'Well, my day could be going better.' Shepard mused to himself.

First the Normandy got blown up. And he died.

Then he was alive again. That was a good thing, only he discovered it was two years later and the hospital that brought him back to life was kind of...exploding.

Then he discovered the people who saved him were members of a known terrorist organization.

And then they told him Alliance citizens were going missing by the hundreds. That sucked.

And now that he was investigating said vanishings, a crazed quarian was siccing mechs on him.

At least he got to see that Tali was doing okay...even though she was, at the moment, being shot at by a YMIR autocannon.

He'd seen just how tough these things were on Noveria and Virmire.

So, yeah, his day could be going better.

And then he noticed the tell-tale trail of fire marking an object attempting re-entry. Only...it stopped about Thirty feet above their little 'arena', and gently floated down the rest of the way.

'Oh, what now.' Shepard mentally complained.

The 'object appeared to be another mech, painted black. Though it was like no mech Shepard had seen before. It was lanky rather than bulky, sort of like a Geth, though it was just as tall, if not taller than the YMIR. It's 'face' more closely resembled the face plate of the 'Blood Dragon' Armor of the Urban Combat Championship League than any known mech head.

Hey, even though he was an Alliance Commander didn't mean he couldn't catch a few games.

Wrist mounted gatling? Check. Two cannons mounted on the back? Check. Possible anti-tank weapon on the other wrist? Check. Two...metal tentacles...coming from the torso? Check.

What the hell was this thing?

The 'tentacles' snaked out towards the YMIR, who turned to face the newcomer. The newcomer showed no concern as the YMIR's autocannon spun up. The reason why was apparent, as the tentacles latched on, and electricity coursed through them.

The YMIR immediately stopped attacking, and...went into standby mode?

The new mech turned to look at him, and Shepard saw the last thing he expected to see.

A N7 painted on the pectoral of the mech.

"I am an officer of the Systems Alliance. Stand down and submit for questioning." The synthesized voice of the 'mech'.

"On what charges?" Shepard asked.

"Suspected kidnapping of Alliance citizens."

"Hey, we just got here. We're looking into the disappearances as well. Say, what's your rank, soldier?"

"Master Chief." the 'mech replied.

"I can make our cooperation an order, if you want, Chief. I am Commander She-"

"The dead are not a link in my chain of command, 'Commander'. Assuming that is who you actually are. That goes double when you're flying the flag of a known terrorist group. That is moot, however, as all I have asked for is cooperation."

"And you'll have it."

"And why is a Quarian strike team here, Miss Vas Normandy?" The Master Chief asked Tali.

"Vas Neema. And we're looking for one of our pilgrims. He's sick and scared, and he reprogrammed the mechs to defend himself."

"I see. Rest assured, my ship is in orbit and is equipped with a medical bay. We will ensure your pilgrim is taken care of."

"With all due respect, I would prefer it if he were to be treated on a Migrant Fleet ship." Tali argued.

"Illogical. If he was here the entire time, he is a material witness. Second, if he is sick, every second will count in getting him treated. The Migrant Fleet is quite a journey away, as I understand it. Rest assured, he will be escorted back once he is stable and has been interviewed. We are the Alliance, not Cerberus. You have no need to fear that your pilgrim will be held indefinitely, or that he will be placed under undue duress. We have certain things called 'laws' preventing that."

"That...might actually be for the best, Tali. The Alliance will have a lead on these attacks, and Veetor will get the treatment he needs quickly." Shepard put in his two cents.

"You have served on an Alliance vessel before, Vas Neema. You know how things are run on one."

"...Fine."

The mech opened the door to the shelter Veetor was staying in.

Veetor showed them footage of a race Shepard has never seen before, rounding up the humans who seemed incapable of moving, much less fighting back.

"Shuttle is en route. I will remain here to escort him. Less chance of the Cerberus agents 'disappearing' him. Unfortunately, they will most likely escape while I'm doing so." Master Chief said to Tali.

"I am only giving you this chance on the gamble you actually do have some of the Commander in you, doppelganger. Do not make me regret this. Oh, and watch your back around Lawson. Her 'friends' have an odd way of having explosives planted in their heads."

Miranda flinched as if struck.

"..Say, kind of off topic, but why did you call me Vas Normandy?" Tali asked.

"Simple. You gifted the acting Captain a the evidence against Saren. He accepted, and gave you a place on his ship in turn. That is a successful completion of the rite of the pilgrimage, as I understand it."

"The Fleet Admirals don't quite see it that way."

"Do you?"

"...I suppose a part of me does."

"Then that's what's important, Vas Normandy."

"...Are all human mechs so...odd?"

"Only the sexy ones."

Tali took a few slow steps away from him, watching him as if he were a rabid animal.

"...I'm kidding."

On the shuttle, Shepard turned to Miranda.

"...What was that about…"

"A good friend of mine was captured. He had...prosthetics installed. One of the 'accessories' installed in them made a backup copy of everything he saw and did. While it made debriefing and information retrieval infinitely easier and more reliable, as he could simply glance at a document or something and we'd have a copy of it, it also meant that anyone who captured him could simply rip the information out of his head, which would have been painful beyond belief. There were also...failsafes installed. I was his handler. I made the call to prevent our intel from falling into the wrong hands, and gave him a painless, if messy death rather than a long, painful one. It was the right call, of that I have no doubt, but...It was the hardest one I had to make. The math said do it. However, doing so meant I would never hear one of his stupid jokes again, or playful teasing, or gauche flirting. He...I miss him. He was my friend, and I killed him so Cerberus could stay safe. I actually considered quitting Cerberus after that, but then I was assigned to project Lazarus. And, considering he got captured helping you on Virmire...I felt as if by restoring you, I could make his death...worth it."

"I see. That's a tough call to make. But the question is, how did the Master Chief find out about it?"

Some time later, said Master Chief stood before a substantial server farm, looking at a cluster of five monitors.

"I have sent Laserbeak after the shuttle. He will soon report their base's location, and give us network access." He reported.

"Unnecessary. We already have someone on the inside." A voice from a monitor said.

"Reliable?"

"As reliable as we can make her." A second monitor replied.

"Trusted?"

"By them, or us? Us, yes. Them, not at all." the third stated.

"But we control the countermeasures against her." The Fourth monitor interjected.

"And she has confirmed: Lazarus has risen, and is real." The fifth informed.

"The Collectors are a concern, but let humanity's self-appointed guard dog hunt them."

"We must focus our efforts on preparing for the Revelation, as prophesized by the Shepherd John."

"...Do you guys practice being pretentious?" Master Chief inquired.

"...I thought I made it nice and ominous."

"You are such a buzzkill, Medulla."

AN: Master Chief is an actual rank, the highest a Non-commissioned officer can get, and just one or two ranks above Operations Chief, which is Ashley's rank in ME1, but under Lieutenant, meaning Kaiden could order him around if he wanted to.