I want to thank GC42, Salvanael, and AranelMelwasul for their reviews of the last chapter. It means a lot to know that you guys are enjoying this story. Again, thank you all so much!

MASS EFFECT:
STARE INTO THE ABYSS

Chapter 03:
"The Mission, Part 1"

"You know, Jane," Garrus began, as he followed her out of the briefing room. "This plan of yours, it involves me walking into hell with you." The scarred Turian offered her in an amiable tone.

She paused, turning to smile at him in the small corridor. "Don't be that way... After all, we're only just getting started, so there's a way to go before I'd start putting odds on us." The redhead reasoned as they walked through the armory, and onto the bridge. Shepard gave a smile to Yeoman Kelly as she pressed the holographic interface to call the elevator. The doors slid open and the two of them stepped inside.

The door closed, and she let out a sigh. "The SR2 is a major improvement over the original Normandy, but I'm still not confident about our odds in another run-in with the Collectors." Shepard explained as the elevator ascended. "As it is, the ship just isn't strong enough..." She paused. "Jacob is getting some advanced ablade of armor installed to reinforce the hull, but that's just the start."

Garrus rubbed his chin. "I see what you mean," he began. "If this Normandy is going to stand a chance, then we're going yo need some serious firepower." He reasoned. "Luckily, the layout of the Normandy is partially based on Turian design, so the SR2 should be as well... And I have some contacts who can arrange to have the SR2 fitted with a Thanix Cannon ." He explained as the door slid open.

"What's exactly is a Thannix?" Shepard asked as she stepped out and activated the interface to open the door to her cabin, the Turian behind her.

He smiled, the door closing behind him. "Why, it just happens to be one of the biggest damn ship-to-ship guns every made." Garrus explained. "After the Geth attack on the Citadel, Hierarchy Operatives recovered Sovereign's main gun from the wreckage." He began. "It's powered by Element zero, and utilizes mass-effect fields to accelerate energized liquid metal to a fraction of the speed of light, that solidifies on impact, and can penetrate any form of armor."

Garrus then stepped in front of Shepard and placed his hand at her waist, pulling her against his larger frame and looked into her eyes. "They won't know what him them. It'll punch through a Collector Ship, as your kind would say, like crap through a goose!" He finished dramatically.

Shepard burst out laughing. "I love it when you talk dirty to me Vakarian!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him. "God, Garrus, have I missed the sound of your voice!" The redhead revealed as she moved to plant a kiss on his mouth, moaning as her tongue brushed against his.

After a moment, they parted, and he smiled. "I hope my voice isn't the only thing you've missed?"

"Bed, now!" Jane Shepard declared, pointing toward the far end of the cabin. She wrapped her legs around him as he easily scooped her up. "And don't stop talking."

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Joker noticed one of the recording feeds went dark, and was replaced by a set of red text.

"Feed from Captain's Cabin blocked?" Joker read out loud. "By Captain's Authorization? No remote access allowed?" He continued. "What the hell...?"

"Don't worry, Joker." Kelly Chambers interjected, suddenly appearing at his side, a steaming mug in one hand as she handed him a cup of coffee. "The Captain and Vakarian are just making up for the last two years without each other." She explained, taking a sip from her own cup. "And right now, I figure they don't need anyone peeping on them." The Yeoman added slyly as she turned to leave.

"What the heck does that mean?" Joker asked incredulously, turning his chair. "It's not like I don't have duties of my own- I'm am the pilot after all." He protested. "And what is it with everyone thinking that I'm spying on them? The helm doesn't exactly man itself you know!"

Kelly smiled to herself. "Kasumi's right, those two really are a cute couple."

"Actually, Mr. Moreau," EDI began, her holographic avatar appearing. "The VI automated systems are more than capable of maintaining the Normany's flight path. Additionally, my own cyber warfare suite allows me to assume limited control of the systems- for defensive actions and maneuvers."

"Aghh, and just who asked you!" Joker countered, turning back to the helm. "I'm perfectly capable of handling this ship on my own- I never needed any help with the original Normandy, certainly not in the form of comments from a smart-ass AI who, who thinks it's the ship's mouthpiece."

An instant passed, silent. "I am part of this vessel." EDI replied. "I possess a profound understanding of the ship that is beyond the ability of any organic being. And I am not limited by emotional associations or concepts of sentimentality." She explained evenly. "Based on my understanding of human behavior, your continued resentment of my presence, would be deemed... petulant."

"Aghhh..." Joker groaned, eyes closed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

"The crazy bastard really did it?" Garrus asked, pausing to look away from the controls of the SR2's main battery. "That Zaeed... To think, that he blew the whole refinery to get one man."

Shepard nodded, brushing a few strands of red hair out her eyes. "And when it was over, and he finally had Santiago dead to rights... He didn't even blink." She explained. "And without saying a word, he just ejected the heat sink from his pistol and left him to burn alive... while he turned and walked away, like a character from some old vid." She finished, arms folded, leaning against the wall, nearby to Garrus' work table- his Mantis sniper rifle, unfolded and laid out for future modding.

"Scary... Good thing he's on our side." Garrus remarked. "Still, I heard about your little excursion to Beckenstein with Miss Goto." The Turian began smoothly. "Must have been veritable who's who of the the criminal underworld, and I couldn't go along." He lamented with a smirk. "Though, it's not as if the two of you couldn't handle things on your own... And the way I figure it, in the grand scheme of things, I don't expect Mr. Hocke is going to be missed all that much."

"But then," Garrus continued. "That's just speculation on my part. It's not like I'm a famous vigilante who keeps track of those kind of things." He finished with a chuckle.

The human woman gave a small chuckle of her own and shook her head. "Now that I think about it, it's amazing just how often high society and the criminal underworld just happen to keep overlapping as often as they do, hmm?" Shepard asked wryly.

The Turian nodded. "Well, it's been my experience that wealth can't buy class... or even a basic sense of morality, it would seem." Garrus reasoned with a smile. "Still, I haven't forgotten those talks we had on the original Normandy... And while I wouldn't have gone out of my way to eliminate him, I wouldn't have hesitated to kill him if it came down it- if I were in your position."

Shepard nodded, and the two became silent for a moment, before Garrus exhaled.

"Getting back to the issue of extravagance," He began. "My only lasting regret in not being there was that I didn't get a chance to see you all decked out in that slinky black number you wore, Shepard... Or, perhaps should I say, Miss Alison Gunn?"

Jane grinned deviously. "Well now," she began, slinking over to his side, "if you keep on performing your duties with your usual degree of efficiency," the woman paused, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. "Then I just might be able to make that happen... Archangel."

They shared a small laugh between them, before leaning in to exchange a kiss.

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Shepard set out secure her next potential recruit for her team- a powerful and dangerous human biotic, known only as "Jack". However, Jack's propensity for extreme violence had finally caught up of them and landed the super-biotic in permanent cryogenic suspension on board the maximum security prison ship Purgatory. Normally, there would be no chance in hell of getting Jack out. And understandably so, given their history as a biotic death-machine

However, Purgatory was a privately run prison, financed and operated by the Blue Suns, and turned a nice profit, on the basis that governments would pay to keep them housed there- for fear of them being released back onto their worlds if they didn't. Despite this, they were more than happy to release their most violent and feared offender- into the hands of a known terrorist group- for the right price. She had to wonder sometimes about the lengths they were willing to go to...

Once Cerberus arranged for the release, Shepard and her team went to oversee the exchange. All that remained was for the Warden- Kuril, a gray-faced Turian with no facial markings- to confirm payment and hand Jack over... Except, the Warden had had other plans.

And this was where the lack of markings proved prophetic. As Garrus had explained to Shepard back when they were chasing after Saren Arterius: a Turian without facial markings, or "barefaced" as their own kind referred to them, were not to be trusted. To other Turians, they were pariahs, with the lack of markings inferring their lack of cultural and familial ties to their people. Saren's rampant xenophobia had turned him into a sociopath by any race's standards.

As Anderson had explained, he'd reached the point that the violence was instinctive to him- to the point that he'd come to savor it. And it was exclusive to humans- he'd shot Nihlus, a fellow Spectre and Turian, in the back of the head without compulsion.

By comparison, Kuril was a gun-for-hire and an extortionist, a small fish. But he'd revealed himself to be just as morally duplicitous as Saren. He tried to capture Shepard, figuring that he could retire off of the ransom he'd get for her. What he hadn't counted on was that Shepard would release Jack!

Needless to say, things didn't go the way he planned...

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

To say that "Jack" was not what Shepard had expected was an understatement!

To start with, Jack was a woman, though this hardly the most shocking thing about her, especially when compared the the myriad of other issues... Jack was foul-mouthed, confrontational, and prone to regular bouts of paranoia-fueled rage.

But, as the saying went, people aren't born monsters, rather, they're made that way by the circumstances of their life... And Jack's life was the ultimate shit-storm. Her past was a litany of tragedy and mayhem since childhood: She'd been tortured to bring out greater biotic powers in humans, thereby forced to kill from a young age. After that, her life had become a mess of violence, various forms of exploitation, and a laundry list of countless criminal acts- including an absurdly high body count, racked during the years prior to her eventual capture and incarceration.

And then there were the tattoos... They both served as a visual record of her life, while also covering up both the literal scars of her pasts, as well as the emotional/psychological ones. Her body was a tapestry of images- set vividly in ink upon her skin- enough for an entire company of mercenaries, or a platoon of soldiers, depending on how you looked at the matter.

While Shepard wasn't naïve enough to think that the profound damage inflicted upon the woman could just be washed away with positive thinking, she was determined to do whatever she could to help her in some way. As it stood, Jack's formidable powers weren't enough... As long as she lacked a fundamental sense of human empathy, she was a dangerous liability. As a leader, Shepard needed to be able to trust Jack, and to achieve this, she would need to get Jack to trust her.

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Shepard wasn't sure when she'd become such a 'den mother' to her squadmates and crew, but without realizing it, she'd allowed herself to become the go-to person for other people's problems. Not that she minded helping, just wondered what qualified her to dispense advise and offer help on matters ranging from deep-seated family rifts to personal vendettas.

Was it simply a matter of her position as the the mission leader and ship's captain, or her reputation as the Commander Shepard, that somehow qualified her to help people. She'd been trained to be a soldier, and yet she regularly found herself serving in a role more akin to that of a diplomat or peacemaker. In the end, she could only conclude that it all came down one surprisingly simple fact: that, for whatever reason, people saw her as someone they could turn to...

That, for reasons she couldn't really fathom, that the simple status of who she was- of simply just being Shepard- somehow inferred some intangible quality. That Commander Shepard was the one person you could rely on, that you could trust. That if you were faced with an impossible situation, and you had no where else to turn to in your time of need... Well, then it was just a matter of finding her.

She shook her head, shrugging off the feeling that her self-summation was strangely reminiscent of something else, possibly something she'd once heard on an old vid...

Getting back to her line of thought, it seemed that as he team grew, so too did the complexity that came with the mounting factors she would have to consider. So far, she'd had to intervene once already when Miranda and Jack's first meeting started getting a little too catty for her liking. Ironically, she realized that the women had more in common than either would like to admit. That while they were the product of very different lives, the end result were largely the same- that they were powerful, dominant woman, with something to prove to both themselves and those around them...

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Since her revival, Shepard had gained some understanding of the balance of power that existed in the world of mercenaries. Above all the small-time merc groups, there were three large-scale organizations that vied for power, all of them ready to offer their services- similar, yet differing- to those who could afford to pay them. And counting her run-in with them on Omega, she'd personally encountered each of the three groups on at least two or three separate occasions.

The Blue Suns, unlike the other two groups, at least attempted to maintain some semblance of legality, portraying themselves as a "private security firm". They were a para-military organization, comprised of humans, Turians, and Batarians. Many of the Suns were ex-military, as reflected in their approach to their missions: heavily armed and armored, surprisingly efficient and precise, and skilled in a variety of combat situations. They were arguably the most commercially mainstream of the three factions, going so far as to advertise with benefits plans and set up recruiting centers. In truth, whatever the group's founding philosophy may have once been, they were just as corrupt as their competition.

The Eclipse, by comparison, where blatantly criminal in their presentation. The group was founded on Illium as an Asari para-military force, but would later augment their forces with humans and Salarians as galactic society become diverse. They made use of Biotics and tech, specializing in "smart warfare" to overwhelm their opposition. They were big players in the underground economy, making money of drug smuggling, live trafficking, and intelligence theft, though they also were regularly hired to provide security for the affluent criminals of the galaxy.

And rounding out the trinity was the Krogan-centric Bloodpack. They began on Tuchanka, established by the powerful Weyrlock Clan. As the group expanded, they augmented their already powerful Krogan forces with Vorcha troops- making them more like a force of nature. The Bloodpack used numbers and brute force to tare through enemies, making them brutal but highly effective. You only hired them when you wanted to inflict serious damage, and had nothing to lose in the collateral damage- in other words, if you wanted to ruin someone's life, and see them dead at all costs.

On this occasion, Shepard found herself in another run-in with the Blue Suns...

They were looking to recruit an infamous, yet brilliant, Krogan warlord, Doctor Okeer. His quest to find a means of curing the genophage had lead him to contact the Collectors- no doubt hoping to gain access to their advanced technology. Aside from the matter of his (ongoing?) dealings with their current enemy, there was also the fact that Okeer had allied with the Blue Suns, and was currently stationed on the planet Korlus, along with a Suns training facility.

Ah yes, Korlus...

The planet, in the Imir System of the Eagle Nebula, was a dismal place. A Citadel Council Member had described it as "A garbage scow with a climate" at the turn of the century, and little had changed in the more than eighty years since the observation was first made. The planet was just tolerable enough to be habitable, and the Korlus Tourist Board has been attempting to re-brand their planet- without success.

Korlus had become a popular spot for dumping near-dead space vessels- turning the planet into a ship graveyard, filled with the gutted hulls of countless vessels across the planet. Failed campaigns to label it as "the recycling center of the galaxy", along with corruption scandals and a staggering murder rate also helped to ensure that Korlus's tainted image. Charmingly, approaching Korlus would trigger an automated warning- broadcast to any ship, with the following information.

"TRAVEL ADVISORY: Korlus ranks second in murders per capita in the Terminus Systems and first in offworld murder. Civilian traffic is encouraged to employ security professionals when visiting."

The biggest business on the planet was salvage- scouring for anything of value that still remained in the junked ships. While the advent of omni-gel made this sort of work significantly cleaner, it is still a dirty business that chokes Korlus's skyline with smog and its ports with tons of scrap. A shady 'hospitality industry' and a scavenger underclass rounded out the spectacle of urban decay.

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

The situation planet-side on Korlus was a mess, and not just in the obvious sense. Whatever scheme that had been undertaken had clearly gone very wrong. Upon arrival, the Blue Suns were under attack from rampaging Krogans- turning the area into a chaotic free for all, while a woman's voice alternated between issuing orders to her men and outright threatening to kill them herself! It was clear, by the troops reactions to the maniacal woman's edicts, that she was not popular.

Shepard stepped forward, squinting as she scanned the area. Holding up her M7 Avenger, she activated the assault rifle's "Inferno" mod with her omni-tool. Zaeed snorted dismissively at the chaos unfolding before them- his Vindicator rifle in hand- while Jack appeared to be excited by it, eagerly clutching her Eviscerator shotgun to her chest as she looked around. Garrus held up his omni-tool, looking over the information in the holographic display it projected. His Mantis sniper rifle and Vindicator assault rifle ware slung across his presently, though he was ready to draw a weapon at a moment's notice.

The term "free for all" had proven an apt descriptor of the situation, with the Blue Suns caught between fighting Shepard's team and the Krogan, with the Krogans attacking both of them. They gradually made their way through the rusted, skeletal hull of a gutted freighter, until they ran into a familiar face from Shepard's past- someone whom both Shepard and Garrus hadn't seen in over two years...

"Shepard?" The Asari asked, understandably confused.

"What are you doing here?" Shepard asked. "The last time I saw you was on Virmire, and I let you go on the condition that you wouldn't cause any more trouble."

"It's different this time." Rana Thanoptis replied. "I didn't forget what you said. I put the second chance you gave me to good use." She went on. "Okeer's work here is incredible- groundbreaking- given time, it will fundamentally change the Krogan as a people." The Asari paused. "The only problem is... that we haven't perfected the process yet." She admitted, somewhat awkwardly.

"It was my job to create a teaching VI," she continued. "To imprint the tank Krogan with the necessary information- while still in development." Rana explained proudly. "Thanks to you, I've had the chance to work in a field of science I never could have before! Think of it: biological en-vetro data-imprinting on genetically engineered lifeforms! Now... If they would just stop going crazy, then-"

"Listen," Shepard interrupted. "I'm looking for Okeer, and- from the sound things- so is the Blue Suns Commander, and I don't this Jedore woman is interested in just talking with him."

"I get it, you don't have to tell me twice!" Rana replied. "I know how you work, so I'll just start running now, to avoid any trouble." She finished, before sprinting out of the room.

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

"Behold... This. One. Perfect. Krogan." Okeer declared dramatically, his hands out in gesticulation as he stood before the tank. "With him, I shall inflict the greatest insult against those who unleashed the Genophage on our people a millennia ago! By making it... Irrelevant!"

"I don't know what the hell's going on here, but I'm done with Okeer!" Jedore's voice barked out over the intercom. "I want the labs purged! As for these strangers... I'll deal with them myself!"

"Uh... An' just wha' the fuck is that hissing sound?" Jack observed bluntly, the usual trace of irritation audible the tattooed woman's low voice.

"To think the woman would go so far to destroy me and all I have accomplished!" Okeer remarked, his early confidence now giving way to genuine worry. "Soon, Commander, this facility will be filled with toxic gas..." The Krogan revealed, turning to Shepard. "Shepard, eliminate Jedore. I will remain here... and do what must be done." He instructed, his tone becoming grave.

"You can't stay in here, the gas will kill you!" Shepard countered. "You just said that this whole will be toxic soon- you have to leave now!"

Okeer turned away from her. "No, this Krogan is unique, there is no other him. He is the embodiment of my life's work, my legacy..." He paused, approaching the tank controls. "These are the terms of my assistance, Commander, now go." He looked over his shoulder, to her. "Go, kill Jedore!"

Shepard recognized the impetus in his tone and expression. She'd seen it many times before, it was the face and voice of someone who- with fatal certainty- was resigned to their fate. And though, while the occasions and reasons differed, one fact remained a constant...

That this person intended to die.

The Commander nodded, and led her team from the lab, as Okeer turned back to the console, and set about carrying out his task...

As Shepard and the rest of her team reached the open-air tank chamber, they were met by the sight of two giant Loki Mechs powering up and turning toward them, while Jedore stood above them, with an active rocket launcher aimed at them!

(- To Be Continued... -)

This wasn't the original ending I had planned for this chapter, but it just kept getting longer and longer as I wrote more of it. In doing this chapter, I'm condensing several hours of game play into paragraphs, and it still ends up over-long! And to think, I worried this chapter might come up short...

Still, shifting the "cliffhanger" will give me more to work with in the next chapter, which will be less of a summery and more active storytelling. I tried to include some fun Shakarian content where I could as I was writing this, and I'm happy to sat that the next chapter should have even more!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and I'll try to have the next chapter up in a reasonable amount of time. Here's hoping nothing comes up!

-Bojack727