Shepard's mind was racing, he'd woken up on a table with explosions resounding all around him. An unknown voice was shouting at him to run and fight his way to her, the voice later turned out to be Miranda Lawson. On his fight through the station he'd run into her XO Jacob Taylor, he seemed like a good man but it really was too early to make a good judgment on either of them. Especially after the revelation they both worked for the terrorist group Cerberus.

Cerberus, a name that had become infamous to him over his time on the Normandy. First with the discovery of their experiments on husks and Rachni, then the death of Admiral Kahoku. But then there was Feral, the super soldier who had lived through hell to become what he was. The stories he'd told of his imprisonment at the hand of the group were still fresh in his mind. That was why he was keeping quiet in the shuttle as it flew them to the Minuteman Station, staring out of the window into space as he tried to ignore the two.

After fighting through the Lazarus station with Jacob he had the feeling the man could be trusted, he had come clean about his identity, but Shepard felt he was slightly misguided. Miranda however, he felt like he couldn't trust her. She was ruthless, driven and dangerous. She'd killed Wilson without a seconds thought, he may have deserved it considering his actions had killed a lot of people but Shepard fully believed that death was a last resort. No, right now Miranda couldn't be trusted.

That made it slightly ironic that it was her voice that pulled him out of his trance "Commander, before you meet with the Illusive Man. We need to ask you a few questions to evaluate your condition" her voice was clinical and straight to the point.

Shepard sighed and rolled his eyes and before he could even answer Jacob talked for him, pretty much summing up exactly how he felt. "Oh come on Miranda, Shepard took down those mechs like they were nothing. That's more than a good enough to pass your test" Shepard inwardly smiled at that, points to Jacob for not wanting to put up with Miranda's crap.

However the woman just carried on "It's been two years since the Normandy attack Jacob! The Illusive Man needs to know Shepard's personality and memories are intact, not just his ability to kill things" she huffed out.

Shepard's eyes bolted open at her first sentence "Wait…did you just say 2 years?" he shook his head slightly "No I…..can't….there's no way I've been gone for two years…" to him it had felt like moments. Being spaced with the Normandy exploding around him and then he woke up, he just figured he'd been knocked unconscious by his suit depressurising only to be rescued a few days later. Jacob said he had looked bad when he came in but still, 2 years was a lot to take in.

Jacob looked at the Shepard and quietly said "2 years and 12 days Commander, you spent most of it on an operating table. I know it must be difficult and I'm sorry I didn't take the time to tell you earlier but we were surrounded by mechs trying to kill us"

Shepard nodded and sighed, he couldn't dwell on this now. He'd been gone for 2 years and now he was back…he'd deal with the repercussions of his absence later. "It's ok…I'll get over it"

Miranda again butted in, no kindness in her voice. Clearly she was a woman who only wanted results and got them however she could "The sooner we start, the sooner we can be done. Start with his personal history"

Jacob groaned "Fine" he lifted up his arm and his omni-tool lit up "Records show that you were a spacer kid and joined the Alliance when you were 16. You were praised as a war hero after defending Elysium, do you remember that?"

Screaming, fires, death and destruction flashed through Shepard's mind, he could still see the faces of dead civilians lining the streets. "It was brutal; the Batarians just kept on coming. I did what I had to until reinforcements arrived. I lost a lot of good friends that day but somehow I survived….I never feel deserving of that 'hero' title"

"Whether you deserved it or not your actions saved thousands of lives that day. Hero or not it showed what Alliance soldiers could do." Jacob smiled as he remembered reading the reports, as a soldier he knew what it was like to lose friends but Shepard had shown the strength to fight on against impossible odds. "Satisfied Miranda?" he raised an eyebrow at his boss.

"Almost, let's try something more recent" her voice was still as cold and clinical as it had been. "When you were on Virmire you had to leave a squad member behind, Ashley Williams was killed in the blast that destroyed the facility. It was your call, why did you leave her behind?"

"Then don't send the unit Shepard, just send me" Feral's voice resounded in his mind. The sight of the Salarian STG members dashing for the Normandy had given everyone hope, but then he came around the corner alone. The feeling of loss was one he'd never forget. "I didn't have a choice. The bomb had come under attack and we had to make sure it went off. I sent one of my squad members to try and rescue Ashley but she under too much enemy fire, he couldn't reach her in time" he sighed as he sat back in his seat. "She died a hero"

"I understand Commander and I wasn't judging what you did. Everybody at Cerberus knows that facility had to be destroyed" he turned to Miranda "Are we done? His memory is clearly intact and I can vouch for his combat skills myself"

Miranda sighed and rolled her eyes "I suppose you're right, I can only hope the Illusive Man accepts our little field test as enough" sitting back and crossing her legs

Shepard smirked "What's wrong Miranda? Afraid you'll piss off the man who writes your pay checks?" laughing slightly as she just glared at him, oh how he wished she had given him a rebuttal. Feral's influence clearly still had a hold on him. Good, it only proved to himself that he was still the man he was.

As the shuttle returned to silence he let his mind drift. It had been 2 years, he wondered how his team had taken the news of his 'death'. He wondered where they all were and how they were doing. If Feral was still with Tali on the Migrant Fleet, if Garrus was still with C-sec…if Liara would ever forgive him for being gone for so long. He sighed to himself, how was he going to explain this? How would anyone that couldn't smell a lie believe this story? The up and coming bridge was going to be rockier than he'd expected, especially now that he was affiliated with Cerberus.

Eventually the shuttle reached the Minuteman station, an impressive enough looking base with some sort of solar light show behind it. Shepard barely had any time to admire the view as the shuttle flew straight into the hanger, the commander was then practically pushed down the hallway before walking down a set of stairs into a small room. The only obvious thing was a blue ring on the floor and he stepped into it slowly. The machine began to hum and an orange light passed over his armour, looking around as he tried to any reason for this until a hologram of a man in a chair appeared before him.

The man exhaled slightly after taking a puff on his cigarette "Commander Shepard" his fingers rubbing along his brow slightly.

Shepard instantly guessed who it must have been, only a leader could enjoy so much theatrics. "Illusive Man….I thought we'd be meeting face to face" he crossed his arms and took an aggressive stance; he never enjoyed being given the run around especially by the leader of a group who had tortured his friend. At the moment he had no choice but to co-operate…and listen.

Apparently cutting to the chase ran in the Cerberus family, it had been minutes and the Illusive Man had told Shepard everything. Why they needed him, human colonies were being attacked and thousands of humans were now missing. The Reapers were behind it, they were targeting humanity and Cerberus suspected a third party was working for them exactly like Saren had worked for Sovereign.

"We're at war, no one wants to admit but humanity is under attack." He finally ended his speech.

"With the money you spent to bring me back you could have trained an army" Shepard scoffed; he needed to know the real reason to bring him back. He was good but if most people had to choose between an army and one man, they'd choose the army.

"True but….you're unique" the Illusive Man was staying cool, he was every bit the charismatic man that Miranda had described. "Not just in your ability, but for what you represent. You stood up for humanity in a key moment, you're not just a soldier you're a symbol. Plus you killed a Reaper, you stopped the invasion." He smiled slightly at that, a barely noticeable curve at the end of his lips "I don't know if they can understand fear but they have to respect that"

Shepard sighed and rubbed his forehead, he couldn't believe he was about to utter these words "If everything you've told me is true….and the Reapers are harvesting human colonies….I might consider helping you" he growled out the last few words, he was so glad Feral wasn't here to hear that.

The Illusive Man turned around and walked back to his chair "Oh Commander I'd be disappointed if you took this on just my word. I have a shuttle to take you to Freedom's Progress." He sat down and took a drag on his cigarette before tapping it into the ash tray "It's the latest colony to go dark. Miranda and Jacob will brief you more on route."

Shepard tilted his head and raised an eyebrow "I sound like I'm being volunteered…do I even have a choice in this? As for Miranda and Jacob do you really expect me to trust them? Miranda murdered Wilson and Jacob is a gun-for-hire." The idea he would go along with these people without even being asked was irritating.

As calm as ever the Illusive Man simply replied "Wilson was a traitor and Miranda did exactly what I expected of her. She has also saved your life in more ways than one. Jacob is a good soldier and he's never fully trusted me. You'll be fine with them for now." Taking another drag on his cigarette before waving it around at him "You always have a choice Shepard. If you don't find the evidence we're both looking for then we can part ways. But first, go to Freedom's Progress. See for yourself and try to find any evidence at all" and with that he ended the call, the orange glow around Shepard dropping back down to the blue ring at his feet.

Shepard sighed before groaning, he couldn't believe he was even considering this. Right now he didn't have a choice but the fact he was considering staying on after Freedom's Progress was killing him. No he had to objective; if humans were being harvested and the Alliance was doing nothing….he couldn't turn his back on all of those people. He was working with Cerberus, not for them. Never for them.

Turning around and walking back up the stairs where Jacob and Miranda were waiting for him. "Come on Commander, we have a colony to visit" the woman spoke. She had better start showing some emotions or this relationship wasn't going to end well. At least she was going to follow his orders, bossing around the cold-hearted ice queen would help make him feel better at least, especially since he guessed she'd like nothing he'd decide.

"Commander….are you ok?" Jacob looked confused "You're smiling and…I've never seen anyone smile after talking to the Illusive Man"

Shepard laughed "No I'm…thinking happy thoughts" he smiled playfully, grinning exactly like the red eyed super soldier had one so many occasions. He was finally starting to appreciate why Feral had always taken such a stance; maybe dying had opened that part of his brain up.

- In orbit of Freedom's Progress, 5 minutes to landing –

"Miranda, if I'm going to command you your attitude needs to improve. The cold, clinical act isn't helping anybody" Shepard just laid it flat on the table, trying to challenge her attitude like Feral just wasn't working. He didn't care about working with people, Shepard did.

Miranda just kept her cool, glaring slightly at the commander "I have the utmost respect of your abilities Shepard, it's just your motivations concern me. Only time will tell if you will be a liability to Cerberus' cause or an asset."

Shepard muttered under his breath "Sounds like you've already made up your mind on that one" rolling his eyes before Miranda continued.

"Don't worry Commander, the Illusive Man made it clear that you are in charge and I will follow his orders. You'll have no issues with me following your lead" at least that sounded like the truth to Shepard.

"Good" Shepard stood up and placed himself next to the door "We'll be landing in a minute and I don't need you second guessing me…..how about you Jacob?" raising an eye at the quiet man sitting on the bench in the Kodiak.

Jacob looked up from his weapon before answering happily "I'm good commander, I was a soldier and I know how it goes. Tell me to jump and I'll ask how high, ask me to kiss a turian however…..well….make sure it's a woman and then I'll ask which cheek" he laughed slightly and Shepard joined in as the colony came into view.

"Ok then, let's go find some evidence" Shepard raised his assault rifle and pushed in a new thermal clip, a feature that he was still getting used to. The Kodiak touching down in a small clearing and the hatch bursting open, he had to admit he missed the Mako but at least this was a little smoother. Jumping out and rushing up to the first door ahead of them. Jacob was clearly a soldier while Miranda seemed more like a spy, she could obviously follow tactics though.

They quickly moved through the first room, it was eerie. Plates at the table, food on the plates and all the places set. It was exactly like the tale from centuries ago, the Mary Celeste. Where everybody just disappeared, they left everything in place and just vanished. How many colonies had been found like this? Working with Cerberus or not, he had to stop this.

The small team moved through the room and into the next clearing, there was a large door up ahead of them. Shepard had to admit that leading a squad again felt good, even if he didn't fully trust the people holding weapons behind him. He still held onto hope that after this he'd be able to recruit some of the squad members he had before his death. Kaidan, Garrus, Feral, Tali and Liara. He knew Wrex was a no go but the rest he hoped would join him again especially Liara.

He felt like he'd been gone for a few days, but to Liara it had been two years. How would she react to him being alive? Would she still feel the same way?...

It didn't matter right now, he shook the thoughts out of his mind. He needed to focus on the task at hand. The blast door was opening up and he needed to be ready, they had no idea what to expect if anything was still present. It may have surprised Miranda and Jacob but after chasing Saren nothing was going to surprise him.

Shots zipped past their heads as they ducked for cover, as he dived down he got a glimpse of what was shooting at him. Groaning to himself as he sat behind a rock "More mechs? Seriously?" sighing as he sat up and put rounds straight into their heads. They weren't really a threat, just an annoyance. No fear meant no taking cover and that meant they were easy pickings. The dogs were slightly more annoying but Miranda and Jacob were both biotics and throws and warps kept them at bay.

The team moved easily through the buildings clearing the mechs as they popped up, some of the mechs barely even had time to deploy before a burst of fire ruptured through their joints and shut them down permanently. Moving up to the next door Shepard moved up and as he pressed closer to the wall he could swear he could hear talking. Bringing a finger to his mouth to keep the other two quiet he waved his hand closer to the door.

"Hear that?" he whispered, as loudly as he could without alerting the voices within.

Jacob and Miranda just nodded before standing up slowly along with Shepard. "Listen" he kept whispering "whoever they are, don't shoot unless they give you no choice. And. I mean no choice. I'd rather avoid a fire fight with anyone who can tell us what happened here" again the pair just nodded.

Lining up in front of the door, one hand on his pistol grip he leant forward and hit the door switch. The door flying open and the 3 man squad entering into the room tactically, covering every angle of the room before aiming their weapons at the voices they had heard.

The group jumped up as fast as they could, Shepard instantly noted the sloppy way some of them held their rifles. But that was quickly overshadowed by the small fact that they were all Quarians. Looking over to Jacob who just shrugged, if they could avoid killing each other it would be one of the first questions he'd ask.

The Quarian at the head of the group shouted at the three humans "Stop right there!" despite the two holding their weapons at their hips his grip on his rifle was perfect. A marine but just by the tone of his voice you could hear how trigger happy he was. Shepard kept a light squeeze on his trigger, this could go either way and he'd be ready for both of them. However the voice that followed took him slightly off guard.

"Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this" the woman's voice emanated from the rear as she shoved her way through grabbing Prazza's rifle and pointing it down at the floor. It couldn't be, of all the Quarians in the universe to be here leading this team it couldn't possibly be her. She then looked up and her head tilted to one side before her voice slowly continued "Shepard?..." her raised hand slowly dropping slightly before Prazza pulled her back into reality.

"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives!" he tried to raise his rifle again but she pushed it back down towards the floor.

"Put those weapons down. Now!" she ordered the men, Shepard smiled slightly at that. It had been two years, her suit was different. Adorned with a circular golden necklace and purple head dress. Her voice had matured but it was definitely her.

He looked back up at her as she spoke slowly "Shepard….is…is that you?...you're alive?" her voice was cracking slightly, he wasn't surprised by that but he figured she'd need more than just a yes after 2 years.

"Remember that last Geth outpost? What happened between Feral and the Hunter? Did the data Feral gave you help you complete your pilgrimage?" he smiled gently but noted that she looked down slightly at the mention of Feral. However she quickly looked back up again and nodded.

"How could I forget?" she sighed "Yes it did help, more than you know" She turned back to the rest of the Quarians "Prazza weapons down, this is definitely Shepard. He was the only one who knew about my copy of the data other than Feral"

Prazza put his rifle back on his back and the rest of the Quarians followed suit. "Ok but…why is your old Commander working for Cerberus? I never liked Feral but he told stories about what they did to him" his eyes were slightly closed, he was glaring towards the group and his fingers were slightly twitching "Plus there's the Idenna…"

Tali was looking at the floor, Shepard couldn't tell what she was thinking but he doubted it was good. This was exactly what he had feared by even being associated with Cerberus. "I don't know" she finally spoke "Maybe we should ask" she looked up towards him, ignoring the two humans on his flanks before one of her eyebrows raised behind her visor.

"I know how this looks but please hear me out" he raised his hands slightly before continuing "I died Tali. 2 years ago when the Normandy exploded I died. Cerberus has spent countless billions and 2 years completely rebuilding me from scratch. I'm not working for Cerberus" he could see Miranda in his periphery going to argue but he put a hand up in front of her face "Cerberus has asked me to investigate this colony. Humans are being kidnapped in the thousands and no one is doing anything. They want me to find out anything I can. I'm not working for Cerberus but I might consider helping them if there really is a threat to humanity."

Tali was just quiet, listening to every single word and she hated herself for believing in what Shepard was saying. It was so farfetched but then again, Cerberus had created Feral. Prazza opened up before she could even have a chance to "Hah! No one would spend that much time and money on one soldier" he crossed his arms, clearly believing none of Shepard's tale.

"You haven't seen Shepard in combat, trust me Prazza it was money well spent" Tali spoke up, which was the decider. She'd defended Shepard on instinct so she must have believed his story, or at least believed in him. "Ok Shepard, I don't like the idea of Cerberus being here but I'll believe you. Perhaps we can work together. We're here looking for a Quarian named Veetor, he was here on his pilgrimage"

Shepard nodded at the thought of working with Tali, she'd grown up so much in two years, but it didn't surprise him in the least. She was a strong woman she always was and leading was the natural progression. "Working together sounds good. Why was Veetor on pilgrimage here? Isn't that a little odd?"

Tali smiled back at Shepard, it definitely felt like him still. That warmth in his face even with his scarring and the strong aura around him. "Not really although I guess it would seem odd to you. You died before Feral's plan really came into effect. Quarians can go where they like on pilgrimage but Feral managed to help pilgrims go somewhere in the Alliance. It broke down after the Idenna but some colonies still opened their arms to Quarian pilgrims. Veetor didn't like crowds so he came here, it's remote and quiet" she explained quickly to her old Commander.

"Fair enough but before we go on. What happened with the Idenna? You two have both mentioned it now" he pointed at both Tali and Prazza before looking back at Jacob and Miranda, who were trying to avoid eye contact and glaring at the Quarians respectively. "What did Cerberus do?" he growled out that last bit.

Prazza answered that one "They attacked the Migrant Fleet. Infiltrated the Idenna, killed our people and tried to blow it up"

Tali followed on "After that all of the bridges between the Alliance and Flotilla dissolved…because of his past with Cerberus Feral was 'asked' to leave the migrant fleet. They didn't think he'd been involved but they got it into their head that Cerberus would come back for him" she glared at the woman, Miranda.

"That's not how I would have put it. It was nothing personal and it definitely wasn't over him." Miranda's voice staying calm and as annoyingly cold as it had always been. Even Shepard glared at her slightly from his periphery, noting that all of the Quarians, Tali included, had started to take aggressive stances.

Luckily Jacob butted in before the Texas stand-off could develop "We can argue about who killed who later, but for now we have someone to find don't we?" the room was silent for a while before almost a collective sigh passed through the people, a mix of relief and annoyance.

"Thank you Jacob." Shepard smiled back at the man before turning towards Tali "So what do we have here?"

"When Veetor saw us landing he locked himself in a warehouse on the other side of the colony. Those mechs you've been seeing? He reprogrammed them to attack anything that moved" she quickly rattled off all the information she had to, quick and straight to the point. She really had become quite the leader since he'd been gone. He could see that Prazza could be an issue and her youth probably worked against her but one day she really would be a fantastic leader.

"Ok. Veetor is the only one who can tell us what happened to this place. We need to work together to make sure we can get those answers without anyone getting hurt." The two groups would move faster and carry a greater weight of firepower, they could clear different areas of the colony and worm their way towards the terrified Quarian.

Tali nodded "I agree, we'll need two teams to get past all the drones he's activated anyway" snapping her head back to see Prazza and the two Quarians next to him had their weapons in their hands again, stepping back slightly from her.

"So what? Now we're working with Cerberus?" Prazza sounded angry and the fact he had his rifle back in his hands was worrying.

Tali stepped up to him and looked him straight in the eyes "No. You are working for me Prazza, and if you can't follow orders go back and wait on the ship" she growled slightly before stepping away as Prazza and the rest of the Quarians filed back into some sort of order. Turning back towards Shepard and walking up to him "Head for the centre of the colony, we'll go around and circle to the right and draw away some of the drones."

"Sounds good" Shepard smiled, apparently some of his tactics had been absorbed by Tali over their time together. The classic flank and attack. "Stay in radio contact thought, if you need anything don't be afraid to shout."

Tali smiled happily, and there was the caring side of her old commander "Will do Shepard and….it's good to see you again" before grabbing her shotgun and following her squad out of the building and off around to the right.

Shepard smirked slightly, he was sure they'd have to talk more later about Cerberus but for now this was good. He turned around as he took his rifle off his back and faced Jacob and Miranda. "Do either of you have any complaints about working with them?" he raised his eyebrow, largely passing over Jacob as the man shook his head concentrating on Miranda more.

"Like the Illusive Man said, you are in charge Commander. If this is what you want then I'll follow your lead, even if they are Quarians." She huffed slightly as she grabbed her pistol "As Jacob said don't we have a Quarian to find?"

"We have to find Veetor Miranda, they have names and you should use them." He glared at her before waving his hand forward, moving off towards the other door in the building. Heading towards the centre of the colony like Tali had suggested.

The squad quickly moved through the colony again, the only challenge in their path were more of the mechs they had encountered previously. Nothing the squad couldn't handle with their combined firepower, tech skills and biotics. After the Geth these machines were nothing in comparison, they were clunky and terrible shots. It was a nice warm up for Shepard after spending 2 years completely inactive.

However when they exited one of the buildings, the colony ahead of them opened up into what seemed like a quarry with another of the large blast doors ahead of them, down a flight of stairs. A few moments ago drones had flown overhead and Tali had warned Shepard's group of their presence. They still had a way to go before reaching the blast door as it waited in the distance but as the hum of drones came over head Shepard and his team slammed into the solid railing as machine gun fire and rockets started impacting their position.

Both Shepard and Jacob had incendiary ammunition on their weapons, once Miranda had overloaded the drone's shielding their combined weapons fire quickly tore apart the armour of the machines. They had to be careful when fighting the drones, no fear and no cover was fine when the mechs carried pistols but these drones had some serious hardware. The machine guns never stopped firing and so every time one of the humans jumped up to put rounds into one of the drones, bullets would bounce of their shields or barriers.

Eventually the combined efforts of the three destroyed the remaining drones, Shepard and his group moving off into the next building when all of a sudden Tali's voice came over the radio again. She sounded slightly panicked "Shepard! Prazza and his squad rushed on ahead. I told them to wait but they wouldn't listen! They want to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"

Shepard ignored Miranda's comment about expecting this and responded "Do what you can Tali, I only need to talk to him I promise. We're on our way, Shepard out" cutting contact as he turned to the two operatives. "We need to go now, double time!" he ordered as he began to rush towards the next set of buildings.

The buildings were completely empty, the squad sprinting through the once homes as they moved down stairs, into the cut out quarry leading towards the blast door. Again a group of drones appeared from nowhere but the team easily destroyed them, quick bouts of gun fire and overloads wiped out their shielding before punching destructive holes in them. Shepard had to admit that Jacob and Miranda were both very capable, neither of them were as good technicians as Tali or Feral had been, nor were they as good biotics as Liara. But he could begin to see why the Illusive Man had paired them up with him.

After the drones were gone they approached the blast doors, pointing to either side of the giant door and moving Jacob and Miranda to either side as he hailed Tali again. "Tali we're at the blast door leading to the loading dock."

Gunfire and explosions came through the radio before Tali eventually replied "We're inside the loading docks Shepard and you need to hurry! Veetor reprogrammed a heavy mech and it's tearing Prazza's squad apart!"

Both Jacob and Miranda groaned at the word a heavy mech was activated, the YMIR's were designed to be able to give Krogan a run for their money. They never won but they slowed the reptiles down at least. "Well they did want to get to Veetor first" Miranda quipped smirking slightly at her own comment.

"Not helping Miranda" Shepard sighed as he thought to himself. After the Lazarus station he'd read up on the mechs he'd seen wipe people out. Shields and then a ton of armour and weapon systems that'd rival light infantry vehicles. "Ok listen up, Jacob until it's shields are down we'll use disruptor armour, then switch to incendiary. Miranda keep using overload as fast as you can and just generally try to annoy it. I'll use the grenade launcher to try and punch through the plating." He waited for the two of them to nod back at him before he opened his link to Tali again.

"Tali we're in position, when you're ready open the door and we'll come in guns blazing" he quickly said followed by the blast door whirring into life. Breathing deeply as he watched the door slowly slide down. They burst through the now open blast door only to witness the YMIR stomp around the corner, killing 3 quarian marines with no trouble whatsoever. Diving behind crates as they watched the machine fire wildly at one of the buildings to their side, the odd return of fire coming from its windows.

"Ready?" Shepard looked over at Miranda and Jacob, again he received the firm nod from the both of them before they all sprung out of cover and started firing as fast as they could into the mech. Its shields repelling almost all of their bullets as it slowly turned towards them, the lumbering giant lowering its weapons towards them before it launched a rocket straight towards them.

As he dived and rolled away from the rocket Shepard swore loudly, only now did he really start missing Wrex and Feral. If they had been here they could have charged the thing and torn out all of its circuitry before it could have reacted at all. But for now he'd have to make do with the two humans, who had luckily escaped the blast as well.

The group had spread out, causing the YMIR to move even slower as it tried to figure out which was the biggest threat. Which kept on changing as they almost took turns ducking for cover and then leaping out and unloading everything they had into it. Eventually Shepard started to hear the sound of pinging, the shields had collapsed and now their bullets were colliding with the armour plating of the machine. He threw his rifle to his feet and pulled the grenade launcher off his back, leaning out slowly and waiting for the mech to concentrate on Jacob who was furthest away from him.

The moment it did and its back appeared to him he stepped out of cover and started pulling the trigger on the launcher, the satisfying recoil and thump of the launcher throwing an explosive round into the mech over and over again. He'd been told about the cybernetics within him and he guessed the metal plating and heavy weaving on his bones was taking away the recoil, it meant he could fire the grenade launcher as fast as possible without losing control. Putting round after round into the same spot before eventually the mech went limp, falling face down into the ground as smoke and sparks erupted from a large hole in its back.

Shepard smiled and sighed happily, letting the launcher drop to his side "That was the most fun I've had in 2 years, 1 month and 12 days" laughing quietly to himself as he walked back and picked up his rifle, putting both weapons onto his back. Jacob smirked slightly as he re-joined the commander but Miranda was clearly busy being…Miranda. They quickly stepped up into the building where they had seen a return of fire and found a group of injured Quarians with Tali and several other marines trying to patch them up.

Tali looked up and saw the three in front of her "Typical, we can't do anything and then you saunter in like it was nothing Shepard" she smiled in her helmet "Go on and get Veetor, he's in the building over there" she pointed out of the window to one of the buildings.

"Thanks Tali" Shepard nodded and smiled back at her "If we have time after this mess with Veetor is cleared up we should talk a little more" smiling when she just nodded and waved him off. "I know I know Veetor, mechs etcetera etcetera. Come on you two." Walking out of the building and past the still smoking YMIR as they rushed up to the building where Veetor was.

After carefully handling with the distraught and delirious Veetor they had discovered the cause of the human disappearances. The Collectors, a race of relatively unknown creatures from beyond the Omega relays. First the Geth had appeared on Eden Prime and now an even rarer race had been behind Freedom's Progress. This was starting to be the story of his life and the puppeteers behind it were the Reapers. Whether they were working with the Collectors or not was still unclear but they were definitely targeting humans.

Eventually they left the hut Veetor had been hiding in, they took longer than he thought because Miranda demanded the quarian be taken into Cerberus' custody. It was completely out of the question to Shepard, he wouldn't have handed anyone over to Cerberus just on the principle but Veetor was traumatised and the group would be less than gentle to a human let alone an alien. As they were stepping out Shepard watched Tali give Veetor off to a marine before he stepped up "You have time to talk? We have time before the Alliance gets here for a little catch up."

"Shepard! We don't have time for this. We have no idea when the Alliance will arrive and we can't risk that because you wanted to 'catch up'" Miranda actually raised her voice for once; apparently this was too far off the mission dynamic for her.

Shepard just stood up to her "Tell you what, why don't you and Jacob get the shuttle and bring it back here to pick me up" he grinned and before he stopped her from retorting "That's an order, Operative Lawson. I want to catch up with my friend and you want to get out of her as fast as possible. This is the compromise"

Miranda was seething but Jacob just grabbed her arm, wanting to avoid conflict between the two already. "Come on Miranda, give Shepard some time. We'll be back in 10 minutes Commander" he nodded to both Shepard and Tali before walking off back towards the shuttle.

"5 minutes" Miranda growled through her teeth as she stormed off after Jacob.

Shepard turned back towards Tali who was watching the two walk off "She seems fun" she laughed dryly before slumping slightly "So….you were really dead?"

Shepard smiled gently as he took his helmet off, letting it rest between his arm and side. "Yeah I was, last thing I remember before waking up on a surgery table was being spaced" he rubbed the back of his neck "I guess I'm now the second person you know who can come back from the dead" he smiled slightly. "What happened Tali? You mentioned something about the Idenna and Feral but I'm still racing a little"

Tali sighed, rubbing her hands together "….I haven't seen him in 18 months" her head dropped "about that anyway, I try not to think about it" looking back up and smiling slightly behind her visor "We manage to get messages to each other every so often but the last I heard from him was months ago, I know he's alive at least. As for what happened, Cerberus attacked us and the Admiralty Board freaked. The Flotilla had never been attacked before and they decided that Quarians had to go their own way, so Feral was forced to leave" she shrugged and sighed.

Shepard groaned "Cerberus, how haven't they destroyed his life? How the hell am I going to explain this to him? After seeing all this….I have to work with them, I can't let more humans be taken"

Stepping forward and putting a hand on his shoulder "Tell him that then, he's still Feral. He'll trust you with or without his senses. Tell him you saw me as well, that'll probably calm him down a little….no promises you know how he can be"

Shepard laughed at that, it was true. Feral had an ability to be even more open minded than he was, but still this was Cerberus. "Anything I can give him from you? A message or something as a point of peace? I do intend to get him along on this mission. Hopefully after that job in Geth space you could join us too, it'd be a pleasure to have you both back on my team" the first genuine smile spread onto his face, it was good to be talking to a friend again.

Tali paused for a while; before she started rummaging through her pockets "Give him these" she pulled out two pieces of metal attached to a chain. "They should prove you saw me and the only way he'll be able to give them back will be to join you. If they don't win him over alone I'm sure he'll recognise my scent…I'm going to have to get used to saying that again" she giggled slightly, smiling more at the thought of seeing Feral again soon.

Shepard took the metal into his hands and briefly scanned them before looking back at Tali "These are his dog tags aren't they?" closing his hand before he had the temptation to look at the name on them "When did he give you these?"

Smiling as she watched him stop himself from looking at Feral's name, she didn't need any more proof but that proved it even more. Shepard was definitely Shepard "After Feros and yes they are, with a little something of my own on the back." She pointed to the back of one of them, showing a circuit board sitting on the back. "Tell Feral that's from me as well but…I'd rather he didn't play it in public…It's nothing bad!" panicking when Shepard raised an eyebrow "Keelah nothing like that it's just….I've missed him and it's probably very embarrassing to watch me...rambling"

Shepard laughed as he put the dog tags into a pouch on the back of his chest plate "I'll be sure to pass that on to him Tali" he then looked up as a shuttle flew overhead and slowly hovered down into the plaza "Well that's my ride" he sighed as he put his helmet back onto his head and locked it in place "Better be off, the ice queen will probably kill Jacob if I don't hurry…and I'm starting to like him" the two laughed before sharing a quick friendly hug.

"I'm glad you're back Shepard, the universe has missed you" she smiled again as he stepped off towards the open hatch of the Kodiak, glaring at Miranda as she waited impatiently inside the drop ship. "Bosh'tet" she growled quietly to herself as she walked off the join the rest of her team, who were waiting in their own shuttle.

Watching as the injured and dead were slowly loaded onto the ship, she contemplated her next actions. Finally firing up her omni-tool and sending a message on a channel they had promised to use only in emergencies. Given the circumstances she figured this counted as an appropriate use and despite the dog tags he'd probably appreciate a little warning.

- The Citadel –

In a pitch black room, Feral lay sleeping on his bed. His apartment had remained the same ever since he'd requisitioned it from Udina before departing to the Migrant Fleet. He'd modified it slightly so that the shutters prevented any light from entering the room and after his last job, he was grateful for it as he laid there fast asleep.

His eyes shot open as his omni-tool flared up and buzzed, recognising the channel immediately he panicked before his expression changed to one of shock. His bright red eyes registering the images in front of him, a picture of a man and two simple words.

"Shepard's alive"