"Chora's Den. This place hasn't changed at all over the years. Asari dancers shaking their asses, 80% of the customers are males, the drinks range from the legal to a few well hidden illegal ones that I can just make out, and there's Tarnavis, the Turian bartender who always served me since the others tried to keep their distance in fear of me blasting their heads off."

The music was loud, the neon blue and pink lighting covered the place, Asari in some rather revealing clothing placing on top of a bar located in the middle of the place, the beings either having a drink or staring at the said dancers. Samus, Kaidan and Ashley had just entered, with Samus taking a long, deep breath, enjoying the smell of drunks, smoke and sweat, before she had explained the place to them.

Ashley was strongly in disapproval of it. "You used to come here often? Why? Why not the Flux? At least it's more respectable then…this."

"Because it's the best place to watch for targets at. The owner, Fist? I know he does some dirty underhanded work, and once he tried to shoo me out of here when he was waiting for a few traders bringing him some drugs. He picked the time I'd just got back from a mission, so I still had all my Chozo tech, thus two shots of my Plasma beam on his bodyguards later, he wisely chose to leave me be instead of trying a conflict. We've been…on good terms, you could say, since then. His learnt to speak to his partners elsewhere whenever I was around."

"I'm surprised they'd sell illegal drinks nowadays after having you hanging around here back then. Wouldn't the prospect of you returning put them off?" Kaidan added.

"Nah, I never had any problems with the alcohol. I'd only chase after those who were on the Federation bounty list boards. I'd scan customers as they came in and see if they were on the lists, if they were, I'd either let them have one drink, or watch one show with a dancer, before I arrest their ass, or take them outside and gun'em down. Alive or dead, it all depended on whatever paid the highest."

Kaidan looked a little impressed. "How much would you rake in with some of them?"

"I normally earned around two to three thousand credits for each. Murderers or people known in raids earned me a nice catch of at least six thousand. If they were wanted alive, I'd normally have to break a few of their ribs, their leg or an arm in order to get them to cooperate."

Tarnavis, aka the Turian barman, soon noticed Samus after serving a customer, as she walked over, and leaned on the bar. "Samus? Is, that you? You look like shit."

"Thanks." she answered in a deadpan tone. "I need to know if a certain someone is here right now."

"Aw come on Samus. Why not a drink or two first as you used to? It's been six years!"

"Nah, I should remain sober untill I get off duty. Do you know a Harkin?"

The barman seemed to think about this for a moment. "Yeah, yeah I know him. Jennas given him several drinks already, his near the entrance to Fists place. Better get to him now, before the Krogan bouncer feels like tossing his ass out."

Samus and the other two went around the bar, and eventually, they saw who they were looking for, sitting at a table by himself, with a bottle of booze nearby. He was mostly bald, looking in his 30's, and was just idily staring at a dancing Asari nearby. He soon spotted Samus and the others walking over. "Whoa, hey there baby, I hope this isn't an offer for a foursome or something. Get rid of the idiot. I prefer just two girls."

Ashley muttered quietly. "Great, drunks. All we need right now…"

Samus wasn't having none of it, as she stood before Harkin, glaring down at him as he sat there, lazily leaning back, looking up at her. "Name's Samus Shepard. David Anderson sent me, said you might know where a Turian named Garrus Vakarian is currently."

Harkin chuckled a little. "Anderson sent you did he? Asshole wants information and nowadays he can't even be bothered to show up himself to get it, lazy sonnova bitch…yeah I know where Garrus is right now, doesn't mean I'm gonna tell ya, unless your willing to show off your goods."

Samus crossed her arms. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, take off the gear, shake your ass for me a bit, then I'll pass the info. You look like you got some quality goods from here. Heheh.."

Harkin soon found himself with a bloody nose and head on the table, dazed. Samus wasn't putting up with his crap, and socked him right in the face. "Don't think you're the first guy from C-Sec that's been introduced to my fist. Now either tell me that info, or start walking out, because if you even think about fighting back, the unwise third option, I'll snap a few of your bones for you to make you reconsider."

The guy soon managed to force his face off the table, and stand up, glaring at Samus. "You little bitch!" He made a swing for her…which resulted in him finding his arm that he had used twisted right around his back, Samus's arm around his neck, with her behind him for a few seconds, before she moved her arm, grabbed his head, then slamming his upper half into the table, knocking off the bottle of booze, holding his head down with her hand.

"Trust me Harkin, C-Sec doesn't prepare you for me. Now do I really need to break your arm over this?" Samus was smirking, clearly enjoying this.

Kaidan quickly looked over at Ashley, noticing a few of the patrons taking notice. "Aren't we suppose to stop her from causing any trouble while we look for Garrus?"

"You want to try then? Because I don't." Ashley answered, after hearing Harkin beg for Samus to let him go, which she eventually did, backing off, but ready if he tries to fight again as he stood up once more, shaking his arm that was twisted and looking at it, wincing in pain a little.

"Now, we talking? Or are you leaving?" Samus gave him the choice again.

Harkin mumbled something under his breath, and soon began to walk out, stumbling a little on the way. Most of the patrons who were watching looked at him leave, then focused on Samus for a moment, before going back to their own drinks and women.

Kaidan was surprised Samus did just simply let him go. "Wait, after all that your fine with him leaving? You don't mind beating someone down, and gaining nothing out of it?"

Samus shrugged. "It was good stress relief and helps me focus, I felt a tingling pain down one side of me again, and dealing with Harkin helped me ignore it. Relax, we'll get the information from somewhere. If it turns out he was the only one with it, I'll chase him down."

Samus was in luck though, someone up in the realms above favoured her.

Two of the beings that hadn't watched what was going on were just outside the door to Fists place. It seems the Krogan bouncer the barman mentioned was busy with another Krogan this whole time, who had three scars down one side of his face. His red scaled armor looked familiar to Samus as she noticed the Krogan was demanding to get in, but the bouncer firmly warned him to get lost.

He suddenly turned away from the bouncer, snarling in annoyance, and was walking towards them, or more precise, as Samus quickly noticed, he intended to just barge through. She wasn't one to let people push her around, so instead showed she wouldn't let him, by a dark glare, and moving towards him.

"Samus, I wouldn't recommended…" Ashley started with, before it was too late, and both the Krogan and Samus smacked into one another, shoulder by shoulder, the Krogan actually out powering her and pushing her aside, but it got his attention, as he looked at her.

"Hmph, Humans, especially the females, are rarely as bold as you when a Krogan storms their way past to leave."

"I've handled my fair share of Krogan. Especially those that tried to make deals with the Space Pirates in the Dalanius System, and instead had to leave with their pride damaged." Samus looked him right in the eyes.

Her voice made something click in his head. "Space Pirates?…Wait…I know you. Looking at your figure, and your attitude, you must be that annoying bitch, without the power suit this time. It's been a good while since that raid in the Dalanius System, hasn't it, hunter? I hope you're not going to try to take anymore credits outta me, because this time I have a more even chance of killing you."

Kaidan and Ashley came over to Samus, with Kaidan looking surprised. "You met this guy before, Samus?"

"Urdnot Wrex. He and several other Krogan decided to team up with the Pirates to attack one of the Turian colonies. I came along and fucked it all up for them. Over one hundred pirates dead, the rest retreated, and all but one Krogan, who put his gun down and decided to hand me the credits the space pirates paid him for the job in exchange for letting him go and sparing his life."

"Yeah. That was 15,000 credits, and you're not getting a chip more outta me. I'm clean for the moment, so you can look elsewhere to collect your goddamn bounties." Wrex snarled at her.

"Relax big guy. I was wondering why you were chatting to that bouncer over there. Long lost relative? Idiot brother? Guy that shagged your wife?" Samus shrugged innocently, knowing full well she could see she was getting on his nerves a little, but she didn't mind…it was her, Kaidan and Ashley against him, she would let him fire first too, so then C-Sec couldn't arrest her as it would be self defence. She was ready to raise her kinetic shields the second he grabs his gun.

Wrex didn't bite though, instead, he answered with something that caught her interest. "Actually, hunter, I'm doing a little bounty hunting myself right now, for the shadow broker. Fist needs to die."

Samus raised her eyebrow slightly. "Wait, the Shadow Broker? I thought Fist was on good terms with that information collector? Last time I was around Fist got a little extra on the side from it…'course I took that money as 'annoyance pay' for him trying to shoo me out with his goons again, but still."

"Well not anymore, not since his decided to backstab the broker. From what I've heard his decided to send a possible client with information the broker wanted to a spectre called Saren. The broker picked up on a transmission between Fist and Saren a day ago when Fist was told this client would soon visit him…the broker isn't happy."

"How much is the pay?"

" 'bout 7,000. 3,000 extra if the client in question is found unharmed."

Kaidan was alerted by the fact Sarens named was mentioned. "Shepard, if Saren is involved, it might be a lead. Maybe this client has information about Eden Prime or something more. Something that'll remove his spectre status."

Samus thought about this carefully, then focused on Wrex. "You know, I'm quite a good pal of Fists. How about we go and have a little chat with him?"

Wrex laughed at her. "Oh yeah? And how do you expect to get past the bouncer here and the other ones that are bound to get pissed if we do anything?"

Samus pulled out her rifle, charging it up and ready. "I'm a professional at handling bouncers."


Udina and Anderson were back in the human embassy office, with Udina sitting at his desk, looking at the holo-projected screen at data files, while Anderson was looking at over at the presidium. Neither had spoken much since the meeting with the councillors. Right now, it was all eerily silent between them.

They had managed to sort out the whole AI having a name with the council. Thankfully Valern had gotten the others to dismiss it, expecting Samus to give something like that a name if she's so close to each of her ships.

Anderson was thinking about Samus, which in turn, led to him thinking about Adam…Adam Malkovich.

He had tried to help Samus let go of his death. Ever since she returned to service, he had often tried to talk to her about it, try to get her to open up a bit to him again. He remembered the day she had to be brought before the council all those years ago, finally seeing her again…

"Samus Aran. You…don't look too good. Or at least your suit doesn't now. What the hell happened to it?"

Anderson stood before her in the hangar bay, where her ship had been docked. He had several C-Sec officers with him, ready to escort the famed bounty hunter. He looked her up and down, as she walked up to him. "Parasites and Metroid DNA David. Been one hell of a bumpy ride since I last saw you."

With that, she shook his hand, and he remembered the smile she had on her face, as she looked at him through her visor. He couldn't help but feel, disgusted, by the slimy, rubbery texture her suit hand now had, and chuckled a little after moving his hand away and going 'eeugh.' on purpose.

"So, I take it these guys are here to show me the way to the council?" Samus asked.

"Unfortunately yes…the news we've been hearing has been, disturbing to some, but I know whatever you've done, you done it for the right reasons, as always. Hopefully, and god willing, the council know this as well. You've done the Alliance and the Galactic Federation proud with all you've achieved, remember that." He could tell by her reaction that little reassurance helped her concern on the matter.

"Thanks David. I'll see you later then, after the chat. Hopefully we can have a little drink together to catch up, huh?" With that, she walked past him, told the officers she was ready to meet the council, and was about to be escorted away, when she saw that he was following.

"You need someone there from the Alliance Samus. I can't let you handle politics alone you know." He had begun walking beside her, and heard her say "thanks." as they entered the lift to head down into the presidium, and go to that dreadful meeting…

The Turian, Sparatus, and the Asari, Tevos, were both there, but also there was Valern's predecessor, who had now retired, Keaton. A person who was from a sub-species of Salarian, from their homeworld. The body was pretty much the same, but their heads were different, his was more round, and he had antennas with two small visible eyes coming out from the top of them, and actual pointy ears. His skin was different in the way it was green and scaled down the front part of his body, and finally, his eyes were red, and had very visible pupils unlike the actual main species of Salarian. He was first an officer of C-Sec, then became the chairman, and now, he was the voice for the Salarians on the seats of the council.

and he knew Samus quite well with her past dealings.

He red eyes glared down at her from the council's position, after Samus had explained that the Alliance had offered no payment for the destruction of the B.S.L station or of SR388, but it was all of her own accord and choice in order to stop the threat. To Anderson, it seemed wise and sensible, but to them…

"You are nothing more then a highly destructive criminal Samus Aran! The Alliance should be watching your every step instead of allowing you free reign to cause damage wherever you may please! B.S.L was an important science station to the Galactic Federation, and you destroyed it because you 'felt' it was the right choice!"

"What I found on that station, Councillor, should be something that I should question the Federation about! Metroids being bred! And experiments to control the X parasite!" Samus shouted back to the Salarian.

There was a brief moment of silence from all sides, untill Sparatus spoke up. "Where is the proof, Aran? Because if I recall, the whole Metroids being bred excuse was used by you before for the loss of the Bottle Station, correct? You couldn't produce any proof other then proclaim Adam died to stop them, and your other sources of information, 'Anthony Higgs' and 'Madeline Bergman' were never found."

"It's obvious she cannot just admit she enjoys, no, needs, to see the progress of the Federation get destroyed. A lethal and dangerous criminal. Nothing more." Keaton added.

Tevos looked down at Samus, and noticed she was getting really frustrated. "Samus, do you have any proof?"

Anderson stood close to the bounty hunter, and saw her seemingly think inside that helmet. She had something in mind, but soon, all she said back was "No. I do not."

Tevos looked to Sparatus, then to Keaton, both murmured something, before pressing buttons on the consoles before them, before finally Tevos did the same. "Samus Aran, we, the council, feel you are too dangerous to be of any service to the Galactic Federation, and the Alliance, and have removed your bounty hunter status. We must also place you under arrest for acts of terrorism against the Federation, any resistance to your arrest will be used to extend your time imprisoned, do you understand?"

"Now wait just a damn minute!" Anderson wasn't going to allow them to just brand Samus a goddamn criminal. Samus seemed to just be ready to accept the punishment, but he wasn't. "This is Samus Aran we're talking about here! A galactic saviour! She's battled pirates to the far reaches of known space for you lot! She saved your behind twice before Keaton, she almost wiped out the Metroids, a bio-weapon that was lethal to all life! She's slain Ridley over and over along with the other Pirate Lords to stop their criminal activities! She's taken down the rogue AI Mother Brain for you lot! I accept that she does need to think of her actions, and stopping her going around bounty hunting is fine, but imprisonment is too far!"

Sparatus answered this. "Then what would you have us do? Just allow her to roam free? She could easily become a mercenary and continue her work."

"Look…Just give us time, alright? A day. Let us find proof to show about the B.S.L station. If we find proof of Metroid breeding or about these X parasites being used as possible weapons, you need to admit she did the right thing and lessen her punishment." Anderson pleaded to them, hoping they would give them a small chance.

Keaton had folded his arms in obvious disapproval, but Tevos and Sparatus were more lenient, thankfully. Tevos soon spoke as she looked to the Turian, then to Anderson and Samus. "Although we may feel you are just wasting time, we do understand that Samus deserves a chance to show evidence, in light of everything she's done for us before. One day Anderson. No more."

"We'll get right on it." Anderson assured the councillor, before turning to Samus. "Come on, we got work to do, I need all the details you can give me, okay?"

"Anderson!"

David turned around and noticed Udina looking at him from his chair. "Sorry, my mind drifted a little. Did you find out if Samus has been taken off the list of potential spectres due to what's going on?"

Udina nodded. "It seems they still see her with a chance. Despite the loss of Nihlus, a fair few of the other spectres support the idea of Samus being one of them. Hopefully if we can get proof about Saren and get him off the rank of spectre, that will seal the deal for Miss Shepard."

"Good. She needs something to go right for once. Maybe then she'll be a bit more chipper about things."

"I just hope we're doing the right thing, allowing her to become a spectre…" Udina looked back to the data before him.

"Trust me ambassador, she might've been brash a few times back in the days of hunting, but her time in N7 and being in the Alliance once again have made her know when to not cause any unneeded trouble."


"Heck yes! Bar fights! I love 'em! Ashley, make sure you just shoot that bald bastard in the balls, I remember the time he tried to hit on me!"

Samus, Wrex, Ashley and Kaidan, were currently behind the bar, the barkeepers had fled, along with most of the customers and workers of Chora's den. Samus started the fight by burrowing Wrex's energy shotgun, walking up to the Krogan bouncer and blasted his face off before he had a chance to activate his kinetic shields. Now there was around 15 people responding to that by shooting them, mostly bouncers, some of the customers, probably criminals who have dealings with Fist. Samus didn't really care, they just need to run, or die.

There was around 7, folks left against them, and Wrex just blasted down two of them with one shotgun round, before ducking back down, and hearing the scream of another, as Ashley did what Samus suggested…shoot the bald guy right in the balls…with a hail with energy bullets from her rifle. "You know I expected you humans to have a more peaceful idea on how to get to Fist, not complaining though!"

Kaidan got up from his hiding position and used his biotics to knock three of the bouncers who were close together off their feet and smacking into a wall. Samus followed up by firing at them, gunning them down before they could recover. "I was thinking about it, but I knew this place hasn't had any real action for some time. It was time to take it back to the good old days."

It left just one man against them, and Ashley gave him a neat little headshot right through his face, after Wrex fired his shotgun, disabling the guys shields. "You know commander, we gotta do this again sometime." Ashley commented, looking around, checking it was clear.

"No we shouldn't." Kaidan added, looking annoyed at Samus. "Did we really need to get into that fight Shepard? I'm sure there was other ways we could've handled this matter you know."

"Sixteen dead bodies say no point worrying about it now. Come on. Fist's waiting." Samus jumped over the bar, looking back to it afterwards as Wrex, Kaidan and Ashley moved away from it. "Huh, no Blue Blurr. Must've been discontinued…shame, wanted to enjoy a shot of it after this."

They walked up to the door the Krogan bouncer was once watching, and opening it revealed two more people working for fist, guns ready, though, they didn't fire, and were clearly shaking it fear. "Don't come any closer! We'll open fire!"

Wrex sighed in annoyance. "They're just slave workers for the guy, I don't think we should even waste ammo on them."

Samus nodded. "Good point. Hey, why don't you two just get the hell outta here instead of trying to be stupid?"

The workers looked at each other for a moment, before focusing on Samus and the others again. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Four of us, two of you. Do the math. And remember to add the total of dead bodies in the den behind us. If we could take them out, what chance in hell do you have?" Samus knew that would make them think.

It worked, the workers lowered their guns, and with great caution, slowly went by the group, putting away their weapons, before running for their lives out of Chora's Den.

"I see your charm hasn't changed much over the years, hunter. Reminds me of when you had me cornered." Wrex quipped in.

They moved on, and soon, they had found themselves in Fists office. The guy himself was busy looking at a data pad, having not heard the door open. Samus sped up her pace, walking much faster then the others, storming in, heading right to him. "Hey Fist! Long time no see! Didn't hear me cause a shoot out in your bar again?"

Fist just barely had the time to turn and raise his pistol towards Samus, firing one shot that missed as she quickly knocked his hand with hers, making the gun fire upwards, then twisting his hand to force him to let go of it, before pushing him back and pretty much slamming him on his own desk, holding him by the neck. "Y-you!"

"Yeah, it's me Fist. Soooo, had a little fall out with the shadow broker did we? Got yourself in the deep end again?" She made sure to keep her grip tight on his neck, just letting him have the ability to breathe.

"So what, bitch? What's it to you huh? You ain't a hunter no more. You can't claim any bounties on me. As far as I had heard, you tried to keep a low profile. Is isn't the best way to do it now, is it?"

Samus lifted his head slightly, them smacked it down hard on the desk. "Don't piss me off Fist. You don't need that."

"What do you want then? Does the A-Alliance want me arrested?" breathing was taking a fair bit of his energy to do. Samus's grip felt like it was getting tighter around his air hole. The others had now come and stood with Samus, watching her way of handling someone like him.

"I want information, Fist. Information about someone who you decided to hand over to an asshole named Saren."

"A-A Quarian. She's due to meet agents working for Saren. Down the alley near the den. She had-had information about Eden Prime, Saren wanted her to stop her giving whatever it is away. H-hacked transmission, she said!"

Kaidan looked surprised. "A transmission? If it's important enough to try to give to the shadow broker then it's gotta be useful for us in the council."

Samus agreed, then pulled Fist up from the desk, making him stand and look right at her. Her grip on his neck never loosening. "Now, my friend here, the Krogan? Is after your head. But we're pals, right Fist? Great pals at that, aren't we?"

Fist managed to nod, sweating as he sees the Krogan smile evilly, holding his shotgun.

"That's good. Now…" She used her other hand, and pulled out her pistol, aiming it at Fist's arm…and before he could say a word, fired it, blasting a small yet decent hole into his arm, causing blood to splatter on the floor, over, specifically, his pistol, she even, after putting her pistol away, yanked his arm to make sure more blood dribbled on it as he managed to cry out in pain.

"Relax Fist." she said, as he was whimpering, and she finally let go of his wounded arm. "This is going to save you in the long run. I didn't blast the bone, just grab some medi gel from one of clinics, then get the hell off this station and keep a low profile for a while."

She slowly turned around, dragging him with her, then, shoved him back, letting him go, allowing him to hit the floor, grunting in pain and still whimpering over his arm, as he sat up and looked at her. "Exit is to your left. Get out of here Fist, for now, Chora's Den needs to be closed."

He didn't argue, he didn't dare say anything, he forced himself up, and stumbled out of the room, holding his wounded arm tightly.

Wrex looked down at the pistol Fist left behind, now mostly covered in his blood. "Hm, nice. Proof of death, and even DNA to back it up. Nice job hunter, this'll guarantee one part of the bounty."

"Grab it Wrex and let's go. We gotta make sure the other part of the bounty is safe. Our Quarian friend is in danger."


The Quarian, a female one, in question, had finally arrived in the red lit alleyway, looking around and waiting for someone. Fist someone her a personal meeting with the broker about this information she had. All she had to do, was wait…

That's when she noticed four people, two Turians wearing black armor and two Salarians wearing white, walk down the alley, towards her. One of the Turians motioned her to come towards them, which she cautiously did so. "So, you must be the one with information on Saren, correct?" one of Turians asked.

She nodded. "That's right…which one of you is the shadow broker?"

The Turian seemed to ignore her question, something that alerted her. "Why don't you just hand over the info? We'll send the payment for it to your Omni tool."

She took a step back as they advanced on her. "Where, is, the shadow broker? I was promised to meet them in person. The deal is off otherwise!"

She then realized they had their barriers up, the faint flicker of blue energy around all four of them confirmed this. They were ready for resistance. "Just hand it over, and we'll let you walk away." The Turian warned.

"How about you just let her walk away now and not waste your miserable lives?"

Walking up besides her, his pistol out, aiming at the group, was Garrus Vakarian, looking rather confident at getting here on time. "Ma'am. I'm from C-Sec. Get behind me, I'll handle them."

The Quarian must've been frowning behind her mask. "Excuse me? I can handle myself thank you very much!" She pulled out her own pistol, and aimed it at the thugs.

They responded by pulling out their shotguns and sniper rifles. "Unfortunately for you, we have the firepower and numbers. Now how about you both drop your toys and just come with us? I'm sure we can find some use for both of you."

Garrus smirked. "Come on then, I ain't going down as easy as you'd like."

"Good, a little sport. Kill the cop guys, cripple the Quarian untill we can get that info!" the Turian aimed his rifle at Garrus, only to hear the charging and loading of four other weapons, behind him and his group.

"How about you guys drop YOUR toys since we now have the numbers?" Samus held her assault rifle ready, aiming right for the head of the Turian who seemed to be leading the group. Wrex, Kaidan and Ashley were besides her, ready for action.

The Turian slowly turned around, and instead of listening, like she expected, the moment he saw her, he just went nuts. "It's Samus Shepard! Kill her! Kill her in the name of Saren!"

It didn't take no more then several seconds for the brief exchange of weapons fire to end. Samus's group let loose after the Turian had said that, and Garrus and the Quarian fired several rounds the moment Samus opened fire. Whatever shields the four thugs had, quickly died out, and their bodies were riddled with burnt holes in their flesh, as they fell to the floor.

Samus and her team soon lowered their weapons, and headed over to Garrus and his companion, stepping over the bodies. "Garrus. Almost bit more off then you could chew. Surprised you were here. How'd you know about….?" she looked at the Quarian, motioning her to say her name.

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

Garrus gave a small, amused chuckle. "Well actually I didn't. You see I was looking around in the neighbourhood, hunting for info on Saren, anything really, when I saw these two workers of Chora's Den run by in a blind panic. I questioned them, turned out someone was shooting up the place, and I was about to head there, when I noticed Tali'Zorah here acting strangely, waiting around, slowly making her way down the alley, I presumed she was waiting for the attackers of the Den to come, since, well, down that way is Chora's Den. So, waited, saw the thugs, knew she was in danger, came to the rescue then you guys showed up and did most of the work for me. Thanks."

"Well, I have all of you to thank. I really can only imagine what would've happened to me if none of you came. I owe you all." Tali said with relief.

Samus walked over to her. "Tali, you have information on Saren, right? Something that is dangerous enough to him he had to send his goons to get it?"

Tali nodded. "I was going to use it as a bargain with the broker, but since I owe you, it's a starting way to pay you back. It's a transmission of Saren and someone else, discussing about the attack on Eden Prime."

"That's perfect Tali. If you don't mind, we'd like you to come with us to the human embassy, and probably to the council itself. I'm sure this is just what we need to deal with that asshole of a spectre."


"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."

"And one step closer, to the return of the Reapers."

Tali stood there before the council, her arm outstretched, her Omni tool glowing, as the playback ended. Besides her, was Samus, Anderson and Udina. Further back, off the walkway, was Kaidan, Ashley, Wrex and Garrus.

There was silence afterwards, a long, moment of silence, before Sparatus spoke. "Where did you find this, Quarian?"

"I managed to salvage it from a damaged Geth I found. Most of it's memory core was wiped, but from its audio logs I got this. No doubt when this conversation occurred it was transmitted between all the Geth as one overheard it sir." Tali answered. She looked worried, standing before the council of the Federation.

Sparatus seemed to think this over, as Udina then decided to add "You wanted proof. Well there it is."

The Turian councillor resigned to the truth. "The evidence is…undeniable. We will strip Saren of his spectre status."

Tevos had been thinking since she heard the voice of Saren, and another voice, the one who said about the reapers. "I know that other voice. Matriarch Benezia. She is a well known member of Asari society. She was many followers, and if she's working with Saren, it is worrying."

"I'm more interested about these 'Reapers'. Do we know anything about them?" Valern asked.

Tali knew. "Only what we know from the Geth sir. The Reapers are their gods. They're the perfect machines to the Geth, an ancient force that managed to wipe out the Protheans…and just seemed to vanish."

"The Geth are working for Saren, so he probably knows of a way to bring their 'gods' back. Probably has something to do with this conduit that he mentioned. His looking for it, that's why he attacked Eden Prime, and hunted for the beacon. Whatever this conduit is, it's just bad news to us if it can help bring these Reapers back." Samus added.

Sparatus frowned a little. "Bringing back machines that destroyed the Protheans, wiped them all out…That sounds ridiculous. Impossible even, it has to be. Where did they go? Why did they vanish? If they existed we would've found something about them by now."

"Councillor, just accept what I say for once, alright?" Samus could feel her anger rising with him.

Tevos knew when to try and intervene. "Shepard, you've given us proof of Saren, solid proof. You shown Saren has betrayed the Federation and is out there looking for this conduit, yet we cannot confirm actually why he is."

Valern then put his part in. "Obviously like most god beliefs, it is just a myth. No doubt a myth Saren is using to make the Geth bow to his will."

"So what will you do when it turns out to be correct then? That there is a race called the Reapers? And they begin their attack? What will you do?" Samus questioned.

"Saren is the main cause of concern, not these Reapers. We've stripped him of his rank and resources now." Tevos argued calmly.

"That's not good enough!" Udina was suddenly coming into the fray. "You know his somewhere in the traverse send your fleets in! Stop him now before he can cause any more attacks against us and the Federation!"

Valern shook his head. "A fleet cannot track down one man, Udina."

"He needs to be stopped! You can easily secure the sector, keep the Geth and Saren from attacking anymore colonies!"

"And risk a war with the Teminus Systems? The Space Pirates once again? We've already had several major conflicts with them, pushing our fleets into the traverse will only trigger all out galactic war with them and other independent species that'll gladly join their cause to keep us out, something we will not do over a few dozen warned human colonies." Sparatus pointed out.

"Every time, every BLOODY time Humanity ask for help, you try to ignore us! Humanity is been a damn proud part of this Galactic Federation, and all you do is turn your back whenever possible! No wonder the Chozo wanted to stand on their own!" Samus was infuriated now.

Tevos raised her hand, a way to ask Samus to try and remain calm. "Shepard, there is a way for us to help, one that does not require armies or fleet, and can still stop Saren."

Sparatus and Valern both looked at Tevos, who quietly begun talking to them, for which seemed like several minutes, before all three focused on Samus. Tevos was the first to speak. "Samus Shepard, we know you are exceptional on your tracking skills, and abilities to face down what seemed like impossible tasks years before. Taking down a rogue spectre will be a challenge. But we can tell that is what you want to do, correct?"

Samus nodded.

Sparatus continued. "However, we cannot give you the title and license of Bounty Hunter to do so again. We cannot overlook your actions in the past, rash actions which have destroyed worlds, decisions that others would panic and break down on, decisions that have caused ripples across our galaxy…decisions that only spectres can handle."

Valern then spoke. "Despite all the negative effects of what you've done, your achievements have earned you respect from many species across our worlds, respect that you've earned through hardship. You even were came to be known as a Galactic Saviour to many people who knew your previous name…We want that saviour, as one of our Spectres."

"Do you accept our offer, Commander Samus Shepard?" Tevos was calmly waiting for a response, as was the other two council members.

Samus wasn't sure if she was hearing this right, and looked to Udina and Anderson, both gave clear signs they wanted her to accept the offer. She turned her focus back to the council. "I accept, councillor."

"Then please, step forward." Tevos put her hand on the console before her typing something, as did Sparatus and Valern with theirs. Before looking at Samus again, as she took a few steps forward, to the edge of the walkway. Samus heard the murmurs of voices from around the council hall, seeing people from the balconies watching eagerly.

"It is by the decision of the council that you are to be granted all the powers and the privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the council." Tevos started with.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file." Valern said.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Tevos continued.

Sparatus finished the induction. "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of Galactic peace. Both our first and last line of defence, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

Tevos looked to Samus, and gave a slight smile. "This is a great achievement for humanity. You are the first human, albeit half human, to become a spectre. An accomplishment that even some of the much longer allied species with us have yet to achieve."

Samus felt like something had been lifted off her shoulders. All of her anger had subsided. She was now a spectre. Much, much better then being a bounty hunter, and better still, had a lot of freedom with it that came with her bounty hunting times before, and to hold the honour of being the first one…she gave a slight, courteous bow, before standing tall. "Thank you, Councillors. What is my mission?"

Valern answered her. "We're sending you into the traverse to go after the rogue spectre Saren. He was a fugitive, so you are authorised to use whatever means you feel is necessary to bring him to justice or eliminate him."

"Understood. I'll find him, complete my mission and report back."

Tevos nodded. "Then this meeting of the council is adjourned."

Samus gave one more bow, then turned her attention to Tali, who seemed honoured herself, to witness a new Spectre being inducted, giving her a little handshake, before Samus turned her attention to Udina and Anderson. The smile on Andersons face made her even more proud of what she was now, as he shook her hand. "Congratulations, Shepard."

Udina quickly knew it was time to get to work. "We've got ourselves some business to sort out Commander. You'll need a ship, a good crew, and supplies…Why don't you go have a little celebration somewhere? Anderson, you need to come with me, I'll need your help in order to set this up!"

With that, he walked off the walkway, heading off down the stairs, making sure Anderson was following, leaving Samus and the others be. Tali seemed a little surprised by Udina's reaction. "I thought your ambassador would be, well, a little more grateful for what you are to your kind Shepard."

"Doesn't matter. His sorting out things for me, so I guess that's his way of showing his appreciation. Come on Tali, for helping me, I know a place that isn't shot up right now that serves some good Dextro drinks and snacks. All on me."

Meanwhile, Anderson and Udina had just got on the lift leading them out of the Council area. He was glad that meeting went a lot better then the other fateful one years ago…boy, he couldn't get it out of his head…

"Samus Aran has a WHAT, on her ship Anderson?" Udina exclaimed in pure shock.

"An AI. One that supposedly the Alliance had granted to her when the Galactic Federation had supposedly commissioned her a new ship. The thing is, I've had C-Sec check through ship register files, all created by the Federation, and only her new ship doesn't match any records. All of her other ships do." Anderson was sitting on the other side of Udinas desk in the embassy, as Udina sat there, his hands over his face, sighing, before taking a few deep breaths, and looking at Anderson again.

"So, you're telling me, she has an unknown ship, an unknown AI that is apparently made by us, who has a name according to what Samus told you?"

"…Adam sir. Based on, Commander Adam Malkovich." Anderson still couldn't get over the shock of Samus truly believing that an AI could be him. She was so sure of it, he could see that as they spoke earlier.

"This is just brilliant. We were hoping for evidence to use against the council, and instead we get evidence that could keep her locked away for a lot more now."

"It gets worse ambassador. Samus had tried to return to her ship, but C-Sec had locked it down and begun a full investigation of it due to energy spikes from it's systems."

Udina couldn't believe this. "Which means they'll find that AI soon enough, and report it straight to the council. Has it got any restraints Anderson?"

"…No sir."

"An unshackled AI who's origins remain a mystery, fondly named Adam. A ship that no one knows who created it. A destroyed Space Station and an obliterated planet…She's finished Anderson. The saviour is going to be put through the ringer and hung to dry for a least, 30, 40 years? You know what the Federation are like with AI's, they haven't forgotten about the Quarians and their Geth….unless…"

"Ambassador?" Anderson was aware that Udina was coming up with something. Wherever he likes it or not is another matter.

"We pin the blame on the AI. We tell them that we managed to look into the ships databanks, and found that, before the AI could manage to wipe it, evidence of it having suggested to Aran that she had to, no, ordered to destroy the station and the planet by the Alliance."

"You can't be serious Udina. Surely we can think of another way, another idea, right?" Anderson didn't want to hurt her, not over Adam again.

"Samus Aran is going to get at least thirty years in prison or even longer Anderson, if we don't use the AI." Udina argued.

"Damnit Udina. The AI is Adam to her, I can't make her lose him again….she'll never forgive me."

"What would Adam do if he were in your shoes then, if you were the AI Samus grew to care about hm?" Udina questioned, looking at Anderson straight in the eyes, agitated over all the hours spent trying to find something to save the now ex-bounty hunter.

Anderson knew what Adam would do, and sighed deeply, in defeat to the truth, knowing his old friend. "He would…allow me to get dismantled…to spare her suffering in the long run, and in time…she would learn…I'll inform C-Sec of my need to get on the ship for evidence, they should allow me with any luck…"

He remembered managing to get C-Sec to let him on the ship, warning him of an unshackled AI, and it was of his own risk to step on that ship, should it have any self defence weapons inside the AI could control. They also pointed out about four animals on the ship they had to extract and secure, a blue bird and three small green mammals, something that no doubt Samus saved from the space station.

He remembered standing there, inside the control room of the ship, looking at the console in front of Samus' chair. The green glow of it…and then noticing a few metal cameras in the room, their green lenses focused on him, as he stood there, slowly looking around, before finally speaking. "Adam, are you here?"

He didn't expect a response, or the fact it suddenly sounded like his lost friend, except his voice sounded machine like, and tinny. "Yes."

He paused, before continuing. "You're the AI she cares about?"

"Yes."

"You know who I am?"

"Yes David."

Anderson paused once again. "You know what I have to do, don't you?"

"…Yes."

"It will save her from prison. Set her free."

There was now a pause from the machine, before it responded. "I know. I was right, one of them listened."

"Huh?"

"You have, David Anderson. You have listened…Take care of her."

"…." He stepped over to the console, and begun to access it, using his Omni tool. "I need to sort a few things out. You won't mind me accessing some files, right?"

"Of course not."

Soon, he gained access to the B.S.L recorded files, the ones he wanted, recorded conversations between Samus and this, 'Adam.'. he didn't bother looking at them, he quickly began to erase them.

The machine spoke to him, as he did so. "Is there anything you need me to say to the council?"

"No No, it's alright. I'm just deleting your files of your talks between you and Samus on the B.S.L Station so-"

The AI finished it for him, sounding impressed. "-You can fabricate a story, pinning all the blame on me instead of Samus. A brilliant plan. If C-Sec decide to ask any questions, I will tell them that I deleted the files under my own orders."

"…Thank you." Anderson felt it was wrong, all of this, talking to a machine that claimed, sounded like Adam, an AI…

What it said next was what overstepped the mental line in his head. "…You have always been a good friend to me Anderson. I just wish I was a good friend to you when I had the time."

He stopped deleting the files, turning and glaring at one of the cameras, pointing at it. "Goddamnit you are not Adam Malkovich! You're a machine, a program! Created by some sick bastard who thought making you with those memories was the best way to control Samus and her actions!"

"Some sick bastard." The machine repeated. "You know who it is really, Anderson. But you know he'll cover his tracks as always. I might be a program, but I know who I am."

"Argh!" Anderson let out, before focusing back on the console. Obviously now pissed off.

"Just keep listening to her, Anderson. She'll need support. Ignore me if you must like before, but don't let that effect her. She'll be angry, upset, frustrated, but I know you can set her on a good path…goodbye my friend."

He finally finished deleting the data he needed to, wiping it clean, before heading over to the lift to head back out of the lift, leaving with "I am not your friend machine…my friend, is dead."

Soon, the dreaded time had come, the council were ready, and Samus, Udina and Anderson stood before them. And Sparatus started it off, looking angry, as did Keaton, and Tevos. "We've had some, disturbing news Samus Aran, about your ship and it's contents, an unshackled AI. Care to explain?"

Samus was ready to defend Adam, Anderson saw that, but motioned her to stand down, as he took a step forward, taking a slow, deep breath, knowing that she was not going to like him after this for a good while. "The rogue AI has been investigated into by myself. Samus mentioned it to me, and after telling it I was a close friend to her, it allowed me access to some of it's information. But when I tried to get any on the B.S.L, it quickly tried to wipe the data clean, especially on it's conversations with Aran."

Tevos nodded. "Yes, when C-Sec tried to access a few file themselves, they were wiped clean, everything about the B.S.L Station was gone, and the AI outright admitted it was doing it because it wanted to, under it's own orders."

Anderson could feel Samus watching him closely now, her eyes locked onto him.

Keaton folded his arms. "So, What did you manage to get out from the data before it managed to erase it?"

Anderson mentally apologised in his own mind to Samus. "The AI had ordered Samus Aran to destroy the B.S.L Station and the planet SR388, claiming it to be direct high priority orders from Alliance command, which in turn had the orders given to them, by the Galactic Federation. Samus accepted the orders without question, and proceeded to redirect the station to collide with the planet."

He quickly turned and glared at Samus, he heard her step forward, ready to unleash her anger, but his glare done it's horrible job, and he was stuck with that image of her eyes glaring back, as she stayed quiet. He slowly turned his head back to the council as Tevos began to talk, after having a brief discussion with Keaton and Sparatus. "Then we must conclude that Samus was merely following the orders of a dangerous AI, without knowing, and realizing it's rogue status, as we cannot gather any evidence otherwise. We will not grant her Bounty Hunter status back, for she has still caused the destruction of a planet of life, and of a station, but she will not be arrested."

"We will begin the dismantling and the destruction of the vessel containing the rogue AI right away. We cannot risk any delays as it may try to escape into the citadel systems once it realizes it's been found out. This meeting of the council is finished. You may leave now." Sparatus added.

Anderson remembered the blow to his face the moment he turned back to Samus, she socked him right across the jaw, sending him flying to the floor, as she began to run for it, leaping down the stairs, no doubt rushing off to stop them from taking Adam away from her. He remembered hearing Udina informing the council to deploy C-Sec to corner and stop Samus, as she no doubt will not allow her ship to be lost, claiming she's been known to get deeply attached to them, a lie that the council brought.

He felt dazed while on the floor from that blow, in pain, but he knew, he did the right thing, he saved her, in exchange for the loss of a machine…

Just a machine…


Samus, Garrus, Tali, Kaidan and Ashley were all sitting at a table in a place known as the Flux, a more respectable place then what Chora's Den was. It had loud music, a bar with a selection of food to choose from, gambling upstairs, and a dance floor close to the entrance.

It didn't have that gritty feel that Samus enjoyed from Chora's Den, but with that place currently littered with bodies, it wasn't an option right now.

Kaidan and Tali were both sitting closest to Samus, Tali, having to pretty much drink a nutrient paste through the tubing in her mask from a packet made of a plastic like substance, as the Flux maybe a more cleaner place, but certainly wasn't enough for the Quarians low immunity system. The chef of the place was kind enough to give her several options mind, and the one that she picked, she seemed to enjoy.

What got her the most though, was Samus having a plastic packet of nutrient paste as well, sucking it up bit by bit through a straw. Kaidan couldn't help but look in disbelief as he had a chicken salad. "…You can eat, drink, no wait, eat that? Dextro food? Seriously?"

Garrus looked over at him. "Kaidan, it's probably her Chozo blood. The race were like us and the Quarians. We can only eat Dextro-amino foods. She probably had the blood transfusion to allow her to adapt and eat the same, along with some other benefits…Can you actually eat both types of food Samus?"

Samus stopped drinking for a moment. "I could've had a steak sandwich or something if I wanted to, but a haven't had one of these in a long while. Used to carry them everywhere, especially on my old missions. Needed food, ya know, and it's not cheap to get carbon-protein food squashed and processed into a small, easily drinkable packet like this. Dextro stuff is a money saver."

Ashley had to admit, that was a good enough reason as any. "Speaking of, what did they mean by you being a Galactic Saviour once Shepard?"

Tali stopped drinking. "Yeah, I overheard that as well, and with this thing about you having Chozo blood too, you sound like the old legend Samus Aran."

Garrus was frowning at them both. "She IS, the old legend."

Tali paused, looking at him, then at Samus, then back at Garrus, before looking at Samus again. "Wait, is he serious?"

"I dumped the Aran part of my name years ago, left it behind once and for all once I got back in the military. Seems like it still gets dragged up…" Samus went back to her food.

Ashley was just as impressed. "You're the woman that made ripples across the Galactic Federation with your record bounty hunting? I didn't expect that good of reinforcements on Eden Prime. You're an inspiration to thousands of people."

Samus nodded and stopped again. "I noticed back on Earth and on Elysium. Having a fanbase is not a good thing. Especially when you want to try and forget that name."

"Why though? You're Samus! You beat the pirates despite the odd over and over, you stopped the outbreak of Phazon, you're a well known figure on the flotilla-" Tali went on.

"-Can we please, change, the subject? I don't like it when it's all repeated to me, okay? Where the hell is Wrex, is he back yet? If he takes another hour, he'll have to miss his free meal." Samus tried to get the attention off her.

Ashley chuckled, sitting back in her seat. "You expect that Krogan to bother coming back? You just handed him a bounty worth ten thousand. He'll just grab a ship and head off elsewhere."

Samus shook her head. "He won't. He likes to fight like all Krogan, and he just overheard in the council I'm going up against a rogue spectre, Geth, and an Asari Matriarch who'll have her own followers working with her. I won't mind having him come with us, his good with guns as he showed in Chora's Den."

Kaidan looked surprised. "You want him to? Can he?"

"I'm a spectre now, I'm sure I can put in a special request to have him come aboard whatever vessel I'm given. I'm gonna need the help now I can't just do things alone like I used to."

"Well it'll be a shame to lose you from the Normandy Shepard." Kaidan smiled. "Hey, at least you'll get your own ship again."

"Yeah, I suppose…" Samus then noticed a certain Krogan walking in, and going over to the bar, motioning at the table Samus and the others were on, before heading over, and sitting down. "Knew you'd be back Wrex. Got the money?"

"Yep. 10,000. Broker had to confirm the DNA, thought he wasn't going to buy it, but he did. His agent sounded disappointed about Tali here not giving them the information, but I reminded him that the contract was to just make sure she was safe. I'm going to put it towards upgrading my old shotgun. Any news on a getting a ship yet?"

"Not yet. Take it you're interested in coming with me?"

Wrex chuckled. "To take on the odds you've been given? Of course, it'll be a good fight, maybe with a lot of money on the line too, I'd like to see what winnings you'll get from taking down Saren, and, of course, getting my own share of it."

Tail stopped eating, looking at Wrex, then to Samus. "Actually, would you mind if…I, came along too? Saren did just try to capture me, and I still owe you, so it'll be great to work with, well, you. If that's okay?" she wanted to say with the 'Legendary Bounty Hunter' but she noticed Samus's reaction to such isn't positive.

Samus thought about this. "Well, you gave us what we needed to start this chase, and I know Quarians love their ships, and someone will need to monitor mine…you're in Tali."

Garrus quickly spoke up. "Well then seeing as your open to recruiting, mind if a cop comes too?"

Samus frowned a little at him. "Why? Wouldn't you be better staying here, at the Citadel?"

"To be honest with you, I think it'll be a good experience to see what it's like working with a Spectre, someone with a lot more freedom then what we have here in the Citadel, which is none at all. All the damn red tape gets annoying over time, and here is a perfect chance for me to get away from that, go after Saren, a disgrace to all Turians, especially those who are Spectres. I'll do whatever it takes to bring him down if you'll let me."

"Well, three guns are better then two. You, Me and Wrex, with Tali supporting our ship. Welcome to the group Garrus." Samus answered with.

"Better hope it's not a tiny vessel, or we'll struggle just fitting ourselves in before leaving." Wrex added.


…It wasn't.

It had been an hour after their meals, when Anderson contacted Samus and said for her, Kaidan and Ashley to meet her in the Normandy's docking bay. Motioning for Wrex, Garrus and Tali to come with them, they all headed there, and just outside the ship to greet them, was Anderson and Udina.

Udina smiled at her when she arrived. "Shepard, I have some excellent news for you. Anderson has decided to step down as captain of the Normandy, and as the commander, you are now in charge of this vessel."

She looked surprised, her eyes focusing on Anderson, as he gave her a small smile. "You know the ship, and you've gotten acquainted with the crew, it's silent, fast and efficient, it's perfect for a spectre like you. This means Kaidan and Ashley will also be going with you, so you have familiar faces if you need to do any ground missions."

Despite with him being pleased, Samus walked over to him, and motioned him to come with her further down the walkway. He did so, eventually getting out of earshot range of the others, who looked slightly confused at her reaction. She spoke quietly to him. "Anderson, you know I can't command anyone without orders of my own. You know I never wanted to lead."

Anderson still kept that smile, while trying to reassure her. "Samus, at some point, you're going to have to climb over this wall you've made when it comes to taking charge and responsibility. I think becoming a spectre is a good time as any. The crew at least know you Samus. They'll respect you."

She shook her head. "It's not their respect, or their loyalty before you even say it, that concerns me. I'm worried about telling them what to do, at what cost it might be to them…"

"You'll do fine Samus…You'll make me proud. You'll make Adam, proud." With that, he returned to Udinas side, and shortly, after thinking it over and cursing under her breath, Samus returned to the others.

"…I accept with many thanks, Anderson. Ambassador."

Udina looked behind Samus, noticed the three aliens. "And, may I ask, what are they doing here Shepard?"

"As spectre, I want them to also be part of my crew. They want to take on Saren as much as I do, and every extra hand helps."

Udina sighed, knowing she was right. "Yes well, I suppose that is true. Very well, they'll be included in the Normandy roster. Speaking of extra hands, we have a lead to help you get started with the hunt for Saren…Matriarch Benezias daughter, to be precise."

"She was last noted going to the Artemis Tau star cluster. She's known for her research on Prothean technology, and may be able to help on finding out what this conduit is, along with any information about where her mother could be. If we can figure out her location, we can find Saren." Anderson explained.

Udina then changed from being happy to slightly annoyed. "Also, Shepard, try to avoid unneeded confrontations. We gathered a report on Chora's Den. Sixteen dead, with an extra four bodies left in the alley nearby. It's safe to say you were responsible for this, weren't you? Just remember you represent the entire human race now. What you do reflects on me and everyone else, and I even have to clean up whatever messes you make."

Samus folded her arms. "Here's a tip then. Throw the bodies out the airlock, it'll save you money. There might be plenty more of them by the end of this mission, depending how long it takes. I can only try to make your job a little easier, but no promises."

Udina certainly wasn't happy with that response. "Anderson, I'll let you finish things here. I'll see you later, Shepard." With that, he walked off to the lift.

Anderson gave a little laugh. "Don't mind him, he'll handle it all just fine. You lot just make sure to take care of yourselves, okay? This wasn't exactly the way I expected my career on this ship to end, but, it's you Samus, so I'll let it slide." he gave her a salute, as she, Kaidan and Ashley gave one back, before they, along with Garrus, Wrex and Tali all walked into the airlock of the Normandy, going inside the ship. Just before the airlock closed, Samus turned around, and looked at Anderson one more time, giving him a small smile, before the door shut.

Anderson looked at the door, then slowly began to admire the view, at what was once his ship…

"Samus?"

"…"

"Samus. I know you're angry."

"…"

"You need to talk to me girl."

"Why? Why should I talk to you?"

She sat there, in the prison cell, on the metal bed, her arm cannon disabled, but her suit still mostly active, her helmet off, left next to her, showing her pale complexion that she had now, and her slightly matted blonde hair, tied into a ponytail. She looked down at the ground, refusing to look up at him, as he stood there in the cell, over her.

"Because you want to. I know you do. You've refused to speak to C-Sec since your arrest, you've refused to answer any of their questions, and you've hardly eaten anything since you've been put in here." Anderson explained.

"He didn't, deserve that, David." she answered coldly.

"You mean the AI on your ship."

"His name was Adam." Samus responded with.

"'It' had no real name Samus. It was an AI. An artificial intelligence that tricked you into thinking it was made by the Alliance. Like how you were tricked into thinking the ship was created by the Galactic Federation."

"The ship, was granted to me before I left Galactic Federation Biologic Headquarters, the place I was sent to after my operation to save my life on the B.S.L station, when I crashed my vessel into the asteroid belt for recovery."

Anderson decided to sit down on a nearby steel chair. "Samus…I've never heard, of the Biologic Headquarters before. And I know most, if not all the major places belonging to the Galactic Federation. It sounds like someone tricked you."

Her head shot up, glaring at him. "A trick that helped saved my life, unlike what you did! You killed him!"

Anderson kept his cool. "Samus, I saved your life at the expense of your ship."

"At the expense of Adam damnit! Because of you his been deleted, destroyed, killed again! I lost him once at the Bottle Station, and now I've lost him here at the Citadel!"

"It was worth stopping you from being imprisoned for years, when your only going to be condemned for a few days due to your reaction."

"Anderson how can you be so cold about him?! That was Adam! Adam Malkovich! I know it was!"

"A machine is not a person Samus!" Now he was losing it. "Adam died on the Bottle Ship. Nothing, NOTHING, will bring him back for either of us! You need to accept that! At least accept the machine had agreed to this with me before I told the council!"

"He…he did what? You spoke to him?" Shock filled her face.

"I went on your ship to sort out the lie I had to make. I needed to make sure the Federation, the council, couldn't find me out about it. The AI willingly let me into the databanks, and even agreed to lie to C-Sec if they ask any questions!" he stood up, walking back and forth a little, clearly annoyed at himself for letting her get to him, and her stubbornness. "Damnit girl! It willingly wanted to save your hide! Probably because it was programmed to, but still, it did it! It didn't change it's mind, it allowed itself to be destroyed! According to what C-Sec reported, it self deleted along with all the databanks before the dismantling of its core could be finished!"

"…" Samus fell silent. She couldn't grieve, she had done that once she was thrown in here, unable to get out…but he could see it was hurting her.

"Samus…you need to look to the future. Leave the Citadel, go away somewhere, anywhere with other humans, stop being a lone hunter. You need to." He knocked on the door several times to signify he was ready to come out, and a Turian opened the door for him.

"You're not sorry? Not sorry at all?" Samus managed to say, looking at Anderson with weakened anger.

"…No Samus. I am not sorry at the loss of a ship and a machine." he turned away, looking out the door for a moment, before he looked back again. "But I am sorry for your loss of a…friend." with that, he left her cell, the Turian closing the door behind him.

"…And now look at you Samus. Look at what you've become. I mean what I said to you…I'm proud of you." Anderson said to himself, as he admired his ship one more time, before heading to the lift.


Samus was busy checking the engineering room and the cargo hold, checking over the ship herself before take off. Wrex and Garrus were quite content staying in the hold, Wrex keeping to himself and Garrus checking over their wheeled transport, the device known as the Mako.

Tali was in engineering, having been pretty much staring at the engine in awe ever since she was sent down here, and in the cargo hold with Wrex and Garrus, was Ashley, checking over their weapons and supplies in the far corner, something that Samus noticed and walked over. "You alright Ash?"

Ashley stopped looking at a rifle, and stood up. "Oh, hey commander. Yeah, just looking over the supplies."

Samus looked at the piles of rations and weapons. "Why don't you ask Garrus or Wrex for a hand? We're all in this together and they need to do their share of the workload."

Ashley shook her head, looking a little awkward about it. "No no, it's fine. I'm happier to do it myself really…not, a great fan of…being too close to aliens and all…"

This caught Samus's attention. "Oh?"

"Well, I'm a Williams, Ma'am. I take it you know about my family name?"

Samus had to think for a good while. "Williams, Williams…I recall hearing about a Williams in the first contact war. Wasn't there one who managed to save the Shanxi colony population by surrendering when things turned grim to the Turians?"

"Yeah…he was my grandfather." Ashley said.

Samus didn't seem to click on what Ashley was getting at. "So, your grandfather surrendered to save lives and that causes you to have problems with working with aliens because….?"

"His the first human commander, and only one of the war, to surrender to aliens ma'am. Giving up to them hasn't been forgotten by Alliance command. It's been a major stain on our family name. it's effected my father and me. This is the first ship I've ever been allowed to become a part of the crew on. I've always been denied this because of my family. We have to be exceptional, put that extra effort in to get noticed now because of him, much like how we humans have to work extra hard to get noticed by those of the Citadel."

"Go on. There's something else here Ashley." Samus suggested.

"I…don't, like the idea of other races working with us, okay? Eden Prime, was a human colony that got attacked by Saren, this ship, belongs to us, maybe Turians did help, but it's a human ship. Why should a Quarian, a Krogan and a Turian, be allowed to walk around it? I mean, it's state of the art. It's a brand new type of vessel." she sighed. "Look, I've, never needed other races before, ma'am, never even worked with them in my career, we can stand pretty well on our own. This mission to stop Saren, is a perfect chance for humanity to show that, don't you think? Why include the others?"

By now, Samus's face had gotten darker, as she took a few steps closer, looking right at Ashley. "Well you better get used to working with them, Ashley Williams. 'Aliens' have become part of my family. They saved me when humanity was too lazy to come to the aid of it's own colonies. If it's too much of a problem, get off this ship, right now, because these aliens? As long as I'm a spectre and this ship is mine, are going to stay. Your family name means jack shit to me, all I care for is what you can do and your ability. Are we perfectly clear?"

Ashley herself look infuriated, obviously offended by Samus. "How dare you say that to me…"

"The lift to the airlock is over there Ashley, walk on over if you don't think you can handle being on this ship, handle being part of a crew." Samus took a step back, folding her arms. "The first contact war is over. It doesn't matter what the Alliance, it's heads or high command thinks about you, only what you think about yourself and those in your team. Keep that in mind. Now, are you walking?"

Ashley glared, looking at Samus, then at the Lift, then back to Samus, but soon stood down. "No, Ma'am. I'm going to stay. Now if you excuse me." She turned around, and went back to checking the weapons. Samus left her be, and headed to the lift, going up to the next floor.

The moment the life doors open, Kaidan was standing there, waiting. "Oh hey, wondered what was taking you a little while." He begun to follow her as they headed up to the cockpit.

"I got a little delayed, had to talk to Ashley. We all set to go?"

"I believe so, all systems are checked out, and docking bay crews are ready to let us out and into the open. So, you ready for this?" He made sure to get ahead of her to stop her, looking seriously at her.

"Ready for what? Another Mission?"

"No, are you ready to take command?" Kaidan look at her with a look of worry. "It was only several days ago we had this chat remember. You sure you can lead us? With actual orders and decisions made by you? Not just suggestions? Something firm?"

Samus shook her head. "No, but I ain't got any choice in the matter right now. Just don't die and do what you think is right. Simple enough?"

"…Alright Shepard. Simple enough." With that, he moved out of her way, as she walked up to where Joker was sitting.

Joker looked over, spotting her arriving. "Hey Commander. Heard you got the top job of this ship now and ol'Anderson got shoved out the way."

Samus frowned slightly. "Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I personally would've wanted him to stay if I had a choice."

Joker agreed to that. "Well yeah, I know you would've, but well, if Udina feels the spectre needs this ship then well, it's your ship. So, anything you want to say to the crew before we finally take off?"

The commander looked at the controls, and pressed the intercom button. "Everyone, listen up. This is Commander Samus Shepard, our mission, is to stop Saren. Stop him and whatever the hell his got planned. It may sound simple, but if this turns out to be like every other mission I've been on…it won't be. It'll be a storm, one that blows against us, to stop us, but we have to drive through it, push back, and get it done. That's how it's always been. Every hunt, every battle. Push past the storm to the prize. Now let's make sure we get through it together, Samus out."

Wrex overheard it from the cargo hold, with Garrus standing nearby. He looked to the Turian afterwards. "Well that's one way to get to the point of what's going on."

"Not the most effective way of talking to your crew, but it'll do." Garrus added.

Joker was busy on the console before him, as Samus let go of the intercom button. "Well that was a good enough way to get things rolling. So, we ready now?"

Samus nodded. "We got a mission. Let's get to it."


1. To those who may wonder, the whole Mass Effect 1 segment will be pretty much Mass Effect with Samus. It'll follow the baseline of the first game, whereas the second segment, Mass Effect 2 and 3, will mix actual Metroid elements in, characters, races and so on. Think of this part being the backstory, the intro to it all, much like how Mass Effect 1 was, how it turned out to be.

2. The delay was thanks to Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires and Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2. Both games I've enjoyed using my time on, as I enjoyed Dynasty Warriors, especially the 7 series, and Fist of the Star is one of my favourite shows, so, of course, if the games good, I'll spend a shitload of time on it.

3. Beyond that…meh.