Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Had exams. Hope you enjoy this.


So by now I realised that Nihlus has left the ship. When I asked commander, he said that Nihlus was 'being sent by turian hierarchy to help Alliance strengthen the defences of our colonies, which is a bullshit job because someone up the hierarchy is pissed off about him accusing Saren'. Then I was back at my omnitool and looked up more about science and its applications in Mils. Well, a few things aren't here. Like CODABIX coding isn't here. I wonder why because in my world it was seen as the future of coding. And that gives me an edge. Because I love to write diary and now that CODABIX isn't here, I have something to encode my logs in. Well, they can't hack a language that simply wasn't developed in this world, can they? After that I got some sleep, went to the mess hall and was offered some soup, which I would have categorised as slurry. It's still early by Citadel 27 hours' time, nearly 3 am, which is followed here on this ship, but still most of the ground team is up as they all went to sleep right after we left Dock. And I think I need to talk to the HUMMAAANZZZZ, right? Because, since I've stepped up on this ship the only humans I've talked to is Commander and Jenkins, where one was short of interrogating me and the other just bumped into me. Just like now….

"Hey Doc,"

"Hello Jenkins."

"Call me Richard,"

"Okay Richard. Up already?"

"Yeah. But I guess I went to sleep earlier then you,"

"You did. At 22….maybe 22:30."

"When did you go?"

"About 25:30."

"Just 4 and a half hours?"

"Can't sleep beyond that,"

"Why don't you check-up with Dr. Chakwas then?"

"It's not insomnia Richard, It's a habit."

"Right…Could you do me a favour Doc."

"That depends on the kind of favour."

"Joker's up and he doesn't leave the seat much. Could you give him the breakfast?"

Right, first thing in morning, Seth Green. Oh well, got to know him.

"Of Course." With that I take that 'soup' and head up to the Cockpit…..Man, I got to call it helm after the jokes Jack made about that word. I think the way Cerberus treated her, we can forgive such a behaviour. The way up is really empty. Just a small crew. I don't think the Night Shift has ended yet. But our trusty pilot is already at the helm. Man, I can see this turning into an Insultathon really quickly.

"Hello Flight Lieutenant,"

"Hey there Doc."

"Here you go." And with that I hand him his soup.

"Man, that's an odd job for a Doctor. Shouldn't you be helping Chakwas?"

"First of, I haven't been assigned to hand you your meals. Second, I'm not a medical doctor. I'm a physics grad with Ph.D."

"Oh, I see. So what's gonna be our next stop? MIT?"

"If they have this Conduit thing there,"

"Yeah right. What is it exactly?"

"I don't know Joker….if you don't mind me saying that."

"Formal huh? That thing works on Arcturus, not on frigates."

"Looks like you know Arcturus."

"Know? I grew up there."

"Really? How's it like?" Now there goes the Old fanboy in me. Really, they never did really show Arcturus, well except for the shitty thing in that Illusive Man comic.

"Here we go again….Well, it's a Stanford-torus-"

"I don't want extranet entries Joker. Experience is what I'm seeking."

"Yeah right. Well I never really went about the place. With the condition I have that was not 'recommended'."

"Condition?"

"Vrolik Syndrome, rare genetic condition, make-"

Great he pulled MIT on me, I not going to leave this either.

"You mean The Glass-Bone disease?"

"You know about it?"

"I had a childhood-friend who had it. Raghu. He was one spirited-bastard. Despite the difficulties he had, he was a very strong willed guy. And stupid too."

"How so?"

"One day, there was this guy making fun of him. We told Raghu that we'll beat this guy for him, but he refused. Instead challenged him to take up anything with it. That guy chose volley-ball."

"Even with the syndrome?"

"Even with the syndrome. And it didn't end there. He got himself multiple fractures but still was beating this guy. 3-1. And then suddenly, guy tries a smash from his net. Struck straight his head. By the time we took him to hospital he was dead."

Man, the look on joker's face. You maybe voiced by Seth Green, but I watched his movies.

"And you didn't stop him?"

"It's not like we could just hold him back. We ourselves would have given him multiple fractures if we did."

"Whatever that is, it's one crazy shit."

"That it is. Okay Joker, See you."

"Doc."

And with that I pulled a dark-shit on Joker and I think I'm gonna go to talk to Chief Engineer Adams. But I got to hurry before Pressly wakes up and give me those stares again. I descend down the stairs and well….shit, I didn't even speak about the devil.

"Hello Navigator Pressly."

"Hello Dr. Kumar….Strange. You're up before daylight time starts."

"I'm not big on sleeping,"

"I get that. Well, see you around Doctor."

"Navigator."

Man that was one short talk. Joker and I had a longer conversation than this. And his comment about my sleep cycle. How did that even come into picture? Isn't Jenkins up….Fuck…I don't have time for this. Next stop, Engineering.

Well there I go. Tali was still on her bunk bed so that just leaves Adams and another engineer I don't give a damn about.

"Hello, Chief Engineer Adams."

"Hello Dr. Kumar. Up already?" This again

"I'm not big on sleep, Chief Engineer."

"Please, you can call me Adams,"

"Okay Adams. So this is it? The crowning achievement of Alliance engineering." I say looking over to the drive core. Same blue ethereal light.

"Yes, the IES stealth system is one of its kind. And we have the only one."

"So what's it?"

"I can't exactly tell you about-"

"Hey, I'm not asking for schematics, just the basics a physics grad can get his head around."

"Basically dumps the heat emissions and all that stuff into the sinks built in the ship. We could go by undetected for a few hours and nobody will even know,"

"What of active scans?"

"Well mostly they are only done near high military instalments and Normandy has provisions of limited micro radiation belts so upto IR that shouldn't be a problem, although this can be kept up only for a few minutes, but that's time enough for Joker to pull us out,"

"And FTL?"

"That does leave a flare on the sensors. FTL blue-shifts our emissions. Crank up the energy. Heat Sinks can't take that much."

"But if it were the size of a cruiser, bigger sinks could be fitted. We could come out of low-speed FTL almost undetected."

"You deduced that? Tali told me you were a Physics grad."

"I am. But also had Masters in Engineering and a basics in weapons and e-warfare systems. Speaking of which, how's Tali with the systems."

"Her, I like. Leave her a month here and she'll know more about the ship than me. I just wish my guys were half as smart as she is."

"How so?" And with that he went on to tell me how she tweaked the RC circuits and all the tech-shit. Well this is boring enough.


-Commander Shepard Point of View-

"Commander" Kaiden says standing near the entrance to cap…my quarters.

"Is he out of there?"

"He just went down the engineering. Rest are sleeping. I think this might be a good time."

"Okay" With that I stand up from my workbench and leave, Kaiden close behind. I go into the Crew quarters…..well, shit….he claimed the bunk I used when Anderson was here….now I don't like him.

I walk over to his footlocker and….uh…here it is. His omnitool. Well, he has some standard apps and a few bulletins from Caltech and FU. Well, here are the logs and as expected they are encrypted. Heh, good think I didn't bunk that coding class at N6…..gotta be pretty easy…..just the source code…. "What the fuck is that?" I can't help but say that out loud. I mean what is that. Even turian code looks familiar than that. As I say this my omnitool starts to cross-reference the code against all known codes to the Alliance Intel. As time elapses, I pass the omnitool over to Kaiden who looks equally confused…I mean he has more tech knowledge than me and even he is confused…What should I do….just leaving it to that will be too great a risk…..yeah, right.

"Tali. Wake up, Tali," I say as my hand reach for her shoulder. She wakes up a little later as Kaiden stands by the door, just in case Ajay shows up.

"Yes, Shepard. You want something?"

"Tali, I need you to look at this and break it. I want to look up the logs."

"Isn't that Ajay's omnitool?"

"It is,"

"Then why?"

"No questions asked Tali. I want to know if you can do it or not?"

"Well, I don't think I know the code…But if he makes more entries I may be able to break it,"

"How?"

"I think as entries increase, I'll see the patterns and cross-reference to break it."

"Okay. I want this done ASAP." With that I start to move towards the door. Thankfully nobody here heard this. Suddenly a three fingered hand is on my back.

"Commander, I also want to tell you something,"

"Go on."

"Ajay and I were discussing the Geth rebellions. I the middle he called it Morning War,"

"Morning War?"

"When I asked he said the rebellion made him of some war in human history,"

"I don't think there's a war by that name."

"I know, I looked up human history on the extranet. There is no Morning War…..I found it a little suspicious."

"It is."

"Is that why you want it hacked? Cause you find him suspicious."

"Yes Tali. And now that you know, you can't talk to anybody about this except me and Kaiden."

"Okay, Shepard."

"Now get some sleep. We will be at Artemis Tau Cluster by the time morning shift starts."

"I will-" It's when Kaiden alerts me about Ajay approaching. I quickly stash his omnitool in his locker and Tali tenses up.


-AJAY KUMAR POINT OF VIEW-

Well that was one long talk. I guess Adams compensated for the lack of words between me and Pressly. I mean the Alliance crew is all so uptight about things. And that soup really hadn't filled my stomach so I was a little hungry. But Jenkins isn't in the hall, so I guess I'll go to the crew quaters

I walk upto the Crew quarters. Maybe I'll just layoff in my bunk till the dayshift starts. As the Door opens I see Kaiden standing directly in front of me

"Hello, Lieutenant Alenko."

"Uh…Hello, Dr. Kumar." By then I had caught sight of Tali, who was a bit tensed up and Commander just past her.

"So, what brings you and Commander here?"

"He had to discuss something classified with Tali,"

"So I guess I'm not allowed in…"

"I'm afraid you're not. It's from the Top-Brass so…you know."

"Of course. I was wondering though, is there anything I could get to eat?"

"I'll help you with it." And with that we strode towards the Mess Hall. His hands reached for the 'soup' and I spoke up immediately "Can it be something other than that?"

He chuckled at this and he drew what looked like a nutrition bar, a big one at that. As he hands me one, I take a bite and continue "Honestly, I don't know how you survive that. I bet Elcor military rations are better than that." His chuckle grew into laughter.

"We make do with what we get. And you're making it sound too bad."

"That's an old problem of mine." Thank you Kaiden for bring Brad right up. And then as almost on a cue I see Tali and Commander come out of the Quarters.

"Hello Commander. Tali."

"Doctor, you are going to be on the team on Therum. We'll be there by noon, ship time. Go to Chief and get your weapons an armour squared away. Then head up to the briefing room." Commander said. His voice seemed a little rushed.

"Will do."

"Kaiden, you're with me."

"Yes commander." He said as he, commander and Tali strode off towards the bridge. After some time I finish my bar and head down to Ash, I mean CHIEF WILLIAMS

"Hello, Chief Williams."

"Doctor, Hello. Brought your gear?"

"Here." And with that I handed her my Rifle, Armour and omnitool. She looked up closely and said

"Well, I hope you know how this works,"

"I do."

"Then I guess all you need is Pistol, Shotgun and Sniper rifle." And she then handed me the said three and gave me some basics about their mechanisms and maintenance

"So, am I free to leave?"

"You are."

"Thank you, Chief."

"Doctor."

So with that No-nonsense talk I guess I just have to wait till Commander calls me for the mission.


By 13 noon I was called up in the briefing room and the team was already there. We were looking at the Aero-gel projections. Man, this tech is amazing. The Omnitool is based on same principle but it provides pretty low grade images. This interface here is more responsive and I can tell its refresh rate is higher than that of Omnitool. Just when the tech-junkie in me is about to go on, Commander's voice snaps me back to the present.

"What do you think, Doctor?"

"Hmm…..uh" That really did catch me, but then my hands ran over the display as I look for the part of the dig site was. I think this is it…yes…..this has to be it.

"Commander, I think first we should let Normandy make an aerial sweep of this sector. Then, we should split up in two team. A ground team, on foot, should land here. Look, there's no lava pool nearby. Which means the mines have a higher chance of running deeper. Sign's typically associated with Prothean ruins found elsewhere," And then my hand back traced near to where the original landing zone was.

"And another should land here in Mako."

"Why?"

"Well, if this Dr. T'Soni is anything like her mother, I think it would be wise to assume a large concentration of geth. Even if she isn't like her, she is still a prothean expert. I don't think Saren will just leave a resource like that in the hands of a few geth."

"Commanding our strategy, huh Doc? Commander resigned or something?" Ashley interjected

"I was merely advising. I'm sorry if I-" I was cut off as Commander spoke up

"We're on the same team Williams. And he is right. We should make a sweep. At least it could give us Idea of what lies ahead," He continued

"We'll drop Mako here with you three and Garrus," He said gesturing to Ash, Kaiden and Richard. "Doc, you, I, Tali and Wrex will land here. Normandy can make a sweep on its way here. Any questions?" No one said anything.

"Good. Kaiden, head up to Joker and tell him about the plan. The rest, dismissed."

I spent the rest of the time in the Hanger Bay. Garrus was up on top on the Mako, Wrex was by his usual spot, checking his shotgun. Ash, Commander and Kaiden where talking near the weapons bench. A few times I spotted Ash's gaze meet mine, a little suspicion about me in her eyes. My company? Tali's to my left checking something on her omnitool and Richard's to my right.

"Nervous?" He asks me

"A little. You?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Easy for you to say, with those shots back on Eden Prime."

"Speaking of which, how's thing going on there. Commander told me you were from there."

"They've started restorations and the spaceport is pretty much complete."

"And your family?"

"They moved south of the main settlement a few month ago. They're fine."

"Well, that's good news."

"Yeah, they-" He was interrupted as we heard the ramp opening up and Garrus's talons signalling him to join them by the Mako.

"Good luck." Said I

"Thanks."

A minute or two after the Mako left, the ship started shaking violently. A three fingered hand grabs my left arm as I made for the space combat harnesses. I first pulled Tali and tied her in then followed the drill with myself.

"Ladies and Gents, this is your pilot speaking. We are sorry for the inconvenience, 'cause Alliance doesn't cover geth ships in the basics. Seriously though, you might wanna latch onto something. This is gonna be one bumpy ride."

"Geth have flaks?" I asked, my face towards Tali. I mean there wasn't any mobile flak cannon in the game. The only thing close to Geth Flak was seen in third game, which was fixed.

"I don't know. I don't never fought anything bigger than a geth trooper."

"Joker, sitrep on the enemy."

"A dropship, trying to lay troops in Mako's Path. It engaged us."

"Can you clear them out?"

"Clearing out now, Commander. Cause Geth dropships don't retaliate at all."

Man he needs to hold his tongue.

"Approaching Drop point 2"

As soon as we hear that Tali and I unstrapped ourselves from the harnesses and move over to the ramp. The Normandy was hovering some 8 feet above the ground. I jump, but start to feel a force retarding my jump. The mass effect field must have kicked in. That explains why the landing was lighter than I expected. Commander's eye scan for everybody as Normandy's engines roar and it lifted up into the sky.

"Everyone counted," Commander said "Okay, Tali, Wrex and I are heading into the mine. Ajay you stay as our rear guard. Hide up in that building," Wait what, I by myself. He must be out of his mind.

"Uh….Okay." Said I.

"Good. Stack up, look out for enemies and mark targets for us. The rest with me." He was already on the ramp that went up to the mine by the time his sentence finished. I then ran off to the side of the silo besides the tower and up the stairs. The building was rather unfeatured, a ramp and then a room with two air-exhaust fans on them. One was overlooking the ramp Commander went up, the other looking the tread from which one would come up in the game. The room itself was filled to the brim with empty crates. About three crates were filled with mud. I moved them over to the window overlooking the tread and lined them up to make up, what I think would be a defensive position. I stacked other to hide my position and what few where left covered the entrance to the room. I kneeled down besides my defensive perimeter, not before making the room a labyrinth of Crates. Just as I was about to pull my sniper rifle from my back, I heard a cluttering…..

Wait….Motherfuck…is that a…"MOTHERFU-" I muttered as my gaze was met by a flashlight. But before I could finish up with cursing I was propelled good 20 feet through the window.

Man, the pain that tore through my chest as I landed with a thud. I felt something rushing through my entire body. Without a second thought my hands reached for the pistol. I fired in its general direction. Just a moment latter I saw a sleek geth jump through the window. My shots describing its locus. Wherever he jumped a second later that place was riddled with holes. Just about when my shots were catching up with him, multiple beeps rose on the display of my helmet.

FUCK…..OVERHEATED.

The left hand by then was already stashing the gun to my side, the right reaching for the rifle. Just as my hands took grip of the handle, the geth jumped on the ground. No way is he escaping now. The gun roared into life, every shot reaching its target. By the time overheat alarm came up the geth was already limp. My hands the reach for the pistol, just in case something was left in him. But he was already…..dead? Now I really had the sense to figure out what happened. It must be a stalker or whatever shit that was. I raise my wrist as Omnitool materialises and I order a scan. Man, I need to get back to that perimeter I set up, which no doubt is totally fucked up by now. I reach there and start stacking them up again. When that is finished, I kneel down by the same position again, this time desperately looking for other flashlights. When that's done, I draw my sniper rifle, Reaper, I think. Elanus risk control…no…I think it's Elkoss Combine. Fuck Ajay, you are not on a field trip to test fucking weapons. There is serious shit going on here.

A few minutes later, the comms crackle up.

"Doc, we reached Dr. T'Soni. She's no threat so hold your fire. What's your status?"

"A geth sneaked up on me."

"I was thinking it was the other way 'round." He said in what sounded like a joke.

"This wasn't like those on Eden. It jumped and hopped and ran like crazy. Some new model. I took scans."

"Good. I just contacted Mako. They say there were a shitload of geth deployed when the dropship went off. But they aren't engaging them. They are heading towards us. So eyes peeled."

"Kay."

Now my grip tightened around the handle. Man, I'll be all alone when the geth come. And if game is anything to go by, that well maybe in a middle of a motherfucking lava flow. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. . Shit. Shit. I gotta think. Should I engage them when they show up or wait till Mako's team get here? What if they start that mining laser by then? What if they're running out of the mine by then? What if they're caught in mid of crossfire? I continued to think of a strategy for some time, that I lost track of.

These 'What if?' soon went away as I heard pulses of plasma, too familiar to miss on. About 3 dozen geth troopers were running towards the mine. A few of them turning and laying fire down the tread….Wait…..turning…..why are they turning….until of course. In a spit-second a strategy was set in my mind and my fingers squeezed the trigger.

DOOOOOOSH

Man, that was too much of a recoil. The shot missed the geth I was targeting by quite a few metres. Fortunately, the shot impacted a geth besides him in the torso and he went limp. Another squeeze, this time I was careful and hit a larger geth. He didn't fall but was thrown off. Just then those in front started to lay fire on my positions. DAMMIT. I ducked behind a crate. The suppressing fire they were laying down for their advance was relentless. After a few seconds, there was finally a break. I peeped by the side of the crate. By now, the largest of geth was down and the rest were focused towards the tread, but a lone geth, red in colour was flashing something akin to a rocket launcher towards my position….wait, red geth, rocket launcher…fuck.

I got on my feet and started rushing towards the other window just as a loud explosion tore through the room and I was thrown to my back. A single beep ran through the display of the helmet…SHIT, SHIELDS GONE….the armour was holding. I think a little amount of shock was absorbed by those crates filled with mud. By this time, I had already placed the sniper rifle on my back. The assault rifle in my hand, I went down the stairs and took cover by the end of silos. 2 geth spotted me and started to lay fire in my general direction, the rest, about 17 firing down the tread. I started to fire bursts at them whenever there was a break in their fire. One trooper went down. The next charging. Fuckshit….Just when he was a mere foot away from my position, a big gaping hole tears through his torso and he falls to the ground. Tracing the shot, my gaze meet Garrus's scope. I run over to them.

"You ok." Ashley said. WOW, ash concerned.

"Yeah…..Where's Mako?" Of course I knew where it was.

"We left it. The rock formation down the tread didn't leave room to bring it here." That came from Garrus.

"Lieutenant, you are the one with highest rank. What are our orders?" Ash said.

"Thinking." Kaiden said, tense eyes behind his helmet. "Okay, Williams, Jenkins scout the perimeter. Ajay, show Garrus the position you had, you man it." He said looking towards the turian. "Then Ajay come to me." He went by the ramp to the mineshaft as we went by our orders. The room was a mess. The crates were littered across it, but for the most part, they still were in one piece.

"I gotta say, impressive. For someone who doesn't have combat experience." Garrus said.

"Didn't Commander tell you I was in terminus? In Terminus, even taking readings from an inferrometer is more dangerous than policing the centre of galactic politics."

"You really need to shorten your jokes. Firefights don't give much time."

"I'll keep that in mind. Okay so here….." I said, starting to show him the setup.


Sometime after, I made my way to our newfound CO. He was there, standing by the ramp.

"Orders?" I asked

"You're with me. If there were to arrive in the midd-" He was cut short as a quake tore through the ground, leaving crevices in the rock beneath.

"What was that?" I said. I mean really what was…of course, they used the mining laser.

"Ajay, we are coming out. HOLD FIRE."

We stood there as, Garrus and the two marines ran over to us. A minute and a half later, we saw Normandy, as its engines tore through the sky. Just moment later, we saw them running out of the shaft, as there was another tremor. The Normandy lowered, the end of its ramp a mere 2 feet away from the mud beneath. I wonder how the Mako's already here. We all ran on to the ramp as the frequency of tremors increased. Wrex being last. As soon as he was on, Commander's hand traced his helmet. The ramp closed and the frigate lifted off, but not before allowing us the glimpse of the Shaft being consumed by molten rock.


Sometime later in the briefing room.

"The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcano's Commander. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."

"We nearly died out there and your pilot is making jokes?"

Goodness, here we go again.