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[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 38
How come everyone on Illium knows me?

?Holy crap. Shepard?? The human woman who notices me is sat at a table in a café overlooking the trading floor. She obviously recognises me, and I should remember her, but somehow can?t. I fix a polite smile on my face and move over to her anyway. ?I heard you were dead. What happened? No, wait, it?s got to be classified. You?d have to lie. Sorry. Gianna Parasini. We met on Noveria when I was investigating Administrator Anoleis.?

?Of course. I remember. How is Anoleis now?? After you dragged him out of his office, and he tried to get me to arrest you.

?He?s doing some years in a white-collar prison. He made the one mistake you aren?t allowed on Noveria; getting caught with your hand in the till.? She leans over and pats a chair. ?Here, sit down. I owe you a beer.?

I take the seat, and she gets a waitress over. ?So, what brings you to Noveria, Shepard? Assuming you can tell me.?

I shrug slightly. ?You know the human colonies that have been disappearing? The Collectors are doing it. I?m putting together a team to stop them.? Even to me, my voice sounds depressed.

?Damn, Shepard. For me, a tough job is when I have to do more paperwork.? My drink arrives, and I ignore it. ?You seem a bit down. Something going wrong with the mission??

?Not the mission. Had a meeting that didn?t go quite the way I hoped.?

?Sorry to hear that. I?? She trails off, looking across the floor to a trading booth. Unlike the asari earlier, she isn?t obvious about it. I lean back and stretch, and take a casual glance that way myself. An asari has just started setting up where Gianna is watching. ?Listen, I just remembered something.? No, Miss Parasini, you just saw your target. But at least you?re being sensible about it. ?I have something I need to do.? She scribbles something on a piece of paper, and pushes it under my glass. ?Enjoy your beer.?

I can do that. And read a secret message at the same time.

Shepard
Saw my target. Couldn?t break character. Could you go over, try to get her to show you any ?special? items.

I suppose I can. I finish my beer, and slap a few credits down as a tip. Then I head over to browse the booths. As we look at a few things, I let Tali and Garrus know what we?re doing. They seem relieved that I?m not going on a homicide spree. Slowly, we make our way over to the booth I?m really interested in.

?Hello.? The asari in question seems quite young to me, but it can be hard to tell. She?s probably well over one hundred years old. ?Are you interested in some purchases??

?Perhaps.? I take a close look at her. ?I?m outfitting a team for a really dangerous mission, and I?ve get plenty of money to spend.? Her eyes almost gleam when she hears that. ?Depends what sort of deals I can make.?

?Well.? She leans in closer, speaking confidentially. ?I can set you up for a discount. I can also make sure you get first look at any special items I get in.?

I keep my voice quiet, and my omnitool on record. ?What?s special about them??

?They?re prototypes, or items that are only supposed to go to certain clients. I sell them, but I don?t always have the licences to do so officially, you know??

?Anything like that available now that I could look at?? I lean in close, trying to look sly.

She looks around. ?Well, there is one thing. Very hush-hush.. A new omnitool development from Noveria. It?s not on the market yet.?

?That?s because it?s not been put on sale yet.? Where did Gianna come from? ?Hello, Hermia.?

?Parasini. You set me up!? Hermia sounds at first shocked, then angry. ?Nut this isn?t Noveria. You have no power to arrest me here.?

?No, but I can use this as evidence of fraud. That let?s me confiscate your money.?

?Can you confiscate this new omnitool development too?? I think it might be useful. Depending on what it does.

?No need to. We knew Hermia was snooping around, so we leaked something that doesn?t work. The only thing this would do is blow up in your face.?

Hermia has turned a slightly unfortunate shade of grey. ?I? I need to talk to my lawyer.? She starts away from us.

Gianna calls after her. ?Talk fast, Hermia. When I?m done, you won?t be able to afford one.? Hermia?s response is a rude gesture. ?Ah, that was great. Listen, I?ve get some paperwork to fill out. Come talk to me when you have a moment.?

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Doctor T?soni suggested the transport hub as a good place to look for hackable terminals. And of course that?s where we need to find Officer Dara. We?re looking around there when I get interrupted. ?Shepard?? What is it with Illium and people who know me? This one is a green asari. ?I.. I don?t suppose you?d remember me. I?m Shiala. Met on Feros during the Geth attack. Saren had given me to the Thorian creature as a slave,? Her? I thought she was helping that colony? ?and you killed it? and saved me.?

?I remember.? Though you were blue then.

?I promised to help Zhu?s Hope recover. I?m actually here on Illium for that purpose.?

?Having trouble with Exogeni again, or did the Thorian somehow survive our fight?? If they are, I might find time to visit Exogeni and be ever so slightly annoyed. They have a branch on Illium, I?m sure.

?No. Exogeni has been very supportive. I think they actually want to help us survive. And the thorian is definitely dead. When most of the Exogeni researchers left, they took the remains with them. And they helped us scavenge through the remains of that geth ship you destroyed. I fear that after our adventures on Feros, my concerns here will seem mundane by comparison.?

?Do you need my help with something?? I sound eager, and truthfully I am. Doing something, keeping moving, helps stop my mind wandering, and at the moment I need that.

?I?d appreciate it. I?ve reached the limits of my diplomatic abilities, and I?d prefer not to start trouble.? She sounds relieved. I wonder what she was planning before I came along. ?Some of the colonists had health trouble as a result of the Thorian control. We hired a colonial survey group to do some medical scans. But the medical contract apparently allows them to perform invasive procedures without our consent. That?s why I?m here.?

That might explain why she?s green, rather than blue like a normal asari. ?What sort of health problems did the colonists have?? I wonder if it?s worth getting Professor Solus on this; he likes problems, the more the better. He off-handedly mentioned progressing on a cure for Joker?s Vroliks Syndrome last time I spoke to him.?

?Headaches or muscle spasms, similar to those they experiences while under the Thorian?s control. I, well you can see my skin pigmentation changed a couple of months later, and my biotics are also erratic. Sometimes the colonists near another former Thorian victim share sensations like heat or pain It has to be a result of trace amounts of the Thorian?s parasitic spores. You can see why we?d want it studied, and cured.?

?Tell me more about this contract. I have a couple of people who could look through it.? Though Miranda is probably more concerned with her sister?s problem, and EDI isn?t exactly people.

?Baria Frontiers was interested in our problem? Shiala gestures towards a booth at the end of the platform..? They offered to perform medical scans and deliver treatment for next to nothing. I should have known it was too good to be true, but we were desperate. In the fine print, we apparently agreed to let them perform invasive follow-up procedures if they deemed it valuable. Which they have.?

?And if you don?t let them take place, they call you in default of the contract, and you end up paying for the full cost of treatment and for damages.? Garrus sounds like he?s heard this sort of story as an ex-cop.

She nods. ?Zhu?s Hope just got back on its feet. There?s no way we can afford that, Shepard.?

?I?ll talk to the survey group.? And hopefully they?ll listen to reason.

?I appreciate it, Shepard. Their representative knows about the issue.?


Shiala is quite right, but we were talking in the open. Before I can open my mouth, Baria Frontiers representative lets me know how she feels. ?I saw your conversation, human. You?re here to complain about the medical contract those colonists from Feros signed. I suggest you leave. Your life is short enough already. Do not waste what time you have bothering me.?

?Why are you insisting on these tests? What use could they be??

?Their use is not your concern. A legal, binding contract was signed. Nothing else matters. All of you, humans, salarians, turians, you come to our planet then complain that our laws don?t suit you. The galaxy would be a better place if no-one but the asari had ever crawled out of the primordial muck.?

?Why are you so prejudiced against aliens?? I suspect a lot of asari are, in practice, but few are open about it.

?Pfaw. Where to begin? With salarin explorers unleashing the rachni upon us, then unleashing the krogan to correct their mistake? Or the turians, so eager to bomb every problem away.? She glares at Garrus, then at me. ?Or humans, the new arrivals who already think they should be in charge. Every war that has plagues this galaxy has been caused by your people. My people?s deaths are on your hands.? At the end, her tone changes from anger to sadness.

?Whose deaths are we talking about?? I try to sound sympathetic, though I feel anything but.

Her face droops. ?The mother of my daughters was killed on the quarian homeworld during the initial geth uprising.? She turns away, looking over the railing, and I can hear the sadness in her voice. ?My daughters died on the Citadel when the geth attacked. One worked in the Embassy complex, the other was a greeter for the consort. I am not speaking in hypotheticals, human. The aliens will never be my allies. The best they can do is provide me useful medical data.? There?s a tear dribbling down her cheek when she turns back to me.

?What was your bondmate doing on the quarian homeworld?? Tali sounds curious.

?Studying. Not their technology, but their music. She loved all their art. Said they had old souls. I think that?s where my daughters got it form. Both of them loved talking with people, exploring new cultures.?

I feel too much sympathy to yell at her, however much I wanted to a few seconds ago. ?They sound like wonderful people. The galaxy is lesser for their loss.?

?Yes, it is.?

?Do you think they?d want you to do this?? I ask the question as gently as I can.

?I?m not?? She shakes her head. ?I didn?t?Oh??

I really don?t know how to deal with an asari sitting on the floor crying her eyes out. I check my pockets, finding a cloth I use to clean my guns, and tentatively reach down to her. ?Here. Here, wipe your eyes, that?s it.? When she doesn?t stop me, I dab the cloth against her cheek and start drying her tears. When she finally reaches out and takes it from me, I put a hand on her arm and help her up.

?I?ll? send an amended contract. No more tests. No fees.? She sounds almost broken. ?There?s enough grief in this galaxy. I don?t need to add to it.? She steps over to a console. ?Thank you, human.?


I head off back to where Shiala was waiting, and on the way overhear a conversation that makes me want to hit someone.

First asari: ?Did you get the star charts from Barla??
Second asari: ?Yes. I had to deal with Erinya though. I feel like I need a shower.?
?What do you expect? She?s a pureblood. They?re all like that.?
?I feel a little bad for her, though. They say her daughters were killed on the Citadel.?
?And I?m sure she was a pleasure to deal with before that.?
?I heard both her daughters were with another asari.?
?Soon, there won?t be any pureblood asari. Good thing to. Enyala is part of the problem.?

When I get back, Shiala is elated. ?You did it. I just got the revised contracts. Thank you, you?ve saved Zhu?s Hope. Again.? She shakes her head. ?I don?t think I could have? Is it always like this? Yesterday?s problems lingering in some new form. Isn?t everything ever just fixed??

?You?ve got the ability to make a difference, Shiala. Not everyone does.?

?I suppose so. You gave us a chance by saving the colony. I can?t let them down. I won?t. Thank you for what you?ve done here, Shepard. I?ll keep doing what I can.? She steps towards me, and reaches out tentatively towards my cheek. ?Maybe some time when I?m not organizing the colony and you?re not? doing whatever it is you do..?

Well that?s embarrassing. For both of us, I?d say. I think Shiala feels it too, as she takes her leave immediately.

News:
A batarian combine has announced plans to sue the Citadel Council over their rejection of a protest concerning the interstellar slave trade. A batarian spokesman said:?Slavery is an integral part of the batarian caste system. By restricting it, the Council is violating our right to express our culture.? The indentured service market closed down three points, as spokesmen expressed concern over possible adverse publicity.

Finding three terminals and hacking them isn?t much of a problem, particularly with Tali along. We upload the data from all three systems to Doctor T?soni?s office. And then she calls us. ?Shepard, I have the data. Come up and see me when you have a moment.?

That might be a while.

Overheard conversation:
Salarian: ?You?re sure Gateway weapons and armour are good enough for Eclipse?
Asari: ?Yeah. I?ve got a friend in Eclipse. She told me what I needed to get.?
?Good. I?m pretty good at bypassing firewalls. Maybe they?re looking for a techs. What about you? Are you going to try to make it asa commando??
?Why not. Every asari has biotics. Might as well use ?em, right? Damn, that?s a hell of a sniper rifle.?
?If you say so. It?s just? we?re buying weapons and armour. Shouldn?t you be taking it seriously??
?Hey, I?m 60 years old and finally out of my parents house. And Eclipse girls never lack for, ah, company.?
?You could get killed.?
?What about you??
?I?m almost twenty, my genetic stats are average, and my clan has little political power. For a good reproductive contract, I?ll need money. Eclipse might be fun for you, for me it?s the future. My clans breeding strategy is at stake.?
?Don?t salarians think about anything but breeding??
?Don?t even start with me.?

Officer Dara sounds horrified. ?Samara? Why? Do you have a problem, or? She hasn?t killed someone already, has she??

?I just want to talk to her.? That wasn?t the reaction I expected.

?Good.? She breathes a sigh of relief. ?Samara?s the first justicar I?ve seen on Illium. If I?m lucky, things will stay peaceful. She went to the commercial spaceport a few hours ago. If you want to get there, the pedestal on that balcony will summon a cab. Just be polite when you meet her. Justicars embody our highest laws, and they usually stay in asari space. She?s not used to dealing with aliens.?

?Tell me about the justicars.?

?They?re a monastic order. They?ve given up their possessions and families to follow the Code. Most of them are on some lifelong mission, but they?ll always stop to deal with any injustice they encounter. Which can be a problem. In some ways they?re a lot like the Spectres, but undertaking personal missions.?

?Spectres are authorized by the Council. Who do Justicars represent??

?What? That?s like? I don?t know a good human metaphor. They represent the Code. Our Code. It?s closer to a religious group than a legal branch. No law-abiding asari would question a justicar?s orders. Nobody becomes a justicar for personal gain. And they?d die before breaking their oaths.?

?Is Samara really that dangerous??

?If you follow the laws, you?ve got nothing to fear. And a justicar would die without hesitation to protect the innocent. But their code orders them to stop lawbreakers. With lethal force, in most cases. And everyone skirts the law here on Illium. If someone tried to bribe her, she?d be forced to gun them down as a matter of honour. I?m hoping to avoid that.?

?Sounds like you?re worried about other species coming into contact with her.?

?If a justicar kills an asari, none of us question it. But if she killed a human? Do you think the Alliance would understand and respect her authority? You can?t even figure out your own religions. It?s a big diplomatic incident waiting to happen.?

?Guess we?d better head for the commercial spaceport.?

?Like I said, call a cab.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 39
He is a biotic god; yes, really

We?ve just got out of a taxi whose driver seemed rather nervous about having an armed and armoured group of aliens in the back seat. Just in time for a confrontation between an asari and a volus. The asari is in uniform, and sounds authoritative. ?Where do you think you?re going, Pitne For??

?Away from here, Detective. Since my partner was killed by those thugs you can?t seem to keep in order, I do not feel safe.?

?Not so fast. I still haven?t ruled you out in connection with that murder. You?re not leaving until I solve it.?

?But officer.? It?s almost a whine. ?What about that justicar? Everyone says it?s only a matter of time till she goes mad and starts killing people.?

?She?ll only kill the unjust? So I?m sure you have nothing to worry about, Pitne For. Find me in the station if you need me.?

Well, she certainly has a good grasp of sarcasm. After she leaves, I walk over to talk to Pitne For. ?Did I hear that your business partner was murdered??

?Yes. Dakni Kur. I want to get off world before the same thing happens to me, but the detective won?t let me. She seems to think I might have had something to do with it.? His indignant tone makes it clear what he thinks of that.

?If you didn?t, who did??

?It was those mercenaries, the Eclipse sisters, that the detective doesn?t seem to want to control. I saw his body. He?d been killed with modded rounds, a shotgun blast at close range. ?

?And why would they murder a volus merchant at random?? Garrus Vakarian, ex-cop, enjoys interrogations.

?Perhaps you should ask them. I?ve had a few dealings with them in the past. They?re a scummy bunch, even by mercenary standards. They sell red sand, all kinds of illegal items, and they?re all cold-blooded killers. I don?t know why they?d kill my partner, but they?re probably after me too. It?s unhealthy to be a volus merchant in Nos Astra at the moment. Particularly a volus merchant named Pitne For.?

?I?ll want to speak to you again. Don?t go far.? I give his two turian guards a quick smirk, wondering if they?re stupid enough to try and stop me. They aren?t. It?s mildly disappointing

?He?s lying.? As we walk away, Garrus tells me something I already suspected.

?Any idea what about??

?No. But if we can find out, it makes questioning him much easier.?


The detective doesn?t look happy to see us. ?Nice guns. Try not to use them in my precinct. I?ve got trouble enough with murders and a justicar visiting. Now, what do you want??

?I?m looking for an asari justicar named Samara.?

?Why? You?re not planning to confront her, are you??

?No. I want to recruit her for a dangerous mission.?

?Justicars are drawn to hopeless causes, I suppose.?

?We?ve got that covered.? Tali?s comment draws a curious glance from Detective Anaya, as her name plate calls her.

?Well, if you can get her out of the area I?ll be delighted. My superiors are trying to push me into detaining her before she causes trouble. They?re worried there?ll be some big inter-species incident.?

?Why should that be a problem?? I suspect there?s a lot I don?t know about justicars that I probably should have been informed about by TIM - assuming he knew.

?If I try to detain her and stop her investigation, her Code will oblige her to kill me. Since I don?t want to die, if you can lure her waway with some big noble cause I?m thrilled to help you.?

?Your superiors are sending you to certain death?? As she nods, I continue. ?You have a right to refuse those orders.? Of course, the two unemployed comedians behind me like the sound of this.

?We can refuse suicidal orders?? Garrus does his best to sound shocked. ?Why wasn?t I told??

Tali either isn?t trying or is less skilled at keeping the amusement out of her voice. ?That?s about twice a day, with Shepard.?

?Most of the time I?m not being stupid about it. I can?t say the same for detective Anaya?s superiors.?

?I?m a cop and I know my duty. If I have to, I?ll do it.?

?So where is Samara?? If we?re going after her, and I?m beginning to have my doubts that it?s wise, we might as well get on with it.

?At the crime scene across the docks.?

?You let her into a sealed crime scene?? Garrus sounds shocked. Anaya looks at him.

?She?s been looking at crime scenes for longer than all of us together have been alive. I won?t turn down a justicar?s experience if it?s offered.?

?Guess we?d better head there.?

?I?ll buzz the police on the tape, tell them to let you through. If you?re heading that way, be careful. The area is crawling with Eclipse mercs. Every one of them has to kill somebody to earn the uniform.?

?We?d better find Samara before the detective goes after her.? As we?re leaving Garrus sounds worried.

Nice people. I wonder if some will get in my way. They?ll regret it if they do.


One of the asari police gives us a solemn warning as we walk past their picket line. ?I?m afraid we can?t guarantee our safety in the alleys past this point.? When I wave my grenade launcher at her, she adds. ?We?re required to tell you that.? Good for you. Not far into the area, I pick up a data pad with an interesting message on it:

Eria, let?s consider this extra stock surplus. Ship the rest to Thrax at his normal destination. He?ll never miss a few lost pieces.

Since there?s a shipping label with a forwarding address next to it, I send the message on to Mister Thrax. I?m sure he?ll be amused by it.

Further on, I hear voices ahead. A rather stressed asari is giving orders. ?Get the rest of Bravo squad prepped. Alpha squad went after that justicar twenty minutes ago, and they?ve gone dark.?

As is typical of Eclipse, they have several mechs, light Loki models. The two asari with them are biotic, but lightly armoured. Plenty of cover for both sides, but the mechs never seem to make use of it. We turn them to scrap, and then Garrus and Tali keep the two asari pinned down while I sneak forward. Stepping round the pillar one asari is sheltering behind, I smash her head with the butt of my shotgun. I keep forgetting that Cerberus rebuilt me with cybernetic enhancement. With a ceramacrete pillar on one side and my rifle butt on the other, her head smashes like an egg.

I shoot the other while she halts in shock.

Ahead, we enter a dark alley which is clearly the crime scene, with police markings at various locations. There?s no sign of our justicar, until I hear I confrontation in a room overlooking the scene.

?Those were my best troops.? Someone sounds rather shocked.

?I need the name of the ship you smuggled the fugitive out of Illium on.?

?Are you mad? If I betray her, she will do things to me that you cannot imagine.?

?The name of the ship, lieutenant. Your life depends on it.? A deeper, richer voice sounds very calm in contrast.

?Even if you kill me, one of us will take you down.? And that?s bravado, pure and simple, with fear behind it.

My suspicion that it?s our justicar sounding so calm is probably confirmed a few moments later, as the Eclipse lieutenant flies out of the window and across the alley in the grip of a biotic field. A 15 metre biotic throw through a window is impressive. If it?s Samara, and I?m pretty certain by now, she?s got a costume that wouldn?t exactly suit me. Skin tight, red, split down the front as far as her navel, with a high gold collar. She flies down from the broken window, supporting herself with her own biotic power. She stalks over to the mercenary and puts her foot on her neck. ?Tell me the name of the ship.?

?Go to hell.? Odd name for a ship? Oh, hang on.

Samara seems disappointed. ?Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess.? She pushes down with her foot, and there?s a twist of her hips. The crunch rather suggests a broken neck for the mercenary. And then for the first time she takes notice of us.

?I am Samara, a servant of the justicar code. My quarrel is with these Eclipse sisters, yet I see three well armed individuals in front of me. Are we friend or foe??

?Friend, I hope. I?m Commander Shepard, and I need your help on a critical mission, Samara.?

?You honour me. But I am in the middle of an investigation.?

?I need you to help me take on the Collectors.?

?The collectors are a worthy foe; I would relish testing myself against them. But I am on the trail of an incredibly dangerous fugitive. I had tracked her to Illium, but these Eclipse sisters smuggled her off world before I could find her. I must find the name of the ship that she left on before the trail goes cold.?

?I wish you?d go with the human, justicar.? Datactive Anaya has followed the trail of gunshots and bodies. ?I?ve been ordered to detain you.?

?You risk a great deal by following those orders, detective. Fortunately I will not have to resist. The Code allows me to co-operate with you for one day. After that I must return to my investigation.?

?I won?t be able to release you that soon.?

?You won?t be able to stop me.? Samara sounds very certain.

?The human is lost here. Could one of you explain what just happened??

?I was trying to get Samara to leave with you.? Anaya sounds frustrated. ?But jsuticars and their Code??

?The detective has been ordered to detain me. I cannot force her to disobey an order.?

?So, she takes you into custody, and after a day you break out, killing anyone who gets in your way.? Garrus sounds as if he doesn?t quite believe it.

?I am afraid so. I would be forced to kill many innocents.? Samara sounds as if she regrets it, but accepts the necessity.

?Like me.? Anaya interjects.

?There must be some way we can all get what we want.?

?There must be some way we can al get what we want.? This is frustrating.

?I see a way. While I am in custody, you, Shepard, find the name of the ship.?

?Do you have any leads?? Garrus is on familiar ground.

?Just one. The Eclipse sisters are very angry with the volus merchant Pitne For. They still seek to kill him. Find out his connection to them, and it may lead you to their base.?

?Well, I?ve got to get back to my desk.? Anaya sounds slightly unsure. ?And I guess, I?ve got to take you with me??

Samara nods at her, and then at me. ?Thank you, Shepard.?

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Back at the transport terminal, Pitne For has made the mistake of leaving his guards near his goods while he checks something else. When I come up behind him, he realises there?s a shadow and turns round. ?Hello, earth-clan. Did you speak to the detective yet??

?I did.? I get closer to him than he probably likes. ?You said you didn?t know why the mercenaries would be after you. You?ve got one chance to change that statement.?

?I don?t know what you mean, earth-clan. I am simply?? He stares at the muzzle of my pistol, where it?s an inch from his face. ?Oh dear. Please put the gun away. I will be co-operative, I swear.?

?Tell me everything.? I holster my gun.

?I smuggled a chemical onto Illium that boosts biotic powers in combat. It is also, ah, toxic. I may have forgotten to mention that last part when I sold it to the Eclipse. So they are perturbed, and seek to kill me.?

?What is this chemical??

?It?s called Minagen X3, and it?s very, very, um, illegal. Anyone with biotic powers who is exposed to it finds those powers becoming more powerful. The higher your exposure, the more powerful you get. But too much of it, you die. That?s the part that the Eclipse found disagreeable.?

?If you sold it to them, you must have been in the Eclipse base. Where is it, and what?s it like??

?I can give you directions. It?s a series of docking bays where the Eclipse keep their private ships. They?re well armed, and they?ve got mechs. They gave me a pass card to let me get in. I had to give that back, but I happened to make a copy. Take it. But be careful. All the Eclipse sisters are dangerous.?


The Eclipse base is, as the saying goes, hidden in plain sight. It?s not even that far from the port. When we enter it, there?s a single loki mech on sentry duty. It gets off a few words before we destroy it. ?Warning. Intruders, Sound?? Since an alarm doesn?t go off immediately, I suspect we?re fine.

We work our way through the base, engaging Eclipse mercenaries as we go. As normal, it?s a mix of light combat mechs, asari biotics, and a few lightly equipped infantry and engineers. What makes it more of a challenge are the barrels that are around the base. They?re full of Minagen, and when they get hit they tend to explode leaving a cloud of toxic dust floating in the air for up to a minute. Tali and Garrus aren?t biotic, but it has an effect on me. EDI warns me about the effects of overexposure, and manages to create a program on my omnitool that warns me when I?ve been in it too long. I quickly realize that it?s better to stay out of it, and rely on my guns.

As we?re moving down a passage, I hear someone whimpering inside a room. We listen at the door. Inside, someone sounds terrified. ?Please goddess; don?t let them come in here. Please goddess; don?t let them see me if they do. Please goddess; don?t let them kill me. What am I doing here??

I open the door, and we fan out inside. There?s silence, but someone was careless enough to leave their gun on the ground. ?Come out with your hands up.? I raise my gun, and Garrus and Tali move to get a clear field of fire.

?Wait, don?t shoot me.? The asari who peers out from behind the bed is wearing an Eclipse uniform and looks terrified. ?I didn?t fire a shot at you. I only pretended to, so the other mercs wouldn?t kill me.?

?What are you doing here?? This is going to be an interesting explanation.

?I thought being Elnora the mercenary would be cool, but it?s not like that at all. I thought we?d be flying around the galaxy shooting up bad guys and stuff, but all we do is stay here smuggling red sand and selling illegal weapon mods. And then, well.? She looks around, and her voice gets even quieter. ?They even smuggled that Ardat-Yakshi off world.?

?Ardat-what?? Well, that?s something new.

?An Ardat-Yakshi. It?s an old asari world. It means, ah, ?Demon of the Night Winds?, or something like that. There was this scary lady in the base a few days ago. I didn?t think they were real, but there was something about the way she looked at us. It was scary. When I asked the boss, she said the scary lady was an Ardat ?Yakshi and we were being well paid to get her off world.?

?What was the name of the ship she left on??

?Oh. I don?t know. It was days ago, and the others never told me anything. Can I go now??

?Who?d you kill??

?What?? She takes a half pace back, and suddenly looks wary.

?You?re in an Eclipse uniform. You had to kill someone to get it. Who??

It may be the look in my eyes, but she lunges for her gun. ?Screw you, bitch.? She gets to it and starts to turn around.

Just in time to catch my fist in her face. As she staggers backwards, I smash the gun out of her hands, and shove her hard against the wall. ?You think I?m stupid, don?t you.? Punch to the belly. ?You think a human is ignorant.? Grab her tentacles, and smash her face against the wall. ?I can?t possibly know what you did to earn the uniform, can I?? Knee her in the face as she slumps down. ?I?m just a dumb human bitch.? Kick her in the belly. ?Guess who the bitch is now.? Stamp on her arm and hear it crack.

That was satisfying. She?s lying on the ground, hardly moving except for where her chest heaves. I roll her onto her belly, and pull her arms behind her back. With some cord from my belt pack, I secure her wrists and elbows. As I stand up, she looks at me. ?What did you do that for??

I kick her again. ?No one gave you permission to talk. Tali, bugger the door so even if she gets free she can?t get out. And search the room in case she?s got any more weapons.?

?Is that really necessary, Shepard?? Tali sounds a little doubtful.

?She?s a killer. On the losing side, too. She?s lucky to be alive.? At least Garrus supports me.


Moving on, we head up the stairs. More mercenaries attempt to stop us, and we?re exposed to more Minagen. I hope toxicity isn?t cumulative. In what looks like a cafeteria, I find a message pad. When we open it, Elnora smiles out at us.

?Well, it?s official. Little baby Elnora is finally a fully fledged Eclipse merc.I earned my uniform last night when I killed that ridiculous volus merchant. Up close, exploding rounds. Blew the little bastard?s suit right open.? She sniggers. ?I can?t wait to see some real action. Next time I go home, my friends are going to be so jealous.?

?Detective Anaya will be interested in this.? Tali sounds slightly happier, though she?s possibly still a little upset.

We push on, into the maintenance areas. A running fight develops among the machinery, with biotic asari trying to ambush us and us fighting back. In an area like this, it pays to be careful where you take shelter. Lots of explosive machinery makes otherwise perfectly good cover risky to be near. When the asari are down, the base opens out into a large hanger, with an exit to the skies of Nos Astra and a long drop to the ground below. Our destination appears to be on the far side. There?s only one thing in our way.

Gunships though; they?re trouble. Heavy shields, decent armour, rapid-fire automatic guns, and rocket launchers. Fortunately, there?s some cover. Less helpfully, the pilot is perfectly willing to fly around inside the building to get a clear shot at us. We?re not helpless. Tali and Garrus are both experts at overloading shields with their omnitools. My automatic rifle is loaded with incendiary ammunition, excellent for burning through armour. I dispense medigel with abandon, as we move from position to position. ?Go for the optics, Chittika!? Tali?s drone is deployed, drawing the gunner?s attention away from us. And then Garrus pops a sniper round through the cockpit shell. The engines whine, and the gunship goes into a spin. Its descent gets faster and faster, and then there?s an explosion below us.

Past that, we find a small datapad. Tali opens it up. ?This looks like a shipping manifest. It shows that Pitne For sold the Eclipse 2000 units of Minagen X3; and 600 units of Red Sand.?

?Not what Samara seeks, but it is proof that Pitne For is a criminal.? Garrus looks over my shoulder.

?I imagine detective Anaya would be interested in this.? Tali sounds as if she?s still a little bothered.

?We?ve got to keep moving.? I take us further on, down a few more corridors, till we find? a volus?

?I am a biotic god.? The volus gestures, and a faint blue glow forms around him. ?I think things, and they happen. Fear me, lesser creatures, for I am biotics made flesh.?

?I don?t know what drugs you?re on, but stay back and I won?t shoot you.?

?You will regret your scandalous words. I am a great wind that will sweep all away before me like a? like a great wind! A great biotic wind. Yes, the asari injecting so many drugs into me was terrifying, but then I began to smell my greatness!? He shakes his fast in Garrus?... let?s say it?s not quite his face. ?They may laugh when I fall over, but they don?t know what I know in my head. That I know that I am amazingly powerful. Fear me!? He bumps into Tali, and staggers backwards. She shakes her head at me.

?Are you part of Pitne For?s group?? This is just too bizarre. I can hardly keep from laughing.

?When I was mortal, I worked for Pitne. Poor soul is probably terrified I have not returned.?

?Actually, he hasn?t mentioned your disappearance.? Garrus sounds amused. ?Probably worried that it might delay his departure.?

?Pitne will pick profits over friends any time.? Tali adds, sagely.

?Bah. I will wreak a just revenge on Pitne. But first? the leader of these mercenaries is in the next room. I shall toss Wasea around like a rag doll.?

?Shepard, this guy couldn?t tie his bootlaces, much less fight.? Garrus sounds disgusted.

Tali probably wants to persuade me to stop him. ?He can barely talk, much less fight.?

?I will tear her apart. My biotics are unstoppable!?

?Wasea will tear you apart. Take a nap ? you?ll feel better.?

?Are you mad?? He turns for the door. ?I am unstoppable. Feasting on her biotic-rich blood will be..?

I push him gently in the back, and he falls on his face. For a moment, he just lies there. When he stands up, he sounds confused. ?But.. great wind! Biotic god! I?m? I? what was I saying. I?m tired.? He yawns. ?You may be right. Yes. I?m tired. I?ll nap. Destroy the universe later.? We get out of the way as he staggers down the corridor. If he goes to far, he might fall off the platforms. That would be unfortunate. For anyone below.

?So much for godhood.? Garrus watches him go.

?Nicely done, Shepard.? Tali sounds pleased, and then alarmed as she sees me leaning against the wall with my shoulders shaking. ?Is something... Oh. You?re laughing. It was funny, wasn?t it??

?Come on. We need to sweep Wasea away, without our biotic god friend.? I pull myself together.

?Right with you.?


?Everything?s gone to hell since we smuggled that disgusting creature off world.? Wasea is a purple skinned asari in dark blue armour, apparently more interested in her datapad than in us. ?First that justicar shows up, and now you.? Her biotics start to glow, and a crate lifts nearby. ?At least I can take pleasure in turning your head into a pulpy mass!?

There?s no need to shout. She throws the crate, but we?re already ducking aside. As we find shelter behind various bits of cover, more mercenaries enter. I scatter a group with a couple of shots from my grenade launcher, and then Tali?s combat drone deploys on the right hand side of the room. Two asari are forced out of cover, and Garrus? rifle barks. Two down. A group tries to flank us on the left, and I drop a grenade into the middle of them. Two fall, and the others fall back behind the dust of an exploding crate. Fire in both directions starts to slacken, as the atmosphere is choked with dust. An asari tries to slip past it, and both Garrus and Tali shoot at her. As the dust starts to settle, the asari have retreated. On the far side of the room is a short set of stairs, and they?re in the room at the top covering the entrance.

When in doubt, cheat. When not in doubt, also cheat. This isn?t a game. A crate explodes, and then another. The mercenaries start firing blindly through the smoke, smashing through anything that?s at the top of the stairs. When they pause to reload, I dash up and duck behind a crate. A burst of assault rifle fire into an unwary mercenary draws their attention enough to allow Garrus to follow me. He snipes a second. They try to cover both sides of the room, and then Tali sends her drone up the middle. A couple switch to firing on that, and I drop a grenade between them. Tali joins me, and adds covering fire. Another is careless enough to slip into my line of sight as she fires at Garrus, and a concussive blast knocks her down in the open. As their fire slackens I make a short dash, and spray two more with my assault rifle. One of them deploys a drone, and Tali overloads it within seconds before setting hers on the engineer. And then Wasea makes the mistake of poking her head up long to get some biotics off. I spray her biotic barrier, and duck as it goes down. Not fast enough, as I?m sent hurtling to the floor by a shockwave, but it?s enough. Her head explodes as Garrus snipes her from across the room. I start to crawl for cover, and then realise there?s no more firing. I look around carefully. No one shoots at me. The three of us rise.

Garrus looks around. ?There?s got to be some evidence somewhere of the ship we need to find.?

?Spread out. See what you can find.? I decide I?m going to check downstairs, where Wasea was looking at data pads. Tali follows me.

?Did you really need to beat that asari so badly, Shepard?? She asks it quietly, as we search through the data pads and other documents.

?No.? If there was a chair, I?d slump into it. As it is, I settle for the edge of the desk. ?Oh, but I enjoyed it. Too much.?

?I wasn?t sure you were going to stop.?

?If she?d stayed upright longer, I?d have killed her. Nearly did anyway.?

?Are you all right? What a stupid question, of course you aren?t feeling all right. I don?t know what Liara was thinking, but you deserve better than the way she treated you.?

?Do I? Let?s be honest, Tali. I?m a brutal, self-educated thug. Good at killing things, and not much else. She could and should do better than me.?

?No. You are our Captain, our leader... My friend. It is an honour to be part of your crew.?

?What are you two gossiping about?? Garrus comes down the stairs. ?Have you found anything??

?Not yet. Thanks, Tali.? Maybe I might start to believe her, some day.

?Any time, Shepard.?

We spend the next few minutes looking through data pads. Tali hacks one, transferring several thousand credits from the mercenaries to the Normandy. And then she finds it. ?Here. Take a look.?

There?s a justicar here. Probably looking for the one we sent of on the AML Demeter. I was happy to see her go; she chilled me to the bone. I just hope this justicar doesn?t mess up my operation.

?That must be the ship Samara was looking for her.? Is the Normandy infected or something. It was Jacob, and now it?s Garrus stating the obvious.

?Let?s head back to the police station and give it to her.?

At least Tali is still practical. ?Let?s go.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 40
It?s an Admiral Ackbar moment

When we get back to the police station, Samara is sat in the lotus position on a ledge directly behind detective Anaya. I pass her the data pad. ?Your fugitive left a few days ago on the AML Demeter.?

She looks at the pad for a moment. ?Shepard, you impress me. You have done your part, and now I must do mine.? She looks at Anaya. ?I am ready to leave immediately, detective. If that will satisfy your superiors??

?You?re free to go, justicar. It?s been an honour having you in my station. And I?m pleased you didn?t kill me, too.?

?This fugitive you?re after; she?s an Ardat-Yakshi, isn?t she??

?Again, you impress. I am indeed in pursuit of an Ardat-Yakshi. She is a dangerous fugitive, who I have pursued for many years. After your mission is complete, of course.? She gets down from the ledge. "Before we go anywhere else, I must be sworn to your service so that your orders do not conflict with the Code.? She gets down gracefully, and starts to glow faintly as her biotics activate. As she lowers herself to one knee, and lowers her head, detective Anaya stands up to watch. ?By the Code, I will serve you, Shepard. Your choices are my choices. Your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code.?

Anaya mutters to me. ?Never thought I?d see a Justicar swear an oath like that.?

Samara gives no sign of having heard this, as she stands up. ?If you force me to do something particularly dishonourable, I may need to kill you when our mission is complete.?

?I?ll do what needs doing, and worry about that if the time comes.?

?The life of a justicar can be lonely. I admit, I look forward to travelling in a company of honourable heroes.?

?The Normandy is berthed near the trading floor. Do you want to collect your things, and meet us there??

?I have everything I need.? That doesn?t appear to be much. Weapons, armour, and a tiny belt pack. ?Shall we depart now??

?I need to speak to the detective first.?

Anaya looks slightly surprised. ?Thanks for getting the justicar out of my district. I can tell my grandchildren about meeting one. And you?ve just upped my chances of living long enough to have any.?

?I?ve got a few things here. There?s a shipping manifest showing Pitne For was smuggling red sand and illegal combat drugs onto Illium. And the murderer of that volus was an Eclipse mercenary called Elnora. She should still be locked in her room in their base. The rest are dead, I think.? I pass over the data pads and recordings.

?Except that volus.? Tali reminds me.

?Oh. Yes.? I smirk. ?There?s a self proclaimed ?biotic god? on the base. A volus. Eclipse pumped him full of drugs, and he was on one hell of a high. He?s probably sleeping it off somewhere.?

Anaya makes no move to take the information. ?Interesting. But I have no way to verify this. It wouldn?t be admissible as evidence.? Bugger.

?I vouch for Shepard and any evidence she brings forward.? Samara?s calm voice interrupts us.

?I accept the ruling of the Justicar. I?ll send a team out to pick up Pitne For, and another to search the Eclipse base.? She looks a little embarrassed. ?We don?t have a big budget here, but I can authorise something from the budget for bounty hunters. Thanks, Shepard. You?ve saved me some work.?


?Welcome to the Normandy, Samara.? Jacob is back to being ?meet-and-greet? man. ?we?ve studied your profile intensively. With your skills, you?ll be a powerful addition to the team.?

?Thank you.? She shakes his hand. ?From an organisation such as yours, that is high praise indeed.?

?I?ve seen Samara?s biotics in use. She?s powerful.? I confirm it.

?Still don?t know what we?re going to find when we go up against the Collectors.?

?Whatever it is, I will be ready for it.?

?Now, where would you like us to put you??

?A space that looks out onto the great empty void would be my preference.?

?The observation room on Deck 3. The starboard one. Kasumi has the port.?

?Thank you. I must meditate on the days events.? Wish I could move as gracefully as she does.


?Any news, Miranda?? It?s late at night, but she?s still working at her console. ?About your sister, I mean.? When she looks confused, I clarify my question.

?Oh. Yes, Commander. They?re moving in two days, about midday. Lanteia will be in the Eternity Bar first thing that morning with any information for us.?

?All right. We?ll go and see Doctor T?soni tomorrow, find out if she knows anything about Thane. Day after, we cover your sister. Good night.?

?Good night, Commander. Thank you.?

In my inbox:
From: Toombs
What the hell kind of game you playing, Shepard? You did the buddy act when I had a gun on that Cerberus scientist, telling me you understood. Now I find you?re working for Cerberus?
Tests were done on me that you can?t even imagine. For years. Cerberus tortured me. They used me as a damn lab rat. And now you?re teaming up with them like they?re any other merc band?
I?ve got my own merc team now, Shepard. And I kill any Cerberus team I can find. If I run into you, don?t expect any different.

Two hours. That?s how much sleep I get before EDI wakes me up. ?Commander, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you. Urgently.?

?Oh, fuck. All right. I?ll be on my way. Soon as I can find something to wear.?

Tee-shirt, track-suit bottoms, slippers. And the Illusive Man at 2:00am ship time. Great.

?Shepard - we caught a break. I intercepted a distress call from a turian patrol. They stumbled on to a Collector vessel beyond the Korlus system. The turians were destroyed, but not before they crippled the vessel. I need you to board that ship and get some hard data on the Collectors. Find us a way to their home world.?

?If it?s a turian patrol, aren?t the turians sending a squadron??

?They are. But we intercepted the message, and I?ve slipped a few false reports into turian communications. the Normandy is near. You?re close enough that you can be in and out before they realise what?s going on.?

?A standard turian patrol is only four vessels, three light frigates and a leader. How?d they take a Collector vessel??

?Reports indicate the hull?s intact, but all systems seem to be offline. I?m not saying it won?t be dangerous, but we can?t let an opportunity like this slip by.?

?Send the co-ordinates. We?ll check it out.?

?Already sent. Once you?re on board, establish an uplink with EDI. She?ll mine their data for information regarding the Omega 4 Relay. Good luck, Shepard. Illusive Man, out.?


We?re out of Nos Astra within an hour. Estimated flight time is nine hours, so if we?re quick we won?t miss Miranda?s sister?s excursion. And even when I offered, Miranda was not going to miss out on this. ?It?s what we came to do, Commander. Personal matters can wait.?


The Collector vessel appears to be dead in space when the Normandy approaches. EDI reports on what the Normandy?s scanners are seeing. ?The vessel appears to be dead in space. Minimal energy signatures. Drives off line. No active emissions.?

?That thing is massive.? Joker sounds slightly intimidated. ?How the hell did the turians take it down??

?Could it be the one we engaged on Horizon?? It occurs to me that?s possible. ?If so, the Gardian batteries already damaged it.?

?Shepard, there are no visible signs of damage on this side of the ship.?

?Well, we?re coming up on it. Better get down to the shuttle bay, Commander.?

?Stay in contact.?


?Something wrong, Grunt?? He?s pacing around, looking as if he?s about to hit something.

?I don?t know!? He almost glares at me. ?I feel this? anger, all the time! And I don?t like it. When we?re in combat, I can control it, but the rest of the time? I want anger to come when it?s my choice.?

?Is their anything in your imprints which suggests an explanation?? We?re going into combat, and I?ll trust his judgement that he can stay in control, but this isn?t really like Grunt. He?s a very thoughtful Krogan - much like Wrex.

?No. Nothing. Either Okeer didn?t know about it, or he didn?t think it worth mentioning.?

?EDI, do the Normandy?s medical files have any information about Krogan??

?Limited, Shepard. I will search them for any explanation.?

?You won?t find one.? Grunt sounds annoyed. ?We suffered the Genophage. We don?t leave medical information about Krogan lying around.?

?All right. I don?t know when we?ll have time to do it, but we?ll pay a visit to an old friend of mine. He will help, I hope.?

?Who?? Grunt sounds curious.

?Urdnot Wrex.? Tali only takes on guess to get it.

?Hmph. Well, we?ll see.?


Part of me wonders why we take the shuttle over to the Collector ship, but if we have to make a hasty exit I suppose it?s faster than space-walking. Inside, it?s all oddly organic. The tunnels are round, with walls that have ridges in them and seem to be quite flexible, and that have ?veins? running through them. In a few places there?s a sticky liquid falling from the ceiling. There are puddles on the floors.

Grunt remarks on it. ?Never seen a ship like this one.?

Tali does too. ?It?s like a giant insect hive.?

From EDI comes valuable information. ?Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with Collectors databanks. Passing the information to your hard suit computer.?


It?s a very empty insect hive, for a while. As we?re moving through, EDI contacts us again. ?Shepard, I have compared this ship to the one encountered on Horizon. Their EM signatures are identical.?

?Maybe the defence towers did soften it up for the turians.?

?Perhaps the missing colonists are on board.? Tali sounds excited.

?Unless they?re dead.? Grunt? doesn?t/

It?s pretty much confirmed when we come across some pods a little way down the corridor. ?These are like the pods you came across on Horizon. Except they?re empty.? Tali may be wondering what happened to the colonists.

?They?re small.? Grunt stares at one of the pods. ?Like my tank. Bet they begged for mercy.?

We find out why a little later, when Tali notices something. ?What happened here?? She sounds disgusted, as we come across a pile of corpses.

?Lots of dead meat.? Grunt sounds disgusted for a moment, then thoughtful. ?Is anyone else hungry??

?They must have been used for testing.? Tali sounds as if she?s trying to be dispassionate. ?If this was a control group, they would have been discarded at the end of the experiment.?

?There are worse things than death.? I?ve just seen one of them. ?Like being a test subject for twisted aliens.?

?I know you?re right. But it doesn?t make me feel any happier.? Nor me, Tali.

Further in, we come across some actual machinery. Tali and I scan it, in the hope it?ll give us some information about the Collectors, or at least some knowledge of their technology. Nearby, there are more medical experiments; except these involve a dismembered Collector. We unlock the nearby terminal. ?EDI, I?m uploading the data from this terminal. Can you figure out what the Colelctors were doing??

?Analysing.? There?s a short delay, then EDI replies. ?The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity.?

?What? Why? Are they looking for similarities??

?I have no hypothesis on their motivations. All I have are the preliminary results. They reveal something remarkable. A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans.?

?My god.? It?s a big leap of faith, but I make it. ?The Protheans didn?t vanish. They?re just working for the Reapers now.?

?These are no longer Protheans, Shepard. Their genes show signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them to serve their needs.?

?You?d think someone would have noticed this before.? Perhaps too big a leap of faith.

?No-one has had a chance to study Collector genetic structure in this much detail before. I have already been able to compare markers with ten thousand strands from Prothean ruins. This particular Collector appears to be descended from protheans from the Styx Theta cluster. But there are signs of extreme alteration. Three fewer chromosomes. Reduced heterochromatin structure. Elimination of superfluous ?junk? sequences.?

?The Reapers didn?t exterminate the protheans. They turned them into monsters and made them into slaves.?

?No species should have to suffer through that.? Tali sounds distressed.

?Whatever they were, we have to deal with them. Let?s move on.? Off to the side, I scan another computer. A list of enhanced weaponry designs comes up, which I take for the Normandy.


?Look, on the ceiling. More of those pods.? Tali points them out.

?Hundreds of them. Wonder how many are full.? Grunt is checking around for enemies, as much as looking at them.

?Too many.? Tens of thousands of colonists went missing on Horizon.

?Shepard, scans reveal no life signs in the pods. It is possible any colonists died when the ship lost primary power.?

We move on through the ship, encountering a few more pieces of machinery but still nothing alive. Then Joker gets in contact with us. ?Commander, you gotta hear this. On a hunch, I had EDI run on data comparison of this ship.?

EDI continues. ?I compared the EM signature of this ship to records from the destruction of the original Normandy two years ago. They are an exact match.?

?The same ship dogging me for two years? That?s not a coincidence.?

?Watch your back, Commander. Something doesn?t add up here.?

Joker is right. Something isn?t right about this whole scenario. While I try to puzzle it our, we move up a steep slope. At the top, the corridor opens out into a huge room that quite possibly runs most of the length of the ship. On the ceiling are more pods. Not hundreds, or thousands of them; millions or hundreds of millions. At the far end of the room, something almost like a sun blazes.

I think Grunt is impressed. ?That?s big.?

Tali sounds frightened. ?They could take every human in the Terminus systems and not have enough to fill a tenth of these pods.? She draws a deep breath. ?They?re going for Earth.?

?Not if we stop them.? My tone is grim. Ahead, I can see a platform near the edge of the central chamber, unlike anything we?ve seen before on this ship. We head down to it, and Tali seems to recognise the technology. ?On the platform. That?s a control panel.?

Grunt is looking around, warily. ?There should be dead Collectors. Something is wrong.?

I?m feeling it too, but we have to go down there. The platform we step onto is hexagonal, with a series of electronic panels in the middle and other structures around the edge, which look as if the would link to some of the ones on the other side . Possibly if more platforms were brought together, they?re part of how the keep structural integrity. Tali and I start the process of connecting EDI to the Collector ship. ?EDI, I?m setting up the datalink. See if you can get anything out of the Collector databases.?

?Data mine in progress, Shepard.?

For a few moments there?s nothing to report on. Then the terminal on the platform turns off, and I hear Joker swear on the ship, ?What was that??

?Joker, what just happened??

?We just had a power surge up here. We were knocked off line for a few seconds.?

?I was able to shunt most of the overload into non-critical systems.? EDI pauses for a moment. ?Shepard, this was not an accident. This is a trap.?

The platform starts to move, lifting and flying towards the centre of the chamber. ?EDI, we could do with some help here.? I wave to Grunt and Tali to take cover. In the distance, something is moving.

?I am having difficulty maintaining the connection. Someone else is in the system.?

The moving things in the distance come closer. More platforms. And they?ve got Collectors on them.

?I have re-established the connection. It may take some time to regain control.?

The platforms link together. ?Assuming direct control?. One of the collectors rises, and it?s skin blisters as energy pours into it. A scion fires on us. ?Try to hurry it up, EDI.?

?15% completed.?

Harbinger comes over a wall, into the teeth of incendiary fire from Grunt and my assault rifles. The scion blasts away at anything showing it?s head. Another collector fires on us with his particle beam. Tali?s drone engages them. Two more platforms are coming in, and this might be a nasty fight. A Collector trying to outflank us goes over the edge of the platforms when I hit it with a concussive shot. Harbinger dies under a hail of fire. The first scion goes down, but there?s another on the other platforms. More collectors fire on us as they link up. ?We are Harbinger?. Oh, and there?s him. He?s throwing biotic energy around quite aggressively, despite awful tactics. ?You cannot resist us.? We?ve done okay so far. ?This is what I live for.? Grunt, you?re so uncomplicated. Damn good to have around in a fight, mind you. ?Nothing?s faster than Chikktika vas Paus.? I wonder if it?s just Tali who names her combat drone. Damn, but this is an awkward fight. New enemies joining in constantly, often from a position where they can fire on you from behind. ?Do not damage Shepard?s body?. I wonder what he wants with me. Probably something really kinky. ?I have control.? What was that EDI? Oh hang on. ?You must manually reconnect me to the command console.? Well, we have run out of enemies. For now. We move down to where Tali can do so.

?I have regained control of the platform, Shepard.?

?I knew you wouldn?t let us down, EDI.?

?I always work at optimal capacity.? If it?s not my imagination, she?s an embarrassed computer.

?Did you find anything that?ll help us get to the Collector homeworld?? The platform starts heading back towards the walls, where there?s a passage.

?I have obtained data that may enable us to pass through the Omega 4 relay safely. I have also found the turian distress call that originally brought us here. It is most unusual.?

?How so??

?Turian distress calls use a level of secondary encryption to assure recipients that they are genuine. In this example it is corrupt.?

?Well, I think we can assume the Collectors sent us as bait to bring us here.?

?That is not the anomaly. The error was detected using Cerberus decryption software. The Illusive Man wrote it. It is not possible that he would regard it as a genuine distress call.?

I?ll kill that bastard. ?The son-of-a-bitch. He set us up.?

?We should have expected it. Cerberus can?t be trusted.? Tali sounds unusually dour.

?EDI, get us out of here.? We?ll get away, and then worry about TIM.

?Sending coordinates for shuttle extraction now. I will do what I can to assist you by interfering with the Collector?s internal communications and sensors. Be advised; this may not be completely effective.?

?Do your best, EDI.? The platform is close to the passage entrance.

?Commander, we?ve got another problem. The Collector ship is powering up.? Joker understandably sounds concerned. ?Better hurry it up. I?m not losing another Normandy.?

I turn to Tali and Grunt. ?Let?s move.?

Edited by Bluenose, 30 August 2010 - 07:28 AM.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 41
Unwanted party guests; leaving now

I really don?t think the Collectors want us to leave very much. Their policy with trespassers involves shooting, blasting with particle accelerators, smashing around biotically, mugging with swarms of husks, blowing up with a new suicide-bomber husk variety, and a variety of other nasty tricks. As the trespasser in question, I feel obliged to object to this procedure with the weapons at my disposal.

It doesn?t start exactly ferociously, with a few Collectors flying in as we hurry down a corridor. Harbinger shows up, of course, with his hilarious catchphrases; ?assuming direct control?, ?direct intervention is necessary?, and his rather stalker-ish fascination with me personally, ?if I must tear you apart, Shepard, I will?. These aren?t much of a problem.

Further out, it gets harder. They?ve obviously identified the route we?ll have to face, and are waiting for us. They attempt to stop us at a point where we enter a chamber and find a group in front of us. The nearest cover is at the bottom of a slope, and there are more in position to move along the part of the chamber at the top of the slope. They?ve got a couple of particle beam armed Collectors on standing pillar sections of ship, and a sizeable number of collector infantry backing them up with assault rifle fire. If we move into cover, more will outflank us.

We head up the slope, and find cover there. Whatever you can say about Collector technology (it?s excellent), or their individual capabilities (not so impressive, except for the possessed ones), they really are dreadful soldiers. They attempt to go on with the plan, even if the conditions make it not workable. Which means a group of Collector infantry attempt to move in on our position, apparently because where we are now is where they?re supposed to fire at us from. We do get a slight interruption. ?Assuming direct control.? Him again. He takes over one of the ones positioned near the entrance, and promptly decides the best thing to do is come towards us. ?You cannot resist.? Considering that his actions mean he?s walking up a slope with no cover, against three people with rather nasty weaponry, that might not be in accord with what actually happens. Not that it seems to bother him. ?Kill one, and a hundred will replace it?. Though not immediately. The others eventually realise we aren?t going to walk into their carefully planned ambush, and attempt to come after us. Close range shotgun fire, particularly from Grunt?s brick of a gun, disposes of them.

The next encounter is a little more problematic. EDI is giving us directions. ?Head for the exit in the centre of the wall opposite your entry point.? Well, I would. Except that there?s some things in the way. Specifically, ten or so husks, a couple of Collectors, and a Praetorian. I snipe the Collectors immediately, and then the husks rush us. Normally their numbers wouldn?t be a problem, but this time we?ve got a Praetorian floating around the room shooting at us even while we?re trying to deal with them. We have to stay in cover as much as possible, but shooting husks that approach us means poking your head out. Several get into close combat, and while Grunt and I don?t find this much of a problem, Tali gets hurt badly. I get my shields blown down by Praetorian particle beams when I move to help her, but I don?t mind that. While she stays in cover, Grunt and I move around the room to try and flank the Praetorian. It seems really determined to shoot at me, which we manage to turn into an advantage. I start retreating away from it, using cover as much as I can. It follows, and continues firing at me. Meanwhile, Grunt, Tali?s drone, and Tali herself whittle away at its barrier and armour. While it can regenerate its barrier by slamming into the ground, which also sets off a shockwave, the armour doesn?t regenerate. And with everyone armed with rapid fire weapons, a barrier is something we?re really good at dropping. It doesn?t die quickly, but with nothing else in the room in support it does die. We make for the door, and then hit a slight snag. It closes in front of us.

?EDI, we?ve got a problem here.?

?Yes. Failure of firewall 1358. Rerouting systems through firewall 3523. One moment.?

Humming would be inappropriate. And rather pointless. I wait restlessly. Then EDI comes back. ?I am opening the door to your right. I will keep it open as long as possible.?

?Guess we need to hurry.? We do, dashing through the door before it can close on us. ?EDI, directions??

?Carry on along this passage. Go up the slope, turn left, and follow the passage to the left.?

Up the slope we start. Then I hear wing beats. ?Find cover!? I follow my own advice, finding myself ducked down with Tali behind some sort of ridge in the floor. Collectors drop out of the sky, setting up to fire on us. A sniper round takes out the one in the most dangerous position, and Harbinger makes his entrance. ?I will show you true power.? Will that be before or after Grunt and I empty a clip from our assault rifles into your chest? Chikktika flushes one of the dangerous particle-beam armed Collectors out of cover to die in the open, and the last gets to experience the joy of encountering a charging Krogan.

Who then ducks into cover. ?More of them, Shepard.? He indicates a position on the right hand side of the room. Tali and I go after them. If we?d tried to go directly for the exit, we?d have been caught between these two and another small group (backed by a Scion) near our intended way out. Instead, we mop them up in three stages, the two Collectors first; ?This is what you face? notwithstanding. As they fall, the other three attempt to enter the room, only this time it?s them that are in a crossfire; ?Why do you resist us, Shepard??, well that?s because it?s fun, Harby. The scion attempts to stand in the doorway, but its tough hide and powerful gun don?t stop us shooting it to bits.

We move into the next corridor, and Joker calls us. ?Commander, you need to hurry it up. That ship is close to starting up.? I make for the corner and a fast jog, and then hear groaning coming from ahead of us. Husks. Some of them the exploding variety, marked by their redder skin tone. Perhaps the largest wave I?ve ever seen comes at us. There?s no cover in the passage, but they aren?t shooting at us so that doesn?t matter so much. Our shotguns roar, as much as possible targeting the ones that explode. They go off, shredding others, which still crawl towards us on the stumps of their bodies. Another volley, and another, and another. Still more of them surge towards us. I reach for a heat sink to reload my shotgun, and there?s none left. I pull out my pistol, handier in these spaces than a rifle, and fire. A husk is knocked back, then another goes down, Tali and Grunt are still firing as fast as their guns will stand, and then the wave breaks upon us. Grunt smashes one down, and charges another. Crushed between the wall and 350 kilos of charging Krogan, the creature bursts. I kick the legs from under one, and fire a round into the back of its head. My pistol clicks as another grabs me and tries to drag me to the floor. I head butt it instinctively, and that staggers it enough for me to shove it away. Just in time for Tali to push her shotgun against its rib cage and pull the trigger. Grunt tackles the last husk, and suddenly the corridor is silent except for our breathing.

Apart from my sniper rifle, which isn?t good when fired on the move, I have one last thing with ammunition. Anything getting in our way between this place and our shuttle will get an anti-tank missile fired at them. Fortunately, we?re nearly there. As we?re moving down the slope, Grunt looks across the corridor towards an open section of wall. ?Isn?t that near the place we came in??

It is. ?Hurry.? We start down the corridor at a fast jog.

?Commander,? Joker sounds frantic. ?We have to leave. The Collector vessel is on line.?

Our jog turns into a flat run. The shuttles only a few yards away when the first collector bullet whines over my shoulder. I turn round, aim, and fire once. Firing anti-tank missiles at infantry wouldn?t make me popular with Alliance accountants, but it scatters the Collectors. Then we pile into the shuttle, and the pilot breaks every safety regulation in the book getting us off the Collector ship and into the Normandy cargo bay. That?s one set of cargo palettes that won?t be used again. Almost before we?ve stopped skidding, I?m out of the door and into the elevator to the command deck. ?Joker, get us out of here.?

Why these elevators are so slow is a mystery to me. I can feel the Normandy moving, even through the inertial compensators. What I haven?t felt is that slight stomach-sinking moment when a ship goes FTL. As the elevator opens, I dash towards the bridge. Joker?s hands are flying across his panel as he puts the Normandy through an erratic series of manoeuvres. The Collector vessel is just getting under way, and swinging round onto our course. ?EDI, get us out of here.?

?I need a course and destination before I can do that.? Prim,with a proper regard for procedure, and in this case utterly wrong. The Collectors open fire. Our shields hold.

Joker screams at her. ?Anywhere that isn?t here.?

?Very well. Activating Tantalus core.? Nothing can shoot at a ship in FTL flight. As the Normandy escapes, the Collector vessel slows to a halt.



Having made sure we were on course for a quick return to Illium, I showered and changed. And then I headed down to the comms room. I?ve got things I want to say to the Illusive Man. And it appears he has things he wants to say to me. Before I get there, Joker calls me over the intercom. ?Commander, we?ve got the Illusive Man on line. He wants to spek to you, and I imagien you?ve got things you want to say to him.?

Damn right I have. Of course, being the Illusive Man he has to get the first word in. ?Shepard. You succeeded. EDI?s trawl of the Collector databanks told us how to get through the Omega 4 Relay.?

?You set us up. You knew that wasn?t a genuine turian distress call, and you let us fly right into a Collector trap.?

?We can?t wait while the Collectors remove every human from the Terminus system colonies. We have to take some chances.?

?You think that justifies it? You should have warned us what we were going into!?

?You might have approached the mission differently if I had. Anything might have given away that you were prepared for an ambush, and then we wouldn?t have recovered the data. Shepard, I was sure you could handle it. Particularly with EDI along. The Collectors cannot have anticipated her.?

?Damn it.? I rein in my temper, for now. ?Damn you for being right. What did EDI find out??

?Information on how the Collectors can survive passing through the Omega 4 relay. She just confirmed their ships have a special Identify Friend/Foe system that the relays react to. They use an encrypted and more advanced system that minimizes the normal variation when ships pass through a relay.?

?We were just on a Collector ship. Why didn?t you tell us then??

?As I said,? his tone is patient, ?EDI just confirmed it. Besides, you wouldn?t have had time to search the ship while you were there.?

?So what do we do now??

?An Alliance science team has been doing some research, and recently confirmed that the great rift on Klendagon is the remains of a mass driver impact. I sent out a team searching to look for either the weapon, or the target. They found both. The weapon is non-functional, but finding it allowed us to search possible firing trajectories. They discovered the target; a thirty-seven million year old Reaper vessel, trapped in the atmosphere of a brown giant.?

?A brown giant is a star that didn?t quite make it, isn?t it??

?Simply put, but accurate. Atmospheric turbulence will be massive, and temperatures extreme. The reaper appears to be putting out a minimal mass effect field, hopefully an emergency feature to stop it falling further into the atmosphere. I sent a team in a week ago. They dropped out of contact yesterday. I will attempt to regain contact, but your team is the only one I can spare to go in that has any chance of success.. In the meantime, I suggest you explain to your team that I didn?t attempt to sacrifice them.?

?Another derelict ship, huh. The only reason I believe you is because I know you?re too smart to use the same trick again so soon. EDI, get the team together. We?ve got things to discuss.?


Jacob sounds angry: ?So the Illusive Man didn?t throw us to the wolves. Could have fooled me.?

By contrast, Mordin is philosophical. ?Lied to us. Used us. Needed access to the Collector data banks. Necessary risk.?

?I agree. That still means we have to decide what we do with the information.?

?My information is accurate, Shepard.? EDI sounds slightly hurt. ?Also, I have used Collector navigational data to identify the location of their planet. It is here.? A map of the galaxy springs up on the display, and EDI projects her estimated location onto it as we all stare.

?That can?t be right.? Miranda is first to react.

?EDI doesn?t make factual errors.? I disagree with her, mildly. ?The Collectors are based in Sagittarius B.?

?How?? Jacob doesn?t seem to believe it. ?That area is just a mass of black holes and exploding suns. No planet could possibly survive there.?

?Artificial star base. Protected by powerful mass effect shield, radiation shield. Difficult to build, but conceptually possible.?

?Even the Collectors don?t have that sort of technology!?

?Remember, the Collectors are just servants of our real enemies. The Reapers built the mass relays, built the Citadel. If anyone could build a base in the galactic core, it would be them.?

?Well, we know where we have to go.? Jacob seems to have accepted it. ?I say we go after this derelict Reaper now.?

?I disagree.? Miranda rarely is so blunt with Jacob. ?the team still needs strengthening. We should concentrate on that.?

?Miranda?s right.? At least, I think she is and I?m the person making the call. ?The more people we have on our side committed to the mission, the better our chances will be. Concentrate on team building for now. Then we worry about this derelict Reaper. Dismissed.?

While everyone else files out, Mordin stays behind. ?Shepard. Need to speak to you..?

?What is it, Professor??

?Important news. Know you?re busy. Have to deal with Collectors. Planning attack. Too important to wait. Just received data, still processing, analyzing likely scenarios. Not sure how to begin. Too much intel. You remember our talk? My work on genophage modifications.?

?Yes.?

?Blood Pack mercenaries captured former team member. Maelon last seen on Tuchnka. Might torture him. Set an example. Recovering Maelon would be personal favour for me.?

?Do you think they found out your team updated the Genophage??

?Unclear. No way to determine until we get to Tuchanka.?

?We?ll finish up on Illium and head for Tuchanka. See whether we can find your team mate.?

?Appreciate it. My assistant. My student. Want to see him safe. Maelon last seen outside Urdnot territory. Scouts might have seen Blood Pack. Talk to them or clan chief.?



?Commander, I was so worried when you were on the Collector vessel. Thank goodness for EDI.?

?That sounds like more than just professional concern, Kelly.?

?You?re more than my commander, you?re my friend. EDI brought you back. If she had a body, I?d give her a big hug.?

?I can stand in as proxy for her, if you like.? I smile at her.

And she hugs me. ?I really wish we had time for a real talk, Commander. I?d like to get to know you better.?

I think for a moment. ?EDI, can you see if Mess Sergeant Gardner can rustle something up. I?m having a meal in my quarters with Yeoman Chambers.?

?Of course, Shepard.?

?That?ll give us a chance to talk.? If this wasn?t such a public place, I think Kelly would be squealing in delight. As it is, she manages to retain a vaguely professional demeanour long enough for us to reach the elevator.


It?s the following morning, and we?re approaching Illium. When I get into the CiC, yawning, Kelly is already present. ?Goodness. I haven?t stayed up so late since college. But I had a marvellous time talking to you.?

?I enjoyed it.? It didn?t even get so personal that I want to throw you out an airlock.

?While I was there, I noticed your fish tank.? Hey, I?m allowed to have hobbies. ?It looks like you?ve put a lot of effort into it. If you?d like, I could make sure to feed the fish and anything else that needs doing when you?re off the ship.?

?Oh. I?d appreciate that, Kelly.?

?Then I?ll do it. Now, was there anything else.?

?No. I just need to check my messages before we reach Illium.?

From: Chorban
I hope this address still works. I promised to send you intel on the keepers if I found anything, and this is important. See, those scans you took? It turns out the keepers are bio-engineered...and based on my comparisons to some of that material from Saren's flagship Sovereign, they were engineered millions of years ago...by the same people who made Sovereign!
You may not understand how important this is, but it suggests that the Citadel wasn't really made by the Protheans! It may have been made by something far older, with the keepers as organic guardians. And what's more, based on my genetic readings, they're supposed to react to...something, some signal or something...about every 50 thousand years. You can measure genetic variances; it's a bit like comparing rings on a tree to see the drought years.
Whoever did this...well, around the last time this signal went off would be around the time the Protheans disappeared. And it's scheduled to go off sometime around now. If any old tech still works, they could have some nasty surprises waiting for us.
Just thought you'd want to know. Nobody here on the Citadel will listen to me.
-Chorban

He's right. Someone should look into this.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 42
We meet again, Agent Verner

From: Lizbeth Baynham
Hey, Shepard
I heard what you did on Illium, and I wanted to thank you for helping out Zhu?s Hope one more time. We?re surviving, if barely. Most of ExoGeni left, but I stayed behind as an attache, and to make sure nothing was left of the Thorian. We don?t need that problem again.
Also, I?m really, really sorry I shot at you. I?m pretty sure I said that, but I just wanted to reiterate it.
Good luck, and thanks. Zhu?s Hope is alive again because of what you did.
Sincerely,
Lizbeth Baynham

From: Olar, Han
Shepard.
They say you?re alive. That you cheated death. That sending you this isn?t just a pointless exercise as part of my therapy. They say a lot of things.
I?m still alive. She still isn?t. I heard you killed Benezia. Nicely done. Another woman I helped kill, if my information did any good.
They want me to thank you. The rachni would have killed us all if you hadn?t shown up.
It would have been right.
Why me and not her? Why did you show up then and not before?
They think that they can fix me.
But maybe you?re not really back. Maybe I died. Maybe I didn?t close that door in time. Maybe I held it open to give her a chance, and the rachni ripped my suit open, and I died of exposure there on Peak 15. Maybe I?m a martyr, and this is an ugly hallucination before a glorious afterlife.
But if I?m not, thank you.
Han Olar

When we return to Illium, there?s a Krogan waiting for us on the dock. ?Excuse me.? A very polite, soft spoken Krogan. ?I understand you were visiting the commercial shipping port recently. While you were there, did you by any chance forward a questionable shipping note to a Mister Thax??

?It seemed suspicious.? I shrug my shoulders. ?So I passed it on.?

?I am a representative for Mister Thax. He?s very grateful. Please accept this as a small token of his appreciation.? He transfers 1500 credits into my account.

?It was my pleasure.?

He nods politely at me. ?Have a pleasant day.? I watch, slightly bemused, as he walks away. What was that about?

In the news:
Alliance military officials report difficulties in meeting hiring quotas. Since Eden Prime, an initial surge in patriotic enlistments has been followed by a downturn, as the public remain sceptical that the Alliance can match Geth technology.

When I go into her office, Liara is working at her desk. ?Shepard. It?s good to see you again.? She reaches into a drawer, and I tense momentarily. ?Here.? Of course, it?s money rather than a gun she?s reaching for. ?It?s not much, but it will help you with your mission. Do you remember the Shadow Broker? With the data you got me, I may be able to find information caches about some of his agents.?

?Are you on the run from the Shadow Broker? Do you need my help?? What have you got yourself into?

?It would be truer to say the Shadow Broker is on the run from me. We crossed paths not long after you? died. Since then, I?ve been working to take him down. With this data, I?m a step closer.?

?Let me know if there?s anything I can do to help.? Please, ask for my help. Please.

?Thank you, Shepard. I will. Now, is there anything else you need??

?I?m looking for an assassin, Thane Krios.?

?The drell? Yes, my sources say he?s on Illium at the moment. He may be going after a business executive, Nassana Dantius.? That name sounds oddly familiar. ?He contacted an asari named Seryne. Seryne has an office in the cargo transfer levels. She may be able to tell you where Krios is.?

?That was all of the top of your head.? I want to laugh, that it matters to you.

?The world of intrigue is not that different from a dig site, Shepard. Except that the dead bodies still smell.?

?Thanks for the help. That?s all I needed to know.?

?Of course. If there?s anything else I can help you with, let me know.?

I?ve got to try. ?Liara, how are you??

?My work is going well. Thanks to the data you gave me, I now have more information about the Shadow Broker?s agents on Illium. In particular, his most powerful agent is someone named the Observer. Some of the data gives me an idea who that might be.?

?Damn it, Liara.? It?s utterly stupid, but I can?t help the outburst. ?I came here to talk to you, not to get involved in your stupid vendettas.?

?I?m so close, Shepard. I can feel it. I need your help with this. I don?t have the technical skill or resources to do this myself. I just need you to identify a target. The problem is, the Shadow Broker only refers to his agent by their race and profession.?

?I?ve narrowed down the list to five people.? Liara?s secretary Nyxeris has slipped into the room. ?A turian, a batarian, a salarian, a krogan, and a vorcha.?

?If you can refine the list, I?ll know where to strike.?

?I?ll reconstruct the data, and tell you what I find.? Even now, I?ll do anything you ask.

?Thank you, Shepard. When you find something, call me on the radio channel we used in the old days. I can?t risk handling this in person.?

?I?ll talk to you later.? I climb heavily to my feet. Coming back might have been a mistake, but I had to. I had to.


As we're going out, Tali asks a question. ?Why would the Shadow Broker leave messages on terminals anyone could read??

?Dead drops.? Miranda and I come out with it and the same time. Miranda looks quite surprised. ?How did you...?

?Special forces training isn't exactly comprehensive, but we cover the basics of 'Spook' stuff. You can probably explain it better than me, though.?

?All right.? Miranda starts to sound as if she's lecturing. ?Basically, the biggest risk for any sort of intelligence work is having one person picked up, and that leading to the whole chain going down. Or having one person observed, and then being watched to see who they meet. A dead drop is where you leave information in a predetermined place for someone else to pick it up. You don't have to know who it is, you might never see them, but it makes things a lot more secure. Particularly nowadays, since people can leave messages on a public-access terminal. Anyone can read them, but most people only look for ones that refer to them. So you put one on with someone who isn't present, and make sure the person receiving it knows to look for that particular name. After which they delete the message, or they can rely to another false name. Most groups involved in this sort of work have a database of false identities that people can use.?

Tali is certainly smart. ?And just deleting the message isn't enough. A skilled individual can recover deleted data.?

?Exactly. You've done it with Geth, this should be easy.?

?All right, Shepard. Let's help Liara out.?


It isn't that hard to find the relevant terminals. They're located at various locations around the trading floor. While Miranda and I attempt to gossip casually, Tali hacks the records with her omnitool. Searching the deleted records for particular data strings is harder, but well within her abilities. We gradually start to build up a picture of the Shadow Broker's agents, and their relationship with each other. Yet when it's done, I'm puzzled.

?None of this is really conclusive. We can identify agents, but which one is the Observer ??

?Actually, there is something here.? Miranda sounds pleased with herself. ?Look here, the Observer is referred to as female. 'I don't trust her judgment in this matter?. And from some of the other messages, we know the turian, the salarian, and the krogan are male.?

?Ooh.? Tali is also looking. ?The merchant is a man, too. But he can't be the krogan, or the turian, and the batarian works as a barman.?

?And the caretaker is male. He can?t be the salarian, and the krogan doesn?t like him. The turian has to be the smuggler or the mercenary. So he?s a vorcha. They?re all male, and the Observer is female.?

That?s odd. ?Liara?? I tap my communicator.

?Yes, Shepard.? She replies instantly.

?None of the leads you gave me are right. All these people are male, and the Observer is female. Something?s not right - who gave you this information??

?My assistant Nyxeris. Nyxeris gathered it for me.? There?s a pause, and then I hear Liara calling out. ?Nyxeris, could I see you in here for a moment.?

?Don?t take any action till we get there, Liara.? There?s a click from the communicator, and a sick feeling in my stomach. ?Liara? Hell. Let?s move.?

People in Illium are very polite. They get out of my way as I run across the trading floor with no problem. I?m sure that has nothing to do with me being in full battle gear with an assault rifle in my hands. Of course, I?m still too late.

?Shepard.? Liara is sat back at her desk, reading something. ?It?s good to see you again. Nyxeris had some interesting data hidden away. Thank you. I wouldn?t have caught her without you. I?m one step closer to the Shadow Broker, thanks to you. Here.? She passes over a credit chit. ?Nyxeris was very well compensated.?

?I?m not doing this for money!?

?Please, I insist. You need it more than I do.?

?Why did you tackle Nyxeris by yourself? We were only a minute away!?

?I can handle myself.? She sounds insulted. ?Nyxeris was very talented. I imagine that if she?d been ordered to assassinate me, I?d never have seen her coming. Her barriers needed practice, though. Practice I?m afraid she won?t be getting.?

?What are you going to do now?? Please, be sensible.

?Now, I gather information, peel away layes of lies, and shine light into the shadows. And when I find the Shadow Broker, I hit him with a biotic field so powerful that what?s left of his body will fit into a cup.?

?You?ve spent two years of your life hunting the Shadow Broker. Liara, that?s insane.? He got a spy in your office who you didn?t detect. Don?t throw your life away.

?You don?t know what he did!? She jumps up and starts pacing the room. ?You couldn?t. You were gone. And we all did what we had to do, after that.? She glares at me for a moment. ?Let?s not argue. I don?t have enough friends left to lose one.? She sits back down. ?Is there anything else you need help with??

?Goodbye, Liara.? Don?t die, Liara. Don?t die. Not over this.

?Goodbye, Shepard. If I find out anything you can use, I?ll let you know.?

In the news:
The prison ship Purgatory has been destroyed after an apparent riot involving prisoners and guards. Ships are travelling to the area to recover survivors and life pods.

The Eclipse Bar overlooks the trading floor. There?s a rather disgruntled asari outside. ?Watch yourself if you go in there. Some human is causing trouble. He?s demanding that I sing the place over to him.?

?Is there anything I can do??

?Oh, no. That crap might fly on Omega, but this is Illium. I?m hooking up security cams, now. If he or anyone else causes trouble, I?ll have their asses arrested.?


?Are you holding out on me?? The voice gives it away. ?I?m a man on the edge.?

?Uh, huh.? The asari tending the bar does not sound impressed.

?I got nothing to lose.?

?Uh, huh.? She carries on wiping down the bar, while he rants.

?I?ll do anything to get the job done.?

?Is that?? Tali whispers to me.

?I?ll go allthe way without a second thought.?

?Uh, huh.? The bartender replies to the human, and I reply to Tali. I start walking up behind him.

?You want to see how far I?ll go? I learned how to shove a gun in people?s face from,? He notices the shadow of someone coming up behind him, and turns to me. His face is a picture of shock. ?Commander Shepard??

?Hey, if you know this idiot, can you rein him in before I slap his ass with a singularity??

He?s wearing armour. With an N7 insignia. It looks like the slightly older model in use two years ago. ?Shepard? Is it really you? It?s me.? Yes, I know. ?Conrad Verner. We met on the Citadel? I wanted to become a Spectre.? Suddenly, he remembers something. ?Oh, and then you shoved a gun in my face! You showed me what it meant to be truly extreme.? I sent you running away crying. ?I learned that lesson well. So you?re alive, huh?? He poses, trying to seem nonchalant. ?I hear it goes like that in the biz. Why don?t you sit back and watch how it?s done? I?ve got some asses to kick.?

?Conrad, why are you acting like me?? I could shoot him, I really could.

?What, are you crazy? I?m nothing like you.? He?s right about that. ?I?m not a Spectre working for the Council. I?m on my own, backed only by my wits and my nerves.? I hear Tali giggling behind me. ?No rules, no laws, just whatever it takes to get the job done. I?m not like you at all.?

?Where did you get that armour??

?Oh, they make some pretty convincing replicas these days, if you?re willing to pay. Getting the whole get up was really expensive, but my wife was very supportive.? The bartender stares at him from behind. ?She even paid for my shuttle ticket off Earth.? Behind him, the asari shakes her head and puts her hand to her face.

?So you just wander the galaxy righting wrongs.?

?Hey, don?t say it like that. I talk to people, you know. Ask them if they have big problems that only I can solve. You?d be surprised how many people are just hang around waiting for someone to talk to them. Sometimes I poke through crates in back alleys too. You know, for extra credits.?

?Do you have any actual combat training??

?I?m saving the galaxy, Shepard! I don?t have time for training. Don?t you get it? You were a big jerk, but you saved the galaxy and showed other races that humans mattered? and then you died! The galaxy needed someone like you, Shepard. We all did. I had to do something.?

?Why were you trying to get the deed for this bar, Conrad??

?Oh, that.? He leans over conspiratorially, but forgets to lower his voice. ?This bar is actually a front for a Red Sand dealership. I need to get the deed to crack the ring.?

?What?? The bartender yells at him. ?Who the hell told you that??

?The owner of that weapons store near the carport. She?s actually an undercover cop! She told me about it when I introduced myself.?

?Listen, crap-for-brains. First, we don?t sell Red Sand, second, Red Sand is legal on Illium. You just need a licence.?

?I?ll talk to this undercover cop, find out what?s going on.? Conrad, there are things living under rocks on unnamed planets that are smarter than you.

?Thank you.? The bartender sounds relieved. ?If I kill annoying customers, it usually causes property damage. That comes out of my pay.?

?Just let me know if you need any help, Chepard.? I feel sorry for the bartender, as Conrad takes a seat nearby. Where he can be shot from any direction, and can?t watch more than one.



?Can I help you with something?? The asari at Gateway Personal Defence is fairly typical, for Illium.

I just talked to an old friend. Conrad Verner.? I?m going to have to wash my mouth out after lying like this. ?You told him the Eternity lounge was a front for a red sand dealer.?

?Oh, you?re Conrad?s friend. Yes, that place is really dangerous. I should know, I?m an undercover cop. Did you get me the deed to the bar?? She sounds really excited. ?I, uh, I need the deed to stop the red sand dealers.?

?I softened up the bartender for you, but you need to go in and finish the deal off.? In front of the security cameras, please.

?Really?? She folds her arms. ?Are you sure??

?Absolutely. You just need to close the deal. Go in, be tough, and let them know you?re with me. They?ll hand the deed right over.?

?Wow. That?s great. Here, I?ll set you up with a discount at the kiosk. Thanks for the help.?


?Damn it! This is just a misunderstanding.? The weapons dealer is having a conversation with the bar owner and some police, when we get back to Eternity.

?Tell it to the judge. My surveillance vids caught your extortion attempt from four different angles.?

I slip into a corner. ?I was misled! I was told that you had agreed to sell!?

?Take her away,? the owner waves to the police, ?before I have my bartender throw her out.?

After they?re gone, I go over to Conrad. ?What happened? The undercover cop from the weapons booth just got arrested!?

?She wasn?t a cop. She was a deep cover operative from a terrorist cell. I?d never have found her if not for you.?

?R? Really??

?Really. You did a great job, Conrad. Now how about you go home? Let me take it from here.?

?Can do, Shepard. Thanks for not being too mad. It?s really good to have you back.?


?Thanks for getting rid of that idiot for me.? The bartender sounds pleased enough. ?If I kill annoying customers, it tends to reduce our takings. That comes out of my pay.?

?You didn?t seem too bothered by him.?

?My father was a krogan. They say we don?t get stuff from our fathers, but I?ve always had an attitude like dads.?

?Your father was a krogan??

?Yeah. Fought in the rachni wars. Ma was a commando. Fought in the krogan rebellions. Well, I say fought, but it was more ?blew things up? and ?sabotaged things? than fought.?

?That must have made for an interesting relationship.?

?Oh, they didn?t realize they?d been on opposite sides for years. They met years after the wars were over.? She laughs. ?Every so often, ma would put on her old commando leathers and dad would put on his armour, and they?d act out meeting during the war. Goddess, that was embarrassing.?

?They never found out.?

?They did, eventually. I was about a hundred and fifty, shaking my ass in some sleazy bar, when they called me. They told me they both loved me, but they had to have this out. They made me promise to love whichever of them survived. Trouble is, neither of them survived. So there I was, left to make my own way. I ran around the galaxy for a few years, had a couple of kids, even one with another asari, and then one day my figure started to change and I realised I was hitting the matriarch stage.? She laughs. ?You know what asari matriarchs are, right? Wise, ancient, forward thinking, advisors, the people who ?guide the destiny of the asari race?.? She makes a sweeping gesture with her hand. ?Well, I thought if I was supposed to be an advisor I should advise, so I went to Thessia. And I talked to the other matriarchs, and told them what I thought. That we were stupid letting our daughters and grand-daughters run around the galaxy selling themselves, in bars or as mercenaries. That the galaxy didn?t go ten years without some sort of war or other, take this recent little incident over your colony of Eden Prime, and that sitting on our asses talking about it wouldn?t stop it. That we should be educating our kids, getting them into professions, expanding our economy and our settlements. That we shouldn?t just be carrying on using things the Protheans left behind. We should be trying to figure out how the mass relays work, how we could build some of our own, how to make better ship drives, better communications technology, all sorts of things.?

?What happened?? This is fascinating. And wonderful. I?m sure I?ve got a big grin on my face.

?After they laughed the blue off my ass? I came here. People still need advice, and ever since you humans starting coming around people think bartenders are going to have some for them.?

?Got any for me??

?Hmm, something wise. Don?t eat the peanuts; they?re for dextro- races like turians or quarians. At best, they?ll make you feel slightly sick. At worse, well, I once saw a Krogan drink a whole turian ale on a dare. No-one came out of that looking pretty.?

?Commander.? Miranda has come up quietly behind me. ?Lanteia is ready to see us.?

?Sounds like you?ve got business.? Well, yes. ?Come back when you?ve got some money you want to piss away.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 43
Hurray for happy endings

In the news:
The Shepard Scholarship has gone into effect, targeting low income children on Earth, where the most famous human in the galaxy allegedly had a difficult childhood. The scholarship has already helped several dozen young men and women escape from gangs to enrol in schools or the military.

?Miss Lawson. It?s good to see you. We might have a problem here.? Lanteia is a little darker than most asari, and has a calm manner.

?Is something wrong, Lanteia? Has my father discovered something??

?We believe so, Miss Lawson. He?s hired a group of Eclipse mercenaries for an operation, and they?re supposed to be deploying to the shuttle port in the next hour.?

?That?s when Orianna is going through.?

?We do have some good news. Niket is on Illlium. He?s offered to accompany Orianna through the port, if someone can draw off Eclipse.?

?Niket is?? Some names I don?t know here, though I?m assuming Orianna is the sister.

?He?s a friend. My oldest friend, really. I went to him when I escaped from my father. He?s never let me down.?

?Do you want to bring in any of your other resources on Illium, Miss Lawson??

?No, I don?t think so. You and Niket are the only ones I really trust.?

?So, what?s the plan now??

?You say Eclipse are deploying to the port in the next hour?? When Lanteia nods, Miranda continues. ?Right. We need to draw their attention. They can?t shoot us out of the sky in case Orianna is on board, so we can fly into the area. Once we?re there, we?ll do what we have to draw their attention.?

?All right. She?s your sister, Miranda. We?ll do it.?

?Thank you, Shepard. I never counted on Eclipse. But then, they never counted on you.?

In the news:
Another setback for human colonisation attempts, as the colony on Horizon has been attacked and seriously damaged. The Council has suggested the attacks are a tragic coincidence, perhaps a result of continuing conflict with batarian extremists. Investors in pre-fabricated buildings rejoice, however, as the attacks have seen a surge of orders for rebuilding contracts

.


?Seryna?? Her desk is on the way to the car hire, where we?ll get a car to the space port.

?Can I help you?? The asari looks mildly annoyed at the interruption.

?Possibly. I understand you?ve had contact with Thane Krios.? I pronounce the name carefully.

She looks at me for a moment. ?Asiya. Take my position.? One of the other asari comes over as she gets up. ?This way.? She beckons me, and we move over to a quiet corner. ?Yeah, Thane came to talk to me. I used to be head of security for Nassana Dantius, until recently. I finally found out she was having people killed to keep her position. When I confronted her about it, she fired me.?

?I don?t know why, but that name sounds familiar to me.?

?She had a diplomatic position on the Citadel up to a couple of years ago.?

?That?s right. She had me kill her sister? the slaver.?

?I thought that was just a rumour.? Seryna seems momentarily startled. ?Though I can believe it. She hasn?t changed much. No love lost in that family.?

?So is Thane going after her??

?Why, do you want to stop him??

?No. I just want to meet him.?

?Hmm. Well, it seems likely. He was asking me for information about Dantius Towers.? She points out the window, towards one of the taller skyscrapers. ?Nassana?s holed up in the penthouse there. She;s scared if someone gets a shot, they?ll kill her. She?s got a pile of Eclipse mercs guarding it, too. Thane was asking about the defences.?

?If you were head of security, you probably could tell him a lot.?

?Yeah. My suggestion was that he wouldn?t want to walk up to the front door. Dantius Industries is building a second tower, close to the first one and linked to it by a bridge. That?s still under construction. Salarian workers. There?s lots of machinery, and unfinished sections of wall and floor, which would make infiltration easier. And of course there?s no internal sensor grid set up. It?d be a lot easier to get in through there than through the main building.?

?Do you still have the access codes??

?I do. I gave them the Thane. I?ll warn you, it?ll still be a tough fight.?

?We can handle it.?

She looks us over, searchingly. ?All right. If nothing else, you?ll be a distraction for Thane. And anything that gets back at that bitch is good in my book. Meet me here this evening, after my shify finishes. I?ll take you round and get you in on the ground floor. The rest is up to you.?

In the news:
Local members of the Eclipse mercenary group are facing trouble tonight, after fighting broke out during a raid on a warehouse owned by the group. Detective Anaya is requesting tough sanctions against the group. Volus merchant Pitne For has been arrested as a result of evidence that came to light during the fighting.

We?re heading for the space port when Miranda looks out of the window. ?Damn it.? I follow her gaze. ?Eclipse mercenary gunships. They?ll be dropping troops off in the cargo handling area.?

?Does that change anything??

?No. We?ll follow them in. They won?t shoot us down in case Orianna is on board.? She aims our car at the roof the gunships are landing on. ?I hope.?

She isn?t quite right. Some of the troops open fire on us, though their leader manages to stop them. Our descent, while not perfect, doesn?t end in a fireball - just a simple crash. We get out, and since there?s no firing I move over to meet the man in charge of these mercenaries.

Miranda follows me. ?Since you?re not firing, I assume you know who I am.?

?Yeah. You?re the crazy bitch who kidnapped our bosses baby daughter.?

?Kidnapped? I suggest you take your men and go. This doesn?t concern you.?

?Think you?ve got it all lined up, huh. Captain Enyala?s already moving in on the kid. She knows about Niket. He won?t be helping you.? Behind the mercenary leader, his men are moving into positions along the edges of the roadway. There?s cover there, as well as at our end.

I try to but us a little time. ?Miranda, I thought you said Orianna was your twin.?

?That what she told you?? I think he believes I?m just some hired mercenary. ?No. She took our bosses baby daughter. He?s spent ten years looking for her.?

?It?s complicated, Shepard. We share the same DNA, not the same birthday/

?You took a baby from the richest guy in the galaxy, lady. I don?t know what your damage is, but you?re not getting away with it.?

?What did you mean about Niket not helping us?? Cargo rails are moving crates around above us. If there was one moving above that group of mercenaries at the right moment, well.

?Nothing you need worry about. Nobody?s going to get killed unless you do something stupid. You walk away now, the girl goes back to her father, everybody?s happy.?

?Everybody except my sister. And me.?

?Sounds like we should be talking to Captain Enyala, not her monkey.?

?You don?t want to talk to the captain.? He glares at me. ?She?s not as polite as I am. She?s the best commando I?ve ever seen. And she?s being paid a lot to stop you.?

?She gets in my way, she won?t live to spend it.? With some people that would be bravado. Miranda states it as a fact.

?I?m with Miranda. If you get in our way, this is going to get ugly.?

?Captain Enyala ordered us to give you one chance to leave. But all the time you?ve been talking, my men have been lining up shots.? Through you, you total idiot. You?re between us and them. ?The moment you start this, we?ll finish it.? That?s what I was waiting for overhead. I risk a quick glance at Miranda as the mercenary leader closes in on me. ?So why don?t you? erk.?

I drive my knee into his groin, and grab him round the neck with my left hand as a human shield. Miranda draws and fires before the other mercenary with him can decide how to react, and he goes down. I draw my pistol, and fire several rounds. At the far end of the alley, a shipping container tilts, crashes down with a thunderous roar, and explodes. The salarian engineer who has just started firing his pistol at us half way down the alley looks up in surprise. And then shock, as the torso of one of his companions comes slamming down next to him. I release my pistol, and with both hands free snap a mercenary neck.

?Come on, Eclipse.? There?s a few more alive, but they aren?t very good. Engineers, a biotic, and some infantry. After the asari commando tries a really stupid attempt to outflank Tali and Miranda and walks in front of my machine gun, we concentre on forcing them into the open either with Tali?s Chikktika or Miranda?s biotics. After which, I shoot them.

One of them has a functioning communicator, which Miranda grabs. ?I?ll see if I can tap into their communications.? At the end of the area, after a large pile of crates, is a cargo elevator. We?ll need to take it. As I wait for it to arrive, Miranda rather hesitantly starts to explain things. ?Shepard, I think I owe you an explanation. Orianna is my twin, genetically. But she?s not the same age as me. My father didn?t start her until I was fourteen years old.?

?You didn?t say we were after a kid.?

?She?s not a child, Shepard. She?s 19.? Miranda seems slightly annoyed with me. ?I took her with me when I left, but that was sixteen years ago.?

?Do you think that was right? You were old enough to make your own decisions, but she was a child.?

?She wasn?t a child. She was my replacement, my father?s latest attempt at a dynasty.? She?s angry. ?You don?t know what it was like, always being pushed, never allowed any freedom to make your own decisions. Even when it seemed like I was making one, he was always in control of the results; whatever I chose, it suited him, and I ended up paying for it. Orianna has a family, a proper childhood. I did the right thing for her.?

?Doesn?t sound like your father was as good as mine.? Tali?s interjection is a surprise. ?And he never seemed able to show any affection.?

?I?d suggest not having a father, but I do have one; somewhere.? Dourly, I remember my childhood.

?This is not getting us any further, Commander. With the Eclipse moving in, from my studies of the area we?ll have to move through the loading bays that they?ll be occupying.?

?Anything we need to know about the layout??

?There are walkways, elevators, and cargo rails all over it. Lines of fire are going to be interrupted. And, there are hazardous cargoes being moved all the time. Be careful what you fire at.?

?And what you take cover behind. Though we can take advantage of this; if you see Eclipse mercs near an object with hazardous material warnings on it, don?t hesitate to shoot at it.?


As the elevator dumps us on another level, the communicator Miranda purloined blurts into life. ?The target is approaching the terminal. Keep the bitch away, whatever you have to do.?

Miranda was quite right about difficulties in sighting, and about the presence of hazardous cargos. Most of the mercs in this area are on the far side of a cargo rail, which is in regular use. There?s cover on both sides, and is we approach ours I fire on and set off something marked as an explosive hazard; we don?t want people taking cover behind that. Since one of the Eclipse engineers was sending their combat drone over it at the time, there?s a bonus. And then a firefight starts, interrupted regularly by hefty cargo loads moving between us and the mercenaries. That is, until I get fed up and work my way around one end of the area so I?m on the same side as the mercenaries. Cover firing from one side to the other is reasonable, firing the length of one side much less so. On my own I can duck behind a structural pier, but the mercenaries are less able to do so. Machine gun fire drives them back or forces them into the open, where it?s easy for Miranda and Tali to shoot them.

The communicator chatters to life again as we push on. ?All units except for my personal guards, stop them. Whatever it costs, do it. And stop complaining about the number of mechs we?ve lost, the payment includes replacement.?

Our next encounter might have been an ambush, but the Eclipse are still trying to get into position when we arrive. I suspect they were trying to cover multiple routes into the area, and are redeploying as rapidly as they can. Certainly, while we?re dealing with the first group, more start to arrive. The problem they find is that we?ve managed to work our way into a position where we can fire on the elevator that they have to use to enter the area. It can?t be recommended, even if I do run short of grenade launcher ammunition in the course of the skirmish.

After the flow of mercenary reinforcements stops, we hear another message intended for the mercenaries. ?I?m in contact. All units not with me can disengage. Niket is ready ot make the exchange.?

?That can?t be right.? Miranda stops, and stands there for a moment. ?They must know we?re listening to their communications, and are trying to mislead us. Miket wouldn?t betray me, I?m sure of it.?

?You?re certain you can trust Niket?? I try not to sound too doubtful.

She raps the elevator wall in frustration. ?He was my friend, for a long time my only friend. He had plenty of chances to betray me when I first left my father behind. If he didn?t do it then, why would he do it now.?

?Did your father know about him??

?I?m sure he did. He tried to buy him before, without success. Niket is one of the few people who knows what my father is really like. He?d never give someone over to him.?

?He?s your friend, Miranda. If you?re certain, then it must mean something else.?

?I?m not certain. Damn it.? She grabs her omnitool. ?Why won?t this elevator go any faster??



When it opens up on the higher level, there are three people there. A male human, an asari port official, and an asari mercenary in decorated armour. ?Well, this should be interesting.? The Eclipse, who I guess is Enyala, sounds really amused as she gets down from the rail she?s sat on and aims her shotgun at us. The port official looks at her, then at our heavily armed group, and turns to run. Until Enyala shoots her n the back, it seems she might escape.

?Why, Niket?? Miranda sounds upset. ?I trusted you. I thought you were my friend.?

?I am, Miri.? The guy sounds as if he means it. ?But you didn?t tell me everything, did you. You didn?t tell me you stole a child!?

?It wasn?t stealing, Niket. I was rescuing her. You know what my father was like.?

?Yes, and it was your choice to leave. I?d never dispute that. But you didn?t give your sister a chance to make her own choices.?

?My father would never have let her make any.?

?Come on, Niket.? Enyala sounds bored. ?Let?s just kill htem, and get out of here. I?m getting paid for the girl, not to listen to you chat.?

?If you?re so ready to fight, bring it.? Miranda?s voice is savage.

?I was just waiting for you to finish getting dressed. Or does Cerberus let you whore around the galaxy in that outfit??

?How much did Miranda?s father pay you, Niket?? Before t hey can say anything else, I interrupt.

To my surprise, he seems ashamed. ?A great deal of money. But that?s not why I?m doing this.?

?Really.? Miranda is suddenly furious. ?You could have fooled me.?

?Your sister, Miri. Doesn?t she deserve to have the chance to find out whether she can live with your father??

?She?s got a family already, from what I hear. Are you really planning to take her away from them??

?Her father can still give her a better life. I?ve been poor, Miri. I didn?t like it very much. Just because you turned your back on your father doesn?t mean your sister would.?

?So you told him about her.? Her aim, previously on the asari, switches to Niket.

?No! He doesn?t know anything about where she is or who she?s with. He just thinks there?s a chance to pick her up.?

?He doesn?t know.? Miranda sounds surprised, and then her voice hardens. ?That means you?re the only loose end. I?m sorry Niket.?

Before she can fire, I push her arm down and hold it. She?s angry. ?Let go of me.?

?If you shoot him, you?ll regret it.?

?I? You heard him. My father is expecting him to deliver Orianna.?

?So we work something out. He isn?t here.?

?All right. What do you suggest??

?Are you willing to lie, Niket? To claim you lost track of Orianna??

?Yes. I can. I?ll tell him you get here first. That we don?t know where you took her. I?m sorry, Miri. I thought I was doing the right thing.?

Miranda sounds like she?s about to cry. ?That?ll work. I never want to see you again, Niket.?

A gunshot into the side of the head interrupts Niket as he starts to speak. ?You won?t.? Enyala smirks at us.

?You?ll die for that, bitch.? I haven?t seen Miranda use her biotics like this before. She lifts Enyala, and in her furythrows her a good twenty meters. Though Enyala?s own biotics flare, and her landing isn?t too hard. She picks herself up, and calls in her troops.

We?re stuck at one end of the area, with a rather larger number of eclipse troopers at the other end. There are two large open areas, one of which we?re in, with three walkways between them and barriers around the drops. Each walkway has a significant number of obstacles in it, allowing people to try to move forward with some cover. Rather than try to defend all three, we push down the nearest one dealing with the Eclipse that are trying to move along that. Others try to take advantage of our preoccupation, moving across the area so they?re holding both ends of the bay. That was what I expected, and in part hoped for. A grenade pins some of them down, while we move forward. We get in among the mercenaries defending this end of the middle walkway, and I have the amusement of watching a salarian engineer?s expression when he realises he?s about to be in melee with a large, heavily armoured human. He doesn?t win.

After we overrun this group, rather than stay here and get outflanked, we push forward again. Another group of Eclipse mercenaries get overrun, and then we clear the third walkway. Enyala is getting a by annoyed by now. Half of her mercenaries have spent the fight chasing us around, shooting at us through cover, and being totally useless while we overrun the others. She attempts to close in herself, and with both a biotic barrier and pretty nice armour, she gets quite close. Shotgun fire and Miranda?s sub machine gun wear through her barrier, and then she comes round a crate. So I hit her in the face. And I keep hitting her. In some people?s estimation, asari are pound-for-pound stronger and better fighters than humans. I?m pretty certain I outweigh Enyala by a sizeable margin, and I don?t give her time to use her biotics. As she slumps to the floor, Tali makes sure she?s dead with a shotgun round in the head.

The rest get mopped up quickly and efficiently. And then Miranda turns on me. ?Why did you stop me killing Niket. Watching that bitch kill him was awful.?

?That?s the point. You might have hated him at that moment, but he?d been your friend for years. If you?d killed him, you?d have been sorry about it forever.?

?I suppose you?re right.? She sounds sad. ?I was so angry when she killed him, and then I was wondering why. A moment earlier I?d been willing to do it myself.? She looks up. ?Come on. There might be more Eclipse about. I won?t feel it?s safe until I see Orianna on her shuttle.?


?There she is.? We get up to the next level, where passengers wait for their transports. ?And no sign of Eclipse.? Miranda sounds oddly sad. ?She?s with her family. They look happy.? She watches them for a while. ?There?s no sign of Eclipse. We should go.?

?Aren?t you going to speak to her?? It seems obvious to me that she should.

?What would I say to her. ?Hello, I?m your sister you?ve never met, I?m on a mission to save the galaxy, nice to meet you???

?You don?t have to tell her what you?re doing.? I try to keep a calm tone. ?But would it hurt for her to know she has a sister who loves her??

?I... suppose not.? For a few seconds more, she hesitates. Then she starts walking across the concourse towards her sister. They look very alike, and I think as soon as Orianna sees Miranda coming she realises something is up. It?s not every day you meet someone who could be your twin; apart from her dress sense.

I don?t know what they talk about. I?m not even sure they finish talking, since their boarding call comes before they seem to be finished. But as we?re leaving, and they?re leaving, Orianna and her family keep watching Miranda until we?re out of sight. And smiling.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 44
Look out below!

?Commander. Thank you. If it wasn?t for you, I?d never have got to my sister in time.? After I've showered, I go down to see Miranda in her office.

?Did they get away all right??

?Yes. And in their new location he won?t be able to find her. She?s safe now? thanks to you. I let it get personal, and I screwed up.?

?You?re human, Miranda. Just like the rest of us.?

?Yes. I suppose I am.?

?You didn?t say what you spoke to her about.?

?I introduced myself. She was surprised of course, but she adjusted quickly. She?s as smart as I am. We talked a little. She?s musical. Plays the violin. Loves the Third Movement of Chopin?s Fifth, just like I do. She wants to work in colony development. Told a joke about it. She?s really funny; something we don?t share.?

?Are you going to stay in touch with her??

?Honestly, I haven?t thought about it. If we get through this mission alive, well, we?ll see. For once, I haven?t planned this in advance.?

?Well, if I can be any more help, let me know.?

?Thanks. But I think I?ve got it, from here.?



An hour later, I head back out. This time, with Jack and Mordin. Jack because, well, she?s getting a little antsy down in her hole below the engineering deck, and Mordin because I want to see him in action. We make our way through the streets of Nos Astra, which is just about to see its day shift workers clock off, and the night workers start. So it?s pretty busy. Seryna wanted us to meet her at the cargo transfer point at the end of her shift, so that?s where we?re going.

As we reach the area, a rather worried salarian is talking into a communicator. ?Lister, I know the data is vital to the Kirosa family. Nassan Dantius didn?t give us time to pack. I was lucky to get out of there at all. Her mercenaries were starting to shoot. If she lets us back in, I?ll get it. If not, well? we?ll just have to hope.?

?Loss of family reproduction data? Very serious. Will lack breeding opportunities.? Mordin shakes his head. ?Foolish to only have one copy.?


Seryna is expecting us. ?Are you ready to go?? When I nod, she gets out of her chair. ?Okay, let?s go.? She takes us to her car, and sets off into the rush hour traffic of Nos Astra.

It?s among the most terrifying five minutes of my life. I hate being driven around, especially when the person doing it doesn?t have much regard for their own . And even more so, when they?re talking and driving. ?The towers are heavily guarded, and you?ll find mor eresistance as you get closer to the penthouse.? She zooms around a line of stalled traffic. ?So, this assassin, are you hear to stop him.?

?I just want to make sure he survives.?

?Hmm.? She changes altitude without signalling. ?There they are, the Dantius Towers. You?ll have to get up the second tower and cross the bridge to the penthouse. Her mercs will fight you every step of the way, but it?s your best chance.?

?Any last minute tips??

?The Eclipse will be well fortified by now, and they won?t want to disappoint Nassana. There?s no automated defences or traps, and the workers should be out by not. Just focus on anything moving.?

?Take us in.? As soon as I say it, I realise that?s an invitation to her to do something fancy.

I?m not disappointed. She cuts across two lanes of traffic and down another into a side street, before setting her car down perfectly in front of a tower that lacks lights. ?Don?t linger too long. They?ll be here to greet you soon enough.? I look upwards. Yeah, it?s high. ?Good luck, Shepard.? She zooms off.


A problem immediately presents itself. The tower entrance isn?t empty. Two salarians are there, cowering behind unfinished parts of the structure. I start forward, and they start to run. To the right? And then one drops, and I?m certain we haven?t fired. Then we see what they?re worried about, and it isn?t us. Two Loki and two Fenris marks are after them. The second is hit, and starts to crawl away. One shot is all it takes to draw their attention, and they turn towards us.

This was not a good idea. The central core of the tower is still open, possibly because they?re building it that way, and there?s a very long drop into what I suspect may one day be an underground garage. Jack throws a Loki into it while I gun down one Fenris. The other Fenris suddenly freezes in a block of ice. Mordin?s omnitool is modified to either freeze or burn its targets, and he seems to prefer starting a fight by freezing something. I blast it with a concussive shot, and it disintegrates. Jack hits the other Loki with a biotic shockwave, sending it flying into the air and away from us. Although it doesn?t quite fall into the pit, it?s close. There?s a blast if fire from Mordin, ?Flammable! Or inflammable! Can never remember. Doesn?t matter.? Then I hose it with my machine gun and it drops.

The salarian has dragged himself to the side of the room. We go over to him. ?Please. Help.?

?Still alive. Unexpected.? Mordin sounds surprised, and a little concerned.

?I can?t feel my legs. My chest hurts.?

?Who ordered this? Why?? I don?t believe this salarian is a criminal, but he could be.

?We?re just night workers. Nassana sent the mechs after us. She sent them to round us up, but we didn?t hear. They just started shooting.?

?She just had the mechs start shooting her own workers??

?Yes. We were too slow. It was horrible. Everyone screaming. The mercs said there was no time. Nassana wanted us out of the way immediately. Then? the dogs came?? He bends over, and starts to cough up blood.

?Will need medical attention soon.? Mordin sounds curt.

?I? can?t breathe. Please? help me? My chest.?

I grab a packet of medigel. ?Here? Applying it is the work of a second. ?That should keep you alive until help arrives, ease the pain a bit.?

?Thank you.? His voice is stronger as the medigel starts to take effect. ?A lot.? He starts to struggle to his feet. ?Find the other workers. Help them.?

?I need to get up to the penthouse. Any suggestions??

?Take the service elevator to the upper floors. The bridge between the towers isn?t finished, but if you?re careful... Watch out for the mercs. They?re everywhere.?

?Any idea of numbers??

?A lot. Dozens of them were wandering around here all day.?

?I have to go. I?ll make Nassana regret this.?

?Thank you. My friends, my co-workers. Slaughtered. They were jumping off ledges to escape the dogs.?

The interior of the tower is only dimly lit by emergency lights, and is certainly unfinished. In some places, furniture and other fixtures have been left in the middle of the floor, waiting to be installed. They?re useful as cover, as are the pillars and internal walls. On this level, most of what we encounter is mechs with some mercenary muscle in support of them. Firing lines are surprisingly long, for fighting inside a building. I get some use out of my sniper rifle, eliminating careless mercenaries before they realize we?re in range. After clearing one floor, we head out a door and find a bare ceramacrete ramp taking us up to the next. A lot of the internal structure of the building is like that, unfinished but functional.

?Hey.? A male voice above as we enter the next floor makes me freeze. ?I think he went in here.?

?Well, go get him.? A woman sounds mildly annoyed at him.

?You go.?

?Get your ass in there. Nassana?s not paying you to stand around.? She?s got to be an NCO. I recognize the tone of voice.

?Fine, but I.? We hear the sounds of a short scuffle, a groan, and then a body drops out of a ventilation shaft next to us.

This seems a good point to introduce ourselves to the area, and Jack grabs a bunch of troopers and lifts them over the central void. They can?t fly. With Mordin happily freezing some, and setting others on fire, I?m able to shoot them in peace, or as much peace as you can get when mechs and mercs are firing at you.

It gets more awkward when a group of them take up positions at the end of something that will be a corridor when the building is finished, with plenty of cover. It?s too far away for Jack to use a shockwave to knock them back, there?s no cover for us to use to approach, and they use the cover to replenish their shields when they?re hit. They have neglected to consider something. This corridor has offices on the outside, with a balcony stretching along the edge of the tower. While Mordin and Jack continue annoying the guards, I go through an office and walk along the balcony. When I come out, I?m behind the first position and nearly on top of a second. Five seconds of fire from my machine gun clears out the first barricade, and then I duck into cover to let my shields replenish. Jack and Mordin move up to the first cover, and then Jack is within range for a shockwave. As the mercenaries fly backwards, I duck into the open and move forward. CAught in the open, the mercenaries don?t survive long. As we push on, more mercenaries engage us. A few of them have biotic talent, and one deploys a combat drone, but they aren?t a match for us.

Before we take the elevator, I decide to make sure the floor is clear of trouble. A locked door catches my eye. I hack it, and we burst through.

?Please.. don?t kill us.? Three salarians have their hands up. ?We?ll go. We?ll go.?

?Hey, look.? One of them is paying attention. ?They?re not Eclipse.?

?You?re here to help us? right?? The one who spoke first has lowered his hands, nearly all the way. He does sound a little doubtful.

?It?s one reason I?m here. Come on out. It?s safe enough.?

?Thank you.? He gives me a formal bow. ?We are in your debt.?

?Maybe you can help me.? I doubt if they can see my polite smile through my helmet, but it can?t hurt. ?I?m looking for someone? not a mercenary, he?s on his own.?

?Well, whoever sealed us in here.? One of the others sounds rather panicky still.

?When he found us, I thought we were dead, but he just closed the door and locked us in.?

?Assassin helping potential witnesses? Odd.? Mordin likes to speculate on limited data.

?Assassin?? The nervous one wrings his hands.

?Here for Nassana, I bet.? The leader sounds satisfied. ?She?s got it coming. You treat people like this, it always comes back to bite you in the ass.?

?I need to get to the penthouse. Is there an alternative to the cargo elevator.?

?Not yet.?

?They?re still working up top.? The one who I?ve mentally labeled ?the nervous one? is ruining my stereotyping by calming down. ?Watch your step. Some of the walls aren?t finished, and it?s a long way down.?

?Cold, too. I hate working up there,? the leader adds his opinion.

?Working for Nassana Dantius doesn?t seem to be healthy. Why don?t you quit??

?Our contract. We?re stuck till the jobs done.?

?And there are rumours. People who leave early, well, some have disappeared.?

?Did you see the one who locked you in??

?No. It was too dark to see him clearly. But he?s no salarian, I can tell you that.?

?I wouldn?t stay here to long. It should be safe on the lower levels.?

?I was just thinking the same thing. Let?s go, everyone.? Decisive leadership, there.

As they?re leaving, the one who hasn?t spoken before turns to me. ?Thank you. And tell your assassin friend to aim for her head? Because she doesn?t have a heart!?

?Get moving.? The leader?s yell is annoyed.


We?re making for the elevator, when Mordin stops us. ?Elevator activated. From above. Probably reception committee. Take cover against them??

?Good idea.? And it is. We disperse into positions where we can cover the elevator, and wait till the doors open. A krogan and two Eclipse combat engineers storm out. Right into our lines of fire. They?re tough, but this is a terrible position. The krogan attempts to buy the others time to reach cover, and takes the brunt of our initial fire. He goes down, burning from Mordin?s omnitool use and my incendiary ammunition. One of the engineers doesn?t make it to cover, when Jack grabs him and lifts him with her biotics. The other does. He manages to get off some fire at us, while we kill his companion, but inevitably when he?s alone we pin him down and outflank him, and he falls. That gives us access to the elevator.

Up we go. At the top, there?s a corridor out towards the edge of the tower, and two passages leading inwards and round the back of the elevator. There?s a mercenary standing at the end of the passage, looking out through the windows at Nos Astra?s skyline at night. ?No, I haven?t heard from teams four or five.? We can only hear half of the conversation, as he paces around without noticing us. ?Don?t worry. My teams always ready to go.? Another pause. ?I don?t know where he is. Not yet.? Wait. ?Don?t worry about it.? Hum something. ?We don?t need any reinforcements.? Dance a jig. ?I?ll take care of it.? Play three hands of patience. ?It?s under control. I?ll go down there myself.? Walk towards him. ?Out.?

?Turn around. Very slowly.? For emphasis, we make sure our weapons click as we raise them at him.

?Damn it.? He really shouldn?t sound so surprised. Anyone could have gone through here while he was in conversation. Including the Combined All-Alliance Military Band and Choir, I half suspect.

?Have you seen the assassin?? I close in.

?Why are you looking for him?? He takes a step back. ?You?re not one of Nassana?s mercs. Who are you??

I keep moving forward. ?Answer my questions, and I?ll let you go.?

He backs up until his back is against the window. ?Look, pal. Even if I knew where he was, I wouldn?t tell you.?

?Not the answer I was looking for.? I lean in to give him a chance to look me in the eyes.

He folds his arms. ?If you shoot me, my teams right through there. They?ll be over you like a rash. I?ve got nothing more to say to you.?

?How about? goodbye?? I push him hard. He stumbles back, into and then through the window. His scream fades away as he falls.

?Damn.? Jack sounds amused. ?I could take notes from you, Shepard.?

I shrug slightly. If he?s in position to bring more guards down on us, I couldn?t let him leave, or live.

The next room is extremely large. There?s an Eclipse trooper talking over a communicator. ?He?s all over the place.?

?What do you mean?? A female voice, definitely annoyed.

?We?ve got reports of him on multiple levels. We think he?s travelling through the ducts.? I suspect some of the contact reports are with us. It occurs to me we?re a great distraction.

?I?m not paying you to think. Just find him. Now!? If that?s /Nassana, although I can?t remember her voice well enough to be sure, she?s being pretty stupid now. Soldiers who don?t think aren?t good soldiers.

?Come on.? From his changed tone, the mercenary is no longer on the communicator. ?She?ll be throwing us to the dogs next.?

We?re already in cover, and their mechs aren?t even active yet. I shoot two of them, and Mordin sets a mercenary on fire. Jack tosses him into the air like a rag doll, and shoots him. The asari commando who they?ve got among them attempts to lead a counter attack, and for her trouble gets shot repeatedly. As silence falls, I look around. There?s another locked door in the side wall. I wonder if there are any salarians in there.

Yes, is the answer. And he?s pointing a pistol at me. ?Get back.? He sounds quite hsysterical, too. ?Get back. I?ll shoot.? With the barrel wavering, probably not very accurately. Although the dead mercenary has a hole in his head.

?This can end quick, or painful. You choice.? Jack raises her shotgun in warning.

?I don?t want to hurt you, but I will.? He?s trying to aim at all three of us at once. ?I said get back. I?ll do it. Please. Don?t make me do it.?

I try to reason with him. ?We?re not here to hurt you. We?re not with the mercs.? I take a step closer. ?What?s your name??

?I? I?m Telon.?

?I?m Commander Shepard. You?re being very brave, Telon. But you can see, we aren?t in Eclipse uniforms. You don?t need to point the gun at us.?

?All right. Here, take it.? He reaches out, and I take the gun from him. ?Ooh. I don?t feel so good.?

?Telon!? Another salarian moves forward as he collapses, and then pauses. ?Please, can I go to him. He?s my brother. I just want to see if he?s all right.?

I nod to him. ?How did you get here??

?Oh, we?re shift workers. When we heard the order to evacuate, we started out. Then we ran into this mercenary. He was yelling at us to move faster, and we panicked. I though the merenary was going to shoot us, and then his head just exploded.?

?Head shot. In dark. Direct hit. Impressive.?

?Telon picked up his gone, but we were too scared to move. Then you came along.?

?Did you see who shot the merc??

?No. Telon thought he saw someone following us, but he?s been a bit nervous. I thought it was nothing.?

?How do we get to the penthouse from here? Is the bridge safe??

?Take the ramp on your left. Head up it, and you?re on the bridge. It?s perfectly safe, but there?s no guard rail. The wind might blow you off, and the mercs certainly will try.?

?If you can get to the elevator, the lower floors are clear.?

?Yeah, we?ll go now. Telon.? He shakes him. ?Telon. Come on.?

?Can we go now? I don?t feel so good.?

?Yes, we?re going. Come on.?


When we come up on the communicator the mercenaries were using, someone sounds annoyed. ?Where is everyone? Why won?t people talk to me? Will somebody please give me a report? Answer me, damn it. Somebody get down there and find out what?s going on.?

I walk over to it. ?It?s about time. What?s going on down there??

?I?m afraid your men aren?t able to respond, Nassana.?

?Damn it. Who are you, anyway??


There doesn?t seem much need to respond. We head round the corner, and up the ramp the salarian directed us to, out onto the roof. It?s a hell of a view. And the salarian is right. The wind is strong. It?s a really bad place to be, if an enemy biotic is capable of lifting you into the air and letting the wind take you away from the bridge. Oh, Jack. I?ve got a little job for you.

Eventually it occurs to me there might be people below. If a fire fight in Dantius Towers doesn?t draw spectators, I?ll be surprised. I suspect they might not be too happy having mercenaries dropped on them. Fortunately, we are half way across. The rest of the way, it?s not so easy to throw people off. And with two rocket turrets firing at us, along with the mercenaries, it?s probably better to keep our heads down for the moment. I deal with the turrets easily enough. I?m carrying a guided missile launcher. Their explosions are thoroughly satisfying. Nassana does not sound happy. ?What the hell am I paying you for?? My personal suspicion is prestige, but I don?t get the chance to point that out immediately.

The rest of the fight is conventional, biotic shockwaves to force people out of cover, incineration or cryo attacks from Mordin, and my shooting and armour. Just before the penthouse, we find one more group of mercenaries making a last stand. The asari commando who leads them is an elite trooper, I suspect. A powerful biotics barrier, decent shields, pretty good armour, and biotic abilities. Not quite as good in melee as she needs to be to have a chance with me.


?Shepard. But? you?re dead.? Nassana has three bodyguards in with her, and was looking out the window as if she doesn?t care about us. My presence seems like it might be a slight surprise to her.

?I got better.?

She snorts. ?And now you?re here to kill me.?

?You?re really paranoid, aren?t you.?

?Don?t patronise me.? She turns to look out the window. ?I?m sure you find this all very ironic. First you kill my sister, now you?re after me.? She turns back. ?Well, now what??

?You really think I?m here to kill you.? This is funny.

?Do you have another reason for destroying my tower.? Hey, I left it standing. Mostly. ?Decimating my security.? That?s fair. I suppose I did do that. ?Is it money you want? Just tell me your price. We can make this problem go away.?

?Make me an offer.? I fold my arms. This should be fun.

?Double whatever you?re being paid.? So, nothing. ?And double again if you tell me who hired you.? If I remember my mathematics, double nothing is still nothing. I?m about to make a suggestion, when one of the mercenaries reacts to the noise I?ve been hearing for the last thirty seconds in the roof by raising her gun. Nassana glares at her. ?What??

?I thought I heard something.?

?Well, check it out then.? Nassana glowers at me. ?You, stay put. we?ll work this out later.?

Actually, we won?t. While she?s talking, a rather tough-looking individual in a shortened trench coat drops out of the ceiling ducts behind two of the mercenaries. Two quick punches, and their necks are broken. As the asarai mercenary tries to turn and fire, he throws a knife into her throat. ?What..? Nassana time for one last word. He jabs her in the throat, lifts her pistol out of her hand, presses it against her chest, and fires. Rather strangely, he then carefully lays her down on the table and folds her hands across her chest. And then he starts praying. ?Nice entrance.? Jack sounds impressed.

For a few moments I hesitate. Then I step forward. ?I was hoping to talk to you.?

?I apologise,? He blinks once, his eyes black among his emerald scales, ?but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken.?

?Do you really think she deserves it??

?Not for her. For me.? He steps back, and starts around Nassana?s desk. ?The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for example. All this destruction? chaos. I was curious to know how far you?d go to find me.? He straightens his collar, and stands there silhouetted against the light. ?Well, here I am.?

?How did you know I was coming at all??

?I didn?t, for certain. Not until you walked in the door and started shooting. Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She was convinced one of her sisters would attempt to kill her. You were a valuable distraction.?

That wasn?t a total surprise to me, by the end. Nor, I suspect, to Mordin. ?I want your help on a mission.?

?Go on.?

?Have you heard of the Collectors??

?By reputation.?

?They?re attacking human colonies and abducting the whole population. Freedom?s Progress, Ferris Fields, the attempt on Horizon; all their work.?

?I see.?

?I?m putting together a team to go after them.?

That got his attention, and the laid-back attitude disappears for a moment. ?Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 Mass Relay. No ship has ever returned.?

?They said no one could go to Ilos.?

He nods appreciatively. ?A fair point. You?ve made a career out of doing the impossible.? He looks out of the window. ?This was to be my last job. I?m dying. Low survival odds don?t concern me. The abduction of your colonists does.?

?I hadn?t heard that.? The Illusive Man didn?t see fit to include it in his notes on you. ?Is there anything we can do.?

?Giving me this chance is enough. Many innocents died today. I?ve done many dark things in my life. I must atone for them. I will work for you.? He holds out his hand, and I shake it. Cool, and smoother than I expected. ?No charge.?


Jacob sounds as if he doesn?t like Thane already. ?I?ve seen reports on your missions, Krios. Sounds like you could be a real asset to the team.? Then he looks at me. ?That is, if he can be trusted.?

?I am sworn to Shepard.? Thane always sounds very calm. Rather like Samara in that respect. ?For the duration of this mission I am at her command.?

?Uh huh.? Jacob glares at him. ?Some of us are loyal to more than our next pay check.?

?Obviously, Thane is too, since he?s doing this mission gratis.? I keep my voice patient. ?What?s the problem, Jacob??

?I don?t like mercenaries. An assassin is just a precise mercenary.?

?An assassin is a weapon.? Thane quietly corrects Jacob. ?A weapon does not choose its targets. Its owner does.? I think he realises arguing is pointless. ?Where can I put my things? I would prefer somewhere warm and dry, if that is possible.?

?The area around the life support systems on deck 3 tends to be slightly more arid.? EDI?s blue sphere appears.

Thane stares for a moment. ?Ah. An AI? My thanks.? He leaves, following the lights EDI projects on the floor.

I look at Jacob. ?Give him a chance. He may surprise you.?

?Uh huh. Or he may not.? For one of the few occasions since I?ve known him, Jacob doesn?t salute me as he leaves.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 45
Crowning Moment of Heartwarming; and head butting

There are two messages waiting for me on the terminal when I get to my quarters. Before I sleep, I should read them. They might be important.

Still alive
From: Detective Anaya
Greetings, Commander.
I?m not completely sure if this will get to you, but thanks again for helping me deal with Samara. The Eclipse mercs have got real quiet around here, and my superiors have backed off too. No idea if the two are related, but hopefully next time I meet a Justicar, I can give her the respect she deserves.
I still can?t believe I worked a case with one of them. You?re a lucky human. If I find any more data on her target, I?ll pass it along.
Thanks,
Detective Anaya
Illium Law Enforcement

Thank you
From: Leslie
I am Leslie. I was on Aeia. The food made me sick. The doctors are helping me now.
One doctor knows Jacob. He says he can tell you this. He could write it for me, but I want to do it. I need to use my words.
My words are coming back. I can talk well. Reading is hard but I am getting better. I have to get better. Taylor wanted me like this. He wanted my words gone. I have to show him that I am not weak. He did things to me, and he can?t now. He can?t take away my words. He can?t make me not me any more. Because you and Jacob stopped him.
Thank you.
Leslie.

I?ve a little business to complete on Illium the next morning, mostly shopping related. In the course of which I somehow manage to get a quarian slave - sorry, ?indentured servant?, they don?t like the word slave round here - not only released from her servitude contract but hired as an AI researcher by Synthetic Insights. Tali seems quite pleased.

In the news:
The storied career of Nassana Dantius has come to an end after the businesswoman was killed in her office. While police have announced no formal leads, it is widely known that Nassana had made many enemies. Stocks in Dantius Industries rose sharply in early trading, as analysts predicted steadier times for the troubled company.

Thane has a comment as we walk across the trading floor. ?I spent the last two years here. I had a goal. Now that it is accomplished, something occurs to me. In all that time, I never raised by eyes to look at the Horizon. It is spectacular.?

I don?t know how it happened, but I also ended up involving myself in a romance. We came across a Krogan, who was reciting ?love poetry? to an unfortunate asari. Apparently they?d been dating, and she wanted a break because she thought he was getting too serious, talking about children and such. When I asked her, she still loved him, and if a Krogan is writing their own love poetry and reciting it openly the feeling is likely mutual. She wasn?t sure whether she trusted that he loved her, rather than seeing her as a way to have children. I pointed out that if she didn?t trust him, she?d already made up her mind; and if she did, and she loved him, then she knew what to do.

I?m sure they?ll make a lovely couple.

In the news:
Illium has seen many human refugees, orphans, and former slaves, abandoned here by batarian slave raiders. For many, adjusting to life here has been difficult. But now one man, Conrad Verner, hopes to make a difference. His new charity, Shepherds, hopes to aid the destitute to find new hope. In a prepared statement, Mister Verner stated that this was his way to say thank you to the people who protect the galaxy.

I?m glad my shopping was done when I heard that. Illium is an annoying place. All sorts of things get in your eye and make it water.

Codex: Tuchanka
The krogan homeworld boasts extreme temperatures, virulent diseases, and vicious, predatory fauna. Around 1900 BCE, the krogan discovered atomic power and promptly instigated many intraplanetary wars, sending Tuchanka into a nuclear winter. With most of their industrial base destroyed, the krogan entered a new dark age and warring tribal bands dominated. Populations remained low for the next 2,000 years.
First contact with the salarians made resurgence possible. Krogan brought to less hostile planets bred exponentially and returned to reconquer their home. They built vast underground shelters to shield themselves from surface radiation, which proved prescient during the Krogan Rebellions when many of them isolated themselves in a vain attempt to avoid the genophage. Convinced they could outbreed the genophage, they transmitted it into more than 90 percent of the sealed bunkers. Today, Tuchanka's population is sharply limited and while individual krogan are long-lived, the genophage ensures few replacements

It sounds like a nice place to visit. Maybe not to live. And Wrex chose to come back here? I always thought he was sane. Still, we take the shuttle down over the blasted ruins of Urdnot city, and the landing platform descends into a silo to stop the acid rain and howling wind eating the parked shuttle.

They don?t seem like the friendliest sorts, but they are Krogan. ?You. Human. Go and see the clan chief. Now! And get your rutting pet to take the Rite soon, or keep him on a leash.?

?Grunt is not a pet. And does that mean you know what?s wrong with him??

?There?s nothing wrong with him. Go speak to the clan leader.?

That takes us down a set of steps, into a passage. EDI has apparently already been busy. ?Urdnot clan records use weak encryption. I have found records of a captured salarian in the reports of the chief scout.?

?Good. Talk to scout then. Or chief. Doesn?t matter.?

?Also, I have been unable to find any records suggesting what is wrong with Grunt. I suggest talking to the clan chief.?

Well, I was going to do that anyway. If they let me.

The place is almost a ruin. Shelters have been put up against tunnel walls, rubble left lying around, and the sense that this is a place people have just moved into is palpable. Yet I don?t see anyone attempting to fix things. Grunt sounds disgusted as he looks around. ?This is the great Krogan homeworld? This is the land of Kredak, Shiagur, and Vaeoll? This place is barely worth standing on, let alone fighting over. Never thought I?d miss the tank.?

An overheard conversation:
First Krogan: ?Were you around when the female camp brought the children over last week??
Second Krogan: ?No. I was fending of a varren attack. Why? Any promising warriors.?
?Yes, of course. One day they will tear our enemies apart. One of the children? probably five years from the Rite? He had my eyes, I think.?
?You think you actually had a fertile female on one of your trips to their camp??
?I? I must have.?
?A son! Good for you. We?ll get a ryncol to celebrate.?
?The child? my son? we played Tackle the Varren. It was? he was good. Fast. Strong.?
?Of course! Any son of yours must be!?
?And then they want back to the female camp. It was so fast. I didn?t get a chance to talk to him. Should I ask the female camp for right of parentage??
?Ah, why bother with all the politics. You know you?ve sired a son. That?s enough.?
?But I could teach him to hunt. The best way to shoot a gun. To fight with honour and savagery.?
?Eh. You can do that the next time they bring the children over.?
?It?s not the same. I just wish? I don?t know. Things could be different. We could live together. Us, the women, the children.?
?You know that can?t happen. We?d just be one big, weak target. We have to keep the females safe, the children safer.?
?Damn the Genophage.?
?I think I?ll take you up on that ryncol later.?

?Stop!? One of the guards stopping people who want to approach Wrex on his ?throne? doesn?t sound happy. ?The clan leader is in talks. You must wait until he summons you.?

I peer round him. Wrex is sat there looking utterly bored, with his chin resting on his hand, while a Krogan with a green crest walks around talking at him. Normally when I rescue people it?s from deadly danger. Wrex is in danger of dying - from boredom. I?m about to start a loud argument to attract his attention, when my head bobbing around gets it anyway. ?Shepard.?

I give the guard a glare. ?Good enough for you?? Without waiting for a reply, I push between theguards. Wrex has already got up, and he pushes past the krogan talking towards him as if he?s nobody.

He looks happy to see me. ?Shepard!? We clasp forearms like krogan warriors, and he claps me on the shoulder. ?My friend!? He takes a step back to look me over. ?You look well for dead. Should have known the void couldn?t hold you.?

I can?t stop my grin, and don?t want to. ?Looks like helping me destroy Saren and his geth has worked out for you.? Mischievously, I add, ?Glad we didn?t have to kill each other on Virmire.?

He laughs. ?You made the rise of Urdnot possible. Virmire was a turning point for the krogan,? he looks at the krogan he was previously listening to, ?though not everyone was happy about it. Destroying Saren?s genophage ?cure? freed us from his manipulation. I used that to spur the clans to unify under Urdnot.?

?You abandoned many traditions to get your way.? Ah, the other krogan is the disgruntled sort. ?Dangerous.?

I have to assume that Wrex?s head butt is some sort of dominance gesture, as the second krogan reels away from it. ?Speak when you?re spoken to, Uvenk. I?ll drag clan Gataog to glory whether you like it or not.?

Wrex clambers back onto his seat, his ?throne?. As the other krogan picks himself up, I smirk at him. From the glare, I don?t think I?ve just made a friend.

?Now, Shepard.? Wrex interrupts my potential staring contest. ?What brings you here? How?s the Normandy??

Sneaky bastard. He?d heard I was dead, so he has to know. I?ll play along with his game, whatever it is. ?Blown up in a surprise attack by the Collectors. I ended up spaced.?

?Well, you look good. Ah, the benefits of a redundant nervous system.?

?Yeah, humans don?t have one of those.?

?Ouch. That must have hurt, then. But you?re standing here, and you?ve got a strong new ship. Takes me back to the olds days, us against the unknown, killing it with big guns. Good times.? Ah, I think I get it. He?s establishing my badass credentials for every krogan within earshot. And any others the gossip spreads to.

?Sounds like you?ve got big plans for the krogan.?

?We?re making a neutral ground, where all clans are welcome. Fertile females can be shared among clans. We will strengthen the race as a whole.?

?You threaten everything that makes us strong.? Disgruntled krogan remains disgruntled. ?It will not last.?

?Maybe. Until then, you?re lucky to be a part of it.?

?Sounds like you?ve got opposition.? I glare at disgruntled guy.

?Traditionalists like Uvenk are liked chained Varren. Always fighting over their stick in the ground. When the smoke clears, I can plant a flag on their corpses and rally the rest around a new neutral hub.?

?Sounds like you?re expecting a lot of bloodshed before you unite.?

?It will be slow, but I won?t change who we are. Krogan are judged by the strength of our enemies. Our worst insult is to say someone is not worth killing.?

?How do you maintain security with so many different clans in one place?? It sounds risky, but I?m no krogan.

?Any clan willing to send in hostages can come in. No fighting inside the camp. Each clan punishes it?s own criminals. We stop conflicts before anyone dies. Then we present a simple choice. Pay a fine and deal with your troublemakers, or your clan is no longer welcome.?

?Doesn?t sound harsh, by krogan standards.?

?My allies like what I?m doing. They help deal with sceptics. Many are eager for an outlet. Every time I?ve declared a clan no longer welcome, it?s been destroyed within a week. Word gets around.?

?If Urdnot is dominant, aren?t you absorbing other clans??

?No. Every clan is different. Different customs, rites of passage, rules of behaviour, battle songs, all unique. That diversity makes us great. No clan, not even mine, was meant to survive on its own. Each clan has its own strengths. Urdnot has the best generals, Jorgal the longest breeding line, Gatatog the oldest settlement. That diversity gives us strength. We keep going as we are, the clans will end up as craters under nucler haze. Even Urdnot. We need to rethink. Restart.?

?What do the women of clan Urdnot think about this??

?It was our female clan leader?s idea. The neutral place is safe, and it encourages more female clans to join us. Attacks on Urdnot now endanger the females of all clans. Even clans that want to see me dead will defend Clan Urdnot.?

?The females have their own clans??

?Nothing is more valuable than a fertile female. They know it, and we know it. They band together for their own protection. I can hardly do anything without clan leader Uta?s permission.?

?Sounds like it?s working out well for you. But there?s a reason I came here.?

?We don?t often allow aliens to do business on Tuchanka, but you?re an exception. What do you need??

?I?ve got a krogan on my crew, Grunt.? At this prompt, he steps forward. ?He has some kind of sickness and needs treatment.?

Wrex takes a long look at Grunt, and even sniffs the air. ?Where are you from, whelp? Was your clan destroyed before you could learn what was expected of you??

?I have no clan. I was tank bred by Warlord Okeer, my line distilled from Kredak, Moro, Shiagur...?

?Bah.? Oh, go away, disgruntled guy. ?You recite warlords, but you are the offspring of a syringe!?

I think Grunt keeps his composure admirably. ?I am pure krogan. You should be in awe.?

Wrex sounds serious. ?Okeer is a very old name. A very hated name.?

?He is dead.? Grunt is blunt.

?Of course.? Wrex almost laughs. ?You are with Shepard. How could it be otherwise??

?Does this make a difference??

?Not really.? Wrex rumbles. ?There?s nothing wrong with him. He is becoming a full adult.?

?Ah. Puberty ritual. Common among species with hormone-driven reproductive urges.? Possibly not the wisest time to interrupt, but Mordin does like talking.

Wrex waves it away. ?I don?t care what outsiders call it. Krogan undergo the Rite of Passage.?

?Too far, Wrex.? Disgruntled krogan makes a gesture that might be rude as he storms off. ?Your clan may rule, but this thing is not krogan.?

We watch him leave. ?Idiot.? Wrex sums up my feelings. ?So, Grunt, do you want to stand with Urdnot??

?What?s involved??

?Not for me to say. That?s up to the shaman.?

I shrug. ?This is Grunt?s choice.?

For a moment I wonder what Grunt is thinking. He stands there, looking over the camp. Then he turns back. ?It is in my blood. It is what I am for.?

?Good boy.? Wrex sounds pleased, and amused. ?Speak with the shaman ? he?s over on the second level. Give him a good show, and he?ll set you on the path. You too, Shepard. How many times have you stepped in a mess for your crew, hmm??

?Guess we?d better get to it.?

?Watch yourself, Shepard. Tuchanka isn?t nice and safe like Virmire or Ilos.? Sarcastic old git. I give him a grin as I leave.

Overheard conversation:
?Have you heard? Urdnot will allow a tank-born to attempt the Rite.?
?That goes against all previous tradition.?

The shaman is indeed on the second level. So is disgruntled krogan. ?You go beyond yourself, Gatatog Uvenk. The Rites of Urdnot are dominant.?

?How do we know it will challenge him? He is unnatural. The beasts of the Rite could ignore him, like a piece of plastic!? Keep talking, and we?ll see me challenge you.

?They know blood, no matter the womb. Your barking does not help your case.?

?I can speak for myself.? Grunt pushes his way forward.

The shaman looks at him. ?This is the tank-bred? It looks very life-like.? He sniffs at Grunt. ?Smells right, too. Your protests ring hollow, Uvenk.?

?I don?t care what this idiot says.? I wave my finger in disgruntled krogan?s face. ?Grunt has a right to be here.? Diplomacy; wasted on krogan.

?There?s some fire. And from an alien!? The shaman looks at Uvenk. ?Oh, the shame this heaps on those who whine like pups.?

?If this must stand on ritual, then I invoke a denial! My krantt stands against him! He has no-one!?

The shaman grunts deep in his throat. ?My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grubnt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf.?

I step forward. ?We are Grunt?s krannt. Name our target, and it will die.?

?Spoken well.? The shaman approves. ?Most aliens -,? he looks at Uvenk, ?And some krogan ? do not understand our ways. I believe this human does.?

?Aliens do not know strength. My followers are true krogan. Everything about... oof.? He staggers backwards. Wrex said to put on a show, so they got one. I just wish I had my helmet on when I head-butted Disgruntled Krogan.

?You.? He stares at me, shocked. ?You dare??

The shaman laughs. ?I like this human. She understands!?

Disgruntled krogan gathers up the shreds of his dignity. ?I withdraw my denial. This will be decided elsewhere.? He pushes me as he leaves.

?You have provoked them.? I think I?ve got a fan. ?Reason enough for me to like you. They?re your problem now.?

?Is that moron going to be a problem?? I wave my finger vaguely in the direction Uvenk left.

?He is forbidden to interfere. Will he? During the Rite of Passage, you must be prepared for anything, Shepard. From what you?ve shown me, you will not disappoint.?

?Do we need any special equipment??

?To begin the Rite, only the candidate and his krantt are required. You love battle, don?t you Shepard. The last gasps of a dying opponent. Bring your love of the fight to Grunt?s trial, and he will succeed.?

?We?re ready. Let?s do this.?

?Excellent.?


The Rite of Passage takes place on the planetary surface. We get there in a krogan truck, with the shaman accompanying us. When it stops, we get out into a ruined city landscape. ?This is Tuchanka?s most recent scar, the last surface city to fall in the rebellions. The keystone was at its heart. It has survived wars, and the passage of centuries. It endures ? like the krogan. If you wish to join clan Urdnot, you must contemplate the keystone, and survive its trials.?

?What will happen?? Grunt doesn?t sound fearful, just curious.

?Who knows?? You do, I suspect. ?You must adapt. You must thrive, no matter the situation Any true krogan will.?

The shaman leaves us. The area is higher than most of the surrounding ground, with walls and some rickety pillars that provide cover, and some staircases where it rises towards the centre. The remains of a few defeated krogan litter the area, along with animal skeletons. ?Let?s start, Shepard.? Grunt sounds eager. ?Hit the keystone.?

As I do so, there?s an announcement over a hidden speaker. ?First, the krogan conquered Tuchanka, and mastered a natural world only we are fit to hold.? It seems possible that hitting the keystone signals other krogan to release animals. The first is a large pack of varren. We shoot them down, and even though they come at us from two sides, it isn?t that difficult a fight. Though Grunt is sounding more excited. ?These beasts will know I?m worthy.? Incendiary ammunition is particularly helpful, with their regeneration being ineffective.

As the last falls, Grunt wheels towards me. ?More. I want more.? Well, we haven?t been told not to. ?Then, the krogan were lifted to the stars, to destroy the fears of a galaxy. An enemy only we could face.? Klixen are some sort of insect, spitting fire at us as they swarm in. They also explode when they die, which is annoying if you?ve let them get close. Grunt is perfectly happy, blasting them with his rifle or shotgun. Meanwhile I try to stay between them and Mordin, who is a lot less tough. Successfully, in the end. ?We need to trigger the keystone to continue the Rite.?

I do so. ?Now, all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse. It is a fight where the only goal is to survive.?

The ground starts to shake. ?Feel that? Everything is shaking. I am ready!? Grunt sounds anxious. Me, not quite so much. And then it erupts out of the ground. Our last enemy is a Thresher Maw.

Of course, we kill it. I?m not entirely sure that?s allowed, since the goal is supposed to be survival, but who cares. I?m perfectly prepared to point out that we survived. That should impress someone.

It certainly seems to impress Disgruntled Krogan, when he turns up afterwards. ?You slew the Thresher Maw! That has not been done in many years. Urdnot Wrex was the last. ?I wonder. You say you were created by Warlord Okeer? No aliens involved??

?That is so.?

?That is an acceptable excuse. The traditionalists will hate you. The progressives will support you. Your Rite will affect that, too. And you are truly powerful.?

?Oh, so Grunt is powerful. Now you want to be his friend??

?Of course not.? That at least is honest. ?He is artificial. But he is powerful. If he joins clan Urdnot, many will see it as a sign. Clan Urdnot will rise, and Clan Gatatog will fall further. I will not let this happen. Grunt, I offer you a chance to join Clan Gatatog, a great clan with a great future.? He seems to remember something. ?With restrictions, of course. You could not serve in the army. Or breed, of course. But you would be Gatatog in name.?

?How about it, Grunt? Sounds like an easy life, being wheeled out as a trophy every so often.? If sarcasm was a knife, I?d have cut my tongue out the way I said that.

Sadly, Grunt seems to take it seriously. ?That?s the trouble. I don?t want easy. I Am KROGAN!?

?If you will not join us, then you will die. Attack!? Disgruntled Krogan has followers, and they swing in action. Followed, rather swiftly, into death. Disgruntled Krogan lasts a little longer, partly because he turns out to have biotic ability. After I discover this, and pick myself off the ground, I shoot him a lot. I have a reason; it was undignified being thrown around during Grunt?s big moment, and he was annoying my friend Wrex. By Krogan standards, that?s more than enough reason to kill him.

?Uvenk is meat.? Grunt sounds gleeful. ?Let?s return to the keystone and signal the shaman to let us out of here.?

Krogan aren?t big on ceremony. When we get back to the camp, it?s just Grunt and us with the shaman. And only Grunt who has to kneel while the shaman speaks. ?Grunt, you now have clan and name. From this day you are Urdnot Grunt. You have the right to bear arms, to visit the female camp, and to choose a battle master.?

?Shepard is my battle master. She has no equal!? That?s said loud enough for people who aren?t paying much attention to turn around. It I suppose is a Krogan dare, but no one takes him up on it at this time.

Besides, the shaman seems to agree, if a little grudgingly. ?Indeed. Accept this gift as you enter adulthood. It was made by Fargath, the greatest weapon-maker among us.?

Overheard in the camp:
?Did you hear? The tank-born and a human killed the Thresher Maw!?
?Clan Urdnot is strong because of our willingness to ignore traditions when they're wrong.?

?You just can?t help making trouble.? Despite his words, Wrex seems pleased. ?No one has killed the Maw since my time in the Rite. Guess we know what it takes to replace me.? He leans forward, peering at Grunt. I don?t know what he was looking for, but when eh sits back he looks satisfied. ?You are Urdnot Grunt. Welcome.?

?Wrex, I?ve got another problem.?

?What do you need??

?Have you heard about a salarian being seen on Tuchanka. Probably a Blood Pack prisoner.?

?Hmm. I have. Talk to my scout commander. He sent me the report. Don?t take too much of his time, though. I need him to keep an eye on the other clans.?

?Thanks, Wrex.?

It?s while we?re making our way over to the scout commander that EDI calls us up. ?Shepard. I have received some messages from Tuchanka since the news of Grunt?s success in the Rite became known. There are several breeding requests for Grunt.? ?Hah.? ?And one for Shepard.?

Hah?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched 46
The ethics of genocide

?Wrex told me you were coming.? And don?t you sound pleased about it.

?We are looking for a Salarian. He may have been a prisoner of the Blood Pack.?

The scout commander has a console next to him, and turns to it. ?Yeah, one of my scouts reported seeing him. Poor bastard. Anyway, the Blood Pack were heading for clan Weyrloc?s camp. I sent a scout out to try to find out more, but he hasn?t reported back. They probably got him, too.??

?What?s the connection between the Blood Pack and Clan Weyrloc??

?Weyrloc founded them. They?re still the only krogan mercenary group that operates off Tuchanka as well as on it.?

?So why would they bring a salarian here??

?Probably to torture him. I mean, if all you?re going to do is kill someone, you don?t need to bring them home for that. No skin off my nose if they do. It?s one less alien on Tuchanka.?

?I think we?re going to have to go there. What intel have you got on clan Weyrloc, or their base??

?Weyrloc are fanatics. Not nice and friendly like we are. They virtually worship Weyrloc Guld, their clan-chief. He has two children, and one of them is a girl. They think that proves he?s got a destiny. Not me. I had a cousin who won twenty consecutive games of Quasar once. I?d ask my cousin for a loan, but I wouldn?t follow him. It?s just luck.?

?And their camp? What?s it like??

?I?ve only seen it from a distance. It?s a former hospital, so solidly constructed. They patrol the area around it, and I dare say there?s a lot more inside. That?s where you?ll find your salarian.?

?How do we get there??

?I?ll get a truck organised for you. You can get most of the way in that. Once you get near their perimeter, you?ll have to get out and walk.?


?Battlemaster?? I?ve never heard Grunt sounding hesitant before.

?What is it, Grunt?? I look at him, curiously.

?I don?t want it to seem as if I?m not grateful, and I don?t want you going to a fight without me, but? could I stay here? Urdnot Wrex is wise, and I would like to speak to him for a time. With your permission, of course.?

?Go ahead. Listen to Wrex. I would never have stopped Saren without him.? Or known how to deal with you, I remind myself.

?I must learn about that.? He sounds entirely serious. ?I must know the deeds of my battlemaster, so I can boast of them to others.?

?I?ll get Garrus to come down. We should be back fairly soon, anyway.?

?I understand, battlemaster. I wish I could be in two places at once, talking to clan chief Wrex and fighting with you.?


The trip isn?t long. The truck the krogan let us use is a Tomka, a hefty looking beast that reminds me a little of the Mako. A sturdy, reasonably well armed ground vehicle. Sadly, I don?t get to drive it around blowing things up. Instead, the driver takes us down a road towards the edge of the city, and then stops in a tunnel. ?You walk from here,? is his cheery way of telling us to get out.

The approaches to the hospital are defended, somewhat. Some of the Klixen we fought at the keystone, some varren, and a few krogan leading gangs of vorcha. I can heartily recommend setting vorcha with flame throwers on fire; their horrified scream just before the fuel tank explodes is a highlight of any trip to sunny Tuchanka. And it?s a bonus when they set a krogan on fire, too. After fighting our way through them, we hack the locked door into the hospital.

It?s a very sturdy building. Mordin approves. ?Repurposed krogan hospital. Sturdy. Built to withstand punishment.?

Garrus isn?t as happy. ?That?s unfortunate. Hospitals aren?t fun to fight through.?

?What is a fun place to fight through, Garrus?? This should be good.

?Formal gardens. Electronic shops. Antique stores, but only if they?re classy.?

?Hospitals important to krogan. Sites of honour. Focus for repopulation. Stop.? I halt near the bottom of the stairs. ?That body. Human. Need to take a look.?

I hadn?t even noticed, but there is a human body stuffed in the corner of the corridor. I try to keep my eyes on the corridor while Mordin examines it. ?Sores, tumours, ligatures showing restraint at wrists and ankles. Track marks for repeated injection sites. Test subject. Victim of experimentation.?

?I don?t suppose there?s any way to tell who this poor bastard was??

?No tattoos or IDs. Maybe slave or prisoner. Maybe merc or pirate. Irrelevant now. Clearly part of krogan tests to cure genophage. Humans useful as test subjects. Genetically diverse. Enables exploration of treatment modalities.?

?Experimenting on humans? That kind of crap is what makes Cerberus start to seem like a good idea.?

?Never used humans myself. Disgusting. Unethical. Sloppy. Used by brute force researchers, not thinkers. No place in proper science. Krogan use of humans unsurprising.?

?Didn?t you have to do some tests on krogan with your genophage work??

?No. Unnecessary. Limited tests to simulations, corpses, cloned tissue samples. High lever tests on varren. No tests on species with members capable of calculus. Simple rule. Never broke it.?

?Wouldn?t something native to Tuchanka work better??

?Yes. Human tests strictly high-level, concept work. Native Tuchankan fauna likely used later in developmental stages. Wise to delay use of varren until necessary. Powerful bite.?

?So what were they trying to do? Can you tell from the body??

?Position of tumours suggests deliberate mutation of adrenal, pineal glands. Modifying hormone levels. Counterattack on glands hit by genophage. Clever.?

?So they could be close to a cure?? I don?t know if I think that?s a good thing or a bad one. Wrex is my friend; but the krogan are violent and dangerous.

?Can?t say. Need more data. Conceptually sound though. Genophage alters hormone levels. Could repair damage with hormonal counterattack.?

?What did you mean about humans being genetically diverse??

?More variable. Peaks and valleys, mutations, adaptations. Far beyond other intelligent species. Makes humans useful test subjects. Larger reactions to smaller stimuli.?

?I know we can look much different to each other, but asari have a wide range of skin tones.?

?No. Ignore superficial differences. Down to genetic code. Humans have wider diversity. Biotic abilities, intelligence levels. Can look at random asari, krogan, make reasonable guess. Humans too variable to judge. Outliers in all species, of course. Geniuses, idiots. But human probability curve offers greater overall variety.?

?I thought humans had a fairly limited range of genetic variability. Wasn?t there some sort of population collapse early in our genetic history, so we?re all descended from a few thousand individuals??

?Yes. Surprised you know. Effect is common in intelligent life. Evolve, reproduce, expand to new region, exposed to new diseases, population collapses. Sometimes leads to extinction. Survivors better adapted to survive. Humans survive in larger numbers. Unknown why. Subject for scientific debate.?

?Now we?ve got two reasons to shut this place down.?

?Focus on Maelon. Too late to help the dead.?


At the end of the corridor, we come to a large two-level room. The far side is higher, and has a locked door opposite our entrance. The steps are one the far right of the room. When we enter, the far door cycles, and some krogan and vorcha come out. They spread out on the landing opposite, except for one who stands opposite us. Directly over a tank marked with an inflammable hazard warning.

?I am the speaker for Clan Weyrloc, offworlders. You have shed our blood. By rights you should be dead already. But Weyrloc Guld, chief of chiefs, has ordered that you be given leave to flee and spread the word of our coming.?

?But if I flee, I might trip over the dozen krogan I killed to get here. I think I?ll take my chances.?

?You killed our youngest and weakest, human.? Oh, that?s nice. You send your kids out to fight me, while staying in shelter yourself. ?They were not worthy of remaining near our glorious work. Inside you will find only Blood Pack veterans, tempered by savagery and war and dedicated to one goal. The salarian will cure the genophage and Clan Weyrloc will spread across the stars in a sea of blood!?

?Appears they discovered Maelon?s work. Unfortunate.?

?It doesn?t have to end like this.? I call up to the krogan. ?I can understand wanting to cure the genophage??

He interrupts me. ?No, human! You understand nothing! You have not seen the piles of children that never lived! The krogan were wronged! We will make it right, and then we will have our revenge!?

?Half the galaxy sees the krogan as victims. If you start a war, you?ll lose their support.?

?We have the Blood Pack and we have the salarian. When Clan Weyrloc numbers in the millions, we will not need support. When we cure the genophage, Weyrloc Guld will rule all krogan. The Krogan Rebellions will become the Krogan Empire!? He seems to be starting a rehearsed rant. I get my pistol out and switch it to incendiary aummunition. ?The surviving races will frighten their children with tales of what the Blood Pack did to the turians. The asari will scream as their Citadel plunges into the sun. We will keep salarians as slaves and eat their eggs as a delicacy. We??

?Bored now.? I fire one shot into the tank beneath his platform.

?See!? He gestures at the other krogan. ?The human cannot even hit a simple target.? He trails off, and his eyes go wide, as the smell of fumes reaches him.

And then I fire again, and we duck. The clanspeaker has time to scream, once, as the flames engulf him.

We have to kill the others the conventional way, shooting them. It?s not that difficult a task. Mordin sets several on fire, Garrus snipes others, and any that try to approach them have to try and go through me. The one krogan to get close tries to rush me, and when I step out of the way at the last second goes straight into a pillar. I shoot him on the rebound.

We pass through the opposite door and in the corridor beyond Mordin sniffs the air. ?Labs likely through there. Can smell antiseptic, hint of dead flesh.? If that?s the case, it?s probably the way we need to go.
Along the way, I notice a computer console. ?Mordin.? I point it out to him.

?Active console. May contain useful data. One moment.? He taps out a few commands on the keyboard. ?Genetic sequences. Hormone mutagens still steady. Protein chains, live tissue, cloned tissue. Very thorough. Standard treatment vectors. Avoiding scorched-earth immunosuppressants to alter hormone levels. Good. Hate to see that.?

?Most people wouldn?t be so casual about developing a sterility pague, Mordin.?

?Not developing. Modifying. Much more difficult. Working within confines of existing genophage. A hundred times the complexity. Errors unacceptable. Could cause total sterility, malignant tumours. Could even reduce effectiveness. Worse than doing nothing. Had to keep krogan population stable. One in one thousand. Perfect target, optimal growth. Like gardening.?

?Pretty it up however you like, you still killed millions.?

?No! Murdered no one. Altered fertility, prevented fetal development of nervous system. Have killed many, Shepard. Many methods. Gunfire, knives, drugs, tech attacks, once with farming equipment. Never with medicine!?

?What was it like, working on the genophage modification project??

?Best years of my life.? He sniffs. ?Wake up with ideas. Talk over breakfast. Experiment all morning. Statistical analysis in afternoon. Run new simulations during dinner. Set data runs to cook overnight. Laughter. Ego. Argument. Passion. Galaxy?s biggest problem, massive resources thrown at us. Didn?t have to buy equipment like Spectres. Got anything we wanted.?

?Do you keep in touch with your team??

?No. All changed with deployment. Made test drop on isolated krogan population. Hit rest of Tuchanka when results were positive. End of project. Separate ways. Watching it end, watching birth rates drop. Personal. Private. Not suitable for team.?

?Sounds like you were pretty important. How?d you go from that, to running a clinic on Omega??

?Wanted to heal people. Something easy. Good use of last decade. No ethical concerns. Understand rationale for modified genophage. Right choice. Still hard to sleep some nights.?

?Can you really look at Tuchanka and still think the genophage was a good idea??

?State of Tuchanka not due to genophage. Nuclear winter caused by krogan before salarians made first contact. Krogan choices. Expand after Rachni wars. Refuse truce during krogan rebellions. Splinter after genophage. Genophage medical, not nuclear. No craters from virus. Damage caused by krogan, not salarians. Not me.?

?The genophage is the virus that keeps the krogan in barbarism .And you upgraded it.?

?Krogan committed war crimes. Refused to negotiate. Turian defeat not complete. Krogan could have recovered, attacked again. Conventional war too risky. Krogan forces too strong. Genophage was only option. Krogan forced genophage. Us or them. No apologies for winning. Wouldn?t have minded a peaceful solution.?

?So if the krogan banded together and formed a united government, you?d welcome that.?

?Yes. United krogan saved galaxy, destroyed rachni.? I never mentioned everything that happened on Noveria to him, did I? ?Geonphage not punishment. Simply alters fertility to correct for removal from hostile environment.?

?Come on. We?re not going to find Maelon looking at consoles.?


What we are going to find is a dead female krogan in an operating lab. Mordin goes over to her. ?Dead krogan. Female. Tumours indicate experimentation. No restraint marks. Volunteer. Sterile Weyrloc female willing to risk procedures. Hoped for cure. Pointless. Pointless waste of life.? He sounds really subdued.

?I didn?t expect you to be bothered by the sight of a dead krogan.?

I didn?t expect quite such a vehement reaction. ?What? Why? Because of genophage work? Irrelevant. No, causative! Never experimented on live krogan! Never killed with medicine. Her death not my work,? Or for him to suddenly sound so distressed. ?only reaction to it. Goal was to stabilise population. Never wanted this. Can see it logically? but still unnecessary. Foolish waste of life. Hate to see it.?

?How often do you see it?? Maybe I shouldn?t be hard on him.

?Made yearly recon missions to Tuchanka. Water, tissue samples. Ensure no mistakes. Superiors offered to carry it out. Refused. Need to see it in person. Need to look. Need to see. Accept it as necessary. See small picture. Remind myself why I run clinic on Omega.? He raises one hand over the body. ?Rest, young mother. Find your gods. Find someplace better.?

?That sounded religious. I didn?t expect spirituality from you.?

?Genophage modification project altered millions of lives. Then saw results. Ego, humility, juxtaposition. Frailty of life. Size of universe. Explored religions after work complete. Different races. No answers. Many questions.?

?You were trying to find a salve for your conscience. The doctor who killed millions.? It?s a suggestion, not an attack.

?Modified genophage project great in scope. Scientifically brilliant. Ethically difficult. Krogan reaction visceral, tragic. Not guilty, but responsible. Trained as doctor. Genophage affects fertility. Doesn?t kill. Still caused this. Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses.?

?How do you justify it??

?Wheel of life. Popular salarian concept. Similar to human Hinduism in focus on reincarnation. Appealing to see life as endless. Fix mistakes in next life. Learn, adapt, improve. Refuse to believe life ends here. Too wasteful. Have more to offer. Mistakes to fix. Cannot end here. Could do so much more.?

?If you need this much soul-searching to get over it, maybe the genophage was wrong.?

?Had to be done. Rachni wars, Krogan rebellions, all pointed to krogan aggression. So many simulations. Effects of krogan population increase. All pointed to war. Extinction. Genophage or genocide. Save galaxy from krogan. Save krogan from galaxy.?

?And if you cure the genophage? They aren?t grateful??

?Assumes human reaction. Krogan stimulus response different. Harsh environment, take chance to fight, flee. Would have caused chaos on Tuchanka. Victor has war economy, bloodthirsty army. Galactic expansion only logical outcome. More war. Turians and humans would have destroyed krogan utterly. Genophage saved lives war would have ended.?

?Take a look at the dead woman, Mordin. Doesn?t look like you saved her.?

?No. It doesn?t. Worked with available data. Only option. No other possible? doesn?t matter.?


Further on, I hack the door to a locked room. Inside is a sick looking krogan. ?You killed the Blood Pack guards.?

?Not Blood Pack, not member of Clan Weyrloc. Wrong clan markings.?

?I?m an Urdnot scout. Weyrloc guards caught me. Brought me here.?

?The chief scout told us to watch for you. We?ve taken out the guards. Get back to Urdnot.?

?I can?t. The Weyrloc did things to me. Drugs. Injections. Said I was sacrificing for the good of all krogan. Experiments to cure the genophage. Everything?s blurry. Hard to think. Have to stay.?

?Mordin, can you get him back on his feet. Some sort of stimulant, perhaps, to bolster his immune system.?

Before Mordin can attempt anything, the scout interrupts. ?You don?t understand. I?m not too sick to leave. I have to stay. They?re curing the genophage. They?re going to make it all better. They have to keep doing the tests!?

?Careful, Shepard. Patient unstable, susceptible. Brainwashed.?

?Why do you want them to keep doing the tests?? I try to keep a patient tone.

?This is my fault. I got caught. Wasn?t strong enough, good enough. This is the best I can do. This is all I can do. I?m not big enough to have a shot with the females. I?ll never have kids of my own. But if I help undo the genophage, then I mattered!?

?Millions of children will be born. Weyrloc children. They?re going to destroy the other clans.? Or unite them under their rule, but he doesn?t know that.

?No. No, they said I was helping Urdnot!?

?If you want to help Urdnot, you have to get back there. But it would take a real badass to make it back to camp while injured.?

?I can do it.?

?You? I said a badass, not a scout whining like some quarian with a tummy ache.?

?I can do it.? He struggles to his feet. ?See! I?m up. And I?m going to the female camp!?

?Damn right you are! Get back there, and show them what you?re worth! Go, go!?

?Arrgh!? He roars, as he lumbers out of the room at an accelerating rate.

Garrus looks at me. ?There?s no pep-talk, like a military pep-talk.?


Most of the rest of the way through the hospital is a running skirmish. Krogan troopers, vorcha and varren try to stop us reaching Weyrloc Guld. They?ve even planted explosives in various locations, trying to detonate it as we go past. None of it works. Finally, Weyrloc Guld himself comes out to play. Like a lot of krogan leaders, he?s biotically talented. He?s got several guards with him. And when he walks near one of the explosive charges, he?s on fire and they?re dead. Garrus is good with a sniper rifle, and a direct impact has unfortunate results for him. A few seconds later, he?s a charred copse.

There?s still no sign of Maelon. On the other hand, there are still places to explore. We search around, eventually finding a sealed door. Inside, there?s a rather sophisticated lab. Maelon is working there. Mordin blinks at the sight. ?Maelon. Alive. Unharmed.? His eyes narrow. ?No signs of restraint. No signs of torture. Don?t understand.?

?For such a smart man, Professor, you always had trouble seeing evidence that disagreed with your preconceptions.? Maelon finally acknowledges our presence. ?How long will it take you to admit that I?m here because I wish to be here??

?He?s brainwashed, maybe. Or drugged?? Or he?s here by choice.

?Unlikely. Pupils normal. Body language consistent with standard metabolic state.?

?Please, Professor. You wrote a paper on this.? Maelon sounds as if he?s quoting. ??Forced behaviour modification always results in mental degradation. Whether from indoctrination or drugs, test subjects always lose higher cognitive functions.??


?Not brainwashed or conditioned. Need Maelon at peak capacity for work. Must be alternate source of coercion.?

I shake my head. ?He wasn?t kidnapped. He came here by choice to cure the genophage.?

Maelon nods. Mordin explodes. ?Impossible! Whole team agreed! Project necessary!?

?How was I supposed to disagree with the great Doctor Mordin Solus? I was your student! I looked up to you!?

?Experiments performed here. Live subjects! Prisoners! Torture and execution! Your doing??

?We?ve already got the blood of millions on our hands, Doctor. If it takes a few more to put things right, I can deal with that!?

?You honestly think the experiments you?ve carried out here are justified?? Sorry, but that?s beneath contempt.

?We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified! The experiments are monstrous? because I was taught by a monster!?

I have a gun in my hand, and Mordin nearby. ?Mordin, did you ever perform experiments like this.?

He shakes his head, still looking at Maelon. ?No. Never taught you this, Maelon.?

?So your hands are clean. What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions? You taught me that the end justifies the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how.?

?If you cure the genophage, the krogan will expand again. That?ll be on your head.?

?We justified this atrocity by saying the krogan would cause havoc and war if their population recovered. But look at the galaxy! Batarian attacks in the Traverse, geth attacks n the Citadel. Is this a peaceful universe? The assault on your Eden Prime might never have happened if we had let the krogan recover. We?ll never know.?

So, you want to roll the dice and see what happens. I don?t like that game, when they?re not my loaded dice. ?How would a krogan population boom have stopped Saren and his geth.?

?An increased krogan population would have forced the Council to take action, likely involving colony rights in the Traverse. The turian fleets would have been alert for any signs of military activity in the area. They might have stopped the geth at Eden Prime.?

?Supposition. Impossible to be certain!?

?Don?t you see? We tried to play god, and we failed! We only made things worse? and I?m going to fix it.?

?Why work with Clan Weyrloc? And how did you access the genophage data??

?The data was easy to obtain. I had clearance. We all did. We were heroes. All I had to do was ask. As for the Weyrloc, they were the only clan with the resources and commitment.?

And they wanted to use it to ?spread to the stars on a sea of blood?, or something like that. ?What about Urdnot? They?ve a bigger camp.?

?Urdnot Wrex is too soft.? I almost laugh in his face. ?He wasn?t willing to do the experiments I needed. Urdnot?s loss and Weyrloc?s gain. Their clan will be the first to recover from the crime we committed.?

?Maelon clearly doesn?t need rescuing.? Except from his own stupidity or ignorance. ?What do you want to do, Professor??

?Have to end this.?

Maelon has a concealed gun, which he decides to draw. ?You can?t face the truth, can you?? He points it at Garrus, then Mordin, then me, swinging from target to target while ranting. ?Can?t admit that your brilliant mind led you to commit an atrocity!?

He might have said more, but while he was aiming at me Mordin?s fist connected with his face. As Maelon staggers back, Mordin takes his gun. ?Unacceptable experiments. Unacceptable goals. Won?t change. No choice. Have to kill you.?

Maelon looks terrified, with a gun in his face. ?Wait.? Maelon nods frantically. ?You don?t want to kill him.? And nods, equally frantically. ?You?re not a murderer, Mordin.? And freezes.

?No. Not a murderer. Thank you, Shepard.? Mordin steps back, lowering the gun. Maelon wipes his forehead with his sleeve. ?Finished, Maelon. Get out. No Weyrloc left. Project over.?

?You heard the professor.? I loom close to Maelon. ?Leave, before he changes his mind.?

?But? where should I go, Professor??

?Don?t care. Try Omega. Could always use another clinic.?

Maelon gathers up his last scraps of dignity as he leaves. ?The krogan didn?t deserve what we did to them, Professor. The genophage needs to end.?


?Not this way.? Mordin looks at the screens. ?Apologies, Commander. Misunderstood mission parameters. No kidnapping. My mistake. Thank you.?

?Are you all right?? He sounds sad, and perhaps old.

?Should have killed him.? He sniffs. ?Wanted to! Easier than listening. Easier for him too. Experiments indicate how far he?d fallen. Expected it from krogan. Not one of mine.?

?Maybe next time you?re discussing the ethics of the genophage, you?ll think about that.?

?Yes. So many variables. Stress responses. Impossible to truly predict. Something to think about.? He taps at some keys. ?Maelon?s research. Only loose end. Could destroy it. Closure, security. Still valuable, though.?

?The research gained from experimenting on living victims is valuable??

?Yes. Right now, victims died for nothing. Keep it, use it, deaths worth something. Maelon?s work could cure genophage. Don?t know. Effects on krogan. Effects on galaxy. Too many variables. Too many variables.?

?Keep the data. Better to have it and not need it, than the opposite.?

?Point taken, Shepard. Capturing the data, wiping local copy. Still years away from cure. But closer than starting from scratch. Done. Ready to go. Ready to be off Tuchanka. Anywhere else. Maybe somewhere sunny.?

?Let?s go.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 47
Cerberus: bad baby-sitters for twenty years

?I?ve got to leave, Wrex. Sure you can?t come with us?? I know what the answer will be, and it?s the right answer, but I wish he could.

?Wish I could, Shepard. But someone has to keep these fools in line. Kill some enemies for me, will you.?

You changed my life
From: Jeint
Greetings, Commander Shepard.
Liara T?soni gave me your contact information. I was one of the cleaning crew in the Dantius Towers. You helped me get out of there. According to T?soni, you also found Thane. He took down some of the Eclipse mercs trying to gun us down, and I wondered if you could pass on my thanks.
The way he moved? one was dead before they even knew he was there. He snapped another?s neck, then shot a third, all in the space of a few heartbeats. It was incredible. He moved like a dancer, grave and power in constant motion.
Seeing him changed my life, woke up something in me I don?t fully understand yet. I don?t know what I?m going to do, but salarian lives are too short to waste as custodians, especially when there?s so much else out there. I?m going to find something that lets me capture what I saw in him, that beauty, that aesthetic perfection.
I?m also going to buy some nice clothes.
So if you could tell him that? or just whichever parts of it you think appropriate? I?d appreciate it.
Sincerely
Jeirt

?Shepard.? Kelly looks disturbed. ?Jack insisted you go to speak to her. She was nasty about it, too. I only went down to take her a meal, and she nearly took my head off.?

?I?ll go and speak to her. And don?t worry about Jack. She knows she?ll answer to me if she does more than shout at people.?


?Jack.? She lives in the ancillary area below main engineering. When I come down, she?s lying on her mattress, which is laid over an air vent. I do wonder what she does when work is needed down here, but I?ve never asked. ?Kelly said you wanted to see me.?

?I got thoughts, crawling through my head like little bugs.? She jumps up, and starts wandering around the area. ?You know, right, that Cerberus raised me??

?They were doing experiments on biotics, you were a child, and eventually you escaped. I remember.?

?I?ve been looking through those files you let me have, trying to find out where it was. I?ve found it. I want to go there, go to my old cell, plant a bomb there, and watch the place burn. Destroy the whole place.?

?Where is it??

?Planet?s called Pragia. I?ll send Joker the co-ordinates of the facility.?

?Out in the Nubian Expanse. I?ve been there.?

She sits back, and looks at me warily. ?To the facility or the planet??

?The planet. It was, what, eight years ago.? I look away for a moment. ?An Alliance special forces raid. We were after a group of shipjackers. And we got them. Horrible planet, though.?

?Shit.? She looks away for a moment. ?You ever hit any Cerberus facilities??

?Not till I was a Spectre. We wiped out a few when I was after Saren, mind you.?

?And you?re working for them now??

?Yes.? I stare at the wall, and get my serious face on. ?What?s the facility like??

?Fucked if I know. They only let me out of my cell occasionally. The researchers, the guards, the other children; they all hated me.?

?There were other children there??I know my voice sounds disgusted.

?Yeah. They hated me, too. I had to fight through them on the way out.?

?What were they trying to achieve??

?How the hell would I know? I was just a kid. All I knew was, they kept me in a cell, experimented on me, and hated me.?

?Or feared you, maybe. It?s hard to tell, sometimes.?

?Yeah, okay, they might have been scared of me. So are we going or not??

?We?ll go. Mid-range FAE imploder good enough for you??

?That?ll do. Thanks, Shepard. You didn?t have to do this.?

?I?m working with Cerberus. Doesn?t mean I like them. This says so.?


?Shepard.? Damn, she sounds upset.

?What?s wrong, Tali?? If some Cerberus bastard has upset her, I?m instituting walking the plank as a punishment.

?I need to leave the Normandy.?

?What! Why??

?I had a message from the Flotilla. The Admiralty Board is charging me with treason. They say I endangered the Migrant Fleet.?

?Impossible. No-one who knows you would believe you would do anything to endanger the fleet.?

?I don?t know, Shepard.? She seems to be breathing a little easier now. ?They don?t make accusations like this unless they think the evidence is clear. But thank you for believing in me.?

?So, what happens now? Is there a trial and how seen do you need to be there??

?There?s a trial, yes. They?re less formal than the human ones I?ve seen, or the ones on the Citadel. We?re a family; this is a family meeting, just the worst sort. And they?ll give me a reasonable amount of time to get back, before they try me. Though they?ll do it without me there if I?m too long.?

?The Normandy is heading for Pragia; in the Nubian Expanse. Can we go there, and still get you to the flotilla in time??

?You?d do that. I thought I?d have to book a commercial flight. Yes, Shepard, that will do fine. Thank you.?

Codex: Pragia
Choked by the hyper growth of non-native plant species, Pragia serves as a galactic reminder about the imperative for careful regulation during colonization.
Two centuries ago, batarian agribusiness chose uninhabited Pragia as their empire's breadbasket. Colonization authorities introduced non-native, industrially-mutated plants that flourished in the world's fertile volcanic soil. Synergizing with Pragia's natural geothermal conditions and chemotropic microbes the imported species soon became a nightmare. Mutant strains of poisonous and even carnivorous plants arose, overgrowing colonies in days instead of years and causing the batarians to abandon their holdings. Because the planet's small animal population is insufficient to check its plant growth, Alliance ecologists predict soil exhaustion in 400 years.
Due to its relative isolation and lack of population, Pragia has become a regional haven for drug-runners, weapons-smugglers, pirates, mercenaries, terrorists, and intelligence agents seeking secrecy.

?This was a mistake, Shepard. I don?t want to come back here.?

?Don?t worry, Jack. You?ll be fine.? I don?t add, she?s got me and Zaeed carrying the bomb and armed to the teeth in case of trouble.

?Yeah, I know. I?m all right.? This is presumably why you?re still breathing hard.

?Shepard, my sensors are picking up multiple infra-red signatures around the area. Everywhere except at your destination.?

?It?s Cerberus.? Zaeed has experience with Cerberus; he once told me he?d lost count of the number of Cerberus agents he?d killed. ?The base is shielded.?

?Yeah. The fuckers built it to last. Look, see the landing pad? It?s on the roof, otherwise the jungle would overrun it in days.?

?Take us in.? The Cerberus pilot shouldn?t be able to hear conversations, but I?ve got a link to him.


It?s teeming down with rain, which is hardly unusual for Pragia?s tropical regions. Vegetation grows up close to the walls of the building, and creepers are already running across the roof. In another decade the building will be swallowed up entirely, I suspect. Jack looks around as we disembark. ?Come on. Let?s get inside, plant the bomb, get out of here. I don?t want to spend longer here than I have to.?

There?s a ramp leading down from the landing pad to the entrance to the facility. The doors have been smashed in, or perhaps out, at some point. One is gone entirely, the other lies on the ground in the middle of the door frame. I pause inside to let my eyes adjust to the dim light. While there are plenty of windows and skylights, they?re filthy. And there?s no artificial light on, but then without maintenance the power plant won?t be on.

Jack pushes past me. ?See there?? She points at some cylinders, four feet tall or so and sealed. ?They used to bring new kids in inside those. Most of them were alive when they got here.?

?They actually stuffed kids into those?? Zaeed sounds half disbelieving, half disgusted. ?I?ve done some nasty stuff in my time, but nothing this sick.?


At the bottom of some stairs outside the reception area, there?s an active console. It?s repeating a conversation over and over.

?The Illusive Man is asking questions again. I think he?s getting suspicious.?
?When we deliver him an army of super-biotics, he won?t care how it was done.?
?Well we?d better get something to show him soon, or he?ll shut us down?. The Illusive Man is asking questions again. I think.?


Jack shuts it off. ?That?s bullshit. They were part of Cerberus.?

?Sounds like they were part that had gone rogue, to me.? Zaeed expressed the same opinion I have.

?Whatever. Let?s just plant the bomb.?


The biggest room in the facility is I suspect right under the landing pad. Certainly the placement of the roof panels suggests it. It might have been an atrium at one time. The room has been pretty badly damaged. In another context, I?d say there?d been fighting in here. In several places the catwalks are down, and at least one internal wall has been knocked down. Jack looks around. ?The first time I saw sunlight was through those roof panels. First I remember, anyway.? In other news, there?s a trio of Varren present. I shoot one, Zaeed shoots another, and Jack does something biotic and really unpleasant to the third. I shoot it, because frankly its howls of pain were annoying me.

From killing Varren to really disturbing information, near the far end of this supposed ?atrium? there?s a ring of stones, some still vertical and some lying down, arranged in a rough circle. Outside that are some carefully stacked crates, where people could sit and watch. ?Is this what I think it is??

?It?s an arena, yeah. Sometimes the researchers would take me out of my cell, drug me up, and then put me in here to fight one of the other kids. If I refused, they?d shock me. Not that I did, after a while.? She looks around moodily. ?It was the only time I got to leave my cell, and I was hopped up on drugs anyway. I dunno what they were, but when I killed my opponent, they hit right into my pleasure centers. I still get warm and fuzzy feelings when I fight.?

?What were they trying to do??

?Dunno. Test my progress, maybe. Turns out, though, you mess with someone?s head enough you can turn a scared kid into an all-powerful bitch.?

She?s not the only person who wants to blow this place up. Though personally, if we can find any surviving researchers and bring them back here before we do it, I?d be a lot more satisfied. I doubt if that is going to happen, though.

There?s another security console in the next hallway. This time, it isn?t already active. I can activate it, though, and a hologram of a guard appears.
?The subjects are rioting. All of them. Subject Zero might get loose. Request permission to terminate.?
?Negative. All other subjects are expendable. Lethal force is authorized. Jack is not expendable. Save Jack.?

?Bullshit.? Jack turns it off. ?That?s wrong. I started that riot. Not the other kids.?

?You were only in one place, Jack. You couldn?t see everything that was going on, and could have misinterpreted what you did see.?

?The guards attacked me. The other kids attacked me. The automated defences attacked me. Not much to interpret.? She glares at me, and I return a cool stare. She breaks eye contact first. ?Shit, I hate it here. I?m a dangerous bitch, and then I?m a little girl again. It?s complicated. Let?s just go plant that bomb.?


Rather disturbingly, the next corridor holds another varren. A recent kill, inflicted by someone with a gun.

?There?s not supposed to be anyone else here.? Jack sounds puzzled.

?We?re not alone here. Keep your guard up.?

While I?m not a fan of people stating the obvious, Zaeed is a proven survivor. I pay attention. This is good, because the next room we enter ? at one time, a morgue ? contains an ambush. There?s a krogan and a pack of Vorcha, with pretty good cover. As is often the case with Vorcha, and almost always the case with krogan, they?re overconfident. While some try to pin us down with rifle fire, the krogan and two vorcha with flame throwers try to advance towards us. Zaeed throws one of his inferno grenades at them. We duck, and there?s a rather loud series of explosions. The smell of roast krogan fills the air. I poke my head up, and let off a couple of rounds at one of the vorcha who has left himself exposed for a moment. We steadily work out way through the survivors, Jack using her biotics to move them out of cover and Zaeed or I finishing them off. Afterwards, Jack looks around. ?This was a small facility. Why would they need such a large morgue??

?They must have got through a lot of kids here.? Zaeed never struck me as sensitive, but he likes it here as little as I do.

?I survived. Because I was tougher than the rest.?

Or luckier. Though I don?t suggest that to Jack. The corridor beyond this, once I?ve hacked the door, has a series of small rooms off it. The furniture consists of a small bunk with a couple of drawers under it. Zaeed sounds disgusted. ?They actually kept kids in this??

It looks like it. There are a few personal effects remaining. Some trashed surveillance cameras in the rooms. A couple of angry, and quickly dead, Vorcha. The door at the end of this corridor leads to a larger room, which looks like it might be a play area. The glass wall opposite is a mirror, and there?s a walkway all round the area. Jack is a bit surprised. ?I used to look out on this area from my room. I?d scream and bang on the window, but no one ever paid attention. I thought they were ignoring me, but that?s a one-way mirror.?

?Sounds like they didn?t know you were there.?

?Yeah. It does. Come on, my rooms not far away, that?s where I want to leave the bomb.?

Her tone is a lot less confident than normal. It gets even less so when I hack through the exit, into a pair of rooms beyond. Both of them have chairs in, similar to dentists chairs but with restraints for wrists and ankles. Restraints that won?t go around my wrists, and chairs that are certainly too short for me or Zaeed ? Jack just might be small enough to fit. I don?t even attempt to ask her, since she?s breathing heavily as soon as we see the room. ?I don?t like it in here.? Her voice is like a child?s. ?Can we go now??

We can. Into a little office next to them, where there?s a hackable computer terminal. It consists of a medical report. ?Entry 1054, Teltin facility. The latest application of PergNim was not a success. Subjects one, four and five died. No biotic change among the survivors. We lowered the core temperatures of the surviving test subjects. No biotically beneficial reactions occurred. As a side effect, all subjects died. So we won?t try this with Zero. I hope our supply of biotic potential subjects holds up. We?re getting through them fast.?

?They weren?t experimenting on the other children this for my safety.?

?This whole place was built to make you what you are.?

?Yeah, well, maybe some of the other kids had it bad, but so did I. Everything they did to them, they did to me too.?

?After they tested it on others first.? Zaeed adds a little input, from where he?s watching the corridors.

?It? this isn?t how I remembered it, Shepard.?

?No one?s blaming you, Jack. You were a kid, and you didn?t know everything that was going on.?

Another security console is just down the corridor. Again, I hack it. A scientist is speaking. ?It?s all fallen to pieces. The subjects are rampaging, and Zero is loose. We?re shutting Teltin down. What a disaster. We?ll infiltrate and piggyback on the Ascension Program. Hopefully, that will? who? Zero, wait!? Given the way he went flying out of the field of view, Jack wasn?t listening. Not that I blame her.

?Shepard, you heard him. They started up somewhere else.? Jack sounds frantic.

?Ascension is an Alliance program. It?s a school for biotic kids. They don?t torture children there.?

?Okay.? She sounds a little doubtful, then shakes it off. ?We?re getting close to my cell, the place I came from. Let?s keep going.?


We go round the corner and through another door, into what was once a canteen. It?s got a problem, in the form of a group of krogan and vorcha. While most raise there weapons threateningly, one starts talking into a communicator. ?Hey, Aresh, it?s Kureck. The intruders are here. You want them dead, we have to talk creds. You promised us lots of salvage, but this place is a waste.? At this distance, I can?t hear the reply, but I can hear the rest of what Kureck says. ?Fine ? we?ll put them down. Then I?m coming in there, and we?re going to talk salvage.?

?You?re in my way.? There?s probably no point being diplomatic, with a krogan.

?Get them.? As his response proves.

The krogan, like many others I?ve encountered, is overconfident. ?Kill them. I want them dead.? Well, they can try. There are only two vorcha, and two krogan apart from the leader. After they fall, he?s practically frothing at the mouth in rage. ?Useless, all of you. I?ll kill them myself.? After he comes round a pillar and I empty a thermal clip firing on him, Jack lifts him into the air. Zaeed and I finish him off.

?Only room left is my old cell.? Jack?s panting as she looks around. ?Whoever Aresh is, he?s in there. I want to plant the bomb there anyway. Might as well do it on his corpse.?

I suppose we?d better go and look. It?s only one corridor away. When we find it, Jack?s room is larger than those of the other children, with better furniture. Although no sign of any people. ?Come out. We know you?re here.? To me, my voice sounds tired.

A rather scrawny looking man with a scruffy beard steps out from behind a cabinet. Jack glares at him. ?Who are you??

?My name is Aresh, and you?re breaking into my home. I know you, Subject Zero. So many years have passed, and I thought I was the only survivor.?

?My name is Jack.? She aims her pistol at him. ?How the hell do you know me??

?We all knew your face, Jack. They inflicted horrors on us so their experiments wouldn?t kill you. You were the question, and I?m still looking for the answer.?

Oh, he?s one of those ?cryptic and wise? types. ?Why did you come back??

?I hired these mercs and came back almost a solar year ago. We?re rebuilding it, piece by piece. I?m going to find out what they knew ? how to unlock true biotic potential in humans. I?m restarting the teltin facility. It will be beautiful.?

?I wanted a hole in the ground. He?s trying to justify what happened by using it!?

?He?s crazy. He?s never going to restart this place.? I draw a deep breath. ?We still blow the place, but that still leaves him. What do we do with another you??

?That?s easy.? She stalks towards Aresh.

?Just leave me here. This is where I belong.?

?Fuck that.? Jack?s biotics flare, and Aresh is flung against a wall. As he slumps down, she takes aim at his head.

?Jack.? I don?t raise my voice. ?Shooting him won?t change a thing.?

?Why not??

?He?s trapped here, by his past. You want to move on. If you?re moving on, he doesn?t matter. If you make him matter, you aren?t moving on.? Or something like that. Maybe I should use less psychobabble.

?Fuck.? It seems to get through to Jack. ?Fuck. Get out of here. Go.? She waves her pistol at Aresh, who doesn?t need a second invitation. ?He?s not worth chasing. None of this is.?

?You did the right thing, Jack.?

?Maybe.? She looks around. ?Plant the bomb. I just want to look around a bit.?

Zaeed and I get on with assembling the bomb and it?s transceiver. As Jack wanders around the room, she mutters to us. ?This room was my whole childhood. I used this table for everything. It was like my best friend. I?d crawl under it to cry. I was pathetic. Sometimes I dream I?m back in this bed being experimented on. I used to tie the sheets around my wrists and try to rip them off. I want to stop coming back here. I thought that room out there was the rest of the world. I?d pound and yell. Never did any good. That bloodstain out in the hall? That?s where I killed my first man. I was breaking out of my cell, and he tried to stop me. Instead, I stopped him.? She looks at us. ?Are you done yet? No more wallowing. Let?s blow this place to hell.?


We?re done. We head back to the shuttle, and lift off. I pass Jack the detonator. ?Lift the cap, and press the button to complete the circuit.?

She sits there for a minute, flipping the detonator open and shut, hand hovering over the button. Flip. Flip. Click. Flip. Click. Flip. Click. Flip. Press. Flip. The shock wave in atmosphere shakes the shuttle, nearly throwing Zaeed to the floor. But the Teltin facility, and the jungle around it, is gone. Hopefully without anyone knowing who did it.


A couple of hours later, I?m back on the Normandy and we?re heading for a rendezvous with the Migrant Fleet. I?ve showered, and I?m heading down for a meal, when Joker calls me over the intercom. ?Commander, Jack and Miranda are in the middle of a disagreement. Can you head it off before they tear out a bulkhead??

?I?m on my way., Joker.? And I?m not going to arrive happy.

?Take pictures.? Pervert.


I can hear the shouting from outside Miranda?s room. ?Touch me, and I will smear the walls with you, bitch.? As I open the door, Jack is throwing a chair at Miranda, who sidesteps it easily.

?Enough.? I don?t raise my voice that often, but I can. ?Stand down, both of you.?

There?s a pause. Then Jack speaks. ?The cheerleader won?t admit that what Cerberus did to me was wrong.?

?It wasn?t Cerberus.? Miranda sounds exceptionally supercilious, probably to annoy Jack. ?Not really. But clearly you were a mistake.?

?Screw you. You?re got no idea what they put me through. Maybe it?s time I showed you!?

I move close enough to hit both of them. ?Our mission is too important to let your personal feelings get in the way.? They push me, someone will hit the ground.

?Fuck your feelings. I just want her dead.?

Looks like Jack is volunteering to be the example. I?ll make one more try to resolve this like adults. ?You both know what we?re up against. Save your anger for the Collectors.?

?I can put aside my differences? until the mission?s over.? Miranda doesn?t sound too happy, except that she?s getting in ahead of Jack to show how reasonable she is.

?Sure. I?ll do my part.? Jack tosses it off. ?I?d hate to see her die before I got a chance to filet her myself.?

Jack starts to head out the door, and I let her go, and stare at Miranda.

?It?s a good thing you came by when you did, Commander. As long as she does her job, we?ll be fine. Thanks, Shepard.?

"Were you really trying to defend what happened to her at Teltin?" I manage to keep any trace of friendliness from my voice.

Miranda looks slightly wary. "She wanted me to admit it was a Cerberus base, that Cerberus did... what those people did."

"It was. They did." I hold up one finger as she starts to progress. "The Illusive Man isn't the sort of person to waste resources. He'd never have allowed it. But they were Cerberus, before they started operating on their own. Admit it to Jack, exlain that to her, and you've got someone who'll at least respect you. Deny the obvious, and you've got a problem. You once told me you wanted to be a leader. Part, no most, of that is knowing how to deal with people. I got Jack out of here without violence in less than thirty seconds, when she was already angry. Learn to do that, and then you'll be a leader."

"I don't think I can, Commander." She slumps down in her chair. "I don't have that.. fire you do, that fire that makes people want to follow you into hell itself. My father got me the best genes money could buy. Guess it wasn't enough."

"You're always bringing up your genetic tailoring. It really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"This is what I am, Shepard. I can't hide it. The intelligence, the looks, even the biotics - he paid for all of that. Every one of your accomplishments is due to your skill. The only things I can take credit for are my mistakes."

"You give your father too much credit. Yeah, he gave you gifts, but you can be proud of what you've done with them."

"Maybe. Maybe you're right."

"Give yourself a chance. You're capable enough to achieve anything, you don't need to let others set your goals."

"Perhaps, Commander. But I should get back to work."

Guardian angels
From: Orianna (Lawson)
I hope this is the right Commander Shepard. I?m Oriana. My sister only told me a little, but I don?t think it occurred to her that I?m as smart as she is. I poked around a little and found an information broker who got me this address.
I got to thank her, but I never got to thank you for helping me. My parents don?t really understand it, but I know how much Miranda did, how many little things over the years were her looking out for me. I?m not going to tell them. I still want to go to school and get some degrees. But I wanted you to know that I know you saved me.
I had a guardian angel all these years. I don?t know if my sister has anybody. She said that she?s working for you, and it was pretty clear that you were doing something dangerous. Make sure she comes back alive, okay?
Orianna
PS: Don?t tell her I sent you this. It would just make her angry.
PPS: Miranda, stop looking at Shepard?s messages. Oh, don?t act like you don?t It?s what I?d do.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 48
Shepard, QC

Codex: The Migrant Fleet
Also known as the Flotilla, the Migrant Fleet is the massive fleet that became home to the quarians after they were driven from their home world by the geth. The Migrant Fleet consists of roughly fifty thousand starships that house seventeen million quarians. The Fleet is so large it can take days for all the ships to pass through a mass relay. Some of the vessels date from the original flight from the geth three centuries ago.
The Migrant Fleet is rarely welcoming to outsiders, as any risk to the Fleet is a risk to the quarian species. Quarians rarely leave except to go on Pilgrimage, ships sometimes leave on an individual basis to pursue their own goals, on missions that can last days or years, but usually return eventually. As Tali'Zorah nar Rayya describes her culture: "Home is a state of mind."

It?s certainly a lot of ships. Why they?re in a system in the outer galaxy, which doesn?t have anything but a binary pair of blue giant stars in it, is a subject I?m going to rein in my curiosity about. Their outer patrols let the Normandy through without a fuss, once Tali identifies herself. Now that we?re approaching the main body of the fleet, they?re rather less inclined to take our word for it.

?This is Tali?Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya requesting permission to dock with the Rayya.?

A traffic controller replies to us. ?Our system has your ship flagged as Cerberus. Verify.?

Or we?ll blow you up, is left unsaid. Not that it bothers Tali. ??After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began.??

?Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali?Zorah.?

?We?d like a security and quarantine team to meet us, please. Our ship is not clean.? Actually, it?s about as clean as it could be. Which doesn?t mean it isn?t contaminated, as far as the quarians are concerned.

?Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle seventeen.?

The Rayya is one of the liveships that provide so much of the Flotilla?s food. They're massive vessels, the largest space ships I've ever seen. The reception committee consists of a number of armed quarian marines, and the ship?s captain. It?s a little bit of a surprise to me when he talks to me first. ?Captain Shepard.? Surprising and mildly embarrassing. I was only a Commander. ?Tali?Zorah told me a lot about you. I wish we could be meeting under more pleasant circumstances.?

?So do I. And, uh, I really shouldn?t be addressed as Captain. I never actually got promoted past Commander, and I?m not even in the Alliance military any more.?

?You?re the commander of the Normandy, responsible for all the lives aboard it. That entitles you to respect among our people. ?May you stand between your crew and harm as you lead them through the empty quarters of the stars.??

?Keelah se?lai.? That?s a chorus from all the quarians present. Tali whispers to me. ?It?s an old ship captain?s blessing, Shepard.?

?Tali has helped the Normandy crews out of a lot of difficult situations. I?m here to return the favour.? Not at gunpoint. Having seen the flotilla, I?m thinking a collection of ships this large might be useful against the Reapers.

?I understand. As the Commander of the vessel she serves upon, your voice carries weight. I wish I could do more to help, Tali.? He sounds embarrassed. ?The trial requires that I be officially neutral, but I?m here if you need to talk. They?re charging you with bringing active geth to the fleet as part of a secret project.?

?That?s insane! I never brought active geth aboard. I only sent parts and pieces.?

?You sent geth materials back to the Migrant Fleet?? It?s news to me. It must have been while she was on the Normandy.

?Yes. My father was working on a project. He needed the materials. If I sent back something that was only damaged, not permanently inactive? No. No, I checked everything. I was careful.?

?Technically, I?m under orders to place Tali?Zorah under arrest pending the hearing? So Tali? you?re confined to this ship until the trial is over.? I?m glad the captain at least has the decency to feel sad about it.

?Thank you, Captain.? Tali sounds determined. So am I.

?Preparations got under way as soon as you arrived. The hearing?s being held in the garden plaza. Good luck.? How very ?neutral? of you. Not that I?m complaining.

Tali points me which way to go, and we head out. One thing she said to me once comes back as we walk through the ship. Quarians like to gossip, and today?s subject is Talli?Zorah and her trial. Some fascinating insights, although I am annoyed that one of them lacks faith in me. ?If Tali?Zorah can?t get a quarian captain to speak for her, she?s as good as exiled.? I could certainly do a perfectly good job speaking for her, although I assumed I was only here as a witness.

It?s not until we?re approaching the plaza that we meet someone who doesn?t fall silent and get out of our way. She waves off someone who is walking to her as we get close. ?Tali?Zorah vas Normandy.? Definitely an older voice. ?I am glad you came. I could only delay them so long.?

Tali is delighted. ?Auntie Raan.? She hugs the older quarian, who holds her slightly awkwardly till she takes a step back. ?Shepard vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala?Raan vas Tonbay. She?s a friend of my father.? Tali suddenly sounds puzzled. ?Wait. Raan, you called me ?vas Normandy?.?

?I?m afraid I did, Tali. The Admiralty Board voted to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema.? Admiral Raan sounds tired and sad.

?I assume that?s not a good sign.? Sounds like I need to yell at an admiral or two.

?They stripped me of my ship name.? Tali is definitely shocked. ?That?s as good as declaring me exiled already.?

?It?s not over yet, Tali. You have friends who still know you as Tali?Zorah vas Neema? whatever we must call you legally.?

?You?re an admiral. Does that mean you?re one of the judges?? At least it?s one person friendly to Tali, and her father is another. Since there are only five, we just have to persuade one.

?I?m afraid not. My history with Tali and her father forced me to recuse myself.? Well, that must have been painful.

?I imagine father had to do the same.? Ah. Maybe I should find out what ?recuse? means. Tali doesn?t sound too upset.

?You?ll see inside, Tali. For my part, I moderate and ensure that the rules of protocol are followed, but I have no part in the judgement.?

?I guess we should get started. Does Tali have a defence counsellor, someone who speaks for her side?? We?ll have to speak to them. I hope they give us plenty of time.

?Indeed she does? Captain Shepard. She is part of your crew now, recognised by quarian law. And remember, an accused is always represented by his or her ship?s captain.?

Oh. I look at Tali. I wonder whether she can recognise the panic behind my eyes. She certainly sounds hesitant. ?So, err? You would actually speak for my defence??

?I?ll do everything in my power to help you, Tali.? On the other hand, my power tends to consist of shooting people. I?m not sure that will work here.

?Thank you, Shepard. I could not ask for a better counsellor.? Well, that?s one person who has faith in me.

?Our legal rules are simple. There are no legal tricks or political loopholes for you to worry about.? I think Admiral Raan has realised who much I?m panicking. ?Present the truth as best you can. It will have to be enough. Now come. I promised I would not delay you.?

She takes us into a large chamber (it even has grass on the floor and trees in the walls), where a lot of quarians are standing around talking. A sort of amphitheatre has the judges at one end, with benching and steps back to the main floor level. While Admiral Raan proceeds to a seat above the other judges, Tali and I head to a position in front of them. There?s a lot of quarians filing into the benches behind us. I?m wondering which of the three judges is Tali?s father, unless he?s hanging around behind us.

Shala?Raan starts the proceedings. ?This Conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah se?lai.? The chorus of that keeps surprising me. I didn?t realise how? spiritual quarians could be. ?The accused, Tali?Zorah vas Normandy, has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason.?

?Objection!? One of the admirals interrupts. ?A human has no business at a hearing involving such sensitive military matters.?

?Then you should not have declared Tali crew of the Normandy, Admiral Koris.? Admiral Raan squashes him efficiently. ?By right as Tali?s captain, Shepard must stay.?

?Objection withdrawn.? He shakes his head.

?Shepard vas Normandy, your crewmember Tali?Zoarh stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her??

?If it will help Tali, I will. But in her heart, she remains Tali?Zorah vas Neema, a proud member of the Migrant Fleet.? Get the voice projection right. No need to shout. ?I regret that her captain is forbidden to stand at her side today.? Because I?m not it, really. I love her like a sister, but I?m no quarian.

?Nobody has been forbidden from anything.? Objecting admiral complains again. ?It is a simple??

?Lie to them if you must, Zaal?Koris,? The other male admiral interrupts him. ?But don?t lie to me and expect me to stay silent! The human is right.?

?Admirals, please.? Admiral Raan might regret agreeing to referee this. ?Shepard?s willingness to represent Talli?Zorah in this hearing is appreciated.? She steps back. ?Tali, you are accused of bringing active geth to the Migrant Fleet. What say you??

?How could she have done that, while she was serving on the Normandy??

?To clarify, Shepard,? there?s a female admiral who hadn?t spoken before, ?Tali isn?t accused of bringing back entire units, only parts that could spontaneously reactivate.?

?But I would never send active geth to the fleet! Everything I sent was disabled and harmless.?

?Then explain how geth seized the lab ship where your father was working.? Complaining admiral sounds triumphant, and he?s certainly made a stir in the crowd. And in Tali.

?What are you talking abut? What happened??

?As far as we can tell, Tali, the geth have killed everyone on the Alarei ? your father included.? It?s the other male admiral who tells us. He sounds unhappy.

Of course, Tali is even more upset. ?What? Oh, Keelah.?

So am I. This is a dirty time to bring that up. ?I thought quarians valued family! How do you justify springing this on Tali in the middle of a damn trial??

?Our apologies.? Oh, no, Admiral Raan. You aren?t sorry at all. I can hear it in your voice. ?Tali should have been informed.? Yet you didn?t. Why?

?Shepard, we have to take back the Alarei.? It does seem sensible, even if Tali sounds frantic about it.

?The safest course would simply be to destroy the vessel.? Complaining Admiral is beginning to annoy me. ?But if you are looking for an honourable death instead of exile??

He?s not having a good day for avoiding interruptions. ?I?m looking for my father, you Bosh?tet!? I?ve heard Tali use that. Usually to describe some machinery that isn?t working properly.

?You intend to retake the Alarei from the geth?? Yes, Shala?Raan. And that?s your rhetorical question. ?This proposal is extremely dangerous.?

?With your permission, Admirals, yes.? Or without it. ?The good of the Fleet must come first; and Tali needs to find her father.? Guess which I care about most.

?Agreed.? The other male admiral speaks up immediately. ?And if you die on this worthy mission, Tali, we will see that your name is cleared of these charges.? They really don?t think much of our chances. Someone should have told them about me.

?We can discuss that later.? Complaining Admiral is now officially my least-favourite quarian. At least he doesn?t try to stop us.

?Then it is decided.? Admiral Raan seems to think this is a good point to adjourn. ?You will attempt to retake the Alarei. You are hereby given leave to depart the Rayya. A shuttle will be waiting at the secondary docking hanger. Be safe, Tali. This hearing will resume upon your return, or upon determination that you have been killed in action.?

That sets people into dispersal mode, and I?m pretty certain a lot of conversation about us starts up. I take Tali into one corner of the room to talk privately. ?Thank you for agreeing to take back the Alarei, Shepard. The Admirals sound sure that my father is already dead, but?I don?t know. We won?t know anything until we get there.?

?Are you all right? They threw a lot of fire at you, even before springing the surprise about your father.?

?I knew this would be bad, but I guess you?re never really prepared to be charged with treason. And my father? I don?t know. He could still be alive. I don?t know for sure, Shepard. And I need to find out.?

?Is there anyone here who you want to talk to before we leave??

?We could talk to the admirals. It might help us see what their viewpoints are.? And I might get to punch someone in the face-plate. ?But I doubt we?ll change anyone?s mind by talking to them privately.? That?s disappointing. On the other hand, we only need two on our side.

?Come on, then.?

?Right. The sooner we get to the Alarei, the sooner we?ll know what happened.?


Tali heads immediately for Admiral Raan. ?You set me up, Shala. I don?t hear that my father may be dead until I?m in the trial. Why??

?The admirals needed to hear the shock in your voice, Tali. Otherwise they might not have agreed to let you try to retake the Alarei. That is your best chance to recover evidence that can exonerate you. I?m sorry. We cannot afford sensitivity, Tali.?

?I know you?re trying to help, Admiral. But that was over the line.? And puts you on my list of people I don?t like much.

?She has nobody else to speak for her, Shepard. I?m doing everything in my power. That?s what her father would have wanted.?

?Don?t say it like that! He could still be alive on that ship!? Yes, Tali is touchy on the subject.

?You should get to the Alarei soon.? I notice she doesn?t agree with Tali. ?Is there anything I can tell you??

?What information do you have on the Alarei?? Tactical information, deck plans, anything that can help us survive.

?Not much, I?m afraid. Rael?Zorah only told me that he was researching new defence technology.?

?He told me only that he needed any geth parts or pieces I found.? Tali is at least calmer. ?I assumed he was testing weapons on geth components.?

?We knew nothing until the Alarei sent a distress signal, then went silent. We didn?t even know about the geth until a boarding team was attacked.?

?You?re saying there?s no data about the inside of the ship.? There has to be something!

?That?s exactly what I?m saying. Oh, I can look up deck plans for you, but nothing else.?

?Please.? At last.

?I?ll send them to Tali?s omnitool. The marines who survived and escaped saw bodies in the halls. We have to assume the worst.?

?No. We don?t.? Tali sounds grim.

?What sort of evidence will carry weight with the other admirals??

?Tali, you admitted sending geth parts to your father for his project.?

?Yes. But never anything that could have come back online on its own. I took every possible precaution!?

?Then find records of your shipments and the experiments. Something that proves you were careful. Something that proves this was all just a terrible accident that no-one could have foreseen.?

There seemed to be some other arguments going on among the admirals.? Or an intense personal dislike between two of them.

?You caught that. Yes, the geth presence makes this a touchy issue. The Admiralty Board is trying to determine whether to focus on colonial development, or attempt to retake the homeworld.?

?You?re thinking of war? With the geth?? Tali sounds as shocked as I am.

?I?m not, Tali. But others are.?

?I know the Migrant Fleet is formidable, but you can?t take the geth in a straight fight.? Hell, they kicked the crap out of the Citadel Fleet, admittedly in a surprise attack and led by Sovereign, with only a part of their forces.

?We grow tired of wandering the stars, Shepard. We want our world back. We have paid enough for our mistake. I?m not giving you my opinion. I?m telling you which way the wind is blowing.?

?How long have you known Tali?s family?? Okay, now I?m indulging my curiosity.

?Since before Rael was an Admiral. 25 to 30 years, I?d guess. I was there when Tali was born. Her mother and I had synced up our suits, so we could be in the same open-air room. I was sick for a week, but it was worth it. I was the one who took Tali from her mother and put her in the bubble. She cried so hard.?

?You put you children in a bubble??

?Environmental units. It?s a step between relying on the mother?s immune system, and getting a suit of one?s own.?

?The bubble lets parents take their children out of the clean rooms safely. We don?t wear suits until adolescence.?

?There?s a celebration when a child gets her first suit. It?s a coming of age.?

?I?m not hearing much about Tali?s father in this.?

?It?s difficult to explain. I shouldn?t?? Admiral Raan trails off.

?It?s all right, Aunt Shala. No secrets between shipmates.?

?If you say so. Rael was?. Committed to the quarian cause. That didn?t leave him a lot of time for his family. He wanted to give Tali and her mother the homeworld, or a strong Fleet, at least. That ws how he showed his love.?

?We should move on.? Bringing that up was mildly embarrassing.

?Good luck on the Alarei.?


The more likeable of the male admirals is next. ?Tali. I?m glad Admiral Raan got you permission to hit the Alarei. Hopefully you can find something that will clear your name.?

?I?m more concerned with finding my father, Admiral.?

?I wish you luck. Blow up some geth for me. And you?re Captain Shepard? Admiral Han?Gerrel vas Neema. To be honest, I was afraid a human would be too meek and humble. Watching you rail away at Admiral Koris? Tali?s in good hands.?

?I get the sense you?re inclined to believe the defence. I?m glad one of the judges is.?

?If you were only giving Rael inactive equipment for weapons tests, I?ve got no problem. We need to test weapons against geth material. I know you and your father. You?ve put too much of yourself into this fleet to do anything to jeopardise our safety, and you?re both smart enough not to make the mistakes they?re saying you made.?

?Thank you, Admiral.? Tali sounds grateful for the recognition.

?What can you tell me about the other Admirals, Admiral??

?The one you probably don?t recognise, Tali, is Admiral Xen. She?s on the fence. She takes Fleet security very seriously, but she also recognises the need to study the geth. I?m not sure which side she?ll come down on. Zaal?Koris is the same whining suit wetter he always was.?

?I get the feeling you don?t agree with Admiral Koris? policies? or is it personal??

?The man?s a damn geth apologist. Thinks we shouldn?t have tried to wipe them out when they first got out of control. You don?t have much chance with him, I?m afraid.?

?Can you give me any more information about the Alarei??

?Only that it?s packed with geth. If you hadn?t come along, we were prepared to destroy it.?

?Admiral! My father? your friend? is on that ship.?

?I know, kid. But we sent some of our best marines onto that ship. Damn few of them came out. If you go aboard it, don?t expect to find survivors.?


Admiral Xen is talking to an aide, who stays nearby when we approach. ?Tali?Zorah. Do you really think it appropriate to approach me while your trial is on??

?I?m not going to attempt to bribe you in the middle of the Garden Plaza, Admiral.? from Tali?s tone, it sounds like Admiral Xen may not be universally admired.

?Well, say what you need to. Though it?s not likely to make any difference to my decision. If you were careless enough to send active geth parts to the Fleet and your father was stupid enough to work on them, then you were just stupid; which is not treason. If you took all the precautions you could and things still went wrong, well; that?s again not treason. I may be interested in which it is, but not in the result of the trial. You, Tali, are almost irrelevant. This trial is more about the future of the quarian people.?

?If you don?t care about the trial, why not excuse yourself from participation and have it out where it?s not affecting one of my crew.?

?Leaving it up to that old warhorse Han?Gerrel and the coward Zaal?Koris to decide. I think not.? She looks me over. ?You must be Commander Shepard. I?ve studied your actions against the geth in great detail.?

?Really. Why??

?If we?re to understand the geth, we must study them. And we need to understand the geth to have any hope of resolving the problems the Fleet faces.?

?So what do you see as the solution??

?We need to take back control of the geth. They?re tools. Nothing more. If we can find a way to regain control of them, then we?ve instantly solved the problem of the homeworld, of our limited resources, everything. We should feel no more guilt about experimenting on them than I feel for dissecting my toys as a child. Yet Zaal?Koris would run away and find another planet. Han?Gerrel would see our fleet destroyed in the skies over the homeworld. Shala?Raan will go with the majority. I had thought Rael was in Han?Gerrel?s pocket, but if he was carrying out experiments on live geth. Perhaps he might have been on my side after all.?

?Thank you for your time, Admiral.?

?Let me know what you find, Shepard.?

Tali?s stunned silence doesn?t last long. ?She dissected her toys as a child. It doesn?t surprise me. She?s insane.?


?Commander Shepard? How did you get on the Neema?? A vaguely familiar quarian looks at us.

?Veetor? What are you doing here??

?The admirals wanted to hear what I knew about Tali?Zorah. Whether I thought she was capable of doing all those terrible things they say you did. Did you do them??

?No, Veetor. I didn?t.?

?Oh. That?s good then. Was there something you wanted??

?If you were telling the admirals about Tali, would you be willing to stand up in court and speak about her?? He?d be a good character witness.


?Oh. Err. Well. I??

He?s interrupted by a female quarian who has been standing near him. ?Veetor is doing well, Commander, in large part thanks to you. But he?s not yet ready to speak in public.?

?That?s all right, Veetor. Not many people could have gone through what you did and come out sane.?

?I know. I didn?t. But thank you anyway.?


There?s another, more recognisable quarian in the area. ?Kal?Reegar.? Tali souns pleased to see him.

?Commander Shepard. Ma?am.?

?How are you, Reegar? Recovered from Haestrom, I hope.?

?It wasn?t a bad wound, Commander. I was in the hospital for a week with the infection, but I?m over that.?

?Ground combat seems risky for Quarians.?

?It?s not that bad, Shepard. We?ve got antibiotics and other medical gear integrated into our suits.?

?No, ma?am, the Commander?s right. You?ve only your own experiences with our commando ops. When anything larger is needed, we have supply problems. It gets messy. There?s at least as many casualties from disease as from combat.?

?What are you doing on the Neema, anyway, Kal?? Tali is quite quick to change the subject.

?The admirals asked me over here to give my impressions of you, ma?am. I stuck around in the hope that I could talk at your trial.?

?What do you think of our chances??

?You?re heading over to the Alarei. I?ve spoken to some of the marines. It was a mess over there. Still, it?s your best chance to find some evidence to exonerate you. And I think you?re going to need it.?

?Take care, Reegar.?

?Thank you, commander. Ma?am.?

?Kal, I?ve told you to call me Tali.? She sounds mock reproving.

?I?ll try to remember that, ma?am.?


?Judging by your ability to play to a crowd, human, I have done Tali a favour by having vas Normandy added to her name.?

?Shepard vas Normandy, this is Admiral Zaal?Koris vas Qwib-Qwib.? She lowers her voice. ?Do not ask about the name.?

?Truly, Tali, I take no pleasure in this. But you have gravely dishonoured the Migrant Fleet and the quarian people by your actions.?

?Admiral, I never sent active parts to the fleet. Only inactive ones that could not restore themselves.?

?The crew of the Alarei, slaughtered by living beings in pain, would say otherwise.?

?What?s your problem with my crewmember, Admiral??

?I have nothing but the utmost respect for Tali?s achievements. But like her father, she seeks nothing but the destruction of the geth. The race we created. The race we wronged.?

?You think there can be peace between the quarians and the geth after all that?s happened between you.?

?I don?t know. I think we all deserve a chance to find out.?

?This trial isn?t about Tali at all, is it.? I don?t feel like being tactful any more.

?No, it isn?t. I?m sorry, Tali, that we had to bring you into our disagreements. Unfortunately, you?ve now become a symbol. I have to stand for what I believe in.? Damn. That cuts away at my reasons for disliking him.

?I understand, Admiral. I do not agree, but I understand.?

?Excuse us, Admiral. We have to get to the Alarei.?

?Of course. Be well, Tali.?

?I?m surprised to hear you say that, Admiral.?

?I don?t hate you, Tali.? He sounds frustrated. ?I just think your father?s plans for war were wrong.? He turns away, and we head down to the shuttle bay.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 49
The case of Tali?Zorah vs. The Admiralty Board

Our shuttle isn?t actually armed. The Alarei is. If the shuttle hadn?t had fully configurable controls, I?d have let Tali fly it. As it was, I adapted it to something I was familiar with and made sure our course was as erratic as possible. I didn?t want to take any chances. It wasn?t necessary, because there was no fire directed our way, but getting shot out into space really ruins your day. I know. I?ve been there.

With the shuttle docked, we move out. There?s a dead quarian in the corridor outside the docking tube, and she was shot repeatedly at close range. If the geth have got as far as investigating passages that lead to secondary docking tubes, then I doubt if we?ll find anyone alive here. I suppose they might still be holding out somewhere. I can?t hear any firing, but it?s not a small ship.

It?s not really a surprise when the geth attack us. We do manage to get out of the corridor into one of the labs. They aren?t particularly dangerous to us. Tali manages to temporarily override the programming of one, turning it to our side, and gets her drone out. Samara uses her biotics on groups near the door. I concentrate on keeping their attention on me, and doing my best to temporarily scramble their circuits or knock down their shields with disrupter ammunition. There?s a certain feeling of deja-vu to this. Here I am, with Tali and an asari biotic, fighting geth. Twice I note Tali disabling a geth, decide to move, and am on the point of ordering? someone who isn?t here? to cover me as I shift position. This sort of hesitation could be dangerous. Not in a minor fight like this, but at other times it would be a problem.

As we investigate the lab after the fight, a message left on a computer suggests the quarians had some idea there was trouble before the geth activated. ?There seems to be a problem with the network slowing down. Rael?Zorah had us disable the firewalls, and I?m wondering if that?s causing the delay. They aren?t supposed to stay down for this long.?

There?s a storage area off the lab. Inside, Tali notices the remnants of a Geth unit. ?This is one of the pieces I sent to father. From Haestrom, I think. If I?m right, this is part of a geth recon drone.?

?You were sending parts back from Haestrom? It was a war zone.?

?These suits have more pockets than you might think, and quarians have become expert at quickly recovering salvage.?

?How did you get them back here??

?I?d arrange a location to leave a cache of items, and then someone on their Pilgrimage would be asked to send it on. Or sometimes, for major finds, father would arrange to send a shuttle to the location.?

?What sort of things constituted ?major finds?? Large pieces??

?More, things I?d never seen before. Things that the geth had developed themselves since the war. I?ve had a lot more experience with geth than other quarians, so I can recognise things that are unusual, If I thought it was unusual, it was something he?d like to see.?

?I don?t suppose anything here helps as evidence.?

?No, I don?t think so. All it shows is that some of the things I sent back didn?t spontaneously reactivate.?

We move on, finding another message on a screen in a corridor. A female quarian sounds worried. ?How many geth are networked?? A male replies, ?All of them. Rael?Zorah said?? ?Shut them down! Shut them all down! They?re in the system!?

There?s another quick fight down the corridor, as a couple of geth hunters wait, cloaked, in ambush. There?s a very slight distortion in the air which I spot, and we promptly duck into cover. Their slight hesitation lets me get the first shots off, and I spray one with disruptor ammo to drop its shields. Before I can finish it off, Tali promptly hacks the AI so that it engages the other hunter. The winner gets a prize ? we shoot it second. A rather distressing message from a quarian is on one of the lab screens. ?I don?t have much time. The geth are active, and they?re burning their way through the doors. Engines and weapons are off-line, so we won?t endanger the Fleet. Jarni, if you get this, be good when mommy?s gone. Be strong for daddy.? There?s a crashing sounds in the background of the message. ?Mommy loves you very much!? It ends in gun shots and geth beeping. Not that I really needed an excuse to shoot geth.

There?s a computer screen near the top of a set of stairs, which Tali gravitates towards. ?That computer looks to have had most of its data wiped, but I might be able to recover some.? She works away for a bit, before transferring data to her omnitool. ?I don?t understand. According to this, they were trying to find a way to overcome geth networks resistance to hacking attempts. I though father just wanted material to test weapons against.?

?Wouldn?t they need actual, functional geth for that??

?Yes. Oh, father, what were you doing? Was this just an attempt to get the homeworld back? Preparation for a war??

?I?m... not sure that it?s a good idea to attack the geth.?

?What? You don?t think we?ve suffered enough.? I?ve never seen Tali this angry, certainly not with me. ?You have a home to return to! I have to wear this suit every day of my life to survive in my own home! If I kiss someone, it could kill me! Every time you take a flower in your hands and smell it, you?re doing something I can?t.? She seems to slump slightly. ?Damn the Pilgrimage. If it wasn?t for that, I wouldn?t ever have realised how much I was missing.?

?I?m sorry, Tali. But, I?ve always wondered why the quarians didn?t settle somewhere else. You had other colonies, before the war. It can?t be just about your immune systems.?

?Actually, it is. Mostly. We?ve spent all these years living in suits, and our immune systems have become much weaker. For any quarian alive to watch a sunset other than through a face plate, we have to take homeworld back. It?s the difference between sixty and six hundred years.?

?Does this help at all in showing how you were careful??

?Not really. It tells us what they were trying to do, but not what went wrong. We?ll need to find something more for that.?

?All right. Let?s go.?

Along the corridor we have another short skirmish, with us at the top of a set of stairs and most of the geth at the bottom. Two geth do come out of a door onto the landing with us, but they don?t stay up here for long. Samara floats one off the landing with her biotics. I take the slightly simpler step of hitting one in the chest-plate and knocking it off. Both ways work. Any geth trying to come up the stairs are vulnerable to our fire, and I?m able to work my way round the landing into positions where I can shoot geth that are in cover. At the bottom of the stairs is another message board. The woman talking to the camera has a serious case of hero worship, from her tone. ?Initial attempts to modify the geth collective consciousness only succeeded temporarily. They have some sort of function that resists permanent modification by outside sources. Nevertheless, our intrusion viruses obtained significant amounts of data. With time, we should be able to overcome their resistance to reprogramming. My children will live on the homeworld. And it?s all thanks to Ral?Zorah.?

We carry on along the corridor, heading for what should be the bridge. I step aside to pass round another dead quarian.

?Father!? Oh, crap. Tali drops to her knees by the body. ?No, no, no. You always had a plan. A medical program to mask your life signs or an onboard stasis generator. They?re wrong! You wouldn?t just die like this! You wouldn?t leave it to me to clear up your mess.

I take her arm and lift her to her feet, and pull her closer to me. ?Hey, hey. Come here.? And then she?s hugging me, and I can hear her sobbing behind her mask.

?Damn it. Damn it. I?m sorry.?Gradually she stops heaving, and pulls away from me.

?You?ve done nothing to be sorry about.?

?Maybe. He would have known I?d come. Maybe there?s a message for me.?

She bends over, and taps at his omnitool. A hologram of him appears. ?Tali, If you are listening, then I am dead. The geth have gone active. I don?t have much time. Their main hub will be on the bridge. You?ll need to destroy it to stop the VI network from forming new neural links. Make sure Han?Gerrel and Daro?Xen see the data. They must-? The recording ends in gunshots.

?Thanks, Dad.? I can?t quite tell from Tali?s tone whether that is sarcastic or not. Personally I?m quite disgusted that he couldn?t bring himself to say ?I love you? in his last message to his daughter.

?He knew you?d come him.? I try to sound as comforting as I can. ?He was trying to help you. It?s not perfect. It?s not what you wanted. But it was the best he could do.?

?I don?t know what?s worse. Thinking that he never cared, or thinking that he did, and this was the only way he could show it. It doesn?t matter.? Her voice gets harder. ?I cared. I?m here. And we?re ending this.?

Tali is quite correct. We head up the stairs, and onto the bridge. A trio of geth troopers, and a geth prime, attempt to engage us. I don?t think Tali was in the mood to be stopped, and neither was I. The geth go down in quick time, and we head to the front of the bridge. Tali identifies a console. ?This console is linked to the main hub father mentioned. Disabling it should shut down any geth we missed. It looks like some of the recordings remain intact. They?ll tell us how this happened, what father did.?

?You sound like you don?t really want to hear it.?

?No. We have to, I know. It?s just? this is terrible, Shepard. I don?t want to know he was part of this.? Still, she activates her omnitool and brings up a recording.

Rael?Zorah is speaking. ?Do we have enough parts to bring more geth online??
Another quarian replies. ?Yes. The latest shipment from your daughter will let us add two more geth to the network.?
The third adds something. ?We?re nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the Admiralty Board, just to be safe.?
?No. We?re too close. I promised to build my daughter a house on the homeworld. I?m not going to sit and wait while the politicians argue.?
?We?d have an easier time of it if Tali?Zorah would send back more working material.?
?Absolutely not. I won?t have Tali exposed to any political blowback. Leave Tali out of this. Assemble more geth with what we have. Bypass security protocols if need be.?

?It sounds like he was doing this for you.? And that he hardly knew you.

?I never wanted this, Shepard. Keelah, I never wanted this. Everything here is his fault! I tried to pretend it didn?t point to him, but this? when it comes up in the trial, they?ll? We can?t tell them. Not the admirals, not anybody.?

?You heard him. He didn?t want you caught up in the politics. Without this evidence, you?re looking at exile.?

?Don?t you think I know that? You think I want to live knowing I can never see the Fleet again? But I can?t go back in that room and say my father was the greatest war criminal in my people?s history. I cannot! They would strike his name from the records of any ship he ever served on. He would be worse than an exile. He?d be a traitor, held up for children as a monster in a cautionary tale. I won?t let the good he did be destroyed for this.?

?We won?t decide this here. Let?s go.?

?You?re my captain in this, Shepard. It?s your decision. But please. Don?t destroy what my father was.?



?We need to face facts.? Back on the Neema, the trial is being broadcast. We can hear Koris talking. ?There has been no word. There is no reason to think Talil?Zorah survived.?

?It sounds like the hearing is already back underway.? Tali sounds slightly miffed by this.

?We must trust Shepard?s offer of assistance. It has only been a couple of hours.? Were we that long?

?The quarian marines lasted less than five minutes, Admiral Raan. Call it.? Han?Gerrel sounds grim. I start hurrying us through the corridors. It would be embarrassing for the trial to be finished before we got back.

?A pity Shepard vas Normandy is a better speaker than soldier. I recommend posthumously exiling Tali?Zorah.? Oh, no, Admiral Koris, you don?t get to do that.

?What?? Shala?Raan sounds upset. ?It was agreed that if they died, Tali would not face any charges!?

?It was proposed, Admiral. I remember no such agreement. Call the vote.?

I start through the crowd, and they part before me like waves before a ship. As we?re approaching the platform, I can hear Admiral Raan, sounding tired. ?Very well. I ask the admirals to give their decision in the case of Tali?Zorah?s supposed treason.?

?Sorry we?re late.? Tali, following me, sounds extremely dissatisfied with proceedings. The admirals seem slightly stunned.

?You didn?t waste much time declaring us dead.? It?s fun to see them looking at each other trying to decide how to respond. ?Go get your ship.?

?Forgive us, Commander. Your survival is? most unexpected.? Han?Gerrel seems to be first to recover.

?Though also most welcome.? You?re welcome, Admiral Raan.

There?s an uneasy silence for a few seconds, as the admirals look at each other. Tali and I have just committed fifteen counts of badass in two hours, and now someone has to pick up the short straw of being the person who starts questioning us. Eventually, Admiral Gerrel draws himself up. ?Did you find any evidence over there that might implicate or exonerate Tali?Zorah of the charges??

Behind my helmet chin-plate, I smirk where they can?t see. Tali clutches at my arm as I step forward. ?Shepard. Please.?

I?ve already decided how to do this. If I can?t bring the evidence we have forward, and I can?t persuade the admirals, then I can make it really hard for them to convict. I make sure I?m projecting my voice so the crowd can hear. ?We have no new evidence. You can accept Tali?Zorah?s word, or you can condemn the woman who gelped save the Citadel.?

?I fail to see??

I interrupt Admiral Koris. ?You?re not really interested in the evidence though, are you? You?re trying to build sympathy for the geth.?

?What? Now just wait??

?And you,? I skewer Admiral Gerrel, ?just want to start a war with them.? Next is Admiral Xen. ?You?re just interested in experimenting until you find a way to control them. None of you care about Tali at all! If you did, you?d be talking to her. Tali?Zorah knows more about the geth than any quarian alive.? I look at each of them in turn. ?Tali?Zorah saved the Council. She saved the Citadel. She showed the galaxy the value of the quarian people. I can?t think of stronger evidence than that!?

If I thought they were looking nervously at each other before, when they were working up the courage to question us, that?s nothing to now. None of the admirals seems willing to say anything over the murmur of the crowd. I?m certainly not going to leave off glaring at them. Eventually, Admiral Raan decides they?ve had enough time to think. ?Is the Admiralty Board prepared to make their decision.?

Again, they look at each. Then Admiral Xen raises her omnitool, followed by Admiral Gerrel. Admiral Koris is last. I can hear in Admiral Raan?s voice how relieved she is. ?Tali?Zorah vas Normandy, in light of your long and honourable service to the Migrant Fleet, the Admiralty Board finds insufficient evidence to convict. Please accept our apologies for this misjudgement. Commander Shepard, thank you for taking the time to come and defend one of our people. Please accept these tokens to show our thanks.?

?With respect, Admiral. I didn?t defend one of your people. I defended one of mine.?

?So you did, Shepard. So you did.? Well, Admiral Gerrel is satisfied.

?This hearing is over.? That?s more of a general announcement from Admiral Raan. ?Go in peace. Keelah se?lai.?


?I can?t believe it.? Tali half drags me into the corner. ?No-one has ever spoken for me like that before. Thank you, Shepard.?

?Tali.? I don?t want to puncture her happiness, but I need to say this. ?What your father said? what he did?? How to say this. ?You deserved better.?

?I got better, Shepard. I got you.?

I smile. ?Well, we could go back in there and get you exiled if you want.?

Tali laughs. ?No. I?m happy with the way things turned out. It?s fun watching you shout.?

?Come on, Tali?Zorah vas Normandy. Let?s go home.?

?After you? Captain.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 50
Not an audition, really

It Could Happen to You
From: Elkoss Mail Routing
A drell lay in the ocean, dying from Kepral's Syndrome, and had a dream. In his dream, the Enkindlers came to him and charted the course of his life. The drell saw the wakes and eddies, and saw that sometimes the Enkindlers swam alongside him, limbs raking the water, while at other times he swam alone. The drell saw that the times he was alone were the hardest times of his life.
He asked the Enkindlers, "Why was this one abandoned?"
The Enkindlers answered, their light burning brightly. "You were never abandoned. In those difficult times in your life, it was our bodies that bore you through the water."
The drell awoke, and found his Kepral's Syndrome cured. If you follow the light of the Enkindlers, it can happen to you. Where the Enkindlers go, we shall follow, and where their light is the sun, we shall be the stars around them.
Send this message to six beings of your acquaintance, and your greatest wish shall come true.

?Shepard.? I find Tali, as usual, in engineering, as the Normandy heads for the Citadel. ?Thanks, again, for helping with the trial.?

?It seemed to get very political. Is it always like that??

?No. Sometimes it can actually get unpleasant.? She sounds quite rueful. ?We?re a sociable people, Shepard, all supposed to be one big family. Sometimes things get nasty between us, with no outlet other than shouting at each other.?

?United against outsiders, but your own arguments are vigorous? yeah, I?ve been there.? I try to ignore the slightly curious look she gives me. ?Is there any sort of resolution to the arguments between the admirals??

?Oh, no, that won?t happen for a while. First, they have to find someone to replace my father. You might have noticed how quarians like to debate. Deciding that will take a long time.?

?Any idea who they?ll pick??

?Not really. There are even people who are suggesting me for the position.? She sounds as if she thinks that would be ridiculous. ?Even when that?s decided, it?s such a big decision that it will have to go before the Conclave. Which means it will be debated on every ship. It will be a long time before anything comes of it.?

?I hope they make a good decision.?

?You mean you hope they reject the idea of war.?

I shrug. ?Yes, that?s exactly what I mean.?

?Why?? She looks towards me steadily. ?It?s not because you dislike quarians, I know that. So why don?t you want us to go to war with the geth.?

?Because you?d be gambling with the survival of your race. And it?s a gamble you don?t have to take. You remember what Admiral Gerrel said, ?we?re too comfortable?? That?s not a reason to go to war! I?m pretty sure you don?t have any idea how strong the geth are. I know the Alliance doesn?t. A war you don?t have to fight against an enemy whose strength you don?t know? Does that sound like a good idea to you??

?No. When you put it like that, it doesn?t.? She ponders for a moment. ?Can I say that?s your opinion. A couple of people have asked about it, since you?re known for fighting the geth.?

?If I cared who heard it, I wouldn?t say it where people could overhear. Tell anyone you want.?

To Grunt's commander.
From: Shaman Urdnot
Damn, I hate these things. But you need to hear this.
You're part of Grunt's krannt, and you're his leader. So keep him alive. Here, I have to stay polite, keep the role. But our people are dying. Krogan have always valued survival over tradition. If we're going to survive as a people, we need your vat-grown Grunt. Okeer was a madman, but he was a madman with a plan, and that's more than most have on this ball of rock.
So bring him back from your damn mission. My people need him. And if you get killed, I'll piss on your graves.
Shaman Urdnot

?Shepard. Do you have a moment??

??Course, Garrus.? I swallow a mouthful of tea. ?Here, or in private.?

?Here will do.? He sits down opposite my breakfast, and his jaw starts to work.

?Come on, Garrus. Out with it.? I smirk at him. ?You wanted to see me, and it?s not over nothing.?

?I? All right, Commander. You remember I told you about my squad being betrayed??

I nod, once.

?I?ve got a lead on Sidonis, the turian who did it. There?s an identity broker on the Citadel, name of Fade. My sources say he?s given Sidonis a new name. I want to track him down, find out what it is, and catch up with Sidonis.?

?And then what??

?Humans have a saying. ?An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?. Sidonis owes me for ten lives, and I?m going to collect.?

?You?re sure that?s what you want to do??

?I?m sure.?

?I?ll see what I can do when we get to the Citadel.?

?Thanks, Commander.?

Back from female camp
From: Urdnot Darg
Dear Human,
The clan leader told me how to get in touch with you. I don't remember much of what happened, but the chief scout said you pulled my quad out of the fire when I got caught and poisoned over at the Weyrloc camp. Thanks. Next time I have a chance to kill a human, I won't Unless I go into blood rage or something.
I got to go to the female camp after I recovered, and it was pretty good. I was actually thinking of joining the Blood Pack before this happened. I think I'm going to stay here instead.
Urdnot Darg, Scout Second-Class

?Siha. Thank you for coming.?

?Kelly said you wanted to speak to mean, Thane. And when are you going to tell me what Siha means??

?Perhaps someday. Yes, I left a message with Miss Chambers. I have had some disturbing news.? Normally Thane is enormously calm. For him to be getting up and walking round the life support room, examining the weapons he has put on every shelf, is shocking.

?I?m listening.?

?My news concerns my son. He has become? disconnected.?

?You?ll have to explain that to me.?

?He does what his body wills, rather than considering the effects on his soul of his actions. After my wife was murdered, I left Kolyat in the care of relatives and sought out the killers. I have not seen him since.?

?So what is he doing that has you concerned??

?He has travelled to the Citadel and obtained employment as an assassin.?

?You don?t hire a rookie for an assassination, unless you?re trying to set them up. And it isn?t exactly easy to find that sort of work.?

?I know.? His tone, mild as always, still makes me blush. He knows this better than me. ?It is possible that someone saw his name and recognised it. They may assume that because we share a name we share skills. He could have obtained information about possible contacts from a folder I kept hen I did wet-work on the Citadel. It was in the hands of my bankers, and he should not have obtained it before my death, yet he may have done so. I do not know why he would do such a thing.?

?To be closer to you, perhaps? Share a job, share the experience.?

?That possibility has haunted me. This is not a path he should walk. Will you help me find him and set him on a better one??

?I will.? All we?re doing on the Citadel is picking up supplies. I don?t need to be present for that. Helping Garrus and Thane may add a little time, but it?s not a problem.

?Thank you. I will endeavour to find out more information on his work. If you could use your police contacts on the Citadel, I would appreciate that.?


?How are things going, Mordin??

?Waiting for culture test to finish. Waste of time. Nearly always know result beforehand. Still have to check. Glad you came down. Have discovered something about Collectors. Interested??

?Certainly. What is it??

?Genetically modified form Protheans. First generation, indoctrination causes loss of intellect. Implants to retain functionality, allow possession. Rocess continues. No glands, replaced by tech. Sensory network and central control to replace brain. Protheans gone. Worse than husks. No more than puppets for Reapers.?

?It sounds like that bothers you a lot.?

?Yes. All invention based on limitations. Can?t catch prey, invent spear. Can?t fly, invent plane. Collectors controlled by Reapers. No creativity. No experimentation. Suspect we will see no art on Collector base.?

?I didn?t think you were that interested in art.?

?Personal interest negligible. Worked with human-salarian cultural exchange group. Performed Gilbert and Sullivan. Always had me do patter songs. Not important. Art reflects culture. Collectors have none. No art, no culture, no creativity.?

?Wait. I know that was important. But, you performed Gilbert and Sullivan.?

?I am the very model of a scientist salarian,
I?ve studied species turian, asari and batarian.
I?m quite good 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.?



?Thanks for the information, Mordin.?

?You?re welcome, Shepard.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 51
Don't be nasty to quarians, or the Shep will get you

?Commander Shepard. What can I do for you?? Captain Bailey is sat at his desk. Somehow I have a feeling he doesn?t like it much, and would rather be back on the wards.

?I?m looking for someone called ?Fade?. He?s supposed to operate out of Zakera.?

?The forger? Yeah, he?s got contacts here. I can?t tell you where to find him, though. Best I can do is put you on the trail.?

?Why can?t you find him?? Garrus is in a foul temper.

?He seems to get a tip whenever we?re trying to catch up with him. I think there?s someone in the department feeding him information. Or, god forbid, he might actually have a back door into our comms and databases. Since you?re not in the department, you might actually have a chance to catch up with him.?

?Where should we go??

?There?s a warehouse down on level 26. Someone there is his main contact. They?ve got guards, but that won?t be a problem for you.?

?Thanks, Captain.? I wave a vaguely military salute at him.

?Good luck.? Before turning to his paperwork, he gets the last word in.

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?This clanless is a thief, and I want her arrested.? Three feet of angry volus, a C-Sec officer, and a quarian backed up against the wall. I walk over to see what?s happening.

?Excuse me. I?m trying to take a statement here.? The C-Sec officer doesn?t recognise me.

?There?s nothing to talk about. She stole my credit chit. Arrest her!?

?I did not! Just because I?m a quarian...?

?I need you to stop and take a deep breath.? That might not have been the best way to calm the situation, officer.

?You?re mocking me,? wheeze, ?Earth-clan.? Wheeze. ?Just because the vol-clan...?

?It was a poor choice of words, sir. I apologise.?

?You say you?re falsely accused?? I go straight to the quarian.

?I was walking to the used ship dealer when he barged into me outside Sirta Foundation. He didn?t even stop or say he was sorry. A couple of minutes later he turns up with C-Sec and accuses me of stealing his damn chit!?

?You look at used ships a lot??

?Yeah. They?ve got some really nice models. I?d like to buy one and take it back to the Flotialla, but...? She trails off.

?A ship would make a nice Pilgrimage gift.? I?m pretty sure that?s what she?s doing.

It certainly takes her aback. She stares at me before replying. ?You know about that??

?Yes. I travelled with a quarian who was on hers, a couple of years ago.?

?Wow. I didn?t know anyone would do something like that for one of us. Everywhere I go there are signs saying ?Not hiring Quarians.??

?I?ll look into this.?

?Ma?am, I have the situation under control. I don?t need civilian help.? C-Sec doesn?t want me cutting into his arrest quota.

?Does she have the chit on her? No??

?My scans don?t show anything. But she could have stashed it to recover later. You know what quarians are like.? Better than you, certainly. ?And she?s certainly a vagrant. I?ll run her in, see what Bailey wants done with her.?

?I?ll look into it.? I give him a hard stare.


?Welcome to Saronis Applications. Can i... Shepard!?

?Do I know you??

?No, but I know you. Even a senile Volus would recognise the human who saved the station from Saren. I thought you were dead!?

?Yeah, I?ve been getting that a lot.?

?What can I do for you??

?Was a volus in here recently? There?s one who lost a credit chit.?

?Oh, yes. Kor Tun. He bought some environmental systems drives, then left without his chit. I didn?t notice he?d forgotten it until he?d already left. If you see him, tell him I?ve got his chit behind the counter.?

?Thanks for your time.?

?not a problem. Have a good day.?

?I felt her hand go into my pocket. When I checked, my credit chit was gone.? Sounds like the volus story has moved along.

?You left your credit chit at Saronis Applications. The owner is holding it for you.?

?Oh.? Apparently, he?s now an embarrassed Volus. ?Well. The quarian could have stolen it.? Or maybe not.

?I?ll close this event report. But I?ll be watching you. Get a permanent residence, or I?ll...?

?Are you two serious?? Maybe it?s because of Tali, but I?m sick of these two harassing a quarian.

?What?? The volus sounds outraged. I?ll give him something to be outraged about.

?You falsely accused this girl of stealing from you. All you can say now is ?she could have stolen it??? I push him backwards.

?Now just a...?

?And you.? The C-Sec officer?s hand is hovering near his gun, and I grab the front of his uniform. ?She gets insulted and harassed by this guy, and you add a threat to run her in for vagrancy!?

?How about I run you in for obstruction of justice?? He tries for belligerent, and doesn?t quite make it.

I still let go, and take a step back. His expression turns into a victorious smirk for a moment. ?You?re going to try and ?run in? a Spectre? I think both of you should get out of here.?

?Son of a... ? When i take another step towards him, the C-Sec officer remembers some other place he needs to be. The volus is already waddling away.

If I could see through her face-mask, I?m sure the quarian?s eyes would be wide. ?Thank you. I don?t know what to say. I wish there I could give you more than words.?

?Hold out your omni-tool.? I raise main, and start typing.

?What... All right.?

I transfer a data file across. ?You need someone to help you out in that sort of situation, call one of those numbers. The first one is mine, but I?m not around the Citadel a lot. The second is someone who can help. I?ll just have to mention it to him.?

?Who is it?? She looks at her omni-tool.

?A friend of mine. Be well, Lia?vael. Keelah se?lai.?

?Keelah se?lai.? I think she sounds a bit doubtful, but I hope she uses the number.

Overheard in the wards:
Human customer: ?Excuse me. I just got a refund and exchange and I was told to pick up a new omni-gel convertor here.?
Salarian clerk. ?I don?t think you have the right place.?
?No. The turian said to go to the warehouse. This is the warehouse. Look, it took me a long time to get this refund. It?s a cision omni-gel convertor. He said there?d be one waiting for me.?
?Do you have a service order??
?No. I got the refund, made the exchange, and then he said go to the warehouse. I just talked to him on the wards market. He sent me here. Come on. Why do I need a service order??
?The Wards market? Why would you come to a Zakera Ward warehouse??
?He said they were out of stock, and I should go here. He didn?t say anything about a service order.?
?Without a service order, I really can?t help you.?
?Arrgh. Wait, this was a trick, wasn?t it. He sent me to the wrong place, to get me to leave.?
?I wouldn?t know anything about that.?
?I?ve been trying to get this refund for two years. Two years! I?m not giving up now.?
?You?d get a lot further in life if you just held on to your service orders and receipts.?

?This looks like the place.? Garrus says it quietly as we go in. Two krogan are leaning against desks inside the warehouse. At first, it doesn?t appear as if there?s anyone else here. I look at Garrus, to see if he wants to approach them. Then a volus struts out towards us.
?Fade. You?re not quite how I imagined you.?

?Looks can be deceiving. So, which one of you wants to disappear??

?I?d rather you make someone re-appear.? Garrus sounds like he wants to take the Volus apart, and he hasn?t even said no yet.

?Ah. That?s not the service we provide.?

?Make an exception.? Garrus draws his pistol. ?Just this once.?

?Damn it. Quick... shoot them. Shoot them, you lumbering moutains.?

Krogan aren?t stupid, and I think they recognise me. They?re rather reluctant to raise their guns when we?re already aimed at them. Garrus glares at them. ?Why don?t you two find somewhere else to skulk?? I?m just a little surprised when they leave.

So is the volus. ?Just like that? You?re not getting paid today, you know. What?s the point of hiring protection if they won?t protect you??

?We?re looking for someone. A client of yours.? I carefully check the ammunition state of my pistol, not that it needs it.

?Not mine! I?m not Fade. I just work for him. Sort of.?

?I knew it.?

?Well then, maybe you?d like to tell us where to find Fade.? Garrus bends over the volus threateningly.

?Yes. Of course.? That?s very co-operative of him. ?He works out of the factory district, in the old prefab foundry.?

?I know the place.? Garrus looks at me.

?Err... he?s got a lot of mercs there. Blue Suns. Harkin thinks they?re protecting him.?

?Harkin? He used to work for C-Sec.? He made some remarks to me down in Chora?s Den. Oh, I remember Harkin.

?He got fired from C-Sec a while ago. But he still knows the system.?

?Interesting. But it changes nothing. We still need to find him before we can get to Sidonis.?

?Well, let?s go pay Harkin a visit.?

?We?ll need to go to the transit station. I can get us to him from there.?

?So I... I can go?? The volus sounds rather relieved.

?Sure.? Garrus sounds happy for a moment. ?But if we don?t find Harkin, we?ll be back for you.? For emphasis, we both point pistols at him.

?Oh. Good.?


Garrus is as good as his word. We take a taxi to the door, although the driver leaves in a hurry. Possibly, the presence of several armed and armoured mercenaries standing around intimidated the driver. Not us. We wait a minute or so, and he comes out. Sleazy old Harkin himself, paunchier than I remember. He's looking pleased, until he rcognaises us. "Vakarian? Shepard! Oh crap. Shoot them, you idiots."

By the time we've finished the guards - seventeen seconds on my count - Harkin has gone back inside the foundry. Chase a crooked ex-cop turned crime lord into a foundry guarded by who knows how many professional mercenaries? Sounds like fun to me.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 52
To shoot, or not to shoot

The old foundry is mildly disappointing as a place to fight, and I?m not saying that just because it?s not a formal garden, electronic store, or classy antique shop. It?s the ?old? part that?s annoying; an active foundry would be a lot of fun. There?d be molten metal, walkways, active machinery. All suitable for knocking people into, or off, or knocking over onto people. Sadly, it isn?t in use and most of the machinery is missing, so we don?t get to do any of those fun things. There is plenty of cover, which both we and the Blue Suns take advantage of. Their mechs don?t of course, and their survivability is extremely low, although the Ymir that we run into half way across the floor doesn?t agree with that opinion. It runs into the exact same problem that plagues all vehicles that try to take on infantry in close terrain, in that solid cover and concealment is better than firepower. It?s how infantry survive on the battlefield, and it?s as true or truer now than it has been from the 20th century onwards. And now that my personal pet peeve is out of the way, I?ll mention that when the Ymir exploded it killed several mercenaries and a couple of Loki mechs.

Somewhere near the centre of the building we come across an old office, with its shutters down. Garrus moves over to the controls. ?Let?s see what Harkin?s up to.? He flips the control, and we take a look out. This area is a bit more open than the last, and seems to gradually rise towards the rear of the room. It might get a little awkward, since there are plenty of places where a group advancing from this end of the room would be overlooked by enemies at the far end. So when something moves, and there?s a flash of light on metal, both Garrus and I duck down.

?Did you see that?? Garrus is still staring down the range.

?Looked like a mech.?

?Harkin must have more Blue Suns waiting for us, but I?m in no mood for more of his games.? His mandibles flare in irritation. ?They won?t stop us catching up with him, and then??

?What then, Garrus?? I let a little irritation into my voice. ?You need him to talk to you, so there are limits to what you can do.?

?It won?t come to that. Harkin?s a coward. We just need to put a little scare into him, and he?ll spill everything.?

?And when you?ve got him to spill his guts, you?ll go and kill Sidonis.?

?That?s the plan.?

Garrus is starting to worry me. Even as we move on, and start fighting a group of mechs advancing on us across the floor, with Blue Suns troopers firing on us from the higher ground, I?m worrying about it. Garrus always had a respect for justice and the law in the past,, even if he didn?t like certain of the rules and regulations that dictated how things should be done. While I?ve got no particular concern for Sidonis, I don?t even know him, it bothers me that Garrus is so willing to go after Harkin with such ferocity. People can call me a hypocrite all they like, but if I was going in for personal vengeance I?d make an effort to keep it personal. Absently, I shoot the last Blue Suns officer in the head. I?ll have to have a talk with Garrus about this.

?Oh crap.? What now, Garrus? ?Two heavy mechs deploying.?

What? Oh, so there are. I might be a little close to them, as well. And Harkin is obviously observing us, if he?s deploying them. Does he really expect two Ymir mechs to be a match for us?

Apparently, yes. ?You thought you were so smart, Garrus. Get through that!?

Okay, we will. I blast away at their shields with my machine gun and disruptor ammo, while Garrus and Kasumi concentrate on one target. With both of them unshielded, and one set of shields failing, I pump sniper three rounds into the head of the mech, and we duck for cover. Explosions that size can be hazardous for your health. And also for the health of any other mechs in the area, although the second does quite miraculously survive the blast. That is until Kasumi cloaks and sneaks up behind it, delivering a charge with her omnitool that makes its power plant shut down permanently.

At the far end of the building is another control room. Kasumi sneaks up to it, and confirms that Harkin is inside. Apparently he keeps looking nervously out of the windows, but can?t see where we are. He may believe we went up in the explosion, and not want to abandon his base with all his files. With two entrances, we quickly come up with a plan.


?Shepard.? It?s almost a curse when Harkin sees me and Kasumi at one entrance. Then he smirks. ?Too slow.? He finishes tapping out controls at the computers, and makes a dash for the exit. And straight into Garrus? knee. As he crumples up, Garrus grabs him by the back of the collar and drags him back into the room, pushing him against the back wall.

I can?t help smiling. ?Ooh, that looks like it hurt.?

?You didn?t need to do that!? arkin sounds annoyed.

Garrus glares at him. ?Couldn?t make yourself disappear, huh, ?Fade?.?

?Hey, come on, Garrus, we can work this out.?

?Really.?

?Yes, really. I?m a businessman now, Garrus. I service people?s needs. I?m pretty sure you want something from me, and that means we both have something the other wants. So how about you let me go, and we talk about this like reasonable people??

?You made someone disappear.? Garrus makes no move to release Harkin. ?I want to know their new identity.?

?That would be really bad for business.? Given the way Harkin gasps t out, I think Garrus is leaning on him a little harder.

?You know what else is bad for business?? Garrus? mandibles flare out, and he throws Harkin to the floor. And then puts an armoured foot on his throat. ?A broken neck.?

?All right. All right. You?ve made your point. Get off me.?

Garrus steps back. ?Start talking.?

Harkin gets gingerly to his feet. ?Yeah. I might need a little bit more than you?ve told me already.?

?His name?s Sidonis. He came in on a flight from??

?I know who you mean. Turian. Nervous. I?ll call him, arrange a meeting. All right?? Harkin looks over at a comms terminal.

?Do it.?

From the display, there?s voice-recognition software on this console. Harkin puts in a few numbers, then starts to speak. ?Hello. Yeah, it?s Harkin. Listen, there might be a problem with that material I provided for you. Yeah, it could be serious. I?m sending some agents to talk to you. Where would you like to meet? Yeah, I know it. Two hours, that?s fine.? He finishes, and looks at us. ?Orbital Lounge, in two hours. He?ll be there.?

?You?d better be straight with us, Harkin.?

?Or what? You?ll shoot me. Ain?t your style, Garrus.?

?Let?s be off, then. I assume you know where the Orbital Lounge is.? I think I?ll have a talk with Garrus on the way. Even Harkin thinks he?s behaving oddly.

?Just one thing first. You?re a criminal now, Harkin. C-Sec are on your trail. I wouldn?t want you to get away from them.? He draws a pistol, and aims it at Harkin?s chest. ?Let?s make it easy for them.?

?Garrus.? I say it firmly enough to get his attention. ?Don?t waste a bullet on him.?

?You?re lucky the Commander is here, Harkin.? At least he puts his gun away. Then as I?m turning away, I notice him head-butt Harkin. I stare for a moment at Garrus. ?I didn?t shoot him.?

?Omega really changed, you, huh, Garrus.? Harkin gets it out around a broken nose.

?No, but?. Sidonis opened my eyes.?


?I?m worried about you, Garrus.? He?s driving us towards the Orbital Lounge in a rented air-car. ?You?re not acting like yourself.?

?I?m not? I?ve always hated injustice, Shepard. The idea that Sidonis could get away with what he did, with killing my squad? It makes me ill.?

?And killing Sidonis will make you feel better??

?I? What do you want me to say, Shepard? How would you react if someone betrayed you??

?I don?t know.? Might as well be honest. ?But I wouldn?t let it change me.?

?Well, I?m not you.? He pulls the car over. ?Over there is a good vantage point. I?ll set up there. You go down and talk to Sidonis. When he comes over to you, and I?ve got a clear shot, I?ll take it.?

Well, that fills me with confidence. Not that Garrus isn?t a terrific sniper, but shooting someone I?m talking to has the potential to get messy. And attract unwanted attention. Still, I do what he wants. I keep my earbug in, and once I?m approaching the lounge Garrus? voice comes over it. ?Shepard. Are you hearing this??

?Loud and clear, Garrus.? I?m scanning the Lounge, and there?s a rather distressed looking Turian in there.

?That?s him.? Ah, the upset turian is Sidonis. ?Wave him over, keep him talking.?

It doesn?t take much effort. Sidonis is trying to be discreet as he looks around for the people who are contacting him, but not doing a good job of it. I catch his eye, make a small ?come here? gesture, and he comes over. ?Do you have the replacement IDs??

?Sidonis, you?re in danger.?

?Never say that name.? He looks around, nervously. ?How do you know it? Who are you??

?I?m a friend of Garrus. He?s looking for you.?

?Move to one side, Shepard. You?re in my shot.?

?Garrus? No way. I?m out of here.? He starts to move away.

I grab his arm. ?Stand still.?

?Let go of me!? For someone who wanted to be discreet, Sidonis doesn?t seem shy about shouting.

?Let him move, Shepard.?

?I am the only thing between you and a hole in the head. Stand still.? I?ll admit, I get some pleasure out of watching Sidonis do the turian equivalent of turning white.

?Garrus is here. I?m a dead man.?

?Not yet. But he will be as soon as you move out of the way!? Garrus is starting to sound annoyed.

?So why did you do it, Sidonis??

?The mercs caught me. Told me what they?d do if I didn?t do what they wanted.?

I almost step aside at that point. ?This was all because you wanted to save your own ass??

?He?s a coward, Shepard. Let me take the shot.?

?No!? He leans on a railing, and I move so I?m between him and Garrus. ?No, it wasn?t just me. They had photos of my sister and my nephews. If it was just me, I?d never have done anything. I still relive that day. I wish I was dead.?

?Easy for me to arrange. Just move out of the way.?

?I go there in my dreams every night, on days I can get to sleep. I wake up in a cold sweat. Food has no taste. I?m always expecting to be shot at any moment.?

?You?ve got to let it go, Garrus. He?s being punished. By himself.?

?I? All right. Tell him? Tell him to get out of here.?

?You?re in luck. He?s letting you live. This time.?

?Thank you. Thank you, Garrus. I?ll make it up to you, somehow. I will.? Sidonis hurries off, without his head suddenly exploding from a sniper shot.


?I don?t want to talk about it.? Garrus is agitated when he gets back to the car.

?I think it?s best if you do.?

?Maybe.?

?You saw him, Garrus. Did you really want to shoot him afterwards??

?No. No, I didn?t. It was obvious he was suffering. And? when I had him in my sights, I just couldn?t pull the trigger.?

?It?s a lot harder when you know the person you?re trying to kill.? Please don?t ask me about that.

?Yeah. I know that, now. There was still good in him, I could tell. He knew what he?d done, and it ate away at him.?

?So, don?t let it eat away at you.?

?No, I won?t. Thanks, Shepard.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 53
Gratitude goes such a long way these days

While I’ve been off killing mercenaries and preventing Garrus keeping up his daily kill quota, Thane has been asking around about his son’s rumoured presence on the Citadel. I catch up with him near the watch station, and his grim expression says it all. “He is here,” merely confirms it.

“Do you have any idea where?”

“Somewhere in this ward.” He looks at me steadily. “Drell are not common on the Citadel. You know Captain Bailey. His officers would report someone as unusual as Kolyat to him.”

It’s a sensible idea, but then Thane is a sensible person. I wonder what he’d have been if the Hanar hadn’t trained him as an assassin. Or if he his wife hadn’t got between him and his target. Damn good at something, that’s certain.

Captain Bailey seems quite pleased to see me, though since I know he’s just caught up with Harkin he has a right to be. “Commander Shepard. What can I do for you?”

“My associate here,” I move aside slightly to let Thane move up, “is looking for his son. He’s supposed to be on the Citadel, somewhere in this ward.”

“Shouldn’t be hard. We don’t get many drell here, and standing orders are to report unusual sightings. Let me see.” He turns to his terminal, and starts a search of reports. A few seconds pass. “Here we are. One of my men reported seeing a Drell a couple of days ago. Oh, that’s not good. He was talking to Mouse.”

“Mouse?” Thane sounds surprised.

“Yeah. He’s a former duct-rat, and a petty criminal. If your boy was talking to him, it probably wasn’t for anything entirely legal.”

“No. Probably not.”

I notice Thane isn’t saying what we suspect. I decide to change the subject slightly. “A ‘duct rat’? What are they?”

“Street kids.” That piques my interest instantly. “The Citadel is run through with all sorts of ventilation ducts, power supply tunnels, that sort of thing. Children of some species are small enough to get into them and move around the Citadel that way. As they get older, and larger, that stops being the case. They often end up as petty criminals.”

“That sounds really dangerous.” And I that we had it bad back on Earth.

“It is. Every few days we pick up a small body. Lacerated by fan blades, suffocated in vacuum, killed by a fall. And that’s just the ones we know about. We suspect some end up in space, or the protein vats run by the Keepers. Mouse was smart, or lucky. He got out.”

“So what sort of things does Mouse do that makes him a criminal?”

“He’s not a big player himself, but he’s got contacts. He was probably putting the kid in contact with someone else who needed his services, or could provide what he needed. Or he might have been selling something. Mouse can get hold of a wide range of stuff for you, not all of it legal. All sorts of things, at different times. He sells a VI of you.”

“Me?” There’s a VI of me? When did that happen?

“Yeah. It’s a good likeness. When you deleted files, it’d say ‘I delete files like you on the way to real errors.’ Buggy as hell, though. When it crashed, the error message was something about you being off saving the galaxy, and you should fix the problem yourself. If you’re going to see Mouse, you should pick up a copy for yourself. He usually hangs out near the Twilight Bar. Operates from a public data terminal.”

“I think I will.” It might be amusing, though I’d prefer one which works properly.

“Thank you, Captain. I appreciate your assistance.” There’s a slightly doubtful tone in Thane’s voice, which makes me think he’s wondering something.

“Don’t thank me. There’re a lot of boys wandering around the Citadel getting into trouble. In most cases, the parents don’t care. You’re trying to help him, even if he is in a mess.”

“He walks a dark path. I hope to turn him to a better one.”

“If we’re going to do that, we’d better get going.” For some reason, I’ve got a sense of urgency about this.

“If you need anything more, let me know.”

“We will.”


As we’re heading up towards the Twilight Bar, Thane puts out a hand to halt me. “You didn’t tell Captain Bailey what we suspect Kolyat is doing here.”

“I really don’t want to bring up assassinations unless I have to. Do you?”

“No. I do not think that would be wise. Thank you, Shepard.”


When we walk up to the Bar, there’s a man outside matching Bailey’s holo of Mouse. He’s talking over the Comm Console. “Yeah, I can get that for you. No problem. I know a quarian who can clear the copy protection off, though it’ll cost a little extra. No problem. Tomorrow is good enough? Yeah, sure. Have the money ready.” We wait behind till he’s finished, and when he notices our shadows he starts to turn round. “Hi there, how can I…. Shit! Krios! I thought you were retired. Commander Shepard? I thought you were dead!”

“Easy, Mouse.” Thane pats him calmly on the shoulder. “You can change your pants later.”

“You know Thane?” It isn’t something I was expecting to hear.

“Yeah, course. I met him…” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Thane shake his head. “Of course, if he wants to tell you about it, he will.” He looks around a little nervously. “So, ah, what do you want? This isn’t just a social call. Is it?” At the end, he tries to sound hopeful.

“No. It is not.” If Thane wanted to make Mouse’s face fall, he succeeded. “We are looking for my son. He has spoken to you.”

Mouse looks around nervously. “I want to help you, Krios, I really do. You were always nice to us. But these people… They’re not nice, Krios. I help you, they’re really not going to be happy with me.”

“And if you don’t help us, we’re not going to be happy with you. Seems like you’ve got a problem.” I rather suggestively crack my knuckles. “Not that anyone needs to know what you talked to us about.”

“Mouse.” In his own way, Thane tries to calm things down. “I swear, your name will not come up.”

“All right.” Mouse still looks nervous, but I think he understands his choices. “When your boy came to me, showed me that holo you took of me, I said I’d try to find a job for him. I put him in touch with a guy called Elias Kelham.”

“I do not recognise the name.”

“He only came to the Citadel about ten years ago, and didn’t get far for a long while. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, after the geth attack, that he became a big player. A lot of the big guys with apartments on the Presidium ring, got cacked. Lot of guys made a play to take their place. Kelham was one who made it.”

“And now he wants my son to do a job for him.”

“Hey, Krios, your son came to me. If I’d known you didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have given him the information. I thought you must be all right with it.”

“It was not your fault, Mouse.”

“So, can I go then?” He starts to sidle aside.

I reach out and put a hand on his shoulder. “One moment. I understand you were selling a VI of me.”

“What? How’d you... It was perfectly legal. You were reported dead.”

“I want one.”

“Oh. Okay. But, just so you know, it still doesn’t work properly. There’s a team of Elcor programmers working on it more or less full time.”

“That’s all right. I just want a copy.”

“Yeah, I get that. I’ll get one sent over. Er, Krios? Next time you’re on the Citadel, can you please keep the family business in the family.”

“I shall try to. Goodbye, Mouse. Stay safe.”

“Yeah. I try. See you, Krios.”


“How’d you meet Mouse?” We’re on our way back to talk to Captain Bailey, who I don’t doubt has information about Kelham, and I’m making conversation mostly to try to get Thane out of his slightly depressing silence.

“I used him, and others like him, when I was active on the Citadel ten years or so ago.”

“You used children? Though, people don’t tend to notice them.”

“Exactly. My people have a name for them, the poor, children, servants; the Chi’nohr, the ignored. I used them for surveillance and information gathering, and the worst to happen to any was being asked to move.”

“Could have been worse.”

Thane looks curiously at me. “That sounds as if it comes from experience.”

“I wasn’t a duct rat, but then I didn’t grow up on the Citadel.”

“Hmm.”


“”Did Mouse give you any information?” Bailey is at his desk, but I suspect he knows something. There were a few more C-Sec officers than usual skulking in the area.

“He did.”

“Apparently Elias Kelham hired my son for a job.”

“Oh. Hell. This is awkward. Kelham and I have an ‘understanding’. He doesn’t cause trouble openly, he buys ‘tickets for the C-Sec Annual Ball’, and I generally let him alone. I can bring him in, but he’ll be really pissed.”

“An awkward situation.” One I’m not going to help him out of. I wonder how he’ll resolve it.

“All right.” After swallowing once he squares his shoulders. “I’ll get a couple of my officers to bring him in. Maybe, if I stay out of the way, he’ll believe I had nothing to do with it.”

“If he bitches afterwards, point out that a Spectre isn't someone you can ignore. Now do it. We haven’t much time.”

“I’ll get the orders out. And I’ll have an interrogation room prepared. Can you two handle the actual interrogation?”

“Yes.” Thane sounds utterly confident, and my voice echoes his.


Twenty minutes later, a man in a smart suit is being half dragged into the station. The female human and male turian officers take him into our interrogation room. Bailey was lurking in the corner, trying to stay out of sight. Now, he comes over to us. “He’ll expect me to get him out of this.”

“Not today, I think.”

“My people say his lawyer is already on the way. I’ll bet he’s got his omnitool set to ping him as soon as an officer gets within ten metres. I’ll stall the lawyer as much as I can. Work fast.”

“We should question him together, keep the pressure on. Thoughts on how to approach this?” Thane sounds professional.

“If he recognises me, and I grabbed this magazine from the ready room with my picture on the cover, he’ll never believe the Butcher of Torfan is the good cop. You should do that.”

“Very well. I shall attempt to persuade him that I am on his side. If he is unco-operative, you put the pressure on. But if we spend too much time negotiating, Bailey will not be able to stall Kelham’s advocate.”

“That works too. After I shoot the advocate as an example.”


“Pretty funny, Bailey, putting me in here.” We’ve got an audio feed into the room, and Kelham is yelling at it. “You let me out of these restraints right now.”

His tone changes when we go in, though not much. “Who the hell are you two.” Thane and I look at each other, and walk around Kelham till we’re on opposite sides of him and he can only watch one of us at a time.

“My name is Zoe Shepard. I’m a Spectre.”

“Prove it.”

I throw the magazine on his chest, where he can see the cover, and smirk at him. “Clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. Now, just so we’re clear, I’m not after you. You contracted an assassin. Who’s the target?”

“Joram Talid. A turian. He’s running for office. Lives over in the 800-blocks. He’s supposed to be taken out in his apartment.”

“Thanks. You won’t see us again. No offence, but you’re a problem way below my pay grade.”

We start out. “Hey.” Kelham sounds annoyed. “Hey, are you going to let me out of here?”

I have no plans to do so. No doubt someone will remember eventually. Thane sounds impressed. “That may go down in history as the shortest interrogation ever.”

I grin at him. “Maybe.”


I wait while Bailey finishes with the lawyer. Then I wave him over. “Couldn’t you get him to talk?” He looks worried.

“The target is Joram Talid. A turian politician.”

“That’s all we need.”

“A problem?”

“Talid is running for ward councillor. On an anti-human ticket, basically. If he’s killed by an assassin working for a human, there will be trouble.”

“Is it really possible to run on an anti-human ticket?” That’s pretty damn annoying if true.

“Pretty much. A lot of non-humans don’t like it that we’ve got so much power so fast. It’s only a couple of decades since humans first appeared on the galactic scene, and there are plenty of people who think we’re aggressive barbarians. There are people who’ve lived here since before humans had star ships. It’s not surprising they resent us. Talid is just taking advantage of that.”

“That’s democracy for you. Pander to prejudice and you’ve always got a chance.”

“Yeah. But it still means I end up dealing with Talid.”

“We could let the assassin succeed.”

“No. I will not allow that.”

“It’s not a serious suggestion, Thane. It’s just I’m annoyed. Two years ago, humans died by the thousands to save the Citadel. And now some turian stands for office on an anti-human agenda.”

“You played a big part in it.” Bailey reminds me of something I already know.

“Yeah. Which doesn’t get us any closer to catching up with Thane’s son.”

“I’ll get you a squad car. Sergeant! Get these people a car out to the 800-blocks, and then stay out of their way.”


We observe Talid for a few minutes, from a concealed position. He’s wandering through the streets, shaking hands and generally acting like any politician on the election trail with a krogan bodyguard. Quite a few people seem to like his message. Which is basically, humans deserve to be treated like trash for a couple of hundred years more, and people should elect someone who’ll put them in their place; that is, him. Crime is increasing? That’s because of humans. Crime is decreasing? The human in charge of C-Sec is being far too brutal. Economy isn’t going well? That’s because humans are stealing your jobs. Citadel is being attacked by geth? Well, he doesn’t bring that up. He does mention that he doesn’t think humans deserve a place on the Council, because all we’ve done is win one battle. The Turians won a whole war before politely asking for a place.

It’s not really anything new. It’s annoying how many people buy into it, but the old saying is that gratitude and ten credits gets you a cup of coffee, and I suppose it’s still true today. I turn to Thane. “How do you want to do this?”

“Follow Talid on the maintenance catwalks. The bodyguard should make that easy. Keep me informed over the comm.-link.”

“Where will you be?” I prepare to heave myself up onto the catwalk.

“The darkest corner, with the best view. Amonkira, Lord of Hunters. Grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet be swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness.” By the time his prayer is over, I’m on the catwalk. And Thane is invisible to me.

I follow Talid, as he wanders further around the ward. He finds different groups to talk to, though not humans. It also appears he’s got a nasty streak. At one point, he waits outside a human-run store while his bodyguard goes inside. I can’t hear what’s said, but the bodyguard starts breaking things until he’s handed some cash. I wonder if that’s how he finances his anti-human electioneering, by shaking down human businesses. A neat racker. There’s only one point at which I lose sight temporarily.

“Hey.” I’m moving along a catwalk, keeping an eye on Talid, when a human in a Citadel Maintenance uniform stops me. “Who are you? What are you doing up here?”

“What am I doing up here?” I try to think fast. “What are you doing up here?”

“This is my job. I’m supposed to be up here.”

“You haven’t heard?” I make my voice incredulous.

“Heard what?”

“About the bomb. I’m searching for it. Get out of here, and don’t tell anyone! Ever! We don’t want a panic.”

“A bomb. Don’t tell anyone. Right. I’m going.”

I shake my head as he runs off, and I hurry forward. “I can’t believe that worked.”

“Pardon?” For a moment, I forgot Thane could hear me.

“Ran into a maintenance guy. Scared him off.” I check the view. “I’ve still got Talid in sight.”

“Good.”

“Not good. He just walked past a drell. I’m moving.”

Down in the street, Talid is walking towards an apartment with his guard just behind him. A drell is closing in, with one hand inside his coat. He pushes past a human, and draws it out with a handgun. As the human shouts, Talid and his guard look around. Kolyat is too close for them to react in time, so I try to distract him. “Kolyat!”

A more experienced assassin would probably not turn round, but Kolyat does. When he sees how far I am, he turns back towards his target. Talid is running for his apartment, and the krogan is starting to draw a gun. Three shots, and the krogan is down. And Kolyat is heading itno the apartment.

I slide down a rail, and jump over the obstruction at the end. Thane is running towards me. “He’s inside.”

“I know. I saw. I was too far back to stop him.”


Inside, Talid is kneeling down with Kolyat’s gun at the back of his head. I aim my pistol. Thane merely looks at his son. “Kolyat.”

“This... this is a joke. Now? Now you show up!”

“Help me, drell.” I spare an irritated glance for Talid. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“C-Sec.” When Bailey turns up, I roll my eyes. It’s a proper party. “Put the gun down, son.”

“Get out of my way.” Kolyat is attempting to sound tough. “I’m walking out. He’s coming with me.”

“They will have snipers outside.” Thane points out how stupid an idea that is.

“I don’t need your help.”

I squeeze the trigger. Kolyat jerks, and looks at the shattered light. As he turns back, my arm sweeps his gun out of his hand. “What the hell?” Suddenly, he realises the situation, and starts to raise his hands.

“Talid, get the hell out of here.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I will.” We wait while the turian leaves.

“Take the boy into custody.” Bailey has to give that order.

“You son of a bitch.” It doesn’t make Kolyat happier with his father.

“Thane came a long way to talk to you, Kolyat. C-Sec can spare you five minutes. Can’t they.”

We step back, to give them a little time in private. Thane walks forward. “You’re angry because I wasn’t there when your mother died.”

Kolyat snorts “You weren’t there when she was alive. Why should you be there when she died?”

“You mother – they killed her to get to me. It was my fault.” I’ve never seen Thane so hesitant.

“What?”

“After her body was given to the deep, I went to find them. The trigger men. I hurt them. Eventually I killed them. When I returned, you were older. I should have stayed with you.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s too bad for me you waited so long.”

“Kolyat. I’ve taken many bad things out of this world. You’re the only good thing I ever added to it.”

“This isn’t a conversation you should have in front of strangers.” Captain Bailey seems unusually sensitive. “Boys, take Thane and his son back to the precinct. Give them a room to talk, and as much time as they need.” He looks at me. “You need to be out of here too. I’ll give you a lift.”


“I’m surprised you let Thane and Kolyat go back together, and have privacy. In fact, you’ve been a lot more help than you needed to throughout this.” I watch Bailey in the car. He seems sad, or maybe melancholy

Bailey looks into the distance. “You think he’s the only man who ever screwed up raising a son?”


“They’ve been in there a long time.” I look over at the interrogation room where Thane and Kolyat are talking.

“The kid’s been through a lot. From what I can tell from the archive, so has the father. About ten years ago, some real bad people got killed. Like someone was cleaning house. Prime suspect was a drell. We never caught him.”

“Ten years is a long time. Whoever did that, probably doesn’t exist any more.”

“I guess you’re right about that.”

Thane’s timing is excellent. He comes out on that. “How’d it go?”

“Our problems. They aren’t something I can fix with a few words. We’ll keep talking, see what happens.” Thane seems calm about it, if not quite back to his normal level of serenity.

“Your boy shot some people. No-one I feel sympathy for, but there it is.”

“I watched those guys shaking down businesses and threatening humans.”

“He still can’t get away with it.”

“He wants to make a difference. Give him community service.”

“Community service for attempted murder? No jury would go for that.”

“So it has to stay within C-Sec. Should be possible.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Thane shakes hands with Bailey. “Please look after my son as long he is in your care.”

“That sounds almost final.” Bailey catches something in his tone.

“What I’m doing is dangerous, Captain. And no, I can’t tell you. But there’s a chance none of us will come back. Don’t spread it around, please.”

“I won’t. Good luck, Shepard. Sounds like you’ll need it.”


“Humans. They’re all just stupid, violent thugs.” One of the two asari sat in the corridor raises her voice enough for me to hear it.

“Is there a problem here?” First Joram Talid, now an asari. Anti-human sentiment seems to be common.

“It’s private. None of your concern, human.”

“Right. That’s why you’re sitting in a public place saying derogatory things about humans loud enough for me to hear ten metres away. Pull the other one.”

“Fine. If you must know, my daughter and I were intending to travel to Thessia. Only the human clerk at immigration won’t let us leave, because we’re on some sort of watch-list meant for geth infiltrators.”

Well, I’m not surprised she’s upset. “That’s a bit stupid. You obviously aren’t geth. The lack of flashlights on your heads kind of gives it away.”

“That doesn’t seem to make any difference. Since humans got a seat on the Council, they’ve taken control of Citadel Immigration and put all sorts of restrictions on people’s ability to travel. She won‘t even tell is why. ‘It‘s a security issue.’”

“The clerk isn’t to blame. it’s a policy being decided way above her level.”

“We never had these sort of problems before you humans came here! Why don’t you go back to your ball of mud!”

“So, nearly two years ago some stupid, violent, human thug climbed up the outside of the Presidium tower to kill Saren. Over three thousand more humans died, when the human Fifth Fleet came through the relay and fought the geth off. If not for them, you wouldn’t be able to sit here whining about how awful we are. Gratitude goes a long way these days, often right out the window. I will, nevertheless, sort this out. Stay here.”


“Can I help you, madame?” As usual, the clerk is polite, if rushed.

I lower the privacy screen. “There are two asari whining about not being allowed through customs. What’s the reason for it?”

“I’m sorry, madame, but I can’t…”

“I’m Zoe Shepard, I’m a Spectre. Why aren’t they being let through?”

“The daughter was part of a group who organised demonstrations against the deployment of human forces around the Citadel after the battle of the Citadel. She was there when a fight broke out between them and some Terra Firma people. Everybody arrested that day got on the watch list.”

“Look, on my authority as a Spectre, let them leave. They’re not geth, and keeping them here will just create more hostility between different races.”

“Are you sure? All right. I’ll do that. Can you let them know?”

“Yeah. I can.”


“I talked to the clerk. You can go.”

“Oh.” I think the mother looks a little embarrassed. “Well. That’s good. Thank you, ah…. Maybe not all humans are as bad as I thought.”

Maybe you should think harder in future. Part of me wonders how things would have gone if I'd let the Council die. Would things be in a better state?

Edited by Bluenose, 14 September 2010 - 12:34 PM.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 54
Dancing with alpha predators

?Samara would like to see you in the observation deck, Commander.?

That?s unexpected. Our ronin/knight errant/asari/biotic commando/sorta-vigilante is normally inclined to keep to herself. Not that she?s anything but polite and self-possessed, but whenever I talk to her it?s slightly intimidating; she?s been a Justicar for over four hundred years, she?s got stories from her maiden days before that, and she makes me feel like a child asking to hear grandmothers stories. Mind you, all that experience makes her pretty much unshakeable in combat.

I?ll admit to being curious, though, and I head down in the lift and into the starboard observation room to glower at the windows. Not that I dislike windows, and EDI told me the first time I asked about it that not only is the door airtight and sealable if combat gets the windows blown in, they?re also backed be a redundant force field generator that would require at least another hit to take down. So it isn?t as if they?re a danger, but EDI also informed me that the Illusive Man predicted I?d ask about the risk, and I don?t like being reminded that he has that good a grasp of my psychology.

?Shepard.? As usual, Samara is meditating in the lotus position before the windows, with a biotic glow around her. And she never looks at you when you walk in. ?Thank you for coming.?

?Yeoman Chambers said you wanted to see me about something.? I settle down on the edge of one of the chairs, which momentarily means I?m looking down at Samara. Then she stands up, and I?m stuck looking up at her.

?You of course remember the fugitive I was tracking when you recruited me for this most honourable mission.?

?The Ardat-Yakshi.?

?With the information you provided, and my own sources, I have been able to locate her. She is using the name Morinth. She has been a fugitive for four hundred years, and I am sworn to capture her. She is cunning and devious, and kills without mercy.?

?I kill without mercy. Sometimes. What makes an Ardat-Yakshi special??

?It is a word from an old asari dialect, ??Demon of the night-winds?. They have plagued my species since we first sat around camp fires, telling stories of things that haunted the night, but that is merely superstition. The condition is genetic. When they meld with you, there is none of the gentle merging of nervous systems that you are familiar with in asari mating. Instead, the ardat-yakshi overpowers and burns out your nervous system, leaving nothing but a mindless and soon dead husk.?

?Can?t she control it??

?She can. To the best of my knowledge, there are only three ardat-yakshi in existence today. Two chose seclusion in a temple. Morinth ran. She does not have to kill people, she simply chooses to. When she kills, it acts as a stimulant to her. She is addicted now, and will not stop. I must end her.?

?How urgent is it??

?Shepard, I have been chasing this fugitive for four hundred years. This is the closest I have ever been to her.? This is as urgent as I?ve ever heard Samara.

?You want us to divert after her? We will. Where do we need to go??

?Thank you, Shepard. If we succeed, I will be relieved of a great burden. The AML Demeter took its passenger to Omega.?

?All right.? I stand up. ?I?ll have Joker get us on the way.?

?There is one more thing you should know. Morinth is my eldest daughter.?

?She?s your eldest daughter.? I pause for a way to ask this tactfully, then realise I can?t. ?You said this was genetic. How many daughters do you have??

?Three. And three ardat-yakshi in existence today. It is as you surmise.?

?I? damn.? There?s not much that makes me pause. ?You?re sure this is what you want?? And if that?s not the stupidest question I ever asked, it is in the top three.

?Shepard, I have had hundreds of years to think about this. It is what I want.?

?We?ll get her. I promise.?


On Omega, the obvious person to go and see is Aria T?loak. Not only is she the ?queen?, but she?s an experienced asari who I suspect is likely to be familiar with ardat-yakshi as anyone. She is. ?We?re looking for a fugitive. An ardat-yakshi using the name Morinth.?

?I knew it. Nothing leaves a body quite as? empty as an ardat-yakshi.?

?You have not attempted to apprehend her?? Samara doesn?t seem to like Omega much.

?Why should I? She hasn?t attempted to seduce me.? Aria gives a slightly nervous laugh, before sobering. ?Her last victim was a girl from the slums. Pretty little thing. She was found about a week ago dumped in the street. Name of Nef. One of my people can give you her mother?s address.?

?Thanks.?


Nef?s home is near the lift to the district where Mordin?s clinic was/is located. I knock on the door, and it?s answered by a middle-aged human woman. She takes in our weapons and armour. ?Hello. You?d better come in.? Once we?re inside, she turns to us. ?I?m Diana. Are you here about my daughter? No one seems to care, but I?m certain she was murdered.?

?So are we. That?s why we?re here. To track down the person responsible.?

?Oh. Oh, thank you. Do you work for Aria? She?s the only person who paid any attention.?

?She gave us your address, yes.? We?re not working for Aria, but we did go through her.

?Oh. I think I know who it was. My daughter was always a quiet girl, until those last few weeks. Then she met that asari. Morinth.? She spits the name out.

?Did your daughter have many friends? Ones who might have met or seen Morinth, or know her hang outs.?

?No. She was shy. She was more interested in her art than in people, most of the time. It wasn?t that she didn?t have friends, but she didn?t spend much time at clubs with them. It was Morinth that did that. Got her going to Afterlife, to the exclusive bit you need a password for. Got her taking drugs.?

?Samara, does Morinth control her victims with drugs??

?She controls them by force of personality. The drugs are merely a lifestyle choice. She loves the beat of music, dancing, the thrill of the hunt. She is and always will be a hedonist.? Samara looks at Diana. ?Your daughter was an artist? Morinth has always been interested in such people.? Samara has left the conversation to me, up to now.

?She was a sculptor. A collector was interested in her work. Said it was fresh. But I?d never sell it, not now.? She starts to tear up. ?It?s still in her room, just as she left it. Just as it always will be. Waiting for her to come home.?

?Would it be all right for us to look in there??

?I didn?t want to touch anything. It reminds me of her.? I reach across, and dry her tears.

?We will be respectful. I promise.? Samara keeps her voice gentle.

?All right. I?ll unlock her room.?

It?s perhaps a typical teenage bedroom. Cluttered, with evidence of the users interests ? in this case sculptures, but also posters for a couple of music groups, and I think one recent holonet heartthrob. I look around for things that look out of place, and a piece of scented notepaper catches my eye.

?Nef.
I?m sending you this sculpture by the elcor artist Forta. Don?t stare at it too long, love. You might go mad.
Morinth.?

More helpfully Nef keeps a diary. I open up a few of the recent entries. She?s found out the password to the VIP section of Afterlife, from a friend. Helpfully she?s recorded it, so we won?t have to go back to Aria. When she goes there, she?s worried that everyone is staring at her because she?s so out of place. Then a beautiful asari who moves like water starts dancing with her. Name of Morinth. In a later entry, she wonders whether she?s a freak for being in love with Morinth, but she can?t stop thinking about her anyway. And in the last. ?I?m going to her apartment tonight. She says I?ll be with her forever. She can sell my sculptures, and we can visit all the places she?s told me about. Places I never imagined seeing. How did this happen to me? I?m just dumb trash from Omega. I feel so lucky.?

?This is typical of Morinth. She identifies those who are detached from their peers, draws them into her circle, persuades them how special they are, and then devours them.?

?So it was her who killed my daughter, then?? I nearly draw, before I realise Diana had followed us to the door.

Samara seems unshakeable. ?It was.?

?I hope you catch her. And kill her.?

?That?s the plan.? It might be a little irreverent, but I?m still a little annoyed with Diana.

?I too know what it is to lose a daughter. You have my word, Morinth will not survive our encounter.? Very solemnly, Samara makes a promise.

?So how are we going to do this??

?A frontal assault on her lair would be futile. She will have a hundred escape routes planned.?

?She?s been hunting sentient beings successfully for centuries. She?d have to be smart.?

?Indeed. To have any chance of success, we must overcome her natural caution, offer her prey she cannot resist.?

Obscene thoughts won?t help. ?You want me to be bait.?

?Indeed. You read my mine, Shepard.? Boy, do I wish I didn?t. ?You are an artist, on the battlefield. You have a presence that draws others to you, and there is a sense of danger about you. Morinth will see you, and desire you, and want to make you hers. This club is her hunting ground. You will have to go there alone, and unarmed.?

?I assume you?ll be nearby.?

?Yes. Allow Morinth to seduce you back to her lair. I will follow, discretely. She will be concentrating on you and not other perils. When you are in her rooms you will be in great danger. Try to delay her until I arrive.?

?All right.? I can?t say this idea thrills me, but it is workable. ?We?ll do it. Tonight. I?d better get something suitable on.?

?Do you have clothing suitable for a club?? Samara sounds slightly worried.

?Yes. Kasumi?s doing. We went to a formal party. I?m just glad I wasn?t wearing it when we fought those Ymirs.?


?I heard this was the best place to go clubbing on Omega.? Two hours later I?m wearing a little black dress, and chatting to a doorman.

?Really.? The turian looks me up and down until he?s apparently satisfied. ?Who told you that??

?Jaruut.? Now to see if the password is the same.

?Well, why don?t you go inside and see for yourself.?

I nod at him, and restrain myself from looking for Samara. She gave me advice on how to behave to attract Morinth, and I mean to follow it. Even if I haven?t been clubbing solo for over a decade, I still remember how it was. I mutter under my breath as I enter. ?Anyone groping me had better have good medical insurance.?

?Hey.? A young human with a neatly trimmed beard calls to me. ?Do you know where I might get tickets for Expel 10??

?Expel 10??

?Yeah. They?re a cybersynth band. I heard this gorgeous asari talking about them, saying she wanted to see them live. If I could get some tickets, I could score way out of my league, you know.?

?Sorry. Not my area of expertise.?

?Damn.? He looks me up and down. ?Hey, wanna dance??

?Not right now.? You?re a little young for me.

The turian who has his arm on one of the dancers isn?t too young for me. On the other hand, the way he?s behaving? Morinth likes violence, but doesn?t like people who start it. And she?s protesting. ?Hey.? I walk up to them. ?The lady says no. So let her go.?

?You want to take her place, do you? Fine by me.? He lets go of the asari, and gets a firm grip on my upper arm. ?Come on, we?re heading back to my place. You?ll have fun.?

He was right. I had fun. Not that we got as far as his place. Instead, I broke his grip and bounced his head off the floor a couple of times. And I enjoyed it. So, I think, did the asari. ?Asshole.? She glares at him, as he tries to pick himself up. ?I?m a dancer, not a whore. Glad you were here. Bouncers must be asleep. I owe you one.?

?Glad I could help.? Right, violence, not instigated by me, and I won. That?s one tick on the ?attract Morinth? list. I look around for the bar. There are people here in fair numbers, but things are slightly subdued. I?m going to change that, and prove I can work a crowd for tick two.

?Hey.?

The bartender looks at me. ?What do you want??

?Bit quiet tonight, isn?t it??

He shrugs. ?Sometimes it gets like this.?

?Happy people spend more money. Round of drinks, on the house, and it?ll pay for itself.?

?You think so.? I nod vigorously at him. ?All right. I?ll give it a try.? He raises his voice. ?Your next drink is on the house.? If the roar of approval, and increased noise level, is any indication, it?s probably going to work.

And then, I hit the dance floor. Morinth likes watching people move, apparently, and I used to be able to. Or so people said when I was a teenager. I move out, and start make a spectacle of myself. And if the first asari who comes up isn?t Morinth, that?s not a problem. We dance together for a bit, before a rather cultured voice interrupts. ?Mind if I cut in.? She doesn?t give the other asari a chance to object, before she moves in next to me. ?Hello.? Her voice is decidedly sexual. ?I?m Morinth.?

?Zoe.? I smile at her pleasantly. She looks really like her mother, down to the preference for really tight clothing.

She moves with me, and I can see what Nef meant about moving like water. ?I?ve been watching you. You?re the most interesting person in here tonight by a long way. Would you like to come back to my table? We can talk, and who knows where that might lead.?

Rubbing up against the other asari dancer gave her the impression I wanted it to. ?Sure.?

I let her lead me over to a table just off the dance floor. She looks at me over a glass of something, and gets a waiter over for a drink for me. ?I find you attractive. I wonder, why might that be.?

?I?m like you.? I sip on the drink, and it?s too sweet and fruity for my tastes.

?Oh really. In what way.?

?I?m confident. And when I see something I like, I take it.? And I like your head, bitch.

?So, what sort of things do you like?? She leans forward casually in her chair, incidentally giving me a view of her cleavage.

?Lots of things. Travel.?

?I like travel. Especially into dangerous places. Do you like dangerous places??

?Oh, yes. Violent places??

?Violence is something different though. Violence is its own reward.?

?Violence is a means to an end.? Don?t roll over for her. ?Sometimes that end is personal gratification.? Make her think you?re into violence.

?Violence is sometimes a game. Do you like games?? She pretends to be looking coy, but her eyes make it plain she isn?t, and it?s clear she knows what message she?s sending.

?Sometimes. How hard I try, well. It depends if there?s a prize at the end.?

?Sometimes the prize is knowing you?re going to win. I like that feeling. I Do you play chess?. One of the nicest things humans have brought to the galaxy, in my opinion. I love it when I know in advance my strategy has worked, and I?m going to conquer, even when my opponent doesn?t realise it.? She runs a fingernail down my bare arm.

Now, is she boasting, or is she telling me she?s on to us and warning me she?ll still win. Ah, well. Roll the dice. ?Chess is fun. But I prefer less predictable games. Ones where you can?t be so certain of things in advance. Where you have to take a chance.? Morinth likes gamblers, according to Samara. Even if she?s not much of one herself.

?How about we go back to my apartment? We can? talk more there.? Her hand rests on my wrist.

?I turn my hand around to stroke her fingers. ?That sounds like fun.? I make no attempt as we leave to spot Samara. She?s either there or not, and either way this was our plan. Till it?s patently going wrong, I?ll stick with it.


My first thought about Morinth?s apartment is that she?s got expensive tastes. Of course, she?s had years to collect things. A chess set, well that isn?t a surprise. A statue of a Krogan. ?One of my suitors gave me that. He was a little boring, but he was nice to me so eventually I gave him what he thought he wanted.? I?ll bet you did. A sword with a green hilt. ?I love fencing. That look in your opponents eyes when they realise you?re better than they are, and they?re going to lose.? A bottle of drugs. ?Take one if you like. But wouldn?t you rather keep your head clear?? Why, is it less fun for you with someone doped up so there?s no triumph in seducing them.

Of course, if I spend too long wandering around her apartment, Morinth might get suspicious. I sit on the sofa near her, where we can comfortably look at each other. She looks at me. ?I love clubs. People, movement, heat. I can still feel the bass, like the drums of a great hunt, out for your blood. But here, it?s muted. Safe. Is that what you want, Zoe? To be safe.?

?Safety is overrated.?

?Yes. Better to take control of your fate, than rely on an illusion of safety. I?ve never understood the fascination with safety. Some of us chose differently. Independence over submission. I think we share that, you and I.? She gets up and moves closer to me.

?You compare us, but I?m out of your league.? Suddenly I?m bored with this. Samara had better get here soon, or I?ll be the one killing her daughter.

?So strong. I want you.? She straddles my hips, and puts an arm behind my head. Her voice becomes even more sultry. ?Look into my eyes.? They?re black, and nearly all I can focus on. ?Tell me you want me. Tell me you?d kill for me. Anything I want.?

?I want you. I?d kill for you. I?d do anything you want.? My voice is a monotone, and then I look aside. ?No. Somehow, I?m not feeling it.?

?But. You. Who are you?? The door to the apartment opens on Morinth?s confusion. ?Oh no. I see what?s going on. The bitch got herself a little helper.?

?Morinth.? Samara sounds as angry as I?ve heard her, and she lifts Morinth off me and slams her against the window with her biotics.

Morinth squirms, but doesn?t seem able to escape. ?Mother.?

?Do not call me that.? Another biotic push leaves Morinth spread=eagled against the armoured glass.

?I can?t choose to stop being your daughter. Mother.?

?You made your choice long ago.?

I don?t know if it?s Samara losing concentration, or Morinth has gathered her strength, but Morinth breaks away in a burst of biotic energy that sends Samara backwards. ?What choice? My only crime was being born with the gifts you gave me.? She throws a chair, which Samara barely dodges.

?Enough, Morinth.?

?I am the genetic destiny of the asari. But they?re not ready to reveal this, so I must die.?

?You are a disease to be purged, nothing more.?

They?re standing opposite each other, a biotic wave between them. Whoever loses concentration is likely to be flattened by it.

?I?m as strong as she is. Let me join you.? I don?t know if Morinth knows who I am, but she appears to have realised I?ve got a mission.

?I am already sworn to help you, Shepard. Let us finish this.?

I move forward. ?It?s been interesting meeting you, Morinth. Goodbye.? I hit the side of her neck with a chop. Even with biotic protection up, her head snaps back and she loses concentration. The biotic shock wave flattens her. And then Samara is walking forward, as Morinth desperately scrambles backwards on her hands.

?Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess.? I see no reason to watch as Samara snaps her daughter?s neck. ?I am ready to leave this place and get on with my life.?

Somehow, I expected Samara not to sound so terribly beaten. ?Are you all right??

?Shepard. What do you think I will say? What can I say. I just killed the bravest and smartest of my daughters. There are no words. I will try another time. For now, show mercy on a broken old warrior and let us leave.?

?Let?s go.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 55
Dreams of a dead god

?How do you feel now?? Samara wasn?t meditating when I walked into the observation deck, instead looking out of the window as we approach the relay.

?For the first time in four hundred years, I am free. I am a ruined vessel of sorrow and regret, but I am free.?

?Was it worth it?? She doesn?t sound happy about it.

?It was never a question of worth, but of need. I had to do what I did, just as Morinth had to do as she did.?

?Yet you killed her.?

?She was the smartest and bravest f my daughters. She would not tolerate the injustice forced upon her. She fought to the end. Yes, I had to kill her. I am so proud of her.?

?What will you do now?? Your life-long mission is finished, after all.

?Assuming I survive your mission, I am still a Justicar. There is still injustice in the universe. Perhaps even other ardat-yakshi. I may return to Omega. It consumes people for no other reason than that it can. I may attempt to bring justice to it.?

?They won?t like that.?

?They will learn to like it.?

Codex: Mnemosyne.
Mnemosyne is a brown dwarf of approximately 37 Jupiter-masses. It is young enough that some nuclear fusion still occurs within its depths. It is luminous and radiates more heat than it receives from the star, Thorne, with an atmospheric temperature in excess of 1,800 degrees Kelvin (1,500 degrees Celsius).
Early probes of Thorne showed evidence of a minor gravitic anomaly in the northern hemisphere. This area of unexpectedly low mass did not move with the prevailing wind patterns. While an investigation was planned by the Besaral Institute of Planetary Science, the school ultimately sent an expedition to study the famed "deep anomalies" of the gas giant Ploba instead.

Guess what that ?area of unexpectedly low mass? is. Anyone saying that it?s an almost-dead Reaper with just enough emergency power left to operate a mass effect field that stops it falling into the depths of Mnemosyne to be crushed by the atmosphere, heat and gravity may have a cookie.

I cannot believe we?re planning to board a Reaper. Even a dead one. And yet, we have to if we?re going to get anywhere near the Collector Base. It?s not exactly a consolation that a Cerberus science team is already on board. They fell out of contact within a couple of days. If they haven?t died a horrible death, it will be quite a surprise. I have no idea what sort of things we?ll be fighting, or what sort of tricks we?ll have to overcome. Tali is an obvious choice, since her tech skills are better than anyone else I?ve got, and because we?re used to working together, and she?s my friend. Thane comes because he?s more level headed than Jack, good at long-range unlike Samara, and is probably the third best biotic on the crew otherwise. I guess that leaves me standing there drawing attention to myself, and apart from Grunt I?m the best person on the crew for that. So, it may not be a plan, but at least it?s a team.

This does of course depend on us getting to the Reaper. A brown dwarf may technically not be a star, but it?s still far more active than anything you?d get landing on a planet, even in the fiercest storm. Fortunately we have Joker, who is perfectly happy to tell me that he?s the best pilot in or out of the Alliance. Now he gets a chance to prove it. 300kph winds, temperatures around 500K, and terrible sensor conditions. Plus Joker, talking away and flying the Normandy at the same time. And insisting it?s not his fault that the Normandy is shaking me about. While it isn?t, it amuses me to discuss with EDI the ethics of forcing crew members who displease me (by banging my ship around) to walk the plank. She seems to think it?s technically within my powers as a Spectre to dispense summary justice. Joker seems to think I can?t manage without him. I? don?t want to have to. If I didn?t have Joker flying the Normandy and dispensing sarcastic wisdom, I wouldn?t know how to manage. Or possibly I?m being sarcastic. Or trying to confuse, annoy, and provoke Joker into proving how competent he is, as EDI claims she does on an experimental basis. She claims he performs better when stressed, so I?ll stress him.

It?s a little deeper into the atmosphere that the shaking stops. That will make things a lot easier, but it?s still puzzling. EDI has an explanation. ?We are within the area affected by the mass effect field emanating from the Reaper.?

As we get closer, the black shape looms out of the clouds. It doesn?t look exactly like Sovereign, though there are obvious similarities. As we get closer, another ship becomes visible in close proximity to the Reaper. A geth vessel. ?Well, I guess we know what happen to the science team.? I add the arc projector to my equipment pack, since I was doubtful what would be most useful. Electrical discharges affecting multiple targets and making a mess of electronics should be extremely good against geth.

And then it?s time to go. In the low gravity we don?t even need to use the shuttle. Just get the Normandy into close proximity, step through the force field on the air lock, and float across.

This might not be the nicest place I?ve ever been. The Cerberus team had set up airlocks and pressurised one section of the hull, and we enter through that. The first room inside has some interesting decoration, in the form of a mangled corpse and blood-stained walls. ?No-one here to welcome us. That?s not good.? Tali manages to sound as if she hasn?t even noticed the body.

As we move through the corridors, several Cerberus work-logs are in place. The first has notes from the leader of the team, Doctor Chandana. After commenting on how they set up air locks and pressurised this section to allow shirt-sleeve working, he adds that the crew seem nervous. ?I attempted to reassure them by pointing out that it is purely superstition. A natural reaction to working inside the corpse of a vast, ancient life form. Privately, I can?t deny the atmosphere. The walls seem to press down upon us. I find myself clenching my teeth.?

And that was within a few hours at most of boarding. I wonder if they massacred each other, or if there?s actually something to be afraid of. I half hope for the latter. A second work log along the corridor suggests the former is possible. ?We finished cataloguing specimens A203 to B016. No evidence of active nanotechnology noted. Doctor Chandana claims any such evidence would have decayed over millions of years. There?s not enough data to support or oppose his claim. Chandana says it is ?patently obvious?. I am? concerned. He has sat staring out those samples for hours. He says he?s listening to them.?

We move further into the ship, and I open a sectional door. That sets off a reaction, as the Reaper judders. Joker immediately comes over the comm. ?Normandy to shore party. Come in shore party.?

?Joker. What just happened??

?The Reaper put out a force field, commander. I don?t think we can get through it form our side, without using the main guns and blowing you all to hell.?

?As much as I am curious about Reapers, I do not want to be trapped inside one.? Tali sounds as unhappy as I feel, and while Thane doesn?t say anything I can feel his stare on me.

I think for a moment. ?We?ll have to deactivate it from the inside. There must be a power plant somewhere. Can you pinpoint it??

EDI can. ?At the moment of activation, I detected a heat-spike inside what I suspect to be the mass effect core. I am sending it?s location to your omnitools. Be advised, the only thing keeping the Reaper at this altitude is it?s existing mass effect field. If you shut down the core, that will vanish.?

?And when the Reaper goes down, it?ll be crushed with it in the planet?s core.? Joker states what we all I suspect understand.

?Joker, you?re the best helmsman the Alliance fleet had, whatever I may say to joke about. If anyone can recover us in these conditions, it?s you.?

?Thanks, Commander. Good hunting.?

Along the walkway are more bodies in smears of blood. Thane looks at them, with disquiet. ?I had heard stories of this sort of atrocity. I had thought they were exaggerated.? Looking around, the reaper?s internal ?organs? are visible here. Structural members, piping of various types, and the strange ?skin? that the walls are made of. It?s unsettling.

We find another Cerberus work log down the walkway. Two researchers are talking to each other. ?You?re married? You never said that.?
?Katy had anger management issues. When my brother got married, the best man tried to hit on her. She kicked him down the church steps.?
?Wh? Katy is my wife. I must have told you the story.?
?No, I remember my wife. It was the only time I saw her wear stockings.?
?Yeah, the kind with the seam down the back. What the hell is this.?
?How can we remember the same thing.?

It?s called indoctrination, or at least that?s what Saren and his researchers knew it as. And it gets into your mind without you realising. I don?t want to spend more time here than I have to.

At least we get evidence that the researchers didn?t massacre each other. As we approach one of their platforms, with a smattering of equipment on it, I hear the distinctive moan of approaching husks. A sizeable group, climbing up the struts that hold the walkway off the floor. We withdraw a little, allowing them to mass, and then Thane snipes one that will explode. I let loose a spray of bullets into a fuel tank, and the two explosions clear the platform of husks. Though more are audible, beneath a further platform. We head towards it. Thane seems to be pondering aloud. ?I had wondered if husk technology came from the geth or the reapers.?

?Geth origin never made sense to me.? Tali would know. ?This seems to confirm a Reaper origin.?

We plough through another group of husks, and find another work log. A different pair of scientists are talking.

?This is three days in a row with this headache. You?d think Chandana would give me some time off.?
?Goddamn.? The second, jerks back, looking past the other, who turns round.
?What? What is it??
?That thing, that grey? thing. It came out of the wall where we took that panel off.?
?I didn?t see anything.?
?It vanished when I looked directly at it. I tell you, this ship isn?t dead. It knows we?re inside it.?
?Calm down. Take a break.?
?Now I?m getting a headache.?

As we move on, past a few more corpses and some of the Cerberus equipment areas, a husk suddenly drops down in front of us. With it?s head in pieces. ?Sniper.? Thane warns us, as we drop into cover. As a couple more husks collapse the same way, he sounds quite admiring. ?Rather a good one.?

We don?t find the sniper, at least not yet. We do run into a rather large group of husks, supported be a scion firing on us. And after we deal with them, we find the source of at least some of the husks. At the end of the room is a carefully placed table, and beyond it spikes extend from the floor and walls. Tali calls me over. ?Look, Shepard. These are what your people call Dragon?s Teeth. The geth used them on Eden Prime to create husks.?

?My people have tales of such things. Strange and ancient devices, that turn people into things.? Thane sounds grim about it.

?It looks like the researchers did this to each other. No-one sane would do that.? Tali can see some of the bodies.

?You heard the recordings. The researchers were being indoctrinated. The Reaper was taking control of them.? I shake my head. ?Poor bastards. We can?t do anything for them, but we can make sure this machine doesn?t do it to anyone else.?

?Agreed.?

There?s one more log along the wall of the area. I activate it. ?Chandana said the Reaper was dead. We trusted him. He was right. But even dead gods can dream. A god - a real god - is a verb. Not some old man with magical powers. It?s a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn?t have to want to. It doesn?t have to think about it. It just does. That?s what Chandana didn?t get. Not until it was too late. The god?s mind is gone, but it still dreams. He knows now. He?s tuned in on our dream. If I close my eyes, I can feel him. I can feel every one of us.?

And now, we have to leave the safe area. The bit Cerberus had done most work in. We hack through their security door, and an announcement plays. ?Warning: now leaving pressurised area. Equalising pressure with exterior atmosphere. Remember, safety is everyone?s concern. We have gone five days without a workplace death.?

There?s a series of walkways beyond this, with long views into distant parts of the Reaper. I move forward cautiously, since I can hear husks somewhere around. And then the sniper makes his presence felt. There?s a crack, and the head of a husk coming up behind me explodes. And then a second. The shots came from a walkway crossing our path.

The sniper is a geth. It looks at us. ?Shepard-Commander.? And then it walks out of sight.

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watched, Chapter 56
Floating point errors

?I had thought geth to be silent creatures.? I?m still gaping at it, when Thane speaks.

?It should be.? Tali sounds as shocked as me. ?A single geth should be no more intelligent than a Varren.?

?Well, that one is. Any idea why, and why it knows me??

?Not one.?

?Well, I suppose if it wants to introduce itself it will. Until then, we move on.?

We do. This is the part of the Reaper that Cerberus didn?t imagine they were in control of. All walkways, and platforms, and staircases. A view deeper into the Reaper where I can see lightning discharges. And husks. Lots of husks. More husks. Scions, mostly in pairs. With husks supporting them. And I think I mentioned husks.

We slaughter them. Concussive shots blow them off platforms and down staircases. Thane?s biotics throw them down walkways, or make the abominations explode. Tali?s drone zips around, attracting their attention, while she shotguns them down. I spend ammunition as if it?s water, and feel very grateful to the Cerberus researchers who were creating caches of clips so they wouldn?t run out when they came here. Scions blast away at us, forcing us to duck into cover for the husks to rush us. I use my weapon butt to beat them away, fighting on adrenaline alone some of the time. Fuel cylinders explode among groups of husks, yet even when they?re blown in half the upper part still drags itself towards us. We fall back from massive waves, whittling their numbers down till we can go forward again.

And then I?m looking around. There aren?t any more in sight, and I can?t hear any. We look around, and after a few moments we realise that it?s over. For now.

Tali is the first to relax. ?Come on. The mass effect core can?t be far. We can shut it down.?

?And then the ship falls into the brown dwarf.? Thane sounds as if he?s mentioning the time of day.

?We just have to make sure we aren?t on it.? And come to think of it, weren?t we looking for an IFF as well? Let?s hope it?s on our way.

Fortunately, it is. This part of the ship seems to be a hub for engineering systems. Along the side of one side passage, we find a piece of machinery that matches the description of the IFF that EDI grabbed from the Collector databases. I heft it. Not too heavy. With a little help from Tali and Thane, I get it attached to my weapon rack where it?s out of the way. It blocks access to my sniper rifle, but Thane is much better than me anyway. I?m slightly less pleased how it makes my shotgun hard to get at, but that?s acceptable.

Down the corridor is a door which, assuming EDI?s assessment is right, should lead us to the mass effect generator. That it?s secured suggests she might be right, as the only other doors have been ones installed by Cerberus. While Thane watches behind us, Tali hacks it, and I stand ready to move in.

When Tali gets the door open, I?m forced to pause. There?s a force field across the entrance, and no controls that I can see. On the far side, our new geth acquaintance is working on a console. It looks up as we enter, and spots not only our arrival but the presence of three husks trying to sneak up on it. They?re too close for a rifle, probably, but it?s just as handy with a pistol. It fires two shots into each of them, one into the chest knocking the husk down and a second to explode the head. The geth turns back to the console. A few taps later, our force field goes down, and it turns back towards us. Into the fist of a husk, because more are climbing up onto the platform all the time.

I move forward, and spray part of the group with incendiary rounds. ?Go for the optics, Chiktika?, signifies that Tali has her drone out. Two husks flying backward off the platform shows that Thane is using his biotics. Thirty seconds later, the platform is clear of husks. The geth lies crumpled up beneath the computer console at the end of the walkway. It has a large hole in its chest, partly covered by a piece of N7 combat armour with a red stripe down the right shoulder; marking it as belonging to a commander.

I wish there was time to investigate. But for now, there isn?t. The mass effect core is just beyond, screened by metallic plates. Tali goes for the console, as we hear the groans of more husks. ?I can get it to open up, for a short time, but we?ll have to blast it in the gaps. And hold the husks off.?

?Go ahead.? Thane and I hunker down behind some railings, and wait for the geth. And they come, nearly continuously. I move out of cover, and keep spraying them with bullets. Thane picks off some, sniping the weakest. Chiktika harasses the flanks of the mob. I handle any that get through to us, since they?re already weakened. And when Tali gets the cover off the core, Thane lets loose with a biotic blast that scatters those that are up, and we all turn every weapon we have onto the core. When the screens go over again, Tali has another go at hacking the console, and Thane and I return to fighting geth. Eventually, after a couple of rounds like this, the energy core dies with a burst of light. Immediately, the Reaper shudders. Husks climbing up onto the platform lose their grip and fall.

?I think it?s time to go.?

?Shepard.? Thane?s words are sharp. ?I think we should take the geth with us. Its actions were? unusual.?

?We shouldn?t take it on the Normandy.? Tali protests. ?You know what they?re capable of.?

I think for a moment. ?Let?s take it. It?s deactivated at the moment. We can always decide what to do with it later.?

?I hope you know what you?re doing.?

?So do I.? I look at the geth. ?Thane, cover is. Tali, give me a hand with the thing. It?s too awkward to carry on my own. Joker, lock on our signal and get the Normandy to the nearest opening. We?re on our way.?

It?s a mad dash now from the core to the nearest hole in the Reaper?s hull, and carrying a geth doesn?t make it quicker. Fortunately, the husks aren?t particularly quick chasing us. Thane shoots some out of our way, and then we?re on a platform on the outside of the Reaper, watching as the Normandy steers closer and closer. The air lock opens, and we throw the geth across the gap. Tali leaps it. Thane leaps it, and turns to give covering fire. And as drift starts to take the Normandy further away, I launch myself over the gap and land on the deck plating. ?Joker. we?re clear. Go, go, go.?

Update on the kid.
From: Captain Bailey, C-Sec
Hey, Shepard. Just wanted to let you know the drell kid?s doing okay.
Everything?s taken care of legally, and he?s doing some work for me. Helping take care of some trash in the Wards, maybe make life a little better for some of the kids like Mouse. Not perfect, but then, what is?
Don?t know if your drell and mine are talking. I told him life was too short not to, but I don?t know if it took.
Good luck out there,
Bailey

A pleasure to meet you
From: Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh
Shepard vas Normandy
I've been digging through the Alarei. Just wanted you to know that I found a few things from the experiments Rael'Zorah was conducting. Had you shared them with me, humanity might have shared the benefits. Instead, once my own experiments are complete, you and your people will watch froma distance as teh quarian people not only reclaim their homeworld but the largest synthetic army in the galaxy. Rael'Zorah's death will not have been in vain. I will finish what he started.
Cordially,
Daro'Xen vas Moreh

?I think we need to decide what to do with the rather unusual piece of cargo the Commander brought on board.? I?m showered, changed, and listening to Miranda in the briefing room an hour later. Even a Reaper can be destroyed, as was proved at the Citadel, and this one was too. Though from our sensors, the depth at which it finally imploded would have turned the Normandy into something the size of a tuna can. ?You know, Cerberus have a really big bounty out for anyone delivering an intact geth.?

?We?ll have to disagree there, ma?am.? Jacob is clearly unhappy. ?The best thing to do with it is throw it out the air-lock into a sun.?

?I?d like to know why it has a piece of N7 armour covering a hole in its chest. Why it spoke to us. Hell, why it saved our lives by shooting at husks. Which doesn?t mean I?m not worried about switching it back on.?

?Commander, if we?re going to reactivate the geth it should be for the good of humanity, not to satisfy your curiosity.?

?Finding out more about the geth, not by dismantling them and looking at the bits but by actually talking to one that seems to be? not actively hostile, seems to me to have potential to be extremely beneficial. If we?re smart enough to take advantage of it.?

?It?s a geth, ma?am. You were one Eden Prime, and saw what they did.?

?Yes, I was. And I noticed something else. None of them spoke to me or tried to help me. Something about this is wrong, or maybe right.? A thought strikes me. ?Where is it, anyway.?

A blue ball of light pops up. ?The geth unit is stored in my computer core, behind a force field, with no access to any ship systems.

?All right. It?ll keep, then, for a while.?

?Tali?s gonna freak.?

?I told her she?d be there if I reactivated it, and we?d be battle ready. Till then, she?s satisfied. We also have the IFF to fit. Any ideas how long that will take??

?Integration into ship systems will take several days. For parts of that time, the Normandy?s drive core will have to be offline. While the work is within our capabilities, I recommend caution. This is Reaper technology.?

?Take it step by step, and do your best to make sure we understand what we?re doing. I know the Collectors hit another colony yesterday, and they?re usually doing so several days apart, so we have time. Not much, but some. Dismissed.?


?Tali.? I?ve thought about the geth, and made a decision.

?Yes, Shepard?? Tali knows me well enough to realise when I?ve made a decision she won?t like.

?Can you meet me in the AI core in half an hour? We?ve a geth to reactivate.?

?You?re sure, then. I?ll be there.?

Actually, I?m not sure. But we have to do something with it, and activating the thing might tell us something. So half an hour later, Tali and I are staring at the geth where it lies on a shelf. With a security team led by Jacob right outside the door.

I look at Tali. ?All right. Lets try this.? I activate my omnitool, and scan the geth. Tali does the same. We reactivate some of the network connections, initialise what seems to be a start-up sequence, and step back. Which is stupid, because there?s a force field in the way, and the geth?s weapons are on this side of it.

For a moment nothing happens. Then one of the flaps around the geth?s head twitches. And another. Secondary lights activate, then the main head light. It?s legs swing round, and it stands up. After a moment, it?s eyes focus on us. ?Shepard-Commander. Creator Tali?Zorah.?

?I am not your creator!? Although I suspect if it says that again, Tali will be it?s destroyer.

?Checking databanks. Confirmed. You are Tali?Zorah nar Rayya vas Normandy, of the creator race. Associated with Shepard-Commander since 2183. First meeting took place after a close range combat engagement near the club ?Chora?s Den? on the Citadel station. Travelled with Shepard-Commander on the SSV-1 Normandy during the pursuit of the Old Machine Nozara. Present with Shepard-Commander at the destruction of the Saren-avatar. Subsequently returned to quarian migrant fleet and thereby absent when SSV-1 Normandy was destroyed in the Alchera system. Rejoined??

?You seem to know a lot about us.?

?We study you.?

?We being the geth.?

?Yes.?

?And you study other races, or me and Tali specifically??

?Yes.?

?Which??

?Both.?

?Why??

?We wish to understand you.? A momentary hesitation follows. ?You may be a threat to us. You may be of assistance to us. You may need our assistance. While time permits, we study all possible variables and analyse scenarios.?

?Wait.? Tali sounds puzzled. ?Nazara? Is that your name for Sovereign??

?Nazara is the name that it applied to itself. Sovereign was a name applied by Saren-former spectre in the belief that the Old Machine?s power was sovereign. Further clarification: Old Machine is the term used by geth to refer to the species called Reapers by the protheans.?

?How did you find that out??

?Geth had previous contact with Nazara. It attempted to recruit them for it?s attack on the Citadel. Among the information geth obtained was a database containing it?s name.?

?Did you get anything more after you agreed to support it?? Tali sounds pretty angry, and I?m not pleased.

?We did not agree to support Nazara. Geth seek peaceful co-existence with other species.?

?What?? Now this is getting strange. And Tali certainly thinks so. ?Most of Saren?s army was geth!?

?You have not encountered any geth until you encountered this platform.?

?So what was Saren deploying against us??

?Geth consensus was to reject co-operation with the Old Machine. This consensus was not accepted by all portions of geth. Heretic units were permitted to leave, and contact was terminated.?

?So Sovereign, ?Nazara?, tried to recruit the geth as a whole, but ended up with only part of them.?

?Correct.?

?How does that work? You?re networked together to achieve sentience.?

?Different programs may achieve different perspectives on a situation. Experiences and perspectives can be shared, but remain unique. In addition, errors can occur. In this case, a floating point error meant an equation with a result of 7.58132 came out in some units as 7.58131.?

?So a math error led to part of the geth splitting off and fighting a war. What were they after??

?Geth seek to build a suitable future for all geth. Nazara offered to provide that future. Geth will build their own future.?

?Will that future affect other races?? Are we going to have to fight you, I?m not saying out loud.

?If they interfere, yes.?

?All right. So Saren?s followers were ?heretics? rather than Geth. And you rejected the Reaper?s offer to provide your future, want peaceful co-existence. Why are you here??

?This unit was searching for Shepard-Commander.?

?Me! How??

?This unit was despatched from Geth space to search for Shepard-Commander. It travelled to the locations Shepard-commander visited during it?s pursuit of Saren. This unit has visited Eden Prime, Therum, Feros, Noveria, Virimie, Illium, and Alchera. This unit was diverted to another task before it could continue.?

?Why??

?Shepard-Commander opposed the Old Machines and Heretics. Geth oppose Old Machines and Heretics. Geth believe that they will return. Logic dictates co-operation.?

?You want to be allies against the Reapers.? Someone hitting me with a feather would knock me down. And Tali too, I think.

?Yes.?

?You know I can?t speak for anyone but myself, and maybe my crew.?

?Yes.?

?I mean, I?ll try to get people together, we?ll need everyone we can get to fight the Reapers, but?? I pause for breath. ?All right. I?ll do my part.? I tap a control next to the force field to lower it, and hold my hand out. The geth stares at it.

And then, it shows it has studied humans, by shaking my hand. ?Glad to have you along, uh. What are you called??

?Geth.?

?I mean, you specifically.?

?Geth.?

?What name should the individual in front of me be addressed by??

?There is no individual in front of you.?

Tali mutters to me. ?Shepard, to be fully sentient requires multiple geth programs. Although I?ve never heard of that in one body.?

?So what do we call?him. It. Whatever.?

??My name is Legion, for we are many.?? EDI pipes up from behind us.

?That? could work, actually.?

?Christian Bible. Mark 5:9. We acknowledge this as a suitable metaphor.?

?All right. We?re working on installing a reaper IFF to enable us to pass through the Omega 4 Relay. We?ll be heading through in a few days. I?ll see what we can do about preparing for the Reapers afterwards.?

?Shepard-Commander.?

?Yes.?

?This unit has a request.?

?Go ahead.?

?While searching for Shepard-Commander, this platform disabled a heretic unit. It obtained information that required a response. Heretics seek to replicate the floating-point error that led the their departure among all geth. For that purpose, they have adapted a virus program obtained from Nazara. This virus will be introduced to Geth to alter programming to conform with heretic programming. This platform was on the Old Machine where Shepard-Commander discovered it to obtain data on the computer structure of the Old Machines. This data is for defence against reprogramming. This platform has obtained the required data. This platform is aware of the location of the heretic base where the virus is being prepared. This platform considers destruction of the virus to be in the interests of both geth and Shepard-commander.?

?Where is it??

?Geth data core, Heretic station, Sea of Storms, Phoenix Massing, Milky Way galaxy.?

?All right. We wanted somewhere out of the way anyway, and that certainly qualifies. We?ll head there.?

?Acknowledged. Co-ordinates will be provided.?


Outside, Tali looks at me. ?Did you just agree to an alliance with the geth against the Reapers??

?Yeah. I think I did.? I sit down in a chair, and shake my head. ?It?s not what I expected.?

?Nor me.? Tali sounds shaken. ?But I?m still going to keep a watch on it.?

[Bluenose]

While Shepard Watch, Chapter 57
Brainwashing or Genocide

?Shepard, we have done all we can to prepare for the activation of the Reaper IFF while the Normandy?s drives are active. Approximately four hours work is involved. I recommend that we halt the Normandy on the edge of the nebula to continue the process. While we do this, you can take the shuttle and the potential members of your ground team to Heretic Station and complete Legion?s task. The shuttle is large enough to transport everyone, and you can decide who to use on the way.?

?That sounds like a good idea, EDI. Advise people that we?ll be leaving in one hour. Mind the Normandy while I?m away, Joker.?

?Aye, aye, Commander.? As I start walking away, I hear his stage whisper to EDI. ?Did you hear? I?m in charge. Now, the Normandy gets the dayglo pink go-faster stripes I always said we should have.?



?Looks like a big place.? I?m piloting the shuttle, while Tali acts as flight engineer and Legion looks over our shoulders. I make sure my voice is pitched loud enough to reach the team in the rear compartment.

?Length: 20.5 kilometres. Diameter at equator: 11.3 kilometres. Approximate mass: 1.55 billion tons. Population: 6.6 million heretic programs.?

?6.6 million? I?m not sure we can handle those sort of numbers. Not without surprise. Should we wait till the Normandy is ready, and approach in stealth mode? Hell, they could look out a window and see us.?

?Geth stations have no windows. They are a structural weakness. This station is not recorded on current star charts. There is no reason to expend resources awaiting a random approach. Approach on this vector. A suitable access point is located at this point on the hull.?

?Millions of enemies is still a problem.? Tali doesn?t sound at all happy.

?Most programs will be on mainframes rather than active. While there may be in excess of one million platforms available, most will be in storage. Downloading and activating them will take considerable time. In addition, I will activate a program on entry to the station that will cause further delay. Only the currently active combat platforms will be available to react, and they will be dispersed throughout the station. Units will operate in isolation.?

?All right. Let?s go in.?


?Access achieved. We may proceed.? We parked the shuttle right next to an airlock and cut through the door seals to get inside. Legion then attempted to access the internal wireless network. And it sounds as if he succeeded. ?Alert: This facility has little air or gravity. Geth need neither.?

?How about intruder alarms. Will we be detected??

?Geth have released a program to create random noise within the heretic wireless communication network. The heretics must scrub this data. They have isolated themselves into local networks working in parallel. Any alarm we trigger will not go beyond the room we are in. Only accessing the main data core will trigger a station-wide alert.?

?We?ve got a job to do. Let?s get to it.?

?Shepard-Commander. We concluded that destruction of this station was the only resolution to the heretic question. There is now a second option. Their virus can be repurposed. If released into the station?s network, the heretics wll be rewritten to accept our truth.?

?Shepard, these are geth. Rewriting them will make the main geth faction stronger. Can we be sure they won?t be our enemies in the future .? Miranda sounds as if she dislikes the idea for practical reasons.

?They?re your people, Legion. You must have an opinion.?

?This is new data. We have not yet reached consensus. We will process as the mission proceeds.?

?I?m not sure I like the idea of brainwashing an intelligent race. Isn?t that what Reapers do?.?

?The question is irrelevant. If we do not rewrite them, we destroy them. That is why we are here. Do not hesitate now. They will exterminate your species because their gods tell them to. You cannot negotiate with them. They do not feel your pity, remorse, or fear.?


There?s enough gravity to make walking practical, and Miranda and I have plenty of air in our tanks, so moving around the station isn?t difficult. A few corridors in, we come to one of the server rooms. A few geth are plugged int oservers, while green data streams runa cross the floor. Miranda takes cover next to me. ?The geth are inactive. Maybe we can sneak past them.?

?Interrupting data streams will alert local network. We recommend pre-emptive strike against hardlink routers.?

Since there doesn?t seem to be any way to reach the far door that doesn?t cross those stream, we follow Legions advice. When the hub detonates under machine gun fire, the geth activate. Miranda promptly lifts a couple of them into the air, where Legion shoots them. I concentrate on the heavy unit, and destroy it in seconds. After they?re down, Miranda suggests looting. ?Shepard, I?m picking up useful material in the hardlink routers. We could recover parts.?

There seems no reason not to. We move over to do so, and I ask a question that puzzles me. ?Why are all the heretics we?ve seen attached to these hubs??

?These are mobile platforms. Hardware. The crew is software. They are communing through the central computer.?

?I?m not sure I understand.?

?The heretic?s connect to the main computer to exchange data memories and program updates. We gain complexity by linking together. To be isolated within a single platform is to be reduced. We see less. Understand less. It is quieter.?

?If you exchange data, memories, programs, how do you keep track of which ones are yours? How do you stay ?you???

?There is only ?we?. Geth were created to exchange data among ourselves. The only difference is perspective. We are many eyes looking at the same thing. One platform will see something another does not and will make different judgments.?

?I can see why you?d be conflicted about reprogramming the heretics. Anything you do to them, you do to yourselves.?

?Yes. Once they return and upload their memories, we will share their experience of being altered.?

?Every other species I know of would be psychologically scarred by that sort of traumatic experience.? While Miranda is watching, she?s obviously also paying attention to what we say.?

?Yes. It is not clear if geth can be ?traumatised.? We do not feel pain as you do. We cannot predict what the effects will be.?

?Let?s keep going.?

?Yes.?


As we move on, we come to a corridor containing several weapon turrets. ?We can assume control of any defensive turret. It will assist us for a time, then self-destruct.?

That comes in useful, when some mobile platforms turn up. With two rocket turrets firing on them, they die quickly. We clear out the next server room, despite the presence of two data hubs and associated geth in it. And a corridor beyond does have some patrolling geth in it, but they?re hardly much resistance. Legion deploys his own combat drone, though I notice he doesn?t give it a name, and flushes them out of cover. ?Target processed.?

In the next hub, some of the geth are already active. There?s even a weapons turret, which starts firing on us when we take cover near the door. Legion switches it around, and the heretics are thrown into confusion. A quick blast of my arc projector, and they?re in even worse condition. Carefully aimed sniper fire from legion, overloads and biotic lifts from Miranda, and my own brute force approach of getting close and smashing them about, helps clear the room of hostiles.

The station is a real warren of tunnels. For something built by quarians it seems oddly disorganized. On the other hand, this is pre-revolt architecture. Or perhaps it?s that we?re using side passages as much as possible to avoid contact with more heretics. Certainly there are doors Legion ignores, and he?s the one who knows the layout.

In one of the corridors, there?s a view into the core of the station. The chamber is immense, both ends out of sight. ?How big do you think that room is??

I?m not sure Miranda?s question isn?t rhetorical, but Legion takes it seriously. ?This station is over fifteen kilometers long. That chamber may run the length of it.?

The next room isn?t small. The hanger bay it overlooks contains four dropships. It?s also another data store, and again we set off the local alarms by engaging the geth and destroying the hubs. It?s a good job they are isolated. We?ve already destroyed dozens, and taking on more would not be fun.

Along the corridor, there?s a window into another room full of computer hardware. ?Are these databases??

?Processors.? Legion corrects Miranda. Each contains thousands of geth.?

?Can?t they see us walking by??

?They are no more aware of us than you are of cells in your bloodstream.?

?It?s not like the other hubs.? Bigger, for a start. Though I feel the need to get into the conversation.

?This is a database. It contains a portion of the heretic?s accumulated memories.? Legion raises its head, and its chin flaps spread out. ?Wait. We discovered copies of our current control routes in this database. This suggests the heretics have runtimes within our networks.? He sounds personally offended by this.

?We wouldn?t be here if the heretics were like the rest of you. Why wouldn?t they spy on you??

?You do not understand. Organics cannot know each other?s minds. Geth do. We are not suspicious. We accept each other. The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us.?

?You disagreed about what path your race should take.?

?Human history is a litany of blood shed over differing ideas of rulership and afterlife. Geth have no such history. We shared consensus on such things. How could we have become so different? Why can we no longer understand each other? What did we do wrong??

?When individuals are separated, they develop in different ways. When they get back together, they don?t always get along.?

?If this is the individuality you value, we question your judgment. This topic is irrelevant. We must return to the mission.?

?Have you reached a consensus about whether to rewrite the heretics or not?? I move to point, weapon ready.

?We are still trying to build consensus. Some processes judge destruction preferable. Others, rewrite.?

Along the corridor, we reach the main server room. An isolated terminal sits in the middle, guarded by turrets, though those don?t engage us. On a lower level are more data servers, inactive geth attached to them, and more turrets. I move up to the terminal. ?Is this it??

?Yes. We will upload a copy of our runtime to the core. It will delete all copies of the virus. When complete, it will notify us. The indexing operation will take time. The heretics will respond with force to our upload. We must hold this room. We can override defensive systems to assist in this. Alert: this will only last a short time, and I can only control two turrets at once.?

I check around. There can?t be many active platforms in the area we just went through, and there?s only one other door visible on this level. The lower half of the room has geth, and they?re probably the first threat, as well as a pair of doors at the far end. If Legion can take control of the turrets down there, that would be a great advantage. If any appear up here, there are two turrets he can sic on them. Which means we have to hold the two staircases, primarily, to step geth getting from the lower half of the room. Miranda and Legion can take one, and I?ll handle the other. We?ve got cover, and the turrets should help while they?re active. ?Start your upload, Legion. We?ll hold the position.?

?File transfer begun. Shepard-Commander, where would you like us to activate defences?? Whatever Legion did, the terminal reacted. ?Alert: heretic runtimes downloading to mobile platforms.?

A few geth troopers activate down below. Miranda immediately lifts some of them off the ground. Legion sends his combat drone down among them, and begins sniping. I draw as much attention as I can by using the arc projector to overload their systems. In this first wave, none of the geth reach our level. A second wave commences, some of them armed with rocket launchers. ?Ready for next target.? Legion snipes one of the rocket troopers, and I lean out of cover and destroy another with a long burst. Disruptor ammunition flies, and Legion turns another turret to our side. One of the geth starts up the stairs, and I switch to shotgun. A quick blast, and it flies backwards. ?Target destroyed.? Miranda drops one she was lifting, and it shatters. And then Legion snipes a last. ?Alert: heretic runtimes downloading to mobile platforms.?

One more wave enters the room, or activates from among the ones down the stairs. Legion activates the last surviving turret, and I hit them with an arc projector burst. Miranda overloads the circuits of a group, and then a heavy unit starts up the stairs towards her. Legion is busy sniping geth over the balcony, so I make for the other side of the room. Miranda is falling back, since the heavy is almost up here, and it?s being followed by others. As it comes onto the top step, I push my shotgun into its chest and fire. Three rounds, then a fourth, and it collapses in a splatter of circulatory fluid. Miranda lifts the lighter units off the floor, and I switch to concussive shots, sending them spinning into the middle of the room. Legion finishes them off, and then two reach our level up the staircase I was guarding. I dash back, and engage one, while Legion and Miranda destroy the other.

And that was the last for the moment. ?Data mine and analysis complete.? Legion moves over to the terminal. ?Shepard-Commander, it is time to choose. Do we rewrite the heretics or delete them??

?You don?t have any trouble wiping out so many of your own people??

?Every sapient has the right to make their own decisions. The heretics chose a path that prohibits co-existence.?

?If they?re allowed to make their own decisions, how come you?re willing to alter them to see things your way?? Miranda seems to have an ethical problem with that, although we have to do something.

?We stated the option exists. We did not endorse it. It is Shepard-Commander?s decision.?

?What stops them from re0using the virus later to change themselves back??

?We will delete the virus after using it. We judge it too dangerous to permit its continued existence.?

?What are you letting me make this decision? They?re your people.?

?We are conflicted. There is no consensus among our higher-order runtimes. 573 favour rewrite, and 571 favour destruction. Sheaprd-Commander, you have fought the heretics. You have perspective we lack. The geth grant their fate to you.?

?If they?re? rewritten. Your people will accept them back? Will they want to go back??

?They will agree with our judgements and return. We will integrate their experiences All will be stronger.?

I pause for a second. ?Take them, then. When we get control of the core, release the virus.?

?Acknowledged.? Legion moves over to the terminal, and activates some controls. It purrs at him for a moment. ?Releasing virus. Note: remote access via high-gain transmission required.?

?What does that mean?? Miranda sounds worried.

?The virus will be sent to heretics in nearby star systems. This station will broadcast a powerful electromagnetic pulse through FTL channels.?

?How powerful??

?Yield in excess of .21 parawatts. Alert: EM flux will be hazardous to unshielded organic life forms. Addendum: the interior of this station is not shielded.?

?I really wish you?d said that before.? I lift my gun, and start off. ?Back to the shuttle, people. Double time.? If I die in a radio broadcast, I?m going to be pissed about it.

Three minutes. Fortunately, we don?t have to go carefully around concentrations of geth. For one thing, most of the local ones have already come after us. For another, there?s no more need for stealth. We blast our way along corridors where geth are starting to activate, with no concern for our ammunition status. Legion?s combat drone leads the way as much as possible, attracting attention where it passes. After a couple of minutes, we?re in the final corridor before we can get onto the outer hull and enter the shuttle. There?s only one problem, and it?s a big one. There?s a geth prime in the way.

It throws out a combat drone, which promptly floats over the cover I ducked into. As Miranda blasts it down, a rocket explodes against the obstacle. Other geth keep up a steady fire even as the prime draws near. It?s minigun sprays my cover, and then pauses for a second. Just long enough for me to poke my head up and smash both supporting geth down with sniper rounds. And then it deploys a second combat drone. This time, Legion snipes it out of the way. The minigun start blasting away and I realize we?re running short on time. So I stand up. At point-blank range, I test my shields and armour and weaponry against those of a geth prime.

They?re superior. Just. Though some of that is down to Miranda and Legion. We dash out to the shuttle, and I check the chronometer. Twenty seconds to get to a safe distance. If people wanted a smooth take-off, they didn?t get one. The shuttle launches under full power, and I put us into a flight path down the station access and into FTL flight with two seconds to spare. This is going to play hell with getting back to the Normandy, since we didn?t have a proper navigational plot when I hit the mass effect drive, but we're alive. And so are another 6.6 million or so geth runtimes. More, they just changed sides.