Author's note: Hey ho!

It's that time of the month again. A new chapter of The Shepard is here for your viewing pleasure. I would just like to take a moment to give a quick thanks to everyone who fav'd, followed and reviewed. I've never had this much love for a story before. Hopefully this will live up to your expectations. Today's installment: Garrus meets Shepard! This is one of my favorite scenes in the whole story and actually the very first one that popped into my head when I read the initial prompt.

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all the characters and the universe they live in.


**The Shepard - Rebirth**


"There is much poetry written about the beauty of birth and the strength of the mother. While all this is true, it is also a violent and traumatic act for the child. Ripped from the comfort of the womb and thrust into the unknown, it is no wonder that children cry out in fear at the first taste of freedom. Is that how Shepard felt - stripped of her people and world? I saw confusion in her eyes, but instead of a panicked child, her rebirth bore only a weapon, tempered to perfection and ready for war." - Reflections of the Reaper War, by Matriarch T'soni


The Intrepid - 2186 CE

No one can really know where their life is going when it starts. There are hundreds of possibilities and infinite variations. If someone had told Garrus Vakarian that he would be the principal figure in a fight against a race of highly developed synthetics hell bent on the complete destruction of all sentient life in the galaxy, he would have been skeptical.

He still might be.

"What do you mean stuck?" Garrus asked, running his hands over his face. He stared at the holographic projection of General Septimus Oraka. The transmission was gritty and cut out from time to time, but it was the best they could do. Quantum Entanglement Communication was the most efficient way for fleet to organize but it was expensive and have one major flaw: everything was routed through a central system on Palaven's moon, Menae. If Menae fell then the Hierarchy would have to fall back on comm buoys. Currently the moon was still standing, but the Reapers were pressing the attack and consequently communication blackouts occurred.

"Exactly what it sounds like." The general hissed. "Our engineers are missing some key components of the Crucible. Dr. T'soni was right, the plans are incomplete. The file was corrupted when you took it from the Facinus AI. It's impossible to finish without some major guesswork and the technology is so far above us that we aren't even sure what we are building."

Facinus always had a backup plan. The group of separatists believed in turian isolation and domination over the other species of the galaxy. They had hidden underground for years and built up a network of undercover bases and stations where they performed heinous experiments to "advance turian ascension." Between terrorist attacks, political ploys and outright sabotage they were, in essence, the biggest pain in Garrus' ass.

Garrus sighed. "So, what? No giant gun to quickly end the war?"

"Apparently not, unless your asari friend has any other human archeological sites that she wants to investigate."

Garrus got the hint. "I'll talk to Liara."

"Good. We need something or else..." Oraka trailed off, unable to say the thought that lingered even in the back of Garrus' mind.

"How's the situation on Palaven?"

"Last I heard from General Victus, things on the ground don't look good. They've been pushed back from most of the major cities and the troops are scattered. Something big is going down in the capital, but they aren't sure what yet. I don't know how long Victus can remain in Cipritine."

"And our support?"

Oraka growled and hit something off screen. "The asari are still too busy 'fortifying' Thessia, the salarians have agreed to a summit, but fat chance that will accomplish anything. The quarians aren't responding to communications and the korgans refuse to even talk to us. We're on our own."

Perfect, Garrus thought irritably. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Get me more information on the Crucible. And figure out what the hell Facinus is doing."

"Yes sir."


Garrus was eating some Barakian stew in the mess hall when Liara sat down in front of him, looking pleased with herself. The spoon hovered in front of his mouth and she waited silently. Apparently he wasn't allowed to eat and listen.

He pushed the food away from him and folded his arms.

"I've been going over some of my old notes from the university and I think I might have found something."She started, sliding a data pad over to him.

Finally, Garrus thought. Some good news. He reached out for the data pad and began to look over the contents.

Liara continued. "Some of the dig sites at Oma Ker indicated that this was a military base during the collapse of humanity. If we want to find information on a weapon I'd start there."

"Oma Ker?" Garrus said, skeptically. It had been one of the largest turian colonies, second only to colony had been devastated when Saren Arterius attacked with his army of geth - and all for that damned beacon. Thinking about him and that beacon still made Garrus unconsciously tense up.

Oma Ker had been the start of all this. He had chased Saren across the galaxy, only to be thwarted on the Citadel. Sovereign, the Reaper scout, had been defeated but his turian agent had escaped and now headed up Facinus. One day he was going to kill that bastard and it was going to feel great.

"Wouldn't the archeologists have found something useful when they uncovered the beacon?" Garrus said, his eyes skimming over the map of the dig site. Most of it didn't make any sense to him and he gave Liara a questioning look.

"No." Liara said patiently. She reached over and changed the screen to show a map of the planet's surface. "The military base is on the other side of the planet, set into a series of underground caves. The beacon was found close to the settlement, as far away from the base as possible. It's almost like the humans wanted the beacon to be found but not the base."

"Any chance we'll find something useful?" It sounded like a long-shot to Garrus, but he would take anything right now.

"Who knows." Liara sighed and sat down next to him. " But it's all I've got. All my informants are looking into this, but Facinus is doing the same thing. We are fighting on two fronts here and we are losing both."

He turned his attention back to the data pad and grumbled. "I've noticed."


Nihlus Kryik walked with determination through the security check points on the Intrepid. Truthfully he hated the things - finding them a waste of space and time on the frigate. There were many things that the Hierarchy did that he disagreed with. Its probably why he hadn't lasted long. How Garrus had survived in the military was still beyond him.

Everyone agreed that the two turians were cut from the same cloth - determined, impulsive and didn't give a damn about the rules. It's why they got along so well on and off the battlefield. Yet Garrus had survived in the military, much to his father's displeasure while Nihlus had gone into C-sec to get away from the oppression of the Hierarchy. C-sec still was full of red tape, but it wasn't the Hierarchy. Citadel law afforded more freedom than those of Palaven and he thrived there. Investigations were his strong suit and it gained him the recognition needed to become a Spectre.

Spectres were free to do what they wanted - men above the law, every law, including Palaven's. The freedom meant he had been able to pursue the Reaper's uninhibited together with Garrus - one of the only turians to ever gain and maintain his respect.

In the dim red lights of the war room, Nihlus spotted his friend hunched over the central holographic map; the same place he had been every day since this damn war started.

"I was just talking to Specialist Kato," Nihlus said as he entered the war room. "He intercepted a signal from Oma Ker. It's scrambled, but it has a Facinus identification."

Garrus looked up from the terminal and growled, "Of course it does. Because it's not enough of a challenge to land on a Reaper occupied world to secretly search an abandoned archaeological site for salvageable human data."

"This is all for you, you know. You sat on your ass for six months in a jail cell. We need to make sure you're still up to the task of saving the entire galaxy. Think of this as a trial run."

Garrus had been incarcerated for his own protection after destroying a mass effect relay and the nearest star system. It had been desperate, but it had delayed the Reaper invasion for over half a year. They had hoped to prepare the galaxy so they would have a fighting chance against the Reapers, but no one listened. Three hundred thousand Batarians died for nothing. The only consolation was that they didn't have to live through the war.

Batarian space was hit first and hit the hardest. The Hegemony had been decimated and survivors were trickling into Citadel space, but their homeworld of Khar'shan had fallen silent and stayed that way.

"Lost your confidence in me already?" Garrus asked, his mandibles flared mockingly.

Nihlus responded in kind, his voice deadpanned. "Who said I had any to begin with?"

"Ass." Garrus said and then sighed staring back at the terminal. It was a map of Oma Ker. Much of it was covered in red dots - location of Reaper attacks. Most of the infrastructure had been destroyed, but the section where the site was located was far outside any city limits meaning most of the area seemed free of Reaper forces.

"What's the plan of attack?" Nihlus asked.

"Well," the other turian said, his mandibles clicking in irritation, "I had a stylish and flawless plan, but it probably won't work now."

The Spectre snorted. "Flawless?"

"Always. Have you been on my missions before?"

"Have you?"

The two stared at each other for a moment and then smirked. "Dammit Nihlus," Garrus cracked, "I've got nothing here. If Facinus is on the ground this one might have to be touch and go."

"Well, at least Lieutenant Neros has a plan for getting us down there."

Garrus groaned. "You talked to her already?" Nihlus shook his head. "Dammit Kato."

Specialist Felix Kato was head over heels in love with the pilot of the Intrepid and was always telling her anything he thought would impress the cold woman, but nothing seemed to get more than annoyed look out of her.

Flight Lieutenant Torcia Neros was the best damn pilot in the entire Turian fleet. No one disputed that. She was an exemplary citizen and military officer, a perfect turian. Some days Nihlus appreciated that, some days he envied it, but most days he wanted to smack her just to get that stick out of her ass.

A bit hypocritical of him? Yes maybe - but he didn't really care. As far as he was concerned the rules were meant to be broken. Especially rules created by all powerful committees that turned a blind eye to save their own political hide.

Torcia though, she followed her orders to the letter and commented on his shortcomings often. Why she had stuck with the two Spectres for the last three years was beyond him. He wasn't going to analyze it too closely though, she had gotten them out of enough close calls to warrant herself a bit of privacy on the matter. That and he had learnt early on that she wasn't looking for any type of relationship outside of their professional one. Kato however, hadn't gotten the memo yet.

"She and EDI have been helping Kato identify the subroutines in the signal."

Garrus sighed and looked back at the screen. "At least they figured it out before we got there. EDI, how far out are we?"

"One hour and 12 minutes Commander." The AI responded. Nihlus was glad that the Hierarchy hadn't gotten rid of her with all their other ridiculous changes to the Intrepid.

"Alright. Nihlus, I want you and Liara kitted up and in the hangar in one hour. Let Lieutenant Victus know that he's in charge while we're groundside."

Nihlus raised an eyebrow plate. "Victus? Are you sure?"

Garrus shrugged. "The boy's going to have to get his feet wet sometime."

"In Reaper infested territory with Facinus ground teams?"

"Sounds good to me." Garrus said standing and walking towards the exit. "It's easier than the my Spectre evaluation, unless you forgot."

"How could I." Nihlus growled.

It had been here, at Oma Ker. They had been there to collect the human beacon but they weren't alone. Saren and his geth army were already there. Saren had been his mentor in the Spectres and a close friend. His betrayal had hit Nihlus hard and it still was a sore spot, figuratively and literally. The gunshot wound in his shoulder still bothered him from time to time.

"A rogue Spectre, Sovereign and an army of geth. It's hard to forget." The bitterness dripped from Nihlus' words.

Garrus paused before the door, but didn't look back. "Yes, it is."


Location Oma Ker - 2186 CE

The lush forests of the temperate world were a stark contrast to the other occupied colonies Garrus had seen. Oma Ker had a significant population, but most it was centered around the spaceports leaving much of the world still covered by vast tracts of undeveloped land; land untouched by the Reapers

From where they landed, two fully armed Facinus guards could be seen at the entrance of the dig site.

"Most of the base is located underground in a series of caverns," Liara explained as they scouted the area. "On the other side of the mountains, there's a landing site. If I were Facinus, I would start there. It leads straight down to the main computer room. There are intact archives, but much of the data is locked. Not much has been done with it since the initial excavation due to the heavy encryption. If there is anything to be found, it will be in those drives."

"So where are we then, the back door?" Garrus asked, popping an armor piercing round into to his Widow sniper rifle. To his right Nihlus did the same.

"Exactly," Liara said.

Good. Sneaking around the back always made things easier, especially when the main force was preoccupied. "How far does that put us from the main computers?"

"We'll be coming in from the lower levels. This entrance was apparently an escape route directly into the forest. It leads to the crew quarters and from there we'll have to navigate up a few levels to get to the computers. The good news is that we we we will be coming at it from behind and can bypass the main docking area completely, so hopefully we can get in and out without attracting too much attention from Facinus."

"Sounds optimistic to me." Nihlus grumbled.

Liara glared at him. "Do you have a better plan?"

"No. It's a good plan, really." He said, leveling the sights on his sniper. A few adjustments for wind and distance and he was ready. "Just preparing myself for when this goes to hell."

Two shots and two kills.

"Kill stealer." Garrus grumbled and Nihlus smirked, pulling the sniper back and collapsing the lightweight model. They wouldn't have use for the long range weapons in the compound.

"Don't worry." Nihlus said, slapping him on the back. "I'm sure you'll get your chance. This is one of your plans."

"Nope. This one is Liara's remember. You can't blame this on me."

Liara sighed. "Your confidence in my abilities is reassuring."

Nihlus smiled at her softly, letting his mandibles fall open. "Trust me, it's not you. Garrus just has a habit of blowing things up around him."

The other turian pushed past him, glaring playfully. "I know that you are referring to the Jarrahe mission. That doesn't count."

Nihlus followed, checking the safety on his assault rifle as they walked. "You just say that because you don't want to admit you're the reason that station's abandoned now."

Garrus pulled his assault rifle out as well. "That's not what the official report says."

Nihlus snorted. "Since when do you believe any official reports?"

The other turian shrugged as he stepped over the two Facinus bodies, "Only the ones that highlight my amazing sniper skills. Those are accurate."

Nihlus pressed his back against the side of the door while Garrus took point. "We are going to have a talk later about what you deem accurate."

Garrus cocked his gun and rolled his eyes at his friend. "Jarrahe still doesn't count."

"What happened on Jarrahe?" Liara asked, falling in line behind Nihlus.

"Rogue VI and Garrus. What more do you need to know?" Nihlus smirked and then the three plunged into the darkness of the old base.


"This seems too easy," Nihlus whispered as they walked slowly through the stone corridors. The acoustics were terrible and even Nihlus' whisper echoed through the hall.

"I agree," Garrus said quietly. All the Facinus forces were paired off and scattered through the base. It was like they were searching for something but had no idea what.

"The main terminals are through there," Liara whispered, looking over the schematics on her omnitool. She pointed down a hall to their left. Hushed voices echoed down the hall and the three of them instantly fell silent.

Liara hung back as the voices got louder with Garrus taking point and Nihlus one step behind him on the opposite side of the passage. The room had large windows, darkened over time with dust and dirt. Holding up his hand, the others stopped. A quick scan showed four soldiers and a set of large computers.

His eyes lingered on the terminals. At first glance Garrus didn't think that there was much difference between their current technology and the human paleo-tech. These machines were 50,000 years old and they looked just like modern supercomputers. It shouldn't have been such a mind blowing realization, but it was. So much of their world was based on human advancements, it was somewhat terrifying.

Garrus motioned Liara forward. She threw out a quick and powerful mass effect field that had the soldiers flying into the hallway with a startled shout. Grabbing one out of the air, Garrus snapped the turian's neck. That silenced him quickly. Turning, he activated his omni-blade and ran it through the sensitive flesh of another body. Blue blood flowed over his hands, warm and sticky; the only signs that these men were still turian. He had seen what Facinus were doing to their troops. The cybernetic implants wreaked of Reaper tech.

Liara stepped over the still bodies and walked into the room. The computers gave off a low hum and a dim light, indicators that they were still functioning after 50,000 years. If humanity knew how to do one thing, it was build things to last.

The asari sat at the terminal while Garrus hovered over her. Nihlus stayed by the door, taking up a lookout position. Liara scanned through the scattered data pads covering the consul, muttering to herself, "Facinus tried to hack the main data caches, but they couldn't get to it. Something about 'DNA'? If this was a biological lock it would explain why previous scientist couldn't access the files. Whatever is in here must be pretty important."

"DNA? Seeing as we aren't human doesn't that mean that we won't be able to get in as well?"

"Yes, but..." Liara trailed off as she picked up a data pad on the counter containing some hastily scrawled notes from the Facinus scientists, "They found a repeating message. It keeps saying something about...oh Goddess."

"What?" Nihlus snapped from by the door.

"The Shepard." She whispered, her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," Garrus said, "You lost me."

Liara opened her mouth once, but nothing came out. Shaking her head she composed herself, "The Shepard is a myth. Something that we find references to at dig sites across the galaxy. There's many theories about what the Shepard is - a religious icon, a weapon, a story - but it comes about first in the later periods, right before the humans disappear. There are thousands of different tales. Some accounts talk about the Shepard 'raining down fire' on the enemy and others talk about the Shepard bringing 'salvation to the weak'. It's all very exaggerated and disjointed."

"You seem to know a lot about it Liara,"

"I should," She said smiling, "I wrote my thesis on it."

"So we need to find this enigmatic idea to unlock the computer?" Nihlus deadpanned.

"They were looking for it," Liara explained, unable to hide the excitement from her voice, "Here on the base. That's why all the guards have been so scattered, they're searching for it!"

"Any idea where we should start looking?" Garrus asked, folding his arms over his chest. It was a small lead, but this whole mission was resting on a dream and a hope anyways.

Liara flipped through Facinus' notes, "The translation was incomplete." She opened her omnitool, "But the excavation was stopped once they found the computer room. There are some doors that they couldn't get through. I'd say we start there."

"Wait, if the scientists couldn't get through then how can we?"

"They were worried about preserving the dig site, I'm not," She cringed as Garrus stared her down, "Alright, I am, but this would be the find of a lifetime! The Shepard - I'm willing to blow up a few doors to find that."

Nihlus laughed, "Garrus, I think we've been a bad influence on her."


"There," Liara pointed to the heaping rubble on their left, "That's where they couldn't get through."

"Looks like someone did," muttered Garrus pulling out his assault rifle. They hadn't run into any guards in the last few minutes. Something was off about the whole situation - small Facinus troop, barely any guards and no radio communications. Either they hadn't thought to be here that long or there was going to be a big surprise at the end of the tunnel. It was the archives on Feros all over again.

Liara understood Garrus' anxiety, but she couldn't bring herself to slow down or stop. Somewhere through this corridor was the Shepard. She was sure that Nihlus would criticize her on her excitement and disregard for safety, but he just kept her close as she peaked in every room they came across. Most of them were filled with empty ammunition reserves and worn out replacement parts, things that would have piqued her curiosity before, but she kept moving. Especially since it seemed as though the stockpiles had been rifled through recently. Facinus was one step ahead of them and if they got their hands on the Shepard, who knows what damage they could do with it.

Or to it. Goddess, she didn't know what was worse.

She knew the two turians didn't quite understand her blinding enthusiasm, but the Shepard had been more than her thesis, it had been the very reason she had gotten into human studies at university. Dr. Aziz's book on the Collapse had a chapter on the Shepard. She believed that the Shepard was a religious icon created by humanity to deal with the reason behind the fall of the civilization. The way she had talked about the weapon/artifact/religious idea was uplifting and terrifying all at the same time. The Collapse was her favorite era and the Shepard sat at the center of it, embodying everything of the time.

With every empty room and dead end they came upon, Liara became more and more anxious. They hadn't found the Facinus squad or the Shepard. Had it been removed already?

No. Of course not. She thought, If Facinus had found it they would have left already.

Liara kicked an empty storage bin in frustration. Time was of the essence here - the Intrepid was only able to remain in stealth mode for so long before the heat had to be dispelled - and after almost an hour of searching they weren't any closer to their goal.

It bounced off the wall with a hollow ping and she turned to leave. Nihlus on the other hand stepped forward and placed a hand on the wall, "Did you hear that?"

"What? Garrus asked, stopping to look at the other turian.

"A hollow noise."

"It was an empty bin Nihlus," Liara growled. She shouldn't be so snippy, but they had to keep moving.

The turian glared at her and knocked on the wall, "It wasn't that. It was the wall."

There was a hollow sound again, this time softer. Liara pushed past him and knocked on the stone herself to confirm it. She felt something give as she repeated the motion, but this time with more force.

"There's something back here." She said. Her biotics flared as she pushed the slab backwards. There was a grating noise and then a click as the stone slid and opened to a hidden room.

It was small, but held a single door, a console and a window. Liara stepped in, remembering to breathe again. Through the glass she could see a large black tube as tall as a turian and as wide as a krogan. There was a light on it, blinking slowly, meaning it had power.

The console turned on the second she got closer. She sat down and stared at the screen, the words flying across the terminal quickly, but they faded into a set of graphs. A sharp beep filled the room with a steady and familiar rhythm.

"Goddess, this can't be right," the asari mumbled staring at the screen. Her hands flew across the keyboard pulling up other graphs and data. But it was right, "It's not a human artifact. It's a human!"

"What?" Garrus asked, leaning over her shoulder.

"That thing in there, it's a pod. With a human inside!"

"Like those stasis pods we found on Ilos"

"Yes," She breathed, still unable to believe it, "But unlike those this one has power! He's been in there for the last 50,000 years!"

A human, a real, live human. He could access the sealed data terminals. He could help them finish the Crucible. He could...

Liara didn't finish the thought. Her fingers already starting up the resurrection process. It was imperative that they got him out of there before Facinus found them - or worse the Reapers.

The door hissed as the warm air flooded into the vacuum of the stasis pod. Cool air was displaced and flowed outward, obstructing their view as the the conflicting temperatures fogged up the window. From her spot outside, Liara could make out a form - stock still in the mist.

Her heart stopped for a moment, excitement coursed through her veins and her mouth dried as she stared past the haze desperately trying to seeing the human in the room. It had been her greatest wish as a child - to meet a human and learn from them. Her mother had laughed at her and she knew she was crazy, but a girl could dream.

And now, the dream was a reality.

What would they sound like? Would they approve of the how the universe had evolved? From what they had figured out about humanity they were a fairly peaceful race having no other intelligent species to war with. Their central council ran everything leaving many people time for exquisite art and stories. What kind of man was this that deserved to be preserved? A leader? A scientist? A philosopher?

Liara jumped as a hand - five fingered and pale - hit the glass, wiping away the condensation and giving her a view of two steel grey eyes, as piercing as a turian's and as deep as an asari maiden's. For a moment the world stilled as Liara lost herself in their depths. The eyes focused and then narrowed, taking the asari aback before they vanished, the opaque window obscuring the human's movements.

"He's heading for the door!" Liara cried, dashing to the barrier on the right. She threw open the door and stepped into the cool room. Her only thought was to calm the newly awoken human. Of course he would be confused and disoriented. She was a naive fool to think that things would work out perfectly - a small girl's dream hardly translates to reality.

Inside the mist had dispersed, leaving a clear view of the small chamber - but no human. A startled cry of "Liara" had her turning to see a blur of gold and black strike her down. The punch was quick and powerful, stunning her and sending her to her knees. A hand on the shoulder had her spinning and pinned in a second. Nihlus stepped into the room, shouting at the human - a female human - with her arm on Liara's throat. The asari thought to yell, tell them not to shoot the human, but more than the forearm on her throat stopped her. A silver pendant hung from the woman's neck, and though Liara couldn't make out all of it, one word was easy to spot after years of reading it over and over again.

'Shepard'. This woman was the Shepard.

Dr. Aziz had been right - she was a goddess.


At first there was only the darkness. Shepard knew nothing but the vast nature of the cold black that enveloped her. All sense of time was lost and trying to grasp it was like trying to catch smoke. Even though the light was desired, its jarring return still illuminated nothing. First it was just a pin prick of thought echoing in her mind, a knowledge that something was not as it should be. Instinctively she began to catalogue her body - fingers and toes, legs and arms. She felt as if she moved through gelatin - her muscles contracting, but her body restrained. She breathed deeply through her mouth but found only the liquid cold instead of relief.

Fear.

It was all consuming and she fought to get out of the prison she was in. Every second the matrix around her loosened and she could finally, after an eternity, swing an arm or kick a leg. Her lungs instinctively gulped for air, but only found more of the suffocating liquid. In a rush it all fell away and she collapsed as gravity returned.

Violently her body removed the liquid from her lungs. Coughing, throwing up, coughing some more. Her head was too weak to lift itself as she pushed the violating liquid from her body and replaced it with sweet, sweet air. The silence was filled with the sound of her breath - heavy and short, vibrating with effort.

Finally the heaving fits stopped and she could do a survey. Her eyes clenched shut at the harsh light of the room, but she had caught a glimpse of her surroundings and it was alien to her. Years of military training kicked in and Shepard knew she must get up. You were vulnerable on the ground.

Her body was weak from disuse. How long had she been out? As she pushed herself from the floor she could feel the heaviness of her arms and legs. They weren't weren't as strong as they should be, but the adrenaline was covering for that. It coursed through her body as her mind raced.

Clear your head soldier.

There were four walls. The room was small, but she could make out a window thick with fog. Was it a cell? Is that why no one was here with her? Is that why she was alone?

Clear. Your. Head.

Shepard slipped the first time she tried to get up, but with every step she felt more confident. Her legs still strained with the exertion, but they obeyed her will and moved forward. One step, then another and she was at the wall. The sound of her hand was loud as it slapped clumsily against the glass, but she was able to wipe away the condensation and get a glimpse past the fog.

Blue. The two eyes staring at her from the other side were blue. The skin around them was blue. Everything was blue.

Shepard reeled backwards, shock over riding her senses. She had never seen so much blue.

It wasn't human.

She was alone in a cell and the other thing on the side of the wall wasn't human.

Where the hell was she?

Where the hell was Anderson? She had been talking with him and then...Her hand instinctively went to her side where the needle had been inserted. He had drugged her. Our last hope. That is what he had said.

The same question popped into her head again, this time heavy with implications. How long had she been out?

Suddenly, she had the urge to throw up again.

Some part of her brain, the logical and rational part, told her that the appearance of this alien meant that she had been asleep a long time, perhaps too long. She pushed that thought away. No. Anderson is alive. My ship is here, with my crew. The fight isn't over.

It was a desperate thought but the only one she could handle without emptying her stomach.

She needed answers and there was only one way to get them. Clinging to the hope that her crew was still alive Shepard pushed her body towards the door. Her first priority was to get past the alien and determine her exact location; weapons and establishing communications were next. Angling herself into the shadows, she waited. It was likely that the aliens outside were armed and armored while she was weaponless and clad only in a set of black skivvies.

The blue alien entered and looked for her, but didn't see the commander until she was upon her, pinning her to the ground. This close, the amount of blue skin was overwhelming. She had never seen an azure alien before.

Shepard had questions on the tip of her tongue, but the click of a gun by the door brought her back to reality. She looked up and saw another species, very different from the first. While the blue one looked almost human, this one was tall, armed and clearly deadly. His very presence put her on edge and her body tensed unconsciously.

Piercing green eyes watched her every movement with caution as it chirped, growled and, as best as she could tell, spoke to her with a flanged voice. The words were incomprehensible, but the tone was clear: Get the hell off of the girl.

Slowly, Shepard removed herself, crouching over the blue alien. Outside she could see another one, armed as well as the first with some type of rapid fire gun. She didn't recognize the design, but it seemed simple enough.

She needed to get her hands on it.

Thankful that her body seemed to finally be moving somewhat normally and high on her fight-or-flight response, Shepard leapt at the alien. He swung at her with the butt of his rifle, but Shepard blocked it and went for the only unarmored part of him she could - his neck. A quick swipe to his windpipe and his defense crumbled. She grabbed his fringe and tossed him over her shoulder next to the blue alien. As he went sailing, the gun fell from his hands at her feet.

Shepard reached down and picked up the rifle, kneeling as she pointed it at the third one. He was probably the smartest of all three, and in a universal sign of surrender, put his gun on the ground.

With her weapon still trained on the the alien, she backed out of the room and bolted.


"We need to find her," Liara said as she pulled herself off the floor.

"Agreed," Garrus held out his hand, "She could do some real damage out there." He smirked at Nihlus. The other turnian glared, his mandibles twitching in annoyance.

"Not another word."

"I didn't say anything," And yet the amusement was dripping from Garrus' voice.

"Or do anything as I recall." Nihlus snapped.

"HEY!" Liara interrupted, "You don't understand. That isn't just some human, it's THE Shepard, and if the stories are to be believed, humanity's greatest hero."

"Oh, well," Garrus sighed, "Probably should keep her from being killed by the other Facinus troops then."

"Yes," Liara sighed, "We probably should."

"She'll probably head to the main computer room," Nihlus said pulling out his pistol and glared at it, wishing it was his assault rifle.

He had been bested by a 50,000 year old woman. Glancing at Garrus, the other turian smirked and Nihlus knew he was never going to live it down.


Shepard moved through the facility cautiously but quickly. It was easy when you knew this base like the back of your hand. She had come out in the armory, but a quick searched showed that it had been cleared out a long time ago.

As she moved through the hallways, her thoughts turned dark. No one was here. There were no alarms, no people and no bodies. If alien intruders had invaded the base then they had cleared it out long before they had found her or they had found it abandoned. Either way it didn't bode well for the small sliver of hope that she clung to so desperately.

The corridors felt off. Dust, cobwebs and broken lights prevailed as she walked towards the computer room. It was strange walking through the empty halls. Last time she had been here so had her crew. Joker had been down in the hanger overseeing the repairs with Specialist Traynor, James had been regaling the soldiers stationed here with tales of their last mission and Ashley had been elbow deep in the armory. There had been life here.

Life beyond the invading plants that grew through the cracks in the wall.

Voices up ahead stilled her. She willed her breath to slow and was actually thankful for being dressed only in her underwear; her armor had never been this quiet. Straining her ears she tried to hear any discernible words, but they were only the clicks and growls of the other alien. Moving quietly, she slunk into the room to her right and let the aliens pass her by. They were different from the three in the storage rooms; these wore helmets and uniforms. Perhaps those three had been the leaders?

If that many of them were here then they had to have some type of transportation. It shouldn't be too hard for her to procure a vehicle and get out of here. It was clear that her team wasn't here, but she still held out hope they were somewhere else. The ship had to have some type of communication she could hack and get hold of the Normandy.

First things first, she had to figure out what the hell was going on. She only hoped that they hadn't accessed the main computers yet. If they had tried then the safety protocols would have wiped the databases and she wouldn't find any answers.

With the patrol out earshot, she moved again, heading up the hall towards the main communication center.

Outside the room there were four bodies, all with the same uniform. Shepard frowned, the situation becoming more complicated by the moment. Something caught her eye as she stepped over the bodies. One of them, with his neck turned unnaturally - or what she assumed was unnatural - had lost his helmet in the process. His eyes were still open, bright and glowing with cybernetics.

Reaper tech. She would recognize it anywhere.

"Fuck," She cursed softly and took of the helmet of the other three. They were all 'upgraded'. It was the same thing Cerberus had done to their troops. Indoctrinated bastards.

These aliens, who ever they were, were clearly the enemy.

Shepard sat down at the communication's terminal. There was data pads everywhere, the computer was already on and the system flashed a warning.

"Error log:

1223.232.4487.1

ERROR /bioscan/cmdr (result unknown)

Automated response

Flash wipe initiated.

D:\1.1235.3 wiped

D:\1.1235.5 wiped

D:\1.1235.7 wiped"

"Shit" Shepard hissed, the fools had tried to hack the computer. The error message played across all the screens; over and over and over again. They had tried to hack it multiple times, if anything had survived the initial hack, it was probably gone by now.

She was about to get up and leave when something caught her eye. Between every hack attempt was a command.

" complete

D:\5923-AC-2826

Access Y/N"

The cursor blinked softly by the 'N'. Shepard wasn't a tech wiz but she knew her service number. Someone had left her a message. Hesitantly she reached out and typed in 'Y' and hit enter.

A blue laser shot out of the screen and scanned her. Every screen flashed white and then they all read a single message.

"ID confirmed. Hello Commander Shepard."


Nihlus shot the two Facinus patrols they ran into, no longer caring about being stealthy. They came from the upper levels which meant they hadn't run into that woman. If they had, in all likelihood they would be dead.

It also meant that Shepard was still alive. A good thing too. Liara and Garrus both wanted information from her. Not him though. Nihlus just wanted one good punch.

Just one.


"Shepard," The hologram of Anderson said, his skin blue and transparent. He looked out past her, probably to where the camera had been placed. The message had started up the second she had tried to access the user interface.

"If you are listening to this," He continued, "Then we lost. I can't tell you how it finally ended as this base is to be resealed upon my departure, but you deserve some sort of closure. When I asked the Council what additional items were to be left with you they said nothing in hopes of keeping you off the Reapers' scanners. I've known you to make a lot out of less, but I thought you might like a head start.

"Specialist Traynor and Dr. Lawson created an ghost drive for you. I asked them to put the history of the war on it. It's all there: military tactics, weapon advancements, schematics, training plans. To fit everything we had to compress it down to the bare bones, but I did manage to leave a bit of space for some personal effects: messages from what's left of your crew, a few of your favorite audio tracks and a photo of your family. It was your mother's favorite. She showed it off to anyone who wanted to see a picture of you, even to people who didn't.

"Hopefully this finds you well Shepard. If the aliens that revived you are anything like us, it was probably a team of scientists and civilians. Call me optimistic," He smiled, "But I bet you haven't shot them yet. You never had the best diplomatic skills, but we sent you there to guide them, not kick their asses. The beacons that lead them to you had a warning about the Reapers. Help them, who ever they are, to be prepared for the coming war. If you are lucky you will come centuries before the Reapers even show up. If not, well, you know what to do.

Good hunting out there Shepard. Anderson out."

The vid shut off and the screens came to life. They were empty except for one small icon in the middle of the screen with her service number underneath it. She sat there numbly looking at the unsuspecting icon, willing it and the message she just heard out of existence.

We lost.

The words echoed in her head. Everyone she ever knew, ever loved was gone. Kaidan, Ash, Joker, Anderson, Vega, Cortez, Miranda, Jack, the list went on and on. One by one she listed them in her head as she stared numbly into space. In the silence of the room she wanted to curl up and cry. She wanted to rage and yell. She wanted to shoot something. Footsteps echoed off the stone wall and she cocked her gun.

Those Reaper allies would do.


Nihlus wasn't going to take any chances this time. The human was fast, faster than he had expected, and very well trained. Even with her diminutive size, she had thrown him over her shoulder easier than his instructor had in basic training. That had been the last time he had remember the vertigo inducing sensation and he had hated it back then to.

The snickers and the stares as the other students looked down at him - an outsider, unworthy of the honor of service - they thought he belonged there, on his back and at their feet. It had been humiliating and infuriating. Lashing out only got him tossed and pinned again, his instructor leaning in close as he pressed his talons painfully into the nerve cluster at the base of Nihlus' fringe. "Anger is blinding. Pride is limiting. Ignorance is deadly. Only a fool fights with these tools. Are you a fool?" It was whisper full of irate subharmonics so low that no one but Nihlus could hear. Out of the corner of his eye the turian looked up at his teacher who stared out at the crowd of students with a disgusted flare to his mandibles.

Fools. They were fools.

Nihlus never gave them the pleasure of looking down at him again, figuratively and literally.

Shepard had stared at him too, her eyes calculating for size, speed and balance. She had seen it all in the space of a second and even though she had never seen a turian before, she knew how to compensate for his reach, height and weight.

A perfect soldier - calm and collected.

She isn't a fool.

And he wouldn't stare at her from his back again.

A growl rumbled in the back of his throat as he gripped his gun tighter and switched off the safety. Lost in his own world, he jumped when Garrus put a hand on his shoulder, "You know we need her alive."

"I can do alive." NIhlus said.

Garrus' hand tightened, "Nihlus."

The other turian sighed, "I know, I just..."

Garrus nodded. He understood, he always understood. Neither of them fit in with the Hierarchy very well - taking orders wasn't their strong point.

Liara stopped them and glanced around the corner, "I hear something."

Garrus and Nihlus looked at each other in silent communication. Nihlus gave in sighing and put the safety back on his gun. The other turian's mandibles flared in relief and he released Nihlus' shoulder with a reassuring squeeze.

"You know I hate you right?" Nihlus murmured as Garrus took point.

"Yes."


The dirty glass that separated the computer room from the hall shattered as they passed by it. Garrus cursed, how the hell had she seen them through the opaque window? Crouching in the shattered glass, he waited for her to make the next move, straining to hear any movement in the adjoining room.

Silence. She's patient.

Shifting, he turned to face Liara. In any other situation he wouldn't have said a word, but Shepard knew exactly where they were and how many of them there were. There was no element of surprise or tactical advantage available to him at the moment outside of her inability to understand them, so a few words wouldn't hurt.

"I need her disarmed Liara," He said, "Pull her, push her, I don't care, but if you don't get that gun away from her I will shoot her."

Liara swallowed and nodded, her skin glowing blue with dark energy. Garrus stood up to lay down cover fire, but was knocked backwards as the butt of Shepard's gun came flying out from around the corner. When had she moved?

Liara released her energy as Shepard reached forward to grab Garrus' cowl, forcing the human back with reckless speed and slamming her into the wall. The force of it still didn't cause Shepard to release her gun, but it surprised the human, her eyes shooting up to focus on Liara, ignoring the turians.

Garrus wiped the blood from his mouth and watched as Nihlus vaulted into the room, landing squarely between Liara and Shepard. His gun was raised, but Shepard spared him only a passing glance, staring down the asari who still glowed.

The mass effect field wrapped around the human effectively pinning her to the wall. There was no escape from the dark energy as it pressed her into the stone.

"The gun Nihlus," Garrus said, walking into the room. The Spectre sighed and took the weapon from her grasp, "Liara we need a way to communicate."

"I can't hold her and write at the same time," Liara said, her voice straining. It was easy to create a forceful biotic field and crush an enemy but controlling a stasis field was harder, especially when trying to immobilize parts of the body instead of the entire entity.

"Nihlus," Garrus nodded, putting his gun away. The other turian followed his lead, latching one hand under her shoulder and the other on her arm, forcing her forward and onto her knees as the blue energy dissipated.

Shepard fought the second the field collapsed, pushing back with surprising flexibility and strength, but she didn't even manage to gain a foothold before Nihlus twisted her arm forcing her back to the floor.

Nihlus and Garrus held Shepard hard even when she stopped struggling. Even motionless, her body was taut and ready for any opportunity, any weakness. Pinned as she was, Liara was amazed that she looked more deadly on her knees than the two large turians holding on to her.

"Liara," Garrus said snapping her attention away from Shepard's intense gaze, "Now."

"Can't we just knock her out and take her back to the Intrepid?" Nihlus grumbled, his hold tightening. Shepard's gaze whipped to him and he glared right back at her.

"No," Liara said shaking her head. She had seen the damage this woman could do in close quarters and having her on a ship - confused, scared and that close to modern weaponry - could be disastrous. "Not until we earn her trust."

The Shadow Broker turned to the data pad and proceeded to type out a message. No one knew what the human language sounded like. There were some theories, but frankly most of the actual attempts were feeble at best. She just hoped her rusty human was passable.

A single word - "Friend."

She showed Shepard and the woman looked at the script and then up at Liara, her head cocking to the side. Liara swallowed heavily - was it wrong?

She tried again. This time - "Ally."

Shepard stared past the datapad and up at Liara. She could tell that the woman was thinking, but her thoughts were hidden behind an iron mask and tight lips. The human's steel eyes shifted to the Facinus troops on the ground and then back to the two turians holding her. Liara followed her gaze and understood. Shepard thought they were with Facinus.

"No." Liara whispered, kneeling in front of the woman. She shook her head and made and 'x' with her arms, hoping that the term in some shape or form would translate. The look she got in return from the human was still distrustful.

"Here," Garrus said, "Let me try."

"By all means," She sighed.

Garrus looked at Nihlus who nodded in return. He was going to let go. Liara tensed as Garrus released one hand, reaching for his gun. Shepard twisted in the loosened hold and for a moment Liara thought she might escape. Nihlus struggled to retain his grasp on her but Shepard got in a good shot, slamming the back of her head into his nose.

Nihlus hissed and rotated her arm unnaturally, eliciting a similar response from the human. She stumbled and he reached around grabbed her other arm, holding her tightly to his body. Compared to the turian she was small, similar to an asari, but Liara had never seen an asari so physically strong before.

"Got her?" Garrus asked cautiously, one hand still hovering over his rifle.

"Yeah," Nihlus ground out. Shepard finally stilled again, glaring daggers at Garrus.

Taking a step back, Garrus pointed at himself and then pointed his gun at one of the Facinus troops, cocked it and shot the dead trooper. The sound cracked loudly in the small room. Liara held her breath as the steel in Shepard's eyes melted away and was replaced with lightly hidden curiosity.

Liara stepped forward again, holding up the data pad again and gestured to herself and then to Shepard. The tension in the woman ebbed a bit as she nodded slowly.

She understood. By the Goddess...

"Let her go," Liara whispered, not daring to look away from the woman.

"What?" He hissed, mandibles wide in shock.

"Do it," Garrus interrupted. It was an order, not a request. Nihlus' audibly clicked his mandibles in annoyance, but complied.

Shepard slowly stepped away from the turian, glancing back with her eyes resting on Nihlus' gun. He glared and placed his hand on hilt in warning. Liara wanted to yell at him, punch him, something, but she knew it was pointless. Nihlus was on guard, and while she wanted to trust the human, a part of her appreciated the distrustful turian. If Shepard bolted again then they would lose the ability to access the data and finish the Crucible.

She half expected the woman to reach for a data pad, but instead she went to the fallen Facinus troop. She pointed to his face and started rambling off something. She gestured to his eyes and cybernetic implants, her voice flowing softly. Liara blinked, but couldn't focus as she was in awe of hearing, actually hearing the human language. It had a strange lilt, smooth and guttural at the same time and the woman's voice was lower than she had imagined with a husky hint to it.

When Shepard turned back to the group she had an expectant look on her face.

Garrus looked to Liara in question but the asari had nothing. The sounds had been so different than anything she had expected. It had made identifying words virtually impossible.

There was a flash of annoyance across the human's face and she scowled. Standing, she held her hand out with her palm up. The Garrus looked down at her hand and then back up at her. The woman rolled her eyes and pointed at his gun.

"You want my gun?" Garrus asked. Shepard stared at him.

"No." Nihlus growled. "We can't-"

"Quiet." Garrus cut him off. Cautiously he handed her his small side arm. The human nodded in thanks, turned and fired three rounds into the dead trooper. She looked back at Garrus in question, ignoring Nihlus who had moved at the first shot, his gun an inch from her head.

Blue blood and black oil oozed from the head wounds. It reminded Garrus just how far from turian that Facinus had become. Shepard squatted down, running her fingers through the blood and she began to write something on the floor. When complete she gestured to it and said a single word.

Garrus squinted at it, tilting his head slightly. "Liara?"

The asari shook her head. She didn't recognize the word, but she pulled up her omni-tool and took a picture of the word. "Glyph," She said, accessing the Shadow Broker network, "Can you find any references to this in archives on Thessia?"

There was a small whine before Glyph's voice came of the com, "There are multiple references to the word on Namakli. One includes a picture. Would you like me to pull up the information for you Dr. T'soni?"

"Yes please."

The photo was projected holographically over Liara's wrist. It was of what appeared to be a cave drawing of a Reaper. Shepard stood and walked towards the asari. She pointed at the picture and said the word again.

"Yes." Liara said slowly, nodding. "Yes, those are Reapers." Shepard said it again and pointed at the dead trooper on the floor. Liara nodded again. Yes, the Reapers were here and yes, he worked for them. It wasn't the complete truth, but it was close enough.

Shepard glowered and gripped the gun tighter. Apparently that wasn't what she wanted to hear even though it didn't seem shocking.

The human put the gun into her black smalls, glancing at Garrus, daring him to take the gun from her. Nihlus frowned, but didn't say anything. She reached back over to the computer and with her blood soaked hand she drew a circle around the icon in the middle of the screen.

Garrus frowned and inched closer to the monitor. "That wasn't here before."

Liara pushed past him and stared at the screen. He was right. Before there had been lines and lines of code, but this time the screens were empty save for the one file.

"She accessed the computer." Liara breathed out.

"Can we download it?" Garrus asked.

"Yes." The asari said, her omnitool already glowing under her fingertips, "I'll link it to EDI so she can start sorting through the files."

"Good. We'll head back to the Intrepid now. Nihlus and I will scout ahead and make sure the path back to the shuttle is clear. You, uh," He glanced back at the human, "You convince her to follow."

Liara sighed. That would be easier said than done.