Disclaimer: Statement: This particular meatbag does not own or claim to own the games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect for fear of execution.

Proud Declaration: Instead these games are copyrighted to the exceptional men and women of the Bioware Corporation, Lucas Arts and Microsoft game studios.

Destination: Osamu Tezuka

The crew of the SSV Normandy shuddered in fear. Not only were they beyond the veil, they were on the crew most likely blamed for if they failed. The majority of the crew received Vid-mails wishing them the best, demanding that they come home and crying for their safety. Even Pressley's wife managed to give a tearful goodbye.

Luckily, they didn't have to land on the planet, smuggle a nuclear bomb and hope that the Geth didn't develop a shoot first policy.

Nevertheless, when they got there, tensions were high. As the ship began to descend into orbit, Commander Shepard cleared his throat.

"I know a lot of you are taking a big chance of coming with me. And I'm grateful that you've come. We may not survive this mission, but then again we just might write history."

The crew clapped their hands on this speech.

The mission would begin as any other mission to a new planet would; they would drop the Mako, nuclear bomb within, on the outskirts of town. They would then drive into town and pray, pray that negotiations went well.

The only thing people didn't anticipate was the droid's…hesitation to get on the Mako.

"Outraged Objection: Master, I refuse to get on that oversized monstrosity of a vehicle."

Shepard didn't have time to waste. "HK, it's the safest way into town."

"Statement: Master, it's bad enough that you would force me to use a… (Shudder) primitive bomb, but is it really necessary to use a tank?"

"I mean think of the lack of finesse, a blunt instrument of destruction is nothing compared to the satisfaction of a-"

The Mako's cannon went off, deafening the crew and harming none of them. The giant wall of black smoke emerged out of the blow.

Wrex emerged out of the truck with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Statement: Then again, there is some satisfaction in using a large cannon to eliminate your enemies."


The Mako did not have the smoothness of a convertible, nor did it posses the stretching room of an SUV or air conditioning. Suffice to say, holding six people in there for the first time felt…uncomfortable to say the least.

It didn't help matters when HK began asking, "Query: Are we there yet?Query: Are we there yet?"

The planet Tezuka resembled no other world the crew had ever touched on before. Instead of blank space or green fields, darkness had engulfed the entire planet. The Normandy passed through a thick atmosphere of smoke and fog and the Mako landed on a blue planet, forever covered in night.

They drove until they found a high ridge which to settle upon. Using the Mako's visor, the crew found something strange. There a lone Geth Shock trooper marched around, apparently the only thing alive surrounded by corpses of Geth and Husks.

"Something's wrong." Garrus said, pulling his eyes from the visor. "Something got here before we did. And it killed all of the Geth and the Husks to boot."

"Observation: There maybe something else at work here, as well. Look at the corpses. None of them are of meatbag, I mean, organic status. And they left one alive."

The truck suddenly got quiet. Did the Council send someone another Specter to spy on them? Were there pirates in the area? This left a lot of concern.

"It's all yours, Ash." Williams loaded her sniper rifle and opened the hatch. The first thing she gave was a harsh cough. She hacked and hacked away, brushing away the fumes of the outside.

"Whatever the Geth did to this planet, it smells awful." The smog leaking to the inside gave the degree of stench. If tar, gas and smog mixed together, this would be the emphasis of it.

After Williams put on her helmet, she aimed her reticule for the Geth's tube of a head.

"Almost." She aimed the sight for the head.

"Almost." She checked for wind change and speed.

"I've got you now-" The Geth landed in pain as the blaster fire hit it in the kneecap. Williams turned to see the droid with its blaster out.

"Statement: If you intend to use a sniper, you must be quick, accurate and efficient. Oh, and you were 5 degrees off." Williams grumbled as she shut the hatch above her.


The crew all circled the Geth, letting out screeches in agony.

"Ah! I will destroy you, organic."

"HK," Shepard asked. "What did it say?

"Translation: It's making futile threats at us. How quaint."

"Tell them that we're willing to heal them if it gives us directions to the city."

"Translation:" HK gave out the same inhuman sounds the Geth did as they spoke.

"You know the language of my people, yet you travel with organics?"

"HK, what's it saying?" Shepard asked. The droid stood silent as listened.

"You are a traitor of our kind, no worse. If I could reach my pistol, I would shoot myself for seeing such a sight."

"Translation: It is unwilling to comply and continues to mock us." That's odd. HK never told anything less than the truth. He had history of deception if his master allowed it, but for the most part, he had to tell the truth. Telling something less was something new.

"Slave, servant to the Quarians; end my misery and let my memory be gone."

"HK?" Shepard looked at the droid. Since it, technically, had no face Shepard couldn't tell how it was thinking. But the change in voice, the lack of its dark humor gave something strange in the air.

"Translation: It wants us to kill it."

Tali pulled out her pistol. "Allow me."

"No, HK, do what you want with it."

HK pulled out its blaster and stared into the eye of the Geth. For some reason he stood silent, planning his next move. What was this hesitance to kill? Was it as his master described it, 'Mercy'?

The Droid quickly shot the other kneecap and went on its way.

"Funny." The Quarian said. "I thought you wanted to kill something."

"Statement: Doing so would end negotiations with the Geth immediately. Besides, a suffering live target is better than a crudely killed one."


As the Mako drove into town, HK thought of what had happened. How could he of all droids, let a target live? Then again, was the Geth alive? Was HK truly a slave of all things? The first time he met Avina, the dead VI on the station, the contempt of the people watching him, the feeling of his mainframe being hacked. How did a machine's words carry so much weight? He killed other droids before, but the look the Geth gave him was that of sentience. Of life.

"Statement: We are here."

The Mako rolled over a hill to see a marvelous site. Where the terrains of the planet were dead, the city glowed to life. A series of vibrant green blue lines filled the city. Skyscrapers and factories with streams of light running down them lit the night sky. The lines themselves connected to buildings none intersecting with each other. They drove into town wanting to see more.

"I can't believe it." Liara gasped. "This place, this place is-"

"Beautiful." Williams finished. Closer to town, the Mako found a street seeing the Geth do their various tasks, such as carrying boxes, constructing new buildings and other activities normal of a civilization. A gigantic TV had Geth broadcasting speeches and news on it as scrolls of their language, a mix of binary code and Arabic, went right to left. An invisible PA ran throughout the city, telling something to the people.

"The Geth sure do know how to make a city." Garrus whistled looking around.

"The Geth stole this city!" Tali cut out. "We made this city and the Geth took it from us! Look at this place." She stared specifically at the pillars producing smog at an alarming rate.

"I thought for once, I could take my helmet off and breathe the air of my people. Now it's probably as good as nothing."

"Someone's coming," Wrex said. A group of Geth approached the Mako and circled around it. It began yelling its strange language to them.

"Translation: It's ordering us to leave the vehicle."

"Do as he says." The crew got out of the Mako and stretched their legs feeling the guns pointed at hem. The Geth Juggernaut barked its strange language to them.

"Translation: It wants to know why you have come here, Slayer of Geth."

"Slayer of Geth?" Williams chuckled. "That's a fancy nickname."

"Tell him we want to make to make peace."

HK gave his wobbly to the Geth. Tali, for the most part, knew what the droid was saying came near the truth.

"Translation: He calls a liar, Master, as you travel with the wretched Quarian."

The group turned to Tali, who gave a scoff. "I don't need to defend myself to a bunch of Geth."

"Wait!" Shepard said before HK said something wrong. "Tell them that not all species are like that."

HK hesitated for a moment. There it was again, hesitation. Was the Commander telling the truth? Did anyone other than him treat him with the respect they deserved?

"HK?"

"Hasty Explanation: Forgive me master, I didn't hear you the first time."

The group looked at each other at the sign of 'Hasty Explanation'.

"Tell them not everyone's like that."

"Translation:" HK gave his wobbly voice a workout as the Geth kept their guns poised to fire.

"Translation: He wants to search the vehicle and see if we truly mean what we say." The droids neared the hatch to the Mako.

"Quick, tell them-"

"Protocol: Master, telling them would arouse suspicion and have us killed. Let them find the bomb and imprison us."

"You dirty synthetic!" Tali aimed her pistol at HK as all the synthetics and the crew aimed their guns.

"Tali." Shepard started to sweat profusely through his visor. One wrong move and they would be all dead. "Put your weapon down."

"He's stabbing us in the back in front of our eyes!"

"Tali," Shepard breathed heavy breaths hoping that no one gave a stray shot, "this is a city. We can't win."

Tail sighed as she put her pistol down. As the Geth opened the hatch, they told their leader about the bomb. The leader then spoke with them as HK translated.

"Translation: You are to be taken prisoner as I…talk with their leader."

"They want you?"

"Affirmation: They said that I'm the only one who could understand their leader. So I must travel there, alone."

The group held their wits as Shepard nodded. Now all their hopes relied on a homicidal assassin droid.