Shepard finished crawling down the maintenance shaft into the hangar and engineering deck. He entered the corridor and turned left, heading for engineering.

Inside, he found Tali, who was already chatting up a storm with Engineer Adams. She appeared to be enjoying herself.

Shepard looked at Tali's new envirosuit. He had not really noticed it before, but she had definitely changed. The suit looke more mature, and wrapped to her body. The fabric had changed as well and was ornately decorated with swirling patterns. She had also repaired the suit rupture on her left arm, and the suit now covered the bandage beneath it.

Shepard found the whole new look rather… attractive. At least for a quarian.

"Hello, Tali. Adams," Shepard greeted the two.

"Shepard," Tali greeted back. "Here, Adams, I'm going to talk to the commander for a bit. It's been good talking again, though."

"Likewise, Tali," Adams said, smiling. "Glad there's someone on this ship who knows the drive as well as I do now." He walked off, heading back to his console to work.

"Well, Shepard," Tali said. "It's good to be back. I can't thank you enough for getting me and Reegar out of that mess." She motioned for him to follow her, and lead him to the corridor to chat privately. "I can't believe so many people died…" she whispered. "All for data and samples on Phazon. I hope the admiralty board gets some use out of it…"

"Have you heard anything about Reegar?" Shepard asked. "Did he survive with his injuries?"

"He just sent me a message," Tali said. "It looks like he's going to make a full recovery. Any time you get a suit puncture it's a matter of luck. Reegar got out with a relatively minor infection."

"So are you enjoying the Normandy?" the commander inquired.

Tali shrugged. "I like the quiet. You forget about it while serving on ships back in the fleet." She then sighed. "I miss the familiar faces though. Wrex, Garrus… all of them."

"So how are you holding up? You took some fire on Haestrom too, you know."

"Well, I'm holding up," she told him. "I have been better though."

Her omni-tool pinged to life. "Hold on a second…" She tapped away at the holographic tool. "Come on you little bosh'tet," she cursed. "Sorry… thanks to that para… geth… I've got a small fever and I'm taking it out on the poor drive core." She then took a more defensive stance. "Don't worry, it's not serious. I just got sloppy while doing some suit repair."

"Are you sick?" Shepard asked. "Do you want to talk to Chakwas? Rest a while?"

"Really, it's not that bad. If a stray bit of bacteria could kill us, we'd all have died by now. The fever should go away in a day or two. Don't worry, it won't affect my performance while on the Normandy."

"Hey, commander," Joker said over the intercom. "We've got a message coming in from Admiral Hackett. I think he wants to talk to you."

"Will do, Joker," Shepard responded. He turned back to Tali. "Sorry, Tali. I need to go."

"It's fine," the quarian said, sounding slightly disappointed. "We can talk later, when we both have more time. Adams wanted me to check out some of the drive core modifications anyway."

"We'll talk later then. See you later, Tali," Shepard said.

"Good bye, Alex."

Shepard turned away, and then noticed that Tali had used his first name.

"Did you just…?" Shepard asked.

"What?" Tali said, rather defensively. She had noticed it too.

"You called me by my first name. No one ever seems to do that."

"I don't think I did," the quarian said, trying to cover her tracks.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, but started up the maintenance shaft anyway, discounting the comment. He kind of liked thinking that she had in fact identified him by his first name. It had been a long time since anyone had acted that personable towards him.

Tali, meanwhile, cursed herself for acting that way. She knew she and Shepard were not that close. He was still her commanding officer on this vessel, even though she had been friends with him for years. She wondered how exactly she had let it slip. It should not feel this wrong to say someone's first name, anyway, right? In fact, she did not really care. So what? Shepard identified everyone else by the first name, why couldn't she do the same with him.

The quarian pushed the thought to the side for now. She needed to get back to work on the drive core anyway.

As she started back towards the core, she felt a stinging itch on her left arm. It was along the wound the parasite had left. She rubbed it, and the itch disappeared.

Must just be healing, she thought to herself.

Back above deck, Shepard engaged communications with Admiral Hackett.

"Shepard, things are starting to look bad," the admiral said, shaking his head. "After Norion, at least twenty other Leviathan Seed impacts have appeared in remote colony systems. Over half of them were escorted by Space Pirate vessels. Three have made contact with the surface, and were destroyed via heavy orbital bombardment, but not before causing alterations to the planets' ecosystems."

"Leviathan Seeds?" the commander asked.

"The Phazon Meteors," Hackett answered. "That's what your friends on Haestrom called it. The quarians sent us their data on the one that hit Haestrom. It appears that they have the ability to accelerate Phazon growth on a planet, eventually causing their impact zone to become concentrated with Phazon. Some of our scientists models show that after several millennia, the substance could spread across the entire planet."

"Do you know what's causing these meteors to appear?"

Hackett shook his head. "No. We've been unable to place their source. Some believe that Urtragh, the Space Pirate's homeworld, may be their source, although there's no evidence to support this."

"So what do we do?" Shepard asked.

"We're going to look into the matter," Hackett replied. "And by that, I mean you will be on our front doing so. We want you to start trying to figure out where these Leviathans are coming from and why the Space Pirates appear to be helping them to their destinations."

"Where should I start?" Shepard inquired.

"You should first begin readying a team," the admiral suggested. "I've already forwarded you the dossiers of two people you might want to bring aboard. Both of them are on the asteroid city of Omega in the Terminus systems. The first is Mordin Solus, a salarian scientist who's been researching Phazon heavily since it first appeared. He's set up a clinic on Omega to deal with a plague in its slums. The second is Archangel, an accomplished vigilante whose record might even impress you, Shepard."

"Anything else, Admiral?"

"Just one suggestion. Don't start a diplomatic incident. The last thing the Council wants is you disrupting their relations with the Terminus," Hackett said. "You start a war, and we all pay for it."

"Understood."

"Hackett out."

The hologram returned the galaxy map to its proper place on the pedestal and Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. He then felt a pang of worry. The mission was getting more dangerous with every call. And now he would have to spearhead an investigation on Leviathan Seeds… this day was not looking up.

He would have to stop waking up in the med bay after a mission. That always seemed to send them downhill.

"Joker, set a course for Omega," the commander ordered.

"Omega?" Joker asked, slightly dumfounded. "Commander, I'm crazy but not dumb. Are you sure you want to go there?"

Shepard shook his head. "I don't want to go just as much as you, but we're under orders. We have people to pick up there."

Joker nodded in the cockpit. "Alright, commander. We'll be hitting the Relay in a few hours, and I'm sure Omega control will want to have a few words with me. Want me to drop your specter status as well? Speed things up a little?"

"Nah, Joker. You can take things as slowly as you need to."

"Thank God. I don't want to go into that pesthole any sooner, anyway."

Shepard went back down to the crew deck to access the hangar. As he passed the mess, he saw Samus, back to skulking at the table. Her armor was still on, not having been removed.

He looked at her strangely, and then continued on his way. He wanted to continue chatting with Tali, anyway, and the huntress looked like she did not want to be disturbed.

At the table, Samus sat, holding her head in her hands. She breathed deeply as she thought, keeping her eyes as open as they could.

For a moment, she closed them, and she was back… there. Her old Alliance commander leading them through the jungle, the techs hauling their equipment. She could see it all.

She opened her eyes again, and then closed them.

"Move this way," her commander had ordered. "We need a better view of the base. We can get it from up there."

"With all due respect, that will expose us," she had replied. "We'd be open to attack."

"You do what I say, Samus," the commander shot back, his eyes boring into her. "We move. Now."

She opened her eyes, the rest of the memory already flooding her mind. She breathed deeply, suppressing the urge to sob.

"You holding up?" a somewhat gravelly, alien voice asked.

She turned to see Rundas walking towards her. The massive Phrygisian found a seat and set himself in it—nearly breaking the chair.

She shrugged at her fellow mercenary's question.

"That's not an answer," Rundas said, a rather joking tone in his voice.

Damn that alien. He always sounded like he was joking.

"I'm fine," Samus responded. "Just… think too much between missions."

"I think I can relate?" Rundas said.

"Like hell…" Samus mumbled.

The Phrygisian rolled his… well, Samus couldn't tell if he rolled anything. But his movements were dismissive enough.

"I can tell by the way you act. You've seen some terrible things, haven't you?"

Samus shrugged.

"You act just like my friends after the Rebellions," Rundas said.

"What do you mean?" Samus asked, only half-listening to the alien talk.

"You're quiet," Rundas replied. "You avoid conversation, and only look for action. When in motion, you stay that way; but when you aren't… you withdraw. You become a shell of your former self."

The bounty huntress shrugged. "So…?"

"So, I'm saying you're being a recluse. You're longing for battle and nothing else. You can either open up, or keep skulking around the mess until this is all over."

"I don't have anything more to say to you," Samus hissed.

"Alright," Rundas said in a defensive tone. "But trust me, you'll need to talk one day, or you wind up in a ward."

The alien got up. He then thought for a moment, and then said, "You and me, we do what we do because we've seen the worst this galaxy has to offer, and we want to make it a little better. We've both been to hell and back… and we don't want anyone else to experience it.

"We're the good guys, Samus," he finally said. "It'd do you well to remember that. And if you do ever want to talk, you have a shipfull of people to do so with."

With that, the alien walked away, leaving Samus to dwell on what he had said. Luckily, it proved a meaningful distraction to her memories.

Back in engineering, Shepard was waiting for Tali to finish work on a fuel line. Evidently, when the Alliance techs had modified the Normandy's engines to keep them state-of-the art, they had been sloppy. If the line was left the way it was, enough strain could cause the engines to shut down completely. Shepard was not exactly sure how the whole process could happen, but it was serious enough.

Tali looked from her omni-tool and to the line, checking a schematic and turning back to the fuel line.

"Here, Shepard, could you give me a hand with this?" the quarian engineer asked.

"Sure," the commander said, shrugging. He walked over and knelt down in front of her.

"Here," she said pointing. "Hold on to the line at this point and this point."

Shepard held it in place.

"Alright, just hold on a sec." The holographic tool slowly began to manufacture a cufflink around the fuel line out of omni-gel. Within a few moments, a cooling, new fastener was in place.

"There we go," the quarian said.

They both got up at the same time, bumping their heads into each other.

"Sorry," Shepard apologized.

"No, I'm fine," Tali replied, letting out a short laugh. "Well, that should hold it for a while. I think a more permanent fixture should be put in once we finish this mission."

"I'll try to see to it," Shepard said. "So, you still feeling okay?"

The quarian nodded. "Like I said, I'm fine," Tali replied. "My suit's repaired, and I've been taking some slight supplements to fight off infection. Trust me, just because my suit's been damaged doesn't mean I'll be deathly ill. Just ask Reegar."

Shepard shook his head. "It's got to be hard living in those suits all your life," he said. "Don't think I could do it."

Tali nodded solemnly. "Yes…" she said, her voice trailing off a bit. "We're in our suits our whole lives, even among family. True they provide a sense of privacy and personal space on the Fleet, but still… Not seeing one another's face."

"Do you ever get to leave them?" Shepard asked.

"Well, we always could, but that's ill-advised," she said. "You do that, you're exposed to open-air infections, disease, contamination… We can take them off in sterilized clean-rooms, but those are always hard to find. Of course, the closest thing most of us ever get is linking suit environments with another."

"Linking suits?"

"It's the most intimate thing we can do with another quarian is linking our suit environments. We get sick at first and then we adapt. It's one of our most important gestures of trust. Of acceptance. I've never trusted anyone enough except, well… no quarians, at least."

Shepard nodded. "Maybe you'll find someone worth trusting. Some day."

"Yeah…" she replied. Her voice sounded… disappointed. "Well… I need to get back to the ship's core. Work on some more systems. Linking sui—I mean linking lines with—just linking fuel lines. And that sort of thing."

The quarian quickly turned away. Shepard noticed that the way she held herself was a lot less proud all of a sudden.

Shepard headed back towards the crew deck. Rundas had some stuff he wanted to go over. The poor Phrygisian was still trying to acclimatize to the world outside the Tallon Spur. Getting used to it would take a long time.

Yet, the thought of Tali's defeated look haunted him.

"Approaching Omega, Commander," Joker announced as the Normandy sped through the vacuum towards the city imbedded in a massive asteroid.

The commander stood on the bridge, watching the planetoid slowly roll into view. Shepard hated the asteroid city. Everything about it reeked—sometimes literally. It was mostly slums controlled by many gangs and private armies all vying for power. The only person that could claim to be 'in charge' of the derelict asteroid mine turned metropolis. That was Aria T'loak, a crime boss asari that had taken the city from its former 'leader' by force. She currently ruled her 'empire' from the club known as Afterlife, another sleazy joint like Chora's Den.

Worse yet, he would have to talk to the crime lord if he wanted to find out where Mordin and Archangel were in her city.

"Can't wait to touch down," the pilot continued. "Reminds of Noveria only with much more colorful death threats."

"We'll try to make it quick," Shepard replied.

"Nah, I thought we'd stick around," Joker said. "I wanted to pick up some entertainment or something."

Shepard could only shake his head at the comment. "Well, do whatever you please. Just don't anger anyone."

"Wasn't planning on it. Good luck, Commander."

Shepard walked back to the ship's airlock, where Samus and Rundas were waiting. The mercenaries were already prepping their weapons.

"You know we don't want to start a war, right?" the commander asked the two.

"I'm just following her lead," Rundas said. "I've never even heard of this 'Omega' place."

"With all due respect, Omega is war, Commander," the female bounty hunter said flatly. "We'll need our weapons if we want to ward off trouble."

Shepard nodded. "Just make sure to use them sparingly."

A groan emitted from the airlock as the docking arm sealed into place.

"Looks like we're good to go," Rundas announced.

"Tali coming?" Shepard asked, wondering about his other squadmate. He had invited her up.

"She said she had work to do on the engines," the Phrygisian replied. "Sounded kind of disappointed, but what do I know about their species?"

She was still down? It had been a few hours since their conversation. He figured it was just because she was depressed that she had never found someone to link up with. Maybe something else was bugging her?

The door's opened, and the ship's VI announced, "Commanding officer is away. XO Pressley has the deck."

Shepard and his two followers walked down the musty docking corridor and into a main hallway from the docking platforms. A homeless salarian scavenger was already there to meet them.

"Hey, welcome to Omega! You're new here, aren't ya?" the salrian asked nervously. "I can always tell. Allow me to—"

A heavily armed and armored batarian walked up to the salarian.

The worried amphibian turned to the batarian. "Oh, hello Moklan. I was just—"

"Leave, Fargut," Moklan growled in a harsh voice. "Now."

"Of course, Moklan!" the salarian said, rubbing one of his crests. "Whatever she wants."

The batarian waved him off, and the salarian ran away.

"Blasted scavengers," the batarian hissed. "Welcome to Omega, Shepard."

"You know who I am?" Shepard inquired.

"Of course," Moklan replied. "We had you tagged the moment you entered the system. You're not as subtle as you think. Aria wants to know what brings a Specter to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself."

"Cut the attitude," Shepard responded. "I'm not here to cause problems for Omega."

"Things explode around you Shepard, and you have one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the galaxy standing behind you. It's no wonder why Aria is keeping an eye on you." The Batarian growled one final command: "Afterlife. Now." He then departed.

"They always this nice?" Rundas asked.

"Let's go," Samus said. "The sooner we get out of this hellhole, the better."

They entered an open area in the city. Massive columns made of steel, inhabited by thousands of citizens, stood in the distance. Shuttles zoomed overhead. Of course, dominating the area was the front entrance of the club known as Afterlife. A massive, purple-tinted screen showed images of asari dancers. In front of the club's large doors was an elcor doorman, in front of which stood a long line of patrons. A news report about a Phazon-based plague in the slums played on some sort of loudspeaker system.

Shepard bypassed the line and walked up to the entrance.

A batarian bouncer nodded to him. "Aria's expecting you," he informed. "Go on in."

The group walked down a hall lined by holographic flames and drinking patrons of the club. Further in, they entered the club's circular main room. In the center was a large hologram of a nude asari dancer, around which several scantily-clad dancers whirled around poles on an elevated stage. The primary bar was wrapped around this stage.

Shepard shook his head. Too many places like this existed in the galaxy. It was kind of a sad commentary on multiple races at once.

"What in blazes is up with this place?" Rundas asked. "What are they doing to those poles?"

"Some people find it attractive…" Samus muttered, neither disgusted nor interested in everything around her.

Rundas looked at the asari on the stage for a while. "I don't see it," he finally said.

They walked to an elevated platform overlooking the club, upon which stood the asari 'empress' herself. She was surrounded by several armed, batarian guards.

Aria must have a thing for batarians, Shepard laughed to himself.

The group approached her. Without even turning to face them, the purple-skinned humanoid simply said, "That's close enough."

Several guns immediately pointed at Shepard's head. Behind him, Samus and Rundas readied their weapons, upon which a plethora of guards raised their own firearms. There was a moment of tense standoff.

Aria nodded back to the group, and the guards withdrew their weapons. One batarian, nearest to Shepard, began scanning him with his omni-tool. "Stand still," he ordered.

"If you're looking for weapons, you're not doing a very good job," Shepard joked, pulling up his Carnifex pistol.

"There's a plague running rampant in the slums," Aria said, still not turning back. "A Phazon plague. You can never be too careful anymore."

"I was told you were the one to talk to if I had questions," Shepard said.

"They're clean," the batarian guard informed Aria.

The female Asari turned around. Underneath her chest-length white jacket, she wore some kind of combat harness that revealed a rather large amount of cleavage.

"Depends on the questions," she hissed.

"I heard you run Omega."

She laughed rather menacingly. "I. AM. Omega," she said, raising her arms. She then dropped them. "But you need more. Everyone needs more something. And they all come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, queen—if you're feeling dramatic. It doesn't matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule." She sat down on a couch that lined the platform.

"Don't. Fuck. With Aria," she hissed, a grin forming on her face.

"Wasn't planning to," Shepard said. Secretly, he wanted to add 'I don't like asari that much anyway', but decided against it.

"Good," the crime lord said. "Take a seat."

Shepard sat down on the couch on the left end of the platform.

"So," the asari asked, "what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for Mordin Solus," Shepard said. "Do you know where I can find him?"

"The salarian doctor?" Aria asked, seeming rather surprised. "Last I heard he was trying to help plague victims down in the quarantine zone. Evidently he's worked around Phazon before." She smiled. "I always liked Mordin. He's as likely to help you as he is to shoot you."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"He used to be part of the salarian Special Tasks Group. He's brilliant and dangerous. He was part of the Contact teams sent into the Tallon Spur. Just don't get him talking. He never shuts up." She motioned towards the doors. "If you really need to find him, take a shuttle to the quarantine zone. No guarantee they'll let you in, though." She reclined further back on the couch. "Anything else?"

"I'm trying to track down Archangel," the commander said.

Aria laughed. "You and half of Omega. You want him dead, too?"

"I'm putting a team together. He's on my list."

"Interesting. You're going to make some enemies teaming up with Archangel. That's assuming you can get to him. He's in a bit of… trouble right now."

"What kind of trouble?"

"The local merc groups have joined forces to take him down. Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack, all of Omega's biggest players. They've got him cornered, but it sounds like they're having trouble finishing him off. They've started hiring anyone with a gun to help them."

"Might be a way in," Rundas interjected.

"They're using a private room for recruiting," Aria mentioned. "Just over there. I'm sure they'll sign you up."

"Thanks, I won't take up any more of your time," Shepard said.

"I have all the time in the world, Shepard," Aria hissed. "Archangel"—she laughed—"not so much."

The commander walked down to his squadmates.

"So which do we handle first?" Samus asked.

"We'll go get the doctor," Shepard replied. "Chances are the mercs will bide their time as long as possible to get Archangel, so we have some leeway. Come on, let's go."

They walked through the dank, metal halls of Omega and finally reached the access doors to the quarantined district. Sadly, the blast doors were sealed, and turian guard was present. He was, however, preoccupied with a human demanding to be let in.

"Just let me in!" she shouted. "I want to get my stuff before looters do!"

"Lady, if you go in there without proper gear you'll be dead in a week," the turian stated, rather politely for a citizen of Omega.

"But humans—"

"Are just as susceptible to the plague as everyone else. This is Phazon-based. You'll be screwed up and mad in a couple of days. I'm sorry, I can't let you in."

Shepard and his followers approached the two. "We can't get in?"

"Finally, a human who has ears," the turian breathed. "No one's allowed in. The plague's deadly to everyone. Only people with the proper breathing equipment can enter. Those who don't…" His voice trailed off. "Our orders are to wait until the plague or the vorcha making their home down there kill everyone. Then, go in and clean up."

"Listen," Shepard said, "You're stuck here until this quarantine's over. That could take weeks. What you really need is to get this problem solved right now." He cracked a smile. "That's what I do: solve problems. Let me in, and I'll get this district straightened out."

"You think you can fix this?" the turian asked. "Why not. The quarantine is just to keep infected people and Phazon in, anyway. I'll radio ahead, let the guards know you're coming in."

"Wait?" the girl who had been hassling him asked. "You're stopping them but not me? You son of a bitch!"

"You don't have a grenade launcher, lady," he growled. "Get lost."

The girl stomped off, mumbling curses.

Shepard turned to his fellows.

"Good thing we have filtration systems," Samus said.

"What about you, Rundas?" Shepard asked. "Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine," the Phrygisian responded.

Shepard waved for them to enter the district.

The trek through the plague district was not as eventful as Shepard and his team had expected. The guards had not given them any trouble on their way in. The only problems they had faced were a few small groups of vorcha who were clawing around abandoned apartments and packs of mangy varren that looked nearly dead anyway.

Eventually, after about half an hour of making their way through the district, they reached Mordin's makeshift clinic. The small building was wedged into a corridor, probably made from the remnants of an old restaurant or café. It was laid out into a few main rooms, with the waiting area and lobby being the first place Shepard and his team entered.

A clinic guard told them not to try anything drastic. Shepard was not planning to, though. To avoid confrontation, he and his team deactivated their weapons while walking in.

Several people that looked rather ill sat on benches around the clinic. The assistants attending to them all wore specialized breathing filters to prevent Phazon contamination. Many of them were scanning patients or injecting them with immune system boosters. Most of the doctors looked frantic, probably having been awake for long hours.

Shepard found a tired-looking doctor working a counter and approached him.

"You don't look like a plague victim," the medical man said, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Professor Solus," Shepard informed him.

"He's probably in back, working with the more critical patients. Over that way."

"Thanks," Shepard replied. He headed down the hallway the doctor pointed to. Medical supplies and containers full of antibiotics and chemicals were scattered about. Two ancillary rooms were also full of equipment and boxes for the clinic. He found Mordin in the room the doctor had directed him to, working on a medical compound and chattering with his assistants about chemicals he needed.

"Professor Mordin Solus?" Shepard approached the salarian doctor.

The doctor looked up from his console. He had worn, scarred skin and the right crest on his head was broken. He wore a well-kept red and white lab coat over what appeared to be armor.

The salarian quickly activated his omni-tool and scanned them.

"Hmm," he said. "Don't recognize you from area. Too well-armed to be refugees. No mercenary uniform. Quarantine still in effect. Here for something else? Vorcha? Crew to clean them out? Unlikely. Vorcha symptom, not a cause. The plague? Investigating possible use as bio-weapon? No. Too many guns, not enough data equipment. Soldiers, not scientists. Hired guns, maybe? Looking for someone? Yes! But who? Yes—"

"Relax, Mordin," Shepard interrupted. "I'm Commander Shepard, and I came here to find you. I'm on a critical mission and need your help."

"Mission? What mission?" the fast-talking professor asked. Before Shepard could respond, he then said, "No. Too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague still spreading. Who sent you? Council or Alliance?"

"The Alliance," Shepard said.

Mordin looked back at the two mercenaries standing behind Shepard. "And what about them?" the professor asked. "Phrygisians new to galaxy. Few venture into the Terminus Systems. And then Aran, the hunter, bane of the Zebesians… Alliance… hiring mercenaries. Alien mercenaries. Desperate, maybe?"

"No," Samus interjected. "We're here because we were involved with the attack on Norion—if you haven't heard already. Desperation has little to nothing to do with it."

"Ah, but more meteors discovered," the salarian said. "Striking multiple worlds in Attican Traverse. Often with Space Pirate assistance. Human colonies in jeopardy. Lives at stake. Phazon… spreading. Desperation may not be here, but it is certainly on the way. Is that why you are here for me?"

Shepard nodded. "We've heard about your work with Phazon before, Professor. The Alliance thought you might be able to help with our team. We need someone who knows how the stuff works and hopefully put a stop to whatever's going on."

"Phazon…" Mordin mumbled. "Interesting. Plague hitting the slums is Phazon based. And Space Pirates one of few species with technology that could engineer such a disease. Our goals may be similar.

"But, must stop plague. Already have cure. Need to distribute at environmental control center. Vorcha guarding it. Need to kill them."

"What exactly is this plague?" Rundas inquired.

"Phazon based," Mordin said. "Deadly, but luckily non-mutagenic. Does not alter genome of victim or attempt to use them as host. Instead alters virus. Makes it more potent, harder to kill. Luckily invented cure. Chemical compound should kill all virus strains of this type. Save district, stop plague. Vorcha only obstacle."

"I'll get it in and deal with the vorcha," Shepard said.

"Can never be easy, can it," Rundas growled. "Well, between the three of us, this should be a breeze."

All of a sudden, there was a grinding halt as fans in the ventilation shafts stopped moving. Warning lights began to flash, and a low-pitched alarm began to sound.

"What was that?" Samus asked.

"Vorcha shut down environmental systems!" Mordin announced, checking the situation with his omni-tool. "Trying to kill everyone. Need to get power back on before district suffocates."

He pulled out a vial from his labcoat. "Here, take plague cure. Put in environmental controls and reactivate. Should distribute it from there. Good luck Shepard. Will be waiting here for your return."

The salarian quickly rushed Shepard and his team out of the room and back into the clinic, pointing them towards the series of corridors that would lead them to the environmental controls.

"Can't it ever be easy?" Rundas asked.

"Never is," Samus replied.

"Come on," Shepard said. "We've got a plague to cure."

After walking not a few hundred meters down through the alloy hallways of the slums, they encountered their first pack of vorcha. The goblin-like aliens opened fire on the group, and they took cover behind several support columns.

"These look wrong," Samus said.

Shepard peeked out from cover to take a better look at the aliens. Their almost smiling, toothy faces and ugly skin were covered in blue veins. A few even had bright, glowing-blue splotches on their shoulders and torsos.

"Phazon corruption!" Rundas announced.

"Take them out!" the commander ordered.

Shepard pulled out his sniper rifle and began targeting the furthest vorcha, leaving the closer ones to Rundas. Disruptor rounds fired from the rifle slammed into the faces of the ugly aliens. One, two, three, four, and then five dropped as the bullets flew through their skulls, completely preventing their regeneration abilities from taking hold.

Rundas was dealing with the nearer ones, taking them out with his cryo blasts. The vorcha, for the most part, seemed to resist the first two or three impacts of the freezing rounds, but eventually they succumbed to ice buildup and tumbled over.

Samus fired her plasma weapon, melting the exoskeletons of the vorcha. But, their ability to regenerate seemed to counter the attacks. While staggering the goblin-like creatures, they were able to rebound and fire back. Samus advanced, and ducked under cover to avoid their shots.

An armored vorcha emerged, toting a massive flamethrower in its claws. Deadly flames spouted from the device as the creature let loose a gargled laugh.

Samus muttered a curse under her breath and activated a holographic pad on her arm cannon, tapping in commands into the weapon. When it was ready, she burst out of cover and aimed at the pyro. She squeezed and held the trigger. An orb of plasma built up in the weapon's barrel. When it hit a critical level, Samus let go of the trigger, and the blast flew into the vorcha. The attack melted its armor and exploded the flamethrower's fuel pods. The alien died instantly, and the blast from his weapon killed several others nearby.

Shepard and Rundas took down the remaining vorcha, and the group moved into the next corridor. Several more vorcha were there to greet them, but they were quickly dispatched.

As they neared the environmental control center, they entered into what appeared to be a massive ventilation shaft or some sort of exchange area. Atop the far end of the shaft were small platforms at the ends of large ventilation tubes. The platform they stood on ran along the near end of the shaft, and curved off towards the control center several hundred meters away.

A rocket whizzed past Samus' head and exploded behind her.

"Heavies," the bounty hunter stated flatly. "They're up there."

Shepard looked up with his rifle scope and saw a multitude of vorcha running along the platform underneath the vents. They all carried rocket launchers.

"You move ahead!" the commander ordered. "I'll take care of them."

Samus and Rundas nodded and moved ahead.

Shepard raised his rifle again and targeted the nearest vorcha. He fired, and the round tore through the creature's skull. It fell forward and tumbled off the platform into the abyss below. Shepard continued his rampage, letting loose several more rounds, and killing several more of the aliens.

The two mercenaries moved forward on the platform, plowing through several vorcha that were wielding assault rifles. They quickly brought the aliens down, and moved further down the platform. They could now see the bridge leading to the environmental control center. vorcha, supported by two well-armed krogan warriors, dispersed across the platform, taking up defensive positions. Luckily, they had the high ground. Samus cracked a smile, and the mercenaries went to work.

Shepard dodged a missile and targeted its owner. The disruptor round sailed through the air and into its head, killing it instantly. However, it had loaded another rocket. In its death thralls, the creature managed to let loose a final shot. The missile flew across the chasm towards the bridge that Samus and Rundas were storming.

But, rather than hitting the mercenaries, the rocket careened into one of the krogan, shattering the lizardlike alien's armor with a thunderous explosion. The hulking alien staggered forward as his armored plating fragmented off of him.

Samus took the chance, firing several plasma orbs straight into the krogan's maw. It screamed as its unprotected mouth began to melt. The female huntress fired four final shots, ending the alien's suffering.

Rundas finished off another group of vorcha, blasting them with his ice beam and then smashing their frozen forms to pieces. After finishing off the final, goblin-like alien, he caught sight of the second krogan preparing to charge Samus. The Phrygisian attacked, firing two beams of ice at the alien's wrists. The krogan growled as its weapon hand froze solid. It caught sight of Rundas and charged him instead.

The two caught each other's hands, Rundas holding off the krogan's icy fists. They growled at each other, both of equal height and strength.

"Weakling newcomer," the krogan growled. "My race has always brought down monsters like you."

Rundas grunted as the krogan began to push him back. He planted his armored feet and pushed back, this time gaining the upper hand in the battle of power.

"But I am no monster," the Phrygisian hissed.

The krogan grappled again and locked the two in place. He then growled, "I will triumph! I am a krogan! Scourge of the Rachni! I have bested Thresher Maws and turian spec ops! No one can beat me!"

Then, next to the krogan's face, echoed the sound of a plasma weapon charging to full power.

"How about human mercenaries?" an orange clad human warrior said. She fired the charge blast, which obliterated the krogan's skull. His body slumped to the ground, dead.

"Thanks?" Rundas said, letting go of the alien's frozen wrists.

"Don't mention it," Samus replied. "As long as it stops that cheesy verbal combat I'll be fine."

Shepard finished off the last vorcha rocket trooper and met up with the rest of the group.

"Come on," he said. "Let's finish this."

The group made their way across the bridge and through several corridors to the control center.

Sadly, there was a group to meet them.

Standing at the main control center of the room were three vorcha. They whirled around to greet the team that had just entered their domain. They were covered in Phazon, their bodies nearly dominated by the glowing, blue substance. One of them even had what appeared to be a massive crystal of the stuff growing from his shoulder.

The lead vorcha let out an animalistic hiss. "Raah! You know come here!" it shouted. "We shut down machines. Break fans! Everyone choke and die! Then Pirates make us strong!"

"What do the pirates want?" Shepard inquired, leveling his pistol at the threat.

"They want plague!" the vorcha hissed back. "You work for doctor! Turn on machines! Put cure in air! WE KILL YOU FIRST!"

The vorcha attacked, but were quickly brought down by a single volley of fire from Shepard, Samus, and Rundas. Their lifeless bodies hit the ground in unison.

"There," Samus said, pointing to the console the vorcha had been using. "That should be the primary controls. We can inject the cure there and boot up the systems."

Shepard approached the console and put the cure vials Mordin had given them into a sort of repository station. He pressed a few buttons, and the hologram displayed the ventilation systems.

"Looks like we'll need to turn on the fans," Rundas said.

The sound of angry vorcha echoed through the vents around them. They were about to be put under some heavy fire very fast.

"Let's split up," Shepard ordered. "Samus, you take the left fans. I'll take the right. Rundas, you hold off those vorcha."

"Will do," Rundas said, priming his cryogenic weaponry.

Samus immediately sprinted off in the direction of her fan station. Shepard left as well. Not a moment later he could hear the sounds of combat echoing from the control center. Rundas had engaged the enemy.

Ahead, another pack of vorcha emerged. Shepard shot down two with his sniper rifle, but the weapon overheated. He exchanged it for a pistol and armed it with incendiary rounds. Several enemy bullets impacted his kinetic barriers, staggering the commander. He took cover behind a support column and opened fire. His bullets consumed two combatants in flames.

A flamethrower-wielding trooper emerged, engulfing the corridor in front of him with flames. Shepard smiled and waited for it to stop firing. When it let up to let its weapon exchange heat, Shepard took his chance. The commander leaned out of cover and took careful aim at the large tank of fuel that stuck out from the alien's backpack. He let loose one shot, which sailed through the air between them. The flaming round slammed into the fuel cell and ignited the contents.

There was a massive explosion. When Shepard exited his cover, nothing was left but the charred corpses of the remaining vorcha.

Shepard entered the fan control suite and reactivated the fans.

"That's one," Shepard said into the communications link. "How's it going on your end, Samus?"

"Just fine," the mercenary responded. "One second."

The sound of gunfire and discharging plasma weaponry blasted through the comm. link. The whole cacophony was ended by a single fleshy crunch. A high-pitched squeal emanated from the source of the crunch, and was then silenced by a charged plasma bolt from Samus' arm cannon.

"There," Samus said. The second set of fans turned on. "There was a krogan in my way."

"This is Rundas," the Phrygisian chimed into the comm. "The vorcha are retreating. Blasted cowards. You think they'd at least try to undo our work."

"Let's regroup and head back to the clinic," Shepard suggested. "Hopefully Mordin will join up now."

The group returned to the clinic to find the salarian doctor in fairly high spirits.

"Environmental systems engaged," the salarian announced cheerfully. "Airborne viral levels dropping. Patients improving. Vorcha retreating. Well done, Shepard. Thank you."

"Well, we've cured the plague," Shepard said. "Are you ready to help me with this Phazon crisis."

"Yes," the salarian replied. "Unexpected to be working with Alliance. Many surprises. Just need to finish here at the clinic. Won't take long. Having my assistant, Daniel, take over. Won't be long. Meet you at your ship. Looking forward to it."

Mordin sat in the conference room on the SSV Normandy, admiring the ship's architecture.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, professor," Shepard said as he entered the room. "It's an honor to have you on board."

"Yes, yes. Very exciting," the salarian chirped. "Alliance working with Aliens unexpected, but not unprecedented." He nodded toward the commander. "Glad to be working with the first human specter. Heard about Norion attack. Space Pirates, commanded by a Lord… Ridley, I believe."

"You seem very well informed," Shepard exclaimed.

"Salarian government well connected," Mordin explained. "Espionage experts. Had top level clearance once. Retired now. Did not have time to get details. Just rumors and guesses from some poorly encrypted Phrygisian communiques."

Rundas entered the room. "Well, even if you or your people are listening in on mine, we'll still need you," he said. "Space Pirates have been escorting these objects called 'Leviathan Seeds' towards inhabited worlds. We still don't know why." He shook his head. "In fact, I just heard word that a turian colony was attacked. The seed made impact. They had to bomb the thing from orbit…"

"Hmm…" Mordin said, pacing the floor. "Meteor strikes maybe? No. Too destructive. Expansive mining possibility? No. Would mine Seed itself, not crack planet surface with it. Too dangerous. Perhaps—"

"You don't need to sit there and guess, professor," Shepard interrupted. "Some friends of ours have already collected samples from an impact not too long ago. I'd like you to analyze the data. We could also use countermeasures to Phazon radiation."

"Ah, excellent!" Mordin said. "Good to know humans on top of things. Will need a lab to work in."

"We've set up a lab behind Dr. Chakwas' medical bay," Shepard informed. "If you need anything else, we can request stuff as soon as possible."

"Even better!" Mordin exclaimed.

"One question," Shepard said. "One of the vorcha said that the Space Pirates gave them the plague. Do you have any idea why they would do this?"

Mordin put his hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm... Pirates known for scientific endeavors. Oftentimes risky. Riskier than krogan uplift by salarians. And unnecessary. Perhaps planned as a bioweapon? That would be most likely scenario."

"That makes sense."

Mordin nodded. "It should." He looked around aimlessly for a second. "Which way to lab?"

"Follow me, Professor," Rundas said. He led the salarian out of the conference room and down to the lab.

Shepard left the room as well and walked into the CIC. He checked some personal messages until ,suddenly,a voice called out for him.

"Commander!"

Shepard turned to find Engineer Adams walking up to meet him.

"What's wrong, Adams?" Shepard asked.

"Well, it's actually about one of our engineers," Adams said, "not the engine itself. I'm starting to worry about Tali. She's gotten quieter than usual. It's like she's purposefully avoiding conversation."

"What do you think's wrong, Adams?"

"I don't know," he said. "That's why I wanted you to talk to her. She seems to have one heck of an admiration for you. When she got back on board, most of what she talked about was you and your feats back during the geth attacks. I figured you might be able to get something out of her."

Shepard thought back to his last conversation with Tali. He could not really think of anything he had said to upset her. They had discussed the mission on Haestrom and talked about quarian culture. Tali had mentioned something about linking suits with another and—

The commander remembered how she sounded depressed at Shepard's response. "Maybe you'll find someone worth trusting" he had said. Had that depressed her in some way?

Shepard told Adams he would look into it and made the trek down to the engineering bay to talk with the quarian.

Tali was in her usual place, at a console overlooking the reactor core. She did not turn to greet him. Instead, she simply greeted him with a, "Hey, Shepard." Her voice did sound quite depressed.

"Adams said there was something wrong," Shepard informed her. "Are you holding up okay."

She turned to face the commander. "No… nothing's wrong," Tali said. "I've just been thinking a little too much, and I'm a little tired."

"Well, it sounds like it started after I talked to you last," Shepard added. "Did I say something to upset you?"

"Oh, no," Tali replied, masking a faint sting of sarcasm. "I just figured you weren't int—never mind."

Shepard suddenly caught on. "Wait, Tali. Were you trying to suggest something?"

"What could I possibly have been suggesting?" Tali asked. "A young woman gets rescued by a dashing commander who lets her join his crew and then goes off to save the galaxy? How could she possibly develop any kind of interest in him?"

Shepard was a bit taken back. He was not used to… romantic talk. Sure, he had had girlfriends back on Mindoir before… the attack. But after that he had been dedicated to the Alliance. Making himself the best soldier he could be. Romance had been kind of out of the question.

And now an alien was actually asking him to… Well, she was a good person. Shepard had enjoyed working with her… and her new envirosuit was rather attractive. But…

"Are you okay?" Tali asked. "I didn't mean… I mean… Keelah…"

"Sorry," Shepard replied. "I just… well. Been a while, I guess. I mean, I do kind of…"

"Really? I didn't! You never—" she relaxed a little. "Well, good."

The crushing awkwardness of the moment fell upon them both.

Shepard searched for something to say. "Well, if you want, maybe after recruiting Archangel, we can… uh. Well, I have a collection vids I've gotten over the past two years."

"I might stop by then," Tali said uncomfortably.

"Anything in particular?"

"Uh… not really, I guess," she responded.

"I'll think about it then?"

"Sure."

They stood there for a moment, neither really having words.

"I should… you know, get back to work," Tali finally stated, breaking the silence. "Or… something."

"Yeah, sure. You do that," Shepard said.

"Thanks for stopping by. And… talking…" She turned back to her console.

Shepard shook his head, wondering what the heck had just happened.

Author's Note: Well, that took a little longer than expected. The chapter was also longer than expected... weird. Expect the chapters to update a little slower from now on. I've been working on this in small increments of time between practice and school and work, so it has been moving a lot slower than intended.

Anyway, Mordin's now on the team, and Archangel's next. And we've learned this Shepard's first name! We're going to start learning about some of the characters' (Samus, Rundas, and Shepard, in specific) backstories shortly. Also, Shepard's entering a tentative ship with Tali. Yeah, whatever. Don't worry, this actually has some purpose towards Shep's character development, which we'll start seeing as this progresses. It'll also provide some tension as well, but that's for later chapters.

Next time, we get to meet the "Archangel of Omega". Fans of ME know who that is, but I'll still keep it as a hidden reveal.

Please follow/favorite and review! Any (constructive) criticism is definitely welcome. What do you think works? What do you think doesn't. Have any speculation as to the story's direction. Please! Anything helps!