(A/N): Hi, and welcome to Mass Effect 1, probably the main reason why most of you are reading this in the first place. I could never really decide whether or not this game was better or worse than its successors despite its flaws. Naturally, due to the fact Shepard now has a T-800 along, things are going to be different, but hey, this is fanfiction, I've been remaining mostly loyal to the canon for the sake of consistency and familiarity.
Chapter 1: Introductions
Back on the move against the Harvesters with Wrex, five kids, and myself. Given our current team composition, I'm not sure just how ironic this is, considering my own experience leading my own team. I'm not sure just how being on a team with significantly less experience and capability is going to help me stop those bastards, but if things fall just into place, I might make this work.
Jan 30, 2183
15 hrs/31 min/10 sec
Zakera Ward back alleys, Citadel Station
Despite all good intentions she had, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. She'd just torn like hell through the Citadel to find Tali, narrowly finding everyone who could help her, and she nearly just lost all her progress to the white and maroon tin can that just wouldn't seem to go away indefinitely. At least he was trying to make amends right off the bat and not show his more infamous brash behavior. "Yes, that's me. And I presume you are the famous Fredrick Müller, Butcher of Torfan?"
Fredrick suppressed any reaction to the name and said, "Among other names, yes I am. Now am I correct to presume that the memory file this woman carries is vital to your mission as well?"
"Yeah, the last bit of remaining dirt we might ever have against Saren. If we've heard correctly, it concerns the Geth's recent activities," the young Williams said.
Fredrick's heart stopped for a fraction of a second when he heard Saren's name drop. "Saren? What the hell does he have to do with the Geth?" Fredrick asked, keeping his shock hidden.
"He's knee deep in this," Vakarian Jr. explained. "He's been on his own for the last few years, off on his own agenda. I was doing a case on Specter Arterius when the incident of Eden Prime occurred."
"No, Saren. Not you too." Fredrick paused for a moment, contemplating his next course of action. "Get back to the Persistence, and inform Burke that I'll be following a lead. I'll send back a copy of the intel," he ordered his soldiers to leave. "Commander, I know this is a bit of a stretch, but I'd like to be along for your current mission. I've had some history with Saren that I'd like to take care of."
"What the hell could he want with Saren?" Linda thought. "I'm pretty sure I would've heard about any headbutting between Saren and Müller." After some thought, Linda said, "I'll take as much help as I can against Saren."
"Thank you, commander. I greatly appreciate this opportunity," Fredrick said with a nod. "What the hell happened, Saren? Where are you?"
As the group left the alleyway with Tali safely in tow, a few conversations sparked among the team. Ashley had asked Linda, "Are you sure letting an Aug onto the team is also necessary, commander? Don't get me wrong, I trust your judgment, but this guy is called the Wolf for a reason."
"You're not telling me anything new, chief. I just hope he has some useful beef with Saren," Linda said. She hoped it was something minor, but the brief pause Major Müller had given possibly shed some light on a deeper connection.
Fredrick, reunited with Wrex, was now conversing about his recent job. "So, and now you're tailing Shepard? What for?"
"I did a job for Saren temporarily, and I narrowly escaped being executed. I don't know what the hell was going on, but Saren wants something buried," Wrex explained.
16 hrs/02 min/12 sec
Alliance Embassy, Presidium, Citadel Station
He already didn't like the ambassador. The pompous, graying little man was as loud as he was obnoxious. Shepard, as she said to be called by, had just saved him months of political backwash and the little shit was still being ungrateful. Perhaps he was in reality a much more enjoyable individual, but he sure as hell wasn't doing any work to establish any good personality.
Tali had been on her pilgrimage when she and her crew found the detachment of Geth units and retrieved the audio files. Since then, Saren had been sending after her assassins and mercenaries to get back the information. He knew the Quarians were resourceful as hell, but he was honestly surprised she was still alive by the time the two groups found her. While most of the Geth memory had been fried when she fully retrieved the memory core, she still had a few files saved. "Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged most of its audio banks," Tali said, taping her omnitool.
Without mistake, Fredrick could recognize Saren's voice as Tali played the clip. "The images from that beacon still doesn't make sense," his voice hissed.
"Perhaps I should have another look? I only keep getting bits and pieces, and I can't get a good understanding if I'm not attached for long enough," a feminine voice called. Wait, he heard that voice before. Could it be… Benezia?
"No no no! That hasn't been helping! I've been cycling through the memories, but I can't find anything of use. Have a patrol sent back out to that ship, downed ship, perhaps there's still something about the conduit there, maybe check some of the other possible assets I've listed for retrieval," Saren ordered.
"You do realize the Reapers' patience isn't infinite?" Benezia groaned.
"I know, but at least the visit to Eden Prime slowed them down. Even if it doesn't prove helpful to us, it doesn't prove helpful to them," Saren stated as the audio finally cut out.
"That's Saren alright," Captain Anderson said from the side.
"I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about the Reapers," Udina said.
Fredrick spoke up, saying, "Her name is Benezia T'soni, an Asari Matriarch. I had met her briefly, and I don't know why she would be assisting Saren in this endeavor."
"What the hell do they mean by 'Reapers'?" Ashley asked.
"According to the memory core, the Reapers were an incredibly advanced race of synthetics that existed fifty thousand years ago. They are rumored to have forced the Protheans' extinction before completely vanishing, and the Geth worship them as gods," Tali explained.
"Sounds a bit far-fetched," Udina commented.
"Sounds just about right. The Terran Republic has been going toe-to-toe with the Harvester for quite a bit. I don't know why Saren is calling them Reapers instead of the term I gave him, but perhaps it means something more significant. The Harvesters as we call them are, just as explained, an ancient race of synthetics that have been clearing out space-faring civilization after space-faring civilization for eons. They made and own the Citadel Station and the Relay System, and use it to their fullest advantage during the end of each 'cycle.' As for why they endlessly consume, we don't know. We've been trying to dig up as much as we can on them, but the bastards are very thorough when it comes to cleaning up clues. Additionally, any structures they create are capable of brainwashing those who are greatly exposed, slowly converting them into puppets for their own use, so for all I know, Saren's acting outside of his own will right now," Fredrick explained.
"The Vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now. It's a warning. The Reapers burned them down, and they tried to get word to us so we can stop them," Linda said, acknowledging the information she'd gotten from the beacon.
"Oh, the council is just going to love this," Udina continued to complain.
"What connection did you have to Saren?" Linda asked.
"This is classified, but I may as well get this out into the open if we are going to follow through getting Saren stripped of his Specter status. Almost thirty cycles ago, I was assigned to personally train him by the council. He stood out as an exceptional recruit, the council wanted reestablished connection with us, and they wanted a super soldier amongst their agents' ranks, so everyone was happy," Fredrick answered.
"That explains why he was such a pain in the ass on Eden Prime. We had a small firefight with him just after he killed Nihlus," Ashley grimaced. With the notification of Saren killing his own protégé, he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with this conversation.
"Then perhaps you could identify the ship Saren arrived in on Eden Prime? Is it a Reaper ship?" Linda asked as she walked up taping her omnitool. The orange, ghostly image of a Harvester showed up, causing Fredrick's still hidden face to lose all color. All he could feel was dread, knowing that Saren had been consumed by his mortal enemy.
After taking a few pauses, he answered, "That's no Reaper ship, that's a full blown Reaper and it's on the move. If Saren has been spending time on that ship, then he is most certainly infected by now."
"Any idea what the Conduit is?" Anderson asked.
"Hell if I know, last time I had to deal with a Harvester-caused incident, it took place on the Citadel. For all I know, whatever needs to happen to let them back into the Galaxy is on this station, so perhaps it's some system master-switch to let him in." Fredrick bit back mentioning the incident of 2069, and was dreading the inevitable, similar encounter he'd have with Saren.
"If you had known earlier about the Reapers, why not bring that up with the council?" Wrex asked.
"We did, and that didn't go nearly as well as we expected. They didn't believe it, and the case got buried. We wanted to bring it up with the Systems Alliance after reestablishing connection, but we were and still are on tenuous terms, and talking about gloom and doom won't mend old wounds," Fredrick stated.
"We have to tell this to the council. Even if they don't believe us, they have to listen and know that Saren is a traitor!" Anderson exclaimed. Fredrick could understand any rage Anderson still carried for Saren, as the later did cripple the former's Specter candidacy.
"I'll try to get another hearing with the council," Udina said flat as ever.
"What about her? The Quarian?" Wrex asked.
"My name is Tali!" Tali screeched, obviously taken aback.
"She's useful. She may just be a kid, but she's clearly capable of defending herself," Shepard defended. "Even then, she's a witness, and we'll need everything we can get if Fredrick's any proof of the council's stubbornness."
"Good, now let's get going," Shepard ordered the group.
As everyone poured out to head to the Citadel elevator, Fredrick caught the younger Vakarian's attention and asked, "Excuse me Officer Vakarian, I never got your name. I know of a Julianos Vakarian, are you possibly related to him?"
"Please, name's Garrus, and Julianos is my father. I'd prefer if you just referred to me by my first name," Garrus explained as he walked out. "My father told me about you from his calls from work, claimed you were a troublemaker."
"If it's anything I know about your father is that he's hell-bent on zealously following the rules," Fredrick responded with a roll of his eyes as the two followed behind everyone else out of the embassy.
"Spirits, how I wish that weren't true."
17 hrs/05 min/45 sec
Citadel Tower, Citadel Station
What mattered was action was being taken. Even if the council doubted every word about the Harvesters, and the horrendous five minutes were spent resisting the urge to go to a corner and snipe Councilor Tevos, it was a job well done. Saren had unfortunately been deemed a traitor and Linda Shepard had been given the title of the first Human Specter to go pursue Saren and stop whatever he was hoping to achieve. It only hurt him more to see Saren's now synthesized body, trapped alone in his mind and unaware of what he is doing.
After accomplishing a small list of random tasks for strangers and doing some minor shopping, the crew had returned to the boarding dock of the SR-1 Normandy. Anderson had just yielded command of the Normandy to Shepard for means of transportation to pursue Saren. The prototype stealth ship was small, but had a lot of equipment packed into such a tight space. After giving her a brief overview of the leads to follow, Anderson approached Fredrick saying, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Fredrick asked with confusion. "Sorry about what?"
"Saren. I hadn't realized you had a connection. I can understand how this mission may have some greater weight to you," Anderson continued.
Straightening up, he replied, "No, it's alright, you helped me to better understand the mistake I've made. I probably should've been easier on him as a kid, would've saved us the trouble now. I've had to do something similar to the task at hand before; putting him down shouldn't be too problematic. Besides, I believe what said when I claimed that bringing up the Harvesters would've only complicated relations between the Republic and Alliance."
"I'm fine with that. And are you referring to when you say that you've done this before?" Anderson responded cautiously.
Alice's face briefly flashed before him as he blinked. "That's a story for another day. It's in the past now, and represents a different era."
"I see. Good luck out there, and keep Shepard safe for me. We all depend on her," Anderson said, waving to Fredrick as he walked up the boarding gate.
Jan 31, 2183
07 hrs/24 min/11 sec
SSV Normandy SR-1, en route to the Artemus Tau cluster
As the Normandy to retrieve Liara T'soni, Benezia's daughter and one of Saren's targets, Fredrick walked around the halls, becoming accustomed to the crew and taking not of any medical needs that were required as part of his medical routine. He strode up the bridge, walking towards the front of the ship and to the pilot. His gaze swept back and forth between the rows of crewmembers until he reached the cockpit. After taking a good medical scan of Lieutenant Moreau, he asked, "I presume everything is alright up here?"
"Gah! Jesus you're quiet for your size, and here I was thinking that now that Nihlus was dead that I could stop having to glance over my shoulder every now and then," the flight lieutenant said with a start.
"Have some respect for the dead. Anyways, as the new medical officer aboard this ship, I'm going over medial scans and taking into account the needs of the crew. From just standing here, I can tell you have Osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease," Fredrick said.
The pilot looked back with confusion. "Wait, you can do that?"
"Of course! I have advanced ocular enhancements that allow me to see biometrics, bodily functions, and exrays, as well as the increased visible spectrum, the ability to see through walls, increased visual range, and resistance to harm," he explained.
"Oh. So, you deal with cases like mine before?" Jeff asked.
"Nah, you're a first. Due to the use of nanites, we've effectively rid ourselves of genetic diseases and malformations. We can rearrange genetics in utero and up to about seventeen years of age," Fredrick continued.
"So, it would be possible to treat my condition then?" the lieutenant asked curiously.
"Unfortunately not, Mr. Moreau. Given that you've aged beyond the given threshold, it's too late to treat you of your fragile condition. However, we can alter your body so that any progenitors you do have will never suffer the same condition," Fredrick stated, popping the pilot's hope.
"Shit," he said shaking a light fist. "Name's Jeff 'Joker' Moreau by the way, but so no need to refer to the surname, and most call me Joker."
"Major Fredrick Müller. I've read your record and I must say I'm very impressed, much like an old friend of mine. Anyways, nice becoming accustomed to you, but I've got other issues to attend to. I'll catch you later, Joker" Fredrick saluted.
"See you around, Freddy," Joker said with a friendly wave.
Fredrick stopped for a moment and turned around, saying, "Call me anything but Freddy, please."
"Uh- yeah, sorry!" Joker stuttered as Fredrick walked off.
Moving onto the second deck, he swept around, attending a few questions before moving onto a young, Canadian kid with black, wavy hair. "Excuse me, I don't believe we've met yet, what's your name?" he asked as he pulled up his omnitool.
Wiping the sweat off his brow and slowly turning to meet him, the man said, "I'm Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, you?" Kaidan held out a hand for Fredrick to shake.
Shaking his hand, Fredrick said, "Major Fredrick Müller. Say, I didn't think the Alliance still used L2 implants, I thought they were dangerous."
Scratching the back of his head, Alenko answered, "Yeah, well the old L2s still have their advantages despite the migraines. So I heard you had history with Saren. May I ask what?"
"Mentor for his Specter status, probably the main reason why he's as fucked as he is, excluding his possible infection. So, will I need to be administering anything in the field for possible migraines?" he asked back.
"Just painkillers. Any plans for when you meet back up with Saren?" he asked.
Fredrick looked down and shook his head. "Depends on the extent of his condition. If he is beyond the threshold of no return, there is no way I can treat him. He will have to die."
With a light shrug, Kaidan said, "Well, that's that. See you around, doc."
"Likewise, Kaidan," Fredrick saluted back. Funny how he be referred to as "doctor." He always thought of himself as more a distributor of death than life.
Arriving at the third level in the exasperatingly slow elevator, he proceeded to make his way to the eezo core and check with the crew there. As he entered, he met up with Tali, and asked, "How are you holding up so far, Tali?"
The young girl was practically on her toes with excitement. "This ship is amazing! I can't believe how smooth and quietly it is!" she exclaimed over the hissing of the engine.
"Indeed. I presume the commander was smart enough to take care of food requirements. Excluding normal medical requirements for Quarians, is there anything else I need to be careful of?" he asked.
Tali sighed with annoyance before saying, "Just because I'm a Quarian on my pilgrimage doesn't mean that I'm vulnerable, I'll be fine. I'm pretty sure Dr. Chakwas can deal with any issues I have."
"And as a field medic myself, it is my duty to take into consideration the needs and specifications of those I fight along side, so I do apologize if my questions seem intrusive," Fredrick argued back. "Anyways, you wouldn't happen to be related to an Admiral Luf'Zorah?"
"He was my grandfather, and he was a former admiral of the Rayya before my father Rael'Zorah took over in his stead. You know him?" Tali answered with surprise.
"Only on a couple of occasions. He's a nice, if not a bit timid, man, and you're lucky to have such a man as your grandfather," Fredrick commented.
"Thanks, but he died the same time my mother did when a plague swept through the Flotilla," she said somberly.
"Shame, Luf deserved better," he said with a sigh. "Anyways, you're health condition looks good. I'll be on my way then. Have a nice day, Tali." He made his way, and just gave a light scan over Wrex.
"Müller," Wrex nodded.
"Wrex," he nodded in return as he walked over to Ashley's post. He walked up behind her as she was meticulously cleaning out various weapons. "Excuse me Gunnery Chief Williams, I see that you've been recently posted on the Normandy. Is that correct?" he asked.
Looking away from her work briefly, she asked, "Yeah, I got reposted after the attack on Eden Prime aboard this ship. I've mostly been serving on colonies up until this point. What's it matter to you, major?"
"Becoming accustomed to the crew, you mentioned you'd encountered Saren down there. What was he like?" he asked further.
"Besides looking cut up as hell, smeared with dirt and blood, and having what looked like a Geth arm? Barking orders at the various Geth units to start cleaning up the place. He had several nuclear devices planted on the colony to remove any evidence he was there," she answered. "I'd hate to say it, but you did a very good job training that animal."
"That's what I'd like to think. Do you have anything you need?" he continued.
She ignored him, only giving enough attention span to say, "Look, I shouldn't be wasting time when there's work to do, especially when the commander's around."
Turning away from Ashley's workplace, he saw Linda get off the elevator and approach Garrus, probably to evaluate the Mako before dropping on Therum. He walked over to their side of the deck and waited patiently as he looked over a datapad. He took note of the friendly banter between the two of them while he finished up taking notes on the individual medical needs of the crew. When Shepard finally finished up with Garrus, she approached Fredrick.
"Taking full account of the medical needs of the crew. You did bring along Dextro-based rations, correct?" he asked.
"Yeah, I did. Anything you need?" she asked.
"I had ordered a spare supply cabinet of equipment for specialized needs of Terran soldiers and stored it aboard the cargo. I'll try to keep my equipment separated from that of the non-synth crew," he answered.
"Alright, so tell me about yourself," Linda proceeded to ask.
He didn't know why, but questions asking to reveal a piece of his inner workings scared him, and he always avoided these sorts of questions. "I'm pretty sure the same information is readily available somewhere, why not check there?" he returned.
Shifting her weight and giving a suspicious glance, she continued, "Okay, perhaps something a little more off the records and specific. I know this has been asked repeatedly at this point, but I'll get straight to the point. I know you were once Saren Arterius' mentor. How'd that come to be?"
Fredrick nodded. She was trying to ease any tension and earn trust, fair enough. "Well, we haven't exactly been on the best terms with everyone else. We try, but walking around as part synth is hard in the face of the Quarians' creation of the Geth. The council recognized that our partnership was still important, and wanted to up the ante when it came to their Specters. They felt they could kill two birds with one stone by having me train Saren, or at least the kid he was at the time."
She gave a curious raise of an eyebrow. "So, you're saying he wasn't a murderous asshole once upon a time."
"Not at all, he was young, naïve, and patriotic like Garrus over there. Didn't expect the hell I'd drag him through to teach him how to play supersoldier," Fredrick continued.
"So, how did you get to become involved with the Reapers? Maybe you could provide better insight?" she prodded further.
Damn, she was incredibly curious. "A Harvester by the name of Nazara tried to make a rush for the Citadel using some of our own people. We didn't have the needed proof to provide something was up with them and we caught a lot of flak for it. Years later after trying to find who they were, Nazara approached us with proposition to be uplifted in return for essentially doing its bidding. I turned down the offer."
"Well, if Wrex is any indication, sounds like you've had a hell of a record," she admired.
Fredrick chuckled before explaining, "So you'd think. If anything, I'm just like any other actively travelling soldier across the galaxy, a glorified errand boy. I'll admit, my methods are extreme, but justified in the long term."
"And what about Torfan? I'm pretty sure not everyone had to die there, especially the civilians."
Okay, now he no longer had any understanding of Linda. When he'd first read her record, she'd spent most of her childhood running with a gang known as the Tenth Street Reds. Given that background, he'd expected her to be much more aggressive. "When you're given little to no idea what to accomplish and a large number of soldiers who have barely any field experience, you'd understand."
"So why do you constantly switch languages? I've noticed you don't really consistently stick to one tongue or another," she said with a confused look.
"Our neural network allows us to share knowledge and memories. We can understand other languages without having to learn them ourselves, and it reaches the point where some do have minor issues distinguishing one language from another, causing the habit for those who are bilingual to freely use two languages interchangeably," he explained with a light chuckle.
She nodded and said, "I see. I won't take any more of your time, major."
"If you so wish to avoid formalities, Shepard, you can do likewise. When do we reach the Knossos System?" he asked as he began to walk towards the elevator.
"A few more hours, so be ready."
(P.S.): No doubt the other party characters had this sort of conversation amongst themselves at some point during the early stages of the game, so I'd thought I do so from Fredrick's side. Additionally, I wanted to get the intro conversation between Fredrick and Shepard out of the way for the most part.