Author's Note: I didn't have much time to write last month—hence the slight delay. Also, a reminder that once Aria's Lament has concluded, we'll be returning to The Hero Rises.


Chapter 4: Shaky Ground

A chorus of greetings heralded our entrance into the Talon outpost—mostly directed at their boss, Nyreen. She greeted them in return with the easy confidence of one who knew she was in command. Passing a hastily-built set of fortifications, we turned left into a side corridor, passing a wounded krogan and the asari medic treating him, then walked into an elevator on our right.

Nyreen took the lead once the elevator doors opened, marching out into another corridor with a determined gait. "We'll be evacuating this location as soon as possible. Try not to interfere with my people's work."

One of the Talons met us at the intersection, datapad in hand. He was clearly wondering why Aria was here, judging by the look he gave her, but was too professional or focused to voice his concerns out loud. "Intel just reported in," he said, choosing instead to get down to business. "The group of civilians we managed to evac arrived safely at the other outpost."

"Got it," Nyreen nodded, taking the datapad and heading straight for a large door. The Talon standing guard palmed the door controls and snapped off a salute. She saluted him back without stopping and strode into what was clearly the outpost's command centre.

The Talon followed us, still continuing his report. "Also, routine sweeps report nothing new on the adjutant presence."

Nyreen flinched. It was a miniscule move, almost imperceptible, but clear as day to someone who knew her as well as I did. Strange that she reacted that way: adjutants were military officers who served as principle aides to their superiors. Unless this was a code word or designation for something else.

"'Adjutants'?" Shepard repeated.

There was a notable pause. "Creatures created by Cerberus," she finally replied, handing over the datapad . "They eviscerate their victim's DNA, converting them into more adjutants."

Sounded more like zombies than military aides.

"Some kind of Reaper-based weapon," Aria added. Her voice was serious, but notably calmer than Nyreen's. "I fought them before. They're a nightmare."

Reaper-based zombies, then. Made sense: the Reapers had perfected the horrific art of transforming victims into foot soldiers. And Cerberus had long been fascinated with experiments involving Reaper tech.

"It got worse after you left," Nyreen said bitterly. "Cerberus lost control of them."

They did seem to make a habit of that.

"Those things tore apart the gangs, then attacked everyone in sight. If Cerberus hadn't found a way to contain them, the entire station would be infected by now."

Shepard showed me one of the adjutants on the datapad. Pale grey skin, two arms and two legs, butt-naked, heavily muscled and a large squid-like head—tentacles and all. While I squelched a shudder of horror, Shepard spoke up. "Keeping your people alive through that couldn't have been easy."

Nyreen's head bowed as she closed her eyes in pain. "I watched good friends get turned into monsters. Right before my eyes. Then I had to kill them."

She took a deep breath and composed herself. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an outpost to defend."

We watched her walk away. Aria was the first to break the silence. "The adjutants really got under her skin."

"Looks that way," I had to admit.

"So glad we agree, Garrus," Aria said. "Now if you'll excuse me. I need to check in with my forces."


While Aria was chatting with her minions, Shepard and I wandered around the Talon base. Well, Shepard wandered. I tagged along to watch his back and make sure he didn't stumble into any more trouble.

There were two observations I made right off the bat. First, the Talons were definitely more organized and disciplined than they had been in the past. They moved with an efficiency that could rival more legitimate military forces. Second, they were no longer a turian-only group. While turians certainly made up the vast majority of the Talons, I saw a smattering of other species as well.

Case in point: the conversation we observed to our left. "Here you go," a turian Talon said. We found more medical supplies in the last raid. All yours."

His buddy, a salarian, gawked. "Really?"

"Really."

"I… thank you. I'll make sure they're distributed properly." He wrung his hands nervously before asking "Do you think we'll make it out of here?"

"Absolutely. Boss is here now. We'll wipe the floor with Cerberus in no time."

That was a third thing: the turian spoke with absolute certainty. The kind that could only come from faith and loyalty. Derius never had that. He ruled his men with fear. When Nyreen said she had provided 'new direction' for the Talons, she was lowballing it.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, I almost didn't notice one of the Talons approach us. "Hey, Commander?"

"Yes?" Shepard replied.

"Not sure if you remember, but you stopped to give me some medi-gel."

That's right! I recognized the turian now.

"Of course," Shepard smiled. "Glad to see you're on your feet."

"Me too. Anyway, just wanted to say 'thank you.' And seeing how you're helping the boss…"

He handed over a shotgun mod. Omni-blade attachment, like a modern-day bayonet. Not the kind of thing a sniper like Shepard would use, but the thought was there. Naturally, Shepard thanked him back.

A few metres ahead, two turians were talking to a batarian. If it wasn't for the colour of their hardsuits, I might've mistaken them for Blue Suns instead of Talons. "Just reported into the boss," one of the turians said. "Still no adjutants—thank the spirits for that."

"Should we even be bothering with this?" the batarian asked. "There hasn't been any others since that dockworker turned, right?"

The second turian leaned forward. "Look, I know you're new to this outfit, but get used to the adjutant watch. It was only one of those things last time, and Cerberus still had to seal shut an entire ward to deal with it. They didn't even try to help the people trapped inside. I… I can't imagine what their last moments must have been like."

"Everyone has to take their turn on adjutant watch," the first turian agreed, carrying on from his colleague. "It's that big a deal. Trust me: you hear any weird, creepy whispering, you grab your friends—and run."

Meanwhile, Shepard was skimming through a datapad. He handed it to me to read as we went up a flight of stairs:

To: Scouting Team E
From: Base 2

Word is the attack on the station was led by Aria and that she's onboard now. Boss is heading off to investigate. Try to stay out of trouble while she's gone, and don't get caught. Our forces are tied down right now, so rescue options are limited.

B2-T

Just further confirmation, if any was needed, that Nyreen had been on to us from the start. Speaking of which…

"Cerberus is backing off for now," she said to the umpteenth turian Talon I'd seen today. "Make sure the scouts keep an eye out for the next attack."

"You've done an excellent job, Nyreen," Aria said once the turian walked away. "The Talons will be a welcome addition to my forces."

Nyreen's eyes narrowed. "Do you really think I'm going to hand over command to you? Just like that?"

"I don't think—I know. Just as you know what happens to people who argue with me."

"And if I say no?" Nyreen challenged. "You'll just kill me and take over? My people won't stand for that."

Aria's eyes casually swept across the room. There were a lot of Talons who were paying very close attention to the conversation unfolding before us. A lot of them had a firm grip on their weapons. "Yes, they do seem… nauseatingly loyal," she admitted. "No matter. Either way, I'll get what I want."

"Not this time," Nyreen snapped.

Shepard cleared his throat. "The truth is, none of us can do this alone. Our only chance is to join forces."

"You might be right," Nyreen said, "but the people of Omega are my priority."

Aria favoured her with a cold smile. "You take over one gang and you think you're ready to decide what's best for Omega? Nyreen; watch and learn." Activating her omni-tool, she opened a comm channel. "Ahz."

"Everything's in place. The entire station's connected."

One of the computer screens suddenly flickered, its display replaced by an image of Aria. A live image, I realized. Another screen switched over. And another. And another. Within seconds, every monitor in the base—and, presumably, the entire station—had been hacked.

"People of Omega," Aria began. "I have returned! Cerberus believes they have beaten you. They believe they have you under control. They are gravely mistaken."

Nyreen shook her head angrily. Aria glanced at her, gave another smile and continued. "You are the lawless of the galaxy. You cannot be beaten and you will never be controlled. Be ready! Your chance to strike out against your oppressors is coming. Together, we will take Omega back!"

Personally, I think Shepard had given better speeches. But there was no doubt that Aria had struck a chord. Over the comm, we could hear her minions bursting into raucous cheers. More than one Talon joined them. I had a feeling similar outbursts were ringing out throughout Omega.

But at least one person wasn't amused. "That's your plan?" Nyreen spat. "Throw civilians at Cerberus?"

"Anything is better than being locked up like mindless animals waiting for slaughter," Aria replied. "And these are Omega civilians, in case you forgot. None of them are strangers to violence. It's time Cerberus was reminded of that."

"I know what you're up to, Aria, and I don't like it." Nyreen might have said more, but she spotted some movement below. "The people of Omega may be painfully familiar with violence, but that doesn't mean they can all go up against Cerberus. Some of them can't defend themselves and need evacuating. Speaking of which, I have civilians that need to be escorted to safety. We'll deal with this later."

She marched down the stairs, pointing at various Talons to follow her. "All right, let's get these people ready to go. Now!"

Aria walked the other way. Shepard and I exchanged looks before hurrying to join her. "What are you trying to do?" I asked.

"'Trying'?" Aria echoed. "The people of Omega—my people—love a good street fight. When it breaks loose, they'll be ready. Nyreen's code of ethics won't let her sit by if civilians are exposed."

She turned her head towards the Talon leader, who was giving orders to her men at a nearby holo-table. "It's what makes her utterly predictable and therefore easy to manipulate," she continued.

There was a sudden commotion near the entrance. A turian Talon burst in. "Cerberus is launching another offensive!" he shouted.

Nyreen cursed. "Looks like I'm not the only one who didn't like your little speech, Aria."

"Glad I got his attention," Aria smirked.

"Garrus and I have fought Cerberus numerous times and won," Shepard offered. "Aria's had a fair amount of experience too. Perhaps we could lend a hand."

I'll say this for Nyreen: she wasn't about to let her personal feelings cloud her tactical assessment of the situation. "Commander, landing pads are yours. My people and I will hold the main doors."

"Got it," Shepard nodded.

As the three of us headed off, I glanced at Aria. "You did this on purpose."

"I had nothing to do with the Cerberus assault."

"Don't be coy," I snorted. "You forced Nyreen's hand, both with that earlier public spat and your hijacked broadcast. Then you stepped back and let Shepard play the role of mediator. You made him the good cop to your bad cop."

"She already expected the worst of me," Aria acknowledged, "so there was no point in playing nice. Commander Shepard's reputation, on the other hand, precedes him. As I said: she's predictable and easy to manipulate."

"We can discuss your sales pitch later," Shepard interrupted. "Right now, we need to get our head in the game." He pointed at the door in front of us. "As soon as we go through, weapons are free."


The fight was well underway by the time we reached the landing pad, so we quickly got to work. I dropped an EMP on a Guardian before firing a shot right through the slit in his shield and into his brain. Shepard disabled two shield pylons and another Guardian, then ducked down to reload while Aria emptied a full clip into a Centurion.

A quick scan told me that Rampart mechs were on the way. Shepard saw the same thing, but chose to deal with the remaining assault troopers first. Being the generous man that he was, he let Aria and I have the pleasure of bringing them down.

Then we began tackling the mechs. The first two tried to be sneaky and flank us. We rewarded them with a fireball and a biotic blast, then hunted them down and blew their heads off. By the time the third mech arrived, we were able to concentrate our fire and finish the mechanized horror off in short order. That made it 43 kills for me, 40 for Shepard and 32 for Aria.

"Commander Shepard!" Nyreen called out over the comm. "We need your help at the main doors."

"Understood. Landing pad is clear. Garrus, Aria and I are on our way," Shepard replied.

Now that the gunfire had stopped and the conversation was over, we could hear a few groans. "Garrus, sweep the left. Scoop up any thermal clips you need, administer medi-gel to anyone who needs it. Aria, do the same on the right. I'll take the centre. Let's move!"

Luckily, there were only a couple Talons who needed first aid. We were back at the base within a minute. At a glance, I saw a half dozen Cerberus goons and mechs, accompanied by one big-ass Atlas. Shepard assessed the situation as well and quickly came up with a solution. "I'm going for the turret," he said, pointing to the left. "Cover me."

Using his cloak, he raced across the battlefield, climbed up a ladder and powered up the turret. Does it really surprise anyone to hear that Shepard leapt into the lead? No, didn't think so.

"That's it!" Nyreen reported. "Cerberus is pulling out. Let's talk, Shepard."

She was administering some medi-gel to another wounded Talon when we found her.

"Casualty report," Shepard said.

"Two dead, seven injured."

Believe it or not, that would be considered 'light' casualties. "I'm sorry," I offered, for whatever it was worth.

"So am I." Nyreen rose to her feet and faced the three of us. "That being said… I have to say I'm impressed, Commander. The last time Cerberus attacked one of our outposts, they slaughtered all but a handful of my people and burned the building to the ground. You've managed to deal more damage to Cerberus in the last few days than we have since the occupation began."

Shepard shrugged modestly. "I had help."

"True." I couldn't help but notice that Nyreen looked at me instead of Aria when she said that. "Which is why I've come to a decision."

"Oh?"

"The Talons will work with you to retake Omega."

That was fast.

Some of that skepticism must have shown. "Like you said, Shepard, none of us can drive Cerberus away on our own," Nyreen elaborated. "Spirits know, I've tried. Your presence may provide the tipping point we need. Besides, someone's gotta make sure Aria doesn't run roughshod over our people."

"You see, Shepard?" Aria murmured.

Nyreen always did have sharp ears, and this was no exception. "Let me guess: she said I was predictably and therefore easy to manipulate."

"Pretty much word for word," Shepard confirmed, ignoring Aria's glare. "She thinks she's playing you."

"Nothing new here," Nyreen sighed. "One thing, though: I maintain command over my people. This is not up for debate."

"That would make things easier," I said when Aria's glare didn't show signs of lessening. "Anyone you send to act as a liaison would wind up coordinating efforts with Nyreen anyway. Assuming you can spare someone in the first place."

"Fine," Aria relented. "Just have them ready."

"Oh, they'll be ready."


We left Nyreen to organize the Talons while we returned to Aria's bunker unmolested. It's a testament to how decisively we spanked Cerberus that our trip was relatively peaceful.

"We're almost there, Shepard," Aria said as we passed the first checkpoint. "The Talons will be the front-line fodder. Now we just need to bring down the force fields to clear the way to Afterlife."

"Which will release Omega's civilians," Shepard said.

"Exactly. Cerberus will have a million fires to put out. In one fell swoop, we'll have the people and the Talons working for us."

"As long as no one gets in our way," I frowned. "We can coordinate with the Talons, but the chaos offered by the civvies could impede our progress."

"Speaking of the Talons, you might not want to be so eager to throw their lives away," Shepard added. "They already suspect that you regard them as disposable. Keep offering evidence to prove that, and they won't follow our lead. You might not want to compromise this alliance before it even takes shape."

"I've learned to not put much stock in truth and goodwill," Aria replied.

"It might be time to start again," Shepard suggested.

"Tell you what," Aria said sweetly, "I'll take it under advisement. Now then, I'll be at the command console plotting our next move."

She went off to formulate the next step in her 'diabolical master plan' while Shepard and I wandered around aimlessly and listened in on random conversations. Some elcor wanted to talk to Shepard. An asari was growing increasingly worried when she found out her boyfriend Ruck had gotten lost in Cerberus-controlled territory. The elcor insisted on talking to Shepard. Two asari were grumbling about Bray's lack of interpersonal skills and how one of them should check her omni-tool for messages more often. And the elcor really, really wanted to talk to Shepard.

So Shepard went over to talk to the elcor after exhausting all other conversations to eavesdrop on.

"Tentative excitement," the elcor droned. "Welcome to Harrot's Emporium, human."

Have I ever mentioned how much I love talking to elcor? They talk so damn slowly and take forever to get to the point. Not to mention that they sound like VIs—only VIs have more personality. Yes, that's not very sensitive and open-minded of me, but I stand by my statement. Besides, I didn't see any HR nuts breathing down my neck.

"Relived: I am grateful for Aria's return. Hidden backroom was getting… confining. Her patrol liberated me."

Yeah: elcor were pretty big. So being stuck in a closet would be more cramped than usual.

"Curious: you seem familiar."

"I had a discount at your store the last time I was here," Shepard offered.

Shepard left out the part where Harrot had strong-armed a quarian merchant named Kenn into a lousy, one-sided business arrangement, thereby preventing Kenn from leaving the station and continuing his Pilgrimage. This servitude had gone on for who knows how long… until Shepard stepped in and intimidated Harrot into releasing Kenn from the agreement. Not only that, but Shepard managed to sweet-talk Harrot into offering him a discount. And to top it all off, Shepard gave Kenn the thousand credits he needed to buy passage off Omega. Because Shepard's that kind of guy.

I couldn't help but notice that Harrot had quit smoking: the last time we'd seen him, he had a nasty habit of smoking cigars. As a matter of fact, during the time I was roaming the streets of Omega as Archangel, he'd been chain-smoking five or six of them a day. What can I say: despite my better judgement, I did pick up one or two things from C-Sec.

"Enlightened: I see."

Some humans liked to compare elcor to elephants. They also were under the belief that elephants had long memories. This encounter suggested that elcor and elephants might not be so similar. Just saying.

"Cunningly: I have a plan to recoup my losses since the Cerberus takeover. Informative: the general threw out Aria's couch from Afterlife upon taking over. I would like to gain her favour by returning it."

Okay. So he somehow thought that Aria was really, really attached to this couch and thought that she would shower him with gratitude—and credits—if he brought it back. Either this was some couch or this was another sign that Harrot wasn't exactly a financial wizard.

"Temptingly: if you find it and send me the coordinates, I will make it worth your while."

Now see: most people would laugh in Harrot's face or tell him where to shove it, Shepard said "It's not a priority, what with Cerberus running around, but I'll keep my eyes open."

"Appreciative: upon success, I will give you a finder's fee for your trouble."

Well at least he didn't expect Shepard to drag it back.

"If I come across it, I'll give you a call."

"Courteously: have a nice day. Take a look at my kiosk if you want to buy anything."

Shepard thanked him… but he did not look at Harrot's kiosk. At all. Clearly he was running a fever.

"Hey there!" Shepard hailed a batarian—the batarian mechanic who'd been bitching about power converters when we first arrived. "This what you were looking for?"

"Those are exactly what I needed!" the mechanic cried out. "Thanks! Here: for your trouble."

Shepard palmed the shotgun upgrades the mechanic handed over. And the sniper rifle upgrades. And the pistol upgrades. And the assault rifle upgrades. You get the idea: the mechanic was really grateful.

At last, we wound up at the command console. Aria spared us a glance before turning back to her tech guy. "Talk to me, Ahz," she said.

"I've located the source that's powering the Cerberus force fields." He rapidly hammered at his console before pointing to the holo-display. The three-dimensional image of Omega was updated with a flashing red triangular icon.

"Yes, I see," she nodded. "Shepard, Garrus; take a look at this. The general is siphoning power from one of my main reactors deep in the bowels of Omega's mines."

"Unfortunately, access is cut off by the force fields themselves," Ahz told us.

"Not completely," Shepard frowned. "There's an open route through that dark area, then up." He pointed at the holo-image and traced the path he'd noted.

Aria made a non-committal noise as she considered this route. "The processing plant for one of the mines. It's been powered down. No force fields blocking it."

"We infiltrate there," Shepard proposed, "find our way through the mine, then take that elevator to the reactor's back door."

"Good eyes, Shepard," Aria complimented him. "Let's go."

"Not without me."

Nyreen marched up to the holo-table and glared at us, daring anyone to question her presence. None of us were that stupid.

At least, not until Bray hastily joined us. "Aria, my patrol caught her in the perimeter," he tried in a blatant effort to make up for losing Nyreen in the first place.

"Please," Nyreen scoffed. "You didn't catch me. I let you escort me. Besides, we're… allies now. Didn't Aria tell you?"

"Um…"

"Nyreen was expected, Bray," Aria said smoothly, rescuing him before he made a bigger idiot of himself. "Return to your station."

Bray quickly recovered, gave a curt nod and left us. Nyreen got straight to the point: "The Talons are ready, but if I'm sending my people into the breach, I want to make sure those force fields come down for good. So like it or not, you're stuck with me."

Aria crossed her arms and took a step forward. "It's almost as if you don't trust me," she said, her words coming across in a quiet, silky menace.

Nyreen mirrored her movements. "It's exactly as if I don't trust you."

"Here's a crazy idea," I offered, pointing to Shepard. "Why don't you trust him?"

"We're going to war together," he reminded them. "I'll make sure we can rely on each other."

"Agreed, Commander," Nyreen said gamely. "Thanks, Garrus. Glad to see the two of you aren't on a power trip. Not like some people."

Aria didn't dignify that with a comment. "Go wait by the med bay, Nyreen," she said instead. "We'll join you shortly."

As Nyreen walked away, Aria returned her attention to the holo-image. "I can almost taste it, Shepard. Once we stop the leeching of the reactor, my path to the general will be clear."

"Well, aside from the thousands of troops standing between him and us," I added.

"Details," Aria sniffed. "We don't have time to waste. Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Me?" I shook my head. "No. Shepard? Probably."

"What happens when we bring the force fields down?" Shepard asked, right on cue.

"The people revolt, chaos ensues… and we lead the Talons and my forces on a wanton path right through the general's command centre in Afterlife."

"A bloodbath." Shepard didn't phrase that as a question.

"It's true," she admitted. "When the force fields come down, all hell will break loose. But as far as I'm concerned, all the blood's on Petrovsky's hands."

"Speaking of which: I know you're not the general's biggest fan. But is your hatred for him getting the best of you?"

"I'd say it's bringing out the best in me."

"Not from what I've seen."

"The man has turned Omega into a prison and a launchpad for Cerberus campaigns. You should hate him too. I for one can't wait to finally get my hands on him."

"Just don't forget the big picture. Getting your hands on him won't mean much if Omega's destroyed or everyone else is dead. One last question: I sensed a bit of tension between you and Nyreen. Do I need to be worried?"

"It was a long time ago, but Nyreen's the type that doesn't forget." Her eyes wandered to the med-bay, where Nyreen was patiently waiting before returning to Shepard. "I run roughshod over most people, and if the tracks I leave aren't deadly, they're certainly permanent. As different as we are, I wouldn't want anything to happen to her, so long as she doesn't get in my way.

"Now then, Shepard, I have last-minute orders to dole out. I'll meet you there, too."

She didn't even bother to mention me. Humans would respond by finding common ground with chopped liver. But I'm not human.


Having somehow run out of questions, Shepard went to the exit. I followed, somewhat surprised that he didn't accost anyone along the way.

Turned out, it was Nyreen who did the accosting. "Shepard. I know time is short, but I was hoping we could talk. Without Aria butting in."

"She'll be joining us soon," Shepard told her, looking over his shoulder. "Now may be our only chance."

It was a bit crowded, so the three of us found a more secluded corner. "I'm not trying to undermine Aria," Nyreen began. "I know she has to be ruthless. That's fine. Let her have revenge. I'm not doing this for me, and I'm not doing it for Aria or what we once had."

"It's for the people of Omega," Shepard said. "I get it."

"Someone has to be their voice in all this," Nyreen insisted. "Incredibly powerful forces are about to do battle with them caught in the middle. I just hope, as we bring down those force fields and go to war, that you can keep the people in mind."

"I will," Shepard nodded.

He glanced at the command centre. Aria was still bossing people around. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

I rolled my eyes. "Here we go."

Now that she'd voiced her concerns, Nyreen's expression shifted from serious to mildly amused. "Sure."

"Are your people ready for the fight?"

"You needn't worry about the Talons, Shepard. They were thieves and scoundrels once, but they serve with integrity now."

"Just to clarify," I butted in, "are the Talons done with the drug trade?"

"They are," she nodded. "They've found something more important, Garrus. We're fighting for a better world. I have to wonder if the same can be said for our friend." The pointed look she cast at the command centre told us which friend she was referring to. "I suppose we'll know soon enough."

"How did you get mixed up with Aria?" Shepard asked.

"I was happy in the turian military, but when my biotic abilities started to manifest, my superiors saw fit to reassign me." She allowed her biotics to briefly flare up, a shimmering blue field that ran over her body like a second skin. "They practically locked me away."

Oh, spirits. I shuffled my feet, not knowing what to say. No, that wasn't true—I knew what to say. I was just too much of a coward to say it.

"They said my reassignment would put me with other soldiers like me. People whose skill sets would complement my own. And that any isolation was a necessary sacrifice for the good of the Hierarchy. I tried to believe that. I really did. But… the more I tried to convince myself this was for the best, the more I felt I wasn't using my skills to benefit my people. So I quit. I floated around the galaxy, looking for a new purpose."

"And you found your way here?" Shepard guessed.

"More like I lost my way here," she sighed. "But then there was this beautiful, fierce creature who didn't let anyone define her. I'll admit, I was mesmerized. I wanted a little bit of that to rub off on me."

"How close were you two?"

Only Shepard could ask that question so frankly. Naturally, Nyreen responded. "The draw was undeniable. Her strengths mirrored my insecurities. Maybe deep down, it was the same for her. But trying to be with her turned into trying to be her. Nyreen Kandros was vanishing."

"You seem like your own person to me," Shepard said.

Nyreen gave him a bittersweet smile. "For all the drama between us, I'm grateful to Aria. She helped me remember who I am. It took a lot to break away from her, but I regret nothing."

No thanks to me.

Shepard gave her a moment before asking his next question. "What do you know about the Cerberus force fields?"

"The technology comes from beyond the Omega-4 relay."

I exchanged an uneasy look with Shepard. We'd gone beyond the Omega-4 relay when it came time to face the Collectors on their home turf—and, incidentally, rescue our crew before they became raw material to make more Reapers. We'd blown their base to smithereens. Cerberus had apparently sifted through the remains. It would certainly explain where the Illusive Man had gotten the tech to upgrade his troops.

"Flesh disintegrates upon contact. The power required must be enormous. I fear that disrupting it could destabilize other systems on the station. I hope we'll proceed with care and certainty."

She added a slight, almost imperceptible, emphasis to those last few words. It seemed unnecessary, but she didn't know Shepard. She was probably still realizing that he wasn't a bloodthirsty hired gun following Aria's beck and call.

"What's your impression of Petrovsky?"

"An adversary worthy of respect, and not just because he's shrewd. When I was just starting to organize the Talons, he offered amnesty to anyone who set down their weapon. A few of my people surrendered… and he made good on his word."

"So he has a code," Shepard said.

Or he was smart enough to realize that his life would go a lot easier if he established a reputation for keeping his promises. There were a lot of people in the galaxy, after all, and many of them counted their life spans in centuries. Double-crossing them now might work in the short term, but it would burn you in the long run.

"He does," Nyreen said in response to Shepard. "And, as near as I can tell, it doesn't exactly match the Illusive Man's."

"One last question," Shepard said. "By your own admission, you're a veteran. Why are you so disturbed by these adjutants?"

Her eyes filled with dread. "I know fighting Reapers is old hat to you, Commander. But these? What they do to people? They could still be out there. And if they return? I don't want to even think about what would happen to Omega's people. The image of that drives me… and haunts me."

Nyreen couldn't keep the quiver of fear out of her voice as she finished. And I couldn't blame her. She was right about Shepard. He'd had the worst luck, facing the Reapers and their creations over and over again—even before the war began. By this point, he was a battle-hardened veteran. So was I, since he kept dragging me into each and every mess. We'd seen enough that we could probably get past the initial horror of meeting the adjutants face to ugly face—because, let's face it, we were gonna run into them—and focus on the bloody business of taking them down.

"Hang in there, Nyreen," Shepard said reassuringly. "We'll get through this. And I appreciate your candour."

"Well, I appreciate the fact that you're willing to listen," Nyreen replied. "I know I've said this before, but Aria isn't the most receptive person around."

I didn't hear Shepard's response as I was a little preoccupied thinking about the part Nyreen had left out. The reason she had been reassigned in the first place…


Did you ever think you knew someone? I mean really, really knew someone? And then, you learned something new—just one new fact—and it changed your entire world?

I thought I knew Nyreen. Knew her for the most passionate, caring, infuriatingly stubborn woman I had ever met. Which was probably why we kept breaking up and coming back to each other.

And then everything changed.

It all happened during a mission out on the fringes of the Minos Wasteland. The Hierarchy had located a smuggling base and had sent our unit to gather intel for an upcoming assault. Unfortunately, the smugglers discovered our presence and decided to strike first.

"They're everywhere!" Veria, one of the newbies fresh out of training, shrieked.

"Then shoot everywhere!" Thorus snapped. As if to demonstrate, he aimed his assault rifle, paused, then let off a three-burst. The hostile he was shooting at abruptly lost all interest in the battle, along with anything else. "That's how it's done," Thorus declared, just before a shotgun blast took his head off.

I shook my head. Thorus was a seasoned veteran, there was no doubt, but his battlefield experience was matched only by his tendency to toot his own horn. The latter quality had finally caught up with him, and at the worst possible time. With his demise, the odds were now three-to-one. Well, four-to-one if Verius didn't get a grip.

Raising my assault rifle, I opened fire. My target ducked, though none of my shots went anywhere near him. In response, another hostile went full auto with her own assault rifle. None of her shots hit anyone, but it sure did make a mess.

Crouching down, I switched to my sniper rifle and leaned around the corner of the crate that I'd been hiding behind and squeezed the trigger. My first shot overloaded my target's shields; the second went right through his eye.

A red light flashed on my HUD, warning me that the sniper rifle had overheated. No surprise, really—I was more astonished by the fact that I managed to get off two shots. All those modifications I made must've paid off. Not that I had any doubt, of course.

While I waited for my rifle to cool down, Nyreen scored a kill of her own. Verius wasn't quite as successful—he really needed to spend more time at the firing range—but at least he was making a passable attempt at cover fire. I shuffled on my feet impatiently before checking my HUD again. My sniper rifle hadn't even started to cool down yet. Growling, I dropped it and pulled out my assault rifle. It would let me contribute to the fight. If nothing else, I could do a better job than Verius.

"Squad Bortus, this is Nalus."

Spirits be praised. I ducked down to activate my comm before resuming fire. "This is Garrus. It's good to hear your voice, sir."

"Garrus? Where is Sergeant Natra?"

Nalus had a point. Protocol dictated that the squad leader should respond. Only… "She's dead, sir. We've taken heavy casualties."

I'll say this for Nalus: he took that bad news without breaking stride. "Status report."

"Nyreen, Veria and I are the only ones still alive. We got ambushed before we even saw the base. Right now, we've got seven hostiles north of our position. They've got us pinned down."

"And they're splitting up," Nyreen called out loudly so Nalus could hear her. "Think they're trying to flank us."

"Understood. Gunship's en route. ETA: one minute."

Air support in the area? And that close to our location? Since when was my luck that good? Not that you want to question that sort of thing too much. The spirits have a way of getting testy when you do that.

Turned out Nalus was spot-on: only a few seconds passed before I could hear the howl of the gunship's thrusters. Before long, the silhouette of the gunship appeared on the horizon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement. Maybe the smugglers saw the same thing and wanted to run while they still had a chance.

Or maybe they saw the same thing and wanted to blow it out of the sky with a surface-to-air missile. Which they did.

I knew my luck couldn't be that good.

Humans believe that they can see their entire lives at moments like this, flashing by like a vid on fast-forward. Nothing like that happened, either because I'm not human or because my life was that meaningless. All I could think as the gunship exploded upon impact was: this is it. I'm gonna die.

Everything around me disappeared in a roiling storm of fire and smoke. I waited for the flames to wash over me and burn me alive. Waited for the shrapnel to rip me to shreds. Waited to feel the agony as my flesh was stripped from my bones…

…but nothing happened.

Slowly, I realized all that fire and smoke was sweeping around me. Like it had met some kind of obstacle. A dome-shaped obstacle, flickering with blue light. Like some kind of shield or kinetic barrier. I looked around in bewilderment, wondering where it was coming from.

Then I saw Nyreen. Knees bent, arms outstretched, fingers splayed in some arcane pattern. Body crackling with blue energy. As I watched, tendrils of that same blue energy reached out, moving like a hanar's tentacles, to touch that shield. That barrier.

That biotic barrier.

Nyreen. She was a biotic.

Spirits.

I thought about that while waiting for Nalus to send another gunship, the first one having taken out the remaining smugglers in the crash. I thought about that on the ride back to the starship. And I thought about that on the long, long return trip to Palaven.

Nyreen was a biotic. And I didn't know what to do about that. Well, that's not true. I knew what I had to do. I just didn't know if I should.

You see, different species had different reactions to biotics. Asari found it perfectly normal, which made sense given that all asari are naturally biotic from birth. Krogan biotics trained to become battlemasters like Wrex. Human reactions range from prejudice and distrust—mostly amongst the civilian population—to recruitment efforts from the Alliance military. Salarian biotics were usually assigned to intelligence rather than risking such valuable assets on the front lines. As for turians, well… there's a bit of history there.

During the Unification Wars, turian biotics were planted amongst infantry units as 'observers' and 'evaluators'—which really meant their orders were to gather every nugget of personal information possible on the soldiers and monitor their loyalty. Or they were sent on covert-op missions, which usually involved assassination. Or sabotage and assassination. Or assassination followed by the threat of more assassination. You get the idea.

As a result, biotics didn't have the best reputation amongst the rank-and-file. The word 'biotic' didn't exactly become synonymous with 'turncoat' or 'back-stabber', but it was pretty damn close. To address 'safety and unit cohesion concerns,' Hierarchy protocol requires all biotic soldiers to be identified as soon as possible so they could be re-assigned to specialized units, known as Cabals, for advanced biotic training.

The thing was, Cabals were isolated from the rest of the military. It was for everyone's protection, so we were told. 'Normal' turians didn't want to be betrayed by biotics, and the biotics didn't want to be swarmed and lynched by their counterparts. It was for the greater good. I always thought it made sense. I always believed that if I ever found myself in this scenario, I wouldn't hesitate to follow the established protocol, like a good and dutiful turian. Because the good of the Hierarchy outweighed my personal desire. But this wasn't some nameless hypothetical turian. This was Nyreen. If I followed procedure and reported Nyreen's status, we would be separated. And I would never see her again.

In the end, I did my duty.

They came for Nyreen in the middle of the night.

I never saw her again.


It had been years since Nyreen had been 'reassigned.'

Maybe that night was the point where I stopped caring about being a good turian. Maybe that was why I was so easily frustrated by people and organizations clinging to protocols and regulations like holy writ. But that was just a cop-out. The truth was that I've always struggled with figuring out the right thing to do. I've always had problems with knowing when I went too far and crossed the line.

But Nyreen survived. After all this time, after everything I did to her, she was still alive. Perhaps now was my time to make amends. I opened my mouth—

"Aria's heading this way," Shepard said. "Looks like we'll be leaving soon."

I closed my mouth. The window had closed. Another time, then.

We soon realized that 'soon' meant right the hell away. Aria quick-marched us down a corridor and into an elevator. She didn't say a word. None of us did. The tension built up in the elevator car until you could cut it with an omni-blade.

It was a relief when we finally reached our destination. "We're arriving at one of the eezo processing plants," Aria explained as the elevator doors opened into a small room. "It's been powered down, so we'll have to pry open the door."

She pointed to the door on the opposite end of the room. Shepard and I looked at each other. "We got it," I told her.

"Access to the mine should be on the far side," Aria added.

"And the reactor is beyond that?" Nyreen pressed.

Aria stared at Nyreen as Shepard and I slowly opened the doors. "According to the schematics. I ran Omega, Nyreen. I didn't work the mines myself." She pulled out her shotgun and squeezed through the doors.

"No," Nyreen retorted, hot on her heels. "No, you had indentured servants for that… spirits."

I quickly pushed through the doors to see what was going on. Nyreen was staring at a pair of bodies. Aria had already crouched down to examine them. "Relax," she said. "They're Cerberus."

Shepard joined us and crouched down beside Aria. "They've been ripped to shreds. Yeah they're Cerberus, but that's a nasty way to go."

The three of us looked around uneasily. Whatever did this could still be here. And if they could do this to the Cerberus goons lying at our feet, they might be able to do the same to us. Nyreen was the first to voice what we were all thinking. "I don't like this."

"I hear that," Shepard said grimly. "Let's get going. Which way?"

Aria consulted her omni-tool and pointed us in the right direction. Shepard took the lead, with the rest of us right behind him. We walked single-file down catwalk after catwalk, the monotony broken up only by random piles of crates—none of which had anything worth looting—and dead Cerberus soldiers—each one thoroughly eviscerated. The only sounds we heard were our footsteps on the corrugated metal catwalks and the steady rattling of overworked machinery in the distance.

"More dead," I finally said, pointing his gun's flashlight at another two bodies. That made at least seven dead hostiles. All fairly recent, judging by the colour of the bloodstains and the fact that every corpse had cooled to room temperature.

"It's a bloodbath," Nyreen shook her head. "I've got a bad feeling. We shouldn't be—"

"Quiet," Shepard suddenly hissed. "What's that sound?"

We all froze and listened. A soft growl pierced the darkness, rising to an unholy shriek before cutting off.