Tali was having a bad pilgrimage. She had figured from the start that things would be bad. After all, the daughter of an Admiral had to prove herself to the fullest on her first pilgrimage. But if you had told her some rogue Spectre would end up trying to kill her, she would have sat you down and tried to talk you through your apparent mental illness (Tali just doesn't have it in her to laugh at someone suffering from insanity).

But thats what happened. What seems like years ago, she and a fellow crewmember of the ship Honorata, a male quarian named Keenah'Breizh, had decided to investigate a geth presence on a unnamed ice planet on their way to Earth, where she had decided to make her pilgrimage. After extracting a geth memory core detailing the events of an attack on a human colony, they diverted to Ilium to try and give the information to its authorities. It hadn't ended well.

Now, she's on the Citadel after a long journey. Keenah'Breizh is dead, killed by the turian mercenary Jacobus. Jacobus himself was incinerated, a fate he deserved a dozen times over. Still, even with her pursuers dead, Tali found herself frustrated by the blind prejudice of every person she'd met so far. Well, all except three.

The krogan, so tall and intimidating, but kind all the same. The smiling human soldier who had lent her some medi-gel. Doctor Michel, who had healed her free of charge. The volus info broker who had been the first to listen to her. And of course, the other human soldier. The one with the bright blue eyes. Of course, as soon as any of them came close, all she could do was worry about if they had showered recently, considering her suits broken filter. Of course, that lead to her picturing them naked, and then...

Tali shakes her head, blushing furiously under her mask. Still, with all that had happened, those five gave a bit of hope to her. Maybe her mission would finally be finished?

As she stands in an empty hallway, awaiting the appearance of the Shadow Broker, she sings her favorite song from Fleet and Flotilla to herself, her soft voice echoing off the white walls around her as thinks back to simpler days.

"Let the moons shining light hide two lovers with its rays. Though I know that dawn will set us on a course for separate ways. I will hold this night in memory for all my living days..."

"You know, you don't fight like your sister." Kaidan tells Shepard. The three of them are standing in the slow elevator, waiting patiently to get to the next floor. Shepard turns to look at Kaidan, sparing a glance to Wrex.

"What do you mean?"

"Its something I notice. When you fight together, its like poetry in motion. You fight like something out of a vid. But when you guys separate..." Kaidan shrugs. "I don't know. Its like she enjoys it more? She just seems a bit bloodthirsty. Like Xena from that show way back when."

Wrex chuckles, his voice booming in the small space as they turn to him. "Nothing wrong with that. A good fight is something special. Its even better when its fought for a good reason."

"Agreed." John says with a grin, turning to Kaidan. "I do like a good fight. I just hide it better. I don't like killing for no reason though. At some point, it just becomes murder. There has to be a line somewhere, you know?"

Kaidan nods, then blinks. "Wait? What about Jane then?"

"Jane? Yeah, she really like beating things to a pulp. She won't kill for no reason, but its easier for her to find a reason."

Kaidan doesn't seem to worry about that to much. If anything, he looks intrigued. Before John can wonder why, the elevator stops on their floor, allowing them spill out onto the ward. They walk past vendors and shoppers, making their way to the clinic Wrex had pointed Tali to. A sudden gunshot splits the air, and the sound of biotics being discharged can be heard from the direction of the clinic. Fearing the worst, John pulls out his gun.

"Barriers up!" The trio activate the purple fields of armor, all three glowing as they do a dead run to the clinic. John presses up to the wall next to the door, coming up to poke his head in.

The clinic is rather clean, with a small operating table and a well built med-dispenser. It might have been orderly once, but recent events have obviously turned it into a small warzone, leaving torn medical supplies and table strewn across the floor, and bullet holes on every wall next to streaks of black.

The occupants are no better. Three men, a turian and two batarians in rather advanced suits of armor face off against their opponents, the turian in front holding onto a quivering woman wearing a doctors clothes. Its plain from the gun he holds to her head that she is a hostage.

Across from them are a salarian man and a asari. The salarian is gray-skinned wearing yellow and white armor, slim like all his species. He carries himself with confidence, and has a rather advanced pistol in hand as he narrows his eyes at the hostage-takers. The asari is a dark blue with purple markings painted on her face, giving her a rather exotic look. She carries no weapons, her fists glowing with bright blue biotic power, and a snarl mars her beautiful face.

"Let. Her. Go." She says slowly, her entire body quivering with rage.

"We don't care about you." The salarian says softly, hands tightening around his gun. "We just want the doctor."

"Well maybe you should blame her." The turian squeezes her, drawing a gasp of pain from her. "She's the one whose been dealing with dangerous people. The kind that call us in to handle business."

"Maybe you should look into a new line of work." The asari says dismissively. Her eyes widen at something, just barely, before she carefully looks back at the doctor. The salarian man is less emotional.

"Don't worry doctor. You're going to be safe."

"Now you're talking." The leader says smugly. "Now, what we want is-"

"I'm sorry." The asari says with a smirk. "What makes you think you have any say in the matter?" When the merc give her a confused look, she nods behind him.

The turian and his group spin their heads around. John smiles as he holds his shotgun to the turians head, mere inches away. Kaidan has a smirk on his face as biotic power glows around him, and Wrex smiles like a demon as he chuckles gruffly.

"Hi." John says.

The turian gets ready to pull the trigger. He's too late as pellets turns his brains into so much pulpy mush. Wrex takes a more direct approach, slamming his head into the batarian across from him. Steel-hard natural armor meets batarian flesh, and sends the smaller alien flying.

Kaidan isn't quite as fast as the others, allowing his batarian time to speak. The four-eyed man stares stunned, as Shepard turns to look at him. He seems filled with fear as Kaidan raises his pistol up.

"The Butcher of Torfan."

Kaidan shoots him in the head, leaving the batarian to flop uselessly to the ground. He cocks his head confusion, turning to look at Shepard. "What was that? That thing he said at the end there?"

John doesn't answer, giving the batarians body a sad look before kneeling down to help the doctor up. "You okay Doc?"

"Yes, just a bit shaken is all." The doctor in question is a brown haired woman, her hair cut short into a bob. John notes her french accent, a rarity in a galaxy of constant traveling. She smiles at John's team. "Thank you for the help." She turns to the salarian and asari with a wide smile. "And you as well Jondum. If you and your friend hadn't come by, I would have been dead long before this rescue."

"Of course Chloe. I only wish we could have come sooner." The salarian smiles as he puts away his weapon, walking up to Shepard with a hand extended. "Jondum Bao, Special Tactics and Recon. This is my associate Tela Vasir."

The asari nods at them. She doesn't seem as friendly as her companion, though the biotic glow around her fists fades as she pans her eyes across John and his team. John eyes her, then shakes Jondum's hand, smiling at him.

"John Shepard, Alliance Navy. Good to meet you. What's a Spectre doing here anyways?"

"Same as you. Investigating the chaos that has enveloped this station. The past few hours, every Spectre on the station has been fighting off mercs alongside C-Sec, eradicating their presence. Its become a madhouse." Jondum sighs, rubbing his forehead. "All I had to deal with this morning was writing a report on a thief I've been chasing. I was even having fun with it. Now I have to deal with a war."

"We all have our issues." Tela steps forward. "Anyways, an informant of mine told me that a quarian with some information that might be useful came here. I called in Jondum to come in with me, thanks to his relationship with Dr. Michel, and came here to find a group of thugs breaking down her door. A little bit later, you three came in." She eyes John, a small smirk stretching her face. "So you're one of the ones who've been causing all this trouble."

John frowns, giving her an even look as he shifts his weight. "Not, we aren't. Having a bounty put on us isn't exactly something we'd choose for ourselves. If it helps, me and my allies are doing whatever we can to end this."

Tela doesn't soften, but she still nods. "Good enough for me."

"What about Tali?" Kaidan asks, a worried look on his face. "Did she say where she was going?"

Dr. Michel nods her head, going up to her medical dispenser. "She was in pretty good condition when she came to me. Something about a pair of handsome humans and an intimidating krogan helping her." She turns to give them a knowing smile. "Your doing?"

"Yeah." John says sheepishly. "We didn't know who she was. Just a young woman who needed help."

"That speaks rather well of your personality." Jondum notes offhandedly.

"But not for your sense of timing." Tela disagrees critically. "You had bigger issues on hand. Without prior knowledge, helping her would just be a waste of time."

"I would agree with you. Except that it turned out to be just what we needed." Jondum smiles at Tela, salarian eyes sparkling brightly. "Old human belief. Karma. All good things come back to you."

Dr. Michel continues as she rummages through her med-dispenser. "After I patched her up, she got a message from a man named Fist, a Shadow Broker agent. He told her he was coming here. For some reason, she refused, and told she would meet the Shadow Broker himself, and no one else. Not mention in a place of her own choosing."

Both Wrex and Tela blink at this, their postures sharing different levels of surprise. "And he agreed?" Wrex says in a slightly awed tone.

"As far as I know, yes. In a back alley in the market place."

Jondum smiles. "I think I know the place. A good spot to fight for those of a slighter build. Plenty of room to keep from getting pinned, available cover, a good choice. Seems this quarian girl has more to her then we thought."

"She'll need it." John turns to Tela and Jondum. "I know this is a bit abrupt, but I could use some help. And we don't know how many forces might be coming. Will you join us?"

"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" Tela says with a bit of arrogance in her tone. She cocks a hip with a smirk. "We're Spectres. We say hop, you say-"

"Which eye." Everyone turns to Wrex. "For the bullet that'll be entering your skull if you even think of ordering me around.."

Tela's face becomes a mask of rage, and she begins to glow with biotic power as she steps towards an unimpressed Wrex. Shepard steps in front of her, turning to give Wrex a look before his voice snaps out. "Enough!"

They stop to look at him, and he continues with firm resolve. "We don't have time to deal with rank. There's a girl out there who could hold the key to stopping this madness, and we need to save her. Now I would love to have your help." He turns to Tela. "So please, come with me and fight alongside me. If you have any issues with my leadership, we can deal with it later. But this girl needs our help."

Tela seems unconvinced. She opens her mouth, only to clam up when Jondum places a hand on her shoulder. She turns to him, softening a bit at the nod her gives her. When she turns back to John, her normal smirk is in full effect.

"Fine. Lets see what you've got Shepard."

Shepard nods, a bit of relief flooding him. "Okay. Lets move. Dr. Michel, we'll be back to check up on you later." He tells the young doctor.

"That's good to hear commander. By the way, you might need these." She hands him some mods built for armor, the symbols on them marking them as medical equipment. "A friend passed them to me. They would be of better use to you."

John nods, smiling at her as he passes them to Kaidan, the only member of their group skilled enough in medicine to know what will work best. He walks out, shoulders set as he leads his team out the door.

"Lets move."

Just then, his omni-tool rings. John doesn't stop moving, turning on his personal comm.

"Neural comm, now." Jane says quickly, her voice tense over the link.

John blinks, but calmly switches on his own copy of the link. A small rush fills him as his mind is joined to Jane over the distance between them.

"Whats happening?" He thinks worriedly.

"Something Garrus found. We have a problem?"

John's eyes widen slowly as she breaks it down to him, his worry turning into panic as he begins to speed towards Tali. In the end, he only has one response to Jane.

"Crap."

Tali sighs softly in relief as a group of men walk up to her. For a moment it seems like her trails are over. Until she takes notice of their bearing. Ten men, led by a human in red armor with a flattop haircut. Each are stepping towards her with aggresion in every movement, though their leader makes an attempt to be cordial as he steps up to her.

"Tali Zorah? I'm with the Shadow Broker. He sent me to get. I'm Fist."

Tali eyes the hand he offers to her, ignoring it completely after a moment. "Charming name." She takes a moment for her helmet, specifically the way it can hide her eyes. It allows her to scan the room, taking note of how each merc begins to take positions around her. Luckily, the alley ways size and careful placement of various boxes make it impossible to keep her from getting to cover if needed, giving her an edge.

"I was told the Broker would be coming himself."

Fist blinks, then gives her a leering smile. "Well, he's a bit busy. He wants me to bring you to him. Its just a quick walk. If you'll-"

"Forget it." She cuts him off even as she carefully sets up a tech mine with some subtle movements. "Deals off. Tell the Shadow Broker to try again later."

Fist drops the act, snarling as he reaches for her. "Listen here you bit-"

She intercepts his hand at the wrist, slapping it with her palm.

Normally this wouldn't be much of a hit. But a recently developed Jaeger technology had hit the market about a month before, and was now available in small sizes. Called the joy-buzzer, after the small toy, it allowed a person to discharge an electrical current through an opponent at close range. In Jaegers it was usually powered through their enormous power sources, allowing them to incapacitate enormous opponents before going for the kill, but it was easy enough to shrink to a human size. Or in this case, quarian-size.

The look on Fist's face as the current passes through him is priceless. His body jerks like a ragdoll as his muscles are twisted by the electricity, falling down to the bewilderment of his men. Before they can open fire, Tali pulls her shotgun out and flips over a crate, launching a incineration orb as she goes. The ensuing explosion doesn't kill anyone, but its enough to distract the mercs as she takes a defensive position on the other side of the alleyway. Just like that, Tali is alone against ten men, all of them shooting towards her cover as they prowl towards her down a single hallway. Perfect.

Now, the men are forced to duck around cover, slowing them down and occupying them long enough for her to take them on one by one. It'll be tight, but its more then likely that she can kill them all as long she can keep a cool head.

So when she comes out of cover to aim at the closest merc, it comes as a shock to her when he's suddenly lifted up into the air by a biotic attack. Another one shatters the field, sending the man flying with a scream of agony. She turns around and gasps in shock at the group behind her.

"You?"

"I really hope you mean that in a good way." John says with a smile. Behind him, Kaidan and Tela lower their arms, still glowing with power. "What do you say? Fight now, talk later?"

'Are all humans like this?' She thought to herself, a bit suspicious. 'So willing to fight for others?' Still, it wasn't like she had other options.

John ducked back from another burst of fire, growling as he recognized Fist duck back into cover. "Wrex! Keep the leader from running away again! Next time he books, pull him back!"

"Got it!"

"Tela, keep them dancing! Any merc in cover, you get him exposed as fast as possible!"

"Sure." The blue-skinned woman smiles as her limbs begin to flow with biotic energy. In a flash of light, she flies through crates and bullets, slamming into a turian man. As he staggers back, her assault rifle rips him to shreds. "I love my job."

With nine more enemies to go, John stares after her before a almost childish smile appears. "I want that."

He turns to the rest. "Bau, are you good here?"

"Of course Shepard. I'm not a Spectre for nothing." Just then, a man wearing heavy armor spins out of cover and goes charging towards them, screaming in raw hatred. Sparing him a glance, Jondum hits him with a program. Designed to make an enemies armor work against them, it sends shooting pain through the nerves. The man's screams turn to pain, and he staggers to ground as he howls in agony. Bau smiles at John as he ends the mans suffering with a single shot from his pistol. "I'll be fine."

"...Good enough. Kaidan, you're with me. Miss Zorah, can you fight?"

She nods. "Its part of my training. I can handle myself."

"Good enough for me." John says with a smile. Still, he decides to keep an eye on her. "Move out!"

Fist growls in his throat as he watches John's group advance. He links up to his mercs, his voice harsh as he barks at them. "Kill them all! Kill the Normandy crew!"

"Going to have to try better than that!" Kaidan crows back, a grimace on his face as he biotically slams a man into a crate. The human man looks up long enough to Tali to shot him in the head. She doesn't take the time to feel pride in the clean shot, focusing her attention on another man. She throws a tech mine at him, popping his shields. John follows up with a shockwave, sending the man flying back and into a wall with spine-shattering force. He and the others pull back when a burst of automatic gunfire forces them back.

"Damnit." John curses to himself. He connects to Wrex and Tela over the radio. "Guys, those assault rifles are about to tear us in half! Take those guys down, now!"

"You got it!" Wrex barks as he pulls out of cover and starts charging across the field. His barrier soaks up bullets with ease as he roars like a beast from ancient times, slamming into the cover of three turians using rifles. The dextro aliens jump back, one screaming as he tries to sight on Wrex. He feels a force slam into him with all the force of a speeding car, cutting off his scream and sending him flying. As he dies, his friends take a moment to stare at their enemies.

Wrex, stepping over their cover, his eyes somehow angry and full of glee at the same time, with Tela standing just in front of him, her eyes glowing as she lifts up glowing arms. "This is going to hurt." She coos to them. Wrex chuckles darkly as he steps forward.

Panicked, the turians go to shoot them. Tela moves like lightning, blasting them with a biotic lift. As they float helplessly, Wrex sends a warp, destroying them utterly in the ensuing explosion as the biotic field destabilizes. Wrex ignore their falling bodies to speak into his radio.

"Rifles down Shepard."

That's enough for John. "Move up! Wrex, keep an eye on the leader! Jondum, we need a opening!"

The salarian smiles as he pulls back into cover, lifting up several devices. "Happy to oblige!" With a couple of presses, the devices glow blue. He spins back out and throws them like Frisbee's, watching with interest as they land at the feet of several enemy mercs. Before the men can move, electricity arcs between the round disks, sending thousands of bolts of electricity through them. One man shakes, arms wide out as he screams before falling to the ground. The other are incapacitated long enough to John to get in range, his handy shotgun ready as he shoots one in the chest, sending dozens of pellets tearing through his organs. John turns to another one, but this merc turns out to be a bit more resilient then the others.

The merc fires his shotgun at John, piercing his shields. John falls back as the next shot slams into his armor, sending him back. The merc smirks, raising his gun back. He screams in pain when a hand clasps his shoulder, sending another bolt of lightning into him. A pistol round to his head ends his suffering. Tali pulls her hand away and turns to John, who smiles at her as his shields recharge.

"I guess we're even now, huh?" He pats her on the shoulder as he walks past. "Thank you."

Kaidan shoots a man in the heart, finishing off the last merc. He walks up next to Tali, who watches Shepard leave silently, two bright spots growing just beneath where her eyes would be. Confused, Kaidan gives her a pat on the shoulder, startling her. "You okay?"

"O-Oh, yes! I'm just, thinking, you know?" She chuckles a bit nervously. "Boy, it's hot here, isn't it? We'd better leave."

"Not just yet." John says as Jondum and Tela walk up. After a moment, he turns and grins when he sees Wrex walk up while dragging something. "So where did you find him?"

"Hiding behind some crates." Wrex throws him forward, a look of disgust on his face as Fist moans pitifully on the floor. "He was about to make a break for it before I got to him. Quick little bastard."

"Cowards always are." Tela says with a dismissive snort. "Just kill him and leave him here."

Fist curls his lips, crawling up to his hands and knees. He coughs, then look up to smirk at Tela. "Go ahead. But I've got information. The kind that you don't want to lose. Kill me, and it all goes away."

"Or we torture it out of you." Wrex suggests. His voice is just a touch too happy. "A couple of broken body parts would loosen that tongue of yours."

"Unlikely we could trust whatever information he gave us." Jondum crosses his arms as he looks down at Fist. "So what is it you want?"

"My freedom." Fist spits to the side, almost hitting Tali. She yelps and steps back, glaring at him as he grins at her. "Let me go. I'm just a small time guy. I'll disappear. You won't ever see me again."

"I don't know." John kneels down, looking him in the eye. "How do I know I'm getting what I want out of this deal? Your guys have been dying at my hands all day. In the old days I would have run out have bullets. And now I'm supposed to just trust that you aren't going to come back for a bit of revenge?"

Fist snarls. "That was just business! I don't give a damn about these guys! I don't want anything more to do with you psychos!"

And John believed that. In the end, Fist was damned pathetic. How a man like him got to be in charge was beyond the marine. Still, he needed to give him that little push.

"How about this? A good will gift. Give me a bit information, and I can think about giving you the full release."

Fists stares at Shepard. "What are you talking about?"

"A shipment of organic goods. Smuggled off Earth, brought here, and diverted to another planet. Through your services. Where was it sent?"

Fist looks around at the rest of them. They keep quiet, allowing things to play out as they are, though Kaidan can't help a worried look toward John. Fist looks back at John and nods slowly.

"All right. Fine. I don't know the exact location, but I know the city and the planet. I give you that, and you let me go."

"I promise." John says honestly. Tela and Kaidan shift a bit, but say nothing. Fist searches John's face, then shrugs.

"Nos Astra. On Ilium. To some Asari Matriarch. I don't know what was sent, but Saren and some salarian scientist oversaw the whole thing. Very hush-hush."

"You sent it and you didn't even know what it was?" Kaidan says sceptically. "Doesn't sound like the kind of thing a smart business man would do."

"Well when you have a turian spectre with a hate for humans telling you what's what, you don't ask many questions, do ya!?" Fist rages. He rises completely to his feet, looking at Wrex warily for a moment before turning back to John. "So. You going to let me go?"

John barely hesitates, stepping aside. Jondum pushes Fist forward and away while John speaks. "Get out of here. I'm sure you'll live to regret this."

"Yeah, yeah." Fist grumbles, stumbling off.

Tela sighs as she watches the man go off. "Is it even a good idea to let him go?"

"No, it isn't." Kaidan answers, turning to John. "Why did you do that?"

"Because he might have more information." John turns to Jondum. "We good?"

"Yes." The salarian smiles a bit mischievously as his omni-tool lights up. A small blip can be seen going farther and farther from them. "Sending the transmitters signal to C-Sec now. They'll pick him up for us."

"Good." John smiles as he turns to walk away. "I did promise to let him go. I never said nobody else would get a heads up."

"Is that... right?" Tali says with a bit of conflict in her voice.

"Maybe not." Tela admits as she follows the group. "But its damn funny."

"So what'd I miss?" Jane says with a smile as she notes the three new members to John's group. Garrus and Ashley stand beside her as they wait in front of the stairs to the human embassy, watching John's team walk up to them. "You seem to be doing okay."

"Two big fights. Lots of bullets flying. Come to think of it, we probably went on the wrong assignments." John replies in amusement.

"Maybe, but you couldn't have hacked the computer." She says with a playful smirk. "So you going to introduce me?"

"Oh, right." John turns to motion to the new members. "This is Tali Zorah vas-"John stops, turning to give her a embarrassed look. "I'm sorry, I never got your ship name.

"The Rayya. Um, and its 'nar' actually. I haven't finished my pilgrimage yet." She says sheepishly.

John nods in understanding before continuing. "And these are Tela Vasir and Jondum Bau." He gives Jane a knowing look. "Council Spectres."

This draws Janes interest. The red head makes note of it, then turns back to John. "We better head inside. Udina told me to meet him as soon as you got here."

John nods, walking alongside his sister. When they enter the embassy, a wide office with nice furniture and a great view of the Presidium, Udina is sitting behind a desk, Anderson standing calmly at his side. Nihlus is on the other side of the desk, turning to look as the door opens. He raises an eyebrow at the size of the group that walks in, giving a respectful nod to Tela and Jondum. Udina looks up at John and Jane, smiling at them.

"Ah, we were just discussing you. John, Jane, I would like to introduce you to the turian councilor."

The turian who gets up from the chair in front of Udina's desk is tall, and rather well built for a politician. Like most of his race, he moves with military precision, turning to look at him. Jane's eyes widen at the blue markings on his face.

"Oh no way."

The turian councilor blinks when he sees Garrus rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "Garrus?"

The group turn to look at Garrus in shock." He chuckles a bit, waving weakly at the turian councilor.

"Hey, dad."

Author's note: I really hope that surprised you guys. It was hinted at a bit earlier, when Ashley was deriding politicians and Garrus tried to defend them so I hope I still managed to get you to jump in your seats. Any ways, all questions will be answered next chapter. What was sent to Ilium? What will the Council do about Saren? And can the Normandy Team take on the next threat to appear?

And now, a quick change. Recently, a awesome artist on deviantart, rs2studios, made a Neptune Overlord! It look pretty sick, and its one of the first official artworks for this story. So please, visit the picture and let him know how much I appreciate. His other Jaegers are pretty sick too, so you won't be missing out.

rs2studios . deviantart art / PacificEffect-Jaeger-Commission-Neptune-Overlord-4 09776419

Just remove the spaces. Thanks folks :D