woman?" Zaeed asked in surprise.

Before anything else could be asked, Jack's eyes shot open as the cryogenic stasis wore off. Marcus could hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions echoing through the ships. Marcus had just been made responsible for a prison wide prison break; all for this one woman. This had better been worth it.

Another thing the noticed about Jack from her eyes was that her irises were brownish/greenish in color. Her skin was smooth and beautiful, while the back of her head had lines of code covering her scalp; it looked like a barcode. It was most likely her identification code used on the Purgatory to differentiate prisoners.

Jack eyed the YMIRs and let out yell of fury, ripping her arms out of the restrains and the one around her neck. She landed on the floor, body glowing in intense azure light; powerful biotic was right. The six YMIRs were converging on her almost immediately and for a second, Marcus thought they'd rip her apart. Then the unbelievable happened.

A biotic explosion ripped through the chamber, sending four YMIRs flying in multiple directions, smashing into walls, inactive. Jack ripped apart the last two YMIR mechs with her bare hands and pure biotic power, leaving the mechs as smoldering wrecks. Before he could do anything, Jack used her biotics to pick up the last YMIR's wreck and used it as a battering ram; smashing into the wall on the right and leaving a massive hole that exited into a corridor leading into the cell blocks. Glowing with unbelievable power, Jack ran through the hole disappearing, going on her unstoppable rampage.

"We've got to stop her...now." Marcus ordered, jumping out the window he had sent the tech flying through, followed closely by his squad as they moved through the hole Jack had left and followed her path of destruction.

Kuril's voice came over the intercom as they moved through the ravaged corridor, the dead bodies of numerous blue suns mercs litering the area. The gunfire and explosions up ahead was even more intense as they moved on ahead.

"All guards, restore order! Lethal force is authorized, but don't kill Jack!" Kuril ordered, "All cell blocks, lockdown, lockdown!"

The ship's VI then piped in, "Sectors 7, 9 and 11 have lost life support. No survivors."

"The situation sounds real goddam bad," Zaeed noted.

"Come on. Let's get moving!" Marcus barked, moving down the corridor until they found yet another hole blown into the wall on their left, allowing them to move inside Cell Block Four. As soon as they did, they found a warzone.

Emergency lighting was on, illuminating the entire room in a perputual blood red color. Entire modular units had toppled from their positions and prisoners poured out, overwhelming the guards immediately and taking their weapons. Entire areas had been set on fire and the crane-arms had either collapsed or stopped operating. Alarms blared throughout the ship and they could see mercs in the observation corridors above taking defensive positions. The mercs were so desperate they had begun sending in centurions and legionnaires to deal with the situation.

Kuril's desperate voice came over the PA once more, "All prisoners, return to your cells immediately, or I will open every airlock on this ship!"

The prisoners, being too focused on attacking the guards, were unprepared for Marcus and his team as they gunned them down. Without kinetic barriers or armor, their weapons chewed right through their flesh, dropping the inmates in seconds. With the majority of the prisoners in the area eliminated, they pushed forward, picking off any Blue Suns mercs that dared get in their way. Apparently Jack hadn't really bothered with them, opting only to run right past them while the guards focused on the other prisoners. She had ripped apart another YMIR guarding the entrance to Cell Block Three, however.

"Doudou, Jack is basically doing all the work for us." Kasumi exclaimed as they past through the destroyed remnants of the doors that were meant to be opened but instead had been ripped violently open and tossed away by Jack in her rush to cause as much destruction as possible.

Just as they moved to exit through the final door into Cell Block 3, a dead prisoner, body wrapped in dark energy, flew through the doorway and hit the wall with a sickening crunch, body crumpling to the fall. Turning the corner, he saw Miranda, Grunt, Jacob and numerous cerberus commandos fighting prisoners and guards alike. Marcus sighed happily, patting Grunt's shoulder.

"Battlemaster," Grunt greeted, squeezing the trigger of his assault rifle and firing a sporadic burst into a charging group of biotic prisoners. As biotic as they were, their barriers weren't enough to stop the krogan's onslaught, and they were quickly cut down with ease.

Marcus raised an eyebrow at Grunt, "Battlemaster? I'm not krogan, Grunt."

Grunt merely chuckled, "No, but you've proven you're as strong as a krogan. Read up on you; found out you worked with Urdnot Wrex. Wrex calls you a battle-bother; big honor among the krogan. Besides, you've got biotics too, so that makes you a battlemaster. My battlemaster."

Marcus merely shrugged it off as he slipped next to Miranda behind cover, Zaeed, Garrus and Kasumi joining with Grunt, Jacob and the commandos in pushing back the enemy.

"Did you see Jack?" Marcus barked over the sound of gunfire.

Miranda nodded, "I didn't just see her, she rampaged through us. Almost took off my head too. Subject Zero apparently not only hates being imprisoned...but she hates Cerberus. No surprise there."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "And why's that?"

The cerberus operative shook her head, "We don't have time to discuss this, we've got Blue Suns to break through and prisoners between us and the Normandy, which, last I checked, was exactly where Jack was headed."

Marcus nodded, peeking over cover to see Grunt ripping the head off a dead krogan, howling in triumph as bullets hit him and only caused miniscule wounds, the pure supersoldier ripping through ranks of Blue Suns mercs without even catching a sweat. Not that krogan could sweat anyway. Jacob let loose a concussive round from his shotgun that hit another merc square in the chest, allowing two of the commandos to gun him down.

"Legionnaire!" A commando shouted out, motioning towards the turian merc stalking towards them. He wore blue tech armor and bulky looking armor. At first he thought it was Kuril, but it turned out just to be another merc. A legionnaire.

"Grunt, target that legionnaire. Garrus, line up a shot on the bastard's head."

Grunt nodded, turning to the merc and firing, drawing his attention. Grunt laughed sadistically as he fired on the turian, the legionnaire's tech armor soaking up the shots as he returned fire. It wasn't long before Grunt was forced to retreat, body coaxed with fresh krogan blood and shields worn out. But it was all the time Garrus needed to line up his reaper sniper rifle and fire.

The legionnaire's head exploded and the turian fell to the ground, tech armor flickering out of existence. Seeing no other hostile presence, Marcus motioned for them to push forward, having Jacob lead the commando squad and take point while his team covered the rear. Apart from a few dying prisoners and mercs, or the few still rampaging, no resistance met them as they moved into Cell Block Two.

"Full alert! I want Jack found, now! If she's not found, someone will find a death warrant with their next paycheck!" Kuril shouted over the comms, "All guards, report to Cell Block One. Block her escape!"

Then the VI broke in, "Cell Blocks Thirty, Twenty-Nine, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Five and Twenty-Four are now uninhabitable. Hull breaches detected on Twenty-One, Fifteen and Four."

"This ship is being ripped apart," Miranda noted.

"All the more reason to find this psychotic bitch and get out of here," Zaeed stated.

The trip through Cell Block Two was seamless. Prisoners in the hordes swarmed the place, mostly because Kuril had withdrawn all his available forces and focused them on the first block, allowing them to overwhelm the place. However, this was no problem for Marcus and his team and they simply ripped through the inmates with little to no trouble. Finally, they reached the first cell block.

The room was all but abandoned apart from the massive amount of blue suns forces concentrated at the exit to the customs unit, Kuril, in all his turian stoicism, standing ontop of a large metal container, blue tech armor active and revenant LMG in his hands as he gunned down numerous prisoners from his vantage point. Marcus ordered his troops into cover as Kuril spotted them, opening fire.

"You're valuable Shepard!" Kuril shouted, "I could have sold you and lived like a king!"

More fire riddled their cover as Blue Suns forces edged closer to them; Kuril's suppression fire keeping them pinned so they couldn't push them back.

"But you're too much trouble! At least I can recapture Jack!"

Marcus growled, too low for Kuril to hear over the gunfire, "Not happening! You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for this!"

Kuril howled in anger, "I do things civil governments are unwilling to. This is for the good of the galaxy!" The warden then commed his channel, "Kill them all. Then find me Jack."

A howl of impotent fury entered the room and Marcus and his team turned back to the door just in time to see Jack, aglow in biotic light, leap over them as she smashed into the Blue Suns' ranks. The mercs desperately tried to take her down, but her biotic fields knocked them away or block their shots, the biotic convict ripping through them like they were nothing.

Marcus noticed Kuril's stance turn from one of confidence to desperation. He raised his Revenant and fired a non-stop burst that went wide, but Subject Zero wasn't a fool. A biotic barrier flared up around her, repelling Kuril's shots as she ripped him away from his position and threw him away, body slamming into a nearby crate.

Despite her power, he noticed Jack's adrenaline rush running low and she began to tire. He ordered his team to open fire on the remaining mercs, gunning them down quickly and efficiently. Jack, surprised, turned to her saviors, seeing them as the people she passed before her rampage. However, her eyes glazed over Miranda's cerberus insignia and Miranda found herself thrown backwards, Jack sprinting towards the customs area. Marcus immediately found himself running after her, gunning down Kuril with his rifle as the turian tried to get up, killing the turian with a headshot.

Upon reaching customs, he found the door ripped open and the customs officers dead or knocked out. Jack sent a biotic fist hurling into the glass of one of the observation windows, letting out a cry of vehemence. Just as she turned around, she saw Marcus and his team slowly approaching, and she rose her arms, ready to fight, biotics flowing through her body once more.

Marcus held up his hands in a gesture of peace, "We don't want to hurt you. We're friendlies."

For the first time since they met, Jack spoke, biotics dying down, "What the hell do you want?"

Grunt chuckled, "We just saved your ass, fleshy."

Jack rolled her eyes, "Kuril was already dead, he just didn't know it yet."

Marcus decided to step in before this turned into a argument, "My name is Commander Shepard and I've come to recruit you for a dangerous mission. The Collectors are abducting entire human colonies and I'm forming a team of the most elite to stop them. You're one of those best."

Jack snorted, pacing along the corridor, "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus."

The spectre shook his head, "I'm working with them, but I'm not a part of them. I'm using them as a resource to defeat the collectors. Nothing more, probably a little less."

"With them, for them, I don't give a flying fuck," Jack snarled, "You show up in a cerberus frigate to take me off somewhere? Do you think I'm fucking stupid?"

Seeing as reason couldn't come into the equation, Marcus knew logic was needed, "This ship is going up in flames, in case you didn't notice. You can either fly off on my ship, or burn with the rest of the scum on this ship. Take your pick."

Jack shook her head, "Look, if you want me to come with you, make it worth my while."

Marcus knew immediately what the convict might want, "I can give you full access to the cerberus database. You can have a look at what Cerberus has on you."

Miranda's voice piped up, holding her leg as he limped towards the group, "Absolutely not. We can't just let her rummage-"

He shot the operative a glare, "Miranda, I'm calling the shots. The Normandy is my ship and if I say she can look at the files, she can look at the goddamn files."

Miranda, whether out of defeat or annoyance, just sighed and looked away, no further argument coming from her. The convict let a grin crease her face; but it was gone the instant he turned back to address her.

"You'll have full access."

Jack nodded slowly, "You'd better be straight up, or I'll turn your pretty little ship inside and out, deal?"

"Deal."

"Then what the fuck are we standing around here for?"

Marcus nodded, motioning for Jack to lead the way. Grunt shrugged his shoulders, "Would have been easier to simply knock her out."

"That isn't the way to get her to trust us, Grunt. Take a battlemaster for his word, trust me."

"Yes, battlemaster. Your wisdom is my wisdom." Grunt pounded his chest and they followed the convict onto the ship. The Normandy was quick to detach from the burning ship, EDI noting that the Purgatory's distress beacon had been activated and a pickup ship, most likely a military warship, would arrive to pick up any survivors soon. With that, the Normandy set a course for the Osun Relay, never looking back.

One more recruit. One step closer to the most elite team in history.

{Loading...}

August 21, 2185

1237 hours.

The Barricades, Abandoned Military Barracks, Ik'halm'la City Ruins, Haestrom.

Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Corporal Myr'Jorin nar Gmyl.

"Ma'am, the science team is in position and they've started their work." Myr reported.

Tali paused her examination of Haestrom's landscape to address Myr, "Thank you, corporal." With that, Myr snapped a crisp salute and left, Tali going back to her examination of Haestrom's deserted surface. As was expected from the planet, the city they landed in was just ruins, with essentially no geth forces to be seen. The Hutbyk's stealth systems worked like a charm and they were able to bypass the small amount of geth vessels in orbit and land on Haestrom, hiding the ship within the city's catacombs.

Tali marvelled at the quarian architecture; two words you never thought you'd hear in a sentence. Unlike imperialistic human design, battle turian design, luxurious asari design and the lot, quarian design was much more simplistic, but utilized reinforced concrete, making it very hard to bomb a quarian city. Except maybe the geth. Now, after three centuries of neglect, the city of Ik'halm'la, heralded as the last stronghold of the quarian species before the Fall of Rannoch, was nothing but a scorched ruin. The once towering skycrapers had been reduced to rubble and skycars littered the area.

This military barracks was barely recognizable. The Barricades, as the skylords nicknamed the fortification, was located on a raised platform that towered six meters above the lower courtyard, which was quite large, being able to fit a platoon's worth of makos. Four support pillars aligned the area, although their original purpose is unknown, khelish scriptures written on their exterior. Across from the courtyard was the barracks' main wall, seperating the disclosed military facility from the civilian part of the city. Behind her was a door leading into what was most likely a command center, now nothing but a malfunctioning terminal.

It turned out that they weren't as safe from the radiation breaking through Haestrom's weakened atmosphere as they previously thought as well. The radiation is so deadly, they discovered quickly that walking into direct sunlight causes an EMP effect, draining shields, usurping power from thermal clips, etc. As per her orders and Kal's, they had avoided the sunlight completely. Luckily, the barracks' was hidden by the shade casted by the massive skycraper that was the center of the barracks.

Tali felt the grip of her shotgun. Marcus hadn't reached them yet and she was wondering what had kept him. She had sent him the message two days ago. Maybe he's on the otherside of the galaxy. Or maybe fighting mercs. Or engaging the collectors? The quarian sighed inside. She so desperately wanted to see Marcus again; it was tearing her up inside. Get ahold of yourself. Even if Marcus doesn't show up here and now, you can return to the fleet and contact him then. But Tali knew that wasn't the problem.

It was that he had promised to help her on Haestrom. He had promised to help her. And now in her time of need; he hadn't shown up. She just had to hope their luck kept up and the geth didn't notice the quarian's presence. If they did, it would end very badly for them. The Hutbyk's sensors had detected four geth frigates in orbit, accompanied by two light cruisers. Accounting for the ground forces available on all six of the enemy's warships, that was at least 20,000 to 48,000 troops that the battlegroup could deploy; that was the size of the enemy force responsible for attacking the Citadel. Such odds for a company of skylords were slim at best.

So our lives hang on the hope that the geth don't realize we're here. Keelah, I hope we're done here soon. Tali checked her chrono and realized it would most likely take the whole day to find the data; and that was without the looming threat of a hostile action. With a sigh, Tali took a deep breath. I'm on a world once occupied by my ancestors. My people, owned a planet and were able to walk around, their heads uncovered, able to breath the fresh air, able to hold their mate's hand and feel their warmth...children able to play without the need of sterile balls...

Tali felt a tear fall down her cheek. It was a freedom that the geth had taken away from her people. A freedom the Council had ripped from them; that they kept from them. Looking for a homeworld was becoming desperate now and if Gerrel and Xen got their way, Haestrom may once again become a battlefield. War was on the horizon; and Tali was ready to meet the geth head on once more. We need our own world to call home again. And I will fight to death to secure my people's future.

Tali moved from her position behind the barricade and looked around. Kal had ordered his company to fortify the barracks around them with HMG nests and to establish vantage and fall back points. If a geth attack did occur, they'd need a backup plan. Tali and Kal knew it would be grasping at straws at best; if the geth attacked, they wouldn't stand a chance. The geth had air support and outnumbered completely. They had a corvette against a battlegroup of four frigates and two light cruisers. Even so, they would be damned if they didn't have some kind of military strategy when and if the geth did attack.

Walking back inside, Tali nodded at one of the scientists who had been moving outside when Tali had opened the door. She saluted and Tali reciprocated the gesture before moving inside. All the scientists and techs inside, which was eleven, turned to face her instantly.

"Status update." Tali barked, the scientists moving about to ready status reports for the general as she took a seat at the rear terminal, trying to make sense of the data on it. One by one, all of the stuff they had found wizzed onto her terminal; atmospheric analysis, surface decomposition, ultra-violent trajectory, ozone layer thickness. It was all here and none of it looked good.

"Anything on Dholen itself?" Tali asked.

"Nothing but a slight change in it's color. It seems to be a lighter shade of purple instead of bright yellow." One scientist reported.

"Keep searching. I want every rock turned upside down and looked at. Admiral Xen won't be happy if we return with nothing but dust." Tali declared and she was right. She would almost assuredly get a demotion for that if she did. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. But then Kal would take fault for the mission's failure, always Tali's savior, and they'd both get demoted. No, Tali wasn't a selfish person, she wouldn't let that happen. The mission must be completed. No matter the cost.

For hours, Tali and the scientists worked and worked. More and more info began to reveal itself and the more they found, the more shocking it became. They discovered that Dholen was suffering from mass exposure to dark energy and that's what was acellerating the sun's lifespan. They couldn't quite calculate what caused the dark energy build up, but it technically didn't matter. They had found their culprit.

Tali contacted Kal, telling him of the good news, "Kal, we've-"

"Ma'am, you need to bunker up now." Kal stated.

Tali was crestfallen, "Why? What's wrong?"

Gunfire ripped through the comms and Tali recognized it immediately. Geth pulse rifles, "Ma'am, you need to bunker up, now. We've been discovered. I don't know how, but the geth found out we were on the planet and have sent down ground forces to deal with us. So far all we're getting is troopers, but I'm sure destroyers, juggernauts and primes will follow. You need to-damn it! Target that dropship!"

An explosion followed by khelish profanities.

"Fuck! Farba'tulut! Lock up now! You've got a geth dropship zeroing in on you!"

Tali tried to get to her feet but was knocked back into her chair by a blast that rocked the building. The dropship was attacking; and time was out. She equipped her armageddon shotgun, moving to check the door. Before she got past the ramp, the door opened and three geth troopers and a shock trooper moved inside, pulse rifles raised and giving off mechanical screeching noises.

Tali let out a battle cry followed by the loud report of her shotgun, the weapon unleashing a heavy metal slug into the lead trooper and ripping it's armor chasing apart, causing it to drop it's pulse rifle. Tali fired again, this time ripping apart it's optics. Without missing a beat, she raised her omni-tool and unleashed an overload on the shock trooper, allowing Chiktika to engage it while she dealt with the second trooper.

She took cover and watched as the scientists took cover. The trooper fired it's pulse rifle, the weapon ripping into Tali's cover as he hacked into it. Laughing in success, Tali completed the hack and ordered the trooper to turn on it's ally. It spun on the spot and her drone withdrew it's assault, the trooper ripping into the shock trooper. Within seconds, both of the geth platforms and destroyed themselves, allowing another tech to seal the door and lock it, making it possible for the geth to get inside.

Tali deactivated her drone and looked at Myr, who had his assault rifle raised and protecting the scientists. Myr nodded to the quarian who nodded in return and had lowered his rifle when a salvo of pulse rifle shots ripped through his barriers and tore into his suit, red blood splattering the tiles. Tali spun on the spot, finding the shock trooper to be only heavily damaged, pulse rifle raised. She finished it off with a shotgun shot to it's optics before moving next to Myr's bloodied remains.

"Ma'...am..." Myr muttered, holding his stomach in severe pain, rifle next to him on the ground. Tali grabbed a medi-gel packet and began applying it to Myr's wounds, but quickly found it to be a useless gesture as more and more blood poured out of Myr's wound and soaked into his suit and onto the tiled floor.

"Ma'am...I...have...one last...request..." Myr coughed, desperately trying to hold onto life a little longer. Tali nodded, taking the marine's hand and holding it softly, letting him know he wouldn't be dying alone.

"Whatever you want, soldier," Tali responded, iron in her voice.

"Could I...see this world...without...a mask..." Myr requested.

Tali smiled grimly as she moved her hands to his mask, her lithe fingers finding the release switches at the back of the man's helmet and unlatching them, taking his mask away and placing it on his chest. Tali and the scientists turned away as to not look at his face. Revealing their face to anyone was reserved for loved ones and intimate moments; unfortunately, Myr would never get that chance.

"Thank...you...Keelah...Se'lai..." Myr's voice then went silent, Tali quietly moving the mask to recover his features, muttering the same words back to him as did everyone else in the room. Tali placed the quarian's hands over his chest and placed him against the wall. She went up to the door and could easily hear the sounds of a firefight outside. Kal and his men never stood a chance. Even skylords couldn't halt such odds.

She leaned so her mask touched the door, "Keelah, I hope Marcus turns up soon." She whispered to herself.

She heard Kal's voice once more over the comm, "Bosh'tets have a colossus at the comm building..."

{Loading...}

August 20, 2185

1532 hours.

Maintenance Deck of Engineering, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, Hourglass Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Subject Zero Jack.

"If it isn't the big old pussy, come to check up on me, have ya? About fucking time." Jack curtly greeted.

Marcus raised an eyebrow at the convict as he finished entering her hidey hole under engineering. Apparently she had decided she'd set up there and that the quiet was all she needed. She had a bunk bed and a basic desk, so she was set. She also seemed to have her preferred weapons down there with her; a carnifex heavy pistol and a scimitar assault shotgun were her choice in guns.

"Just wanted to know how you're settling in," Marcus stated, "Had any trouble acquiring that information on Cerberus?"

Jack rolled her eyes before falling back into her bunk, holding her datapad, "Yeah, wouldn't you like to know. As for the information; I have to say, you did good. I got the information without a problem. I also have to say that you've got a nice ship. Pretty fucking high-tech. Ever think of going pirate? You and me, we'd be unstoppable in a ship like this."

Marcus crossed his arms and shook his head, "This isn't a pirate ship. And I'm no pirate."

Jack let her smile drop and she immediately looked back to her datapad, snorting, "Well you fucking suck; lighten up, boy scout. If you're going to come down and talk to me, you can at least learn to accept who I am and what I do. And as long as that Cerberus cheerleader bitch keeps the hell away from me, I'll be fine."

Marcus raised his eyebrows, "You mean Miranda? And what's with 'boyscout'?"

"Yes, your Cerberus bitch of the isles," Jack responded with venom laced in her voice, "And I call you boyscout because you act like one. All gentlemanly, moralistic and bullshit like that. I like boyscouts, but that's until they turn on me. Tell me; have you ever gotten laid?"

"Well then, I...wait, what?"

"You deaf? I said, have you ever-"

The spectre held up his hands, "I heard you Jack, and I don't know if that's a question I should even be answering. What the hell has that got to do with you, anyway?"

"Just curious," Jack responded, sitting up in her bed and tossing the datapad onto a nearby table, "Anything in particular you want? Or are you here for peptalk?"

"Tell me what you found in the Cerberus database."

Jack looked back at the datapad, as if in contemplation, "Pretty nasty shit. I'll find something I can use...I just know I can." It was now, when Jack turned around, that Marcus noticed a golden-appendage strapped to Jack's right ear. He guessed it was a earing aid or something.

"What if the answers aren't what you're looking for?"

"I'm not looking for answers. I'm looking for names, dates, places."

Marcus narrowed his eyes, "And if you find what you need?"

"I go on a witch hunt," Jack responded menacingly, "Every single person who's screwed with me pays. Their assiociates pay. Their friends pay. And when I'm done, the galaxy is going to be alot emptier."

Marcus knew where this was going. It was all too obvious, given Jack's personality, "I won't let you go on a killing spree."

"I'm here for your mission and nothing much else," she responded hastily, "After that, you can go fuck yourself, because my business is my business."

Remembering Miranda's earlier statement about Jack hating Cerberus, he spoke, "What's your history with Cerberus?"

"They raised me in a research facility," Jack began, "I escaped when I was a kid. Been on the run ever since. And they've been chasing me ever since. But soon, I'm going to chase them." Jack then picked up her shotgun, letting it collapse in her hand as she shot the bulkhead, the round embedding itself in the wall and a dirty smile creasing the convict's face.

"You think about this alot...don't you?"

Jack's gaze snapped back towards him, clearly forgetting he was there as she placed the shotgun back on her bench, "I go to sleep with that shotgun and I wake up with it every night. Ever person I kill? I pretend it's the people who did this to me. The people who turned me into Subject Zero."

"You don't have to live in this pit you know. We've got perfectly good crews quarters," Marcus stated.

Jack sat up on the bench and shook her head, "It's dark, quiet and hard to find. Makes me scarce. That spells safety to me. You know, you could still go pirate. I could be your first mate and handle the boarding parties. Judge, jury and executioner."

He shook his head, "I'm still not doing it, Jack."

"Fine. Offer is still up though. Now could you please fuck off, I've-"

"Commander!" Joker shouted over the intercom. His voice sounded urgent.

"What is it, Joker?"

"Urgent message from Tali, Commander! She says she's on Haestrom and under attack from geth forces and is requiring immediate assistance!"

Marcus slammed his fist into the table, "Set a course for the Dholen System, Far Rim Cluster immediately Joker! EDI, have all combat personnel, save the commandos, meet at the shuttle, full combat gear and bring the heavy stuff, we're going in hard."

EDI's response was immediate, "Affirmative, Shepard."

Jack laughed, "Only just recruited me and already we're off to fuck with geth? I'll come. Can't say I've ever ripped a geth apart with my biotics before."

Marcus looked at her attire and shook his head, "If you're coming, you're going to be wearing something that provides more protection. Report to Jacob in the armoury...he'll get you something."

Jack simply rolled her eyes as she pushed past him to the upper deck, Marcus right on her heels. If Tali was in trouble, he needed to save her. He wasn't going to lose her to the geth; not now.

"And once again, like before, you go off to save the damsel in distress."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"On a world your people hadn't seen for three centuries? Every man's dream. Except, I think that dream involved less geth and more sightseeing."

Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

And finally, we're off to save and recruit Tali! The story gets better from here folks and I hope you remember to review. That's my fuel.

Keelah Se'lai!

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

HOME, BLOODY HOME

August 21, 2185

1642 hours.

Armoury, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Haestrom, Dholen System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Professor Mordin Solus, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack.

Marcus nodded to Jacob as he helped him fit on the final piece of his heavy battle armor. He was wearing an extremely thick variant of the standard N7 package that they referred to as the Terminus Assault Armor. The armor was covered in self-lockable armor joints and glowing, crimson red lines. The helmet was also completely covered aside from the 'Y' shaped visor in the middle. Marcus had found the helmet to be too encroaching on his vision, so he had swapped it with his usual blood dragon helmet. His team weren't far behind.

Miranda and Jacob had taken to wearing the Cerberus assault armor in the ship, on loan from the commandos who wouldn't be helping them. Kasumi had insisted she wouldn't need armor, Marcus having to settle with just giving her a strengthened kinetic barrier unit. Mordin had fitted on his specially fit salarian armor and Garrus had decided to keep what he was wearing, as did Zaeed and Grunt, despite the krogan's armor being battered from the battle on Purgatory. Jack had put on a leather vest and taken a pair of shades, saying it counted as armor. Marcus had simply rolled his eyes.

Once done in the armoury, his team made their way down to the shuttle bay. They had all been debriefed in the debriefing room prior to hitting the armoury, so it wasn't nessacary; they were going to rescue Tali'Zorah vas Neema and recruit her for the mission. At least, that's what he told them. He was more worried about her safety than recruiting her.

What felt like forever past as the elevator slowly descended into the shuttle bay. When they finally arrived, Marcus was the first to step out and hurriedly approached the shuttle on the left, stowing his gear. Once more he felt the revenant LMG on his back, keeping the claymore instead however. A bandolier was wrapped firmly around his chest, thermal clips strapped in all of the straps. His pockets were also full of thermal clips and enough grenades to make a army of mercenaries blush. Shepard looked about ready to fight the Reapers on his own.

Zaeed leaned in towards Garrus, watching the commander in awe, "What's so special about this...quarian we're picking up? I've never seen him this armed up. He looks like he wants to attack the hegemony itself."

Garrus smiled, "She's...very special to him."

Zaeed let out a murmur of realization, "Oh, it's that kind of special. Can't say I was this protective over a woman, especially not a quarian."

Apparently Jack heard as well but stated it louder than intended, "Shepard's going to rescue his quarian hoe? Damn!"

Miranda facepalmed and Jacob tried to pretend he wasn't present. Kasumi simply giggled before activating her cloak while Garrus could help his own chuckle. Marcus didn't even turn around, too busy loading up the shuttle for his all-out assault. Grunt stood still, turning to Jack with confusion in his step.

"Hoe? I do not understand."

"Tali is not Shepard's...'hoe', she's his girlfriend." Jacob added.

Grunt shrugged, "He has a lady friend. I still fail to see the big deal."

"Let me put this in krogan terms, Grunt," Garrus stated, slapping the krogan on his armored shoulders, "Tali is his mate."

Grunt widened his eyes in realization, "My battlemaster's mate is in trouble?" Grunt then let out a loud bellow of laughter, "Then we shall save her!"

Zaeed laughed long and loud, joining Grunt in hefting the weapons onto the kodiak, "I think I'm going to like you alot, Grunt!"

"I'm glad to see everyone's becoming friendly!" Kasumi spoke up, disengaging her cloak as she leaned on Jack's shoulder, smiling, "How 'bout you and me? The girl's brigade? Oh! And when Tali joins the crew, there will be three girls! Three girls, plus Kelly!"

Jack gave Kasumi a glare that would cause an apocalypse, "Keep dreaming, mystery girl."

Kasumi smiled devilishly, "Mystery girl? I like it! Thanks alot Jackie!" With that, Kasumi had disappeared again before Jack could strangle her. As Marcus hefted the last piece of explosive ordnance onto the shuttle, Miranda walked up to him.

"Commander, do you think this is wise?" Miranda asked.

Marcus didn't even face the woman as he answered, moving to unholster his claymore and check if it was loaded or not, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"We should be hunting the collectors, don't running into geth territory to rescue some quarian that you're getting emotional over. We can't afford setbacks. If the quarian is going to prove to be a liability-"

Marcus was on her in a instant, "She is not a liability.Not only will she be beneficial to the mission, but, most of all, she is important to me. If I have to bring down an entire alliance fleet onto Haestrom to save her, then I'll bloody well do it. You're either coming or your not; but do not get in my way. I won't tolerate incompetence and second guessing on this ship."

"I'm only concerned over your special attention to-"

"I'm going to save Tali not just because I love her, but because she's been with me since the beginning. Aside from Garrus, she's the only person I've met from my old crew who's been willing to join me so far. I haven't seen Wrex, Kaidan or Liara. So, in my books, that equals damn good. But that doesn't matter; she matters to me, and I don't care if I have to charge onto Haestrom by myself, but I'm going down there regardless."

"If you think you're going alone, you're bleedin' mental," Zaeed added, sitting with his vindicator inbetween his legs and standing vertically on the floor, "Let's go rescue your quarian damsel and be big goddamn heroes."

Marcus gave Miranda one last gaze before turning back to the group, "Yes, but I'm not going in the shuttle. Neither is Kasumi or Mordin," Marcus stated, unwinding the bandolier from his chest and pushing it into Grunt's idle hands, while also passing more grenades among the group, "You're in charge Garrus."

Garrus looked shocked, and rightfully so, "You don't want to save your own girl, Shepard? Are you nuts or indoctrinated?"

Marcus shook his head, cracking a smile as he jabbed a thumb at the cerberus tank behind them, "I'm going in with the Hammerhead. We'll land behind you and provide rear support while you're team lands closer to the barracks and the skylord company. Provide them support while we use the hammerhead to hit their rear flank. With luck, we can get them at a choke point and force them into, allowing you to deal with them swiftly."

Garrus shook his head, "You're putting your team in my hands. And besides, the geth aren't like mercenaries, Shepard. They don't feel fear and don't have room for many errors. I don't a choke point with synthetics is going to work."

"You doubt yourself too much, Garrus," Marcus retorted, watching as Garrus tried to object, "You're a leader; you were born to lead. I can see that fire in you. Don't let your mistake on Omega get to you; the thing is, is that you lead your team with integrity. Don't let the treachery of one man negate that effect. You were born to lead; and I'm giving you a direct order to do just that. We'll be right behind you."

Garrus snorted, "You've got the hover tank; how could you not be?"

Marcus snorted, "If you find her...keep her safe for me, okay?"

"I'd be dead if I didn't," Garrus retorted.

Marcus gave a weak smile before turning back around and leading Kasumi and Mordin towards the Hammerhead parked next to the shuttle. The shuttle's hatch closed, blocking Garrus' vision as the shuttle lifted off from the bay and shot out of the Normandy, descending into Haestrom's atmosphere and towards the city of Ik'halm'la. The crew of the shuttle could practically hear the roar of the frigate's engines as the Normandy sped past, moving to deploy Marcus and his team.

The assault on Haestrom had begun.

{Loading...}

August 21, 2185

1650 hours.

Supermarket Ruins, City Plaza, Ik'halm'la City Ruins, Haestrom.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus.

"Geth! Right below us!" Kasumi shouted over the roar of the thrusters as the hammerhead acellerated out of the Normandy's shuttle bay and fell towards the ground at encroaching speed. Marcus laughed long and hard and Kasumi's uneasiness; Mordin seemed stoic and uncaring. This reminds me of the Mako during the old days.

"I know! And they are about to get one hell of a wake up call! Hold on to something!" Marcus watched as the hammerhead slammed into the four geth destroyers below them, the synthetics looking up to see their assailant but never getting to raise their weapons and fire. The flying cerberus tank hit them with shattering force, crushing one of them and sending the other three flying, destroyed.

"Everyone all right? Nobody hurt?" Marcus asked, looking back to check everyone was okay. Kasumi gave him a hesitated thumbs up while Mordin simply nodded, unphased. The Normandy roared overhead, performing evasive maneveurs as two geth fighters trailed behind it.

"Goddamn it! EDI, shake them off us!" Joker barked, "I knew I should have activated that damn stealth drive! We'll see if we can lure that geth fleet away from the planet commander! Good luck, and say hi to Tali for me! Joker out." With the comms silent, Marcus reved up the tank's engine and they pushed forward and into the city.

Almost immediately the hammerhead's motion tracker immediately detected hostiles ahead. When they came into full view, Marcus made sure the geth couldn't see them before ordering Kasumi to take the helm while he operated the turret. A massive blast door blocked progress towards the barracks and on their side were six geth rocket troopers and two armatures. What a field day.

Unfortunately for them, the element of surprise was on vacation. One of the armatures immediately turned to face the hammerhead, main gun charging up to fire. Marcus widened his eyes as he lined up the turret with the armature's optics.

"Ah...Mordin, do you know how much punishment this thing can take?"

"Talked with Miranda about specifics about Hammerhead All-Terrain Assault Tank," Mordin explained, "Hammerhead equipped with light armor. Not built for sustained combat. Strong kinetic barriers, but armor will not last. Main gun and sheer speed of vehicle make up for this however. Main gun comprised of 230mm heavy incendiary rounds more powerful than the standard Mako shell. Extremely effective."

"Then Kasumi, it's time you pulled some amazing maneveurs," Marcus ordered, making the sure turret was loaded before pumping a round straight into the armature, who had already fired. A bright blue siege pulse surged towards them, but thanks to Kasumi's reaction time and the tank's amazing durability, it shot to side and the pulse missed, Marcus sounding his retaliation with a second loud thump. The first shot had punched clean through the armature's barriers and ripped through it's neck, while the second shot scored home inside it's main body, detonating inside and ripping it apart.

He watched as the six rocket troopers lined up their missile launchers and prepared to fire. He remembered a tactic he used to use with the mako. He smiled, "Kasumi, ram those damn rocket troopers."

"Shep, are you sure? I don't know if the hammerhead can take more of that."

"Just do it. I'm not playing duck hunt with these bastards all day." Marcus snapped, preparing to line up a third shot on the second and final armature. Kasumi, taking a deep breath, then hit the thrusters and the whole vehicle shot forward, slamming into the rocket trooper's with speed that put the mako to shame. Bits and pieces of ripped geth chasing were thrown all over the place as the attack tore apart the rocket troopers, bringing them close enough to fire a round straight through one of the armature's many legs.

And it did. The shot punched clean through and didn't stop. The leg was torn in half as the round continued and connected with the ground, detonating at the opposite leg and ripping it apart as well. Without it's front two legs, the armature was unable to keep itself upright and collapsed forward. Without hesitation, Marcus loaded a fourth and final round into the chamber and fired it to the back of the geth tank's head, finishing it off with a large explosion.

Garrus' voice crackled over the comms, "We're on the ground Shepard. How goes the counterattack?"

Marcus smiled and stroked the handles of the gun like he would Tali back on the old Normandy, "Would Tali be okay with a three-way relationship? I love this tank."

"I wouldn't know, but I don't think she'd agree with you loving a tank. She might get jealous. By the way, I've got a...Kal'Reegar who wants to speak to you."

"Patch him through," Marcus ordered before ordering Kasumi to hit the jet thrusters. An when she did, the tank literally jumped over the blast door from the power released, allowing them to glide over it and land in what looked like the parking lot of an old supermarket.

"This is Major General Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Migrant Fleet Skylords. I assume you're this Shepard I've heard Tali speak so highly of?"

Marcus didn't answer for a second as he spotted what looked like an advancing platoon of geth shock troopers and destroyers advancing on the barracks. Both fortunately and unfortunately, the geth had heard their attack at the blast door and turned to deal with the hammerhead first, obviously seeing a durable assault tank as a bigger threat than a company of quarian soldiers.

"The one and only," Marcus responded as he fired a round directly into the center of their flank. The shot impacted and detonated, taking a destroyer and several of it's cohorts with it, "Before you start asking all the military questions, I need to know; is Tali safe?"

"She's safer than safe," Kal responded, gunfire being heard over the comms, "She's locked herself up in the command center with the rest of the scientists. The geth are trying to get in, but Tali's a hacking marvel. They won't get in unless she wants them to. Wouldn't tempt fate though. How soon can you get here?"

Marcus snorted, "This tank is turning the geth into molten metal faster than I can feed you sitreps. From what I can gather, we can reach your position in no more than ten minutes, tops. Just keep Tali safe. What can you tell me about the geth at your end?"

Kal snorted over the comms, "The one's attacking Tali or the one's your guys are dealing with? Actually, let me rephrase, the ones your team are ripping through like they were children eating chocolate?"

Marcus widened his eyes, "Attacking Tali? I thought you said she was safe!"

"Of course she is!" Kal retorted, "Doesn't mean the geth aren't trying to get to her. There's a fucking colossus between us and her and I'm not in a hurry to forget the damn geth troopers and snipers protecting it, along with those new hunter models. If that wasn't bad enough; the colossus' hav evolved too. Now they have some kind of repair protocol; we take down their shields only for it to huddle down and repair itself. I've been harassing it with my missile launcher, doing anything to keep it's attention off of Tali. But I don't have infinite missiles."

Tali could look after herself. Don't worry so much. Despite his mind's reassurance, he couldn't, "Kasumi, it's time to speed this up. I want to be at the barracks yesterday. Hold tight Reegar, the cavalry's on the way."

"Don't know what a cavalry is sir, but I guess it must be bloody awesome. Ancestors guide your hand, sir, Keelah Se'lai." With that, Kal's disappeared from the comms and Marcus prepared to make short work of the hostile geth. He had heard Kal mention geth hunters, but he had no idea what they were. By the way he described them though, they must have been a new class of geth. If so, he had to keep an eye out.

As they continued to plow through the geth platoon, Marcus noticed unbelievably fast movement to his left. He whipped the weapon around just in time to see a hopper fire a single shot at the tank, attempting to drain it's shields and failing. It then leapt off, Marcus trying to get a shot on the incredibly fast geth. But it was proving to be a pain in the ass.

"Kiwotsukero! Prime!" Kasumi exclaimed as Marcus whipped the turret around to face the new threat. Approaching them, ableit slowly, was the trodding form of the most feared geth unit a foot soldier could face; a geth prime. He had encountered the towering goliaths occassionally during the Eden Prime War, but only during major offensives such as the geth invasion of the Armstrong Cluster, Ilos, The Battle of the Citadel and Virmire. Apart from colossi and armatures, the geth primes were essentially their walking tanks.

The prime raised it's heavy siege pulse rifle as it prepared to fire on the tank, Marcus reciprocating the gesture while lowering the weapon over the hover tank. Just as Marcus squeezed the trigger, the prime let out a massively loud screeching sound, a mechanical sound like techno beats in sync. But it wasn't just noise.

"Terminate organic lifeforms."

The geth spoke. But geth don't speak. The geth have evolved further than we thought. The sound the prime's siege pulse impacting the hammerhead's shields ripped him from his shock, instead pulling the trigger. A single heavy round hit the prime, exploding but only managing to drain the prime's shields. It gave a massive screech of...anger? Fury? Did geth even feel any of those qualities?

"Kinetic barrier depletion," The prime spoke again, "Engaging hostile organic lifeform. Error in runtime 645-723-999. Attempting to correct. Engaging hostile organic lifeform. Terminate corrupted processes."

Without acknowledging the prime, Marcus simply fired again, the round not even exploding on impact, but instead tearing the prime's optics clean off and exploding in the midst of a regrouping squad of shock troopers, ripping them apart and causing the decapitated geth prime to collapse on the ground, forwards.

A familiar voice crackled over his comms; one he had missed sorely, "Marcus, are you there? Can you hear me?" It was Tali.

"Tali, is that you? Thank god. I'm sorry I'm late; I just had to pick up a psychotic biotic before I came to the rescue." Marcus tried to let some dry humor encase his last sentence, trying to coax the concern that was evident in his voice.

"Don't try to hide your concern; you're terrible at it," Tali responded, "I'm just glad you're here. Kal's a great soldier, but I don't think him and his company would have held if you didn't show up. Keelah, I'm so glad you're here."

"So am I. I've missed you alot," The spectre motioned for Kasumi to take the hammerhead forward, having dealt with the remainders of the geth platoon, "When this is over, I'll have to show you the new crew and the new Normandy."

"New Normandy? Now I'm very curious," Tali responded lightheartedly, "Can't say working with Cerberus will be fun, but I think I can look past it. Especially if you're there. I can't tell you how much of a pain it's been waiting for this mission. I know I shouldn't be looking forward to what's practically a suicide mission but once this is over...I can join you again. Are any familiar faces on the Normandy?"

"Well there's Garrus. There's also Joker and Doctor Chakwas, but apart from that, it's all new faces, I'm afraid to say. But don't worry, I'll protect you from all the Cerberus soldiers."

"As much as I...appreciate the sentiment," Tali explained, "I can handle myself. Brigadier General, I might add."

"Justs make you all that more sexy."

"And don't you forget it."

"It's literally not possible."

"Hmmm..."

Jack's irritated voice came over the comm, "Oh, good fucking jesus, I feel like I'm watching Titanic while gorging my eyes out. Quit fucking flirting, or at least do it where noone can hear you."

Tali didn't respond until Marcus twitched to their private channel, "Who...who was that?"

"Meet Jack, our resident loudmouth but all-powerful biotic," Marcus explained.

"Jack? I thought that was a boy's name."

"Tell me about it..."

"I could tell you about something else..."

"Like what?"

"You'll see..."

Kasumi decided to reign, "Okay, seriously, that is actually getting really annoying now. Do you always flirt with your girlfriend in the middle of a battle, Shep?"

"What, you don't?"

"Two things; I'm a thief, battle isn't my thing and two; you two must have gotten really used to doing this if you think flirting in battle is normal."

"I wasn't aware it wasn't."

They traded banter as they continued to mow down geth after geth after geth, Marcus just enjoying the sound of Tali's exotic voice through his eardrums. It was like beautiful music; the more you listened to it, the more you didn't want it to go. And he thought it possible; but Tali's voice was much more attractive than it had been two years. Maturity apparently wasn't something human's a monopoly on, or at least in Tali's case. It didn't take long for him to find out what a hunter was either.

Apparently the pesky tincans were a variant of geth that had a built-in tactical cloak that could run for hours on end, just like Kasumi's variant and utilized powerful geth plasma shotguns, a weapon that proved more powerful than the original pulse shotguns. They were the first plasma weapons in existence; and they packed one hell of a punch. As he passed, he retrieved one, along with a discarded pulse rifle, for safe keeping. Might be useful against the collectors.

And so they continued through the city, Marcus and Tali continuing to talk like two years had never past. Soon he would be reunited with her and this time he'd make sure nothing seperated them ever again.

Not even death.

{Loading...}

August 21, 2185

1721 hours.

Main Gate, Military Barracks, Ik'halm'la City Ruins, Haestrom.

Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Rayya.

An explosion ripped through Garrus' cover as the turian was thrown backwards into a fallen pillar, the ex-cop attempting to stand up as he raised his mattock and poured a field of fire into one of the advancing geth. He managed to get a trooper in the leg, followed by both legs, toppling the platform over as Grunt then crushed it with his foot. A quarian skylord ceased his defense as he held a hand out to Garrus, the turian taking it and allowing the soldier to pull him to his feet.

Nodding his thanks, he turned back to his team, "Miranda, Jack, I want you to act as biotic artillery! Pound them with everything you have! Grunt, Jacob, Zaeed, you're the forward rank. Give them a hellstorm. I'm going to provide support to second team. Hold position and do not fall back, understood? Oh, and Miranda? Do behave."

Miranda and Jack threw each other dirty looks before complying, making sure to stay as far away from each other as they could before unleashing a torrent of biotic strikes on the geth ranks while Grunt, Zaeed and Jacob fired their weapons down on the nearly perputual waves of invaders. Garrus knew they couldn't keep this up; Marcus needed to reach them soon; a tank is what they needed, especially against that spirits be damned colossus standing guard infront of Tali's bunker.

As he made his way over to Reegar's position, the thought of a cliche human flick came up in his mind and he laughed at the eerily funny comparison. A princess trapped in a castle, guarded by a dragon and her knight in shining armor coming to save her. Tali was the princess, the colossus was the dragon, the command center was the castle and Shepard was the knight. Yet again, he didn't really see Tali as a helpless damsel as much as a hardass marine.

It didn't take him long to find Reegar, the quarian squatting behind his cover with a missile launcher stretched across his lap and cursing in khelish as the geth colossus hammered his cover with HMG rounds before following it with a heavy siege pulse, ripping apart his cover and forcing the quarian to lose more ground. Waiting for a break in the tank's fire, Kal then stood up and fired a single shot with his missile launcher at the colossus before ducking back behind cover. Garrus quickly slid in next to him.

"How you holding out, General?"

"Keep to cover, don't let that colossus get a beat on you or you're screwed!" Kal shouted as his remaining men before turning to Garrus, "You tell me, you're doing most of the work at the gate, I'm just harassing this colossus. Unless we get a tank soon, that thing ain't going to budge. Can't your ship just bomb the damn thing?"

Garrus quickly clicked his comm, "Joker?"

He heard Joker curse over the comm, "Mister Moreau is busy at the current moment." EDI responded instead.

"I was going to ask for an orbital strike on this colossus, but I can already tell that's a solid 'can't help you', isn't it?"

"That is correct. Mister Moreau is busy attempting to distract numerous geth warships. We have managed to lure one of the light cruisers and three of the frigates from their previous flight path over the planet and we've lead them on a chase around the planet Charoum. It will be approximately two hours before they realize we've tricked them and will return. Even if my processes weren't already focused on shaking the fire of a geth battlegroup, a bombardment in the city ruins would be ill-advised. The surrounding structure is too unstable and a bombardment could cause the structure to collapse and possibly kill Tali."

"Very well, EDI. Vakarian out," Garrus then turned back to Reegar, shrugging, "The Normandy's out of the question; too busy dodging geth boggies. We're on our own."

Kal cursed under his breath, "Well, better to ask than to be left in the dark. Better we know now." Hearing a break in the geth's fire, Kal stood up to take another shot. But Garrus realized that the colossus had stopped firing a minute earlier than it should have. It knew Kal would-

HMG fire tore through the air and ripped at Kal's envirosuit, sending the quarian flying backwards. Instead of letting himself get riddled with bullets, Kal rolled back behind cover, still holding his launcher as he clutched at his wounds, red blood pouring from numerous ruptures in the general's suit. He pulled out his omni-tool and began applying antibiotics and medi-gel to himself, before finishing up.

"Good, now I'm swimming in antibiotics. I'll be good." Kal reassured the turian.

"Regardless, I don't think you should try that again anytime soon."

"I said I'd be fine."

"You're suit's a wreck!"

"I'm not just going to sit here! I'm a marine! But most of all my sister is in that room and I'm damn well going to keep her safe!"

"Shepard will handle that."

"How can you be so sure?" Kal asked skeptically.

"Because he's madly in love."

"Best excuse I've heard all damn week."

An explosion from behind caused Kal and Garrus to both look at the source simultaneously, watching as four geth juggernauts and a armature tried to push through the gate, accompanied by two hunters, both shimmering and disappearing. Jack shouted towards them.

"Scarface, get the fuck over here!"

Garrus turned to Reegar who nodded to him, "We'll hold. I just hope this Shepard guy proves to be what my sister says he is. I'll fucking kill him if he breaks her heart."

Garrus smiled wickedly, "Trust me, he's the one person who won't do that."

The turian practically leapt from his cover and rushed over to his team, making sure to keep his head down as gunfire soared through the air. He reached his team, only to watch as two quarian troopers were vaporized from the impact of a siege pulse, pieces of quarian body parts flying backwards and gore scouring the ground. The turian gritted his teeth together as he aimed his mattock, only to stop as he heard the distinct of a geth hunter appearing next to him.

Only for it to disappear as Jack picked it up and threw it against a pillar like a play toy, ripping the geth in half. Before he could thank the biotic, the second hunter was upon him. He immediately whipped out his omni-shield, an orange field of simmering energy appearing before him and absorbing the hunter's shot. Garrus used the solidified energy shield to push the hunter backwards, staggering the platform just enough so he could morph his shield into a blade. But as he brought it down, the geth dropped it's shotgun and whipped out it's own omni-blade, blocking Garrus' swipe in a way only a machine could.

The geth's sudden block sent Garrus reeling backwards and just as he regained his balance, the geth took a swipe once more. Garrus strafed just in time, the blade grazing his arm and causing Garrus to wince in pain from the heat of the omni-blade cut. The hunter took a second swipe, but quickly found it's blade lodged in Garrus' heavy armor. Unable to escape, the hunter met a swift end as Garrus decapitated it's optics with his omni-blade in a single fell-swoop, letting the platform's limp body fall to the ground motionless.

Garrus quickly picked his rifle back up to assess the situation, but it was hopeless. The geth juggernauts were now supported by a vanguard of troopers, shock troopers and rocket troopers while three more armatures made their approach. A geth dropship even swooped towards them, ready to bombard them with searing hot heavy cannons. Just as he prepared to order a retreat, he saw the glimmer of something in the distance. Something glowing a deep blue...

Just as the dropship reached the wall and looked about ready to fire, an extremely loud sound, like an artillery battery firing, cut through the air and stabbed through the geth vessel, detonating inside as the dropship exploded, it's momentum carrying the debris at hyper velocities as wreckage smashed into buildings and pillars. They all turned to see their savior.

The Hammerhead was suddenly the most beautiful thing Garrus had ever seen. It's gleaming main cannon, smoke trailing from it's barrel after making the kill. Prestene, bright white armor glistening in the deadly radiation of Dholen. Hover thrusters held the vehicle upright, calm, blue light eminating from the mass effect field powered reactor hidden deep in the heart of the vehicle. He never thought the sight of a cerberus tank would bring joy to him. Well, right now, it did.

The cannon tilted to aim at the armature moving through the doorway, giving off the same loud raport as the gun fired twice, both rounds detonating on the armature and tearing it apart, causing the geth to turn and assess the new threat. Kal cheered loudly as Marcus' voice came through the comms.

"Reegar, this is what a cavalry is."

{Loading...}

August 21, 2185

1736 hours.

Evacuation Center, Military Barracks, Ik'halm'la City Ruins, Haestrom.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus.

And so the hammerhead charged forward, the main gun discharged as it went, ripping through the geth's ranks either by crushing or blowing them apart. Geth after geth fell to their fiery spree of death as Marcus charged into the military compound, ready to stand triumphant over the bodies of his enemies. The forces deployed on Haestrom weren't even half of the fleet's full deployable army; it was a mere scouting force. Marcus managed to score a direct hit on a hopper that had been leaping at the vehicle, leaving nothing left of it.

Recon drones attempted to harass the tank, but they were quickly taken out by the skylords, who assisted in the counterattack by pushing the geth towards the hammerhead's onslaught. The last three armatures of the geth assault all turned to attack the hover tank, but never got the chance when they leapt off the ground, jumping into the air and landing on such an odd angle, that they knocked over the armature and hovering above it. With the armature disabled, Marcus swerved the turret around let loose two rounds, ripping apart the nearby armature and escaping a siege pulse from the third that hit it's ally and destroyed it.

Without further hesitation, Marcus finished off the final armature only to be swarmed by multiple juggernauts. Luckily, Jack charged in and tossed the juggernauts about with a powerful biotic singularity, Kasumi using the distraction to pull the tank back and put them in a position to force the enemy troops back. With the juggernauts decimated, no more primes available and their vanguard destroyed, the geth retreated, disappearing into the ruins. But it wasn't the last of them.

Suddenly a loud bang eminating from the atmosphere caused them to look up. They watched as an explosion painted the sky, the wreckage of a geth frigate falling towards the planet as Joker let out a cry of victory over the comms.

"Oh yeah! I managed to take one of the frigate's by surprise with four javelin-torpedoes. I've got the rest of the fleet's attention and they are onto me. Catch ya later! Joker out. EDI, help me shake these damn things!"

Marcus nodded and disconnected the comm, bringing the tank inside the compound and watched as Kasumi parked it just inside the main gate, allowing Marcus to open the hatch and get outside, immediately moving to Garrus' position next to an injured Reegar. Kal looked up at Marcus upon arriving, greeting the man with a nod.

"Glad you could show up. That colossus has been a pain in the ass since it turned up and I'm just glad someone has turned up to finally take care of it. The sooner it's gone the better."

Activating his private comm, he contacted Tali, "Tali, are you sure you can hold off the geth hacking attempts?"

"I'm doing my best," Tali responded, "But they're getting smarter. You better do something soon or they'll eventually break in!"

Deciding that extreme action was nessacary, he motioned for Garrus to follow him to the hammerhead. When they reached the tank, the spectre ordered Mordin and Kasumi out of it, instead having Garrus take the driver's seat and he retook the gunner's seat, closing the hatch behind him.

"Just you and me?" Garrus asked.

"We're the only people in this team she's ever met before. Seems fitting. Apart from Reegar, but I think he's too injured. So, ready to go kick this colossus' ass?"

"I don't think it has one, but I guess I'm willing to kick it's optics, if that'll satisfy you."

"That'll do just fine, Garrus."

With a roar, the hammerhead's engines crackled to life once more as they took the tank over the barricade and into the main compound. The colossus immediately noticed them, charging up a siege pulse almost immediately while simultaneously ripping at it's shields with it's HMG. Numerous rocket troopers moved in an encircling movement to trap the tank. But Garrus was having none of it. With a strafe, he crushed two of the rocket troopers and narrowly missed the colossus' siege pulse. Marcus fired a retaliatory shot, but the attack only drained it's shields, not depleting it. Destroying this colossus would be harder than taking down an armature.

But he had to act fast. Tali's hacking couldn't last forever. With a roar of defiance, Marcus unloaded the last six rounds of the hammerhead's main gun into the colossus. And this time, it did have an effect. The first shot depleted the shot and the second scored home in the thing's neck. The third hit one of it's legs, the fourth hit it's optics and the fifth hit it's underbelly. Finally, the sixth round was the killer shot, digging deep inside the colossus and detonating, causing a massive explosion that left nothing left of the colossus except wreckage dispersed all over the area. The rocket troopers were easily dealt with by Marcus' team.

With renewed vigor, Garrus parked the hammerhead deliberately ontop of where the colossus had stood vigil, opening the hatch as Marcus virtually raced out, fast walking towards the door that held the love of his life.

He knocked on the door, "Tali, it's me and Garrus. The colossus is destroyed and the geth forces have been eliminated. We have to act quickly and leave before the geth battlegroup return and deploy their full forces."

A few seconds passed before the interface on the door finally turned from red to green, sliding open to reveal the interior of the room. Numerous, terrified looking scientists looked relieved when they saw it was friendlies. Marcus took note of the destroyed shock trooper and it's two trooper escorts. He guessed it was Tali's doing. He also cringed when he saw the dead body of what looked like a quarian marine, hands on his bloodied chest.

Then there was Tali, standing at the back of the room. When the door opened, she had stood at the back of the room, just staring at him, unsure of what to do. But when she saw him, striding into the command center casually after having just destroyed a colossus and mowed down hundreds of geth just to save her, that triggered something in her that caused her to react. When he took off his helmet and his eyes looked into hers, she just reacted.

She ran forward and embraced him, arms tightening around him, uncaring of the scientists around them. Marcus was startled at first but was quick to return the gesture, dropping his helmet on the ground, smiling warmly. Garrus coughed slightly and they let go of each other.

"I'll give you two some privacy; I have no intention of being a third wheel," The turian then motioned for the scientists to move outside, "I'll be outside."

"Don't think you're escaping that easily, Garrus." Tali then hugged the turian as well, who looked more surprised than startled. Garrus smiled, "It's good to see you again too, Tali. Like I said, I'll be outside." With that, the turian strode on outside, striking a posture that said 'yeah, I killed a colossus and I'm casual about it.' Marcus and Tali simply laughed at the gesture.

After a bit they stopped. They embraced once more, Tali hugging him tighter than before, smiling contently behind her mask. Marcus smiled as well, just happy to have his perfect little quarian back. Although she probably wasn't little anymore. And very much outranked him.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Marcus finally asked, breaking away from Tali, but leaving a small peck on the side of her hood for good measure. Tali smiled once more at the gesture before dropping her smile.

"Yes, I found out why Haestrom's sun is destabilizing, it's dark energy. Aside from that, nothing. All just wasted lives. I just hope the admiralty board is satisfied with the information. If they're not, they can go to hell. I've long stopped forgiving them for such pointless endeavours."

"That does mean...you can join me...now?" Marcus hesitantly.

Tali felt a smile creep across her features, "Do you want me on your crew?"

"I think that's a stupid question."

"Well, I'm a stupid person."

"I wouldn't be here recruiting you if you were stupid, now would I?"

"I guess not."

Tali and Marcus continued to talk some time after that. Afterwards, Kal had confronted Marcus and thanked him, saying he was impressed by how he took down the colossus. After offering to take Myr's body back to the flotilla, Tali stated her intention to join Marcus' team and Kal said one last goodbye before taking what was left of his company and heading for the Hutbyk. They would be gone before the geth ground troops landed.

The Normandy was able to lead the geth on a wild goose chase, giving the frigate time to land, pick up the shuttle, hammerhead and the crew, and then take off. Tali watched out of the bay as she left Haestrom behind, the Normandy leaving the planet's atmosphere and heading straight for the Dholen Relay.

She was where she wanted to be. She was truly home.

"And I wasn't the only friendly face you ran into that week, was I?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"No, you weren't. However, I think it was the first time we actually fought our enemy head on. We showed them just who they were dealing with."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Author's Notes:

Google Translate. You useful little epitome of vegemite. Damn it; I'm hungry now. -_-

For those who don't get the chapter's title pun, it's meant to be play on a 'home, sweet home.'

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:

THE FACE OF THE ENEMY

August 21, 2185

1800 hours.

Engineering, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Power Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Propulsion Engineer Gabriella Daniels

"And welcome to engineering." Marcus stated, opening the door into engineering and showing the quarian inside. Ever since leaving Haestrom, Marcus had been giving Tali a tour of the new frigate. Tali was impressed by the SR-2, but she didn't really trust the cerberus crew, as was expected. The friendly faces were nice though, Joker being very happy to see the spunky quarian and doctor Chakwas greeting her with a smile. Tali was also happy to see Garrus again, having talked with him for a few minutes before being shown her new work place.

"As you can see, it's very different from the old Normandy's. The tantalus drive core is also much smaller than the original, along with a perfected stealth drive. Impressed?" Marcus continued. He smiled at how her posture changed and she ran past him, moving to the master control panel opposite Ken and Gabby, bouncing on her toes. Even after all this time she's still immensely cute.

"Marcus, it's look even better than the first! This place is so much bigger; and there's more terminals!" Tali brought up one of the terminals, touching multiple buttons and bringing up a schematic of the drive core. She then quickly turned to the spectre, who had been watching her, smiling. She didn't seem to notice this however, "Can I work here?"

"You're an engineer Tali, where else would you work?" Marcus retorted.

"That's not a yes."

"It's not a no."

"Who's the quarian lass?" Ken piped up, turning to face the group.

Tali was quick to turn to the engineer, narrowing her eyes at him, "Tali. Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema."

"I get the feeling she don't like us, Gabby." Ken turned away, looking scared off. Gabby simply rolled her eyes.

"Of course she does, we're wearing Cerberus uniforms."

Marcus shook his head, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, "Go easy on them Tali, they're really nice people. Besides, they only work for Cerberus because I'm here."

Tali shrugged, wringing her fingers, "Sorry."

"That's okay," Marcus responded, "Besides, you can be mean to them if you want anyway, because you're their new boss."

"Thanks, I...what?" Tali said, shocked.

"You're the Normandy's chief engineer," Marcus stated, "Congratulations."

Tali was shocked and the fact that Ken and Gabby spun around to face her and snap a salute only magnified this, "Thank you, Marcus. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. That's why I chose you."

"Thank you."

Before he knew it, Tali had spun back to face the two engineers, both eagerly waiting orders, "Well? What are you waiting for? Get back to work! I want a full diagnostics report by the time I get back. I want to know every inch of this ship."

"Yes ma'am!" Gabby responded, turning back to her console. Ken just turned back, mumbling under his breath, "Fiesty, that one is." Gabby simply elbowed him, prompting him to get back to work. Tali, satisfied they were working, strolled over to Marcus, wrapping her arms around him and leaning in close, "Could the captain show me to his cabin?"

Marcus allowed a warm smile to crease his features, "Of course. But I'm Commander, not Captain. Never reached that rank."

Tali smiled, sliding her arms off of his neck and letting her hand take his, "You're the commanding officer of the ship. You're the captain to me. Now come along, captain."

"I see. Must be a quarian thing." Marcus responded, before squeezing Tali's hand and walking out of engineering, taking the elevator straight to the top deck of the frigate and to the captain's quarters. When they reached the top, Tali made a beeline for the door, palming the green interface and opening it, dragging Marcus inside with her. When she stepped past the threshold of the cabin, she let out a gasp of surprise.

"Look at all this space!" She exclaimed, "A fish tank? A shower cubicle? A couch? And keelah, look at that bed!" Marcus simply chuckled at Tali's shocked expression as the quarian took to exploring more and more of the cabin. She eventually found herself being quick bored of the top section, instead moving down the steps onto the lower platform of the cabin, letting her hands stroke the milky white sheets. From the way the quarian leaned over to stroke the bed, the spectre was given a perfect view of her hips and buttocks. He drank the entire view in, piece by piece.

Eventually, Tali stood up and turned to face him, "For a captain to get such a privledge; it's unheard of on the fleet. But right now...you've got so much room to do things! How do you make use of all of it?"

Marcus simply smiled as he cleared the distance between the both of them, locking his arms around her and humming softly as she returned the gesture, leaning his forehead against her visor, "I just do. And trust me, I don't plan on keeping all these space for myself. I've got a very special woman I'd like to share it with."

He could tell Tali was blushing even behind her mask, "I don't know Marcus..."

"Why? Don't you want to?"

"No. I mean yes, I mean...keelah, how do you do this to me!" She tried to shy away and bury her helmet into his chest. Instead, he cupped her chin in his hand and gently pushed upwards so he could see into her mask, "Tali, if you think you're going to be an inconvience, you can drop that thought right now. I want you here. I need you here. These past few days have been really hard on me, and I need someone I care about to be by my side to pull me out of the fire. I care about and I want you in my life. So the door is open to you. It's always open to you."

Tali smiled warmly, leaning her visor against his forehead once more, "Then I will. If you want me here, then I will be here. Do you mind if I...move, my stuff...up here?"

"Of course not. You can use that table if you want," he then pointed to the table infront of his sofa, "I wouldn't mind you using my...our bed either."

"I'll think about it," Tali teased before sighing heavily, "I want to kiss you so much right now. It just reminds me of how much I hate this suit."

"I know you'll find a way," Marcus promised, taking her hands, "And I wouldn't care if I never got to see your face. Your beautiful even with the mask on. I don't need to see your face to prove that. As nice as it sounds."

"I want to be out of this suit, Marcus," Tali stated, "I need to feel your skin on mine. I need to feel you; to touch you, to be with you. I waited too long on the old Normandy; I won't let it happen again. Besides, with that salarian geneticist of yours, I might actually get my research done alot faster. As awkward as it will be asking a salarian for human sex advice."

"I don't think it'll be any less awkward for me when I ask for tips on quarian sexual positions. And yes, I will be asking that."

Tali giggled, "At least we don't have to worry about amino acid transfer or protection; you can't get me pregnant anyway. The only thing we have to worry about is consuming each other's saliva; consuming anything else will only cause my immune system to act up and for yours to destroy the offending proteins. I just hope I don't die during it."

That thought scared Marcus more than anything, "I won't do it if the risk is that great."

"Marcus, happiness was never achieved without taking risks," Tali answered, "Please, just let me have a chance."

"Okay. I don't want to risk your health, but I'm willing to wait."

Tali grinned cheekily behind her mask, keying her omni-tool and locking the cabin door, "You know...there is one thing I can do to you without taking the suit off."

"And...what's that?"

"This."

Before he knew it, Tali had guided him to the sofa and had pushed him into it, the spectre falling into it. Tali was next to him in a second, her hand moving up his leg and towards his pant's zipper. Before he could do anything, she grabbed hold of the zipper and pulled downwards, unzipping his pants and pulling them down slightly. Tali had never done this before, but she felt the sudden need to do it. Being away from him for so long had left this pent up need for her.

Soon, Marcus' pants had been pulled down to his knees, Marcus realizing what she was doing. Before long, Tali was looking at his boxers like they were alien. She suddenly became very nervous, her sexual drive being overwhelmed by her nervous reason. Keelah, should I do this? I don't know if I...

"Are you okay, Tali?" Marcus asked, beginning to pull up his pants. I knew I shouldn't have let her do this. She's rushed herself; I can't believe I-

Tali's sexual drive took over her once more. Her hand reached out and stopped him while the opposite hand grabbed hold of his boxers and pulled them down to his knees along with his pants. Tali gasped as she saw his erect organ quite literally pop out, the large organ standing straight out of his pants and the quarian eyed it wearily. She suddenly remembered her lessons in school about sexual education. Keelah, human penises aren't all that different from quarians. I can't believe I'm doing this. What are you doing Tali! You're simply a horny child...

No, I am a grown woman. I can't shy away like this. Grow up.

Before Marcus could once again have second thoughts, Tali's hand slowly slid up and stroked his erect organ. Marcus hummed in pleasure, desperately trying to hold back the moan he had been ready to let out at her touch. It was soft and silky; and that was only her gloves. Imagine her actual hands...

Eventually, her stroking stopped at his tip. Then, inhaling a deep breath, she clenched her hand around it and quickly pulled down. Marcus couldn't hold it back this time; he let out a moan of pleasure. Tali looked up at him and smiled, ableit weakly. At least I'm pleasuring my mate. She continued these sexual motions, gradually moving to rub it faster and faster. Then she made one of the biggest mistakes she could make; she hadn't noticed his moans intensifying into groans and had leaned closer. Before she knew it, Marcus had hit his climax.

She suddenly jumped backwards from her perch on the couch, squealing as she fell off the couch, surprised by the jet of white that now coated her mask. Her hands frantically moved to wipe the substance off, completely forgetting what it was. Keelah, human...reproductive cells...are white? Okay, that's definitely something different. These thoughts fled away as she continued trying to wipe away the substance, only managing to get it all over her hands.

"Keelah! Keelah, keelah, keelah!" Tali shouted in rapidfire, Marcus laughing his head off as he pulled up his boxers and pants, zipping up his pants as he moved towards his desk. Tali widened her eyes at him, "Marcus, don't abandon me! Get this stuff off me! Help!"

"What's this? A great quarian general defeated by sperm on her mask?" Marcus teased.

"I can't see!"

"You can see just fine, Tali."

"It's sticky and it's all over my hands!"

Any response from the spectre wasn't forthcoming. Instead, he grabbed a handful of tissues and approached the quarian who was sitting up, against the couch and just holding her hands infront of her, examining his seed like a scientist would a lab experiment.

"Don't worry, Tali. I'll save you from the evil seeds of Marcus Shepard."

"Keelah, you're horrible."

"And you're adorable. Maybe we should do that more. Besides, it makes it look like I've claimed you."

"You don't need to do...that, to me just to claim me. I think the crew already knows."

"Then I'll do it because your reaction is just too cute."

Leaning down, Marcus began to wipe Tali's hands off the sticky white seed, before moving to her visor. Just as he finished, they both broke out into a fit of laughing. It was cut off just as EDI's voice came over the comm; so well timed, you'd think the AI was watching.

"Commander, I'm sorry for interrupting, but the Illusive Man is trying to get a hold of you over the QEC."

"EDI, were you watching us?"

"It is a programming command built in as part of my coding by the Illusive Man," EDI responded, with what sounded like regret in the AI's tone, "As part of Cerberus regulations, I must record the activity of all the crew on the Normandy. Survillance devices are installed all over the ship allowing me to take video recordings of the crew and relay them to the Illusive Man. Including your cabin. And before you ask me not to, the information is relayed to Cerberus HQ via real time, meaning he is currently watching this conversation or is saving it."

"So in short, you were watching us the whole time." Marcus recapped his question.

"That is correct, commander."

"EDI."

"Yes, commander?"

"Please don't let Joker get his hands on that tape. And if you don't mind, please don't keep sending these videos to the Illusive Man. I have a right to my privacy. So does my crew. I hope that asshole realizes that."

"Very well, commander. Logging you out."

Marcus sighed as he stood up, throwing the soaked tissues in the bin as he held out his hand for Tali to take as he helped her up. Her strong, three-fingered hand grasped his and pulled her up just so her chest was pressed against his. He moved in closer, whispering into her ear.

"I'll have to treat you later."

"You can't. I'm in a suit."

"I don't need it off to treat you."

Tali's cheeks lit up a bright red at his comment. But she couldn't deny how much it made her light up inside. She would be looking forward to his treatment of her.

"I look forward to it, captain." Tali replied in her best sultry voice. It worked, as Marcus immediately smiled back at her and kissed her vocalizer, letting her go so they could both walk to the elevator, instead holding her hand as they went. He hit the CIC, waiting as the elevator slowly descended, all the while holding Tali's hand. It was good having Tali with him, knowing that he could protect her and that they weren't seperated by light years. Instead she was where she belonged; and he would keep her safe, no matter the cost.

I can't lose her like she lost me.

What felt like a few seconds too early, the elevator arrived at it's destination, the door sliding open and Marcus reluctantly was forced to let go of the engineer's hand as he moved towards the armoury to enter the debriefing room. Before he left, he quickly turned back to Tali, "Remember, that cabin is ours now. You're welcome in it whenever you want."

"I know, Marcus. And thank you. I'll see you later." With that, Tali hit the button for the engineering deck, the doors closing infront of her as the elevator continued it's descent. Marcus sighed and continued into the armoury, nodding to Jacob and Zaeed who were examining what looked to be Zaeed's avenger rifle, Jessie. Hitting the second door panel, he headed down the corridor into the debriefing room, waiting as the table was sucked into the ground and EDI made the connection.

Before long, the debriefing room vanished and was replaced by the darkness of the Illusive Man's personal HQ. 'Humanity's Sanctum', he called it. Marcus crossed his arms, once again filling the need to rip off the unclean cerberus attire he was forced to wear. Next time we're at the Citadel, I'm definitely going to be looking for something different to wear.

The Illusive Man, his body illuminated by the bright light of Anadius, sat, poised in his chair infront of the bright red sun, smoking his cigar. Waiting for Marcus' full form to ionize, he then spoke, "Shepard. I think we have them."

Marcus raised a brow at the leader of cerberus, "By them, I assume you mean the Collectors?"

The Illusive Man nodded, "One of our colonies in the Terminus Systems just went silent. The Alliance will of course blame it on a faulty-communications buoy, but we know the real reason; this is the prelude to a collector attack. If you act now, you can catch them in the act. If they're not under attack now, they soon will be."

Marcus nodded, noting the seriousness of the situation, "What's the colony?"

He took another puff of his cigar, "Horizon. It's located in the Shadow Sea Cluster, in the Iera System. It's a garden world with a radius of 5,402 kilometers. It has no moons and it's a purely human colony, as is expected of a colony chosen for collector attack. The capital city is Discovery, but we think their main target will be Colony Grandeur, as it's secluded and less chance of a military retaliation. It was founded in 2168 and has a current population of 1.5 million people."

"You're very informed," Marcus complimented, impressed by his knowledge.

"As humanity's sword, I tend to know everything about our own species. But that's besides the point. All you need to know is that the collectors have disabled Horizon's communications and are bound to attack any moment now."

Marcus was quick to inform the ship's pilot, "EDI, inform Joker that we have a course change. Get us to the colony of Horizon at best possible speed. I want us there yesterday."

"Affirmative, Shepard." EDI responded before disappearing. Marcus was about to leave, but apparently the Illusive Man wasn't done.

"Has Mordin developed the countermeasure for the seeker swarms? It is likely the collectors will use them in force and you need to be ready for them."

"I'll check in on his progress as soon as I'm done here," Marcus responded.

"One more thing you should know," TIM stated, "One of your former crew, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, is stationed on Horizon."

Marcus' brows knit together skeptically, "The collectors just happened to choose a colony with one of my former crew on it? That can't be pure coincidence."

TIM simply nodded, "It shouldn't be a surprise that the collectors are interested in you. Especially if they're working for the Reapers. It's quite possible they're going after him to get to you. This most likely explained the sudden geth presence on Haestrom; they found out a former crew member of yours was planetside, and sent their geth to eliminate her. Good job on recruiting Miss Zorah, I might add. She will make a great addition to your team. I've found the dossiers for two more potential recruits. I'll send them to you when you've repelled the attack on Horizon."

Marcus simply nodded, "Last you told me was that Kaidan was still Alliance. Why is he in the Terminus Systems?"

The Illusive Man took a sip of his whiskey before continuing, "Officially, it's an outreach program to improve Alliance relations with the outer colonies. Unofficially however, they are installing GARDIAN laser antiship weapons to see if they can catch the culprit attacking the colonies by surprise and disable them so they can find what they are dealing with. Staff Commander Alenko's presence only proves this. However, they don't know it's the collectors and don't realize that GARDIAN turrets won't cut it; a collector cruiser's kinetic barriers are too powerful. They need to hit it when it's on the ground."

"Wait, those bloody things are only cruisers?" Marcus asked in disbelief.

"And, so far, are the only collector variation of warship," TIM confirmed, "Despite a collector cruiser's offensive and defensive capabilities, it is no match for a Reaper. And soon, no match for the Normandy. I've been doing some research and I've managed to find a secret that the turians have been keeping since the Battle of the Citadel."

"What is it?" Marcus asked, curious.

"The turians did indeed do some searching of Sovereign's wreckage and found what looked like the reaper's main weapon. They surmised that it fires a shot of superheated metal that is then shot at extreme velocities, allowing it to bypass shields and rip through armor like butter, which is how the reaper's have been able to destroy our ships so easily. They've dubbed it the thanix cannon and have been secretly researching a way to mass-produce the weapon for their dreadnoughts, but haven't gotten the government funding."

"Where are you going with this?" Marcus asked.

"Some of my agents managed to acquire schematics for the weapon," TIM informed him, "I have uploaded them to EDI's database, along with the location of a cerberus drydock. My people will give you the power of the reapers Shepard; the Normandy will have it's own thanix cannon. And when you get it, that collector cruiser won't stand a chance."

Marcus nodded, "Two new recruits, a lead on the collectors and a weapon capable of making even a collector cruiser seem like space junk. I can't say you don't impress Illusive Man."

TIM simply smiled, "Cerberus only provides the best. Remember, this is the best lead we've ever had, don't let it slip. Good luck." With that, the Illusive Man terminated the connection. Marcus smiled darkly as he headed out of the room, asking EDI to send a copy of the thanix's schematics as he headed into the Tech Lab to see how Mordin's countermeasures were coming.

Upon entering, he watched as Mordin yelled in triumph, smiling broadly at his terminal. Upon seeing Marcus in the doorway, his grin became even wider, "Shepard! Excellent timing! Have great news! Just finished countermeasures. Will take but a day to convert into physical form for armor. Sterdy, but not infalliable however. Will only work against small numbers. Larger numbers...problematic."

"That's good Mordin. You better get that to Jacob immediately, because in a day, we'll be arriving at Horizon and we'll be hitting groundside. We're about to get a jump on our enemy and meet them head on."

"Glad to hear. Always wanted to see collector in person," Mordin responded, "Would like to get payment for plague on Omega."

Marcus simply gave the salarian a thumbs up, moving out of the tech lab and towards his cabin. The mission on Haestrom had been exhausting and he really needed the rest. Tali would be getting used to the Normandy's new engine room, which meant he wouldn't get distracted, allowing him to get some actual sleep. He smiled at the thought.

This mission seemed barable now.

{Loading...}

August 22, 2185

1527 hours.

Colony Transport Hub, Colony Grandeur, Northern Hemisphere, Horizon.

Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Colony President Lilith Abraham.

"Then tell them it's for their own good!" Kaidan pleaded.

"And then what? I tell them to expect an alliance militia at their doorstep? What will the rest of the colony think about alliance tanks surrounding our colony? Panic is one thing, but this won't spark fear, it will spark outrage. We were a peaceful colony until the alliance turned up." Lilith retorted, continuing to walk through the colony as Kaidan followed alongside her.

"We only want to protect you so you can continue to be a peaceful colony!" Kaidan continued, "Besides, it's not my decision. The brass at Arcturus have decided that this is the best way to keep the colony safe."

"And let me guess, you weren't responsible for our loss of communications?" Lilith replied, stopping and turning to face Kaidan, who also stopped to face the woman, determination in his face.

"No, we weren't," Kaidan stated, "That's why we know this colony is next. We always lose communications with a colony before an attack. That's how we know Horizon is about to be hit. Which is how we are going to catch these sons of bitches offguard."

"Oh really, you're going to catch them offguard with AAA guns that don't even work yet?" Lilith asked skeptically.

"Our techs and your mechanics are working on it constantly. They'll get it done," Kaidan explained, "Your people will be safe, I promise."

Lilith still didn't look all that convinced as she let out a breath of air, "So we've got non-operational anti-ship guns that don't work yet and a platoon of marines to defend us. Why couldn't we just be left alone? We were never a target before you started setting up camp. The people are starting to wonder if you're the catalyst for our abduction too."

Kaidan sighed as he moved to respond to Lilith, but the woman was already moving again, walking towards the entrance to the processing plant, "That's not true. Horizon was always bound to get invaded; it was only a matter of time. My platoon's presence here is the only reason you have a chance at fighting off these people."

Lilith, outraged, turned back to him, jabbing a finger into his armoured chest, "And who decides to make you the judge of that? We can handle ourselves!"

"These people have the technology to make entire colonies disappear without so much as living a single trace of evidence behind. Not one body. Now tell me, how do you plan on fighting something like that? Chances are the other colonies thought they could fight them off too. Look how they turned out."

Lilith punched him in the face, "I will not have my people endangered by the Alliance or by you! We're sick of the Alliance and it's crap! You're going to get us all killed! Why do you think we ran off into the Terminus Systems? To get away from the Alliance! That's why!"

"You're no safer in the Terminus than you are in Alliance space," Kaidan retorted, ignoring the injury she caused him, "Forget pirates and slavers! These people don't mess around! If they want to take your colony, they'll do it without so much as leaving a trace of their presence! We can't afford to muck-around, Abraham!"

"These people depend on me!" Lilith stated, the words reminding Kaidan of Fai Dan's words back on Feros two years ago. That was before the man had taken his own life; his thrall under the Thorian making him turn on them, only for him to sacrifice himself, "I will not-"

"Sir!" It was the voice of Gunnery Sergeant Kahleigh Waters.

He keyed his omni-tool and brought up Kahleigh's face on video as Lilith waved a dismissive hand, walking away, "What is it, Gunnery Sergeant?"

"The rest of the orbital buoys just went silent! Not just silent though, they just plummeted into the atmosphere," Kahleigh stated with fear, "And ground-to-air radar just picked up a massive object entering the atmosphere. And by massive, I mean just over two-kilometers long sir. It's goddamn huge. And due to it's deliberate movements, we think it might be a ship. We've matched it with known ship profiles. It matches..."

"Sovereign..." Kaidan muttered. A Reaper. You idiot, of course the Reapers are responsible! And to think I thought it was..."So it wasn't Cerberus taking the colonies. It was the Reapers."

"You really believe that, sir?"

"You're damn right I do, gunnery sergeant."

"What do we do, staff commander? If this really is a 'reaper', then we don't have the weapons to take it down. It took the entire fifth fleet to destroy Sovereign. What do we do?"

"We meet them head on," Kaidan ordered, noticing that Lilith had been listening the whole time, "Lilith, evacuate everyone from the colony and head for Discovery. We'll try our best to hold this thing here." Lilith nodded, moving to help everyone get out of the colony. Kaidan deactivated his omni-tool and readied his harrier assault rifle, the weapon looking alot like a Cerberus mattock, but instead was automatic and of Alliance make. He nodded for his platoon to assume defensive positions as the sky began to blacken, a large booming sound being heard as the ship descended from the clouds.

He took position behind a crate, Kahleigh opposite him. He then readied his rifle so he was looking down the scope, aiming directly at the source of the noise. When it erupted from the clouds, it was not what he was expecting. Instead of seeing the terrifying silhoutte of a massive squid-shaped dreadnought, he looked up at something far more horrific. A huge, organic, metal-looking pillar of numerous insect-like design architecture appeared, two-kilometer bulk filling the sky. And surrounding it, was the source of the black cloud.

A massive swarm of insects, all descending upon the colony.

He heard a familiar scream as he whirled around and saw Lilith and the colonists, looking at the black horde descending upon them as they turned tail and ran. He was angry at her for not evacuating them, but dropped the thought as he ordered his team to open fire on the insects and soon, a wave of gunfire poured into the horde that blackened the colony like a massive blanket.

One by one, assault rifles ripped through the swarm, taking down hundreds of insects. But it wasn't enough. For every bug shot down, a hundred replaced it. When he finally ordered a retreat, it was too late. The horde smashed into their ranks, quickly overwhelming the marines. He watched as one of the bugs latched onto Kahleigh's unarmoured neck and bit her, flying off as she groaned in pain, only for her body to cease movement as she froze. He watched, one by one, as all his marines were bitten and frozen.

Before he could run, he felt a bug land on his hand. He tried to shake it off in panic, but the bug was too quick. It bit him and he immediately found his body stopped responding to his brain's commands. Like lights going out in a city wide blackout, he lost sense of all his nerves, soon feeling like his whole body was missing except his eyes, only able to look around in horror as he found himself unable to move. Forced to watch as the insects continued around the colony, freezing colonist after colonist.

He was forced to watch as Lilith tripped over, her husband abandoning her to save himself, only to succumb to the horde himself. Watching helplessly as the insect bit her in the neck, freezing Lilith completely. He now realized how this...enemy, managed to take the colonists without causing a battle.

Only this time, Kaidan wouldn't live to tell anyone.

{Loading...}

August 22, 2185

1538 hours.

Colony Outskirts, Colony Grandeur, Northern Hemisphere, Horizon.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Professor Mordin Solus, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

The shuttle quickly found itself flooring it towards the colony, only just being able to avoid detection by the collector cruiser that had landed in the heart of the colony. Like in the videos on Freedom's Progress that Veetor had shown them, the collector warship stood like a solid pillar made of a honeycomb of organic and steel architecture combined. It was frightening to know just how big the vessel was. And Marcus finally got to see it. He had seen it just before he died over Alchera, but that was in combat. This time, it wasn't attacking them.

When the shuttle hatch popped open, he quickly ordered his team to file out. He smiled at Tali as she gave him a glancing look, geth plasma shotgun folded out in her hands. After collecting the geth weapons on Haestrom, he had decided to use them, giving Tali the plasma shotgun while keeping the pulse rifle for himself, deciding to let Grunt have a taste of the power of a Valkyrie. Apparently the krogan agreed with it.

Marcus waited until his crew had all filed out of the shuttle before following them, geth pulse rifle folding out into his hands as he unholstered it. Horizon reminded him much of Earth; green plains and a blue sky with large cloud coverage. Come to think of it, apart from Eden Prime, Horizon was the only real garden world he had been to aside from Earth. And to think that it was the first place he'd face his enemy face to face, like his first time fighting geth on Eden Prime, just filled the moment with surreal irony.

"You're absolutely sure this stuff works, Solus?" Jack asked, appearing unhappy with the anti-seeker vest she was wearing, "Because this shit smells nasty."

"Have never tested out on field. Should be interesting to see in field use. Should make us invisible to swarms. In theory." Mordin responded as they moved forward, Tali deciding to stick as close to Marcus as possible.

"In...theory?" Tali asked skeptically.

"Like I said, never tried before. Experimental technology. Will be fascinating to see in action."

"I feel like a glorified test dummy," Garrus responded snarkily.

"Bloody oath," Zaeed stated.

"At least I have a cloak to fall back on if shit hits the fan," Kasumi added. Everyone simply glared at her as she held up her hands in defense, "Okay then, guess I shouldn't have said that."

"Obviously." Tali teased.

"Coming from the buckethead," Kasumi countered, "The name is Kasumi. Kasumi Goto, at your service."

"Um...hello, my name is Tali. Tali'Zorah vas Neema."

"Ooohhh...that's a mouth full. Mind if I just call ya Tali? Or maybe 'fishbowl?'"

"Fish...you know what, don't even want to know. I think Tali will be just fine."

"Okay, cut the chatter," Marcus piped up, "Motion tracker's picking up movement up ahead, squad-sized. Keep low and quiet. I want to take these bastards by surprise. Kasumi, you're up. Do what you do best."

"What, steal their guns?"

"No, stealth."

"I know. Just messin with ya, Shep."

Marcus and his squad quickly moved up ahead into a small cargo port where they quickly found the source of the tracker pings. He motioned his team into positions surrounding the small area and took position just ahead of the targets before taking a peek at his foe. They looked just as they had in the recording; two-legged insectoid creatures with chittin-like bodies, a pyramid shaped head and four eyes, all aligned vertically. Just like then, he kept feeling like he'd seen seen them before. In their arms were equally insectoid looking assault rifles, making clicking sounds as they patrolled the area.

"Kasumi, take the one just below the ramp. We'll open fire on the rest when you've made your move."

"Copy that, Shep."

Marcus waited for Kasumi's move. He heard the sound of an omni-blade extending over the comm followed by a choking insect sound. Turning, he watched as Kasumi dragged the dead body of a collector on the floor and behind a crate. With a nod from the thief, he ordered his team to ambush the collector squad.

He was immediately up and over, gunfire reaping from his pulse rifle and into the nearest collector. He was surprised when the first round hit flesh; the collectors seeming to possess no kinetic barriers. They obviously weren't prepared for retaliation. The seeker swarms, to their fortune, completely ignored them, proving that Mordin's countermeasures worked. His team was merciless in killing the enemy squad and soon, all the collectors in the area were dead.

"That was way too easy," Zaeed stated.

"Hey, don't jinx it," Marcus added.

"They have no shields, but their weapons certainly pack a nasty bite," Garrus stated, "Their assault rifles ripped through my shield like it was made of plastic. I'd recommend keeping our heads down. Still, I find it odd they wouldn't equip their troops with kinetic shields."

"I think it makes sense," Tali added, "They've been on a streak of abducting defenseless colony after defenseless colony. They really don't see the point I've giving them shields when ground resistance is rendered inert by their swarms. Any people leftover could be dispatched with assault rifles. They didn't expect retaliation; it's an advantage we should press."

"Agreed. We keep moving into the colony and stop the collectors from abducting this colony," Marcus ordered and the squad quickly moved up ahead and towards the actual colony's boundries. Just as they reached the colony, he tried to comm the Normandy, "Joker, how's the Normandy holding. I need a schematic of that collector cruiser if we're going to board it."

"Commander...we're getting...all kinds...ference...can't maintain...out." His comm then died, the static overwhelming it. It was clear the collector had deployed a jamming device to block their communication; and if that was true, then they were now alerted to their presence. They had to act quickly if they wanted to save the colonists.

They quickly came across an empty area emptying into a township off to the right. It was a large area with a prefab house to the right and a playground in the middle, followed by the main colony off to the left. They proceeded into the colony, Marcus taking point while Tali and Garrus, as always, had his back. The people he could depend on.

"Here they come!" Grunt shouted. He was right. Jumping over the threshold of some buildings to the left was another squad of collectors. But they weren't jumping; they were flying. They had insect-like wings that allowed them to fly through the air, beating away as they fell towards the ground, all landing with a thump as said wings were folded away and they raised their weapons in welcome.

However, one of them looked different from the others. This one had spine line appendages, similiar to turians, poking out of it's head and had a larger body, not to mention a longer and deadlier looking weapon. Jacob fired a shot at it and quickly found his shot had hit a kinetic barrier, it's head whipping around to the cerberus soldier. Must be a field commander. Collectors must really know we're here if they're sending in the heavies.

This suspicion of a heavy was confirmed as the new collector, a captain, fired at them, powerful orange beam firing out of the weapon and just missing, but cutting right through the wall next to them and penetrating deep, leaving a searing hot bulkhead. A particle beam. He ordered his team into cover as the collector captain continued it's assault, red hot beams slicing through the air, desperately trying to hit a target, it's soldiers pressing on their position.

"Tali, do you still have Chiktika?"

"Of course."

"Then deploy her," Marcus ordered, not even peeking as he raised his weapon over cover and let out a frenzied burst; managing to catch a collector if the screeching sound that followed wasn't any indication. He quickly lowered back down as the captain locked on and fired, beam impacting his shield. He did so in record time as well; his shields being drained to 9% and only beginning to recharge. Luckily, Chiktika was quick to rescue, flying over to the collectors and harassing them as he ordered Grunt, Garrus and Mordin to follow him into the prefab bunker, hoping to get a chance to flank the collector forces.

"Grunt, focus on that captain. Take him down," Marcus ordered, "Garrus, Mordin and I will pick off the rest with suppression fire from the rest."

"What's a captain?" Grunt asked.

"Long story short; it's that asshole with that particle rifle. The guy who's being a real pain in the ass right now." Garrus answered instead.

"Tactically sound. Collector captain poses largest threat. Remaining collector troops sent into disarray without leader. Due to insect-like appearence, safe to assume hive mind."

"Assumptions are dangerous," Marcus retorted before motioning for Grunt to charge the collector leader. Due to the collectors focusing their fire on the other part of his team, Grunt went unnoticed until he was a meter away from the captain, to which it turned around to retaliate. But by then, it was too late. Grunt roared as he thrusted his shotgun into the bottom of the collector's jaw, squeezing the trigger.

Disgusting green gore erupted from the captain as it's head was split from the blast, barriers bypassed and unable to save it. It's weapon went limp as it dropped it, body falling backwards into a wall. A collector charged Grunt, but the krogan had already picked up the beam rifle and turned on the spot, firing. A searing hot shot of particled energy sliced through the collector, decapitating it in one shot, head falling to the ground. Grunt laughed loudly, examining the weapon.

"I love this gun! Battlemaster, may I keep it?"

"For now Grunt...yes, yes you can."

"Time to kill some more bugs!"

Marcus and his team merely watched as Grunt slaughtered the remaining collectors, the walking enigmas simply refusing to surrender as they tried to take the krogan soldier down, but he mercilessly cut into them with the particle rifle, only having to stop occassionally to let the weapon dissipate heat; the rifle using a heating system similiar to weapons from two years ago instead of thermal clips.

After what seemed like next to no time at all, Grunt had crushed the skull of the last collector with his boot, Marcus motioning for his squad to continue into the colony. After all that commotion, the collectors were definitely awake now. And judging by the size of the cruiser alone, they'd have a field army's worth of collector forces to rake on through to get through the colony.

Suddenly, as Marcus turned the corner, a familiar moan followed by a screech alerted him as someone tackled him to the ground, trying to tear his helmet off. He twisted his body around to see what looked like blue, synthetic eyes and what looked like a once human form, but only twisted into a deformed, synthetic abomination of a creature. He had fought these creatures before. They were the ones he had thought the geth had created.

They were called husks.

A plasma shotgun tore the husk apart, ending it's assault as it's body was torn from the spectre and was sent flying into a wall, crumbling to the ground, dead.

"You're so useless without me, Marcus."

"I try not to be."

"Yet you'd have better luck dancing."

"Hey, don't bring my dancing into this."

Garrus' cough cut through the silence, "Don't we have more pressing issues? Like, what the fuck is a husk doing on Horizon? I thought the geth made them."

"Well it's quite obvious they didn't," Marcus explained, "The husks were always a reaper manifestation. The dragon's teeth were of reaper design. The husks were never geth made, they always belonged to the Reapers. Which only proves the collectors are involved with them. Come on, we've got to keep moving."

For another few minutes the colony seemed quiet. They came across the numerous frozen bodies of colonists not yet taken aboard the collector vessel, all looking at them as they passed, eyes begging for them to be saved. Despite them, he was more worried about Kaidan. What if they've already taken him aboard their ship? Can EDI even find us a way into the ship?

Finally, their look broke when a deep, bass voice echoed through the colony. They had been advancing towards what looked like a garage when they heard the roar, followed by what felt like mind-drilling words, a voice that seemed to breach the inner corner of his mind. He barely noticed as he slipped into cover as more collectors, lead by two captains, came streaming into the scene, keeping them pinned.

"Shepard."

"Shepard, I think those captains are the least of our problems!" Garrus shouted, pointing to a new collector on the scene. Marcus looked towards it and found himself frozen to the spot. It looked like a normal collector drone, as he called the normal troops, but there was noticable differences. The collector's body was riddled with cracks and fissures, bouts of flame and heat eminating from it's body; it's eyes glowing with an orange intensity. It carried a single collector assault rifle, single-handedly, across the battlefield, eying them.

"You cannot hide from me, Shepard."

Again with the voice. He realized now that the voice was coming from the collector he was looking at; yet it wasn't. He knew the voice came from the collector, but it just felt like that the creature wasn't even the one talking. Like something was talking through it...

"He ain't hiding, piece of shit!" Zaeed yelled, charging forward and firing at the collector lieutenant, who was clearly the collector commander. The leader quickly raised a three-fingered hand, somekind of orange biotic barrier eminating from it's body and shielding it, stopping Zaeed's attack stone dead. Before Zaeed could collect himself, the collector spoke once more.

"Your attacks are futile, human. You are but bacteria fighting purity."

Before Zaeed could retort with another one of his colorful insults, the leader dropped it's barrier and it was now that Marcus noticed a shimmering orange orb of energy forming in it's other hand. Before he could yell for Zaeed to get to cover, the beast thrusted it's hand forward, letting loose a orange biotic warp at the mercenary. Without even thinking, Marcus leapt from cover and jumped infront of Zaeed, raising a biotic barrier just in time to absorb the blast. The leader raised it's rifle at him.

"You cannot fight your ascension, Shepard. You will all perish in the fires of salvation. Your galaxy is but a pinprick to the grand scale of the universe. A puff of smoke in the grand scheme of universal workings."

Marcus found the words the creature used to be similiar. He instantly recognized what was talking through this thing. But it couldn't be possible. It just couldn't be. Not here, not now...

"What...what are you?"

"We are the agents of your destruction. You will be harvested; we are the catalyst for your downfall. Your harvest is essential."

It has to be. This thing...it's a Reaper. But I thought Sovereign was the only Reaper left behind?

"We are Harbinger. We are your salvation through destruction."

Before he knew it, the collector leader began it's assault, rifle rounds chewing through his shields rapidly. He rose his barrier once more as he ordered Jack to hit the collector with a biotic attack. Jack nodded, launching warp field after warp field into the collector, forcing it into retreat.

"We are pure. You are bacteria."

"Fuck you, bug-turd!" Jack barked, continuing her assault before having to retreat, several collectors already moving to flank her. She managed to rip apart one of them with a biotic flare before sending another three flying back with a shockwave. She retreated behind cover just in time to avoid a particle rifle shot from a nearby captain, who quickly lost it's head to Garrus' sniper rifle.

Marcus charged forward, focusing all his firepower on Harbinger. Unlike the other mindless drones, Harbinger utilized his pawn to great effect, dodging Marcus' shots while keeping his team pinned with assault rifle fire and biotic attacks. It was a freak of nature. Just as he turned the corner, two drones and a third captain attempted to ambush him, only for him to use reave on one drone and to barrel into the captain like a biotic missile, tearing it from it's position and sending it flying into a wall, followed by a loud crunch.

He moved to try and take care of the second drone, but underestimated the speed of it's counterattack. Searing pain went up and down his arm as he felt a collector's razor-sharp talons dig into his shoulder. It took all the determination he could muster to activate his omni-blade and hurl it into the collector's face, impacting one of it's eyes.

His visor was immediately coated in a thick layer of collector body fluid as it's eye exploded from the impact, the collector doubling back and ripping out it's talons. With his omni-blade out, he activated his omni-bow and aimed it directly at the collector's left leg. He fired, a molten-hot surge of energy impacting it's leg and blowing it off, causing it to scream once more. The pain in his own injury dumbed down; medi-gel coating the wound. The drone reached for it's weapon in a last act of defiance, but had was gunned down as he emptied a clip from his SMG into it's head.

He quickly picked up his pulse rifle, rounding the corner and hoping to get the jump on Harbinger. Instead, he came face to face with a trio of husks. They snarled and moaned as they spotted the spectre, charging at him even as he flared up his biotics. He managed to grab two husks and throw them away, but the other tackled him to the ground, once again trying to rip his helmet off so it could tear his throat out with it's teeth.

He struggled to keep it off him as an idea lit up in his mind; his hand fumbling for a grenade on his belt. Finding one, he grabbed the husk's neck and primed the explosive, shoving it into the abomination's open mouth. With a final roar of fury, Marcus kicked the husk, sending it hurling at it's approaching brethen, for lack of a better term. A great explosion hit him with a wave of heat, followed by rotten slabs of synthetic flesh, black, oily fluid that served as the husk's blood coating his armor. Struggling to his feet, he picked up his pulse rifle and once more trudged on. By this point, the collectors were in retreat once more.

But he could tell Harbinger wasn't down yet; his team would have said so if it was. He looked around for the beast, deciding to unholster his claymore and continue searching, only for Harbinger to find him.

"You're resistance is admirable, Shepard. However, your time for victory is not forthcoming. You will succumb to the envitable."

Marcus was unable to combat the incoming biotic blast, even if he wanted to. His weapon was knocked from his hand, his body battered aside as he collided into the ground, boiling pain surrounding his chest. When he turned to see it, he saw that his kinetic barriers had failed and the chest section of his armor was completely scorched. Standing above and approaching, was Harbinger.

"We can beat you," Marcus retorted, "I sent Sovereign to hell! I'll do the same to you and the rest of your kin! This galaxy is going to kick your ass!"

Marcus suddenly felt control over his body loosen and disappear entirely. Almost immediately, his body became like a puppet, Harbinger raising his hand as if he was the puppetmaster; directing Marcus' movements. He raised his hand and Marcus' body was thrusted upwards, standing up even if he didn't want to.

"You are nothing. You've changed nothing. The loss of Sovereign will not damage our cohesion. Their sacrifice will be remembered when our numbers darken the sky of every world. Your resistance will crumble. Your worlds will burn. Your people will die. All those you love will be harvested and risen to perfection. Those you hold dearly will watch as their kin are reduced to foot soldiers for our bidding. Cannon fodder to be discarded when useless. You are nothing. We are everything. We are omnipotent. We are universal. And you...mean nothing."

Before Marcus could mouth a response, a familiar, soothing voice responded, but this time laced with fear and determination, but most of all, fury.

"He's everything to me!"

Harbinger's head turned at an unnatural angle to face his new foe. He was instead met with a combat drone that zapped at him. Harbinger dropped Marcus to the ground as he raised his rifle to eliminate the threat. Then, from the left, he was hit by an incendiary attack, taking notice and turning to face Mordin. Then he was hit by a warp from the right; Jack. More and more of his squad appeared, hammering Harbinger from all sides.

"Harvest this, bosh'tet!" Tali shouted one last time as she appeared from nowhere, cloak depleted as she thrusted her plasma shotgun into Harbinger's chest. Harbinger swatted it upwards, only for the quarian to press the trigger and unleash the round straight through it's throat. Harbinger fell to the ground, boiling green blood splattering the ground in pools as the defeated collector fell down, limp. They had defeated Harbinger's pawn.

"I will find you again, Shepard."

Before their very eyes, they watched as the dead collector's body broke down and eventually turned into ash, the wind scattering the dust along the sky. All that was left of the upgraded drone was the assault rifle it had held. He suddenly found Tali kneeling next to him, tossing Kasumi back her cloak, who nodded in appreciation as she hooked it back up to her omni-tool. Chiktika dropped at Tali's feet.

"Stupid bosh'tet," Tali chastised him, "Look at yourself. When are you going to stop running into trouble without backup?"

He allowed himself a weak smile as he pushed himself to his feet, aching shoulder and chest no longer burning with pain, "When I stop having something to fight for. Harbinger was one tough SOB."

"You can say that again," Garrus stated, "But now that we have another Reaper to fight, it doesn't sound like things are going to get easier. This just puts the nail in the coffin of the argument about how the reapers aren't involved in this. And by the way it referred to Sovereign, it seemed almost to be condescending. Shepard, what if this reaper is more powerful than Sovereign? And how did it get control over you?"

"It's quite likely," Marcus responded, picking up his pulse rifle, "But we don't have time to think that through. Right now, we've got a colony of people to save. Let's keep moving; let's just hope we don't run into Harbinger again. I don't think that was his only pawn. How he was controlling me? I'd guess it was my cybernetics. I'll have to keep an eye on them."

The team moved on ahead while Tali looked at him with concern. Noone else would be able to tell, but he could see it in her eyes. He was the only person, to his knowledge, who could. He smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be okay, Tali. Really. I'll have Doctor Chakwas take a look at me when we get back to the Normandy."

"You'd better," Tali stated back, "Or I'll pull rank on you." With that, Tali moved past him and up ahead, Marcus only shaking his head at her concern. God he loved her. He cast one more glimpse at the original location of Harbinger's dead pawn before moving on.

Army of powerful soldiers, check. Reaper mastermind, check. Now we just need a Saren to complete the mix.

{Loading...}

August 22, 2185

1609 hours.

Exterior Courtyard, Colony Grandeur, Northern Hemisphere, Horizon.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Professor Mordin Solus, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack.

Click. Bang. Thump. He squeezed the trigger of his claymore and let loose a shell of pure fiery tungsten, the shell ripping apart the husk mid charge. He made sure the room was clear before moving further inside, slotting a new round into the heavy shotgun's chamber, Tali quick behind him. He looked to the building on the right to see Garrus leading the rest of the team on the right flank while he took Tali, Mordin and Miranda. The collector resistance was actually getting lighter rather than heavier, with only one captain and a squad of drones coming to intercept them.

They were now converging through the exterior sector of the courtyard, trying to access the blast door blocking them from the main courtyard. After breaching the garage, they had found a colonist who had managed to survive the seeker invasion; a mechanic by the name of Delan. He explained his situation and told them about a GARDIAN anti-invasion system located in the middle of the courtyard. After having EDI break through the collector's jamming frequencies, the AI informed them that they couldn't access the cruiser and would have to stop it from escaping using the GARDIAN's to disable it. Now here they were, fighting to reach the GARDIANs.

Finally, they reached the entrance into the blast door's compound. Before they could enter it however, Garrus' voice shouted over the comm, "Shepard, we've got somekind of uber husk at the blast door. Actually...it looks like multiple husks melded together. Just keep back; it's got a heavy cannon and it almost ripped Jack apart."

"Copy that, we'll attempt to flank it," Marcus informed the turian, motioning for his team to take positions on either side of the door. As soon as they were, he opened the door and looked towards the hostile. The beast was massive; it was Wrex's size if not slightly larger and looked like an overgrown rock with legs. And he immediately saw what Garrus meant by multiple husks. The creature was, quite literally, just three husks merged together to form one entity. One husk acted as the two legs, another acted as the holder for a huge cannon pointing out of its left side while the third made up the rest of it's biomass. A chorus of cries eminated from the beast, all three husks letting out moans that were filled with death.

It's back glowed intently, it's skin transparent with a pulsing blue glow, almost like biotics. It was a hybrid. He knew what this creature was called. A Scion. With complete silence, Marcus gathered a orb of biotic energy in his hand, motioning for Miranda to lift a barrier over them as they assaulted the scion from behind. Just as she did, the resulting sound caused the beast to turn around with surprising speed, it's cannon firing thrice and pounding upon the shield, all three shots like being hit with a heavy cannon. All up, those three shots made up the force of a single claymore round.

His biotic warp hit the scion, tearing the head of the top husk off, head sent flying into Kasumi, the thief squealing as she threw the head away. The last two husks on the creature groaned, firing another three shots as Tali and Mordin combined their fire on the creature. Bits of hanging flesh fell of in strands; black, oily blood secrating the ground in thick drops. By the time Miranda used her barrier to knock the scion off balanced, they had closed the distance and Marcus and Tali combined shotgun fire to finish it off.

"By the spirits, what other horrors do the collectors have at their disposal?" Garrus exclaimed, taking time for a breather as Zaeed spat on the dead creature's corpse. Tali was already at work; hacking into the blast door and opening it.

"Let's hope nothing else," Kasumi added, still wiping black oil secrations off of her hoodie. The blast door finally finished opening and Marcus took a long look of the courtyard. It was long and lengthy; grass fields and bushes littering the area. In the middle was a pedestal where a control panel was located. Marcus could see the tips of two GARDIAN towers to his left and right; all linked to that single terminal. Buildings were located on the perimeter and towering before them was the massive column that was the collector warship.

He ordered his team into defensive postures; Kasumi and Tali with him, moving up to the pedestal, Garrus and Grunt protecting the blast door, Grunt and Jack on the bridge to the left, Mordin and Zaeed to the right and Jack, Miranda and Jacob up ahead to secure the forward position. When they finally reached the pedestal, he took a defensive position next to the pedestal. Most of the colony had been abducted by now. That was half the colony. It had to stop here. That cruiser wasn't getting away.

"Bosh'tet," Tali cursed.

"What's wrong, Angel?"

"I...wait, Angel?"

Kasumi gave the quarian a snarky grin, leaning in to whisper, "I may have gone digging into your records...learnt a few nicknames from your days fighting Saren."

Tali shook her head, "Even I don't remember that. Keelah, I'm not sure even Marcus remembers that."

"Oh, I remember it," Marcus stated, smiling at the two women, "I was the one who gave you that name. How could I forget it? Besides, it's only befitting of your personality."

Tali blushed under his mask, "Oh, be quiet...Leonidas."

"Leonidas?" Kasumi piped up, "Can I get a nickname?"

Marcus groaned. Kasumi and Tali giggled in unison. Then they remembered just why Tali had cursed in the first place. They looked back to the console to find the readouts.

"Marcus, the GARDIANs can be charged up but we need some AI processing power to charge it," Tali stated.

"I think this is where my help is required," EDI piped up over the comm.

"I said AI, not VI," Tali responded.

"Your assumption that I'm a VI is incorrect. My emotional processes disproves this. I am in fact an AI."

Tali look wide eyed at Marcus, "Why wasn't I told there was an AI onboard?"

"I didn't want you to freak out," He responded sheepishly.

"I smell some friction," Kasumi mumbled. Marcus and Tali both, simultaneously, tossed glares at the thief who simply poked her tongue at them. Tali was surprised when the console lit up seemingly on its own, glowing with power as it began charging. EDI's voice came through the comm's once more, "Charging sequence has begun. However, I am afraid to inform you that I cannot mask the increased generator output. The cruiser has detected the power surge and will most likely be deploying ground forces to destroy the guns."

Marcus cursed, "Any more suggestions?"

"Yes," EDI responded, with a lace of sarcasm, "You have inbound hostile forces. I recommend fortifying your position. This process will take ten minutes."

Marcus could already here the beat of insectoid wings as the collector's advanced towards them, "Everyone, get ready! Defend the guns from the enemy! We lose those guns and the colony won't stand a chance."

It wasn't long before the collectors began their assault. They came in hordes this time, having clearly been taking pods to their ship before being redeployed to stop them. The seeker swarms were all but gone, having returned to their masters onboard the enormous vessel. Despite the enormous hordes of collectors however, they were easily repelled. All that attacked them was swarms of drones with the odd captain, which was easily cut down by Grunt's stolen particle rifle. Husks and Scions obviously couldn't fly, so they didn't encounter those either. All in all, the collector forces were easily pushed back.

"Assuming Direct Control."

Marcus felt shudders course through his body as he turned around his cover to see a drone begin to screech in pain. He continued to watch as orange energy coursed through it's body, fissures opening up in it's chitin armor and flame pouring out, orange glow appearing in it's eyes and continually increasing.

Finally, the collector's body gave a burst of orange energy, completing it's transformation into the reaper-controlled monster, orange biotics coursing through it's body.

"Your continuation to resist is becoming a frustration," Harbinger's voice echoed, taunting him.

"I'm sorry to inconvience you."

"I know of those you would die to protect," Harbinger continued, "The quarian; you hold her with extreme care. Without her, your cohesion in battle would falter. She is your weakness; the wire to the post that must be cut loose."

Anger boiled in him as he observed Harbinger approaching the quarian's position, the young engineer unaware, "I'll cut you loose. I cut Sovereign loose. You'll fall too."

"Sovereign's greatest weakness was exposure," Harbinger boomed, raising a biotic fist towards the quarian. This time, Marcus did react, charging at the collector, "We experience no such problem. We cannot be exposed. We see your galaxy; begging to be harvested. Begging to be saved. We are the chaos imposed on organic evolution. Your defeat is a prophecy that was determined many millenia ago when our creators were harvested."

"I've got a prophecy for you," Marcus roared, Harbinger turning to face him with an almost satisified look, "Go to hell."

His biotic fist impacted the side of Harbinger's jaw, doubling it over. It quickly recovered it's balance however and combated his biotic fist with it's own to his chest. He grunted in pain, trying to counter with a footsweep. But the collector was like stone; it refused to budge even as his leg hit it, the collector simply picking him up with a single talon clasped around his throat.

"You will witness ascension."

"Witness this."

Marcus' omni-bow met Harbinger's neck faster than it could react. He fired and was sent flying backwards from the blast, a gaping hole left in Harbinger's neck. It's head hung on an angle and before he knew it, it's body once again dissolved into ashes, once again defeated. Marcus now realized that Harbinger could assume control of any collector it wished. Even the captains.

"Releasing control," Harbinger's words echoed into the wind, followed by a loud screech as the remaining collector troops flew away, returning to the ship. Once gone, the screech returned. It wasn't collector. It wasn't a husk or a scion. It was something much worse. A massive, mechanical scream that sent chills down his spine.

Just as he moved into a crouch next to Tali, the creature appeared on the horizon, arriving from the ship. It was a massive beast, gliding through the air. It was covered in extremely thick, purple armor, glistening in Horizon's sun. Four legs trailed from it, along with four, purple eyes aligned vertically along it's hull. It's mouth opened, revealing a sickening sight; thirty husks, all merged together. The massive beast, a praetorian, slammed into the ground, eyes glowing before letting loose a twin beam of purple energy, slicing a few crates in half as it drifted towards Tali and himself. He crashed into the quarian, pushing her out of the way as the beam hit the crate, slicing it up.

Marcus turned over to find the praetorian looming over them, preparing to lash out. He knew there was no hope of moving in time. The praetorian's legs were like scythes; they would cut him up. He gave a glance at Tali, the quarian sharing his look as they held hands, squeezing them tightly. No amount of cybernetic reflexes could save them both from this swift attack. Even his team wouldn't be able to ward it off, especially since their shots pinged harmlessly off it's powerful barriers. Both of them just looked into their eyes; wanting the last thing they saw to be each other.

But no pain met their bodies. No blackness. No blood and screams. Only a loud thud, followed by an explosion. The praetorian screamed in vehemence and frustration, causing both himself and Tali to look up. The praetorian backed away from them, smoke trailing from it's shields. His team roared in triumph and he quickly saw why. A GARDIAN turret faced the praetorian, barrel smoking as it prepared to fire again. The praetorian roared, charging up it's twin eye beams.

"Fuck yes EDI!" Joker shouted over the comm, "Give it to that bitch!" The rest of the anti-ship turrets were firing at the enemy cruiser, shots chipping off bits of armor and sections of hull, barely scratching the massive warship. Meanwhile, this GARDIAN fired once more. The shot ripped through it's barriers, pinging off it's barriers and causing it's beams to go wide, hitting a nearby building instead. A final shot tore the praetorian in half, destroying it completely.

But their victory didn't last long. The hum of distant thrusters was heard as smoke trailed from the cruiser. He widened his eyes in horror.

The Collectors were escaping.

"We met many of the collector's horrors on Horizon. Scions, Praetorians and of course, Harbinger. That reaper really did creep me out. He made Sovereign seem friendly. Harbinger was just...scary."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"The Leader of the Reapers usually is."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

PREJUDICED INTENTIONS

August 22, 2185

1628 hours.

Interior Courtyard, Colony Grandeur, Northern Hemisphere, Horizon.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Professor Mordin Solus, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson.

"EDI, you need to-"

He had jumped up, helping up Tali up and had gone to order EDI to focus back on the cruiser, but it was a moot effort. The collector vessel's massive rocket thrusters kicked off, propelling a massive wave of dust towards them, that sent his team tumbling over and onto the ground, Tali landing ontop of his chest. Luckily, the heat released from the cruiser didn't reach them, but he could feel the ground shaking and numerous buildings being torn from their foundations due to the force of the blast.

The GARDIANs continued to pound the cruiser's outer hull, but it was no use; the titantic warship was simply not taking any damage. Before long, the collector cruiser propelled itself upwards, flying up into Horizon's atmosphere. He could order the Normandy to engage and disable it, but then he remembered the cruiser's powerful main gun. That thing would tear the frigate in half and it would end up just like it's predecessor. There was nothing he could do as the cruiser disappeared into the clouds.

"Commander, the collector ship just left Horizon's atmosphere," Joker informed him, "It's headed for the relay. Should we pursue and disable?"

"Negative. It's too powerful," Marcus ordered, "Stand down."

Marcus sighed as Tali helped him up once more, standing to look at the spot the cruiser had originally been parked. Great. Now he had let the collectors escape with half of the colony; it was a mission failure. He was supposed to save all of them, but in the end he had lost half of them to the collectors as they escaped. To be taken beyond the Omega 4 Relay where noone could save them.

"The collectors were indeed worthy enemies," Grunt appraised, "I will enjoy fighting them again."

His team gathered around, assessing wounds and sitreps. Marcus didn't notice as numerous colonists began walking around, no longer frozen. Kasumi patted his shoulder, causing him to turn around and widen his eyes at the sight of the unfrozen colonists. He guessed that with the collectors having left, the transmitter for the poison had worn off and the colonists regained control over their bodies, allowing them to move around. He smiled weakly but dropped it when he saw Delan approaching them angrily.

"What the fuck!?" Delan roared, stopping infront of him, "You let those pieces of shit get away with half the goddamn colony!? They got Lilith and her husband! They even got my daughter! You can't let those fuckers get away with this! You have to do something; please! You have to go after them! You have to-"

Marcus placed a hand on the man's shoulder, feeling the mechanic's body stiffen, eyes welling up, "My poor little baby..."

"I'm sorry, sir," Marcus sympathsized, "But there's nothing we can do. We'd need the entire alliance fleet to fight that cruiser, let alone disable it. I'd send my frigate after it, but we just don't have the weaponry to combat it. I'm sorry for your loss; but there's nothing I can do."

Delan looked up at the man an swatted his armoured hand off, causing the spectre to groan silently in pain; it was the arm the collector had stabbed, "I don't need your sympathy, asshole! You alliance retards were meant to stop this from happening in the first place! Worthless morons, the lot of you!" Before Marcus could do anything more, Delan had stormed off, mumbling insults towards the Alliance while smashing everything in his path. Marcus could see numerous colonists weeping over lost relatives or others just being happy to be alive.

He felt a three-fingered hand grip his shoulder and he turned around, hoping to see Tali. Instead he saw Garrus, a look of concern plastered on his turian features, "You okay, Shepard?"

Marcus sighed, nodding reluctantly, "I'll be fine. I'm just so tired. The battle on Haestrom was a close victory and then...this happens."

"I'd call it a victory." Garrus stated.

"How can you say that? We lost half the colony."

"Better result than since the abductions began," Garrus replied, "Before, the colonies disappeared fully. Today, we engaged the collectors on their own terms and came out slightly victorious, having cost them half of their original bounty. It's a phyrric victory, but it's a victory nonetheless."

"I suppose you're right," Marcus stated, "You'd make a great Illusive Man."

Garrus groaned, "I think I'd rather stay a handsome turian with the sniper rifle than become a turian survivalist thank you."

Marcus chuckled as he pushed past the turian, giving him a brotherly hug on his way over to Tali, who simply stood looking over the ruined colony. Not wanting to disturb her vigil, he moved over and stood next to her, looking over the devastation as well. Several seconds were spent in silence before Tali spoke, sighing as she rested her on his shoulder and leaned in closer to him, his own hand moving around her waist.

"So much devastation," Tali said, "And what that mechanic said; about losing his daughter...I feel sorry for him. The collectors took his child away from him to do untold things to her."

Marcus nodded in agreement, "Using her as some kind of experiment for the Reapers..."

Tali cringed; he could tell, he felt her shiver transfer to his skin, "Just promise me that when we finally find the collector homeworld, we'll burn it to the ground. Thes insect bosh'tets deserve to die before they hurt anyone else."

"We will. I promise," Marcus whispered, kissing her on the forehead.

Then a familiar, friendly voice came from behind them, "Argh. Will you two ever get a room?"

Both of them turned to the source of the voice, finding none other than Kaidan Alenko, smiling his same devillish grin. He hadn't changed much from two years ago; he had the same raven black hair, all cropped up. He wore the usual alliance light combat armor. The only new thing he noticed was the mattock looking weapon on his back; one he quickly indentified as a harrier. He smiled as Tali turned around, letting his hand fall from his hand.

"Staff Commander Alenko, it's good to see you again," Marcus greeted, taking Kaidan in a brotherly hug. They slapped each other's backs before breaking away, both of them chuckling, "Didn't think I'd see you again. A matter of fact, I wasn't supposed to."

That's when Kaidan's smile died, "I...heard you were working for Cerberus. Please don't tell me that's true. I really don't want to believe it's true."

Marcus shook his head, "For and with are two different words I've become very accompanied to. No, I'm using Cerberus to defeat the collectors, who you just saw, who are abducting human colonies. They're working with the Reapers, so that's an added bonus. Cerberus just happened to be the ones who resurrected me, so I kinda owe them. But when it's all over, I'm leaving them."

Kaidan looked relieved at that, "That's good. Rumors had reached the alliance brass that you were working for Cerberus, but I'm just glad that isn't true. It's good to see that Tali is back with you; you and that quarian always were inseperable. Especially after that shore leave on Noveria after destroying Sovereign."

Marcus remembered it like it was yesterday. Saying goodbye to Wrex. Liara and the crew poking fun at him and Tali. Dancing with Tali. Talking to Pressly and Johnson for what felt like the final time. It was a night set in stone for him; the night where he danced with Tali and didn't feel as embarassed as he thought he would.

"Don't forget Garrus. Tali only recently rejoined the crew. Garrus has been 'round a while." Marcus declared, motioning for Garrus to come over to them, "Haven't run into Wrex or Liara yet. Wrex I know is on Tuchanka, but Liara just seems to have disappeared. I was surprised when TIM told me you were on Horizon too."

"TIM?" Kaidan asked, confused.

He chuckled, "A nickname I used temporarily for the Illusive Man. It kinda stuck."

Kaidan let a grin cross his face, "Of course. I'm going to assume Joker and Doctor Chakwas are back on the ship? Because apparently they went AWOL, according to alliance reports, a year ago."

"Yep. Joker is back flying the Normandy and Chakwas is our medical professional again," Marcus informed him.

"The new...Normandy?" Kaidan asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, Cerberus was nice enough to rebuild her too," Tali piped in, not wanting to be a third wheel, "And she's bigger and shinier than the original too. Not to mention she packs alot more firepower. We also got a new, shiny tank called the hammerhead! It's a prototype though, but it still packs alot more firepower than the Mako and Marcus can actually drive it without crashing this time."

"Hey!" Marcus objected.

"So yeah, you'll love it." Tali smiled behind her mask.

"Tali, I-" Kaidan was about to say something, but Garrus' arrival interrupted him, "Kaidan, is that you?"

Kaidan smiled, "You bet."

"Well if it isn't the big biotic boy himself," Garrus stated, taking the man's hand and shaking it firmly, "Good to see you again. Looking forward to having you back on the Normandy."

Kaidan looked visibly distraught, "I'm sorry, but that ain't happening."

The three of them looked shocked, "Why not?" Tali asked.

Kaidan sighed heavily, leaning against a crate, "I'd love to join you guys again, but you know alliance views on Cerberus are clear. I could be labelled a traitor. Not to mention that I'd be listed as AWOL if I abandoned my post."

"That's it?" Marcus asked.

Kaidan was surprised that Shepard wasn't more disappointed, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Good. I'll send Anderson a message asking for your transfer to the Normandy. I'll also make sure you're listed as on temporary discharge until reenlisted."

Kaidan looked flabbergasted, "How the hell...you can't transfer an alliance marine to a ship labelled as an enemy vessel."

"Oh, but it isn't," Marcus added, "You see, I called in a favor with Anderson before leaving the Citadel to have him register the Normandy as alliance property. On alliance records, you'll be listed as being transfered to the SSV Normandy SR-2, not the CAW Normandy SR-2. Besides, I'm pretty sure I've earned a few favors from Hackett and Garrong. They won't mind if one marine goes missing."

Kaidan smiled, "I guess that's settled then. I'll go get my belongings."

Marcus nodded, slapping the man on his armoured shoulder, "Meet us at the shuttle. It'll be just in this courtyard." As he said this, he motioned for Miranda to have the shuttle pick them up in the courtyard. Kaidan snapped a crisp salute, which Marcus returned out of his friend's wishes, and the sentinel walked away, heading into the colony as he turned back to his dextro companions, smiling.

"That went better than I thought it would," Tali stated.

"An unexpected recruit, too." Garrus added in.

Marcus chuckled, "A pleasant one, regardless. It'll be good to have Kaidan back. But don't worry, I'm still relying on you two to watch my back. We're the dextro force, remember?"

Garrus groaned, "My god, you still remember that? And besides, we already stated that Johnson's little name for us was too cliche. However, I do think the Dextro League sounds pretty nice," he then looked at Tali and grinned, "Or maybe the Dextro Bosh'tets."

Tali slapped the turian on his shoulder, shaking her head.

Marcus nodded in approval, "Actually, that doesn't sound bad. The Dextro Bosh'tets. I like it."

"Spirits, what have I created."

"It's like the saying goes: Be careful what you wish for."

"But I didn't even-"

Miranda's voice halted their banter, "The shuttle is inbound. ETA 30 seconds."

Marcus nodded to Miranda, motioning for his two friends to follow him to the extraction point. Kaidan joined them a few seconds later, followed by the shuttle. When they finally left Horizon behind, he sighed. They had fought the collectors on the ground and learnt that they certainly were a tough enemy.

But so were the geth. And soon, the collectors wouldn't just be pushed back behind the relay. No, if he had anything to say about it...

They'd be wiped off the galactic map.

{Loading...}

August 22, 2185

1652 hours.

Mess Hall, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

The five of them talked wildly, throwing out questions at rapidfire. It was good to see another friendly face and it had been a long time since he had even talked to Kaidan. He idly sipped his creamy soda, savoring the delicious taste of the ice cold liquid sizzling in his throat. It hadn't been long since the events of Horizon, and the effects of it still hung over the Normandy's crew like a enveloping fog.

Upon the shuttle's return, Tali had nagged him into going to the med bay, to which he finally relented. Chakwas hadn't been happy, seeing as Marcus' wounds were quite severe and there was alot of dried blood, but she had quickly gotten over her anger and patched him up, stating that his arm would be sore for a day or two. He had also had his armor taken to the armoury for Jacob to repair, as it had taken alot of damage from the battle. The Normandy was now enroute to the Citadel to do some shopping; they needed food and supplies, whilst Marcus wanted to buy a new SMG and get better clothing than his cerberus uniform; or at least something to hide it.

He'd also made a personal obligation to thank EDI upon his return. The AI had saved his life and the life of Tali, which mattered to him above all else. The AI had stated that she had been merely following her programming and would never let any harm come to the crew if it could be helped, but he could tell that what she did went above her programming. He had then quickly evacuated the premises when he sensed an argument between Joker and EDI ensuing.

And now they had just given Kaidan a tour of the ship. Kaidan was impressed by the overall setup of the ship and had asked if he could be stationed in the armoury with Jacob, to which Marcus had quickly agreed to. With Kaidan settled in, they had taken to the mess hall, where the five of them now sat. Originally it had been just old comrades; but Kasumi had eventually decided to join in as well.

"It feels like old times now that the everyone's back together," Kaidan stated, taking a sip of his own drink, "Just a pity you haven't found Liara yet. I know Wrex would drop everything to serve on this frigate again."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Garrus piped up, "You remember why Wrex left last time. I doubt he's going to drop everything he's doing now. He's got his own race to keep together. Still, wouldn't mind visiting him."

"Agreed," Tali added, "I haven't seen Wrex since I dropped in on him on Tuchanka a year ago. Helped beat the crap out of a krogan named Wreav."

Marcus smirked, "You fought Wrex's brother?"

Tali felt quite proud of herself as she leaned back, grinning away behind her mask, "And won. Big bosh'tet had size, but I had nimbility."

"I'll bet. You must use it quite alot up in the captain's cabin," Garrus remarked, earning an elbow to his ribs from the quarian in question.

Tali snorted, "I least I have it to begin with."

"You wound me, Tali!"

Kaidan chuckled, "I see the humor hasn't died, at least."

"It's still the same old banter," Marcus returned, "It'd be better if Liara and Wrex were here though. And..." he then trailed off, not wanting to mention Ashley's name incase it brought up unpleasant memories. It didn't work though; he could see Kaidan's smile evaporating as it turned from a expression of bliss to grimness in a second, his face taking a less pleasant feature. Before Marcus could say anything, Tali placed a hand on Kaidan's shoulder.

"You miss her alot, don't you?" Tali asked.

Kaidan nodded, letting out a loud sigh, "I think about her every night I sleep. Everytime I close my eyes, I can see her condemning me. I can see her condemning me as she set off that bomb on Virmire, and watched as she died. I just keep thinking of what might have happened if we were never put into that position. If she wasn't pinned down by that geth dropship. If I was the one to be left behind. She might be here instead of me."

"Ashley did what she knew she had to," Marcus replied, "She gave her life so we could escape and so that Saren would be stopped. She didn't die in vain. The Reapers will be stopped. We all owe it to her to see this through."

Kaidan smiled grimly, "I know that much. Ash wouldn't want me to moping around here," He then raised his glass, "I propose a toast. To fallen marines who have died in the defense of our ideals and so that we may continue to live in prosperity and peace; turian, quarian and human. To Ashley Williams."

"Amen."

"Keelah Se'lai."

"Spirits guide her."

"Yasuraka ni nemuru."

Five glasses clinged together, all of them taking deep sips of their drinks as they sat there in contemplation. Kasumi didn't know Ashley and hadn't been present when she died, so she decided to let old comrades mourn. Kasumi her own special someone to mourn and she let a tear streak down her cheek as she thought about him.

Suddenly, Tali's voice broke their thoughts, "Well, sorry to cut this short, but I really should get back down to engineering. It's not fair for me to be leaving all the work on Ken and Gabby." With that, the quarian moved to stand up, Marcus smiling up at her.

"Catch you later?"

Tali merely nodded, waving back at him as she left, entering the elevator.

Garrus nodded, skulking the rest of his drink, "I've got some calibrations to run on the main guns. Also want to read through the schematics on those thanix cannons. We have one of those installed in this ship and any collector ships we come across are going to be sitting ducks. I'll catch up later." Garrus then left the scene, with Kasumi not far behind, activating her cloak and disappearing. With a look at Kaidan, the both of them laughed. It didn't take them long for the whole group to leave. In the end, he finished his drink and went with Kaidan to the CIC. He wanted to see how Mordin was doing anyway.

The elevator was short and the two soldiers went their seperate ways; Kaidan to the armoury while Marcus moved into the tech lab, greeting Kelly as he went past. Just as he entered the empty box to the tech lab, he thought he could hear...singing? He decided he needed to investigate. Palming the interface, he went inside to what was definitely Mordin, pacing the room while singing loudly.

"I am the very model of a scientist salarian. I've studied species turian, asari and batarian!" Mordin sung, all the while Marcus just smiled as he stayed in the corner. He knew the words; although modified, the song Mordin sung was by the composers known as Gilbert and Sullivan; famous human music composers.

"I'm quite at genetics, as a subset of biology, because I am an expert which I know is a tautology. My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a scientist salarian." Mordin's song finished, the salarian continuing to hum the rest of the song as he hummed. Marcus decided to break the silence.

"I didn't know you sung Gilbert and Sullivan," He complimented.

Mordin, apparently unphased by Marcus' surprise visit, stood up, smiling as he took a sample of something back behind his desk, "Yes, performed on Sur'Kesh infront of large crowd during shore leave. Very fun. Kirrahe liked it. Said it was personal favourite. Singing good for personal optimism. Apologize if singing disrupted crew."

The spectre immediately held up his hands, "No, nothing like that. I just noticed you singing when I came to talk with you. It appears biology and physiology aren't the only things you have specialities in."

Mordin nodded, rapidly typing at his terminal, "Have many specialities. Many not pleasant. Others, more so. Singing not a mission parameter though. Defeat of collectors remains number one priority. Cannot delay. Much data. Must contemplate."

"Of course Mordin, I'll let you work," The N7 complied, moving to leave before stopping himself and turning around, "Just out of curiosity; what are you working on?"

Without looking up from his terminal, the salarian answered, "Working on collector data. Have ruled out artificially intelligent virus...unless it's very intelligent...and toying with me! Hmmm..." Marcus chuckled lightly as he left the room. The salarian was a nice addition to the crew and he liked him. Mordin was one of crew members who didn't scream in your face or demand attention. When he found himself standing in the elevator without anything to do, he decided he'd talk with Jack again. Zaeed wasn't exactly going to open up anytime soon and Grunt was...a baby. Tali would be hording the engineers around, so Jack was the last option.

After reaching the engineering deck, he quickly paced through the door and ran down the stairs, moving into the maintenance area. Without fail, Jack was sitting on her bunk, reading through a datapad while eating a sandwich that looked like it contained bacon, salad and mayonaise. When she saw Marcus enter, she finished chewing and swallowed, before taking another bite.

With food still in her mouth, she spoke, "What do you want?"

"Came to see what you were up to."

Jack simply rolled her eyes, "Still checking out your ship and reading up on Cerberus. Decided to put her through the paces when you're not around."

Marcus felt a grin cross his face as he leaned against a steel support strut, "I don't think Joker would appreciate that. At least not when he's working."

Jack decided she was done with her sandwich and placed it on a nearby container, the PDA quickly following it. She then stood up, moving to lean against a bulkhead strut opposite the spectre's, "Relax. Joyriding doesn't have the thrill it used to. Besides, if I wanted this ship, I'd take it."

Marcus raised a brow at that statement, "I think you'd have to go through a mercenary veteran, a krogan supersoldier, me, a quarian brigadier general cross professional engineer, expert sniper, AI that watches everything and many other things. As powerful as you are Jack, I don't think you'll be able to take the ship from us."

Jack scoffed, "Maybe you're right; would be fun to try though. I've been around. Joined some gangs. Wiped out some gangs. Joined a cult. Kept the haircut. Apparently being bald is a cult compulsory. Essentially, I learned how to survive and not be a victim. You say my chances of taking the ship are low? Well, I think they're low too; doesn't mean it won't be a thrill to try."

The spectre didn't exactly agree with the convict's attitude, but he decided to go with it anyways in case of provoking the woman. He then remembered the mention of a cult, "Hard to imagine you in a cult."

Jack snorted lightly while letting a half-grin cross her face for a moment, "I was looking for some answers. Drugs, and sex, and going to a better place? Hmph. Better place. Fan-fucking-tastic. But all they cared about was money. They wanted to take a colony, shake the suckers down to fund their spread and guess who was their ace in the hole? They were just like the rest. Didn't give one fuck about me."

Marcus felt himself feeling sympathetic for the convict. She wasn't a mass murderer, she only killed people because of how they used her. It reminded him of his days in school; where people would be friends with the 'smart kid' only to backstab him when he wasn't looking. But he couldn't help but wonder, in a sick way, what happened to said cult...

"What did you when you...found out?" Marcus asked curiously.

Jack's eyes met his, and he could see anger in them, "What, do you want a hint or for me to state the obvious? I flayed them alive, every last one of them. Fuckers deserved it."

"You must have met some good people in your life."

Jack leaned her head back on the bulkhead, crossing her arms and letting out a little giggle. Considering her reputation, it was hard to picture her as the giggling type. But here she was, giggling, "Everybody wants something. And because of that...everything is fair game. You want to know my crimes to? Well, let's see, uh...murder, assault, kidnapping...drugs dealing, arson. Done it all. Have no regrets. And hey...that's just the boring shit!"

Marcus sighed, "And the, dare I say it, thrilling stuff?" The word came out of his mouth tasting like soap.

"Piracy, Theft of military aircraft, destruction of a space station and vandalism. That one though...that was a good one. Personal...favourite, of mine."

Marcus shook his head at that, "I'm surprised vandalism even came into the equation when you were with that cult. And destruction of a space station? Seems excessive."

Jack let a wicked grin cross from cheek to cheek, "Vandalism? That's what the hanar call it when you crash that space station I mentioned into one of their moons and make a new crater. Ha! They really liked that moon."

"Ever wonder if you could've done things differently?"

"Fuck no."

"Shoudn't you?" Marcus asked, confusedly.

Jack shook her head, breaking eye contact and looking at the ground, "There isn't any reason that I should be alive. But I am. You know why? Instinct. It's worked for me so far and I'm not going to change."

Thinking he had heard enough, he turned to leave, but Jack had left her strut and returned to her bed to sit on it, speaking, "Hey Shepard...nobody's ever asked me about this shit," he turned around to face her, eyebrows raised, "It's strange to talk about. So...fuck you. And...thanks for asking."

Marcus allowed a half smile to cover half his face, "Anytime, Jack. You never told me your actual name though. I doubt it's Jack and only Jack."

Jack grabbed her sandwich and took another bite, looking at her PDA, "I...don't know my real name. I can't remember it. Cerberus called me Subject Zero and still does. I got the name Jack when some pirates offered to take me onboard; it stuck. My old name is nothing but a forgotten memory now. Of course, those pirates only took me in so they could rape me. They met a...painful end when they tried. Anyway, I've got files to read up on. So please...could you...fuck off?"

The spectre nodded as he left the maintenance area, running past Tali who was leading Ken downstairs to work on something. He smiled at her as he walked past, the quarian giving him a short nod as she went past, arms brushing each other. No matter what they did, staying seperate was almost impossible for them.

He just smiled.

{Loading...}

August 23, 2185

1245 hours.

Main Dock, Level 27, Zakera Ward, The Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Yeoman Kelly Chambers, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Master Thief Kasumi Goto.

The skycar door, was usual, was quick to slide open, the crimson door glistening in the Citadel's lighting. He stepped out of the vehicle, seeing as he wasn't the one who was driving, and moved to open the back door, letting Tali, Kasumi and Kelly out of the back. Garrus had been driving and Jacob had taken another car, landing nearby. He wore the basic N7 armor that he had worn on Lazarus Station and Freedom's Progress, as his blood dragon armor was still under repairs due to the beating it took on Horizon.

Tali's hand quickly found his, his five fingers interwining with her three, squeezing tightly. Kasumi examined the gesture with a grin as she walked by them, Jacob quickly joining the group, taking position next to Kelly and Garrus as they walked into the C-Sec security checkpoint. This time, the turian simply let them through, deciding that it wasn't worth the time arguing with a spectre. After a quick greeting to Bailey, they stepped out into the large crowd of the Zakera Wards.

He quickly turned towards the group, "And this is where we split. Make sure to meet back here when you're all done. And try not to spend all your credits."

Garrus raised his eyebrow, "What credits? I don't have that much. None of us do."

Tali nodded her head, "Agreed. I didn't have much to spend on the flotilla. Most of the credits I earned while fighting Saren is gone now. All I have is fifty credits."

Marcus grinned, glancing at Jacob, "Just like when we were fighting Saren, we are getting funded, just not by the Alliance. I think you'll be happy to see how many credits you have."

Garrus have him a skeptical look and Tali would have to if she didn't have a mask, but both of them immediately checked their omni-tools. Seeing the amount they had, they widened their eyes, "See?" Marcus spoke.

Skepticism placated, the group split up to go to different stores, while Marcus attempted to pull away Tali to some of the shops, but she was quick to object, "Marcus, I'm going to go shop with Kasumi for alittle bit. Where do you want to meet?"

He stopped trying to drag her off and looked at a nearby resturant. It was called the 'Thessian Moonlight' and catered to both dextros and levos. He thought it would be a good place to go on a date with his quarian girlfriend, "Meet me at that resturant. It's time I took you on a date, Miss Zorah."

Tali laughed, "I'm sure. I'm looking forward to it. See you later." She then slowly let go of his hand, nudging his forehead with her visor. Noticing the spectre's confused look, she explained, "Quarians can't kiss because of our masks. That's as close as you're going to get as a kiss from me. Well...at least until I find another way..."

Marcus felt butterflies fill his stomach at the way she said that. It was exotic, sexy and adorable, all in one. It made him love her even more. With a smile, he returned the gesture before letting go of her hand, heading over to a stairway leading up to Level 26. He ran into a few volus and hanar trying to sell him stuff. Upon reaching Level 26, he instantly spotted what he was looking for. A store called 'Sirta Foundation.' Technically it was a store part of a company named the Sirta Foundation that specialized in medical...stuff. Sirta was asari for 'medical' so it was obviously an asari owned store.

He walked inside and went up to the counter, a youthful looking asari, most likely only sixty, greeted him with a large, warm smile, "Good afternoon, citizen. How may the Sirta Foundation help you today?" The asari motioned towards a terminal displaying numerous items ready for purchase.

At first, he found nothing of value; nothing but medi-gel packs or basic injectors. Eventually though, he came across what was only known as a medi-gel pro bundle for 900 credits. It was a top of the range, cutting-edge medi-gel injection system that could hold a large amount of medi-gel in one cylinder, which could come in useful in battle. He decided to purchase three; one for himself and two for his best friends and comrades; Tali and Garrus.

The asari looked at her own console as she calculated the costs. A few moments later, she looked up, her smile still present, "That will be 2,700 credits."

Marcus wasn't willing to pay that much, but he had a backup plan, "Could we arrange a discount? Say I give an endorsement in exchange for said reduction in price?"

The asari's look was skeptical, "And what makes you think you're important enough for an endorsement? Just who are you?"

He felt like he was a braggart with what he was doing, but he really wanted that discount and couldn't help but smirk as he spoke, "Commander Shepard."

The asari's widened in shock, "The Commander Shepard? As in the Hero of the Citadel!?"

He nodded, "That's me."

The asari literally squealed. He would keep telling people how he hated the attention, how he despised the fact that people worshipped him as some kind of invincible soldier when he knew himself as a simple man doing his job. But the way the asari squealed in excitement; the way people melted at his mere presence, it made him feel mirth inside.

"Then a discount you shall get!" The asari cried, "Just speak into this terminal."

Marcus leaned over the counter, still grinning as the words came out of his mouth, "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite store on the Citadel."

"Thank you!" The asari squealed once more, switching off her terminal, "Please, take all three of those items and consider them free of charge. The Hero of the Citadel deserves to have his items free, not costly like those damn weapons they sell spectres down at the academy. Thank you so much for this endorsement."

Marcus nodded, purchasing the items before taking them from the bench and putting them in a provided, plastic bag. As he walked out of the store, he couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle at what had just passed. The first store he had entered and already he had endorsed a shop. By the time he had finished dating Tali, he probably would have endorsed every store on the Zakera Ward. Hell, maybe even the Dark Star Lounge.

After visiting a few more stores, he had headed back downstairs and immediately headed back downstairs and to the asari resturant, checking his chrono as he approached. Two hours spent on shopping. Damn. He waited outside the resturant for Tali, who still hadn't turned up. After another ten minutes, he began to worry. What if some racist asshole has held her up?

Suddenly, his omni-tool began to beep. Checking his contacts, he found it was from Kasumi. Selecting 'Accept', he held up his omni-tool so he could see Kasumi, "Kasumi, what seems to be the problem? Where's Tali?"

Kasumi gulped, "That's just the problem Shep," her eyes darted to the side nervously, "We were up on Level 26 when we saw this volus walk up to this quarian gal, who was minding her own business mind you, and the volus starts spewing crap about how she stole his credit chit. Tali saw that the officer was going to arrest the poor girl and she intervened. You better get here quick. She looks about ready to kill that volus."

With a shake of his head, he nodded, ending the call and deactivating his omni-tool, running towards the stairs leading up to level 26. When he got to the top, he instantly spotted the source of the commotion; Tali's easily recognizable, purple-suited form was located next to a information terminal, squatting next to a volus and arguing with him while a C-Sec officer held Kasumi against a wall and checked her for weapons, the quarian in question standing aside and watching helplessly. He made best speed towards the group as best he could.

Upon arrival, his hand landed on the officer's shoulder, "Officer, this search is over."

The C-Sec didn't even bother turning to look at him, continuing his search, "And who the hell do you think you are to interfere with police law enforcement?"

"Commander Shepard, Special Tactics and Recon, that's who."

The officer suddenly whirled around to face him, eyes open in shock, "Sir! I... I didn't realize it was-" The man snapped a pathetic salute, but Marcus simply ignored it in favor of pushing past him. The man was shocked to be treated in such a way by him and tried to regain some of his dignity by backing away. Marcus quickly used his omni-tool to undo the omni-cuffs around Kasumi's wrists, allowing her to move. The officer had only just started looking for her weapons it seemed, as all her weapons were still there. He turned to the volus and Tali.

Who was still threatening the idiot. Volus tried to interrupt her, "You clanless are all the same! Leave-"

The response was Tali shoving him, "Quarians are only forced to steal when people like you won't give them real jobs."

The volus was confident and brave; that was amendable, "And to think my taxes pay to support you here. Go back to your fleet, clanless."

Marcus was about to step in but once again, Tali beat him to it, "I am Clan Zorah, crew of the starship Neema, and you sir are an idiot. Stupid bosh'tet." Finally, Marcus stepped in, only for Tali to get one final threat in, "I should jack your suit's olfactory filters so that everything smells like refuse. Not that your body doesn't produce enough of that anyway."

Kasumi let out a low whistle, "Damn girl! Give me five!" Kasumi held up her hand, only for Tali to stare at it weirdly. Kasumi, hanging there awkwardly, just grinned broadly. Finally, ableit awkwardly, Tali moved forward and slapped her hand against the thief's, the latter laughing under her breath at the volus' pouting.

"I see the Earth-clan seeks to assist the clanless," the volus puffed, "Just shows their true colors."

Marcus crossed his arms as he heard Kasumi mumble, "Funny that he got that from us earthlings in the first place..." Marcus ignored this to look at the quarian, who he finally got to get a decent look at. She was female, with a aqua blue visor that was so dark it almost made it impossible to see the glowing orbs of her eyes beneath it. Her long, flowing veil was a light green. She was slightly shorter than Tali, who was basically his height and she carried herself with a less than respectable posture. It reminded him of Kenn on Omega. He wouldn't stand up for this anymore. He moved closer so he could speak to the quarian.

"Excuse me, but your name miss?" Marcus asked.

The quarian was too surprised by his respectful tone to answer, allowing Tali to say it for her, "Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. She's a pilgrim."

Marcus nodded, "Well, Miss nar Ulnay, please explain the situation to me from your perspective. Why is this...volus, harassing you?" He almost called the volus out on his racist bullshit. Called him a self-righteous prick. But he had to be professional.

Lia begin fiddling with her fingers, a gesture that reminded him of Tali once more. Definitely a quarian thing, "Well...I left the flotilla a few months ago looking to get some decent work on the Citadel. You see, I'm not an engineer like most quarians and Miss Zorah. I specialize in science; mostly biology, chemistry, physiology, that sort of thing. Top of my line in school. I came here looking for work, but all the signs said they weren't hiring."

"Then, in the middle of the night, some must have stolen my credit chits and shuttle, because when I woke up, both were missing. I had no choice but to seek refuge in a turian shelter on Level 31. I get fed well, but I still couldn't find a job. All the signs said 'no hiring' or 'not hiring vagrants.'"

Marcus felt a pang of sympathy for her. Tali just felt empathy. Tali had been through the same situation, except with people trying to kill her and losing a friend. But at least someone helped her and she ended up becoming a hero. Lia was just...trapped. Nowhere to go.

"So what happened to get this volus upset?" Marcus asked.

"Well, I was going over to the used ships dealer," Lia explained, "You see, he sells used ships at low prices and I thought I could get a bargain, but I was rejected. So on the way back to the shelter, this volus bumped into me. I said sorry and moved on but when I pop up here later on, that volus appeared along with some officer and started accussing of stealing his damn credit chit. Few minutes later, fleet-sister and your hooded friend came to help me out. It looked like the officer would arrest them too until you showed up."

"I see."

Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind them, "Excuse me! Sir!" All of them turned to see a salarian clerk running towards them, holding a chit in his hand, "You forgot your chit!"

Tali shot a glare at the volus and Lia reciprocated the gesture. Kasumi typed on her omni-tool while Marcus followed the other two ladies in glaring at the volus. Unlike Tali and Lia however, he acted, taking the chit and thanking the salarian, saying he could leave, before throwing the chit at the volus' feet.

"You big, fat, round liar," Marcus growled.

"Well..." the volus tried to object, "Well...she could have stolen it!"

Tali looked about ready to unload a shotgun shell into the volus, but Marcus' words stalled her, "Enough of this bullshit. If anything, you should be arrested for attempted framery and forgery of justified complaint. A matter of fact, Bailey might like to hear about that." Just the mere thought apparently told the volus it was time to run, the fat thing waddling away like a penguin. The C-Sec officer tried to melt away, but quickly found the spectre's hand clasped around his throat, Marcus' face in his.

He growled, "What's your name?"

"O...offi-cer...G...host..." he stuttered.

"Well, Officer Ghost, if something like this happens again, you'll be out on your ass. And I'll make sure Bailey knows about it. So if you don't want to lose your job, get out of here and never pull that crap again."

With that, he dropped the officer and he immediately ran away, not looking back. With a satisfied expression, he turned back to the trio, Tali reassuring Lia while Kasumi crossed her arms and watched on. Finally, Marcus nodded for Tali to break away so he could speak to Lia.

Lia spoke first however, "Commander Shepard, I just wanted to thank you for what you did. Noone's ever shown me such kindness. I wish I could repay you with more than words."

He shook his head, "I don't do this for the reward; I do it because you don't deserve that crap. I certain quarian showed me that." He gave a wink in Tali's direction and even without seeing her face, he could tell she was blushing while smiling.

"But if there's anyway..."

"No. No repayments. This was free of charge."

"Thank you." Lia said at last, "Well, I'd better get going. I need to get some rest and think of what to do next for my pilgrimage. I just hope it turns out better than last time." With that, Lia turned on the spot and left. Marcus smiled grimly, wishing the quarian luck. He wanted to give the quarian credits, but she had left faster than he could say 'hang on.' Suddenly, he found Tali at his side.

"Marcus, I was thinking..."

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I...wait, sweetheart?"

"It's a term of endearment to a person we love," Marcus responded.

"Okay then...sweetheart, I was thinking...could we...maybe...well I don't know if we could but...could we...please...oh how do I word this..."

He turned to face the quarian, smiling, "You can tell me anything Tali. I won't redicule or scold you."

Her blurting it out wasn't what he expected, "Could we let Lia join the crew?"

Marcus felt himself stiffen up, "I don't know Tali...our mission against the collectors is extremely dangerous."

"You recruited me to fight Saren and the geth."

"Yeah, but you had a shotgun."

"I'm not saying she has to come with us on ground missions. You heard what she said. She works on biology and physiology. She's a scientist! She could work with Mordin in the lab."

Marcus seemed to think about this for a bit. Eventually, he came to the decision that it would be a good idea. Not only would Lia get good pay and be surrounded by friendly people (generally) but she would have a fellow quarian to talk to, which would do good to increase her self-esteem. It would be good for her in the long term.

"Okay," Marcus stated, before turning to the thief nearby, "Kasumi, go ask Lia if she would like to join the Normandy. Ninety-Seven percent chance she'll agree after some persuasion, so we don't have to worry. Right now..." he turned to Tali, "You and me have a date."

Taking the engineer's hand, he lead her downstairs and to the moonlight resturant. They continued to hold hands even as they walked inside. Tali found herself worried by the lingering looks of a few people around them, but Marcus didn't seem to care; he treated her like a equal. She loved that. She found herself not wanting to ever let go. Finally, they reached the counter of the resturant, a salarian clerk looking at them with piercing eyes behind the desk.

"Names?" He asked curtly.

"I'm Marcus Shepard," The spectre stated, dropping his rank. He motioned for Tali, the salarian waiting for her to say her name.

"Tali'Zorah," She finally said, shortening her name. The salarian nodded and typed their names into a terminal before standing up, "Please, follow me this way and I'll show you to your table." Marcus and Tali did just that, following the salarian inside.

The resturant was quite beautiful, with large windows to the right allowing a fantastic view of the Citadel central ring itself and the numerous alliance, hierarchy, union and republic warships orbitting it. The carpet was a light blue with many of the tables being made of polished marble. Tali cringed at the overly exaggerated focus on looks in the place, seeing it as a waste of resources. Old habits died hard it seemed.

Finally, they found their table. Marcus had made sure it was right at the edge of the windows so they could see the Citadel below as they ate. The salarian showed them to their seats before promising that a waiter would see to them soon. He smiled over at Tali from across the table, just watching her beautiful, glowing eyes.

"Feel...extravagant yet, Tali?" Marcus asked teasingly.

Tali giggled in response, "A little too extravagant. Still, it's nice to be people to sit down and talk with you. Not on a warship or on a battlefield with people trying to kill us, but in a resturant where we can talk with noone to distract us."

"Couldn't agree more," He returned, taking the default glass bottle of water and pouring them both a drink, "It's been a while since we had a proper conversation actually. Last time I remember was on Noveria when we booked out that apartment building."

Tali hummed in reverie as she placed a straw in her drink so she could drink it through her vocalizer, "That was fun. Two weeks to ourselves and noone to annoy us. Well, maybe except Garrus and Liara."

Marcus chuckled, "Oh yeah, they were annoying."

For a moment, both of them went silent, looking through the many things to eat and drink. Finally, Tali spoke up again, "You know...I've already met your mother, but you still haven't met any of my family yet."

Marcus groaned, "That means I have to meet your father, doesn't it?"

Tali sighed, "Indeed it does. Also, be prepared to block a few punches, he'll be very hostile. He's already lectured me once over it. As for Auntie Raan...she'll still be pretty angry about it, but I can't say she won't get over it quickly. Especially seeing as how you treat me."

An idea formed in his head, "You know what? What we should do is book a reservation at a resturant and invite your father, my mother and your auntie. That way we can all meet and discuss these things in a civil matter."

Tali hummed at the thought of the idea, but any reply was cut short by her short squeal, "Yes! Deas'tuu!"

"Sure wish I could have it. I would have a whole stockpile of it just so you could do that again. You're cute when you do."

Their playful banter continued for much of that morning. They ordered their food and enjoyed it as they talked, one on one. No colonies to save. No collectors to stop. No Illusive Man sending them on random errands. It just them. Together. Talking. Enjoying each other's company. Marcus knew the likelihood of ever seeing the woman behind the mask was nill; but he simply didn't care.

A matter of fact, he couldn't care less. All he cared about was that she was there for him. And he was there for her. And no amount of collectors or reapers could stop that.

{Loading...}

August 23, 2185

1936 hours.

Tech Lab, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Dock with Citadel.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Professor Mordin Solus, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Junior Assitant Lia'Vael nar Ulnay.

"You've got to be kidding me. How many more random, out of the blue recruits are we going to pick up? This isn't a fetish, is it Shepard?" Garrus asked. Marcus hadn't been surprised when he found Lia was ecstatic to be part of his crew. After returning from his wonderful date with Tali, the quarian had retreated to his cabin to move her stuff up there before working in engineering for a couple of hours. During this time, he had taken Lia over to the tech lab to introduce her to Mordin. Garrus, somewhere inbetween, had decided to join up.

"I wouldn't call it a fetish, Garrus," Marcus replied, "Just...last minute volunteering."

"This place is amazing!" Lia exclaimed as she checked the lab, Mordin watching idly from behind his desk as the quarian explored the lab, smiling away. When he had told the salarian about his new assitant, he had expected the former STG agent to be angry. But instead, he was actually quite happy about having an accomplice. He seemed even happier at the prospect of her being quarian. If not more ecstatic.

Finally, the quarian turned back to Marcus, bowing, "Thank you so much for this oppurtunity Mister Shepard! I promise I won't waste it!" She then turned to Mordin, "Or you Professor Solus. I will make absolutely sure that I am not a liability. I-" Lia continued to drone on as Garrus remarked under his breath, "Hehehe. Liability. Get it? Liability?" Marcus simply elbowed the turian in the ribs, causing him to give off a exaggerated grunt. He rolled his eyes.

Finally, Lia finished, "-so, um...where do I begin? Where do you want me to work? Anywhere in particular...?"

Seeing that this was now getting boring, Garrus took his leave, leaving through the CIC entrance. Marcus smiled at Lia, who was now getting shown where to work by Mordin. He knew Lia would prove to be an asset to the team and immediately knew it had been the right decision to listen to Tali beforehand, even if he had done it just to appease her to start with. He was about to enter the CIC when EDI's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Commander," EDI stated with urgency, "The Illusive Man is trying to contact you through the QEC. The transmission is marked priority alpha one."

Seeing it was serious, he acknowledged the AI by a curt nod, moving back into the tech lab and towards the debriefing room. Once inside, he waited for the transmission to clear up and for the Illusive Man to appear. When he had, the spectre spoke first.

"What's going on? EDI tells me you had something urgent to tell me. This isn't another collector attack is it?"

The Illusive Man immediately dropped his whiskey cup back into a position on the arm of his chair, standing up as he moved towards Marcus' hologram, "No, completely the opposite in fact. This has nothing to do with the collectors but requires immediate attention."

He was skeptical, but after crossing his arms, he obliged, "Okay then. Shoot."

Stopping his approach right infront of Marcus, he circled his holographic position, "We've recently lost contact with one of our research bases on the planet Aite, in the Typhon System, the Phoenix Massing Cluster. All communications have gone dark. This is extremely worrying. I need you to go in there and find out why they went offline."

He raised his eyebrow almost immediately, "Wait, why are you sending me and why is this so worrying? Can't you send your own commando teams to investigate this?"

TIM shook his head, "Too risky considering the secrets that base holds. I'll give you the short story. Some scientists lead by lead scientist doctor Gavin Archer were working on a secret program called Project: Overlord. We fear that overlord may have gone rogue."

"Wait...gone rogue? Just what is Project: Overlord?"

"A backup plan...incase resurrecting you didn't work."

"Illusive Man, what is Overlord?"

"You want the full story or short summary?"

"I want to know what the fuck I'm dealing with before I jump onto Aite blindfolded." Marcus demanded.

TIM finally sat back in his seat, conceding to his point, "Very well, I guess you should know. Overlord is Cerberus' operation to construct the ultimate VI/AI hybrid. If resurrecting you failed, we would use Overlord to destroy the geth and stop the Reapers. Many of Overlord's base processes are based off of the wreckage of Sovereign, making it just as intelligent. Archer told me it would work. But if Overlord has gone rogue...then we are in a whole lot of trouble. Overlord possesses five times the processing power of EDI and theoritically would end up smarter than the average geth. But that's where a second problem comes in..."

"Something tells me I won't like this."

"Quite," TIM stated simply, "We managed to capture many geth platforms to help with our work. The problem is, Overlord was also built to communicate with the geth; to speak in their language. To control them. This means that if Overlord has gone rogue, it will have geth at it's disposal. So go in heavy when you land."

Marcus rolled his eyes, "And here I thought I'd be dropping in with my omni-tool playing 'kumbaya' while holding hands with the geth and singing merrily. We'll deal with Overlord."

Before he could leave though, TIM spoke once more, "Shepard, if you can, try and preserve as much as Overlord as you can. Or at least enough to have basis to build up on again. Overlord could prove a valuable ally in the fight against the Reapers."

"If that thing is insane, I'm destroying it," Marcus growled, "I'm not going to let a angry grizzly bear slaughter people." With that, he ended the connection, giving Joker the coordinates. He had barely finished arriving back at the Normandy before moving to deal with more problems. Still, it would do good to put a stop to Overlord. If what TIM said was true, that thing was lethal.

And he would bomb it if the need came to pass.

"Overlord...I..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I know. It's one of the most disturbing missions I've ever been on."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"And why is this?"

- Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Because the things they did in there...it was horrific...terrible. Inhumane. Unethical. And it turned out that most of it wasn't even Overlord's fault. A matter of fact, Overlord was as much a victim as any one else."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

VICTIM OF THE VICTIM

August 25, 2185

1444 hours.

Landing Platform, Hermes Station, Cerberus Controlled Sector, Aite.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Soldier Grunt.

The heavy bulk of the cerberus hammerhead-model assault tank fell through the clouds of Aite, the Normandy souring out of the atmosphere as the sizable vehicle descended upon the Hermes facility. According to the Illusive Man's data, it was where Gavin Archer was stationed and was the last station on the planet to go silent. It was also the least likely to be packed with hacked geth or security mechs.

Due to Aite's extremely low atmospheric conditions, they impacted the landing platform much faster than previously predicted. The hammerhead's landing thrusters kicked in, allowing them for a soft landing as Marcus disengaged the hoverpods and opened the hatch, grabbing his weapon and stepping out, followed by the rest of his makeshift squad.

As he stepped out and his team moved about, he took a brief look of his surroundings. Obviously, Cerberus had taken precautions against outside hostile lifeforms; a large, thirty feet high wall acting as the perimeter for the large base, all colored the same dull, grey, white and gold color of Cerberus, followed by the insignias themselves. The walls were thick and reinforced by support struts. Ontop of the walls were what looked to be automated heavy turrets, but they were offline. A large, titantium blast door, probably half as thick as the wall itself, stood vigil in the center of the wall; the gate to the outside world. Luckily, it was sealed shut.

To his right, was the main facility. Large glass panels allowed a close, unique view of an abandoned lab and a door, green interface still operational, stood opposite it. Looming in the distance was a monolithic satellite dish, standing as tall as some of the biggest skyscrapers in existence; the dish being roughly the size of an alliance light cruiser. As he motioned for his team to move towards the door, a voice came over the PA system.

"Thank god you came!" The voice stated, "My name is Doctor Gavin Archer. The situation is urgent; we're facing a catastrophic VI breakout. Look, I'll explain the details later but you must retract the transmission dish! If you don't, Overlord will use it to transmit offworld! Please hurry! I'll guide you through it! And be careful, Overlord took control of the mechs."

With a nod, he turned to his team, "Kaidan, Grunt, you've got the honor of taking point. Tali, Kasumi, you're with me at the center. Garrus, Zaeed, I want you covering the rear and to provide sniper support when the time comes. Let's move out people; we're oscar mike."

Opening the door, they immediately cleared a stairway leading down into a quarantine, 'arrivals greeting' sort of area. Well, it had been, until Overlord rebelled. Now the place was completely trashed, with large fires being seen raging behind glass observation windows, dead bodies of both mechs, scientists and guards alike, along with numerous scorch marks on the walls from explosions. A battle had raged here.

Just as they passed through the area, one of the large holographic screens on a terminal above lit up, the face of a cerberus scientist popping up on the screen. The man wore a casual cerberus uniform with the nametag of chief scientist on his left breast. He wore red hair that was trimmed to the back of his head, with the outline of a growing beard forming around his mouth. His irises were a aqua blue color, and his ears slightly oriented outward. This was Gavin Archer.

"Ah, there you are," he greeted with his thick canadian accent, "I've locked myself in a computer room on the far side of the base. All the security mechs are running rampant under Overlord's subjugation. I think I'm the only survivor."

Marcus nodded, drinking the man's words in. Meanwhile, his team was busy cleaning shop, checking doors, moving desks and cleaning up bodies. Tali was busy hacking into a terminal to find anything of use while Kasumi watched the stairway.

"I must warn you that Overlord is extremely intelligent, angry and very powerful," Archer warned him, "It has complete control of all stations and won't hesitate in trying to kill you. I've already lost alot of friends to it...I'd hate to see you join them. If you can retract the dish, it should not only stop Overlord from transmitting offsite, but it should lose connection to Hermes and make it safe for me to leave. I'll explain everything then. Just please...take down that dish!"

The terminal switched off and Marcus approached Tali, the quarian shaking her head, "I gather we've found nothing?"

"Nothing. Not a single byte of data. Overlord's purged most systems," The engineer explained before facing him, "Only way to find out is from this Archer person. We have to hope he has the answers we need."

The spectre simply nodded, motioning for everyone to hit the door, "Agreed. We take out the dish and find this Archer. Overlord has to be stopped."

They continued down a short corridor, coming across more bodies and signs of battle. Still no hostiles. After crossing the hall, they reached what looked to be the control room for the facility. Or at least, that's what the huge, bold words said. And gather from the multiple computer screens and consoles that occupied the room, he'd have to guess so. He asked Kasumi to look around for the switch and when the thief did, she hit it, causing a loud screeching sound. The dish, as seen in the distance, began to retract, but before it fully disappeared, it came to a screeching halt. What came next was completely unexpected.

All the terminals flickered on, the image of a almost human looking face appearing on the screen. But it wasn't a normal human; no, this was an AI. It's human looking face was pixelated by small cubes, all a light lime color with two, piercing green eyes. It spoke, mouth unmoving, the sound carrying from it's throat like a thousand geth screaming at the same time, words unintelligble. The noise was so defeaning, his team had to cover their ears to block it out, Tali switching off her auditory emulators. Grunt seemed unbothered by it. When it was finished, the screens returned to normal. It was obvious who stopped them and who that was.

Overlord.

Gavin's face replaced Overlord's quickly, "Damn it! That damn AI has overriden the controls and locked you out of the mainframe. The only way you can take down that satellite now is the old fashioned way; you'll have to blow it up. Make your way over to the dish. I wish you luck; the mechs are thickest in that area."

Marcus rolled his eyes as Archer's face disappeared once more, "We haven't encountered any yet. Come on, we'll take the skytram to the other side of the facility. Move."

As they moved further inside and towards the tram station, the more Overlord decided to pop up. Every terminal held Overlord's sickly green pixelated face, either blankly staring at them or making odd noises. But if one listened closely, words could be heard. Although hard, the words were there. And it didn't make sense to him at all.

Finally, they reached the tram station. Just as they were about to board it however, they were suddenly swarmed by a squad of LOKI mechs and a couple of FENRISes, all swarming from above stairways and from the tram itself. Unlike normal mechs of their design however, their optics weren't a dull red, but a pulsing green. Seemed to be Overlord's signature color. If it was green, the AI did it.

The fight was pathetic at best. Even with the AI controlling them, the mechs weren't much better at combat. Compared to the elitism of his squad, the mechs stood no chance at were ripped apart at leisure. It was a delaying action at best; and even then they weren't delayed much. Reaching the tram, they began their journey across the bridge of the mountain.

The ride was short but long. When they arrived at the dish access base, they found it in a even worser looking state than the other half of the base. Fires everywhere, dead bodies all over, slaughtered guards and walls full of holes from explosions. Thickest was right. When they stepped outside, they found a catwalk of pathways leading to the monolithic satellite dish. It was absolutely massive; fitting his criteria of being as large as a light cruiser. On the catwalks were the completely clueless forms of numerous LOKI and FENRIS mechs. It was a good thing this place didn't employ YMIRs.

Apart from slight hitches in progress due to a damaged part of the catwalk, mowing through the enemy forces their was laughable at best. It was more a practise session than an actual battle. He could only imagine the geth at the other stations...all under Overlord's control...Most of the time he didn't even bother using his pulse rifle; just opting to use his SMG or pistol to pick them off.

Finally, they reached the satellite dish itself. It had been a simple matter of extending the bridge to access it, quickly moving inside the large structure. Once again, the mechanized resistance was pathetic and ascending to the top of the dish was just too easy. I'll never understand the dependence on these useless pieces of scrap.

The top was an entirely different business. Although there were no mechs, he did have to destroy the main antenna. Which was a one way trip. Instead, he knew just what to do as he grabbed his missile launcher. He turned to his team, grinning all the way, "All of you, get off the dish. I'm going to take down this bastard myself."

Garrus was skeptical, "And you?"

"I'll make my daring escape. Don't worry, it'll be spectacular."

Tali wasn't as convinced, "And if it isn't and you plunge to your death?"

Marcus shrugged, "Well...that'll suck."

The quarian was quick to swat his arm, "Don't joke about that!"

He shared a grin with the engineer, "You really think I'm going to let a satellite dish kill me Tali? Don't worry, I'll be fine! Now get your fine ass at of here!" He barked, making a poor imitation of Ken's accent in his last line. Tali merely giggled at his attempt before following Garrus and the others off of the dish. When Garrus contacted him to tell the spectre that everyone was off safely, he aimed the launcher at the center of the antenna and fired a steady stream of three missiles before running towards the edge with all his strength.

His cybernetics surprised him once more, managing to carry him to the edge just as the last missile impacted the antenna, exploding in a great flurry of light as the entire dish spontaneously combusted from the pressure. He leapt off the edge, landing hard on his front on one of the catwalks, narrowly escaping the destroyed satellite.

As he got to his feet, Garrus was at his side, helping him up as they examined their work. There was nothing left of the dish except the small arm, which was now severed of it's perch. They had stopped Overlord from escaping, but the AI was still on the loose. He thanked Garrus before straightening up, ignoring the dull ache of his bones from the impact of jumping so far. His thoughts of victory were jolted away when Archer ran up to them, "Over here!"

Marcus placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head, "Willing to explain just what the hell is going on around here?"

Archer seemed to think this through for a couple of seconds before looking back up, "Man's reach exceeding it's grasp. Follow me, I'll explain everything."

And so they did, moving back into the depths of Hermes Station. Whatever answers there were to this calamity, he'd find them here. He knew Overlord's purpose, but he couldn't understand how Overlord rebelled. But just as before, the AI's words rung in his head, still waiting to be explained.

Please, make it stop.

{Loading...}

August 25, 2185

1613 hours.

Crash Zone, Prometheus Station, Cerberus Controlled Sector, Aite.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Soldier Grunt.

"Hold onto something!" Marcus barked as he braced his arms against the forward control console, while everyone else assumed similiar postures. Tali sat behind him and immediately gripped the chair hard. This action was followed by a tremendous explosion outside, causing the hammerhead to shake violently as they narrowly escaped the destruction of the crashed ship. Marcus immediately brought the vehicle around, skidding to a stop and allowing them a view of their work.

After destroying the satellite at Hermes Station, Archer had explained what was happening with Overlord, or as best he could. Apparently Overlord hadn't always been a backup plan for Shepard's possible failed resurrection; it had originally been a weapon to influence the geth using a VI/AI hybrid that was to be deployed during the Eden Prime War. They continued the project over the fears of a second galactic war with the geth.

And as was obvious, that didn't work. However, Archer was convinced the project was a success, if only partially. He explained that another scientist, one that happened to be his brother, David Archer, volunteered as a test subject, but unfortunately, his mind couldn't handle the data required to interface with even just a VI. It was too much for an organic mind. David was autistic, a sevant, according to Gavin, who said that David had the remarkable ability to actually communicate to the geth using their language. So David wasn't just a test subject for Overlord now...

David was Overlord.

Ever since Overlord's breakout, he had been seizing control of the entire facility and all technology it found. Every geth, automated turret and security mech was now under Overlord's control. He described the AI as a being of quantity in which he had never encountered before; he didn't know where the man ends and the machine begins. The organic and synthetic were literally one. The ultimate hybrid.

The consequences of Overlord escaping Aite would end in what Gavin described as a 'technological apocalypse.' It would take control of everything technological and turn it against them. Even the Reapers would probably succumb to Overlord. Hell, David could probably kill off the entire galaxy before the genocidal starships even arrived. So it was obvious what the next question was...how to stop Overlord.

He continued to explain that Overlord was situated in Atlas Station, the heart of the cerberus operation and essentially a fortress; it was where most of the geth and guards were kept, along with Overlord himself. Unfortunately, the AI hybrid had the station in complete lockdown. The only way to override the lockdowns would be to manually do it at Vulcan and Prometheus stations. So, as expected, they went to Vulcan before heading to Prometheus. Gavin had already done the override at Hermes, so it was up to them to do the ones at Vulcan and Prometheus. This proved to be less than easy.

It was now the geth showed up. After arriving at Vulcan station, which was surrounded by volcanic formations, they encountered pockets of geth and mechanized forces. After a long battle, they finally infiltrated Vulcan Station, hit the override, and left. And now they had just finished off at Prometheus. It wasn't a station, per se, but more a conglemoration of labs set up in the ruins of a crashed geth destroyer. The geth had been dormant, but that was until they hit the override. With no other alternative, they destroyed the destroyer's reactor and escaped just in time. The explosion had been the destroyer's reactor going critical, vaporizing the wreckage of the once fearsome geth warship.

Marcus let out a low chuckle at their work, "Everyone okay?"

He could hear Zaeed grown behind him, "No thanks to your driving..."

Grunt joined in, "A battlemaster is good at fighting, but he is not a good driver."

Marcus rolled his eyes as he brought the tank on a course to take them out of the area and towards the now open Atlas Station, "Trust me, I know you guys would be begging to have my kind of driving skills."

Everyone simply rolled their eyes at his boasting as he drove the hammerhead towards the coordinates provided by Gavin to get to the Atlas facility. After traversing more grass plains and mountain peaks, they had finally reached the cerberus base; Atlas' entrance being a large, fortified blast door leading into a mountain side. Blowing open the door was a simple matter with the lockdown overriden, so he simply drove inside.

The interior of the facility looked far worse than the other three facilities combined. This was just a complete mess. The landing platform was a lonely platform surrounded by the exterior walls of a 'pillar' like structure, labs and rooms surrounding them like looming ships. The hammerhead came to rest on the landing platform, engines deactivating and hatch opening to allow his team admittance.

The path ahead was dark and dim, with lighting being minimal. It was eerily silent. Noone spoke; no banter traded. Just silence. The only sounds was the pitter patter of leaking water and their feet rubbing against the marble floor. Eventually, they came across a corridor that did have lighting, but it lead in two directions, both open. Deciding to check both locations, he knew he had to split up.

"Kaidan, Tali and Kasumi, you're with me," Marcus ordered, "The rest of you follow Garrus. You take the right corridor, we'll take the left. Radio the other team if you find something worth of note and if you find Overlord. Do not engage enemy targets unless absolutely nessacary." With that, the groups split up, going their seperate ways as they covered different parts of the station.

Meanwhile, Marcus' group continued to move further inside silently, weapons raised. The few geth they came across were dormant, not moving or simply not active. The silence was unnerving. It was like Overlord was watching them; their every move being tracked silently, the virtual hybrid just waiting for it's moment to strike. This was it's domain; they were under it's...his, mercy.

Then it came. After crossing the threshold of what looked like a room containing a elevator leading deeper into the facility, they were spotted by a active geth juggernaut. But this geth wasn't alone; it had friends; mostly older model shock troopers, along with two LOKI mechs.

Marcus was quick to react, thrusting a biotic shockwave towards the juggernaut and staggering it as his team focused on suppressing it's allies. The juggernaut was possibly the heaviest geth unit they had come across, encountering no colossi, armatures or primes. Not even any drones. Lucky day, he surmised.

Taking advantage of the stunned geth's position, he let loose a wave of pulse rifle rounds into the behemoth's chest, riddling it with holes. It didn't cripple the beast, but it at least gave him time to prime a grenade. Before the juggernaut could do much else, he had thrusted the incendiary grenade inbetween a crack in the juggernaut's armor chasing, before using his biotics to throw it at two approaching shock troopers, the resulting explosions taking all three of them.

He quickly joined his companions, activating his omni-blade and slamming it into the approaching optics of another shock trooper, the forcing shattering the glass chasing over the geth's 'eye' and making it go dark. Unable to see, the geth fired wildly, unsure of what to do. Switching to a omni-bow, he fired a shot through it's left leg, but only impacting it's kinetic barriers. Tali finished the trooper quickly however, her plasma shotgun tearing it's head clean off with a single blast.

Mopping up the final pockets of geth resistance, they moved up ahead, ableit faster. Taking the elevator down, they made sure to watch for hostiles. Just as it was about to reach the bottom level however, the elevator suddenly stopped, instead rising.

"What the fuck?" Marcus cursed as he hit the button on the elevator for the bottom floor. The elevator ignored the command, not responding. Before long, they were back where they started.

"What the hell is going on?" Kaidan asked, lowering his rifle at the door. Tali and Kasumi looked just as confused. Before they could say much more, the elevator suddenly jolted downwards, sending the whole team tumbling as the box plummeted downwards at incredible speed. Seeing as Tali was the most vulnerable out of the ship, Marcus used his body to cover hers and lessen the impact just as the elevator hit point zero, everything going black.

{Loading...}

August 25, 2185

1652 hours.

Lower Levels, Atlas Station, Cerberus Controlled Sector, Aite.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Master Thief Kasumi Goto.

The spectre had to force his eyes open upon hearing his radio crackle with comm chatter. Garrus' voice tried to contact him desperately. With a groan, he raised a hand from under Tali's cradled and still unconscious form, comming his earpiece. Nothing. He checked again, only to rip the piece away and find it to be destroyed. He cursed as he threw it away, moving to stand up.

Only to crouch down again as sudden pain shot up his leg. His ankle was sprained most likely. The elevator itself was a mess; and he wouldn't be using it again at any point. They'd have to find another way out. Kneeling next to Tali's form, he squeezed her shoulder, shaking it steadily. He watched as the two bright orbs of her eyes appeared behind the mask, instantly locking with his as he stroked her veil.

"You okay?" Marcus asked.

Tali gave a weak nod, "Yeah, I'm fine. Aside from a pounding headache and a neck that needs stretching, I'm fine."

Marcus smiled as he helped the engineer up, moving to do find Kasumi and Kaidan. Apparently however, he didn't need to as the two of them were already stirring, moving to stand up and collect their weapons. He could hear an audible crack and the three turned to Tali, to see her rolling her neck. She suddenly stopped upon seeing their eyes on her though, "Sorry." She whispered, picking up her plasma shotgun and moving out of the elevator.

Apparently, apart from his sprained ankle, everyone was fine. Kasumi had a tiny scratch on her face while Kaidan was just covered in soot. The four of them trudged on, finally coming upon a small room that Kasumi guessed acted as the main control hub for Overlord.

They entered the room, Marcus leaning back against the door to check for hostiles as Tali, Kasumi and Kaidan rolled into the room, the former locking the door behind them. Slowly, but steadily, Marcus approached the sole console in the room, gazing at it. A single press of a button and he could shutdown Overlord. It almost seemed too easy. Like there was a catch. He didn't like it, but he knew he had to. He chuckled.

"Be careful," He joked, "I wouldn't be surprised if this button releases a Reaper."

And then he did. He pressed the button. Everything went silent for a couple of seconds. Then Marcus began to worry. Nothing happened. All the consoles still displayed Overlord's face, David's face, on all their screens. Had he done something wrong? Was there something else needed to be done? Did he...?

He was temporarily blinded as the console flashed a bright green, just as bright as a flashbang. The flash blinded him, as it did his comrades, giving Overlord enough time to do what he needed to do. Marcus was helpless to stop Overlord as green energy surged into his omni-tool and then seeped into his body, ceasing control of his cybernetics. He tried to resist, but Overlord was too strong.

Tali, already recovering from Overlord's stun attack, turned to see Marcus hunched over, reeling as Overlord surged through his body. She ran up to help him, turning him to face her. What she saw wasn't Marcus; but something possessing his body. His eyes shone a brilliant green, green energy surging through his body. But he still had control. A matter of fact, Overlord didn't seem to be controlling Marcus at all. Only inhabiting his body.

"Tali...I...Overlord...inside me...I can feel his presence...," Marcus got out, "He...wants to show...me...things...wants...help...have to...cannot...let you...follow..."

Before the quarian could fully realize what he had just said, Marcus was gone, rushing towards the door, green data continuing to flow out of him. Tali rushed forward to stop him, but before she could reach him, the door had already closed, locking behind the spectre as she banged her fists hopelessly against the door. She opened her omni-tool and tried to hack it, but she knew it was no use. If EDI couldn't hack it, neither could she. Overlord had hijacked Marcus and taken him somewhere else.

And she was unable to help.

Marcus let Overlord guide him. Control him. To show him the path. The spectre saw everything from the AI's point of view. Everything was green; the walls, the crates, the windows, even his enemies. Overlord guided his hands, allowing him to react with speed currently impossible, even with his current cybernetics. He slaughtered geth after geth, confused as to just what Overlord was doing with him. Where was the hybrid taking him?

He felt new sensations conquer his body; every nerve rejoicing in being relieved of organic pressure, being liberated by the hybrid's control of the N7 marine. Before long, Overlord had taken him through much of the area and into the main laboratory, where Overlord's memories flooded his mind. David's recruitment. How Gavin had pressured him into joining the project. How they learned of his ability to talk with the geth. How they forced David to become Overlord. How...how they hooked him up to the torture device he now occupied.

And when Overlord released control of him, allowing the spectre to regain his senses, he looked up at David's cage, and felt a pang of empathy. Overlord wasn't a murderer; he was just a scared kid looking to end his own torment; a torture forced upon him by his brother.

Overlord's prison was a torture device in his eyes. David hung in the middle of the room, numerous devices hooking up to the station mainframe and network while others checked vital signs. However, it was the head pieces that were the true, sickening horror. Large appendages held David's eyelids open, causing him unimaginable pain. Two, large pipes lead down into his mouth, making it hard to breathe. Tears streamed down David's face, the man unable to fathom what his brother had done to him. And now, for the first time ever, he heard Overlord's words clearly.

"Quiet...please...make it stop!" David pleaded, crying out. Marcus felt furious at Gavin for the atrocity commited on his own brother but knew he would deal with the scientist later. First, he had to free David. It made sense now. David wasn't Overlord; Overlord was merely the AI that David had become part of. Marcus needed to destroy Overlord to sever the connection. The datastream had to be cut. Marcus knew what he had to do.

He raised his pulse rifle and aimed directly at the glowing core of Overlord's 'brain.' David let out a cry of defiance. But it wasn't his own; it was Overlord's. Marcus ignored it and fired a steady stream, not letting up. After what felt like an eternity, the core exploded, causing a massive screech of noise to fill the spectre's ears.

Then it ended. The core was destroyed and fell to the ground, the horrible contraption deactivating and disengaging; dropping David to the ground and on his knees, coughing up bits of fluid and blinking rapidly. That was it; Overlord was destroyed. It had been stopped. Marcus quickly holstered his weapon and ran up to David's rolling form, making sure to be careful with him. He had been through a traumatic experience.

He put a hand on David's shoulder and the young man immediately turned to face him, eyes wide in fear. He was basically naked apart from a pair of boxers. Before Marcus could help him up however, Gavin had apparently entered and started speaking.

"David? You're alive!" Gavin stated in happiness, but then noticed the spectre steadily approaching him, anger covering his face, "Commander, please! Don't do anything rash!" The spectre stopped his charge and simply glared daggers with the scientist.

"You told me David volunteered, you lying scumbag!" Marcus scolded, "He was forced! And don't lie to me! When he was guiding me, he showed me his memories! I watched you force him into that torture device! He begged you to stop and you didn't listen!"

Gavin wasn't angry, but desperate, "He volunteered by necessity! If I'd told you the truth, you would have shut me down and not him! It's not...It's not like I planned this! It was an accident. Seeing David communicate with the geth...it all seemed harmless."

Marcus sighed, shaking his head, "And before you knew it you were running your own private hell...and you were in charge! Chief Scientist Satan!"

This time Gavin, reacted with alittle more anger, "I had no choice! The demands were incredible! The Illusive Man doesn't reward failure! Any war with the geth will be bloody. I was asked to find a way to avoid that."

Marcus stared at the man, seeing the regret laced on his face as both he and David shared looks. But David quickly pulled away, not wanting to look at the monster that had forced this pain upon him. Gavin's gaze lingered; tear streaming down his cheek at what he had done. The spectre shook his head.

"And who gave you the right to play god?," Marcus barked, "And to inflict this on your own brother? You should be fucking disgusted with yourself."

Gavin didn't react with fury, but simple facts, not even facing Marcus as he continued to watch his brother, the autistic young man observing his surroundings. Marcus didn't turn as Tali, followed by Kasumi and Kaidan, entered the room, "People who were unwilling to make difficult decisions themselves. Doing this to David...it's not something I take personal pride in. It's resourceful necessity. Something that had to be done. When people pray for a miracle, they're really praying for men like me to make tough choices."

"If my work spares a million mothers mourning the loss of a million sons...," Gavin wondered off, before looking back at Marcus, who now had Tali at his side, sidearm at her hip. Kasumi was helping David up while Kaidan checked up on him, "Well, my conscience will rest easy."

Once again, fury spiked his posture, "Look at him! You're brother will never be the same! I hope your conscience rests easy knowing you're responsible for his torture."

Gavin shook his head, "The damage isn't permanent. He might regain some semblance of his mind."

Tali was quick to join in, "Cerberus will never leave your brother alone. He will always be a lab rat; someone they run to, to run experiments on." He nodded to the engineer, motioning for her to secure the doorway. If he was going to kill Gavin, which he felt the will to do, he didn't want the love of his life to see it. She nodded, walking away.

Gavin watched the quarian leave, directing his answer towards the spectre, "But a well-cared for lab-rat. At least he'd still be alive."

Marcus shook his head, biotics flaring through his body, "So you'll sacrifice your brother's happiness for your own ambition? You selfish bastard."

Gavin, for once, didn't have an answer to that. He simply turned to David, who was being pulled away by Kasumi and Kaidan, mumbling under his breath, but loud enough for them to hear. Marcus remembered the words from the memory David shared with him.

"Square root of 906.01 equals..." David trailed off, but Gavin was quick to pick up on it.

"...30.1." Gavin responded softly, looking down upon the ground in deep regret and sorrow. Shame maybe? He didn't know. Before long though, Gavin continued, "What I've done to David is unethical. If he dies, it's unforgivable," he then turned to Marcus, a pleading look on his face, "Let me take care of him. Please."

Kasumi and Kaidan stopped at this. The door opened to allow entry for second squad, who raised their weapons immediately. Marcus raised his hand, motioning for them to lower their weapons before looking at Tali. The quarian always knew what to say to him. She was the ethical sort. The quarian seemed to ponder for a moment before looking up at him, her eyes meeting his. Her answer was expected.

She shook her head.

He looked to Kasumi and Kaidan. Kaidan was shaking his head while Kasumi just gave him a blank stare, unsure of what to do. Immediately, Marcus ran the options through his head. I can't leave David here. Gavin could have good intentions, but what if his loyalty to the Illusive Man overrides his loyalty to his own brother? Is Gavin a nepotist? Yet again, does Gavin deserve redemption? It's not a matter of redemption however; it's a matter of what's best for David. The things he's seen...there's only one place in the galaxy where David would be truly safe and able to recover...

He looked back up to look into Gavin's awaiting eyes, having made his decision.

"I'm sorry Gavin, but this isn't about redemption, it's about what's best for David," Marcus stated, moving towards his squad, back turned to Gavin, "I'm taking your brother to Grissom Academy. He'll be safe from Cerberus' grasp and be able to live in an environment with friendly people. People who aren't going to place him in torture devices. The Alliance will look after him. As for Overlord, it's finished. I find that this place is reactivated, I'll have Joker bomb it from orbit myself. A matter of fact, I think I'll do that."

Gavin's voice was desperate, "No! Leave him! He's too valuable!"

Marcus could hear the sounds of a pistol being extended and as he turned around, he saw Gavin, pistol raised to the spectre's head. He moved to unholster his own pistol, but found no need to do so. A shot echoed through the room, the sidearm flying from Gavin's grip as he cradled his bloodied hand, screaming in pain. Marcus turned to see Tali, pistol still raised, barrel smoking as she lowered it, nodding to the spectre.

Marcus followed this by uppercutting Gavin in the face, giving him a bloodied nose, "If you even try to come after David, I'll have a bullet waiting for you. Then we'll see who's valuable," he turned to Kasumi, "Radio the Normandy, tell him to load the javelin torpedo bays and then lock in coordinates for Grissom Academy."

Kasumi nodded, keying her comm as Garrus walked up to him, "What should we do about Archer? We can't just leave him here."

Marcus shrugged, looking down upon the broken man, "He got here pretty fast; must have a vehicle. He can use that to get out of here. If he's not gone by the time the torpedoes drop, then that's his fault. Come on, let's get out of here. I've had enough of this place." With that, they turned and left, leaving Atlas Station behind.

Gavin did escape, radioing the Illusive Man for pickup, calling Overlord a failure. Marcus and the crew took David and evaced to the Normandy. After destroying Atlas Station with a orbital bombardment, the frigate entered FTL, inbound for Grissom Academy, located in orbit over Elysium, in the Vetus System, Petra Nebula. David Archer would be safe there; from his brother, and from Cerberus.

And right now, he was going to have nice chat with the Illusive Man.

{Loading...}

August 27, 2185

1826 hours.

Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

Talking. That's what Marcus Shepard and Tali'Zorah were doing. Talking. Right. It had been a few hours ago since they had dropped David off at Grissom Academy and now they were heading to Illium, where their last two recruits were located. Afterwards, they'd head to a specified Cerberus drydock and have the Thanix Cannon added to the ship's arsenal. It'd keep Garrus happy at least.

He had talked with the Illusive Man, who had admitted to authorizing Gavin's movement with using David as a test subject. He didn't budge, stating that it was a nessacary risk to conduct. Their alliance was unchanged however; stopping the collectors was more important, and he still needed Cerberus' resources.

Still, what had been talking between the couple had quickly escalated into something else. Marcus remembered how Tali had...treated a couple of days ago and he hadn't forgotten his promise to reciprocate the gesture. It had started with Marcus kissing sensitive areas on her suit; areas thin enough that it could be mildly felt by the quarian. Even if she didn't, she added cooes and humming sounds just to please him. Eventually, their actions had them moving onto the bed, where their actions quickly rose.

Now the treating was going both ways. Marcus lay on the bed, on his back, with his pants and boxers pulled completely back. Tali lay ontop of him, her elbows placed on his chest. His erect organ was placed firmly between her own legs, prodding against her concealed and protected, but wet core. She hummed in delight as she rubbed her body up and down against his organ, pleasuring both parties with her dry humping.

Marcus for one was feeling immense pleasure. No girl had made him feel this way before, not even the schoolies back during graduation night in secondary school. Tali was special; so the...sex, if you could call it that at the moment, was extra special and pleasurable with her. His hands gripped her hips, squeezing them tightly as she increased her motions, the engineer's moans easily heard as they increased in volume, both of them reaching climax soon.

During their lovemaking of sorts, they both held their foreheads (or Tali's visor) together in a symbolic form of kissing. They mostly did it however to ensure the other that they were there. It made the experience that much better.

Marcus groaned as he felt about ready to climax, with Tali's moans becoming much more paramount. Without warning, Marcus hit his climax first, unleashing his load. Due to Tali's positioning, only some of his seed hit his body, with the rest coating her lower veil section. Despite already finishing his load, Tali continued to dry hump, having not reached her own. Just as she hit her own, she turned off her vocalizer, not wanting the people below to here her scream of pleasure and lust.

She climaxed, her suit's waste disposal system rapidly taking care of her own load. Even through her vocalizer her cry could be heard, echoing through the silence of the cabin. She reared up, drinking it all in. This was technically the first time Tali had actually ejaculated and it was a whole new experience for her. It was the best euphoric feeling she'd ever had. Just imagine this without the suit. You wouldn't be rubbing against him...he'd be inside me...

Tali shook that thought away as she collapsed ontop of him, letting her climax filter itself out as Marcus pulled his boxers, followed by his pants, up and zipped them sighing at her touch. There was stil a bulge in his pants, but he ignored it. Just reminded him of the kind of woman lying next to him.

The quarian in question wrapped her arms around her lover, holding him tightly, not wanting to let go, just enjoying the warmth radiating from his body and into hers. Despite the suit, she could still feel the heat eminating from him and it made her feel good inside. At least I can do one thing with this suit to pleasure him. But will it last? You know what males are like. Quickly he'll want more. What if I can't give him more? Will he...abandon me for someone else?

Keelah, how could she think that? Marcus wasn't in this relationship for sex, he was here for her. He said so. What if he said that to placate you? That gave her pause. Would Marcus do that to me? Is this relationship forged simply out of sympathy for my race? I know I love him, but does he love me? Is it unconditional or forfeit?

Marcus could feel the sudden hesitation in Tali's posture. The signs were there; her loosened grip on his chest, her drooped head and shoulders along with her seperated position. He knew something was wrong and was quick to act. He wasn't really willing to lift her up so he could sit up; his ankle still throbbing from the unwanted elevator crash back on Aite. Instead, he was content with leaning down and kissing her on the forehead.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly. This caused Tali to stiffen abit; this confirmed his suspicions. The quarian hesitated for a second, trying to think of what to say. In the end, she decided she'd rather not ruin the moment by voicing her concerns.

"It's nothing."

He sighed heavily, shifting his head so it was raised and looking into her eyes; the fabric of her veil brushing against his skin as he moved, "Don't give me that. You may wear a suit, but I can see when you're worried or troubled by something. You can tell me anything, you know."

"I know," Tali sighed heavily, "I just don't if I want to. I don't want to ruin this moment."

"Anything that troubles you is worth ruining any moment," Marcus stated firmly, "Tell me what's wrong. Are you still affected by the tossle with Overlord?"

She wanted to shake her head, but found that she couldn't, "No, of course not. The things done to David were horrific, sure, and I might have recurring nightmares about it, but I'm not weak, Marcus. If I could overcome your death, although temporary, then I can overcome that. No, I'm just...concerned."

The spectre frowned. It was times like this that he wished his judgment of character was more profound. He was used to judging people based on their facial features; with a quarian, that was obviously impossible. Although he had gotten used to Tali's physical features, it was a whole different world in terms of her face. It was like trying to dissect the emotions off a spider's face; not that he thought Tali was that ugly. That ugly, huh? You think Tali's going to be ugly? That's not what repulses me; what disgusts me is the fact that you'd be bothered by that. You fell in love with her, not her body.

"Concerned? Is Jacob making more comments about EDI? Or is Miranda bothering you? If any of the Cerberus crew is-"

"It's not that at all!" Tali responded, trying to quell his ramblings, "It's...about us. I feel like I'm dragging you down."

He rolled his eyes and groaned. He knew this conversation would return; that was the price for having such a selfless woman for his girlfriend. Tali had always been selfless; and she hadn't given into their relationship, as much as she wanted it, immediately. It was a slow process because Tali would constantly declare she wasn't good enough for him and that he deserved to be with someone else like Ashley or Liara, none of who he was remotely interested in. She, of course, used her suit as the basis of her argument. This indecision died off a while ago, but he knew it would return.

"Tali, we've talked about this-"

"And we're talking about it again. Marcus, I need to know, do you really care for me or are you simply doing this out of sympathy? I'm not going to be made for a fool."

Marcus, for a second, had no idea what to say. I didn't expect that. Marcus had expected many things; that wasn't one of them. He thought, that after all they'd been through, that a question like that would have been destroyed before it could even sprout.

"Tali," he started softly, "This was never about sympathy. You think I'm that low? I would never use you like that. I'm only doing this because I genuinely care for you; not out of empathy, but love. Let people think what they think; I want you, only you and noone else. Noone else shares this cabin with me but you. And before you go on about how I deserve someone else, I don't want to hear it. I chose you, and not once have I ever regretted it. Not once have I wished something better could happen. Not once."

Any objection Tali had prepared was flushed down the toilet by that point. In a single speech, all her fears were washed away. Her arms gripped his chest more tightly, her masked head nudging his head as she lay it under his jaw, holding him. He was hers, and only hers. Noone could take him away from her. This was why Marcus was so compelling. This was why so many followed him into battle without question. Loyalty built upon trust born from moral judgment. It was she came to love him; that same indifference to everyone attracted her. How he treated her as an equal. Damn what her father thought of it.

They couldn't to hold each other until sleep took them. The battle on Aite had been tiring; it made Horizon seem like a one hundred meter sprint back in boot camp. So they fell asleep; not under covers, but in each other's shared warmth. Not seperate, but interwined. No interruption came; no important meeting. They just slept.

It was the best slept they had for a whole month.

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August 27, 2185

2400 hours.

Arena, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Decoris System, Sigurd's Cradle Cluster.

Veetor'Nara vas Rayya.

Veetor sat alone in the middle of the liveship's arena; the meeting place for people on the ship during important meetings or what not. He just sat in silence. It was midnight and the crew was asleep, except for those on night shift. Luckily for him, noone worked near this area on that shift, so he had the area all to himself. Peace; that's all he wanted right now.

The Arena was the closest thing to an actual world the migrant fleet had and only three of these existed; one on each of the three liveships. The room was quite large; the ceiling stood fifty feet tall and the room was forty-five meters wide. In the middle of the room was the meeting area itself; two stands flanked the sides with rows of seats for quarians to sit on. The front of the room and in the center was two pedestals, one higher than the other, with a birail. These were reserved for ranking officials, like Captain Kar'Danna or the full admiralty board.

The rest of the room was why the place was so impressive; life. The floor had numerous different plants and even a tree flourished in the middle; the ground underneath coated with dirt to allow the roots to grow and flourish. Plants. Growing. On the fleet. That's why it was so impressive. The tranquility of the room was peaceful that way. Two doors flanked either side of the room, allowing further access to the ship while a door at the back lead to the docking cradle section of the ship. The liveship's docking ring, many called it.

Veetor sat, legs crossed, on the floor, simply looking at the pedestals. His ultimate goal was to become an ambassador someday; noone took him seriously about it, but he knew what he wanted. To be an ambassador to his people. People would laugh him down, but he never stopped dreaming. The only person who cared was his parents and...

He stopped and looked at the ground, eyes knit together and deep in thought. The thought of Elan forestalled any further thought he attempted to continue. Elan; he realized, many days ago since the beginning of their blussoming relationship, that he loved her. Love was a strange concept to the quarian. Not many had shown it to him except his parents. They pretended to; but only out of empathy for his position as a fleet 'idiot' and 'psycho.' But Elan was the first woman he cared for and had cared for him back. He planned to hold onto her.

It was times like these that quarians really came to despise their suits while simultaneously holding them in high regard. Other species, like the asari or the humans, could show their affection, touch their mates or pleasure them whenever they wished. With quarians, doing so would result in infection and possibly death. They'd need a clean room to engage in the simple act of kissing. Something he felt he wasn't ready for. Then again, it showed that their time together was precious, forcing the virtue of patience upon quarians as well.

It was now Veetor wondered what Elan tasted like. What her skin felt like, how her lips tasted...

As if summoned by his thoughts, the door behind him opened and he heard padded feet cross the room. They suddenly stopped, followed by a soft sigh of relief, along with a familiar, kind voice, "There you are Veetor. I've been looking for you."

Veetor sighed, smiling behind his helmet, knowing it could not be seen. He swerved round in his seated position on the floor to face the doctor, who didn't seem to be scolding him in any fashion. Instead, she simply stood there, hands on her hips and looking down at him, eyes wide; she was amused.

"W-were my parents?" Veetor couldn't help stuttering. Of course he didn't mean it, but it was something he was used to. In his dreams, he could still see the collectors abducting whole colonies and taking everyone while he sat in his little building and hid, cowering and escaping the same fate. It was disturbing, scary even, and the dreams continued to plague his dreams. He kept seeing Elan for daily checkups; he didn't do it to help the dreams go away, he did it to see Elan. Which he guessed worked in both ways. He laughed inwardly at that.

Elan shook her head as her hands fell from her hips and she walked down to where he sat in the middle of the room, "No. As far as they are concerned, you're checking up with me. Why here?" She then plopped on the floor next to him, crossing her own legs and just sitting next to him, the only things brushing between them being their kneecaps. He understood the question. She knew why he sought peace, she just didn't know he chose this spot.

He lied instead of telling her the truth, "Barely anyone works up here. Gives me some room."

Elan shook her head and laughed loudly. Veetor snapped his head towards her, eyebrows raised, "W-what? What d-did I-I say?"

Elan laughed for a few more moments before stopping herself, "That's funny Veetor. You remember I'm a pyschologist, remember? I can read through lies, Veetor, even a mask can't hide that."

Veetor nodded his head in affirmation of this, stretching a grim smile across his face. There was no hope for liars when their lovers could read through them like a person looks through glass, "I came here...," Could it really hurt to tell her? Worst she could do is laugh at me, "I came here because this is the hub of politics for the Rayya. And...I want to be an ambassador when I grow up. When our people have our homeworld back, I want to be an ambassador for the Citadel races. For our people."

Elan sighed longingly, smiling at Veetor's admitted dreams. What he wanted would most likely never happen without full-scale war. Even then, the fleet might not survive such a battle. The quarian people would never see Rannoch again; at least not in their lifetime. But she didn't tell Veetor that. Chances were, he already knew that. And to state the obvious would only add salt to the wound. Instead, she lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, rocking it gently.

"Don't give up on dreams, Veetor," Elan reassured the quarian, "We'll have the homeworld back someday. Just...know that I'll be there when we do and I'll be by your side. Besides, you might be able to hire me as your personal doctor."

Veetor let out a low chuckle as he let his head lightly collapse onto Elan's shoulder, sighing heavily. Elan smiled as both her hands moved up and stroke the back of his head, both of them staring out into nothing.

Sometimes, it was the simple things.

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August 27, 2185

2406 hours.

Docking Cradle 5, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Decoris System, Sigurd's Cradle Cluster.

Major General Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Specialist Madi'Soi vas Ceresa.

"Kal, wake up, we've docked," Kal was shaken from his sleep at the sound of Madi's voice and he immediately moved to stand up, unfolding his arms and picking up the rifle that was laying against the wall. The Hutbyk's navigation sensors had been damaged during the initial geth bombardment on Haestrom, so it had taken them longer to find the Migrant Fleet's new position then it would have originally.

Madi was already leading the rest of the squad to pick up the supplies and depart from the vessel. The corvette had run across a geth fighter upon hitting the relay, and due to the ship having to disengage stealth to use the relay, the fighter had detected them and pursued. They had escaped, but the ship now had a new hole occupying it's side. That and it's fried navigation system. They would have contacted the Admiralty Board about their late arrival, but Tali's request for transfer probably would have spoken wonders.

He moved to stand before the airlock, waiting for the cycle to run. Madi moved up behind, taking his hand and squeezing it. Kal simply smiled, looking down upon the woman. She was taller than most female quarians; roughly the same size as Tali and Admiral Xen. Her veil was a light yellow color, matching well with her light orange visor. Kal couldn't remember how long he and Madi had been together; but it was certainly long enough to have taken to a clean room. Kal and Madi wouldn't be going there anytime soon though. They both knew that. Their bodies were ready; but their minds weren't.

Finally, the airlock sequence completed and they stepped out into the halls of the Rayya, immediately greeted by a decontamination team. Upon leaving the ship, the quarians scurried past them, moving to get their hands on the Hutbyk and scrub it clean of bacteria. The men scattered, moving to multiple different areas; crew quarters or just the observation deck. Kal, upon seeing Peta approaching, looked back at Madi, still holding her hand.

"Madi, go on ahead," Kal requested, "I have something...that needs doing."

Madi nodded, letting go of his hand and tapping her visor against his before leaving, making sure to swing her hips as she left. She knew how much Kal loved it when she did that. Kal smiled as she watched her leave. Once she was around the corner, he focused on Peta, who now stood right infront of him. Before the General could speak, Peta jumped in.

"Where is Tali? I must speak with her."

Kal furrowed his brow at the boy's demanding tone, "Not here. She transferred over to the Normandy, under Commander Shepard's command. Sorry." He smiled inwardly. He had never really liked or trusted Peta, and it felt good to deliver a blow to the man's ecstatic demeanour. The way he looked at Tali made him feel disgusted.

Peta's posture weakened slightly, "I see. Thank you General for your time."

Kal's posture remained the same as Peta turned and left, not looking back as he went through a door located ahead and disappeared behind it. He could swear that Peta was beginning to loosen up on the 'lovesick schoolboy' act and was starting to man up. Not to mention growing ball. The quarian seemed more devious, less obvious and more stealthy about his actions now. He didn't know what Peta was up to, but he'd better keep an eye on him. For now, he knew Tali couldn't be hurt, so he headed to the crews quarters to catch some shuteye. He needed to file a report about the Haestrom mission tomorrow.

Peta leaned back against the wall, keeping his calm. Okay, so Tali's not here. Very well, we'll play it that way. I'm sure my anonymous friend can help me find a way to win her over without having to contest with that human primate. Then an idea formed in his head. He knew that Rael already knew, but the quarian didn't care enough about his daughter to actually enforce rules upon her. But someone else on the other hand, someone closer to her...

Peta walked down the corridor, a hop in his step. He knew just the right person to tell; the right person who would definitely see that Tali's life was in danger and save her with a flick of her hand.

Yes, Admiral Raan would serve his purposes nicely.

{Loading...}

August 28, 2185

0832 hours.

Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

Screams. A synthetic cacophony of roars and hisses, echoing through the wind to haunt those around it. Beams of fiery death cascading down on walls of metal, built to protect those behind it. A species as tall as skyscrapers, if not bigger, destroying the landscape and all those on it. Husks ripping apart defenseless civilians and their children. Whole worlds burning to the ground. Statues on Ilos, the prothean's salvation, but ultimate doom. Saviors of the next cycle. A dark planet off ontold secrets and a Reaper arises from it's depths.

WE ARE THE END OF EVERYTHING.

Marcus' eyes shot open with a start and his body jolted upwards into a straightened position, sweat dripping down his forehead in droplets. He wiped his brow and looked around the room, the cool air of the cabin brushing against his skin and cooling him. His heavy breathing was the only thing heard the empty room; deep, breaths of air drawn it and out at a fast pace. Eventually, he slowed down and looked down to see Tali still fast asleep. Good, he hadn't woken her. Sounds eminated from her helmet; the sounds of soft snoring. He smiled.

He lay back down and looked aimlessly at the ceiling. That dream...he remembered it, a vision given to him by the beacon on Eden Prime; where it all began. A vision. A warning by the protheans to warn their own empire of their impending demise. Now used to warn the next cycle of the Reapers return and giving them time to stop them. It was probably because of that beacon that he came to even meet the quarian who slept so quietly next to him. Yet, he hadn't had that vision since Sovereign's destruction two years ago. What changed?

Then he remembered. Harbinger; that other reaper. The one leading the collectors. If Harbinger really was pulling the strings, then either he's a second reaper left behind or the synthetic fleet was closer than they realized. If so, time was incredibly short. And even after two years, the galaxy was nomore aware or ready for the Reapers. And it was all because of the Council's blatant ignorance to accept the truth; the Reapers were most definitely real, and coming.

He decided to forget about that for now. He wasn't going to be able to change the Council's minds anytime soon, anyway. He'd just have to wait it out. He lay back next to Tali, head resting on the pillow as he kissed her visor and closed his eyes to fall back to sleep...

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Eyes shut for only a second and his had already bolted open to the sound of his alarm clock going off, annoying chime ringing through the cabin. He noticed Tali's eyes shoot open as well, silvery orbs appearing at the back of her mask and body moving to stretch. By the way her eyes seemed to narrow, she was smiling.

"Good morning," she whispered.

He smiled back, tapping his forehead against her visor, "Good morning to you too, honey."

The quarian stretched, numerous limbs popping and cracking before she let out a content sigh, "Honey? You're naming me after food now?"

Marcus shook his head with mirth, "No, honey is also a term of endearment among humans. We use it because honey is one of the most delicious substances on Earth; so when we call our loved one 'honey,' it means we find them the most wonderful person on the planet."

Tali found a loophole for some teasing, "On the planet? I don't feel so special now."

She suddenly found herself lifted off the bed and onto Marcus' lap. He then leaned in close, "Okay then, sweetheart, I find you to be the most wonderful person in the galaxy."

She rubbed the chin of her helmet in mock contemplation, "It's not the universe, but it'll do."

Marcus sighed mockingly, "You're a woman who's hard to impress. Is that the quarian in you or the woman?"

For a few seconds, Tali pondered this musingly before answering, "Both."

He then remembered that a sudden wet substance was brushing against his leg. Looking down, he suddenly remembered their activity last night, "Tali, I think you'll have to wash your veil. It's still got my...uh...cum, on it."

Tali seemed confused for a moment before looking down and seeing a sizable stain. The blood rushed to her cheeks, "Oh, keelah, I will have to wash that, I'd better-"

"Forgive the intrusion Shepard, but Jack wishes to see you on the maintenance deck. She says she's found something worthy of note in the Cerberus databases that she'd like to share with you."

Tali sighed as she reluctantly pulled herself from Marcus, moving to stand up and head into the shower cubicle, telling him she was using it to wash her veil. Marcus nodded to the engineer before answering, "Thanks EDI, tell her I'll be down there in the next twenty minutes. Just got up and have a few things to deal with first."

"Yes, commander, logging you-"

A thought occured to him before she could finish, "Wait, EDI?"

"Yes commander?" The AI responded.

"How many cameras are located in my cabin?" Marcus asked.

Some hesitation, "Nine. One at the foot of the bed, a second near your-"

"I don't need a full list," Marcus interrupted, "I just want you to send that information to Tali's omni-tool. I want them removed as fast as possible. I don't like the idea of the Illusive Man spying on me."

"My programming shackles limit what I can do, but I'll try my best," EDI responded, "Will there any further queries?"

"No, that's all. Thank you EDI."

"Logging you out."

Marcus, deciding he needed to take a shower, quickly began to strip. He loved showers; greatest creation of mankind, in his opinion. The warmth of nice, hot water flooding over your skin. He'd always take 15 minute ones, as long as he could without wasting it.

Then he remembered that Tali was inside and washing her veil. He smiled evilly as he continued to strip until he was completely nude. He then walked inside the shower cubicle, the door closing behind him. To the immediate left was Tali at the sink, without her veil on. It looked odd to see Tali without it; the veil served as her hood and main 'accessory' if you could call it that. Without it, he could see the back of her helmet; the blackened surface and the numerous tubes and wires connecting to her helmet and medical implants.

It was without the veil though, that her feminine form shown much more. It felt perverted to be looking at the area between her legs; without the skirt part of her veil, it looked slightly like perversion. But he couldn't deny that she looked more sexy without the veil on, the suit accenting her body much more. Her veil was in the sink, the quarian squeezing water out of it with every twist of her hands. Hearing the door open, she turned.

"Marcus, I need some to-" She then saw him, stark naked, in front of her. And she wasn't sure she should have.

"By the ancestors! Marcus!" Tali exclaimed, wanting to turn around but at the same time, not wanting to. Marcus merely grinned as he moved to turn the taps on, "Like what you see?"

Tali blushed, unsure of what to say. Here Marcus was, in all his naked glory, and she...liked it. His ribcage was accented nicely by his big muscles and strong body. Then her view lowered and stopped upon his organ. It was erect. I'm not the only one enjoying the view, am I?

"Yes, it's quite...new."

"Get used to it. In our cabin, you'll be seeing it alot."

Hot water impacted the ground around Marcus as he started the shower, washing himself. Tali just watched in awe as water cascaded down and around him; pelting off his body and onto the floor in streams. Marcus' beard and hair was soaked by the steamy water in almost an instant. Tali couldn't help the urge to want to...want to join him.

Without thinking, without listening to rational thought, she stepped in with him, arms around him. Marcus widened and he turned around, looking at the quarian who's suit was now soaked.

"Tali, now you have to dry off your whole suit," Marcus observed.

"Don't care," Tali replied while still holding him. Marcus merely smiled in response, taking the quarian and moving her further into the shower, infront of him, facing him. They bathed together; but it wasn't quite bathing for Tali, as she was in a suit. She'd never regret doing this; but she'd regret wearing the suit. Someday I'll do it without the suit. Nothing to seperate us.

Before long, Tali was close enough to feel Marcus' erect organ prodding against her waist. She giggled lightly and she could notice the blush on Marcus' cheeks. So the feeling is mutual. By instinct, as she was now pretty used to it, her left hand glided down to the organ in question and wrapped around it, eliciting a smile from the spectre. Smiling herself, she began rubbing it up and down.

The only sound heard in the cabin for fifteen minutes was the sounds of two mates pleasuring each other.

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August 28, 2185

0851 hours.

Maintenance Deck of Engineering, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Subject Zero Jack.

Marcus straightened the collar of his new jumper. It was a N7 hoodie, and he liked it much better than any cerberus uniform. He also wore a basic N7 cap on his head along with a Master Chief T-shirt. Apparently Halo: Salvation 4 was a pretty hyped game coming out and the T-shirt was pretty much the only one he could find. Figures that would happen. He stepped down the steps and out onto the maintenance, immediately turning to see Jack pacing the deck. With a frown, he approached the convict.

"You called me Jack?"

The convict turned towards him with anger in her eyes, "What took you so long?"

"I had...other things, to tend to." He tried not to grin at the memory of Tali and himself in the shower. He'd have to try that again. Tali had to stay in the cubicle because of her wet suit; so instead she was working on cyclonic barrier technology for the ship; essentially more powerful shields and on a way to remove the cameras in their cabin.

Jack rolled her eyes, "Oh, of course. Did you fuck her good? Did you fuck the quarian real good?"

Marcus let a face of iron and steel cover his face, "That's none of your business. Anyways, you said you had something you wanted to share with me?"

Jack huffed at his refusal to tell her but quickly forgot anyway, "Yes, I've got information I'm willing to act on but I need your help. Are you...going to help? Or do I have to ask Zaeed and Grunt?"

Jack plopped down on her bunk, awaiting Marcus' answer. Not wanting to start a potential argument, he shook his head, "Yes, I'll help. It just depends on what we're doing."

Jack smiled a dark smile. Although it held evil intent, he also saw hints of revenge. She held up her datapad and threw it to the spectre, who caught it awkwardly, reading over the contents. When he was done, he looked towards the convict and nodded in understanding. Jack's grin extended.

"So...have any badass nukes in the armoury?"

"I'm glad David's okay. He's still alive; he works for some scientists on Rannoch. He's old, but he's still better than all those years ago back on Aite."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"That's good to know. So Jack had a mission for us..."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I think the fact I was soaking wet from a shower meant I didn't go. I remember that much. What was the mission like?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Well, it goes a little like this..."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

A/N:

I'm terribly sorry for this late chapter, guys. And it's not because of the lack amount of reviews on the last chapter, but it was because I've only just recently gone back to rewatching the Game of Thrones Season One, that the addiction has caused me to neglect this fiction. Do not fear. I am not dead and neither is this fanfic!

So, to make up for my laziness, I have added even more stuff to this chapter; Veetor and Elan fluff, Peta Evilness, Tali and Shepard smut and fluff and combat. All in one! Oh, and the precursor to Jack's loyalty mission. Oh, this'll be fun.

I hope to pull out a new chapter soon. Also, the chapter title of Jack's recruitment mission, 'I was Frozen Today!' isn't just random. Try and figure out what movie it's from and the actor who says it! And before you ask, the actor is famous and one of the best of all time! Anyone who tells me first gets a cameo in this story. Your time starts now! So get reviewing!

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:

SUBJECT ZERO

August 29, 2185

1649 hours.

Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Pragia, Dakka System, Nubian Expanse Cluster.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack.

"Took you long enough to turn up, boy scout. Was beginning to think you wouldn't turn up." The spectre merely rolled his eyes at Jack's antics; choosing not to respond. Instead, he turned to the huge, hulking krogan next to him, nodding for him to help him pick up the large ordnance before them. It was a 11 ton nuclear device; the detonation of a device like this would be comparable to the blast that destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the conclusion of World War II. More than enough to do what Jack was proposing.

The convict had done alot of research and finally found more about her history, which she shared with Marcus. She had been born on the colony of Eden Prime, but was abducted by Cerberus when she was a little girl and taken to Teltin Facility on Pragia; a Cerberus research base built for one purpose; development of biotic potential in humans. Cerberus' goals meant only human dominance; and that meant alot of biotics.

Jack wasn't the only child Cerberus abducted. The Illusive Man, apparently, noticed that biotic potential was much more common in children, and so only abducted children for this experiments, including Jack. Along with the other kids, they were forced into cells and were trained to become powerful biotics. Jack was the main attraction though; she said that many kids were experimented on and died so that Jack could achieve full potential. She was their crowning jewel.

Then she started a riot and everything went to hell. Jack explained how, with the kids who hated her guts and blamed her for their misery, broke free and tore apart the facility, killing all the Cerberus guards in their way. When they were done, all the kids were dead and Jack was the last survivor, able to escape via a stolen cerberus shuttle. And now she wanted to plant a nuclear warhead in her old cell and incinerate the ruins of the Teltin facility in atomic flame.

It was simple enough; so simple, he didn't even need to bring anyone. Grunt was only coming because he was the only one able to heft the large, explosive package along with him. Jack was coming as well because it was her mission. He had decided to bring full armor and weapons as well; he'd been caught off guard way too much. From what he heard, Pragia was a rainforest world, and that meant alot of ferocious animals could lurk in the abandoned facility.

"I'm sorry, but I had a bigass bomb to carry," Marcus responded snarkily, continuing to carry the bomb until it was situated in the center of the kodiak. Dropping it on the deck, he stretched his strained muscles, hearing a satisfying pop before he turned back to Grunt and Jack, both waiting outside. Motioning them inside, he ordered the pilot to take off, closing the door behind his two companions.

"So you want this planted right inside your old cell?" Marcus asked for elaboration, Grunt standing infront of the shuttle door as Jack threw herself into a nearby seat, crossing her legs and tapping her foot impatiently. Hearing his question, she turned around and nodded.

"Damn right," Jack responded, "Smack bang in the fucking middle. I can't wait to see the place where I suffered burn. This has been a long time coming. Almost too long."

Marcus crossed his arms and examined Jack's features. She looked determined and furious, but something in her eyes told him something else; they told him that she was suffering remorse and threatened to collapse. He had seen that happen to too many soldiers under his command. But he understood Jack's need to do this; she needed a clear mind. Doing this would make the fight against the collectors that much easier.

"You ever wish things could have been different, Jack?" Marcus asked suddenly. The question rolled off his tongue all too easily.

Her eyes snapped to meet his, "The fuck do you mean?"

He shrugged his armored shoulders, "Did you ever wonder whether you should have gone looking for your parents? That you should have at least tried to remember your old name before you became Subject Zero?"

"Why the fuck do you care?" Jack shouted, "It's none of your concern! I'm only here because you want me to help you on some fucking mission. I'll do it, then leave. Why should you care whether I go looking for my parents or not?"

He sighed, "I just thought that you'd might have wandered who was your mother and father."

The convict merely snorted and leaned back in her seat, "Doesn't matter anymore. Whoever my parents are, they're either dead or think I'm dead. I'm my own woman now. I'm no longer Subject Zero. I am Jack, the all powerful bitch, and as long as I can fight, I'll keep doing just that. It's who I am."

That marked the end of all conversation in the shuttle. Grunt didn't pose much as a conversation buddy; he just stood there, impatiently shuffling. The krogan was eager for a fight, but he knew their would be none. The supersoldier seemed more aggitated than usual, come to think of it. He was growing more aggressive everyday; more susceptible to get excitable at the sight or smell of blood.

Five minutes later, they landed on a landing pad just outside the main building. Vines and multiple other pieces of undergrowth and pieces of nature had grown over the pad, weakening it's integrity. It was barely holding the shuttle as it was. Hearing the kodiak's engines shutting off, Marcus motioned for Grunt to help him pick up the bomb once more, Jack palming the interface and opening the shuttle door, moving out onto the platform.

Heavy rain immediately met her, soaking her hair and body. She looked up, rain slicing through the rainforest. The sky was so dark that the light of Dakka barely shone through, almost to the point of no light being shown at all. The darkness was so bad, they had to activate flashlights on thei helmets and weapons. As he stood outside, rain pitter pattered on his armor, leaving droplets of water on the fine paint job. He looked at the broken facility.

Just like the landing platform, nature had overwhelmed it. A fence had surrounded by the place, but after a decade or more of neglect, the fence had been overrun and the facility covered in fines and undergrowth. Luckily, the power in the facility was still running. That was odd. After a year the power should have died. There was no way this facility could still be running, even on a backup generator. With a shake of his head, he turned to Jack, who was watching him.

He simply motioned his hand down the ramp leading into the base. This was her mission, she would lead it. She knew the place better than he did. With a nod, the convict moved down the ramp, followed by Grunt and Marcus as they carried the bomb down after her. Judging by the size of the station, this would be a long walk.

{Loading...}

August 29, 2185

1652 hours.

Tech Lab, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Pragia, Dakka System, Nubian Expanse Cluster.

Professor Mordin Solus, Junior Assitant Lia'Vael nar Ulnay.

Mordin's beady, salarian eyes watched the tank with a observant gaze. He watched as the varren's DNA cells attacked his synthetic DNA strands. A war of attrition. Eventually though, Mordin's genius prevailed and destroyed the opposing cells. The salarian allowed himself a content smile, standing up and back, away from the glass tank. He had found a cure to the scale itch.

"It worked Professor!" Lia cheered, taking notes on her datapad. Mordin Solus was her mentor onboard the ship, and for as long as she worked in his lab, she would be his assistant. She quite enjoyed her position. Mordin Solus was one of the most intelligent scientists in the entire galaxy. As a quarian biologist and attempting to become a scientist herself (as she desperately wanted a position on Xen's crew), it was an honor to have such a teacher.

Mordin nodded, "Yes. Assume you've been writing notes?"

Lia nodded ecstatically. Mordin smiled before letting his arms cross behind his back, pacing the deck, "Read them to me."

Lia gulped and cleared her throat, looking down at the pad, "Research Experiment #05: Varren Scale Itch, Sexually Transmitted Disease transferrable to levo amino acids and proteins. Effects involve severe itching, inflamation of skin, blood noses and bleeding in the vaginal area for females, along with rare cases of constipation or diarrhea."

Mordin nodded then shook his head, "Missed note. Also chance of blood cell deformation and rare case of blood ejection from oesophagus. Continue."

Lia nodded weakly, making sure to add the note before continuing, "Professor Solus has created antivirus to combat invading bacteria through a form of cell assault known as 'blood counter-coagulation.' This causes blood cells infected by the varren STD to attract the man-made cells and destroy the infected cells, allowing full-body regeneration. End note taking."

Mordin grinned widely, "Good student. Listen well. Missed few things, but am certain you'll do well. Now, we will continue onto virus creation. Do you know how to create a virus, Miss nar Ulnay?"

Lia shook her head, "N-no, professor, I don't."

Mordin simply nodded and motioned for her to come behind his desk, looking at his terminal, "Then virus creation you're next lesson. Now there are many types of viruses, but we will be talking about immune-depressant viruses and fertility viruses this week. See how far you get."

The quarian rose an eyebrow behind her visor, "Fertility viruses? Like the genophage?"

"Close, but not quite," Mordin responded, waving a finger at his assistant, "Genophage too advanced for your learning spectrum. No, genophage a Class V fertility virus. We will start with Class I's and II's. Will see how you go with them before starting on III's, IV's and V's. Must remind you, topic of genophage very harsh. Not pleasant."

Lia raised her eyes at the professor, "But everyone says you helped modify-"

"I did what was right!" Mordin shouted with vehemence, slamming his fist into the desk and causing Lia to jump back in fright, eyes widened at the salarian's posture. His eyes snapped to Lia to see she was looking at the salarian with wide-eyed fright. His position slackened and he turned back towards the desk, taking a deep breath as he did.

"I apologize," Mordin whispered softly, That...was unprofessional of me. Y-you need to leave. We will continue this lesson another time. Need time to think."

But Lia, to her unfortunate detriment, was too concerned for her own good, "Doctor, are you o-"

"Get out! Just get out!" Mordin shouted even louder, causing Lia to drop her datapad and run out as fast as she could, not even bothering to slow down as the door closed behind her. Mordin sighed heavily as he leaned heavily against the door. He hadn't meant to yell at Lia. But it was Shepard. His passing of judgement had left the former STG agent on edge.

I did what was right. It had to be done. The galaxy was at peril. It was a nessacary evil and still is. But was it? You're an enemy of the entire krogan people, Mordin. Imagine if Grunt found out that you personally modified the virus when the krogan were beginning to overcome it? What would happen then? Would he kill you? Should you kill him? Should you try and cure it?

No, out of the question. No cure. Never.

Decisions are never set in stone.

Outside the lab, Lia had no idea what to think of what just happened. The greatest scientist in the galaxy had just had a break down infront of her. She didn't know what to think of that. Should she think anything of it? Before she could think much else, a familiar, sweet voice smoke from her left.

"Are you okay?"

She turned to see Kelly facing her, features creased in worry.

Lia waited a few seconds. Like Tali'Zorah, and the majority of the non-alien crew, Lia didn't trust Cerberus. Kelly however, had seemed nice enough. What harm could there be in talking to her? She obviously wasn't hostile towards her.

"I'm...fine. Inform anyone trying to access the tech lab that Mordin wishes to be...alone." With that, Lia disappeared into the elevator, door closing behind her. Kelly just looked at the door with wide-eyed curiosity. Lia running, Mordin's yelling. She had a feeling this had to do with more than wanting to be alone. She would have to inform Shepard of this when he got back. For now, she just got back to her terminal. She had a job to do; the whole crew did. They would not fail Shepard or the Illusive Man.

{Loading...}

August 29, 2185

1652 hours.

The 'Playground', Cell Complex, Teltin Facility, Pragia.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack.

"I remember this shithole. Ever heard of the saying 'I remember it like it was yesterday?' Yeah, well, fucking oath."

Moving to take a breather, Marcus and Grunt placed the bomb behind a rusted and overgrown barricade, the steel barrier having been overrun by natural undergrowth and vines. Unlatching his canteen, he unscrewed it and brought it to his lips, cool water soothing his aching throat and dry mouth. Carrying the bomb had proved a stretch on his muscles, and it required all his strength just to walk with the thing while Jack spoke of nostalgia.

Rain poured through holes in the ceiling whereever it could, pittering off the floor in droplets while other drops leaked through the cracks. The 'playground', as Jack called it, was quite a large room, probably the size of a gymnasium, with barriers, shattered glass and broken catwalks and a ring like area that was now knocked over. Seeing his gaze lingering on the ring, Jack spoke.

"That's where the bastards forced us to fight each other," Jack reminscened, "I always won. Cerberus made sure I was the best. I ripped the other kids to ribbons. Every. Last. Fucking. One of them. I can still smell their shit and urine as they stepped into the ring to face me. Some tried to yield, but the guards wouldn't have it. We doubled as spectator sport to them. Their personal entertainment. But when we escaped; they became my entertainment."

He had to look away from the disgusting grin that cocked along Jack's face. He looked to Grunt, who was watching the area behind them alittle too observantly. He could see Grunt sniffing; he smelt something. Standing up, he screwed the cap back onto his canteen and placed it back on his hip, equipping his SMG. It wasn't long before he stood next to the massive krogan.

"What do you smell, Grunt?"

A smirk creased his features, "Fresh meat. I smell varren. They have picked up our scent. They approach. Five of them. Here they come!"

Just in time, the jammed the door they had passed through omitted the bulky, horrifying forms of five, rabid varren, running towards them, slobbering jaws unleashing saliva all over the place as they charged towards them. Grunt slapped Marcus on the back.

"I'll deal with this, Battlemaster," Grunt informed him, "Do not waste your ammo on such pathetic foes. Even I shall not use my weapons." With that, the krogan charged forward to meet the alien dogs. The varren met the krogan midcharge, but he could tell it would be on equilibrium for them. He shook his head, holstering his SMG and turning back around to see Jack inside the ring, walking around the perimeter and taking in the terrible scent that was invoked upon the ring, the stench of blood.

"You want to know how many kids I ripped apart in this very fucking arena?"

He creased a brow at the convict, "Do I want to know?"

"Twenty-Four," Jack informed him without even missing a beat, "All of them had nothing left to identity them by. Just pieces of gore and little drops of blood. And I enjoyed every victory. It felt like I was getting stronger and stronger. Eventually I would be strong enough to escape. And I did. Didn't leave a single survivor when I broke out."

The screeches of dying varren could easily be heard. He turned to see Grunt using his large foot to crush the skull of the fifth and final varren, roaring in victory. He then turned back towards them, smiling all the way. With a sigh, he nodded for Grunt to help him pick up the bomb again and they continued their trek throughout the base.

The further they went inside, the more of Jack's mysterious and dark past were unravelled. They learned that Jack hadn't, in fact, started the riot. It had actually been the kids; Jack merely managed to breakout during the riot. Jack killed the kids and guards soon afterwards, ripping the facility apart. And despite not wanting to believe it, it seemed that the Cerberus Cell behind this were actually rogue; that this program hadn't been sanctioned by the Illusive Man at all.

And it wasn't just information from the base they gained, but information from Jack herself too. Jack explained how her cell had a one-sided transparent glass. She could see the kids, but they couldn't see her. She would kick and scream all day and the children would ignore her. They hated her guts because of the experiments they were put through to ensure Jack's survival.

Traversing the base seemed to be overly simplistic at first. But as they crossed another empty corridor, they came across a storage bay, windows smashed and crates thrown haphazardly. That wasn't the source of their confusion however. What was, was the fact that six dead varren lay on the ground, blood pooled around their body from bullet rounds. Due to the fresh scent of blood and the fact it wasn't dried out, they could tell someone else was here.

Everywhere I go, trouble follows. He exasperated. They lay the bomb on the ground as Jack inspected the dead corpses. And entire varren pack, gunned down. Mercenaries? Most likely. Cerberus moving to reclaim the facility? Not likely. He quickly approached the bodies, only for Jack to stand up and burn with biotic might.

"Someone got here before us," Jack declared, "And we'd better catch up. I want to know who the fuck would want to come to this place and how they found it."

Marcus merely nodded and helped Grunt carry the bomb down the stairway, Jack leading the way with her scimitar shotgun. They quickly reached the bottom, finding a unstable catwalk leading to a door on the otherside. Due to the facility existing before 2184, geth haptic interfaces weren't located and the doors were still operated by panels on the side. Upon reaching the otherside, Jack opened the door. Hearing the catwalk creak under the weight, they quickly moved inside before something happened.

Another corridor. This place seemed to have alot of them. They moved down the hall and towards a door at the end that left off to the right. Jack rushed on ahead, obviously recognizing where they were. Distant gunfire could be heard. The group quickened their pace, hoping to get the jump on their vanguard. Reaching the door, Jack waited for Marcus' signal. Grunt and the spectre placed the bomb next to a wall and equipped their weapons, before nodding to Jack to open the door.

When it swished open, and Grunt and Marcus took point, SMGs raised, they came face to face with a squad of vorcha, armed with blood pack punishers and avenger assault rifles. Their blood red light armor was recognizable anywhere. Blood Pack. What are they doing here? Without waiting for the vorcha's response, he fired his SMG, a triple burst impacting the merc's face and ripping out one of it's eyes, dead body crumbling to the floor.

Another merc tried to fire on Marcus with it's rifle, but never got the chance as Jack wreathed it in biotic energy, throwing it upwards and into a plane of glass ahead, leaving a massive cascade of cracks as it's body fell to the ground. Grunt grabbed another and threw it over the railing, knocking another's weapon aside and ripping it to bloody ribbons with his eviscerator.

Due to the relative small size of the mercenary squad, there had only been three to five vorcha; dispatching of them was a basic task. After taking them out, Marcus slapped a fresh clip into his SMG before equipping his pulse rifle. Jack was furious, as he could tell. They stood on a U shaped catwalk that curved forwards, across to the left, then back down and right to a door. In the middle was a tree that had obviously been in the base prior to it's abandonment, the tree having outgrown the ceiling. The area down below was the cell block. Guessing by how Jack stared at the cracked pane of glass, he guessed her cell lay behind it.

"What the fuck are Blood Pack doing here!?" Jack shouted.

"I don't know, Jack. If I did, I'd tell you," Marcus reassured the convict, laying a hand on her shoulder, "Doesn't mean our mission stops here. The Blood Pack are merely a delay. We get the bomb to your cell, arm it and leave."

For a second, and to the spectre's surprise, Jack seemed to melt into his touch. Her features seemed to soften for a mere second, eyes full of melancholy. For a whole moment, he saw a completely different woman. But it was only for a second. Jack's fury immediately returned, yanking herself from his grip and fire entering her eyes as she stormed down the catwalk.

"At least I've found something worth blowing up now!" Jack shouted back, "People to burn as I send this place to hell!"

Marcus and Grunt returned with the bomb, continuing through the cell block and through the jammed door that Jack had so kindly ripped open with her biotics. She held a blood pack radio, listening in to their communications.

"What happened to our squad in the cell block? They were meant to be simply securing the area. How fucking hard could it be?" A gruff voice sounded. Guessing by the undertones and rein of authority, he'd guess a krogan and that he was the commander of the force.

A vorcha voice, annoying as always, responded, "Unknown, Kureck. Maybe you should check it outz."

A gunshot was heard, "Any other scum what to join this piece of shit? No? Good. Now, you three, get to the cell block and find what happened to Lord Fuckwit. Aresh isn't paying us to toy around. We've got a base to set up. Let's start cleaning house." Jack threw the radio against a wall, smashing it as they continued down a dark, short corridor towards the cell dispatchment room. From there, they could access Jack's cell.

"So the boss' name is Kureck and they work for some Aresh guy," Jack explained, "Good, now I've got two people to kill."

"Don't you think we should keep one of them alive to find out exactly why they'd want to set up a base here?"

Jack laughed as she approached the final door, "Fuck that noise. I don't care why they're here or what they want. All I know is that they're going to be dead soon."

The door slid open and the trio found themselves in the middle of a large room filled to the brim with crates, all covered in sickly green vines. At the head of the room was a massive krogan, almost Wrex's size and the same height as Grunt. His armor was heavy and had lines all over it that glowed a dull, crimson color. Blood Pack colors. His crest was a dark brown and didn't hold many scars. That was Kureck.

At his sides were two, smaller and younger krogan, both wearing helmets while the rest of the room was occupied by two dozen vorcha mercs. If this was the entire force, then this Aresh obviously couldn't afford alot. Especially if he had run to the Blood Pack instead of a more reliable merc company like the Blue Suns or the Eclipse.

Jack headed the group as Kureck looked at them, anger on his face. The three vorcha he sent to investigate stood at the edge, weapons raised. Jack raised her shotgun and fired, ripping the head off the first one as the second fired sporadically, followed by the third. With her shields taking all the punishment, she cut them down easily.

"Damn, and I thought it was just because they were incompetent," Kureck cursed, "You have quad coming here to face us. I don't know why you're here, but I guess it doesn't matter. I should just kill you. I'm not getting paid to stand here and talk. That's not what Blood Pack does. Go to the Talons if you want to 'talk.'"

Marcus dropped the bomb and Grunt shoved it behind cover, the spectre fully expecting a firefight, "I could ask you the same thing. Why does your boss have a interest in this place?"

Kureck merely shrugged, "I don't know and I don't care. I came here for credits, not to get every bit of detail on his personal life. He's up in the big cell if you want to talk with him. Oh, that's right, you can't. Because I'm going to kill you."

He shook his head, "You really wouldn't want to do that."

Kureck chuckled heartily, "You think you frighten me, human? Who do you think you are, whelp?"

"Commander Shepard, Hero of the Citadel, Spectre back from the dead," Marcus announced, "And I've got the galaxy's most notoriously powerful biotic right here and a krogan supersoldier who holds the strength of krogan that existed long before the rebellions. That, and Jack would like to plant a bomb here. So if you don't let us through, we'll kill you all. Are your credits really worth it?"

He half expected the krogan to see reason. To his half-unsurprise, he didn't, "Commander Shepard, here? And I'm in the position to kill you? I could become a legend! I could overtake Weyrloc Guld himself and take leadership over the Blood Pack myself! I will not let this oppurtunity pass! Mercs, kill him! Kill all of them and bring me Shepard's head on a pike!"

A wave of gunfire poured open them and Marcus immediately formed a biotic barrier to block their shots. The krogan were apparently not biotics and the vorcha couldn't be so that gave them a massive advantage over their foe. Detaching a grenade, he primed it and threw it a group of vorcha hidden behind a pile of crates before letting his barrier drop and sliding into cover as the explosive detonated.

Chaos filled the room, Kureck shouting orders at his disorganized troops as Marcus' squad unleashed hell upon them. Rounding a crate, he fired a burst from his pulse rifle into a charging krogan, the power of the slugs ripping through his armor and into skin. Without letting the krogan regenerate, he activated his omni-blade and slit the krogan's throat, using him as a meat shield against the vorcha's counterfire.

Then Jack and Grunt charged in. Grunt clashed with Kureck's second krogan while Jack ripped into the vorcha with a endless siege of biotic assaults, firing warp fields, creating singularities and turning into a invincible oracle of death and destruction. Grunt had little trouble dealing with the krogan soldier, his superior strength allowing him to overpower his foe and snap his neck. Jack dealt with the last of the vorcha while Marcus took out the stragglers. Two dozen vorcha rapidly turned into a pile of corpses.

"Damn it! Come on then, come fight me! I'm right here!" Marcus was too late to see Kureck jump from his perch overhead and land infront of him, swatting Marcus' rifle away. With lightning speed, Marcus executed a left cresent kick and slapped the krogan's own weapon away, allowing Marcus to move in and kick the huge krogan in the balls. The amount of pain this caused Kureck was something the spectre never wished to experience.

Stunned by agony, Kureck was unable to stop Marcus as the human spectre dived under the krogan's legs and onto his back, sliding his omni-blade deep into his neck. Kureck continued to struggle, trying to rip the ex-marine off his back, but to no aveil. Marcus continued to sink his blade deeper until finally Kureck let off one last choking sound, his body falling lifeless to the floor.

Retracting his blade, he wiped the krogan blood off his visor and picked up his weapon, holstering it as he ran back to pick up the bomb. Jack and Grunt were already waiting for him, Jack grinning her ass off.

"Have fun playing with Kureck?"

"You're a riot, Jack," Marcus responded sarcastically, heaving the bomb up with his hands, "Let's just get this over with."

They climbed the last trek to Jack's cell, where Aresh was no doubt waiting. Taking the barely working elevator, they reached Jack's cell and placed the bomb outside, Grunt taking point incase they had a krogan to deal with. Without waiting any longer than he had to, as he was already getting tired of this placation, he charged inside, weapon raised, just behind his krogan supersoldier. The exact opposite of what he expected appeared before him, staring aimlessly out the window.

This was Aresh. The man was a human male and, judging by his looks, was close to Jack's age or older. His hair was curved to the back of his hair, a dark brown in color and cropped. His eyebrows were thin and his eyes an unseeing green. He had a grizzly, ungroomed beard on his face, being very thin. He wore a simple civilian uniform; a basic lime color.

"How did you get past my mercs? I specifically told them-" Aresh began to speak, his voice low and hoarse, holding untold memories and something dark and sinister. He had a strange feeling about this man. He couldn't place it.

"The mercs are dead," Jack spat, moving forward, pistol raised, "And you will be too if you don't tell us why you're here and what you're planning to do with this place."

"Jack? Is that really you?" Aresh asked.

Shocked, Jack seemed to loosen the grip on her pistol alittle, "How the hell do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Oh, we all knew your face, Jack," Aresh answered, "Every kid held here under Cerberus care knew you. We hated you. We loathed you. We blamed you for what they did to us. It was all for the 'betterment of humanity', they said. All our suffering...for you. I see it turned out well."

Marcus widened his eyes in surprise. So a kid had survived Jack's onslaught a decade ago.

"Impossible!" Jack shouted, unable to believe the man, "Every kid who was stored here died! You can't have survived!"

"The Illusive Man put a stop to the experiments when they found out what was being done to us Jack," Aresh continued, Grunt getting bored and waiting outside, "He sent commandos to clean up shop, but when they got here, they found the whole place to be a ruin. I can't remember how many of us survived, but Cerberus took us all home. There were people who survived the breakout besides you Jack, you just didn't know."

Jack's grip tightened on her pistol once more, "You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

"Cerberus kidnapped us so we could become the prodigies of humanity's biotic potential, right?" Aresh explained, leaning against the glass, "So all those things they did to us, all those horrible things, they must have a had a purpose. A reason for doing so. That's why I'm here Jack. You're the question, and I was still trying to find the answer. Now that I've found it, I want to propose to you a plan you can't refuse."

Marcus seemed to melt into the background, watching the exchange between the two. Jack lowered her pistol slightly, but still held it firmly, "I'm listening. But no bullshit."

Aresh nodded, "Jack, join me. Together we can continue what Cerberus started and couldn't finish. They had to have had a reason! Find that reason, and we can create something better than the Subject Zero Project, we can grow to rival even the Alliance's Ascension Program! I propose that we restart the Teltin Facility!"

Marcus could already tell Jack's answer, but that didn't stop him from being shocked when Jack lit up with biotics and threw Aresh out the window, glass shattering. Time slowed down as Marcus reacted, his biotics flaring up as he reached out his hand to grasp Aresh's body. He did so just in time, saving the man from his gruesome death. He threw him back to the ground of the cell however, not fully liking the man due to his musguided ambitions.

"What the fuck, Shepard!?" Jack shouted in anger.

"I'm not going to kill him Jack," Marcus growled, "And neither are you." Before she could object, he turned to Aresh, who was only just getting to his feet, "Did you break anything?"

Aresh shook his head, "No. Thank you for-"

"Good, now start running," Marcus curtly interrupted.

"What?"

"You heard me. Run for your life," The spectre punctuated with a finger towards the door, "We're about to detonate the biggest fucking bomb this planet has experienced and if you want to escape, you better find your shuttle and hightail it. You read?"

Aresh's eyes widened in shock and he ran through the door, not even looking back. Content with himself, he turned to Jack who was examining her cell. It was just a block; with a small desk in the corner, a small bunk and a few carboards. He sighed and put a hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Take all the time you need," Marcus told her, "We'll be outside."

Jack shook her head, turning back to face him, "I don't want time to examine this shithole, Shepard. I hated it back then and I still hate it. I just want to see it burn. Can we do that and just get the hell out of here?"

Marcus nodded, "Of course, Jack. You go wait at the shuttle. Take Grunt with you. I'll stay here and arm the bomb. Don't worry, it isn't timed, it'll be primed only to recognize a detonator," he chucked it to the convict, "Which you'll have the pleasure of detonating. Just don't do it while I'm still here, okay?"

Jack gave him a cocky grin before sprinting out, Grunt following behind her. Marcus had to admit that that had been the first time he had ever seen Jack smile without following it with a insult or dark tale of her past. Is Jack softening up to me?

He shook the thought from his head as he pulled the bomb into the center of the room before priming it, which took two minutes to do. When he was finished, he ran back to the landing pad and climbed aboard the shuttle, the kodiak taking off and shooting up towards the mountains, skimming across the rainforest. Jack wanted to see it burn; she would get that.

The sounds of a detonator cap being flicked could be heard as Jack flicked it in anxiousness. Her eyes met his as her eye's pleaded him for the go. Once again, her unbreachable personality was broken to reveal a side of the woman that wasn't fiery, but gentle, her eyes full of melancholy, and unlike before, it didn't change in a second. He rejoiced in it.

Slamming his fist against the cockpit door, the pilot increased speed as Jack thumbed the detonator. A massive explosion, almost like a 9.1 earthquake, ripped through the shuttle, Jack watching with a sad smile as a titantic mushroom cloud rose over the area where the Teltin Facility had previously been standing; now vaporized in a hellstorm of atomic radiation.

That was all Jack did for the return trip to the Normandy.

Sadly smiling.

"I do remember Jack lightening up after that mission..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I'll bet. It was like she was a different person. Before I could get worried though, she got into a fight with Zaeed, and I guess everything was back to normal after that."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Do you remember what you did next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Of course! My memory isn't completely dead! Although I don't think I'd like to remember."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"What? I don't...oh. Now I remember. It was the day a dead ghost came to haunt us once more."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

DARK SPECTRES

August 30, 2185

1456 hours.

Maintenance Area of Engineering, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Subject Zero Jack.

One day. One single day since they had turned the Teltin Facility into a smoltering crater on Pragia. One day since Jack had warmed up to him and stopped being so hostile. She was still hostile, but nowhere near as hostile as she had been before. Now the spectre moved down to check on her. After being alittle bit more warmer towards him, she picked a fight with Zaeed and now she was back to normal. He just wanted to check in on her.

Stepping down the steps, he moved over to Jack's seat on her bunk, wearing his N7 hoodie and cap. Boy he loved them.

"You okay Jack?" He asked, garnering the convict's attention. She didn't even show any emotion this time around; she just looked at him with a dull, blank expression like she didn't know whether to be hostile towards him or happy.

"I needed to wipe that place off the map," Jack stated, "You took me there to do it and I owe you for that." Before Marcus could say much more, Jack had collapsed backwards into her bunk, looking aimlessly at the ceiling while shuffling on the mattress. Marcus leaned against a bulkhead strut, crossing his arms.

"You don't know what it's like Shepard," Jack declared, her voice low and unaccusatory, "To have garbage like that following you. It marks you in ways you...you don't expect."

Marcus shook his head, "I have had shit follow me Jack. I can't say it's worse, but it's followed me. I lost half my squad on Elysium. I lost the rest of them on Torfan and lots of batarians died at my hands on that goddamn moon. I lost another squad to thresher maws on Akuze. I know what its like, trust me."

Jack creased her mouth in understanding, "Hard to walk away from, ain't it? You'd think it would get easier now that the place is a crater, but what else do I know? I let Aresh go, you forced me to let him go, and yet blowing the place up was still just as satisfying. Now I'm not the only one who remembers what happened there. Lots of kid survived that shit. I realize that now."

Marcus smiled weakly, "It's called having a conscious Jack."

The convict simply scoffed, "I want it gone. I want it all gone. I don't want to remember any of it! It's only in my head and a few other kids' heads. When we all die, the memories will die and then everyone will forget about Subject Zero and the Teltin Facility."

Marcus felt a sigh escape his lips. As much as he couldn't believe it, Jack really did have a soft side, even if she did try her best to hide. It showed quite a few times down on Pragia and afterwards, and if he wasn't wrong, it meant she wasn't just a self-invested bitch. It meant she secretly cared.

"Do you think you're different now? Do you feel different?" The spectre asked.

Jack shook her head as she sat up in a fetal position, "I know that place is gone. But I still kind of want to kill every person I see. No offense."

The spectre shook his head in disbelief, "You sure about this? I want to do whatever I can to get your head on straight."

Jack gave Marcus a half-disgusted look, "Don't get all therapist on me, Shepard. You're not the couch type. I hate that shit anyway. Bullshit prison psych. You did me a favor and that's enough. More than I expected...I'll keep it together. I...promise...god, you actually made me say that mooshy crap?"

The two of them chuckled, for what seemed like the first mutual humor at all between them. Was this the beginning of a friendship or simply an enhanced comraderie? Regaining his composure, he smiled at the convict once more, wanting to divert the conversation from the topic of Pragia. Instead, he tried to learn more about the convict herself.

"Tell me something I don't already know about you," Marcus asked, "Something that doesn't involve your torture at the hands of Cerberus."

Jack gave him a suspicious look, "There's nothing to tell. Why?"

He simply shrugged, "Just curious."

"I call bullshit," Jack responded flippantly, "But why the hell not? I do owe you anyway. What do you want to know?"

Marcus didn't know where to start. Eden Prime? What happened after her experience on Pragia? The meaning behind her tattoos? Yes, the tattoos.

"I'll bite. What's with the tattoos?" Marcus asked.

Jack got up off her bunk and paced the room, showing off her ink, "Some are for prisons I've been in. Some are for kills. You know, good ones. Some are for things I've lost. Those aren't your business. They're nobody's business. And some are because...hey, why the fuck not?"

He found himself letting out a barely heard chuckle at her attitude, "You know, you were work pretty hard at not letting people get close. That some kind of defense mechanism you've been working on or something?"

The convict sighed, "I've been with lots of people. If you're asking about a boyfriend or girlfriend, no. It's a waste of time and it never works. Except for you; but come on, you've got a fucking quarian. Anyway, you let someone get close, it just means they need a shorter knife. Lonely and alive works just fine, thanks."

He shook his head, "'Lonely?' You don't usually hear that coming from a person who doesn't give a shit."

"Pick every little word apart if you want," Jack responded, waving a hand dismissively, "But it doesn't change the way the galaxy works. Come on, you've been around!"

He seemed to ponder this for a second before meeting her eyes once more, "You must have had friends at some point. You wouldn't have gotten around so much if you hadn't."

Sighing, the convict finally relented, "When I was starting out, I ran with this girl Manara and her boyfriend. They knew their way around, I thought I'd help me," the convict snorted, "Wasn't I the optimistic one. They helped me into their bed. And when we finally did take down something big, they helped themselves to my share of the take. I knew where it was heading, and I got them first. Never bothered with friends after that."

He rolled his eyes, "They sounded like selfish pricks, but that doesn't mean they were going to kill you nessacarily."

"I get feelings," Jack stated simply, "I don't need proof. I did the smart thing. I got them first; the initiative is always better than the alternative."

He sighed heavily, seeing this was going nowhere, "I'm going to leave now. We'll continue this another time if need be. You get some rest."

He turned around and moved to leave, but he felt himself stopped when Jack's hand landed on his shoulder, spinning him around to face her.

"Wait. My turn with the questions," Jack demanded, "People usually walk by now. Why are you really asking all these questions? Because if this is all about sex, then why don't you just fucking say so? I'll take you! Right here, right fucking now!"

Marcus let out a loud chuckle, "Really Jack? You think I'm here for sex? I'm not the man for casual sex Jack; besides, I'm already taken, you know that."

Jack snorted, "What the quarian knows won't hurt her, you know that. Besides, I can do things with you she can only dream of."

Again with this crap. "I don't know what kind of man you think I am Jack, but I'm definitely not that. When it comes to relationships, I stay loyal to them, and I will never betray Tali's trust or leave her. If you think I'm going to drop down and fuck you, then you're clearly mistaken. This conversation is over, Jack." With that, he spun around on the spot and stormed out, not even giving the convict the benefit of the doubt as he left.

As he left the small compartment, he moved up and through the engineering doors just as Gabby and Ken rushed past him, smiling. Upon seeing his commander though, Ken stopped in his tracks.

"Commander!" Ken exclaimed, "We were just looking for you! We've finished our shift early and we were wondering if you wanted to play a game of Skyllian Five with us. It'll be fun."

Marcus smiled wickedly, "Sure." He then followed the engineer into engineering, where a table had been set up in the middle of the room where Gabby was setting up. Gardner, Hawthorne and Giovanni were already sitting at the table while Tali was working at a nearby console. Ken was quick to call out to the quarian, a wide grin on his face.

"Hey boss! You want to join us?" The engineer asked, causing Tali to whirl around to face him.

"Hmmmm...sure, why not?" Although Ken didn't notice as he turned back around, Tali flashed a wink at Marcus, the spectre smiling back at the quarian as he took his seat, making sure to deliberately sit next to the empty seat belonging to Tali. The quarian quickly sat down, smiling at him as their hands squeezed the other's under the table.

"You ready to lose all your money, commander?" Ken asked, grinning wickedly. Everyone rolled their eyes. Ken was the best at the Skyllian Five on the ship, and he knew it. They just didn't like when the engineer boasted about it all the time.

"Go easy on the rookie," Marcus replied, keeping his face stoic. Oh, you are in for a big surprise.

The game last a couple of hours before they all retired back to their posts and packed up. Marcus left a very rich man. Apparently Ken realized he wasn't the invincible gambler on the ship anymore and was wiped clean of credits, as was everyone else. Tali had commented that she thought she had a good 'poker face', but was ultimately disappointed. Ken swore he'd never let the spectre trick him with the 'easy on the rookie' shitick again. Marcus just laughed as he secretly gave Tali her credits. Go easy on the rookie.

He had then retired to his cabin, with Tali promising to join him in an hour. They'd talk, sit in each other's lap and trade information on both their cultures. And then, if they were feeling up to it, they would treat each other. He smiled inwardly at that thought as he got up from his sofa and stretched his arms, dropping the datapad he had been reading onto the coffee table and moving up to his desk.

He sat down at his terminal and took a sip of the coffee that was left on his desk, the brew being still quite warm. He hummed in delight at the taste of the liquid swirling around in his mouth, letting it continue this as he placed it back on the desk and looked through is emails. Miranda informed him that she handled all the reports while he handled all the dossier checkings. If he didn't approve of a recruit, then he would make it clear. So far however, that hadn't been a problem.

His eyes landed on one specific message. It was from the Illusive Man. With a raised eyebrow, he opened it and read it fully. He almost spat out his coffee as he finished reading and immediately leapt up to inform Joker of their new destination. The pilot hadn't been happy, but upon hearing the said name, immediately changed course. Marcus was quick to inform Garrus, Tali and Kaidan as well.

To: Shepard, Marcus.

From: The Illusive Man, Cerberus HQ.

Subject: Something of interest.

I've been digging through the archives and found something you might want to check out. A dark spectre of the past, you might say. When I say this, I don't mean Saren has come back to life, no, he is still quite dead and staying that way. No, we've found something much more...nostalgic. We think you might want to travel there to survey it.

I'm sending the coordinates to you now.

I just hope that when we reach Alchera, that the Normandy's crash site has been left untouched and you can bury your comrades once and for all.

From: The Illusive Man, Cerberus HQ.

To: Shepard, Marcus.

{Loading...}

August 31, 2185

1219 hours.

Main Compartment, UT-47 Kodiak Shuttle, Northern Atmosphere, Alchera.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko.

The four of them sat quietly in the small space of the transport shuttle, not a single sound coming from any of them. Tali's head lay on Marcus' shoulder, the quarian silently contemplating where they were going. Garrus looked blankly at the shuttle's walls while Kaidan looked at the floor, not making a sound.

His friends had been shocked, to say the least, when he informed them that TIM had passed down Hackett's orders to retrieve the dog tags of the dead crew from the previous Normandy's wreckage. It was like a trip down nostalgia highway. They would be going to the grave site of what was the most advanced warship in the galaxy and of many crew members, most notably Pressly and Johnson.

He stroked the back of Tali's hood. He had only brought the three of them because they had been on the old Normandy. Bringing anyone else would have been pointless. Joker also came, but he would only be able to watch it from the kodiak's cockpit, as he was the one piloting the thing. Chakwas said she didn't want to come, stating she had buried her lost comrades years ago and did not wish to open old wounds. So now it was just the five of them, with Miranda left in command.

"Commander," Joker finally broke the silence, "We'll be landing in a sec. I'll land us in the middle of the clearing." With that, he disengaged comms. All four of them stood up, Tali sliding her hand down to hold Marcus, knowing that this would be painful for both of them. Marcus took a deep breath as he felt the shuttle land on the ground with a thump, followed by the door's opening.

They were immediately hit with a slight chill. Alchera was always constantly cold, with a tough film of ice covering the entire planet. But as was evident by the patch of uncovered, grey dirt around them, the Normandy's predecessor's crash landing melted most of the ice in the area. Curious that it hadn't frozen over again. The crash had been two years ago. Garrus and Kaidan took the first steps out, followed by Marcus and Tali, still holding hands.

Memories and sadness hit them instantly. Massive chunks of the destroyed frigate littered the area, covered in films of snow and ice while others had completely frozen over. A large part of the Normandy's hull stuck out of the ground, the letters 'Norma' being all you could see while the rest was buried underground. He could also see the flaps of one of the ship's wings jutting out of a hill twenty meters from them.

"We should split up," Garrus suggested, "Give us time to cover the whole area."

Kaidan nodded in agreement, but just as Marcus turned to ask Tali, the quarian shook her head, "I'm staying with you. The memories...I don't think I can handle it."

Marcus nodded, kissing her hood, "Tali will stay with me. The rest of you split up. We'll meet back here. Collect whatever pieces of data, dogtags, weapons, anything you can find and bring it with you. The families of those who served on this ship will need something to remember their loved ones by."

And with a nod, they left, leaving Marcus and Tali alone in the cold area, wind blowing above, whistling like voices on the wind. If the spectre closed his eyes, he swore he could hear Johnson's childish remarks and Pressly's skepticism. A grim smile crossed his face at the memory.

"Marcus," Tali asked, shaking his shoulder while pointing over to a large section of ship nearby, "Let's go over there first."

He nodded and let the quarian pull him along while he examined the landscape. Despite seeing the stealth frigate combust into flames and molten debris before he died, there seemed to be alot of the ship that survived the reentry. He could see what was left of the bow on a clearing nearby while the Mako, stubborn till the end, was standing vertically, frozen in a ball of ice. The vehicle hadn't reentered the atmosphere without scars though; the entire front half was blackened while the left side had been completely torn off. He continued to examine until they reached the large tube.

Upon looking inside, memories clogged his mind. He was instantly on the Normandy again, moving up the flight deck towards the cockpit, ordering Joker to set a course for another geth infested world or mercenary base. Lines of alliance officers worked at consoles while Joker just sat behind the controls on the cockpit, his fingers dancing away at the terminal's interface. As quickly as he conjured the memory, it disappeared once more. This tube was what was left of the flight deck.

He moved inside, feeling Tali's hand slide from his as she watched him move inside. The entire ceiling was gone, Marcus remembering how it had been torn apart from the collector cruiser's particle cannon. Parts of the deck had been torn as well, with most of the sideward seats missing, lost in reentry. It became steep as he moved past what was once the airlock; an empty space now occupying where it once stood. With some effort, he managed to climb into the cockpit.

The front half was gone, with a large section of the cockpit's front part gone as well. Joker's terminal was gone, leaving only the chair, facing an empty crevice. Marcus looked at the area where Pressly's corpse had been; now nothing but a blackened outline of where his body had been, incinerated during reentry. He knelt down and managed to find the man's dog tags, picking them up and storing them in his armor. He sighed heavily as he examined the destroyed ship, sliding his hand across the smooth, polymer service. He slapped it hard like he would in a brotherly hug.

"You did good old girl," Marcus smiled heavily, "You did real good. Rest in peace."

His contemplation was interrupted as he heard familiar sobbing. He immediately turned to look down the flight deck, not finding the quarian in question. He slid down the deck, moving outside to find the quarian. When he did, he sighed heavily at what he found, moving towards it.

Tali was sobbing in front of a large beaten structure; a massive rectangular prism that had once glowed with vibrant, ethereal light and had acted as the beating heart of the stealth frigate. The ship's drive core hadn't survived the bombardment; it had been the first casuality during the collector surprise attack, and numerous holes littered the giant, inactive reactor. Walking up to the quarian, he turned her around, the engineer collapsing into his shoulders and sobbing into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close until she finished.

When she did, she broke away, sniffing, "I'm sorry, it's just...the memories. Did I ever tell you that when the collectors attacked the ship, the first blast killed Douglas immediately and I was forced to look into his dead eyes as I fell to the deck? His face still haunts me occassionally."

"It's ok," Marcus reassured her, "They're just memories. And we'll avenge Douglas, I promise you that. Douglas and the entire Normandy crew will be avenged when we send these collector bastards straight to hell."

"I know," Tali sniffed one final time, "And I'll make sure I have a shotgun shell with Douglas' name on it so the collector's can pay with their blood."

"That's my Tali," The spectre complimented, taking her hand and turning her away from the destroyed drive core, "Come on, let's keep looking around."

Next, they decided to approach the Mako. He let go of Tali's hand to run his hand along the ruined surface, gripping the edge of the vehicle's crippled hole and climbing inside, his eyes scanning the destroyed interior. Screens of info and bits of wiring were shredded and inactive, protruding from numerous areas like so much debris. He smiled heavily as he looked at the two seats occupying the front of the vehicle. One was his when driving, the other was Tali's. Closing his eyes, he could remember it like it was yesterday.

The turian already had his black-visored helmet on and simply gave him a three-taloned thumbs up, "Good to go. I'll do what I can from here. Just try not to die. I'm more worried about your driving getting these guys killed than the geth." Garrus commented sarcastically before popping the hatch and stepping out into the airless, non-existent atmosphere of Solcrum, hatch closing behind him.

"The loyalty I inspire..." Marcus mumbled, but Liara heard him.

"Don't worry, I think your driving isn't that bad." Liara tried to sound supportive, but sucked as her sentence ended with a half-laugh.

"No, it would give a bull pause." Kaidan stated.

"Or probably cause the geth to roll out speeding fines." Ashley added, grinning.

"Or it would end up with all of us dying because he didn't slow down." Tali chirped.

"Come on! My driving isn't that bad!" Marcus shouted as he moved the Mako forward and down the hill, moving towards the geth base.

"No, it's worse," Wrex declared, "I've seen krogan drive tomkah's better than you, Shepard. No offense."

"Comparing me to a krogan? Oh, now it's personal." Marcus declared with mock anger and everybody laughed as they slowly approached.

And once again, the memory vanished. Those were the old days. Fighting geth while chasing down a rogue spectre with a impossible crew and the most advanced ship in the galaxy. He smiled at the memory as he spun the chair around aimlessly. Tali climbed inside without him noticing, sitting next to him. Her voice stirred him from his thoughts.

"I used to remember how bad you were at driving this," Tali teased, "You'd always crash, or do something stupid. Keelah, remember when we used the Conduit and you crashed into those geth on the Citadel?"

Marcus guffawed, "That was hardly my fault! The conduit basically blinded me and we were already flying! Makos aren't built for flying!"

"Excuses, excuses," Tali teased, Marcus swatting her arm while she swatted his. They continued to provoke each other until they fell out of the vehicle and landed on the ground, both laughing spontaneously. When they gained control of themselves again, they stood up, heading over to another section of destroyed ship. This time, it looked like the port side of the cargo bay laying against a cliff face. The burnt remnants of the armoury lay as testament to this. Memories flashed before Tali's eyes, landing on one she remembered fondly.

"Anderson?" Tali asked.

"Shepard's best friend and mentor, they go way back. You met him in the human embassies," Ashley stated, "The man's a symbol of what humanity's capable of and even Shepard looks up to him. Some say he even sees Anderson as the father he never had."

"Ah yes, I remember now. So you're saying Shepard got you into liking aliens just because he's your mentor?" Tali asked.

"He's not officially my mentor, but that's how I see it," Ashley declared, "But still, I guess nothing is official with this crew. What about you? Who do you see as your mentor?" Ashley asked and caused Tali to freeze her train of thought. A very good question. One she knew the answer straight away.

"Kal'Reegar," Tali stated, "He's a quarian marine on the fleet and one of the best. Best I know actually. I spend alot of time with him, usually talking. We're close friends and we spend most of our time talking or training. He helped me train for my pilgrimage." Tali explained but she noticed a glint in Ashley's eye. Uh-oh.

"So...you and him, huh?" Ashley said with a snarky grin.

For a moment Tali was confused, not knowing what Ashley meant but when she matched the grin up with what she said...

"Keelah! No, it's nothing like that! We're just friends! Well at least I think we are...maybe we're not...no, we are definitely just friends..." Tali began stuttering, not knowing what to do with herself. Me and Kal? I guess it's possible, he has been extradinaryily nice to me recently...no! He's a marine and I'm a engineer!

"Whoa, slow down there Tali, I was only joking," Ashley stated, holding her hands up to prove this, "Got any sisters? Brothers?"

That had been the first time Tali had warmed up to Ashley. It was shortly before her death on Virmire. She had learnt alot about the Gunnery Chief, and had even become close friends with her. Someone Tali could have trusted if she gave her life to her. But it was never to happen. Not anymore. Her body jolted at the memory.

Marcus felt her shudders and squeezed her hip, letting her know he was there. Tali acknowledged this by leaning in closer. Much of the time was spent like this before they explored more of the Normandy's wreck. It wasn't long before they found themselves back at the shuttle, where Garrus and Kaidan were waiting for them.

"You get a good look at the wreck?" Marcus asked the duo, seeing as they had clearly been waiting awhile.

Kaidan nodded stiffly, "I...got a good look at what was left of the mess hall. Where I...used to work. Lots of memories of that place. Good and...bad."

Garrus nodded agreement, "Found the Mako too. I used to love calibrating that thing. I remember when Johnson sneezed on it because of his allergic reaction to the thorian acid stuck on Tali's suit."

Tali laughed, "I remember that. I think he had reactions to it for a whole four weeks afterwards."

The four of them laughed. From the landing all the way to arriving back at the shuttle had been extremely tense and a flood of emotions; the sight of the once proud alliance warship laying completely destroyed in the ice fields of Alchera was something none of them wanted to see or come back to. He could imagine the look on Joker's face as he looked over the debris field. The ship he practically loved; dead before him. But now they were laughing like nothing happened.

"I wish we could set a monument here," Marcus added, "The Normandy SR-1 deserves to be remembered, not forgotten. It was this beauty of a ship that destroyed Sovereign. Do you gather all the dog-tags?"

Garrus nodded, holding up his talon to show at least twenty-one dogtags hanging from it, "I found alot of them scattered around the mess hall area and what's left of engineering. What about you guys?"

Kaidan held up three. Tali held up five. I held up the rest, including Pressly's. With a nod of understanding, the group gave one last look at the grave site of the Normandy, a epitaph to the fine frigate.

"I'll get in contact with Admiral Hackett," Marcus stated, turning back to the group, icy wind biting at his face, "Have him send a flotilla to recover the wreckage and take it back to Earth. Have it added to a war museum; it's the least this ship deserves. Make sure the museum's located at the place of it's namesake."

Kaidan nodded sadly as he moved back inside the shuttle, followed quickly by Garrus. Tali simply waited for Marcus, not letting of his hand as he looked over Alchera's landscape. He turned to her, whispering softly, "I won't be long, you go on inside."

Tali gave a simple nod, staying with him a moment longer before her hand slid out of his, brushing against his shoulder before walking inside the shuttle. The spectre walked forward a couple of meters before squatting on the ground, right knee forward with left on the ground. His left hand scooped up a pile of snow, holding it in his hands, soaking in the feel of the cold, crystals of ice inbetween his fingers. He let it escape through his fingers; back onto the ground. Sighing, he opened a pouch on his pocket and deployed a beacon, setting it on an alliance frequency. Hackett will pick it up.

With that done, he gave one last passing look at the Normandy's resting place before stepping into the shuttle, the kodiak taking off and moving to dock with the new Normandy. She could never replace her predecessor, but the memory was there. But now they went to recruit two new elites; all moving towards the singular purpose of saving human colonies from the collectors. But their secondary goal became all the more prominent.

Avenge the Normandy.

{Loading...}

September 1, 2185

1009 hours.

Dock, Business District, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.

"Can you believe that the last time I was here was when I was on my pilgrimage," Tali explained, "I was with Keenah and this was the first place we came to exchange that information on Saren. Some bosh'tet security chief saw fit to threaten us if we didn't leave the planet. But I can't deny how beautiful Illium really is."

Marcus nodded in agreement at the quarian's statement. They stood on a balcony like area in the the dock, the Normandy's massive bulk hidden off to the left, not unblocking the beautiful view of the city of Nos Astra, expanding across the horizon. Illium had a very cool climate, neither being overly hot or freezing cold; the perfect colony world. The planet was mostly landmass, but was 10 percent water. Nos Astra was on a part of the continent that put it right next to the sea, making room for quite a few beaches.

Tall, majestic and sleek skyscrapers dotted the horizon, accompanied by what he guessed were the equivalent of New York's twin towers; however, one of them wasn't fully built, obviously still under construction. Cars and other vehicles sped through Nos Astra's sky and tramways, while the rapidly descending sun of Tasale half-embroiled the edge of his vision, night descending upon the planet, casting a powerful yellow light over the planet. It was amazing.

But hidden beneath that beautiful veil was a city only just above Omega. Crime was a norm in Illium; the planet being a major player in extortion rackets, crime syndicates, information brokers and home to corrupted politicians. From what information gleaned, Nos Astra was also a major center of Eclipse mercenary operations. It seemed the Citadel was the only true beautiful place devoid of crime, but even then, the great space station still had hidden criminals. Everywhere had places without merits.

The group stood there, minds entranced by Illium's beauty. It was the sound of approaching LOKI mechs that broke Marcus out of his own trance. He pushed himself from the balcony, watching as Zaeed and Kasumi turned with him, followed lastly by Garrus and Tali. They looked to their right, watching as two LOKI mechs, armed with M-37 Falcon microgrenade rifles, escorting a single asari in a white dress that accented her body quite well. Marcus raised a brow at the armaments of the mechs. Falcon microgrenade rifles were a experimental type of weaponry that acted as a assault rifle, but could fire a steady stream of miniturized frag grenades, each capable of significant amounts of damage. It was weird to find low-grade Illium security mechs with such advanced weaponry.

"Greetings," The asari greeted, "Welcome to Nos Astra, Commander Shepard."

The spectre raised an eyebrow, "You know my name? And its quite a greeting; having mechs armed with high-tech weaponry greet guests."

The asari merely smiled, "A man of your reputation requires caution, commander. Your battles fighting Saren and his geth armies have become quite legendary, even on Illium. We only wish to take the nessacary precautions. We hope you understand. As for your name; we know it because a accomplice of yours knew you were coming."

That got his attention, "Accomplice? And who is this?"

"My name is Careena by the way," the asari greeted dryly, "As for your accomplice, you should be very familiar with her. Liara T'Soni has paid for all your boarding fees and will be covering the costs on your visit. She sent me to greet you so you could be taken to her office."

If Tali and Garrus were frowning, he didn't see it, he could hear it. The quarian gasped and the turian choked on a tube of nutrient paste he was eating, "Liara? Just what is she?"

Careena smiled smugly, "Liara is one of the most wealthiest and substantial information brokers in all of Nos Astra, not to mention Illium. Her personal war with the Shadow Broker has become something of a legend among the people of this grand city. Many work for her, and she is known for her ruthless virtues."

Information Broker? War with the Shadow Broker? Work for her? Ruthless? This has to be a different Liara. The Liara Marcus knew was a shy, gentle, inexperienced, naive young archaelogist just looking to learn more about the protheans. How, in the space of two years, had she gone from being that to a ruthless, brutal information broker, with people working for her and launching a war against the most infamous information broker in the history of the galaxy? And why was it personal? What did the Shadow Broker do to her?

"I'd like to see Liara immediately," Marcus demanded, "As a friend of mine who once served under my command, I have reason to see her. This isn't the Liara I know. Just when did Liara show up on Illium?"

Careena seemed to think for a short second, "If memory serves me right, she arrived around early 2183. She rented and eventually bought quite a lovely and luscious apartment in the Athena Apartment Blocks; she had quite a large amount of credits. She was still a archaelogist at that time. Some time later, she became an information broker, going on about how she'd get vengeance against the Shadow Broker and make him pay for his crimes. Stuff like that. You'd have to ask her the rest."

With a nod, he motioned for Careena to move ahead and take them to the office. He had to get to the bottom of this. This wasn't Liara, and he knew this full well. Noone goes from shy, inexperienced scientist to a ruthless info broker. And revenge against the Shadow Broker? That was even more suspicious. He had to get to the bottom of this. He wouldn't let this continue.

The two LOKI mechs reassumed positions at the balcony, standing vigil over the city business district. Careena motioned them down to the end of the balcony before moving off to the right and down a security checkpoint. The room moved in a diagonal fashion further left. A long, pane of glass covered the right side where numerous security personnel asking for permits, passports and what not were located. Security dressed in bright-white uniforms, hefting avenger assault rifles, paced the room. They didn't approach is team; obviously paid off by Liara.

They continued through until they erupted into the main business district. The place was a bustle activity. The business area was shaped like a U, with his squad coming out on the top of the left side. The large 'U' was fifty stories up a massive skyscraper, the positioning giving them another fantastic view of Nos Astra's skyline. The central part of the U had numerous shops while the otherside lead off a upwards facing staircase. Also in the center of the U and elevated above the main shops was what he guessed was Liara's office. Among the area was numerous volus, asari, turians, salarians, humans and elcor, bussling around.

Marcus and his squad continued to follow Careena through the many stores. They had to squeeze through a crowded area where many asari and turians were surrounding a podium where a human was trying to sell his products, shouting out prices with increasing symphony. Eventually, they pushed past a cafe area, where Marcus swore he saw a familiar red-dressed human woman sitting. He shook the thought off.

They moved towards a stairway leading up to Liara's office. To the left of the staircase was a doorway most likely leading off to another section of the business district. Careena stopped at the stairs, turning and bowing at the group.

"I must now take my leave," The asari informed them, "I have many duties to attend to. Please inform Nyxeris of your intention. I hope you enjoy your stay at Nos Astra. Have a nice day." With that, Careena made a hasty exit, obviously in a hurry as her graceful steps took her out of their view. He quickly turned to his squad, "Zaeed, Kasumi, go to the Eternity Bar, we'll meet you there. This is a meeting between old friends. Besides, Zaeed, you might get bored."

The mercenary scoffed, "Talking really isn't my thing. I'll try and get drunk off my ass."

"And I'll keep well away from him," Kasumi added, the two of them disappearing into the crowd as Garrus and Tali followed him up the stairs towards Liara's office. Reaching the top, they found a door leading off to the left into Liara's office with a reception desk to the right, where a young asari was seated. She was definitely still in her maiden stage; with numerous, orange lines colored over her face. She wore a tight, purple dress, the clothes accenting her form. She looked up from a datapad as he came to a stop infront of her.

"Names?" The asari asked. His eyes fell on the nameplate on her desk. Assistant Nyxeris Drogo. Judging by her monotone, she was extremely bored. She immediately reminded him of the office tech back on Purgatory. He shook his head.

"Commander Shepard," He informed her, before pointing to his friends, "Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah vas Neema."

"Intent?" She asked in the same monotone.

"We're old friends of Liara T'Soni," Marcus informed her, "I'd like to see her immediately."

"You must understand that Miss T'Soni is very busy," Nyxeris stated, "She has many appointments. Come back in a month and make an appointment. I'm sure she'll-"

"We don't have time for this," Tali whispered over the comm and Marcus nodded, stepping forward and leaning against Nyxeris' desk, cutting her off.

"I'm sure Miss T'Soni can make time for this," the spectre stated firmly, "As a Spectre, I can declare this a matter of huge urgency and cancel any appointments she might have. I will not take up much of her time; I merely want to speak with her. We haven't spoken for a while."

Nyxeris finally gave a exasperated sigh, sitting back and motioning for them to walk inside. Marcus nodded in thanks, moving towards the door and hitting the door interface, now no longer red. The forward platelet of the door, a semi-circle, slid from it's top area to the right, both platelets sliding apart and opening, allowing him to step into Liara's office. The first thing he noticed was a massive observation window at the back of the room. In front of this was a large desk, presumably Liara's, with numerous PDAs, a terminal and books filed ontop of it. The room was of circular shape, with two pedestals standing on both sides of her desk. Standing behind her desk, was Liara, wearing a brown and cyan dress, talking to someone via a holographic vidscreen on the wall, omni-tool in hand.

"Alucard, have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have," Liara stated to the nondescript man. Marcus immediately remembered the words she spoke; they were the one's of her mother. She had spoken those exact words to them before battling them on Noveria. It seemed the irony was overflowing, here. He simply shook his head, staying in the front of the room with his friends, door closing behind them. The asari continued, deactivating her omni-tool.

"I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive...with my mind." With that, the asari nodded as the vidscreen switched off, turning around. He saw the look on her face. A grim determination; a smug expression on her features. This wasn't Liara. Whatever had taken over her body...it wasn't Liara. He wouldn't be surprised if she was indoctrinated. But upon seeing him and his friends in the back, her features changed from smug to a familiar look of happiness. She practically beamed as she walked towards them.

"Shepard!" Liara stated, hitting a comm on the desk, "Nyxeris, hold my calls, put all appointments on hold for now until I dictate otherwise." With that, she wrapped her arms around Marcus, smiling the entire time. Tali's fists clenched tightly, happy for her mask. Otherwise they might have seen the look of death she was giving Liara. She calmed down. Keelah, you're paranoid. Luckily, Garrus and Liara didn't notice the gesture. Neither did Marcus, it seemed.

Pulling back from the embrace, the asari kissed him on both cheeks. It was a human custom she had learned during her years as a broker. Tali's fists clenched once more, almost stepping forward and demanding that the asari step back. But she held her tongue. She wouldn't do anything irrational, especially not that. The asari motioned for them to sit at her desk, the broker sitting behind it while the trio pulled up three leather seats.

"My sources said you were alive," Liara continued, "But I never believed...it's so good to see you!"

Marcus was dumbfounded. He had expected a colder welcome, from what he had heard about the asari from Careena. But this Liara was exactly like the one from the old days right now. Did it take him coming back to change her personality? Or is she doing it for show? He needed to find out what the hell was going on.

"Oh, you have sources now, huh?" Marcus started, trying not to hint at his disappointment. Liara, luckily, didn't pick up on it. She smiled.

"A few," she explained, "Sources, contacts, even a little hired muscle. I've been working as an information broker. It's paid the bill since you...well, for the past two years. And now you're back, gunning for the collectors with Cerberus," The disdain couldn't be hidden from her face and tone. She shook her head, "Really Shepard? Cerberus? I thought you were better than this."

"Oh, and you're the one to pass judgement?" Marcus stated with anger, "I'm not the one who had a sudden personality swap and went from being an innocent scientist to a ruthless info broker with people working under her belt so she can enact personal vengeance on the Shadow Broker of all people? Liara; do you realize how dangerous the Broker is?"

"Of course I do! I'm hunting him for goddess' sake!" Liara shot back, standing bolt upright, "The Shadow Broker declared a personal war with me and I'm only retaliating! And at least I'm not working for terrorists!"

"Sometimes you have to choose the lesser evil Liara!" He hissed back, matching her posture, "I didn't sacrifice who I was to destroy the collectors, but you have. What...possessed you to turn into this creature? And to speak like your mother? What happened!?"

"I lost...I lost...," Liara's eyes welled up, "The Shadow Broker took the man I loved away from me."

His infuriated demeanour stopped immediately, as did Garrus' and Tali's. His eyes turned from one of anger to sympathy, "Man you loved? Liara, what happened?"

The asari sighed and took a deep breath, "When you died, the Shadow Broker immediately wanted to cash in on your body and stole it. He wanted to sell it to a high-bidder, and he got it. The Collectors came to him wanting to purchase your body. For what purposes, I do not know, but I guess it has something to do with why they are abducting your colonies."

Marcus sat back in his seat, intently listening, "Keep going."

Liara moved over to the window, looking down over Nos Astra, "He sealed the deal and the collectors were to meet with some of his or her or their men."

"He...I mean she...I mean, you know! It has men?" Garrus asked, confused.

"The Shadow Broker didn't gain power purely through knowledge," Liara explained, "He had to make sure people stayed loyal to him or when to terminate those who were deemed compromised. For sake of secrecy, he wouldn't do this himself and instead sends men to do it. As a result, the Broker has his own private mercenary army of well-trained soldiers. Well-trained, as in on Blue Suns level. Anyway, his mercs and the collectors were to supposed to meet on Alchera, your death place, but my drell friend, his name was Feron, and I, got there first. I had rescued him from the Shadow Broker a few months before, and we were already in love. Of course, Cerberus got there too."

"As a result, total chaos erupted. Feron and I got your body while Cerberus commandos dealt with the collectors and the Broker's mercenaries, who were first to fall. We almost escaped, but Feron was shot in the leg, causing him to fall over. I wanted to stay and help him, but he ordered me to run, to take your body and just run. So I did. And all I remember now of him is that gunshot echoing through the wind as the mercs caught up and killed him. Cerberus approached me, saying they could save you and I eventually gave in. I knew you needed to be saved. And now I'm a information broker; vowing to avenge Feron and destroy the Shadow Broker."

Any rage he had was virtually gone now. He still couldn't accept Liara's change in personality, but he could at least understand it. Liara had lost someone she loved and she wished to avenge him. Marcus couldn't reprimand her for it; he would have done the same thing had the Shadow Broker killed Tali. He shook that thought from his head.

"I'm so sorry Liara," Marcus apologized, "I...didn't know. If I did...I might not have commented. If there's anything I can do..."

Liara smiled meekly as she turned from the door and sat back down at her desk, "There's nothing you can do to help currently. The Shadow Broker is a very vague character and he's very good at hiding. Noone has been able to find where he hides and operates from. Besides, you have your colonies to protect. The collectors must be stopped. And I apologize for doubting your intentions; I know you work for Cerberus with the best intentions in mind. I shall tell you when I need your help."

Marcus nodded, sighing heavily. Tali's posture immediately relaxed, knowing Liara posed no threat. Keelah, you really are paranoid. Marcus would never go for Liara; he is mine and I am his. And Liara loves someone else. Noone, not even her, would forget about a loved one dying quickly. I know I didn't...

"I need a couple of favors Liara," Marcus requested.

The asari opened her terminal and smiled, "Anything you ask for Shepard, it's yours. I owe you alot for letting me join your crew."

"I need to find two recruits for my mission against the collectors," The spectre informed her, leaning forward, "First off, I'm looking for a professional drell assassin. I've heard he is on Illium currently."

"Ah yes, Thane Krios," Liara concluded, "A professional drell assassin indeed; he is by far one of the most famous. I've heard he is planning one final assassination sometime tuesday night, four days from now before going into retirement. He got into contact with an asari named Seryna who gave him the location of his target. His target however, isn't certain. My agents haven't turned up with anything relevant."

"You remembered all of that?" Marcus said with a grin, "You must have been born for this job."

"I practise," Liara smugly returned, "You said you had a second recruit?"

"Yes, I'm looking for an asari justicar. She is also on Illlium," He requested.

Liara slowly gulped, "Yes...the justicar. Her name is Samara. Before you ask for a last name, she no longer has a last name. She gave it up when she took the oath to join the Justicar Order. But, I digress. She is a powerful asari justicar who was last spotted at the spaceport trying to find a dangerous fugitive. From what I've heard, this fugitive is beyond dangerous. Not surprising if they've sent a justicar to hunt her down."

"Will this oath stop her from joining my mission?" Marcus asked.

"I do not think so," Liara responded, "As long as her fugitive is killed, she swears the oath to join you and perceives the collectors as a great enough evil, then she will. But after seeing what we've seen, the Reapers, I have no doubt in my mind she will join you. They are an evil that should be stopped. We both know that."

"Indeed," Marcus stated, "I could definitely use a third recruit though. Someone I trust."

Liara sighed heavily, knowing what he meant. Her. He meant her. She wanted her to join him. Liara had gotten the list of the crew on the Normandy directly from the Illusive Man in return for giving him Shepard's body. She knew, along with Tali and Garrus, that Kaidan was now onboard, along with Joker and Chakwas, almost completing the crew. Only herself, Wrex and Adams weren't onboard, with Pressly and Johnson having died when the ship's predecessor was destroyed over Alchera. She really wanted to join his crew; but she couldn't. She had to avenge Feron. She had to destroy the Shadow Broker.

"I'm afraid I can't Shepard," Liara stated plainly, "I would like to, but you've been dead for two years. I've got my own things to deal with. I have to stop the Shadow Broker. And before you offer to help me, don't. You have the collectors to stop. You have to stop them. My personal revenge isn't something you need to become entangled with. But I will give you this: whenever you require help, I will help. I owe you that much. Maybe I can help you from here rather than being on your crew. And who knows? If I kill the Shadow Broker before you charge the collector homeworld, I might join you."

Marcus shook his head, knowing the chances of that happening weren't small, medium or big. They were atomized. Instead, he simply accepted the already obvious fact that she couldn't join him. It was technically the first time this had happened; Tali had joined him on Haestrom afterwards. Liara simply wouldn't be joining until the Shadow Broker was defeated and his forces scattered. The Liara he knew was there, but was currently hidden under a iron veil. Revenge tended to do that.

"Thank you Liara," He responded exasperatedly, "I hope to talk to you again soon. Goodbye." With that, the spectre stood from his seat and his two dextro friends followed behind him, the gears of the door closing behind them. Liara sighed heavily, head falling into her hands. That was much more painful than she thought it would be.

Outside, the trio moved down the stairs, nodding to Nyxeris on their way past who gave them the same bored look she had when they arrived. At the bottom of the stairwell, they moved to head for the Eternity Bar, but were stopped by a overly familiar, feminine voice.

"Well I'll be damned," the voice said, "The galaxy sure is a small place for me to run into a dead man."

He turned around, coming face to face with a woman in a familiar red dress. Her black hair tied in that same ponytail, the exact same smug grin on her features. He laughed.

"Parasini?" Garrus got in first, surprised.

"Please, it's Gianna, what have I told you?" Parasini greeted, arms crossed, "I've come a long way from being a simple Internal Affairs agent back on Noveria. But how in the lowest hell did we bump into each other? On Illium of all places?"

"I could ask the same thing," Marcus stated, "What are you doing on Illium? I thought you worked in Port Hanshan." He had met Gianna Parasini on Noveria two years ago during the Eden Prime War. She had helped him get to Peak 15, the spectre helping her remove the corrupt Administrator Anoleis in the process.

"Internal Affairs matters aren't limited to Noveria," Gianna explained, "I've been assigned to Illium to help their government get inside info on criminal movements here. I'm currently keeping my eye on Nassana Dantius; asari bitch has become quite powerful on Noveria, even has two towers being built in her name. She rules half of Nos Astra and the Eclipse mercenary company under her belt. Illium's government doesn't like her, and I can see why. Well, it's my job to make asari squirm. It should be a fun job. Instead, I'm sitting here, at a table, spying on some bartender who's a 'informant.' I swear I got mislead."

"Qui'in till the admin?" Tali quirped in. She had no intention of being a third wheel.

"Definitely," Gianna responded in a instant, "Port Hanshan flourishes and he's the best administrator the port's had in decades. Better than Anoleis anyway. He was just an asshole."

He chuckled, "You enjoyed roughing him up."

"He enjoyed ordering me around," she counted, "I say it's even. I just hope that his days rotting in a turian prison earn him a second brain. He needs it, salarian bastard. But, hey! Don't let me distract you. You've probably got some geth to blow up or a sentient race of deadly machines to wipe out. Or maybe you're on a mission to wipe out the Eclipse organization. Who cares? You look like you've got something important to do and I won't hold you."

"Actually, we're going for a drink at Eternity," Marcus interrupted, "You should join us."

"Drinking on duty? Sorry, regulations," Gianna commented.

"Ah yes, 'regulations', an annoying set of rules made to only piss you off and stop you from doing what needs to be done. Meh, I dismiss that claim." Garrus responded, Marcus smirking at the turian's imitation of Councilor Sparatus' dismissal of the spectre's claims. The contrast was quite amusing.

"Ahhhhh...hell, why not?" She responded, "Lead the way. I'm not getting paid to watch a bartender all day anyway."

Getting to Eternity didn't take very long. Alot of staircases, that was sure, but getting to the bar took less than five minutes. Opening the door, they got moved inside the bar. It was quite a large room. The back of the room had a observation window, allowing a beautiful of the city once more while the main bar was at the right side, in the center, with four bartenders, along with an old looking asari manager. The room was surrounded by tables and one side had a bachelor party going on; an asari stripper dancing on the top of a table with a four human males and a single salarian. He looked away out of modesty. The back of the room had a table occupied by a quarian female and a turian male, both animatedly talking. A private room occupied the left of the room.

"Zaeed, you've had enough!" Kasumi's objections could be heard across the room and the calm, pounding music, "No more drinks! Shep will kill me if I he found out I let you drink this much! Enough!"

The spectre laughed mischeviously as Tali and Garrus followed behind him, moving towards the bar. As he passed, he heard snippets of the quarian/turian conversation.

"...He's a human, they don't understand..."

"...I'm just going to give up on dating for awhile..."

"...No! Don't do that! Don't let some human spoil you!..."

"...Then what do you suggest?"..."

"...how about we watch Fleet and Flotilla? Just you and me?..."

"...Oh, you're so sweet, but I think I'll stick with my nerve-stim pro..."

"...I've heard the love scenes are quite...wait, what?..."

Marcus cracked a wacky smile and looked over at his quarian engineer. RIP to the man in the friendzone.

Finally, they reached the bar, finding Kasumi desperately trying to delay Zaeed's drunken mayhem. The mercenary was swinging his bottle around like a madman, pretending to gun down non-existent mercs. Kasumi's face lit up as she swore the spectre approach, immediately breaking off and trying not to sound like she was part of it.

"This merc yours?" Gianna asked.

"No, but I'm yours baby!" Zaeed drunkenly shouted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "I bet I could do a number on you!" He then slapped Gianna's ass. Big mistake.

The next moment, Zaeed was the on the ground, laughing hysterically. Gianna shook her head at him and looked up to see three pairs of eyes observing her, "What? Noone slaps my ass."

All four of them broke into a fit of laughter, not knowing how to stop. Not wanting to stop. Marcus ordered drinks for all four of them from the manager who's name turned out to be Matriarch Aethyta. Kasumi didn't want one, using Zaeed as her reason, the grizzled mercenary vomitting on the ground before swigging more alcohol from his bottle. They poked fun at Tali's need for a 'straw' to drink her drink, to which she snarkily commented, 'it improves my finesse', which Garrus mumbled back 'only to Shepard.'

The rest of those few hours were spent in Eternity, spending time with friends. Recruiting Samara, who they would recruit first, could wait. Right now, they had time for friends and old assiociates. And Gianna Parasini had alot of stories to tell.

"And so we went to recruit Samara..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"A powerful asari justicar. She had a big cleavage..."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"I bet you eyed it alot."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Maybe, but I was eying your hips and ass alot more."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Oh by the ancestors...you do realize how old your wife is, right?"

- Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Your discomfort is my pleasure... commander. "

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Back on topic..."

- Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth.

A/N:

In response to Oriana (Guest)'s review, I am NOT single. I do indeed have a girlfriend (and no, it's not Tali -_-) and I don't plan on breaking up with her anytime soon. Sorry. :/

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:

ASARI SAMARAI

Warning: Smut approaching. It will be located soon after the first 'loading...' segment, and if you're not interested in Tali+Shepard heated love, then do not read. I know I haven't made an effort to do it before, but I will be now. And if you're the guy or girl who goes 'I can handle it,' I'm not talking about your standard smut, like the ones you get in In Love and War by Rockycombo. I'm talking hardcore smut. As in 'Honeymoon' by Miraza style smut.

September 1, 2185

1405 hours.

NAPD Outpost, Nos Astra Spaceport, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus.

The skycar came to a abrupt landing just outside the NAPD (Nos Astra Police Department) outpost in the spaceport. Marcus had decided that he'd rather catch Thane during his assassination attempt, to which he'd ask the asari, Selyna, about later. Recruiting Samara now seemed like the more fruitful option. Besides, he always prioritized shock troopers over assassins; they were simply more efficient.

The five of them stepped out of the vehicle and quickly payed their fair to the taxi driver. Zaeed had been sent back to the ship and Mordin had attended them instead; saying he had left Lia in charge of the lab, believing that she would do fine without him and it would help her to learn how to direct a lab by herself.

The general area was shaped like an L. To their left was the outpost itself; a huge box with a door leading inside to multiple offices. To their right was, once again, a beautiful view of Nos Astra, while the main spaceport lay directly ahead; transports and freighters bigger and smaller than the Normandy leaving and arriving with produce and goods. As he approached, he could already see an asari, police by her white and red striped uniform, arguing with a black and grey suited volus, flanked by two turian guards with assault rifles. As he approached, he could hear their argument.

"...this is the last time I'm telling you; you're not leaving until my investigation is finished." The asari argued. Ah, a detective then. But what investigation? Always the curious one, he continued to listen in on the heated argument.

The volus took a breath, as all volus did and responded, "I already told you! *hsk* I didn't kill him! *hsk* If you want to find the murderers, then look at the Eclipse. They are the ones with a base directly under your outpost! *hsk* And what about that justicar that recently showed up? People say she could go crazy and start killing. I have to leave!"

The detective crossed her arms, "She'll only kill the unjust, so I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about. Stay here. If you try to take off before my investigation is over, and I'll order the Illium defense fleet to shoot you down."

With that, the asari took off into the outpost, door closing behind her and the volus mumbled under his breath. Obviously, whatever this investigation was about, Samara was involved. He decided he'd start with questioning the volus for any extra information he might have. He steadily approached, the volus taking notice as he got closer and waddling to face him.

"Ah, hello soldier," The volus greeted, looking at the group, "My name is Pitne For."

"I'm Commander Shepard and I'd like to ask you some questions," Marcus inquired.

"Ah, the hero of the Citadel *hsk* I'd heard you had come back from the dead. *hsk* What questions, might you ask?"

"I heard you arguing with that detective," The spectre declared, "What to tell me what that was about?"

"Ah, heard that I see," Pitne sighed, "You earth-clan are too nosy for your own good. *hsk* Well, let's see. The detective thinks I'm involved in a murder case. *hsk* She seems to think I killed my business partner, *hsk* Dakni Kur, which I most certainly didn't. *hsk* It was clearly those Eclipse! They've been running *hsk* around and causing havoc in this city for quite a while now. *hsk* Especially since Dantius came and took over. *hsk* Now she has Eclipse killing anyone she deems a threat. *hsk* Don't know why she thought Dakni was a threat though. But I didn't kill him!"

"Did they actually find Dakni's body? Or do they assume he's dead?" Garrus got in, Marcus moving inside. Garrus was ex-C-Sec; questioning was his speciality.

"Of couse they found his body. The Nos Astra Police aren't known for carelessness," Pitne informed them, "A shotgun blast in the back tore his suit open *hsk* and ripped his head wide open. Now tell me; do I look like the *hsk* business person who kills people with shotguns? *hsk* No! But the Eclipse do!"

Obviously, the Eclipse presence on Illium was alot stronger than he thought. And again with Nassana Dantius. She must have the whole city giddy. I'll have to have a meeting with this Dantius. See what the deal is.

"Thank you for your time," Marcus thanked and lead his squad away and towards the entrance to an alleyway leading to a luggage storage area. They stopped however, seeing that two asari police officers were guarding the doorway, a holographic crime scene tape set up around the doorway. Must have been where Dakni was murdered. Garrus whispered in his ear.

"That volus seems alittle suspicious to me," The turian declared, "I know the Eclipse would seem like they would be the culprits, but it seems alittle too convinient to use them as a 'get out of jail free' card."

"Agreed," Mordin piped in, "Recommend questioning detective. May have additional information. Could prove useful."

With a curt nod, Marcus motioned for his squad to move inside the outpost, ordering Kasumi and Mordin to stay outside. Tali and Mordin continued to follow him inside, allowing them a good view of the interior of the small building. Multiple sections were split off inside the room, all acting as offices, with desks and tropical plants in pots laying all over the place. They spotted the detective sitting at her desk to the right of the room and approached her. Seeing them approach, she looked up with weary eyes from her cup of coffee.

The asari detective's skin was a much darker color than most asari; almost bordering on a dark purple. She had no facepaint of note and her lips were slightly puffy, but she had no noticable makeup. She stood up and held out a hand to shake his, which he met, the asari following the gesture to his team. He sat down at her desk, the detective reciprocating.

"Nice guns," The asari complimented, "Try not to use them in my district. My name is Chief Inspector Anaya. What can I do for you?" Anaya's voice reminded him of a easily noticable North American accent.

"I'm looking for an asari justicar named Samara," He immediately began.

He noticed Anaya's hands group ontop of the table and clench before unclenching, an uneasiness noticable in the asari's posture.

"If you've got a score to settle with Samara, then take it somewhere else," Anaya demanded, the uneasiness telligble in her tone, "I've got enough trouble to deal with already. I don't need you adding to it."

"I'm on a critical mission," He offered in the same way he always had, "I need some of the most elite for this mission and I'm here to recruit Samara, not try and kill her. You can either help me or not, but I'm going to get what I want either way, so you might as well loosen your tongue alittle."

"That does sound above my pay grade," Anaya declared, "Justicars usually work alone, but, they are drawn to impossible causes. And if you're getting her out of my district, I'll get you to her ASAP. She's at the crime scene, I'll radio ahead to let them know you're coming. Be careful though, we heard Samara had come into contact with a Eclipse squad a couple of minutes ago."

Marcus raised his eyebrow at Anaya's eagerness to get rid of the justicar, "You seem awfully anxious to get Samara out of your district."

"My superiors want me to detain her," Anaya explained, "They're worried she'll cause some 'cross-species' incident," The detective shook her head at this, "But her justicar code won't let her be taken into custody. If I try it, she'll have to kill me. I have no interest in dying, so if you lure her away with some big noble cause before I have to carry out my orders, I'm thrilled to help you."

Marcus shook his head, leaning forward, "Your superiors are ordering you to commit suicide. You don't have to obey them."

From behind him, Garrus snorted, "We can disobey suicidal orders? Was I refused this memo when I wasn't looking?

Tali decided to join in on the tease, "That's about twice a day."

"Most of the time I'm not being stupid about it," Marcus grinned, "I can't say the same for Anaya's superiors."

"I'm a cop. I know my duty. I've been ordered to detain her and I will, what you see now is merely me delaying the envitable. So if you can get rid of her now, I'll be alot better off. Now if you don't, I've got a volus merchant to check up on. Make sure he hasn't left. Oh, better radio ahead," Anaya stated before hitting her omni-tool, "Dispatch 1-4, how copy?"

"This is Dispatch 1-4, Inspect-Alfa-November-Alfa-Yankee-Alfa, we copy. New orders?"

"Negative," Anaya responded, "We've got three..." Marcus shook his head, holding up five fingers, "Scratch that, make it five friendlies about to approach crime scene tape; I've given them the all-clear. You'll give them full access to crime scene: they've come to relieve Justicar Samara of on-site duty, over."

"This is Dispatch 1-4, we copy. Golf-Oscar. Over and out."

Anaya simply nodded to them before deactivating her omni-tool and moving outside to confront Pitne, who hadn't moved. Marcus gathered Mordin and Kasumi, who had been conversing before heading immediately towards the crime scene.

They quickly found themselves at the doorway and the two officers immediately parted to let them through, the crime scene tape glowing crimson red and beeping as each one of them walked through. Once through, both officers moved back into position, looks unchanging.

Upon moving inside, they immediately found the crime scene. A pool of white blood coated the ground, followed by a chalk outline of a dead volus' body. Volus' have white blood. You learn something new every day, it seems. The alleyway was dead silent, aside from the mumblings of security and police interaction. Marcus and his squad moved towards the entrance of the alleyway, but a security officer halted them.

"Sorry sir, it's too dangerous to continue. Eclipse mercs occupy the end of the alleyway," The officer stated.

The spectre raised an eyebrow and simply eyed his weapons. The officer seemed to get his meaning, "Okay, good point, just be careful. These fuckers are callous."

With a nod, Marcus nodded for his squad to equip their weapons, he himself pulling out his tempest SMG, enabling incendiary rounds. Tali equipped her geth plasma shotgun, Garrus his mattock heavy rifle, while Mordin and Kasumi equipped their own tempest SMGs, the latter activating her cloak soon after. With that, they trudged onwards and towards the luggage bay where Samara was reported to have been.

They moved through the alleyway steadily, not encountering any hostiles. Then he heard voices. Shouting. An asari yelling orders. Eclipse. He held up his hands for his squad to approach stealthily, ordering Kasumi to take point while he moved up behind, Tali, Garrus and Mordin behind him. He turned the corner and found the source of the yelling, immediately taking cover behind a crate; half a eclipse squad.

He spotted a salarian engineer, flanked by two asari and a couple of humans. As he looked around again, he cursed under his breath. Great, a fucking elcor too. He quickly equipped his pulse rifle in his other hand, deciding to dual-wield his SMG and assault rifle at the same time. He eyed Garrus, giving him the signal to draw the merc's fire while he took down the lone elcor. That allowed the rest of his team to concentrate on the rest of the mercs. With a nod of his head, the turian fired.

Cries rang through the corridor as the mercs quickly focused their attention on what they assumed was a lone turian. A torrent of assault rifle and SMG fire poured down on Garrus, the viglante making a jump for cover while managing to avoid a incineration blast by the salarian. He ordered Mordin to deal with the engineer while he swerved from cover and fired on the elcor.

It required less effort than he originally thought. The combined fire from his SMG and the heavy armor-piercing rounds of his geth pulse rifle easily tore apart the merc's shields, rounds ripping into elcor flesh extremely easily. As thick as it was, it stood no chance against his barrage of fire. He quickly moved to the colossus' four legs, ripping into them like a axe into a tree. The elcor quickly fell, Marcus having to reload both his weapons. He dropped his SMG and immediately slammed a fresh clip into his pulse rifle, rolling out of cover and shredding one of the human mercs instantly with his barrage.

The salarian deployed a orange combat drone before leaping into cover, letting loose a spread of SMG fire to keep away their fire. The combat drone hovered over to Garrus and zapped his shields, the turian turning to fire at the thing, but missing as it disappeared. Not worrying about it, Marcus once again charged, holstering his rifle and reloading his SMG, firing a widespread over the disorganized mercs. He caught another human in the shoulder, shields down, spinning him and allowing Tali to catch him in the back with her shotgun while Kasumi decloaked and rammed her omni-blade up the back of another.

The two asari paniced, resorting to their biotics and unleashing a bombardment on them. Unfortunately for them, they weren't the only ones with biotics. Pulsing with ethereal energy, he leapt up and launched a biotic shockwave towards the pair, breaking the concentration of one and sending another flying into a wall unconscious. The other tried to regain focus, but was quickly gunned down by Garrus. His shields recharged just as Marcus moved to finish off the salarian, the engineer firing. Expecting the round to be reflected off his barriers, the spectre was surprised when the round caught him in the chest, causing him to reel back. Confused, he checked his shield meter; no shields.

What the...? Then he found the source of his problem flying towards him. That engineer's damn combat drone. He moved to destroy it, but was stopped as another of the engineer's bursts caught him in the shoulder, forcing him to the ground to throw off the merc's aim. He moved to destroy the drone again, but smiled at the pointlessness of the gesture. The combat drone was hit by a burst of energy and turned around just in time to watch Chiktika ram into it, sending it flying. Before it could retaliate, Chiktika finished it off with a burst of incineration, destroying the drone. Tali shouted in triumph, yelling through the comm.

"Noone's faster than Chiktika vas Paus!"

The salarian, shocked, moved to run, but was stopped short as a incineration blast hit him in the back. Without shields, he was helpless as the fire consumed him, screaming in pain. To end his suffering, Kasumi emptied a burst into the back of his skull, killing him. Mordin nodded to the thief, reloading his SMG. Marcus stood, humming as the armor's injectors activated and medi-gel coated his wounds, shields recharging.

He watched as Tali caught Chiktika from the ground, having deactivated it, and pocketed it. With a nod to the spectre, Marcus grinned and motioned for them to move inside the luggage bay. Palming the door interface, they moved inside, weapons scanning the room.

He almost jumped back in shock as, seemingly out of nowhere, the body of a dead eclipse trooper, a human, slammed into the wall, her screams echoing through the room after her demise, body falling to the ground in a broken heap. He turned to the source of the merc's death, and saw nothing at first. But he did see the mangled bodies of numerous dead eclipse mercs; salarian, human and asari. He looked up above to see a lone asari merc, pistol out before her, eyes scanning the room in fear.

"Those were my best troops!" The asari screamed at her unseen enemy, "I'm going to fucking rip your throat out, Justicar!" Empty words for a dead woman, it seemed.

"Tell me what I need to know and I will be gone from here," Came a wise, yet beautiful, accented voice, "Where did you send her?" Then the owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows and into the light. She was an asari, as was already obvious, but she was different from the others he'd met, like Liara. She wore a crimson red uniform, ancient carvings and symbols aligning it, the uniform accenting her slim body. Her body moved gracefully; almost like every step took no effort, but always came out as hynotizing. He had to question the uniform itself though; it didn't take modesty into effect. Her cleavage wasn't just showing, but the whole thing could be seen. If the slit down the middle was any bigger, then...he didn't need to finish that thought.

Her face was a lighter shade of blue than any asari he'd known and had no facial markings. Above her eyebrows however was some pieces of red metal that curved around her eyebrows and on her forehead, serving a purpose unknown. Her body glowed in the azure light of biotics, ready to attack if nessacary.

The eclipse merc shook her head, "You think I'd betray her? She'd hurt me in ways you couldn't imagine!"

Samara seemed to ignore her her comment, "The name of the ship. Your life hangs on the answer, lieutenant."

The asari began to gain courage, raising her pistol slightly, "You can kill me, but one of us will take you down, justicar!" She then raised her pistol fully, squeezing the trigger. Three shots rang out, all repelled by a barrier Samara had formed infront of herself. Before the merc could counter with her own biotics, she had been picked up and thrown off the balcony into a pair of crates, winding her. Samara gracefully leapt off the balcony, using her biotic abilities to glide through the air and land softly on the ground, stalking towards her fallen prey. With no weapon, the merc just watched as Samara placed a boot on her neck, the merc trying desperately to escape.

"What was the name of the ship she left on?" Samara demanded.

The asari barely managed to choke out her answer, "Go. To. Hell!"

The justicar shook her head, barely fazed by the response, "May you find peace in the embrace of the goddess." With that, she twisted her foot, snapping the merc's neck, causing her to cease all movement. Removing her foot from her dead opponent, Samara finally turned to face them, regarding them with a watchful gaze. Then, after what felt like a tension-filled eternity, she approached them, Marcus ordering his team to lower their weapons.

"My name is Samara, a servant of the justicar code," The justicar greeted, "My quarrel is with these eclipse sisters, but I see five well armed people before me. Are we friend, or foe?"

Marcus nodded, looking at the dead bodies of the eclipse mercs, "Friend, I hope. I'm Commander Shepard, and I need you for a dangerous mission. I've come to recruit you. My illusive benefactor sent me a dossier saying you'd prove useful." Illusive, yes. Benefactor? We'll see.

Samara quirked her lips in impression, "You honor me, but I'm in the middle of a investigation."

"I need you to help me stop the collectors from abducting human colonies," Marcus offered.

This got Samara's interest, "The Collectors are a worthy foe. I would relish testing myself against them. But I seek an incredibly dangerous fugitive," He quirked his brows in confusion, motioning for the justicar to explain, "I had cornered her here, but the eclipse sisters managed to sneak her aboard a transport ship before I could get to her. I must find the name of the ship she left on before the trail runs cold."

He nodded and heard the door open. Before he could turn to see who it was though, Samara had formed a biotic barrier around him and four shots pinged harmlessly off it. He turned to see that it was another asari merc, and he instantly recognized her. She's the one my shockwave knocked unconscious. Before she could do anything else, the door opened again and she turned to see who it was, only to be gunned down by assault rifle fire. He sighed in relief as Anaya, leading a squad of Nos Astra Tactical Police troopers, marched into the room, all wearing armor except her. Seeing no other hostiles, Anaya moved towards Samara, all officers pointing weapons at her. Marcus felt his grin lessen. He didn't like this.

Anaya stopped a few meters away before turning to Marcus, "Is the justicar willing to leave with you?"

He shook his head, "She has to finish her investigation."

Samara nodded, "This is true. She is dangerous and must be stopped."

The sounds of weapon safeties being turned off could be heard while Anaya shook her head and sighed, hand drawing the sidearm on her hip, "I wish you were willing to leave with Shepard, Justicar."

Marcus knew what was going on. Anaya's superiors had finally done it. The detective couldn't delay it anymore.

She was doing to attempt to arrest Samara. Now he under the TPT squad, but he didn't think they would stand a chance against Samara. And if push came to shove, would he really fight Anaya and her fellow officers to save Samara? Could he really kill innocent officers who were just doing their jobs just to recruit some asari legalized viglante?

Anaya's voice broke his thoughts, "By order of the Nos Astra Police Department, and by approval of the Nos Astra City Council, I hereby am forced to place you under arrest Samara. People are afraid of what you might do and we don't need a panic on his hands."

Marcus' hands tightened around the grip of his rifle, getting ready to fight. But surprisingly, Samara's response took him off guard.

"You risk a great deal by following your superior's orders, detective," Samara responded cooly, unfazed, "Fortunately, I will not have to resist. My code obligates me to cooperate with you for one day. After that, I must return to my investigation."

Anaya shook her head, "I'm sorry, but my investigation will take at least a week to crack, justicar. I can't let you out that early."

"You won't be able to stop me," Samara responded.

Deciding to stop them before a all-out firefight broke out, Marcus decided to resolve the situation, "We'll find the name of that ship."

Samara and Anaya immediately turned to Marcus, the latter nodding her approval eagerly while holstering her pistol, while Samara smiled grimly at him. Anaya then motioned for her troops to lower their weapons, which they did begrudgingly.

"Do that and I will join you," Samara stated, "Then the code will be satisfied."

"Do you have any leads?" Garrus asked, ever the detective.

Samara nodded, "The volus merchant, Pitne For, is tied to this. Eclipse mercs are preparing to kill him. Get the truth out of him, he may be able to get you into the eclispe base." As she said this, Anaya activated a pair of omni-cuffs and clasped the around Samara's wrists, which were tried behind her back. Once finished, Samara moved out of the building, with the troopers following behind her. Just before she left, Anaya turned towards his group, which were moving to follow.

"Thanks for that," Anaya stated, "You can find Pitne inside my office. Had to keep him inside. He tried to leave again."

Marcus chuckled as he followed the detective, Garrus giving him that 'I told you so' look he gave people whenever he was right. He simply rolled his eyes. It wasn't long before they reached the NAPD outpost again, and Samara was quickly lead to a holding cell while Anaya sat at her desk, watching his group as they approached Pitne, the small, fat volus sitting on the ground. Seeing them approach, he tried to stand up, but failed.

"Hello again, Earth-clan," Pitne greeted, "Any luck finding out what happened to Dakni? *hsk* I hope you've discovered it wasn't me who killed him *hsk* by now. I want out of here; especially *hsk* now since that justicar is locked up in the same building as *hsk* I am."

Marcus shook his head, crossing his arms, team conversing with each other while Garrus tried fruitlessly to flirt with Anaya, "Let's cut the crap. Why's Eclipse out for your head?"

Pitne was quick to deny it, "Eclipse? Wanting me dead? *hsk* I don't think so. I'm merely an innocent mer-"

He squatted next to the volus and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him forward until his face was inch from the volus', "Stop bullshitting me. I get angry when people do that. And I get murderous when I'm pissed. Just ask the geth, or Saren's dead corpse. Which ever one you like."

If Pitne could piss himself, which assumed volus could, he'd be doing so right now, "O-okay! *hsk* Maybe you're right, Earth-clan. I'm desperate *hsk* I've got angry mercs wanting to pop my suit open *hsk* and now we have this justicar from the Thessia-clan *hsk* Let's talk."

Marcus nodded, standing and motioning for the volus to continue.

"I smuggled a chemical onto Illium that boosts biotic powers in combat *hsk*," Pitne stated, "It can also give you temporary powers if you don't have any *hsk* And trust me, even if you're wearing a suit, it *hsk* won't protect you. This chemical goes right through it. Don't know how *hsk* it works, but it does. Just warning you so you can watch that *hsk* clanless over there." He then pointed over to Tali.

He ignored his comment about Tali being 'clanless.' Yet again, volus do name people after their homeworld and the quarian's don't have one, so they are technically clanless. Doesn't stop it from sounding like an insult though.

"It also...is toxic,*hsk*" Pitne stated, "*hsk* I may have...um...forgotten, to mention that to the Eclipse *hsk* So they are perturbed and want to kill me."

He rolled his eyes. As much as he hated Eclipse, he could see why they'd want him dead. I'd be pissed if I was sold a tank that secretly would explode if you tried to fire the main cannon. Instead of scolding the volus however, he just decided to ask the more obvious question.

"I need to gain access to the Eclipse base," Marcus declared.

"I do have a passcard they issued me *hsk* so I could ship my goods in," Pitne admitted, looking around wearily, "Well, I obviously had to return that *hsk* one, but I just happened to make a copy. Here, take it." The volus fitted a three-fingered hand into a suit pocket and pulled out a small card, handing it to the spectre, who took it and pushed it into his pocket.

"Just be careful," Pitne as he turned to leave, "Each eclipse sister commits a murder to earn her uniform. It's quite possible Dakni's death was the result of a initiation. They are all extremely dangerous."

"Yeah, so are krogan, geth and collectors," Marcus offered back, "No trouble with them so far." He was technically right, with the exception of the events of Horizon. Pitne nodded and moved to leave, but found his exit blocked by Anaya, who stood there, shaking her head. Marcus pretended to be entranced by the passcard, grinning under his helmet. Pitne looked up to the Anaya, unaware of what was going on.

"Detective?" Pitne asked, "I've offered all the help *hsk* I can, can I not leave?"

"Why? Why would I let a smuggler go free?" Anaya said, desperately holding back a smug grin.

"Wait...*hsk*, how did you...hear about that? *hsk*"

"I have my ways," Anaya responded, before looking at one of her officers, "Pitne For, I'm placing you under arrest for the smuggling of illegal produce onto Illium and potentially causing the death of your business partner and many other innocents. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." As she said this, she followed Pitne as he was escorted down into the detainee cell room, where he'd be held before being taken to court. If found guility, he'd say hello to Prison.

Mission complete, he lead his team outside and towards a door located to the left of the crime scene; an elevator leading into the eclipse base approximately 44 floors down. Stepping inside, he hit the button for the 44th floor.

Seeing as this would take awhile, Garrus decided to talk with Tali, "So Tali, remember our conversation back on that elevator down on Noveria?"

Tali frowned at the turian behind her mask, not sure what he meant. But when she remember...well, she remembered. And it wasn't something she was going to continue. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the door, not listening to the turian, hoping her response stonewalled, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

"No."

Garrus smirked, not giving up, "Come on, remember how we'd all ask you about life on the Flotilla? It was an oppurtunity to share! Why should Shepard get you all to himself?"

Heat rushed to her cheeks, "This conversation...is over."

"Tell me again about your immune system."

"Ah yes, very interesting. Quarian immune system born from adaptation to life on Rannoch. Unlike other xenoimmuno systems who fought incoming bacteria instead of adaptation. Then there's-"

"Mordin, please."

"I don't know, I'm quite enjoying this."

"Not you to Kasumi!"

"Sorry little bucket, but this is too good to pass up."

"I have a shotgun."

"Ah...we'll talk later."

"That's right, bosh'tet turian."

"Your shotgun doesn't scare me, Tali."

"Kasumi, please! Shepard, help me!"

Marcus merely grinned, "Kasumi, leave Tali alone."

"Fine, Shep. You're no fun at all."

"I didn't realize torturing me about my culture was fun."

"It wouldn't be torture if you simply gave in-"

They all went silent as the elevator stopped and the door swung open, revealing an open room full of crates and two, inactive LOKI mechs. A doorway lay to the left with nothing to the right but crates. They were now in the bowels of eclipse territory. Equipping his SMG, he ordered his team to equip their weapons and move forward, keeping a look out for Pitne's dangerous chemical. He was worried about getting poisoned by the toxic chemical.

He looked through the doorway and saw a full eclipse squad; three asari, four salarians and five humans, all in the same room, patrolling, unaware of their presence, accompanied by three FENRIS mechs. He cursed under his breath, not loud enough to be heard by the mercs, but enough for Mordin to hear him. Then he remembered the two LOKI mechs that sat inactive in the corner. He had found his vanguard.

"Kasumi hack into those mechs and send them in," Marcus ordered, "Tali and Mordin, cover my back and Garrus, provide sniper fire. I'll go in, biotics blazing, right behind the mechs, use 'em as meat shields."

"Don't you mean metal shields?" Garrus remarked.

"Yes, that smartass."

Kasumi wasted no time in hacking into the mechs, having them active pretty quickly; apparently eclipse didn't bother with anti-hacking security. The mechs moved outside, pistols drawn, immediately opening fire on their original eclipse owners. One human was caught in the back of his head, shields down and no helmet; a clean hole ripped into his head as he fell to the ground dead. Hearing the gunshots, eclipse quickly reacted, firing. Marcus charged in behind them, biotics at the ready and SMG at his side.

One of the salarians was quickly able to disable both mechs, but Marcus merely resorted to using his biotics to throw them at the mercs, hitting one salarian and toppling him while knocking another human off to the side, assault rifle falling to the ground. Without waiting, he used the momentum gained from his biotics to tackle an asari to the ground, his team moving to deal with the rest. The asari straggled, grabbing his wrist and trying to rip him off of her. His omni-blade activated, slicing through her wrist and causing her to let go in a scream of agony.

He sliced her throat wideopen, purple blood spraying onto his visor and painting his chestplate. He quickly lifted himself off of the dead asari, only to be lifted off the ground by the second asari and thrown into Garrus, body's interwined as they toppled over each other. SMG still gripped in his hand, he moved to get up, standing up just as Garrus did. The turian lifted his sniper rifle and fired, the shot hitting true; blasting through her forehead and ripping a nice hole in that area, killing her. This left one more asari, who was quickly taken by Tali. The remainder of the eclipse force, two salarians and a FENRIS mech, tried to escape, using the mech as cover, but didn't get far as Kasumi appeared, emptying a burst into one's kneecap and while he was on the ground, placing another in the back of his head.

The other salarian hoped to continue his escape, but quickly found himself toppling into a large assortment of canisters, panic entering his features. Marcus understood why as he took down the last FENRIS with a biotic thrust, ordering his team forward. Those canisters were full of the toxic chemical.

The salarian screamed as he was surrounded by a deathly green mist, inhaling the fumes in his panic. Before long, he ceased all moment, biotics flaring up and disappearing rapidly as his body fell to the ground. He made sure to switch off his olfactory filters, not wanting to breathe it in, quickly ordering his squad to do the same. Then he remembered Tali. She was standing guard at the door, unaware of the toxic gas stalking towards her. He ran forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of the mist's path and back towards the group. The quarian nodded to him in appreciation.

"Come on, we'd better keep going," Marcus ordered, "And whatever you do, don't get anywhere near those fumes. Stay close to me."

"Shep, found something," Kasumi announced, running up to him, holding out her omni-tool.

"Found something, I gather?" He asked the petite thief. She quickly nodded, bringing up some file.

"Yeah, think I might have found out who leads the eclipse in this base," Kasumi admitted, "An asari by the name of Captain Wasea. She's the boss here, but apparently she answers to Nassana."

"Again with Dantius," Mordin piped up, rubbing the bottom of his chin, "Dantius must be extremely powerful with eclipse troops at her back. Likely that the only way to stop eclipse operations in area is to cut head off leader. Would be intelligent approach. Killing Nassana, seems like best option."

"We'll deal with this later," Marcus stated, "Let's just find the name of the ship Samara's fugitive left on and get out of here. We'll find out what to do about Dantius later."

They continued to trudge through the eclipse base, taking down whatever defenses the mercs set up. The mercenaries really hadn't been prepared for their break-in, and Wasea seemed to content to just throw her troops at them, like she was delaying them. During this time, they had found eclipse logs listening Minagen X3 as the name for the toxic chemicals; a substance once used during chemical warfare tactics by the geth against the quarians in the morning war. A deadly and effective weapon. It was illegalized by the Citadel Conventions.

Finally, they reached the final stretch of the eclipse stronghold. The majority of the eclipse forces had been disposed of, which hadn't been much bigger than a platoon, and just as he was about to move up a flight of stairs, he saw an asari merc with a shotgun trying to flee. He raised his weapon, "Stop right there. Drop the weapon and turn around; slowly."

The merc stopped in her tracks, dropping her shotgun and spinning to face them, face contorted in fear. The asari was young, still in her maiden stage most likely, and looked terrified, her hands fidgeting, "Please don't kill me! I didn't mean to kill anyone, I swear! Wasea made me do it!"

"What the hell are you on about?" Garrus demanded, "Didn't mean to kill anyone? Then why did you join a fucking mercenary company?"

"Please!" the asari pleaded, "When I joined the Eclipse, I thought it'd be cool! 'Elnora the mercenary!' I thought my friends would be impressed by me! I didn't know I was going to kill people and work for Dantius of all people! That justicar is probably going to kill me and I need out! I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear it!"

"If I let you go...," Marcus hesitated, "Just tell me, who is Nassana Dantius exactly?"

"You don't know?" The asari asked bewildered, "She's only the most wealthy and powerful asari on all of Illium. She owns the City Council, half of eclipse and has so much money, she can spend some of it building twin skyscrapers in her name and not even lose a quarter of her wealth."

He heard Kasumi whistle behind him, "A rich asari with eclipse at her back, Shep? You always choose the impossible kills."

He smirked at the thief, turning back to the asari naming herself Elnora, "You can go. But if I see you here again, I will shoot you."

Elnora nodded ecstatically, running the way she had been before, disappearing up the flight of stairs. With a shake of his head, his team continued upstairs and down the right corridor, towards Wasea's warehouse. Before they hit the door however, they bumped into what looked to be a drunk volus; at least he thought he was drunk. The volus was stumbling around, unable to keep his balance. He quirked an eyebrow at the volus. He then moved back slightly when he saw biotics flare around the volus' suit, the little alien turning to face them.

"I am a biotic god!" The volus declared, "I see things and I make them happen! *hsk* You will bow before me, Earth-clan! *hsk* For I'm biotic supremacy made flesh!"

"Keelah, we have a nutcase," Tali mumbled and the spectre chuckled lightly.

"You laugh at me now, but you are nothing *hsk* compared to my might!" The volus declared, "I am Niftu Cal! And I am a god! *hsk* When I breathe...when I breathe...*hsk* I fly! I was scared at first, but then Wasea *hsk* began to inject things into me. She made me into this. And now she laughs at my greatness. *hsk* She laughs at me, but I will show her," Niftu quickly turned to the door, "I will toss Wasea about like a rag doll!"

"This guy couldn't tie his own bootlace let alone fight," Garrus remarked.

Niftu made his way over to Tali, standing just infront of her and looking up at her, "You, clanless woman! Bow down to me! *hsk* You will be a servant of my pleasure! You will herald in my greatness!" Tali just looked blankly at the volus before looking at Marcus, shaking her head. He could tell she was smiling under that mask as she knelt down and pushed the volus, the little behemoth toppling onto his back, yelping. He had to hold back a laugh.

"Laugh all you want! I will destroy you! I am beyond your imagination! *hsk* I am-" Then, out of nowhere, the volus suddenly fell asleep, snoring loudly.

"Asleep," Kasumi finished for him, "And then the fire nation attacked."

Marcus guffawed, turning towards the the japanese thief, "Why do I happen to understand that reference?"

Kasumi grinned, "Because anime is awesome. I even know a few asari who love it."

"Anime? Fire Nation...attacked?" Garrus asked, mirroring Tali's confused gaze, "What is going on?"

"Fire Nation Attacked," Mordin started, "Reference to modern japanese animation, anime for short, called Avatar: Last Airbender. Very popular during earth twenty-first century. Will have to try sometime."

Kasumi just rolled her eyes and elbowed Tali in the ribs lightly, "You and I are going to sit down and watch an episode when we get back. Maybe a few episodes."

Marcus raised his eyebrows, "Is this that how it is? Well then Garrus, I'm going to have to show you Game of Thrones."

Kasumi immediately jumped, "That settles it! We are all watching that after this is done!"

Spirits lifted, his squad moved down the hallway and into the warehouse, door closing behind them. They were in a massive room, with the back packed to the brim with huge crates, presumably filled with Minagen X3. At the back of the room was three human eclipse mercs, right infront of a asari merc wearing heavy armor and with orange markings on her face. Standing next to her was Elnora, obviously talking to her. Damn it, he shouldn't have trusted her.

Upon hearing them enter, Wasea and Elnora immediately turned to the door, a grin creasing both their faces. The three mercs turned to them, raising their rifles as they did, immediately opening fire. Marcus formed a biotic barrier, allowing his team to get behind cover before he dropped the shield and dropped into cover, just avoiding the tsunami of revenant LMG rounds from one of the mercs. Save the best 'till last.

"Is this what the great commander Shepard does in the face of his enemies?" Wasea mocked, glowing in blue energy as she approached, "Wimper and hide? This is pathetic! I expected a showdown, not a duck hunt!"

Without giving her any time to respond, he primed a grenade and through it in her general direction, waiting for the explosion before grabbing his shotgun and charging her, weapon firing. Wasea managed to block the shot before he barrelled into her, his team engaging the enemy mercs, who didn't last long despite their heavy weaponry. Yet again, they were standing in the open. Dickhead move.

Elnora just seemed to watch the whole battle, not making any moves to join in the fighting. She just hung back, pistol out and moving from target to target, almost like she had trouble choosing who to shoot first. He struggled with Wasea, but she managed to shake him off with a biotic thrust, allowing her to land on top of him and try to shoke the life out of him. She straddled him, a look of desperation in her eyes.

Grabbing the sides of her face, he headbutted the asari, helmet impacting naked face, causing her to loosen her grip and reel back with a broken nose. He leapt at his attempt, wrapping his hands around her head and snapping the opposte way. With Wasea dead, he shoved her dead body off of him and watched as his team rejoined him as he stood up.

He turned to Elnora, sneering, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"You wouldn't dare kill the sister of Nassana Dantius!" Elnora blurted out at them. He stopped immediately, looking at her puzzledly. She smirked, "That's right. My name isn't Elnora, that was just a cover I used to keep an eye on Wasea and make sure she stated loyal. My real name is Dahlia Dantius, and you won't kill me if you want to live."

"Are you forgetting something?" Marcus asked.

"What?"

"I'm Commander Shepard," he deadpanned, "I've faced far worse than your sister."

"No, wait! I can-"

The sound of a SMG burst rang out, hitting Dahlia in the side of the head and killing her instantly, body toppling to the ground and purple blood pooling around her dead body. Every head in the room turned to the shooter, finding Mordin, SMG raised.

"Eliminated potential hostile," Mordin defended, anticipating their response before holstering his weapon, "Dantius armed and could have shot any one of us. Added bonus in her death too. Attract attention of Nassana; potentially cause her to step from shadows. Allow us to attack her like a prey would in ambush."

"As much as I loathe killing prisoners," Marcus shot a glare at the salarian, "I'll agree with Mordin on this one. If Nassana truly is this dangerous woman who owns Nos Astra through hegemonial rule, then we have to put her down for good."

"What about the name of that ship Samara wanted?" Garrus asked.

"Oh right, of course," Marcus said, remembering.

"Don't worry, I found it," Tali declared, pushing a datapad into Marcus' awaiting hands, "Found it on Wasea's body, of course."

He nodded to the quarian, looking down at the PDA. He found out that the ship Samara's fugitive had left on was a transport ship called the AML Demeter, headed for Omega. Seeing as the information on this would be more than enough to satisfy the justicar, he motioned to his team and they got out of there. He had had enough of fighting mercs for one day anyway.

{Loading...}

September 1, 2185

1615 hours.

NAPD Outpost, Nos Astra Spaceport, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus, Chief Inspector Anaya.

Marcus moved into the outpost with renewed purpose. They had done it. They had raided an eclipse base, decimated it's inhabitants, cut the head off of Eclipse's second-in-command within the area, killed Nassana Dantius' sister, which would hopefully get the attention of one overlord bitch somewhere. That, and they had also acquired the datapad holding the information nessacary for Samara's release and recruitment.

"I see you've returned," Anaya announced, "I had heard reports of gunfire down in the eclipse territory. Your doing, perhaps?"

"Most certainly," Marcus stated, smirking, "The Eclipse were definitely responsible for Dakni Kur's death it would seem. I had found information that proved that," he then motioned for Kasumi to provide the detective with the evidence, "I'd also like Samara released from custody so I may hand her the evidence she desires."

"You're a man of wonders, Shepard. I wish a quarter of my men were this competent," Anaya responded gratefully, before tapping her terminal, "Cell 6, release prisoner and bring her to my desk. She's been released."

"Copy that."

It took a few minutes, but Samara finally emerged from the door way, omni-cuffs still tieing her wrists. The officers, a turian and a human, uncuffed her wrists and saluted Anaya before leaving, Samara fitting her hands behind her back as she judged Marcus. Without waiting, he handed her the PDA, which she didn't hesitate in taking, her eyes glazing over it.

"That should be all you need," Marcus stated.

"Indeed it is, Commander," Samara, before fitting the datapad into one of her pockets, turning to face him again, "You have fullfilled your part of the bargain, and I will fulfill mine."

Before he knew what was happening, Samara had squatted infront of him, pulsing with biotic energy, eyes closed. Every asari in the room gasped and watched in awe, even Anaya seeming to get up from her seat and watch the moment. Then Samara spoke.

"By the code I will serve you Shepard," Samara pledged, "Your choices, are my choices. Your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code." With that, her biotic energy seemed to detonate, prickling the hairs on his skin as it blew past him, the asari in the room bewildered. They stood there, his team included, for a moment, before returning to their stations. Samara stood up while Anaya just continued to look in awe.

"I never thought I'd...see a justicar...swear an oath like that," Anaya declared in perputual shock.

Marcus just seemed confused, "I don't get what happened. What did you just do?"

"I swore an oath to follow you," Samara explained, "Most justicars work alone in their pursuit of justice, but when the time comes to follow a leading authority into a fight or to join a military faction seeking to overthrow that of a faction seen as unjust, then I must swear allegiance to them as my code can contradict certain operations. What I just did ensures that your authority supercedes the code until your mission is complete. When it is, my code takes over once more."

"I see," Marcus said in understanding.

"Of course...," Samara continued, "If you order me to do anything ruthless or cruel like slaughter or murder, I may have to kill you when the mission is over."

Before he could do anything, Tali had reacted within a second, placing herself infront of Marcus and striking a threatening pose, pointing an accusing finger at the justicar, "Like hell you will. You so much as try and hurt him and I will kill you." The group was shocked at Tali's action of overprotectiveness. Gone was the Tali who he talked to and would hopelessly stutter whenever they teased or pleasured each other. This Tali was fierce, badass and would kill to protect him. He was a lucky man.

He wasn't surprised by Samara's unfazed posture. But a smile slowly crept along her face, and that did surprise him.

"Ah, I see you are bonded to the commander and are his unionmate," Samara stated, turning to Marcus, "You continue to surprise me, commander."

"How did you...," Tali was shocked at first but immediately dismissed it, remembering Samara's threat, "You try and kill him and I'll kill you! I won't let you hurt him!"

"I have no intention of bringing harm to your unionmate, child," Samara explained, "I was merely dictating the set parameters. Besides, I highly doubt, judging by the stigma surrounding Shepard, that he would ever commit immoral wrong doings. During my time in my cell, I have done my research on you. I am honored to be joining your impressive crew."

Marcus nodded, bringing a hand on Tali's shoulder, the quarian slowly easing her defenseness at his touch, "I'll be fine, Tali. I think I can defend myself." He smiled appreciatively at her, the quarian nodding and moving back, wanting so much to hug him right now. But she couldn't, not here. Marcus' gaze lingered on her before focusing back on Samara.

"And I am honored to have you," Marcus returned, "Our ship is located in the business district of the Skaro Building, downtown. We'll take you there if you wish. Besides, we all have a movie date."

Samara nodded, motioning for him to lead the way. He quickly grabbed Tali's hand, squeezing it and smiling at his wonderful girlfriend. He didn't regret choosing her for one second. And after what she did for him, he already found a desire for her brimming inside of him. He leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear, "Want to um...have some alone time...you know, back at the ship?"

Tali hesitated before nodding. She suddenly remembered something she desperately wanted to do but didn't have the courage. She wasn't ready to have sex with him; she wouldn't be for a while yet. But she could do something for him. She had done her research on human sexual practises, and had found one that disturbed her slightly while also arousing her. And now she planned to do it. She had the antibiotics. She wanted to do it. With that thought on her mind, she was nervous the whole way back.

The ride back to the Normandy didn't take too long. Samara was more than willing to set herself up in Starboard Observation, where she immediately set about in meditation. Garrus and Kasumi had stated their desire to watch Game of Thrones, but Tali and Marcus said they'd pass for a couple of hours, with Kasumi and Garrus giving them an all too knowing look as they entered the elevator. Now Marcus approached his desk and sat in it, while Tali lingered in the middle, fiddling with her fingers. God it was hot in her suit.

Did she really want to do this? The antibiotics were already coursing through her system; she didn't have long and she might as well have made use of the time. But she want him to see this? She didn't know. Instead she watched the floor, gaining new interest in it. Marcus had finished looking through his emails when he turned to see Tali standing there, completely lost.

"Tali, what's wrong?" Marcus asked. Tali's look didn't leave the floor. He eventually got off his chair and approached her, taking hold of her fingers and seperating them, cupping her chin so she looked at him, "Babe, tell me what's wrong. Do you not want to do this. If you don't, we can still catch Kasumi and Garrus-"

"No, it's not that." Tali responded quickly, trying to find a way to tell him what she wanted to do. How she didn't want to resort to the simple and usual method of rubbing his groin or dry humping his waist. How did she tell him that she wanted to take it one step further?

"Tali..."

"Sorry, I'm just nervous. I...I want to ask you something."

"Ask away, babe. You can ask me anything."

She gulped and finally decided to come out with it, "I want this session...to be different this time. I want to do something new."

He eyed her suspiciously, "Tali, just what are you getting at?"

"I...do you trust me?"

What? "Of course I do. I'd trust you with my life. If you were trapped in a suit without air, I'd willing link our suits and share my oxygen with you. You can trust me and I can trust you."

His words warmed her heart, "Then I want you to close your eyes and sit down at your desk. No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, I don't want you to so much as try and open an eyelid."

"Getting sneaky, are we?"

"Please Marcus-"

He grabbed hold of her shoulders and gently squeezed them, leaning his head against her tinted visor, "I promise. Swear on my blessed life. I will not peek."

She nodded, inhaling a deep, shaky breath as she opened her omni-tool and locked the door, making it so that even Kasumi couldn't get through. Even a skilled tech thief wouldn't bother with walls of code designed to keep geth busy for days. Marcus moved to his desk and sat in it, immediately closing his eyes, squinting to make sure he couldn't see anything. She sighed as she approached him, stopping just before him. Oh Keelah...am I really doing this? What if the instruction sheet was wrong? What if this kills me? Could I handle...

No. You won't die. I will sacrifice anything to be with Marcus. I will not be trapped in this suit. It's time to take the first step, Tali'Zorah.

With another, sharp intake of breath, she crouched down infront of him, crouching on her knees. She leaned closer so she could reach her hands up to his belt buckles; apparently he now preferred belts to zippers, saying it was more sexy and erotic when she pulled down his pants that way. Men. Untying the belt buckle, she quickly pulled his pants down, revealing his boxers beneath, his pants falling to his ankles. She noticed Marcus shift himself on the seat, obviously anticipating the imminent sexual arousal. But he didn't open his eyes for even one second. Thank you, Marcus. Thank you.

With that, she grabbed his boxers and pulled down on them as well, his erect cock popping out like a air balloon being blown up. She felt her heart in her throat as she realized just what she was going to do. Get yourself together. Remember, you're a woman now. The first step, Tali'Zorah. The first step.

She looked at his erect organ for a little bit longer before reaching up the clasps holding her mask in place. Six-fingers reached under her hood and found the release mechanisms. She had asked Marcus to close his eyes because she wasn't ready to show him her face. She trusted him, but keelah, she was so damn afraid of what he might think of her. Would he find her ugly? Horrific? Would he reject her? Those were thoughts she wanted to delay for a little bit longer if she could.

Finally, a hiss entered the room and Marcus' shifting was met by a swat to his leg. Don't you dare open those eyes, it told him. He didn't for a second, loyal to her to the end, despite his desires. With a sigh, she lifted the mask away, placing it on the floor, the young girl humming as she felt the cold air on her face for the first time; or, at least, in his cabin anyway. For extra measure, she pulled her hood down, moving up to his erect cock and slowly grasping it with one hand. Marcus hummed in delight. She just looked at it as she stroked it first, not sure if she was ready. Marcus cooed.

She knew oral sex was popular among humans and was adopted by many other races, but what if it killed her? She knew that consumption of human semen would only wound her immune system and cause a tiny fever, as the semen couldn't survive in an alien environment, but it was just an extranet entry. What was she risking in doing this?

This is Marcus you're talking about. He's worth everything.

And finally, her desires gave in. Closing her eyes and inhaling, she let her hands grasping his legs and her mouth opened, tongue licking the tip of his cock, tasting him first. Marcus cooed louder than before. She smiled at the responses she was causing in him and she found that he tasted good. She continued to lick around his tip, but quickly found it wasn't enough. She needed him.

And before long, her mouth opened wide and wrapped around his cock, pushing downwards so it was fully in her mouth. She moaned, followed by Marcus' even louder one, his hands gripping the chair, but hers could be barely heard because of...obvious reasons. She quickly brought her mouth backup, having second thoughts. Then sexual desire took over once. She liked it, she realized. And she wanted more.

Her mouth pushed down again before moving back up and then repeating the gesture. Each time, Marcus returned her efforts with a massive moan, his right hand letting go of the chair and gripping the back of her helmet, encouraging her. She continued her motions, taking in the taste of his erect dick and his scent. Inbetween this motions, she'd pull off of him and lick his testes or the outer part of his organ, before immediately returning to sucking him.

Before long, she could feel his organ tensing. He was about to climax.

"Tali..."

She couldn't answer.

"I'm cumming!" Eyes widening, she pulled off, moving away just in time. A jet of white semen shot out of his organ, impacting the golden collar of her suit and dripping down her breasts. By the time he was done, the whole upper portion of her suit had a coating of cum all over it. Luckily she wouldn't have the taste of his cum today. Before she got aroused once more and tried a second run, she grabbed her mask and put it back on, straddling Marcus and telling him he could open his eyes.

"Holy...fucking...shit," Marcus exclaimed, looking her straight in the eyes, ignoring the cum drifting down her breasts, "That was amazing! I didn't know you knew about fillatios."

"I didn't until I came upon in my research about...us," Tali admitted, "I heard you humans enjoy it, and I didn't want you to get tired of me, so I thought I'd try it."

He stroked her cheek tenderly, "Tali, I wouldn't care if you never got out of that suit. As long as your safe and I have you, I'll be fine. But Tali, you know that was an incredibly risky thing to do. You could get sick, you could...die..."

She shook her head and embraced him, "I don't care. I'm willing to risk everything to be with you."

"If your death is a result of this, it ain't happening."

"I promise, I won't die," Tali reassured him, "But I need to feel your skin on mine. I need to kiss you. I need to make love to you; to meld and join with you. I can't do that in this suit, but I can do it with the proper research. We'll be together, I promise."

And with that, he just held her, not a care in the world.

"That was...one of my less...finer, moments."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I'm sure you enjoyed yourself."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Oh, trust me when I say I did, it just seems awfully awkward now that we look back on it. Anyway, you went to recruit Thane next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"In a few days, we did. But until then we just hung around on the ship, introduced Samara to the crew and shopped on Illium. Don't you remember that night when we watched Game of Thrones?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"How could I forget?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"But, of course, you're right. After that, it was time to recruit Thane. And you won't believe who we got to kill as an added bonus."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

A/N:

You're asking; really, a Game of Thrones reference in Prophecy? Well why not! GOT is the main reason it took me so long to pull the last couple of chapters from my ass, so I guess I should make up for it. Besides, GOT is awesome! For those who don't watch it, I recommend checking it out. It's just pure awesome.

If that is all, I have a season 1 recap to watch. I'm pretty pissed that I have to wait for a whole year for Season 4. -_-

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:

GATECRASH

September 5, 2185

2117 hours.

Construction Platform, Dantius Towers, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Justicar Samara, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor.

"Be careful Shepard," Seryna's words echoed in his head, "You're in Nassana's home now. She won't just open the door for you. You'll have to fight your way to her. Where she is, Thane will be. Good luck." Those had been the asari's last words to the group before her skycar had taken off, moving to join the skyways down below once more. And, true to her word, they had immediately been greeted by Eclipse mechs; a squad of LOKIs and two FENRISs. Nothing they couldn't handle though.

Judging that Nassana would have the bulk of eclipse under her belt, he wanted to bring in, what he judged to be, his best soldiers. He trusted Garrus and Tali with his life, the added bonus being that the former was a professional sniper while the latter was the most brilliant tech he'd ever met. Samara was a justicar and Grunt was a no brainer. Jack, Kaidan and Jacob were on due to their biotic abilities, making himself, them and Samara the biotic shock troops of the group. With luck, they'd tear right through Nassana's forces.

The unstable construction platform they had landed on wasn't deemed a permanent residence, so they had quickly moved inside, breaking through a window and moving inside, where they encountered the mechs. Marcus had torn through them himself; his pulse rifle ripping the useless security units apart like scrap metal. Believing that he had heard gunfire beforehand, he motioned for his team to move up and inside, entering the central part of the tower, a large spire like hole straight down the middle, allowing a unblocked view of the many different levels. On their level however, had been a slaughter.

The bodies of numerous workmen littered the floor, cut down by Nassana's mechs. Most of them were salarians, but a select few had been humans, asari, even turians; all butchered by the Eclipse. Why would she order her men to kill her own workers?

"Nassana's cleaning house," Garrus noted, "But why kill her own workers?"

"Dantius' life is riddled with attempts on her life," Samara added, "It is possible she believed one of the workers could have been a possible assassin and ordered them killed. And considering Thane is a drell, this is all the more possible. There is a dead one over there." The justicar pointed over to a incomplete support beam and, like she said, the body of a drell worker lay there, green, scaly skin now a paler color. The drell had been female.

"The asari fears death," Grunt quipped, chuckling, "She's paranoid. She will be desperate now."

"As young as the krogan is, he speaks wisdom," Samara stated, eying the krogan wearily. When introduced to the crew, she hadn't exactly been fond of Jack, Zaeed or Grunt. She had eyed Kasumi with uneasiness as well, but nothing had become of it. Samara had informed him she would try her best to work well with them, as the mission parameters had no room for doubt, "Nassana is a power-hungry scavenger who just so happens to be the wealthiest asari on Illium. In her normal state, she is powerful. But when she is desperate, she will become feral and will stop at nothing to ensure her own continued survival. We must be cautious."

"I'm not here to kill Nassana," Marcus added, "She's a secondary priority. Our main mission is to find and recruit Thane. Let's keep moving; rescue any workmen you-"

A wet cough interrupted the conversation and they all turned the source. Several more followed the first. Frowning, he approached, weapon raised and rounded the corner, only to see a weakened salarian laying on the floor, his only support being his injured arm. Green blood pooled around the salarian's injuries, the smell of it being worse than that of his own kind's blood. Wet coughs and moans escaped the salarian as he weakly tried to support himself.

Kaidan quickly knelt down next to the salarian, scanning his vitals with his omni-tool, "He's alive, but barely."

"Please...," The salarian pleaded softly. His voice stank of dried blood, "My body aches. My chest is killing me."

Marcus quickly knelt down next to him, nodding for Kaidan to provide medical attention to the wounded worker, "You're lucky to be still breathing. What happened? Why is Nassana's workers trying to kill you?" Paranoia be damned, he needed a proper reason.

"We're just...night workers," the salarian responded, "Nassana...sent them after us. She sent the mechs to round us up, but we didn't hear. One of us paniced and ran, and the mech shot him. Then everyone started running and they just started...," the salarian let loose another wet cough, "shooting."

"Hey, stay with me," Marcus assured, noticing the salarian's eyes drooping, "There's an assassin here out to kill Nassana. I need to find him. Do you know where he is?"

"I...haven't seen anyone," the salarian stated, breaths becoming more hollow and desperate, "But that explains..."

"Explains what?" Grunt asked agitatedly.

"The mercs said there was no time," he said, "Nassana wanted us out of the way. Immediately. And then...the dogs..." This time, the salarian entered an all-out coughing fit, unable to stop himself as drops of blood shot out of his mouth, choking on his blood. Marcus, with calm determination, turned to Kaidan and saw him already applying a stim. A sigh of relief from the salarian marked it's success, posture relaxing.

"Thank you," the salarian thanked.

"You've helped us and now I've helped you. I always pay my debts," Marcus responded, standing up, "Use your omni-tool to contact the Illium police. As wealthy as Nassana is, I doubt she has a comm-jammer. Stay put and stay hidden. Don't let the Eclipse find you. We're going to find our assassin and put an end to Nassana."

The salarian merely nodded, dragging himself behind a pack of crates, green blood smearing the ground behind him. Marcus sighed as he realized the salarian probably wouldn't make it; without Chakwas with them, there was nothing they could do. With a tired nod towards the door, Tali unlocked it, opening the door and allowing them to continue.

The corridor leading to the left had a thin pane of glass allowing a view of the city below. The corridor leading down to a doorway opening into a large, unfinished office complex. Inside stood the forms of four eclipse mercs, three humans and a salarian with tech armor. With stealth not being a necessity, his group charged in, crazies first. Jack tore into the nearest human with her biotics, throwing him into the ground before smashing a shockwave into her skull, an explosion of red coating her body and the crates around the dead merc.

Grunt was next, claymore tearing into the salarian engineer, the merc's eyes full of shock as five hundred pounds of krogan attacked him, the tech trying to desperately fight back with his tech abilities, but to no aveil. The first claymore shot went wide, but the second hit the salarian in the chest, ripping his entrails out and throwing the dead body to the ground like a useless rag doll.

The last two mercs attempted a fall back action, but Samara cut off their escape. Using an ability called a 'biotic jump', Samara managed to teleport behind them and cut off their escape, following up by picking one merc up with a flick of her wrist and throwing him out the window, finishing off the last with her SMG.

"Damn, how the fuck did you do that teleporting shit?" Jack asked in her usually colorful manner.

"Through many years of hard work," the justicar replied cooly, "And it is not teleporting, not really. By lightening the mass effect fields generating my biotics, I can increase my speed expodentially, allowing me to 'teleport' as you call it."

"That could come in handy," Marcus noted, "You'll have to show us how to do it."

"In time," Samara responded, "But now is not the time for such teachings."

With a nod, they continued throw a open doorway in the back of the room, moving through it and to the left once more, entering another room where this time, a full squad of eclipse were waiting for them. Before he could lower his weapon, he was wrapped in dark energy and throw brutally against the wall, grunting in pain as his back slammed into it and he fell ungracefully onto the floor. Tali immediately came to his aid, but he waved her off, pulling himself up. He spied his assailant quickly; an asari merc.

"Fuck!" Jack cursed as a stray bullet got her in the arm, the convict's biotic barrier evaporating as she lost focus. Garrus immediately thrusted her out of the way and into cover, firing his mattock at the merc who had shot her, forcing him into cover. Marcus managed to pull himself up and saw Jack, reluctantly, allowing Kaidan to give her medi-gel.

Then he heard a sneeze over the comms and turned immediately to Tali. Oh please let her not have been shot.

Luckily, she hadn't. She squatted behind cover to his right, Chiktika harassing the enemy while she fired blind shots from her pistol from behind a crate. Glowing Eyes locked with his as he joined her in cover, his pulse rifle joining her in battle. Then he remembered why she was sick.

"Still sick from our little...session?" Marcus asked, making sure private comms were engaged. He didn't need to give Garrus ammunciation.

"Still running a mild fever, yes," Tali responded, "Don't regret it though. You...taste good." He swore he could see her smiling behind that mask.

"Pity you still don't trust me enough to show me your face yet, though," He immediately regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.

But Tali didn't seem that fazed, "Marcus, you know I-"

"I know, Tali," Marcus responded, "That was just me getting selfish. Take all the time you need Tali; I'll wait for as long as you need me to."

Signing their verbal agreement, they turned back to the task at hand, "Garrus, keep those bastards pinned. Samara, protect Grunt, I want him to charge forward. Tali, cover me." With that, he moved out of cover and went prone, geth pulse rifle bucking against his shoulder as a stream of gunfire ripped through the empty air. He managed to get a salarian in the head just as he was leaving cover, ripping his head open like a overripe fruit.

"We've got mechs, Shepard!" Jacob cried out, pointing towards four LOKI mechs trying to flank their right. Nodding, he ordered Kaidan to take care of it, the human sentinel nodding before raising his vindicator and landing two, perfect headshots on two of the LOKI mechs, heads blowing apart. He finished the third with a shot to the leg and another to the head while it was on the ground. Shields breached, he was forced back into cover to recharge them and reload his rifle.

It was a losing fight for the eclipse, to be expected. With mercs falling like flies and the most elite team in the galaxy attacking them, they didn't really stand much of a chance against them. Grunt charged forward, knocking a back of crates away and grabbing the neck of a FENRIS mech, using it as a hammer against a terrified human merc, knocking him out before blowing the brains out of a incompetent asari with his assault rifle.

A minute later and the battle was over, with all eclipse in the area dead. Just as he moved forward however, he noticed the sound of banging metal and looked up at the vents above. Frowning, he followed the sound, but it was gone within a second. He knew immediately who it was. The drell assassin was on the move.

"Let's keep moving," Marcus ordered, "I have a feeling we'll be meeting our assassin soon."

They travelled once again, to the left, initiating a full U-turn. A few more LOKI mechs activated, but they were cut down easily and they moved up a flight of stairs and onto the storey above. The door opened, with the tower wide PA system booming with record time, a smooth asari voice playing through the speakers, yet demanding.

"I've lost contact with Centauri and Olympus squads on the lower levels. Find out what happened to them and kill that damn assassin!" Nassana. It had to be. Noone else could command Eclipse with so much authority. Yet, for some reason, he felt like he recognized that voice. He couldn't remember for the life of him where he had heard it, but he had. I'm sure I've never met anyone named Nassana Dantius before though.

It didn't matter where he had heard the voice before. It could have been Councilor Tevos in disguise and he still wouldn't care. Nassana, or whoever she really was, was going to die; whether at his hands or Thane. All he knew was that she wouldn't be walking out alive.

She'd be shipped out, a corpse.

{Loading...}

September 5, 2185

2130 hours.

Main Office, Dantius Towers, Nos Astra, Illium.

Businesswoman Nassana Dantius.

Everything was falling apart. And she didn't understand why. She had lost contact with Wasea's troops down at the spaceport; an entire eclipse company taken out by an asari justicar and her sister dead. Well, she had been a sister in a bond-kind of way, but sister by blood? Definitely not. Not only that, but now the justicar bitch had taken it upon herself to attack Nassana in her home. Her home! The nerve of that cunt!

Not only that, but she had a damn drell assassin also out for her head. The workers had been uncooperative in listening to her orders, so it had ended in slaughter. Her Eclipse mercs had both towers in complete lockdown, with majority of them in the unfinished building, a squad sectioning off the bridge, and the rest guarding her tower. She knew that the only way the assassin could get in, undetected and unopposed, was through the unfinished tower, making it easier to track him down and block his route to her. But with the justicar in the mix...

But even the justicar couldn't have taken out an entire platoon by herself, and especially not Wasea as well. She had known Wasea quite well. She was a tough as nails bitch, ex-commando, with an addiction to red sand. A junkie, but a damn lethal fighter that could definitely give the justicar a fight. But Samara just seemed to have killed them off, by herself, like it was nothing.

No, the justicar had backup, and now she knew that the assassin and herself weren't the only ones gunning for her. She had even checked the records of the Illium police; Samara had been locked up when the eclipse platoon went silent. The Justicar hadn't been involved. Nassana began to question her safety. Whoever was after her meant business and were definitely way too heavily armed or trained to have mercs stopping them. Now she regretted turning down the Council's offered police protection. A properly trained tactical team was preferable to a company of incompetent morons looking for blood money.

She leaned forward on her desk, wincing at the aching sensation in her chest. Memories of years ago popped up in her head, but she quickly set them aside. The door to her office opened, omitting a single human eclipse merc. Her lieutenant.

"Miss Dantius," The merc offered, "The bridge is blocked off."

She sighed heavily, leaning back, relieving the pain from her chest. She missed her days as a merc, "And what of Centauri and Olympus squads? I still haven't heard a peep from them."

The merc seemed to waver for a second, "One of our...men found their bodies, ma'am. They were killed."

She groaned, closing her eyes, feeling the urge to facepalm, "No fucking shit, you moron. What are you, beligerent? I may not be paying you to think, but for fuck sake, I don't need to give a goddamn invitation. What killed them!?"

The merc gulped once more, "The men...they've seen nothing like it before. One of the merc's...his head was ripped apart by rounds we've never seen before. Except during..."

"During what?"

"The Battle of the Citadel, ma'am," the merc answered, "They're rounds from a geth pulse rifle. Not only that, but one of our mercs had scorch marks from a similiar weapon, presumably a shotgun."

Nassana frowned. Geth? How the fuck would geth get on Illium and why would machines want me? I thought they ran on logic processes! What's the logic in attacking an asari colony and trying to kill me! Unless it's not geth...

"Anything else?"

"Moisture in the air suggest use of biotics," The merc explained, "Also found a spent shell from a claymore, so we expect at least one krogan too. Red blood suggests humans, quarians or batarians. We've ruled out quarians ma'am."

"And why...would that be? What, you think quarian pilgrims are not a threat?"

"No, ma'am. Just vagrants ma'am."

"I've fought a quarian before, LT," She responded menacingly, "And boy, she was fucking lethal. Don't ever underestimate your enemy, no matter the species. Not even those useless bowling balls: the volus. At least we've ruled it down to humans, quarians, batarians and possibly a few krogan. Anything else?"

"Nothing," The lieutenant stated, "But it's got the men scared. The verocity of the attack shows that these people not only took out Centauri and Olympus, but they ripped through them too quickly to be simple bounty hunters or mercs. They could be corporation soldiers. And going by the fact that humans could be in the mix, I'm willing to believe N7s are involved, ma'am."

"You're stupider than you look," Nassana replied, "If I had been your mother, I'd have aborted you immediately. Why the hell would the Alliance send N7s to kill me? Those are special operations soldiers you moron! Tell me, did you ever go to school?"

"Yes, I did," the merc replied, trying to hold his temper, but Nassana could see it.

"Oh, I've offended you," Nassana replied, "I am sorry. But if you did your job right half the time then maybe I wouldn't have to point out how low your IQ is. Now, get back outside and do your job our you'll find yourself losing quite a bulky part of paycheck."

Biting back a retort, the merc simply nodded, moving outside, doors closing behind. Snorting, Nassana snatched a bottle of Thessia Redwine from her desk and pored herself a glass, sipping at it, turning her chair so she faced the window. Nos Astra. Her subjects. She had gone from being a lowly merc to the wealthiest woman on Illium and soon, the galaxy. She wasn't blinded by cliche notions of taking over the galaxy. She was no Saren Arterius, after all, but she did hope to kill an old friend.

We will meet again. And next time, I will be the one to finish you.

She felt her chest again and took another sip from her wine. She could hear chatter from her bodyguards in the room, softly exchanging words. They had been Wasea's best men, now Nassana's after the asari captain's untimely death. Nassana was in control of Illium's eclipse now and, who knows, maybe she could get the founder and leader of eclipse herself, Jona Sederis. With that bitch under a leash, that would only leave Vido Santiago of the Blue Suns and Weyrloc Guld of the Blood Pack and she'd have every major powerful merc company in bed with her.

I'm sure Vido would like to bed me. And if I do bed him, maybe I'll get extra...

She smiled evilly at that thought. Ah, why the hell not? She could afford at least one cliche.

She sipped her drink in silence, admiring how the night's rays cast down upon Nos Astra. She was Nassana Dantius. Who she had been was now nothing but a mere echo.

{Loading...}

September 5, 2185

2140 hours.

Unfinished Office Complex, Dantius Towers, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Justicar Samara, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor.

"TALI!"

Time seemed to slow down as he watched the krogan bounty hunter bear down on the wounded quarian. Eclipse resistance had been heavy; they had given squad their all and it had really slowed them down. But they pushed on and now they had Eclipse on their toes. The mercs were becoming desperate; now trying to make sure every shot was worth it, whilst sacrificing their own lives to stop them.

They had come across many workers, all who had been locked inside by Thane, who explained to the workers that he was doing it for their safety. Marcus had been confused by that; what assassin stops pursuing his target to save innocents? Another odd recruit, it seemed. The Illusive Man always picked the odd ones. Then came this moment, the one that had his heart threatening to beat out of his chest.

They had planned to take the elevator up to the hire levels and use the elevator to cross to Nassana's completed tower. But he had grown careless, not bothering to flank the elevator and clear it for hostiles. When it arrived, out had stepped a krogan bounty hunter, Kureck's size, and two LOKI mechs. And Tali had been the closest to the door...

The krogan's shotgun, a scimitar, had coughed off a shot before he could even say anything. It had ripped right through Tali's shields and the poor quarian never stood a chance of reacting as a LOKI mech's SMG clipped her side, the quarian yelping as she collapsed to her side, suit breached. He had wanted to rush over to her, but Garrus had held him back. He struggled, but Garrus' grip was strong. Now he stood, watching as the krogan beared his shotgun over the wounded quarian, Tali still cradling her side, red blood pooling next to her.

With a defiant roar, his biotics powered up and a memory pulsed in his mind, harsh words coursing through his memories to remind him of rage he thought he'd never encounter again. The memory continued as he broke Garrus' grip and watched Tali hopelessly trying to footsweep the krogan, but to no aveil. He rushed forward without thinking. Stirling's words haunted him once more, unleashing a inner demon he thought dead.

"I'll kill Shepard here and then I'll have you taken to a detainee center, little suit-rat parasite! Then we'll pop your suit wide open and see which kills you first, the bacteria exposure or the fun the guys will have with you. I've heard humans find quarians pretty attractive."

With a roar of anger, he used the name biotic ability he had used on Stirling, wrapping the krogan in dark energy. He shouted menacingly at the krogan, eyes full of rage, "Get the fuck away from her!" With a massive shout, he used the ability, using the memory as his basis. The krogan gurgled in pain and choked, blood oozing from wounds that hadn't been there, blood pooling from his mouth and eyesockets. His team watched in shock, Garrus and Kaidan instantly recognizing what he was doing. Both mechs were destroyed, and Grunt and Jack simply cheered him on while Samara looked at him in awe. Tali looked shocked.

The krogan was dead. He had been for five seconds. But Marcus just held him, wanting to rip him apart limp from limp, even in death. Noone would hurt his girlfriend. He would kill them. Destroy them.

"Spirits be damned, Shepard! Stop! He's dead already!" Snapping back into reality, Marcus released his grip on the dead krogan and he slammed into the ground, an ocean of blood pooling around the corpse and stinking like shit. Tali squirmed, crawling away from the blood and leaning against a crate, watching him with fear. He immediately felt ashamed. It was because of him, that she was scared.

"My god, Shepard," Kaidan silently contemplated, "I haven't seen you do that for two years. I thought we put Noveria behind us."

"I thought so to," He addressed the human, but never taking his eyes off of Tali, "But when I saw him about to kill Tali...I...I just snapped."

"Oh just fucking great, more of this sappy shit," Jack complained and everyone glared at her. That is, everyone except Marcus and Tali, the former rushing to Tali's aid, remembering her injury. He lifted her hand, seeing the dried blood. He noted that quarian skin was a pale grey in color, although he guessed that wasn't what they actually looked like originally. Suit life left their skin very pale. Considering this, their skin must have been purple.

He applied medi-gel to the wound and closed the suit breach, looking at her with concern, "I can't have you continuing on like this. Go back to the Normandy and..."

"No."

The response was abrupt and he had to stop to think for a minute. Tali stood up, wincing at the pain, and quickly picked up her shotgun, "I can still fight and I'm not crippled. You don't have to babysit me all the time; I can look after myself."

"I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't worry but my girl," Marcus sheepishly admitted.

She nodded, smiling under her mask, "And I'm touched. But I'll be fine."

"Can we just find something to kill already?" Grunt complained and Marcus nodded, motioning for his team to step into the elevator. Once inside, he hit the top floor, waiting impatiently to arrive. As they ascended, he noticed Samara at his side, looking at him.

"What is it, Samara?" Marcus asked, questioning the asari's lingering gaze.

"That ability you used to kill that krogan," Samara nodded, "It's called reave."

"How did you know that?" Marcus asked. Garrus let out a guffaw.

"Seriously Shepard?" The turian questioned, "The asari practically wrote the books on biotics and you're questioning an asari justicar's knowledge on it?"

"When you put it that way it just sounds stupid," Marcus remarked, turning back to the justicar, "Anyway, yeah, reave. You seem overly...possessed by it though. I didn't do anything against your code, did I? Is using reave like...illegal or something?"

"Most certainly not," Samara responded, "Mind you, it is an extremely deadly weapon. I'm impressed by your ability to use it. Few can. Even the most powerful of asari matriarchs have trouble mastering it."

"What about you? Can you use reave?" Marcus had been shocked at this, not knowing what to think of being one of the many few people alive to be able to use such a lethal ability.

"I admit that I cannot," Samara responded cooly, "Perhaps you can teach me. Call it a favor for a favor; I teach you biotic jump, you teach me reave."

The spectre scratched the back of his neck, "I'm sorry, but I can't teach you it. I don't even know how to use it. I've only managed to use it twice and that was when..." He didn't want to remember those memories. The first time had been a threat but this time...Tali had actually gotten hurt...

"I see," Samara surmised, "You believe you can only use it during times of extreme anger or hopelessness. Do be careful, commander. Your overprotectiveness could prove a liability. If there ever came a time when you'd have to leave her behind..."

"I won't ever leave her," Marcus silenced the asari, turning to the quarian who didn't seem to notice the conversation, merely tending her bandages.

"Your bond is strong," the justicar continued, "I've never seen a interspecies relationship this powerful before, and the ones that were close didn't end well. But you of all people understand the realities of war better than most. There may come a time when leaving her behind will be nessacary."

He didn't scold the asari or even respond: he merely stared at the wall. The cold thoughts haunted him. I won't ever leave her. I can't. And if she's kidnapped? Then I'll save her. If she's shot? I'll save her. And if she's killed?

He stopped for a second, weighing his options before coming to a conclusion.

I'll die avenging her.

"You know Shepard, that was some pretty badass shit you pulled off down there," Jack complimented him and eyed him. He ignored her. The last thing he needed was Jack telling him that butchering a krogan was impressive. He still felt horrible over it. Finally, as if in answer to his prayers, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, omitting them onto the roof of the unfinished tower. With a inhale of breath, he turned to his team, moving outside, already feeling the cold night wind on his skin.

"Okay people, let's end this."

{Loading...}

September 5, 2185

2149 hours.

Ventilation Shafts, Dantius Towers, Nos Astra, Illium.

Assassin Thane Krios.

The drell marksman watched as the human did the unexpected; he used reave on the krogan. Thane stood in awe, watching the events play out before his reptillian eyes. When it was all over and the group entered the elevator, Thane had been impressed. He had then quickly taken the upper ventilation to the roof and continued to follow the unusual group.

It was odd really; Thane could almost feel Amonkira, the Lord of Hunters, watching over him. He had fully expected his last assassination to go badly; but Amonkira had delivered him the perfect distraction and he had used them to his advantage. He let his unknown and unexpected allies deal with the eclipse forces while he snuck past.

The drell's feet were swift; never making a sound or leaving a trace of his existence. He had almost reached the bridge when he looked down below, spotting a squad of eclipse mercs guarding it, one armed with a revenant. As swift and agile as he was, they would tear him apart. He scanned his surroundings, trying to find a way around, but he couldn't find one. Maybe if I...

A gunshot rung through the air, drawing the eclipse's attention. One of the salarians started barking orders, shouting at them to engage the drell's unknown helpers. Thane once again thanked them in the corners of his mind, the diversion drawing all the mercs except two, who had their backs to him. With a coolness he didn't feel, he pulled out his phalanx heavy pistol, silenced of course and leapt down, entering warrior's sleep.

Leaping down, he landed right next to the nearest asari. Before she could do anything, Thane reached up and grasped her head, snapping it before turning to the second. He would give the human credit; he reacted fast, assault rifle bucking in his grip as he fired.

But it had been for nothing. Thane immediately activated his biotics, forming a barrier infront of himself. The shots pinged off it harmlessly before Thane deactivated it and emptied a single round into the man's head with his pistol; killing him instantly. With a sigh, he turned back to the bridge, holstering his pistol and pulling out his M-97 Viper Marksman Rifle. Many would call it a sniper rifle, but it simply didn't have the offensive power or the range. He positioned it infront of him so he could look down the sights.

He spotted them. A full squad of eclipse, taking defensive positions along the bridge to deny his ally and his squad entrance. He wondered how he'd break through before his thoughts were interrupted, the loud wail of a salarian piercing the air as the merc barreled past him, body wrapped in dark energy and slammed into a wall, neck at an awkward angle.

Thane doubled back into cover, lowering his rifle and watched his allies move in. The bulky form of tha krogan came first, shotgun in hand, roaring with laughter. Than came an asari, adorned in red uniform. A Justicar? Interesting. The rest of the squad followed; a turian with a sniper rifle, a half-naked tattooed human, a human in alliance combat armor with tech armor, another human wearing a cerberus uniform and finally a quarian with a shotgun with the leading man himself. The way the quarian and himself stayed close caused the drell to quirk a brow. The quarian is his siha.

He watched as the human barked out orders, leading his team like a professional. His squad moved with organized profession, assaulting the eclipse defensive line without even hesitating. It showed confidence; they had faced more fearsome foes than some mercs. That said alot about who they fought.

Under the cover of the multi-racial squad's onslaught; which was ripping through the eclipse, he dove under the bridge, taking hold of a jutting support strut. With practised precision, he leapt and grabbed hold of another, practically leaping from strut to strut under the bridge and towards his target. He didn't dare look down; the skyscrapers were 1,542 feet high, and it was a very long fall to the streets below. After what seemed like hours, he reached the otherside. During his travel across the bridge, he had watched a human merc fall off the edge and plummet to his death. Interrogation gone wrong, he surmised.

When he reached the otherside, he immediately ripped open another vent hatch and climbed inside, closing it behind him. He then continued his trek towards Nassana's office; where he would then finish her off. He didn't smile, he didn't grimace, he didn't so much as frown. He was a warrior in sleep mode. His soul was seperate from his body. His body would do as it pleased while his soul would direct it. The soul demanded blood. Amonkira demanded it.

This warrior would serve.

{Loading...}

September 5, 2185

2154 hours.

Skybridge, Dantius Towers, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Justicar Samara, Soldier Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor.

"I'm not telling you anything," The human merc insisted, crossing his arms at the commander and shaking his head in victory. He knew that the spectre wouldn't kill him. He needed his information. He needed it. He craved it. He was perfectly safe from any-

Before he could continue his thoughts, he was violently shoved from the edge and the merc screamed as he plummeted off the bridge and towards his death, 1,542 downwards. The wind seemed to whistle at the merc's departure, disappearing down below. Marcus shook his head, leaning over the bridge and mumbling under his breath, "How 'bout goodbye?"

"Damn Shepard, that was pretty harsh," Garrus quipped.

"He had it coming," Marcus shot back, motioning for them to continue down the bridge, "Come on, let's finish this. Thane's probably there by now."

With a nod, the team moved forward. All eclipse forces to this point had routed or were decimated. When they crossed the bridge, they were pleasantly surprised that the eclipse had just abandoned Nassana, dropping their weapons and running away. Although they shouldn't be shocked; mercs fought when it was worth the money.

Climbing up the stairs, they grouped around the doorway leading into Nassana's office. This was it. With a nod, he ordered Tali to open the door with her omni-tool, his team lowering their weapons over the center of it. Sure that they were now ready, he nodded, his quarian companion opening the door in a flash. It slid open, allowing them to rush inside.

The first thing he noticed was that it was dark; the only light source being the skyscrapers below. Then he noticed Nassana's eclipse bodyguards; the only ones remaining loyal to her, all with their weapons raised, tech armor sprouting up. And in the center back of the room was Nassana sitting behind her desk; looking down over the city.

"I was wondering when you'd turn up," The asari then stood up, turning to face them, glass still in hand. Seeing the asari's face and hearing the voice connected with it, made Marcus drop his jaw in surprise. Luckily for him, the asari didn't recognize him through the helmet. But she soon would. He noticed Tali stiffen, also remembering the asari from two years. She had originally been a merc and Marcus thought Wrex had killed her. How did she survive and become the wealthiest woman on Illium? There was only one word to roll off Marcus' lips, and it was laced with venom.

"Aleena," Marcus growled. He gripped his rifle tighter.

Nassana, who was now revealed as Aleena, dropped her glass, the cup smashing on the ground as she took a step backwards, "Impossible. You're dead Shepard! And let be guess! That quarian next to you is the same bitch that was with you and Wrex!"

"Indeed I am, bosh'tet," Tali grumbled back.

He remembered the memory clearly. Wrex had wanted to retrieve his family armor from some turian collector named Tonn Actus who had stolen it. They had landed on Tuntau with the Mako and defeated Tonn's mercs, only to come into contact with a friend, turned enemy, from Wrex's past; Aleena. Apparently Wrex and herself had fought side by side for a bit before conflicting contracts forced them to fight each other. Wrex thought Aleena had been dead then, but he made sure that time. But now here Aleena was; standing right before, posing as Nassana Dantius.

"I did die Aleena," Marcus responded, lowering his weapon, "Yet again, so did you. How the hell did you survive Tuntau? I saw Wrex empty a shotgun shell into your chest. You should have been drowning in your own blood.

Aleena, for all her shocked posture did for her, chuckled loudly, "Trust me, I felt dead. But then I woke up on some shuttle and this merc was patching me up. Her name was Wasea; she worked for the eclipse. I was a cripple because of the wound Wrex sustained on me for a bit, but I recovered. But now you've killed Wasea and brought my entire operation down; again. So...where is Wrex? Where is the little darling?"

Tali shook her head, "On Tuchanka. Uniting the krogan clans."

"Oh, and I was so looking forward to giving him a kiss goodbye," Aleena stated, seeming so sure of herself.

"And what makes you think you can just walk out of here?" Marcus asked skeptically.

Aleena laughed, "Because I've got credits. You Alliance types always need credits; and I've got plenty. Let me go and I'll give you all the credits I had been planning to pay my mercs. They were pretty useless in protecting me, so I guess they don't deserve it, considering most of them are dead anyway. You killed them afterall. I just need one little favor; kill the assassin! He's obviously not with you."

"Yeah, how about no," the spectre declared, "I'm only here in the first place to recruit him for my mission. To find you here is an added bonus."

"Wait, you decimated my security just to recruit a fucking drell!?" Aleena's smirk dropped from her face, "Talk about harcore for the cause, Shepard!"

He had been about to respond, but he heard that sound again. Banging metal. Before he could examine it, a vent popped and landed on the floor behind Aleena's desk and the green form of a drell popped out from it, snapping the neck of one of her bodyguards before using his biotics to throw the other out a window. He shot the third in the face before turning to Aleena, who had only just begun turning around.

Thane thrusted the pistol into the square of Aleena's back and pulled the trigger; tapping it twice. Two silent shots ripped through Aleena's back and ribcage, the asari releasing a strangled scream. She seemed to moan for a few more seconds before collapsing forward, the drell lightly laying her body on the desk. She then stood there, placing his hands firmly against each other before closing his eyes, bowing forward and beginning to whisper something.

They stood there for a few awkward seconds, watching the drell before Marcus saw Grunt getting agitated. To forestall any rashness on the krogan's part, he lifted a hand and stopped him, moving forward towards the mute assassin. It was Garrus who spoke up first, "That was impressive. You certainly know how to make an entrance.

Still, the drell made no sound, he simply continued to stand there, eyes closed, head bowed. Marcus moved forward but decided against acting irrationally, "Um...hello?"

It was then that Thane finally talked, but his eyes still didn't greet theirs, "I apologize," The drell's voice was croaky and deep, "But prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

Marcus nodded at Aleena's silent corpse, "She certainly was wicked."

The drell finally looked up, looking at them, eyes open, "Not for her. For me."

They all looked at the drell with confusion. Grunt and Jack, seeing nothing more to fight, decided to wait outside, Jacob going with them to make sure they didn't do anything wrong. Thane holstered his pistol, moving towards them, "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance. All this destruction. This...chaos."

Silence and eyes strayed over once more to Aleena's dead body. Even Thane seemed to glance at it as she stood infront of her desk, "I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me. Well...here I am." The assassin narrowed his eyes at them, but it didn't seem hostile, simply curious.

"I did want to talk to you," Marcus replied, "But how did you know we'd be here?"

"Gunfire and explosions," Thane replied, "I prefer to work quietly. If I have to fight through guards, I've made a mistake. I rarely make mistakes." Thane moved forward, examining Marcus' mishap crew, "You disrupted my plan, but your distraction eventually proved valuable."

He quirked a brow. He wasn't happy about being used as a distraction, especially since his quarian girlfriend had almost been killed in that distraction. Instead however, he hid that anger. He needed to get to the point.

"Let's cut to the chase," he spoke up, "My name is Commander Shepard and I need you for a critical mission."

"Indeed?" Thane replied, turning to face the spectre.

"You're familiar with the Collectors?"

Thane nodded, "By reputation."

"They're abducting entire human colonies and I'm recruiting people to help me stop them. You're one of those people."

"I see," the drell replied in his usual emotionless undertone, "However, attacking the collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 Relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."

Marcus grinned, "Everyone said Ilos was a suicide run too."

The first sign of emotion crossed the drell's smile as he returned the grin, "A fair point. You've built a career on performing the impossible. Death doesn't seem to have hindered you either. This was to be my last job. I'm dying."

Marcus was shocked, but before he could say anything, Thane continued, "Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."

"The dossier on you didn't mention that," Marcus responded, "Anything we can do?"

The drell shook his head, "Giving me this opportunity is enough. The galaxy is a dark place. I'm trying to make it brighter before I die. Getting rid of people like this...Aleena, was part of that goal. Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for that. I will work for you, Shepard. Free of charge." The assassin reached out a hand and Marcus shook it, before the spectre motioned for Thane to go up ahead. With that, he commed the Normandy and ordered a pickup on the roof.

The team was complete. They were ready to destroy the collectors. Now all they had to do was find where the bastards lived, get the ship ready and then they could finish the bastards off, once and for all.

He shot Tali and glance, posture relaxing.

Let's just hope we don't die in the process.

"Thane was a good man."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"That he was. We all remember him."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"So next we stayed on the ship for a while."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"We were out of people to recruit. For all intents and purposes, our recruitments were finished. Now we could relax."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

A/N:

I have a very good excuse for this late chapter! Well, actually, multiple!

1. Game of Thrones books. Oh, shut up. I'm allowed an obsession.

2. Grand Theft Auto V has kept me busy. :P

3. I've been working on a naughty, smut-riddled fanfic that I plan on posting on 'Archive of our Own' when I've finished it. I will post a link when the first prologue is posted. Be careful though, it's only for those who like smut. And no, it won't hamper this story's progress at all.

4. Recruiting troops for the Talimancing Legion forum. Check it out!

5. School and work. But do not fear! School is now over for two weeks, meaning I should be able to get more chapters out! (But remember, GTA V exists too you know).

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I...I just don't know why. I guess it's because this fanfic's finally going to get more interesting. There will be a 'fluff' chapter after this one, followed by another glimpse into the future, where Tali will disappear as interrogator for now and be replaced by someone secret. The rest from there is loyalty granting madness!

And just a suggestion but...do you guys think I should give Kaidan and Lia loyalty missions as well? You know, just to spice it up? Not only would it allow me to delve from the linear plot I'm taking, but it will allow for more character focus. Nothing extravagant, just basic loyalty missions. Let me know what you guys think. And be ready, the next chapter may, or may not, contain smut. On which level? I'm too sure yet. I'm considering leaving it at fluff level. Too much smut is poisonous to the mind, you know?

Think we're done with recruiting though? You couldn't be more wrong. ;)

Chapter Text

PROPHECY

CHAPTER THIRTY:

ODD COMPANY

Warning: Smut ahead. Kal/Madi.

September 6, 2185

1219 hours.

Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, Docked on Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

"Marcus."

His name again. He kept hearing it. He kept trying to find the source of it. It was a beautiful sound; promising peace and tranquility. And as he crossed the grass plains of the unknown world, he kept trying to find it. The voice would get slightly louder as he moved forward, pushing past bushes, trees and scrubland; long tall grass inhibiting his sight. He wore nothing but his N7 hoodie and navy blue pants, along with his cap. He still couldn't figure out the name of this mysterious planet.

"Marcus."

Finally, he found the source. As he erupted out of the grass and onto a open hill, he was given a clean view of the beautiful expanse belonging to the planet. A brilliant blue sky with a sun larger than Earth's and slightly brighter. He could see where the grass fields ended and where rocky areas began to form. The rustle of the wind was all that could be heard. All, except that peaceful voice; who's source he found spread out on her back, lying on the ground as he approached.

Her lithe form was wrapped in a purple robe, but the rest of her was nondescript. He knew this woman, but couldn't place a name. He sat down next to her, unable to stop his arm as it wrapped around her waist. Surprised, he tried to pull back but was surprised when she lay her head on his shoulder, sighing. He smiled. He knew this woman. Now he could place a name to her. Tali'Zorah vas Neema.

"Marcus," her voice spoke up once more.

"Yes, Tali?"

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"

He sighed, not expecting this question. He felt like he had heard the question many times, having to sigh each time. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember. He just couldn't. Why couldn't he remember? Instead, he said the one thing he knew he could say. The one thing he would say without hesitation.

"Yes, Tali," He responded, "You're very pretty."

He heard a sigh, "You're just saying that."

He quirked a brow at her and looked down at the side of her head, the quarian still not looking at him, "Why do you think that?"

Then she turned towards him and he widened his eyes in horror. What he was looking at...was nothing. There was no tentacle monster, no beast with saliva-coated teeth or a varren-faced abomination; just nothing. Tali's face was a blur; not a single feature on her face. The words that came from the mouth that didn't exist only proved what he knew was true in his mind.

"Because you've never seen my face."

Suddenly, the landscape warped and Tali was gone, the spectre was back in his cabin, eyes shooting open. He was on the sofa, back leaning against the soft leather exterior with a datapad in his lap. Tali was no longer sitting next to him. As he looked around the room, he noticed she wasn't there at all. Must have been a dream. She's probably in engineering. He sighed, picking up the datapad and tossing it ontop of the coffee table infront of him. Leaning back, he moved to stand but EDI's voice interrupted his movements.

"Commander."

He stopped in his tracks, looking up. The relationship between commander and AI had been tense at first, but he had slowly become used to the concept, as had Joker. Of course, they still didn't fully trust the AI, and they probably never would, but it was at least better than what they had to start with.

"Yes, EDI?"

"The Huzzi has requested permission to dock," the AI stated, "Admiral Rael'Zorah has requested to see you."

He nodded, "Send him up to my cabin as soon as he's onboard."

No response followed. He quickly made his way over to his terminal, sitting down and looking through his emails. Nothing important it seemed. With a shake of his head, he shut down his terminal and looked at the picture on his desk; the picture of Tali. He smiled down at it, the frame fading from one image to another; one of Tali, another of her on the SR-1, and then another of the both of them.

A knock at his door stopped his reverie. Reluctantly pulling his gaze away from the photo, he looked at the door with a bareface. Time to face the storm, he thought to himself.

"Enter," his voice boomed. Let's see what this admiral wanted.

The door slid open and a male quarian stepped into the lime light. His suit was featureless; his mask flat, glowing eyes narrowed to slits as he looked at the human infront of him, examining him. He noticed the quarian's gaze drift to the picture at his desk before quickly looking back into Marcus' eyes, but it had been done long enough for the spectre to notice.

"Commander Shepard," the quarian greeted harshly. He then looked around the room, as if looking for someone, "Where is my daughter?"

He shrugged, "Engineering I'd gather. She certainly loves her tech. Why? It would be very kind of you to come all this way just to see your daughter, but somehow I don't think that's the case here."

Rael nodded, "You're correct, in that regard. I've come to pick up my daughter. I'm taking her back to the Migrant Fleet."

His eyes widened but he remained diplomatic, "Last time I checked, she was given permission to stay on my vessel, under my command. What happened?"

"You did," Rael replied bluntly, "You and this Cerberus confuffle. You think I wouldn't notice? I made a background check on you and found out you're working for Cerberus! My daughter isn't safe on this ship, and certainly not from you scum. So I've come to take her back."

He narrowed his times, "I don't work for Cerberus, I-"

"Spare me your lies, commander," Rael responded harshly.

"If you think I'm going to just-"

"I know you will," Rael responded, "Don't think you fooled me. I know you're just using my daughter as political leverage. You don't really love her. End this charade and be done with it. I've already made the transfer, I was just informing you of the situation. Good day, commander." Before Marcus could respond further, Rael was gone, door closing behind him. The spectre sunk into his chair and looked at the image of Tali, smiling once more. Tears welled up in his eyes. Then, again, that haze returned.

Eyes shot open once more and this time, he was where he belonged. He was in bed, wrapped in the covers. The stars rushed past as his sight was greeted by the ceiling observation window. With a groan, he sat up, wiping his eyes and looked around. He looked to his left to find covers tossed halfhazardly across the bed; Tali had obviously woken up before he had. He quickly tried to remember the dream he had.

Why did I dream of Tali's father? He then thought of what Rael said. The man's words had been what Marcus feared would happen when he met Tali's father. Would he reject me? Would he try and take Tali away? What would happen when...if, he found his daughter working on a Cerberus ship? Then there was the dream before that. I'm having dreams about Tali's face now am I? Are you that fucking childish?

He shook these thoughts away as he sat up, moving to pick up a shirt from the dresser. Before he could reach that far however, he heard the door open and his head snapped around to see Tali walking across the room, holding two drinks, one with a straw, while moving towards him.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied lamely, feeling out of it after the dream he had, "What's with the drinks?"

Looking at them, she smiled, "Well, I thought since we're done recruiting people, and since we don't really have anywhere to go as of now, we could watch some movies. You know...just...you and...me?" She hung before the bed, awaiting his reply. He just smiled warmly at her. She's just so damn cute.

"That sounds great," He responded, "What did you have in mind? And we can't watch more than one."

"Why not?" She sounded disappointed.

"Kasumi's entertainment day, remember?" He reminded, "Game of Thrones?"

She nodded her head in realization, "Ah, okay. Um...what do you want to watch? You probably won't want to watch any of my movies...you'd find them pretty boring."

He sighed and moved back under the covers, taking his omni-tool wristband from ontop of the dresser and hitting the remote interface, activating the TV screen hidden in his display case, "Have you ever heard of a movie called To Boldly Flee?"

"No," she responded, moving in under the covers with him before snuggling close and giving him his drink; the one without the straw. He smirked at that.

"You wouldn't have," Marcus replied, "It wasn't a big-budget film made by big-name developers. It was made by this group of critics who were really funny and were some of the most well known reviewers and critics of the time period. It was made a century ago, and is still acclaimed as a comedy classic."

"Hmmm...sounds interesting," Tali stated, laying her head on his chest like it was a pillow, "Shall we watch it then?"

He smiled, loading up the movie on his omni-tool and playing it. They held each other close as they watched it; laughing when the time called for it and Marcus having to explain some of the pop culture references. Overall, it was one of the best morinings of his life.

Of their life.

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September 6, 2185

1238 hours.

Executive Officer's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, Docked on Illium.