The shuttle touched down on Haestrom and the ground team was groundside. Jinx and Garrus had joined Brett on this mission to find Tali, even though Jinx wasn't speaking to the Commander. They decided to put aside all differences for the sake of searching for an old friend.

"Do you guys hear that?" Jinx asked.

"Hear what?" Brett questioned.

The three stopped to listen for what Jinx was hearing. Around them, there was a faint whining sound. Jinx walked behind the shuttle and over to some toppled crates.

"What's under there?" Garrus asked.

"It's a varren," Jinx informed them. "A baby varren." They knelt next to her to see a beautiful white varren pup with light blue strips whimpering in the far back. Jinx was scanning it with her omni-tool. "His vitals are strong. It's weird to find a varren not attacking. I wonder where it's mother it?"

Brett stood up. "Well's there nothing we can do for it now. EDI, can you give us anything useful for this place?"

"Our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins. There is considerable geth activity, and an environmental hazard. Solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields."

"So basically, stay in the shade?" Garrus joked.

Brett signaled for them to moved, moving from shadow to shadow to keep their shields from overloading. Jinx and Garrus covered the door while Brett went to the control panel, and they moved in swiftly ducking behind cover.

"Drop ship overhead!" Garrus pointed out.

Geth swarmed the area, but the three pressed on. Jinx took the high ground while Garrus and Brett remained groundside. After a bit more exploring, they soon came to an area with multiple quarian bodies scattered about, and a working radio. Someone was trying to reach the team.

"Break-break-break, OP-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, do you copy? Geth sent a drop ship towards OP-2. Tali'Zorah's secure, but we need back up. We're bunkered up here, can you send help? OP-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, can someone come in, over!"

Brett picked up the radio. "This is Commander Shepard, can we provide assistance?"

"Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta. We were on a stealth mission. High-risk. We found what we were after, but the geth found us. They've got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit data through the solar radiation."

"How are you holding up? We can be there in a few minutes."

"Take it slow and careful. Direct sunlight fries your shields all to hell. We're bunkered down at a base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter, then doubled back to hold the checkpoint. Getting Tali'Zorah out safely is our top priority. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off of you."

"Stay where you are, we're coming."

"Watch your ass! Drop ship headed your way!"

"Little late for that," Jinx said pointing to the door.

The ship fired at the quarian's holding the door, killing them all and causing a cement support to collapse and block the door.

"Crap, doorway's block! Grab the demo charges from the buildings nearby! Use them to clear a path."

Jinx stepped forward. "Allow me." She grabbed a stack of wires nearby, "You and Gar go get the charges. I'll work on the explosion."

She did her best to avoid the stray bullets flying at her while working on the bomb wiring. Brett and Garrus finally made it back to her. She set the charges and the three stood back when she hit the detonator, then heading through the door.

"Quarian architecture. There's two words you don't expect to hear together," Garrus Joked.

Jinx was knelt in a corner. "Looks like when know what happened to that varren's mother. It's vitals match the one we found behind the shuttle. Poor thing."

"You really have sympathy for it?" Brett asked.

"Makes me think about pit-bulls. Misunderstood. Its personality is dependent on the one who trains it. If it's raised by a krogen, they'll attack anything on sight. If raised by a human, maybe it can be domesticated."

"And if It can't? It sounds too risky."

"Gee, thanks for the support, Gar."

"Tali'Zorah to base camp. Come in, base camp. Hello? Is anyone there?"

Brett walked over to the console. "Tali, it's Shepard. I'm sorry. Everyone here is dead. Any survivors must have fallen back."

"We knew this mission was high-risk, damn it. And what are you doing here, Shepard? We're in the middle of geth space!"

"I was in the neighborhood. I thought you might need a hand."

"Thanks for coming, Shepard. It means a lot to hear you're your voice. Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me to the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I got the data I needed, and I'm safe for now, but I've got a lot of geth outside."

"It looks like somebody sealed the door against the geth, and the console is damaged. Can you get it open from your end?"

"Uh, let me see. Yes! I can do it, here. It should be unlocked now. Be careful, Shepard. And please, do what you can to keep Reegar alive."

Having to fight through many drones and Primes, the team finally found their way to Reegar and his squad, although he was alone behind cover as a geth colossus fired at them.

"I still got no idea why you're here, but this ain't the time to be picky." The colossus fired at them again. "Tali's inside over there. The geth killed the rest of my squad, and they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."

"Are you sure she's still alive?"

"The observatory is reinforced. Even geth will need time to get through it. And it's hard to hack a door when someone is firing rockets at you. The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself. I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move in closer, and one of the bastards punched a shot clean through my suit."

"What can you tell me about the battlefield?"

"The right side's got a catwalk with a sniper perch. You could wreak some havoc from there, but none of my men made it past the geth. The middle's got cover, but that damn colossus has a clear shot at you the whole time, and you've got geth coming from both sides. The left give you some cover from the colossus, but your ass is hanging out for the geth. That's how I got shot."

"We need to get to Tali. Jinx, head up the right side and get into position. Target the weak point of the colossus, but remain cloaked. Fire on my command. Garrus, cover me when we storm down the middle, I'll break off to the left and get close to the colossus and bring down its shield. Any other idea's Reegar?"

"Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in close. I'll keep the colossus busy. With luck, you'll be able to finish it off."

"No, you've done enough, Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away."

"With all due respect ma'am, I wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe."

"We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team! Stand down!"

"Why is it that whenever someone says 'With all due respect,' they really mean 'Kiss my ass?'," Jinx cracked.

"I'm not going to stand there while you run into enemy fire!" Reegar protested. "They killed my whole squad!"

"And if you want to honor your squad, watch my back! I need you here in case they bring reinforcements!"

"Alright, Shepard. We'll do it your way. Hit them for me. Keelah se'lai."

"Let's move people!"

Jinx disappeared behind her cloak and headed for the sniper perch. Garrus and Brett headed down the middle, while Jinx covered them from above. Geth poured out from behind cover trying to flank them. Both Brett and Garrus got to the colossus' position and managed to drop it's shield while fighting off other geth. Jinx finally fired an explosive round, causing the colossus to envelop in flames, along with any geth around it.

Tali came over the radio. "Just a second. I locked the doors to keep more geth from getting inside."

The door in front of then opened when Jinx reappeared and hit the release, and they went inside.

"Just a minute," Tali said. "Just let me finish this download. Thank you, Shepard. If not for you, I would have never made it out of this room."

"What are we? Chopped liver?" Garrus joked.

Tali finally turned around. "Garrus? And you too, Jinx? I thought you were done with Cerberus and CAT6?"

"It's good to see you too, Tali," Jinx smiled.

Tali sighed. "This whole mission has been a disaster. I wish I'd joined you back on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."

"Whatever the reason, I'm glad I could help. Once you deliver that data, I could use you on the Normandy."

"I promised to see this mission through, and I did. I can leave with you and send the data to the fleet. And if the admirals have a problem with it, they can go to hell. I just watch the rest of my team die."

"Maybe not the whole rest of your team ma'am." Kal'Reegar limped into the room. "Your old captain is as good as you said. Damn colossus never stood a chance."

"If need be, the Normandy can get you out of here, Reegar," Brett explained.

"The geth didn't damage our ship. Long as we get out of here before reinforcements show up, we'll be fine."

"Actually, I won't be going with you. I'm joining Commander Shepard."

"I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened. Keep Tali safe, Commander."

Brett nodded and radioed for the shuttle to extract them, then turned to Jinx. "By the way, there's a present for you on the crew deck."

"Cerberus saw footage of you in action Tali'Zorah," Jacob said. "We're looking forward to having you on the team. Your engineering expertise will really benefit the mission."

"I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the security of the Migrant Fleet. Don't make nice."

"That's why you're here, Tali," Brett assured. "I need people who aren't Cerberus. People I can trust."

"From what Jinx told me, she was with Cerberus for a few years there."

"She's an exception."

"I assumed you were undercover, Shepard. Maybe even planning to blow Cerberus up. If that's the case, I'll loan you a grenade. Otherwise, I'm here for you. Not for them."

"If it helps, check out the Normandy while you're here. We've gotten a few upgrade."

"I'll get Tali security clearance to access our systems."

"Please do. I can't be part of your team if I don't know how the ship works. Remember, Shepard, these are the people who thought enslaving Thorian creepers and Rachni was a good idea. I'll be in engineering."

After spending a long while with Tali, Brett went back up to check on Jinx and Garrus. Walking into the med-bay, she found Jinx sitting on the floor playing with a baby varren.

"You actually save him?" Jinx asked. "Why?"

Brett knelt next to her. "Think of it as an apology and a peace offering. You were right about my actions on Horizon, and I'm sorry. After you expressed interest in domesticating a varren, I thought it was perfect."

Jinx just smiled. "I don't know what to say but, thank you." She placed the varen on her lap. "You hear that, Archer? You can stay!" The varren huffed.

"Archer?"

"I named him as soon as I saw him. Archer was my best friend on Mindoir. His only friend actually. He was different from the rest of us, and I seemed to be the only one willing to be patient enough to get to know him. He left a few weeks before the raid, and I haven't seen him since then. A bit sentimental, you could say. By the way, Garrus wanted to talk to you. I gotta go see Mordin about a vaccine."

"For what?"

"Scale-itch. You don't what to know, but it's better safe than sorry with some of the people we have here." She scooped up the varren and left.

Brett laughed and shook her head, then headed to the main battery. Garrus automatically turned around. "Shepard, I'm glad you're here. I've got something I may need your help with. You remember Sidonis? The one who betrayed my team? I've found a lead on him. There's a specialist on the Citadel named Fade. He's an expert at helping people disappear. Sidonis was seen with him."

"Where do we find him?"

"I've arranged a meeting. We'll meet him in a warehouse near the Neon Markets, down on Zakera Ward. Thanks, Shepard. I appreciate you taking the time to help me. And I'm sure Jinx will want to tag along for this, she was part of the attack after all."

"Good point. We'll head there as soon as we have time. For now, the Illusive Man wants to see me."