Six years later, Shepard looks down at the ground of Eden Prime. He and Grarak were wearing full sets of light armor, each wielding an M-8 Avenger.

"You sure you're up for this old man?'

"Worried about me? You're the one who made a deal with the Shadow Broker, kid."

"He's giving us a hundred thousand credits for a simple grab and go. Plus more work."

"Still," said the old Batarian. "I don't like it."

"You're just pissed off that I'm starting to take over."

"No, I'm pissed that you're taking orders from a Volus."

"Barla Von isn't that bad. You should grab a drink with him."

"On the Citadel? Not goddamn likely."

Shepard grinned, jumping out of the ship, and onto the ground. Grarak followed, emitting a grunt.

"So," began Grarak. "Care to explain the red sky and burning fields?"

"No," said Shepard. "No I don't."

He began to move forwards, towards the colony.

"You never told me who we're after."

"Name's Powell. Works a smuggling ring, interferes with the Broker's business here."

"Are we killing him?"

"No."

Grarak frowned, but kept moving. Catching their first glimpse of the colony, the criminals saw large spikes scattered across the ground, decorated with human corpses. A bright light shone Shepard's way, and he ducked behind a rock.

"Geth!?" yelled the Captain. "Fucking Geth!? You need to start telling me things boy!"

"Yeah, like I knew Eden Prime of all places would have Geth! Jesus, why are they here?"

"I dunno, wanna ask them?"

"... Grarak, I know that's a joke, but it's the best idea you've ever had."

"Kid, you aren't gonna-"

Shepard pooped out from behind the rock, and started firing at the Geth. The machine's perked up at the sound of gunfire, and soon spotted Shepard.

"Nice going kid. Now we're gonna die," stated the Batarian, almost nonchalantly. "Not how I expected to go, but I'll take it."

"My dear Captain," Shepard breathed out. "You underestimate me."

The human pulled a grenade from his belt, tossing it onto the battlefield. One explosion later, and the Geth were destroyed.

"Alright," said Shepard. "Let's keep going."

The two men pushed on, until they reached a dig site. A ripped Alliance flag lay in the center of a hole.

"Shit, now the Alliance."

"Look at it this way kid, two birds, one stone."

"Or a whole lotta bullets."

Grarak let out a rare laugh.

"That too. That too…"

Shepard let out a content sigh, before stopping.

"Hold up, more Geth. And it looks like someone's fighting them."

"Do you know who?"

"Probably Alliance, but make sure not to kill them. They might know what's happening."

"No killing the target, now letting soldiers live? I thought I taught you better than that."

Shepard began shooting, soon followed by his captain.

"It's this thing called strategy. You should try it."

"I did. Overrated."

The last Geth was downed, and Shepard lowered his weapon, walking forwards, he could see that the soldier was a woman. Her back was turned to Grarak and John. The human tapped her on the shoulder. She whipped around, pistol forwards.

"Who are you!?"

"My name's Shepard, and this is Grarak."

"Why are you here?"

"We were called in to end a smuggling ring."

A half-truth, but it was better than mentioning the Shadow Broker and slavery. At the sound of a helpful goal, the soldier lowered her weapon.

"Well you won't need to bother. Damned Geth probably did the job for you."
"Yeah, I was about to ask, why are the death-bots here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. One minute we were just stopped for repairs, the next our ship was destroyed and those flashlights were killing everyone."

"Is there any way we can hel-"

"So there's no point in staying," interjected Grarak, who was already walking away. "C'mon kid, we're wasting our time."

"It's fine," stated the soldier. "I already sent a call out to the Alliance. They'll be here soon, and take over."

Grarak froze. "There's no time to waste, we need to get to the other side of the colony."

The Batarian ran ahead of Shepard and the soldier. The woman shot him a quizzical look.

"Bipolar. He's pretty old."