AN: Alright everyone Im finally back. Im really sorry about the long wait on this chapter. Life has kinda kicked my ass... a lot... ANYways heres chapter 4 and ive decided that im going to split the view point with more Shepard for obvious reasons. Im going to follow through with a romance arc for both Shepard and Six. Ill try to get more chapters up as soon as i can but theres a ton of stuff going on and i dont really have alot of time to write
Chapter 4: Progress
SDV-class corvette Ardent Prayer
August 15, 2552
Six stood there as the pelican exited the hangar, holding his helmet at his side. "Good luck" were the last words Jorge said to him. 'Heh like I need luck to push a button.' Six thought to himself as he walked over to the makeshift bomb. Just as he sat down against it a voice came from his helmet's speakers.
"Shaun you should really put your helmet back on." Artemis said. She knew they both were going to die but she would be damned if she didn't at least try. " I have an idea if you hurry."
"What have you concocted now?" Six asked with slight amusement as he did as he was told.
"If you can grab some of the shield generators off those Sangheili I could jury rig them to boost your shields temporarily and over power the armor lock. It is feasible that we MIGHT survive." She said. Six nodded and gathered as many of generators as he could off the dead Sangheili. In the end he only had four working ones.
"This should be enough. I'll walk you through how to do this." Artemis said. She walked him through how to do it and they finished just in time before the corvette docked for refueling.
"Okay, hit the button then take a step back and activate you armor lock. Hopefully these upgrades will hold long enough." She said running the statistics of survival again for the billionth time.
"So what exactly are the odds we live to joke about this?" Six asked just before he hit the button.
"Honestly? it's one in one billion." Artemis said reluctantly. Six just gave a slight laugh and pressed the button.
"Well, worst case is that were dead." He said and activated his armor lock. He saw a blinding light just before blacking out.
Cerberus shuttle en route to Freedoms Progress
April 13, 2185
"Man that was the sleaziest damn motel I've ever had to stay in." Shepard Complained. Their brief stay on Omega had been one of the most unpleasant nights Shepard had since basic. The owner of the motel had charged them three times the rent only because he hated humans and everywhere else was full. On top of that, the room they were given had one twin bed and was beyond disgusting. The place looked like a snuff film had been filmed in it and then left to fester for a few days. The actual blood stains didn't help paint a prettier picture. After a constantly interrupted night of sleep thanks to gunfire and the constant bass of a nearby club the trio checked out and made their way back onto the cramped shuttle. Needless to say they were all in a bad mood.
"Its Omega Shepard, what did you expect?" Miranda asked, in her usual 'holier-than-thou' tone. Even though she refused to admit it, she hated Omega just as much if not more than the rest of the group. Even just the air made her feel contaminated.
"Well it's done and over with everyone. Let's just forget it and get on with the mission." Jacob piped up trying to ease he ten
"We have two hours to kill, Jacob" Shepard reminded him.
"Well, so we do. How about you tell us about yourself commander?" Jacob asked. Miranda just harrumphed and leaned back into her seat.
"Well dont you have my records? I thought Cerberus had vast connections." Shepard said with a laugh.
"Actually Commander all we have is some low classification intel and public knowledge." Jacob said and looked expectantly at the Commander.
"Alright then. Well I suppose you guys already know that im a spacer kid, probably about that situation on Akuze and my role in the Blitz. More recently was the whole Saren affair, man that was a nasty piece. Losing Ash to that was really hard but I'll be able to get past it. As for myself, I prefer older music. Like way old, im talkin twentieth, twenty-first century. If it doesn't have a guitar it's not good music. " Shepard said "If you didn't notice I definitely dont hold any prejudices against aliens, like some organizations."
Shepard gave a pointed glare at Miranda when he finished speaking. She just huffed and turned her attention to her omni-tool. Jacob on the other hand decided to speak up.
"It's not that Cerberus harbors anti-alien sentiment, it's just pro-human. Sadly a lot of people seem to lot one with the other. While yes I'll admit that some of our organization may have those feelings so does your Alliance. Personally I have no problem with anyone due to their race, only their actions." He said compellingly.
"Heh, Ya know Jacob I think we're going to get along quite well. A shame that it was Cerberus that picked you up and not me." Shepard said with a smile that was quickly followed with a yawn. "And on that note I think Imma try and make up some lost sleep. I'll tell ya the rest sometime. Wake me when we get there."
"Priorities Commander?" Jacob asked as the shuttle was touching down on Freedoms Progress. Shepard though on this for a moment and quickly came up with a plan.
"Well seeing as all the other colonies abducted haven't had any survivors or even dead, I'm going to say that we should focus on finding any type of surveillance we can. But if there's even the slightest hint someone's still alive that becomes the priority. I dont want anyone left behind on this planet." He said, popping open the hatch to the shuttle. Miranda and Jacob nodded in agreement and followed Shepard out of the shuttle.
The group made their way through several pre-fab buildings each with their own scene abruptly interrupted. One house had a half eaten dinner lying on the table and another had the TV still on with several child's toys laying about on the floor. The abandoned feeling was beginning to wear on their nerves. The whole place felt wrong.
"Damn, it's like everyone just got up and left." Jacob muttered as they past yet another half eaten dinner.
"I know what you mean. I just hope we can find what we need and get out of here quick." Shepard said. He walked over to the back door which exited into another alleyway that led further into the compound. As the team made their way out the door several LOKI mechs popped up on a balcony on the adjacent complex of buildings.
"Contact front!" Shepard yelled and took aim with his pistol. A few quick shots from everyone and the mechs were destroyed. Another group came from the bridge connecting the two complexes, this time it was a mix of FENRIS and LOKI mechs. Shepard grabbed one of the FENRIS mechs and slammed it back onto the bridge, crushing it. Miranda and Jacob each let off a throw and followed with a few shots taking out the other FENRIS and a few LOKI mechs. Shepard finished off the last mech with a shot clean through its 'head'.
"Those mechs should have recognized us as human. They must have been reprogrammed. I think someone is still here Shepard" Miranda said with Jacob nodding in agreement.
"Has to be that. Okay so new priority is to find who reprogrammed the mechs. Let's keep moving to the center of the colony and then work our way from there." Shepard said and indicated for them to follow him into the next complex.
Shepard opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him was an all too familiar hooded figure. However before he could say anything several Migrant Fleet Marines jumped to their feet, weapons drawn.
"Stop right there!" The one in a matt black suit yelled. Immediately Shepard, mostly out of reflex, and his group also brought their weapons to bear.
"Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this. Sh-Shepard?" Tali said as she almost tackled him in a hug. "We though you died! How? Why are you here with Cerberus? What happened?"
She disentangled herself from him looked at him with a worried expression. Even though he couldn't see her face through the mask, her body language spoke volumes as to how worried she was. He motioned for Jacob and Miranda to lower their weapons. Thankfully Prazza and his squad did as well.
"I.. I was dead Tali." Shepard said reluctantly, "Cerberus did.. something, and brought me back. They said that human colonies are being abducted and wanted me to investigate. I still dont trust them but as much as I hate it, they are actually doing something good this time. At least it seems so."
"Oh, Keelah."She said, bringing her hands up to her mouthpiece. It was a few moment before she spoke up again. "That's horrible. I couldn't even imagine. Are you okay?"
"Better than ever!" Shepard said with a slight laugh, trying to lighten the mood "Whatever they did when they brought me back improved my biotics and it seems everything else as well. Harder, better, faster, stronger eh? And on top of that Im no longer dead, so.. ya know."
"Well at least your sense of humor hasn't changed." Tali said with a slight giggle toward the end. Prazza took the break in conversation to, not so eloquently, cut in.
"What is Cerberus doing here?" He demanded, hands twitching over his rifle.
"We're WELL within our rights to investigate a human colony. What are you Quarians doing here?" Miranda shot back with a brutal glare as she reached for her pistol.
"Guys, calm the hell down. I know for a fact that Tali and her group have nothing to do with this Miranda. And, Prazza was it? Chill out. I have these two on a leash." Shepard said forcefully, stepping between the two. He looked over at Tali for an explanation as to why they were there.
"Were looking for a Quarian, Veetor, on his pilgrimage. He thought helping a small colony would be best, always hated big crowds." She said. Before she could continue, Prazza decided to add in his own opinion.
"Meaning he's unstable, couple that with damage to his suits CO2 filters and an infection from an open air exposure he's likely delirious." He stated a little too aggressively for Shepards liking.
"Okay fine then. Let's work together and get him back home." Shepard said pulling up a map of the colony. "Now do you guys know where he's holed up?"
Tali pointed to a warehouse in the middle of the colony "Yea, he's locked himself away in this warehouse in the middle of the colony. He's also programmed the mechs to shoot anything on site. We'll have to work together to get through them."
"Couldn't have said it better myself. Gotta say you're far from the innocent young girl I saved in that alley." Shepard said with a wide grin. "Alright let's move out."
Six slowly came to on the hangar floor. Every part of his body ached but he was alive, or so he thought. Looking around he noticed that the bomb was nothing more than a pile of slag and most of the floor surrounding where he stood was scorched.
"Hey Artemis? You still there?" He asked, taking stock of what was left around the hangar.
"Yea, im still here. That was a fun one. Don't ya think?" The AI quipped back in a chipper tone that caused a groan from Six.
"You not the one that aches everywhere." He complained, " Can you use the ships systems to tell where we are?"
"I might but I'll need a hard connection. not wireless. The navigation systems will be back in the bridge. However be warned that from the information that I am getting the ship is barely holding together." Artemis said as Six took off for the bridge. The trek there was short and uneventful as the slipspace bomb had killed any covenant they had missed on the first trip. Once there an objective point popped up over a terminal towards the middle of the bridge. Six popped Artemis's chip out of its slot in his helmet and inserted it into the console.
"What... No. This can't be right. There's no way that's possible." She half-muttered to herself.
"What? What's going on?" Six asked hurriedly. 'What the hell is going on that Artemis is freaking out?' He thought to himself.
"I dont know how, but we're above Reach. Only it's not. The landmass is exactly the same but there is no evidence of settlement. Almost like no one has even been here." She said brining up an image of the planet. Somehow it actually was Reach, not that he doubted the AI.
"Okay. We can deal with where we are and how later. What's the condition of the ship?" Six asked, attempting to form a plan.
"Well it looks like the ship itself is toast. Engines are destroyed, structural integrity is at twelve percent, all weapons are offline and it looks like that chunk of supercarrier came with us. It's currently breaking into pieces and falling into the planets gravity and we're soon to follow. I am reading an operational Seraph in a storage bay. I'll transfer it to the Hangar then we can get the hell off this ship." She explained "Pull me and lets go."
Six yanked her out of the console and made his way back to the hangar. Once there, a pristine looking Seraph fighter was sitting in the middle of the hangar. He quickly popped open the hatch and climbed inside its surprisingly spacious interior. One look at the controls and Six knew that it was beyond him.
"Uhh, hey, Artemis? Could you help me fly this thing. This is entirely different from a Sabre." He said eyeing the alien controls.
"Okay. Plug me in and I'll brief you on what does what." Artemis said and highlighted the appropriate data port for him. After a short overview of the controls, Six had them down enough to exit the ship and make their way down to the planet.
"Okay now that were down here, what do we do?" Six asked his AI companion who was still digging through the ships systems.
"Well there's a survival kit in that compartment on the bottom to your left and I full well intend to comb through every piece of coding this ship has. Then we can use the FTL to hopefully hop our way to some kind of civilization." She said "Now go set up that shelter, I'll be busy for a while."
"Shepard! Get your squad into position and I'll open the loading bay door!" Tali yelled, frantic, over the comms. Things had gone to hell shortly after their groups separated. Prazza had decided to ignore orders and rushed off ahead to steal Veetor, and any clues, out from under them. In their rush, they ran straight into a YIMR heavy mech Veetor had guarding the warehouse he was in. They never stood a chance in hell against that kind of firepower.
"Miranda! Jacob! Stack up on either side of the door. Okay Tali, open it now!" Shepard said and waited for the door to open. The sight that greeted them almost made him wish he hadn't opened it. The Quarians were being absolutely destroyed. Two were thrown several meters as the mech swung its arm. Another was caught under foot and crushed. He clawed and smashed futilely at the mech's foot before it unloaded its heavy MG right into his face. Two more tried to dash to better cover in a small office building but were caught halfway there by a missile. One Quarian was missing an arm while the other was blown completely in half. Thankful, Shepard noticed Tali was already hiding in the building helping the few others from her squad that made it.
"Miranda! Sabotage its shields. Jacob load up them incendiaries you have and get into cover." Shepard shouted, storming though the bay to a large stack of crates. Jacob was right next to him, almost finished setting his shotgun to incendiary rounds. Miranda shot off an overload and dove behind some crates to the right. The mech whirled around just in time to be smacked with Miranda's overload, draining its shields to half. Shepard wasted no time and immediately opened up with his assault rifle, keeping the pressure on. After a few seconds bullets started impacting the mechs armor itself.
"Miranda! Warp on three!" Shepard yelled as he flanked the mech "One. Two . Three!"
Both the ex-spectre and the operative shot off powerful warps that ate through the armor plating on the mech in seconds. Both of the biotic fields met in the middle and detonated in a spectacular fireworks display.
"Okay. Let's go see if Tali needs any help then we'll go have a talk with this Veetor." Shepard said as he walked back down to his squadmates who stupidly hadn't moved during the whole firefight. 'Damn mech could've flanked them if it had better programming' he fumed to himself.
"Commander I must..." Miranda started before getting shut down by Shepard.
"Miranda, shut the hell up. Im going to see if everyone's okay. Either get with the program or you can stay on this damn colony." He said, giving her a stare that has given Krogan shivers. Needless to say, she quieted instantly.
Shepard and squad cautiously stepped into the building Tali had taken the wounded remnants of her squad into. The sight that met them was grisly at best. Almost all the Marines had more than a few holes in them and several had clearly perished. Tali and one of the less wounded were franticly applying Medi-gel, high strength antibiotics, and makeshift suit patches to those that couldn't.
"Hold still. Let me finish with the Medi-gel and antibiotics then I'll get these holes patched." Tali commanded sounding hollow. The tone and body language was not lost on Shepard. He had been right where she was, Ash, his squad on Akuze.
"There, done." Tali said standing up from the injured Marine. A weak "Thank you." was heard before she turned around. "Shepard. Now would be your chance to talk to Veetor. I have to keep looking over my squad."
"Im not going anywhere until we've done all we can. Jacob, start helping with suit patches and see about using our stock of dextro meds. Miranda, help how you can." Shepard said to his squad and walked over to Tali. "C'mon, lets step out. Jacobs a good man and some of them still in there can hold a pistol."
"I... I trust you Shepard." Tali managed to get out and quietly followed him out the door. Shepard crashed down on the steps and gestured for her to sit next to him.
"It's alright Tali. It's not your fault." Shepard said as soon as she settled down next to him.
"But it is. I was put in charge, Im responsible for them and I failed. Half of my squad is dead and half of those still alive will be lucky if they make it through till the e-vac ship makes it." She said staring to choke on her words toward the end. He couldn't stand to see her like this, so broken and lost. It reminded Shepard too much of himself after Akuze.
"It's okay Tali. You dont need to be strong for me. Let it out." Shepard said wrapping his arms around her. She immediately fell into them and began sobbing. "You did everything you could Tali. They disobeyed orders, took off when it wasn't safe. You tried to stop them and they didn't listen. All that happened is on their shoulders, on Prazza's shoulders. I know you feel like it's your fault but it isn't, and even if it was things happen on the battlefield. Things you can't control and people die. With Ash on Virmire. Even though she volunteered, I still left her there to die and I am accepting that. I saved all who I could. As much as go back though it and try to find a way that I could have saved everyone, there isn't one. It's in the past and I cant change what happened. I can only be glad about those I did save and you are one of them. You want to know something? That fact is what keeps me going when I feel like I failed. I saved you. I saved Kaiden, Wrex, Liara, Garrus, Joker, Kirrahe and his men. Those men and women in there will make it. They are marines, stubborn as hell. So take heart in the fact they get to go home to their families and friends and push on for those who didn't."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes as Tail's sobs became quieter and finally stopped. Slowly, almost to the point of reluctance, they pulled apart and stared at each other in silence for a second.
"Thank you Shepard. I.. You have no idea how much that means to hear that from you. You can always pick me up when im like this." Tali finally said with a bit more strength "So knowing that saving me is one of the things that keeps you going?"
"Yeah it is Tali. You are one to the closest people to me right now and this little sense of normal in all this was really needed. I can't even message my mother in case she's somehow linked with Cerberus." Shepard confessed, "To be honest I'm kinda scared Tali. I dont know what Cerberus did to me. I dont know how they brought me back and when they did everything's different, not terribly so, but enough to know that I've been gone for TWO years. But I have to power through, be the stoic commander, be the strong one. Im sorry to lay all that on just after this. We should be checking on things."
"Shepard, please, you are always there for me. I will always be here for you, to listen or whatever you need. I know things will turn out okay and then you can cut ties with Cerberus. But you're right, we should go see how things are." Tali said standing up. The two walked back into the building to find all of the Quarians stable and resting.
"Commander. I used up all the dextro meds we brought with us, but I feel confident that they will all make it. We should really see about that Veetor fellow now." Jacob said wiping off purple tinted blood from his hands. "Miranda is a damn fine doctor by the way. Honestly the reason why half these men are here is because of her."
"I suppose that I should thank you both then. However dont think that this has changed my opinion of Cerberus." Tali said throwing a glare at Miranda.
"Will you be alright here while we go check on Veetor?" Shepard asked Tali. She looked over the injured Quarians and knelt down checking each one of their vitals.
"Yeah, I'll be alright and once im done here I'll be right behind you." Tali said while going over her omni-tool.
Shepard motioned for Miranda and Jacob to stack up on the door before opening it. He quickly jumped through, Predator in hand, and scanned the room. Both squadmates right behind him covering his blind spots. Directly in front on the other side of the room was Veetor going through security footage and various readings from throughout the colony.
"Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No Monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no." He was muttering to himself, totally unaware of the squads presence.
"Veetor?" Shepard asked tentatively. 'Gotta be careful here. Dont know how he's going to react.' "Hey, Veetor?"
The Quarian still continued muttering to himself, still oblivious to Shepard's presence. 'Well looks like I'll have to do something drastic to get his attention.' Shepard thought to himself. On a whim he pulled up one of the hacking programs he borrowed from Tali all those years ago and shut down the wall of screens. Veetor stared at them confused for a second before getting out of the chair and addressing them.
"You're human. Where did you hide? How come they didn't find you?" He asked, still sounding dazed. As if it was all a dream.
"Who didn't find us?" Miranda asked a little more forcefully than Shepard would have liked. 'Man, for someone who supposedly rebuilt me, she definitely lacks tact.' He thought.
"Miranda. Back off. You're gunna make things worse. I'll take it from here." Shepard commanded and turned back to Veetor. "Who are you talking about Veetor? We just arrived here from off planet."
"The... The monsters. You dont know. You didn't see, but I see everything. " Veetor said while pulling up some security feed. An insect like alien was pushing what looked like a levitating chrysalis through the streets of the colony. All the while a swarm of small flying insects was buzzing everywhere in the vid. Occasionally obscuring the image.
"My god? Is that a collector?" Miranda blurted out.
"What the hell is that?" Jacob asked, feeling left out on intel.
"They are a race hailing from beyond the Omega 4 relay. As far as anyone knows they are the only one who can traverse it safely. Reports are that they venture beyond every now and then 'collecting' some obscure piece of technology or trading some of their own for various specimen. Back in the alliance we had them flagged as dangerous but not a threat. Obviously that has changed." Shepard said deep in thought.
"Clearly, now grab the Quarian and lets go. The Illusive Man needs this Data." Miranda said, glancing around the room to make sure they were the only ones in there. Just as she said this however the warehouse door opened and Tali walked on it.
"What?! There's no way you're taking him! Veetor is injured and needs treatment, not an interrogation!" Tali about yelled, fuming.
"It's okay Tali. Veetor is going with you." Shepard said allaying her fears "Could you just foreward me his Omni-tool data?"
"Thank you Shepard, it's nice to know that you're still the one giving orders." Tali said walking over to Veetor. "C'mon Veetor, let's go home where it's safe. Alright?"
"Yes… yes. Safe.." Veetor muttered to himself as he followed Tali out. Shepard watched the pair leave before turning back to his squad.
"Well that went well, I think." He said beaming "I know Tali is alright, we know who's behind the abductions, and we are going to get all of Veetor's data."
"Is there something we should know Commander?" Miranda said with poison in her voice as Jacob just snickered in the background.
"Not at all, cheerleader." Shepard quipped back. "Actually you two go bring the shuttle round. There are a few things I need to do first."
He took off out the door without so much as a backwards glance at the two confused Cerberus operatives.
Tali collected Veetor and was on her way back into the building where the remnants of her squad was recovering when Shepard came running up behind her.
"Hey Tali!" He shouted jogging up beside her.
"Shepard!" She said surprised at his chasing her down "Veetor go on in and talk to Han'Shael."
'Why did he chase me down? Is something wrong? Is he going to say something about earlier? That he can't be friends with me? No, no. It's probably just to get the data.' Her thoughts raced through her head as she turned back to him. "What do you need Shepard?"
"Heh, don't sound so nervous Tali. I just wanted to give you the code for my new Omni-tool so we can keep in touch. I've missed a lot and I was hoping we could catch up." He said with a goofy grin. 'He wants to talk! With me! Yes!' Tali thought to herself as she awkwardly brought up her Omni-tool.
"Yes. Of course, I'd love to catch up with you Shepard." She said, a grin of her own forming behind her mask.
"Thanks. I gotta go now but I'll send you a message as soon as I can." Shepard yelled as he jogged off to the Cerberus shuttle touching down in the courtyard.
"Okay! Ill be waiting!" Tali yelled back and walked into the building to join her squad.
"Ah, Shepard. Excellent work on Freedoms Progress. The Quarians forwarded the data from Veetor's Omni-tool. There wasn't any new data, but given our history it's a surprising olive branch." TIM said, again pompously sitting in his 'throne' as Shepard had dubbed it. "It's not necessarily how I would have handled things, but it worked out all the same."
"It pays to have friends in the galaxy." Shepard shot back, already annoyed with the debriefing. "But, ya know, I suppose terrorists don't exactly play nice."
"We would be able to garner more friends if your Council and Alliance hadn't decided to so readily smear us with such a damning reputation. However this is an argument for another time. The important thing is that you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions." TIM said, redirecting the conversation. 'Yea, tell that to Admiral Kahoku or all your other victims.' Shepard thought to himself.
"So, you knew about them already then?" Shepard accused, crossing his arms and shifting his weight back.
"The Collectors are enigmatic at best, besides you needed to see for yourself. Otherwise I find it hard to believe you'd still be standing here." TIM said coolly. 'Damn. He's right. Well might as well use his resources while I can.' Shepard decided to himself.
"So, what are you holding back? I'm here and I'm convinced; that's my end of the deal so far. What about you? How do you know the Reapers are involved?" Shepard demanded.
"I'm glad to see I've brought you to our side on this commander. As for the Reapers? The patterns are there in the data. Also the fact that the collectors are the only ones able to pass through the Omega 4 relay unharmed seems to point toward Reaper involvement." TIM explained in his vague manner. 'well it will have to be good enough. Collectors are now a threat regardless of reaper involvement.'
"Well if you expect me to take down these Reaper puppets I'll need a team, and a damn good one at that. The one condition is that I choose who's on it. I need people I can trust." Shepard demanded.
"I'm already one step ahead of you on that one. I've compiled a list of dossiers consisting of scientists, mercenaries, and soldiers. Finding and convincing them to work with you may be a challenge but I'm sure you are more than capable." TIM said, shifting in his chair and lighting another cigarette.
"Feel free to foreward it but I'm going after my original team. They were friends and followed me into hell once already. They would trust me again." Shepard said, determined to remain defiant.
"I'm not so sure about that Commander. It's been two years. They almost all have moved on or their allegiances have changed. If you insist on tracking them down, be my guest. Just do it on your own time." TIM said, a warning tone creeping in for the last part.
"Okay, fine. They aren't available." Shepard said, deflating at the inevitability of getting all of them back together.
"Trust me Commander, you'll get the people you need. You are a leader. People are drawn to your banner, and if you win their loyalty there's nothing they won't do for you." TIM reassured "Now two things before you go: First go find Mordin Solus on Omega. He's a brilliant scientist and should be able to find a counter measure to the Collector seeker-swarms."
"Already giving me orders?" Shepard interrupted. At this The Illusive Man merely shook his head and continued.
"No, Commander. I'm merely giving you direction. As for the second, I think I've found a pilot you might like. I hear he's the best in the business." He said before cutting the line. Shepard stood there annoyed and confused as to what The Illusive Man meant until a very familir voice came from behind him. "Shepard?"
AN: Alright and there is chapter 4. Obvious hints as to Shepards LI and hopefully a little more fleshing out of the various characters (I know Miranda and Jacob didnt really get alot but they will later. This was mostly about Shepard running into Tali again). Hope you all enjoy and please review =]