A/N - Just to answer a couple of points in the reviews.

I've never had a major dislike for Liara, phil. If you do her romance over all 3 games, it does feel rewarding in the end. However, the one thing I didn't like is how they almost push you into a romance with her in ME1, as if you're a broshep, they make Ashley start out as an undesirable space racist (though her character changes over time). The fact Liara is pretty much unkillable all the way to the beam is also annoying as well.

Rogen, for your point about canon, I can't stray too far as a lot of my background to 'Promises' was simply based on choices in the 3 games. However, I'm doing what I can to be original and create my own universe. As for romance, well, I don't want to say too much unless I want to give it away. Re-read one or two chapters in 'Promises' and you'll remember how it will progress.

Navigator Pressly was busy working at his station near the galaxy map, pouring over the continuous data the Normandy VI was gathering. He had looked on as Shepard had walked back on the ship with the krogan, quarian and turian in tow, while Shepard had the arm of a clearly exhausted asari around his shoulder as they limped past down to the medical bay.

Another alien? Well, Shepard did say he'd be gathering forces, but still…

Pressly had listened to Shepard's words when he took command of the Normandy. He wasn't particularly happy about everything that had occurred. He was disappointed that Anderson had relinquished command of the ship. He wasn't entirely convinced that Anderson had done it willingly, though he could tell the Commander wasn't happy about it either, so perhaps there was more to the story that the Commander just could not share with his subordinates.

Pressly was glad that Shepard was the Captain at least. Shepard was likely unaware that Pressly had been part of the relief forces during the Skyllian Blitz. He had served on the SSV Agincourt, prior to his commission as an officer and eventual selection as Navigation Officer on the Normandy. Pressly still couldn't quite believe he had been designated the new XO by Shepard, and was proud to serve the Commander.

But then there was the fact that, despite Shepard being a Council Spectre, the Normandy was still an Alliance vessel, full of Alliance personnel and he simply didn't think that they needed the help of aliens. Pressly wasn't xenophobic towards the other races, except for perhaps the turians, he just thought that humanity could deal with these crises by themselves, without outside interference.

Pressly was still deep in thought, pouring over the latest data acquired, and failed to hear Shepard approach.

"All well, Pressley?"

Pressly turned, offering a salute to the Commander before answering. "All system running well, Commander. Just awaiting next orders."

"I've just debriefed the squad about our next movements. Anything I need to be aware of, Pressly?"

"Can I speak freely, Commander?"

Pressly watched as Shepard's eyes widened slightly, before he relaxed. "Speak your mind, Pressly."

"I listened to what you said when you spoke earlier, Commander, about the non-human species who would serve with us on the Normandy. But I'm not entirely convinced."

"How do you mean, Pressly? They have all freely volunteered to help us in our search for Saren."

"I understand that, sir, but I'm still not entirely comfortable. I mean, krogan's are known for being untamed warriors. The asari is the daughter of the Matriarch we are also trying to find, who is allied with Saren. And as for the turian… well, I have a long memory and remember the stories my grandfather told me about the turians and their behaviour during the First Contact War."

"Are you saying we don't need the help of those who are willing?"

Pressly shrugged his shoulders. "Humanity has done fine by itself for thousands of years, sir. Saren is humanity's problem. We can handle it on our own."

Shepard shook his head. "I disagree, Pressly. Never turn away help, no matter where it comes from. Allies will only make us stronger. Humanity will look better for it if we accept their help. I tell you what, Pressly. Talk to them. Talk to Wrex, Liara, Garrus, and also Tali. Get to know them as the people that they are, and don't judge them just on pre-conceived opinions. You may be surprised."

Pressly thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Okay, Commander. I will."

Shepard nodded, a slight grin. "Anything else, Pressly?"

"Not at the moment, sir."

"Good. Carry on, Pressly."

Pressly saluted again, the Commander returning the gesture, who then turned and walked out of the CIC and downstairs. Pressly returned his attention to the map to plot the next route. He thought long and hard about what the Commander suggest. I guess I should go and speak to them, he thought.

Shepard walked out of the CIC. He wasn't entirely happy to hear that Pressly didn't appreciate the help, but he could respect that at least Pressly was honest and told him what he thought. Shepard hoped his words may change his mind regarding the team Shepard had put together. With some free time, Shepard thought he may go talk to one of his new crew members. In particular a certain young quarian he found himself fascinated by. On the ride down, he mulled over what they could possibly talk about. They had made small talk at certain times since they had met, but he realised he actually didn't know much about her. Or quarians in general.

Talk to her then, idiot. Then you'll find out.

The elevator door opened, and Shepard walked out. He could see Garrus working near the Mako, appearing to run diagnostics on the machine. Ashley was over in the armoury, cleaning out weapons. Wrex was simply stood near the lockers, not doing a whole lot. None of them noticed his arrival, so he simply turned and walked into the drive core.

Even after being on the ship for a few weeks, he still found the drive core an amazing feat of engineering. He stood and marvelled for a few seconds, and then realised Lieutenant Greg Adams, Chief Engineer of the Normandy, was watching him. When Shepard met his gaze, the engineer approached him.

"Commander, can I have a word?" asked Adams.

"Sure thing, Chief. What's up?"

"It's about our new member in engineering. The quarian. Miss Zorah."

You had better not start off down the same road as Pressly….

"Is there a problem, Chief?" asked Shepard, trying to keep the growl out of his tone.

"Not at all, Commander!" exclaimed Adams, "She's fantastic! An engineering genius, as far as I'm concerned. Her technical knowledge and skill is astounding for someone obviously so young. Give her a month, and she could probably run this department by herself."

Shepard smiled. "Oh, well, that's great, Chief. I trust everyone has made her feel welcome?"

"Absolutely, Commander. I heard your words when you became CO. I have no problems working with any race you choose to recruit. Quite frankly, I wish all my engineers had half the skill of Miss Zorah. Besides work on the core, Miss Zorah will also be able to help dismantle any probes or wreckage you may find during the mission."

"Chief, you've made your CO one very happy man. You have my thanks. I was just about to talk to Tali myself."

"No problem, Commander." And, with a salute, Adams turned and returned to his station. Shepard turned to walk to where he had seen Tali standing, prior to his conversation with Adams. She had turned around and was now bouncing on the balls of her feet, in quite obvious excitement.

"How are things, Tali? Settling in okay?"

"The Normandy is simply amazing, Shepard. How did they manage to fit the drive core in a ship this small?" wondered Tali.

"This is an experimental ship, Tali. A prototype. A joint human-turian venture. As far as I know, there is nothing like it in any other fleet," explained Shepard.

"Still, I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced. No wonder humanity has progressed so quickly."

"Oh, well, that's only in the past fifty years or so, Tali. It was only once we discovered Prothean artefacts, on a planet in our system called Mars, we managed to escape our own system. Before then, we were not so advanced. Just getting to our own moon was considered a major achievement at one stage."

"Shepard, last month I was aboard an aging vessel back on the flotilla, attempting to fix a fuel line with makeshift materials, just trying to make sure the ship wouldn't blow up. Now I'm on this… wonderful ship. I have to pinch myself. Thank you, Shepard, for allowing me to come along."

"I was delighted you could join, Tail. So… if you don't mind, I was hoping we could chat for a while, if you're not busy. I'll be honest and say I don't know much about your race."

Tali grinned behind her mask but nodded her head. "Sure, Shepard. What would you like to know?"

Shepard stepped over to the wall, turned with his back and lowered himself to the floor. He patted the ground next to him. "Join me down here for a few moments."

Tali chuckled, but copied his movements and sat next to him on the ground.

"So what can you tell me about yourself, Tali? For instance, your name is far longer than most human names. Even Garrus only has two names."

Tali wrung her hands ever so slightly. She never liked to talk about herself too much, but Shepard appeared friendly, and genuinely interested in wanting to talk to her.

"Well, I was born on a ship called the Rayya. That explains my name. Tali is my first name, obviously. Zorah is my family name, like yours is Shepard. 'nar' means I am a child of the Rayya. I will add 'vas' to that, with the name of a new ship, when I complete my Pilgrimage."

"What about your parents?"

"Well… my father is an Admiral of the fleet…"

"Really? You're an Admiral's daughter?"

Tali sighed. "Yes."

Shepard looked surprised. "Why the sigh?"

Tali shrugged her shoulders. "You have no idea of the expectations that are on my shoulders, Shepard. Particularly with my Pilgrimage. No doubt I will be expected to take back something of great worth simply because of who my father is. I'm just left with the feeling that no matter what I bring back, it won't be good enough."

Shepard thought for a moment. "Well, who knows what we may find on this grand adventure. If there is anything you find that you think may be of benefit, give me a shout and I'll see what we can do."

Tali grinned again. "Thanks, Shepard."

"I must ask something else. What are those tubes I've seen you suck on while the rest of us are eating? I always feel slightly guilty as we tuck into our food… thought, I will admit, what we eat isn't always that good anyway!"

Tali chuckled softly. "When we are not on the fleet, we mostly have to make do with those food paste tubes you've seen me eating. It's not always the most exciting of diets, but since we cannot take off our masks, we make do with that."

"Can you ever eat, you know, real food?"

"We can, but it's very difficult, and generally we don't bother, unless we're back on the flotilla. When we start out on our Pilgrimage, we generally make sure we're sorted regarding our food supply. Many places around the galaxy at least sell the tubes we require. There are thousands of quarians on Pilgrimage at any one time."

"Oh, so what about your diet then? What do you eat?"

"We base our diet on the same food as turians, as they share the same basis of acidic chirality as us. But we still can't eat their food without it being purified. If you didn't know, quarians are dextro-protein. Humans, and most other Council races, are levo-protein. Because of conditions on our live-ships, regarding lack of space, we don't keep any livestock, so therefore we don't eat a lot, if any, meat. We are effectively what humans would call vegan. Our diets are primarily based around fruits, vegetables and grains. Also our diets mean that food that you would eat would cause us to fall very ill, or worse. And it would be the same if you ate our food."

Shepard just nodded along. As usual, he was learning something new, and he found what Tali had to say fascinating. He found her voice... intoxicating. She could probably talk about quantum physics, he not understand a word, and he'd still listen to her talk all night.

Jesus Christ, Shepard, snap out of it.

"So how does the flotilla survive, you know, on a day to day basis?"

"Life is hard, but we do what we can to remain independent. Grow our food and process our own fuel, for instance. If we can't do it ourselves, we will generally try and trade with the other races. Otherwise, we rely on those who return from their Pilgrimage, like I explained before. Sometimes they can return with an item that is critical to the survival of just one ship, or even, in a worst case scenario, the entire Migrant Fleet."

"I have to admit, Tali, I've only ever met one quarian, and that is yourself. So, what is quarian society like? What are quarians like as people?"

Tali smiled behind her mask at Shepard's continued interest.

Why is he so interested?

"As I've already said, life is difficult. Resources are scarce beyond what is vital to our continued existence. With no home-world, we are constantly on the move. We haven't been allowed by the Council to establish ourselves on another world. Therefore, everyone must contribute something to the continued progress of the Migrant Fleet. Our Pilgrimage is just one facet of that contribution.

There are seventeen million quarians left, Shepard. All that is left of my people. With such a small population, the bonds between us are strong. Each of us relies on one another to survive. Because of this, quarians are a very social people as we spend all our time together on our ships. Each ship ends up being one giant family, from only a few hundred to possibly a number of thousand, depending on the size of the ship. Although we have nearly 50,000 ships, personal space is scarce. Even the captain of a vessel is given relatively small quarters. Because of this lack of space, and limited resources, families are limited to one child. The fleet normally operates with zero population growth."

"I've heard of one child policies before, Tali. Due to rapid birth rates and an escalating population during the 21st Century, a number of countries back on Earth introduced such programmes, and we were based on a planet! If you don't mind me asking, Tali, I don't know why you wear your suit. Why do you wear them?"

Tali sighed. She understood why Shepard was asking, as he appeared genuinely curious, and clearly didn't know.

"Put simply, Shepard, generations of living in the sterile environment of live-ships has left us with next to no immune systems. Quarian immune systems before the exodus from our home-world were not as strong as yours, for example, as the biodiversity of our home-world differed to most other worlds. Or at least from what I have researched of our history. What you would call a simple cold could leave me in a hospital bed, fighting for my life. Therefore, every quarian is trained in basic medicine to fight off sickness and disease, plus our bodies are also implanted with technology to boost our systems, but only to a point."

Shepard was shocked. He didn't know about that. Now he felt he was putting in danger. And that made him feel guilty.

"So how easily can you get sick?"

"If I stay in my suit, I'll be fine, Shepard. If there is a breach, my suit is compartmentalised so the section affected is cut-off, and as long as I can stop the spread of contamination, and get access to medical treatment, then I may suffer a slight illness, but otherwise I'll be fine."

Shepard grimaced, something which Tali noticed. She knew what he was thinking.

"Shepard, trust me, you are putting me in no danger. I signed up for this."

"Are you sure, Tali?"

Tali smiled behind her mask, blushing slightly at his obvious concern. She nodded. "Yes, Shepard. I've had plenty of training. I can look after myself. But, thanks… for your concern."

He really cares… but why? Maybe that's just who he is.

Shepard grinned. "Well, I should go, Tali. I've kept you too long, I'll let you get back to work. But nice talking with you."

Tali returned the grin as both stood up. She was slightly regretting that he couldn't see. "You too, Shepard. Talk to you later."

Shepard turned and walked out of engineering. He found he still had a grin on his face and that he was now in a much better mood.

Shepard had his team assembled in the hangar bay, next to the Mako. It was time for another mission.

"Joker, how far are we from Edolus?" asked Shepard, over the comm.

"We should be in orbit around Edolus in approximate 5 minutes, Commander," answered the pilot.

Shepard turned his attention to his assembled team. It was the same as he used on Therum – Tali, Wrex, Kaidan and Garrus. Ashley was in the process of receiving counselling from Chakwas, and was therefore inactive for the time being, while Liara was still recovering from the lingering effects from her forced imprisonment back on Therum.

"What's the mission, Commander?" asked Kaidan.

"When we were back on the Citadel, I spoke with Admiral Kahoku. He was trying to gain an audience with the Council, to no avail. He's concerned about a group of missing marines that were operating in this system. Scans show an operational transmitter on the planet of Edolus. We're going to investigate this transmitter. Hopefully we'll find the missing marines."

"Why can't Kahoku get the Alliance to help out?" asked Garrus.

"The mission they were on was confidential. Kahoku couldn't tell me much more. But I know Kahoku. He cares about his men. He's a good soldier. And a good man. And, being a Spectre, he asked if I could do him a favour. For men like Kahoku, it is a pleasure to help them."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" pondered Kaidan.

"He served during the Skyllian Blitz, Kaidan," answered Shepard.

"Ah, that's right. Did you…"

"No, Kaidan. I didn't," interrupted Shepard. He didn't want to talk about the Blitz. Not right now, anyway. Shepard gave Kaidan a look, indicating that topic was currently closed. Kaidan simply nodded his head.

"Okay, grab your gear and load up. We're moving out in 2 minutes."

The five crew moved towards their lockers and grabbed their gear, before filing into the Mako. Shepard started the engine and slowly rolled the machine forward. His eyes were focused out the front of the window, an intense gaze. Tali was looking across at him. She was feeling slightly concerned.

Why doesn't Shepard want to talk about the Blitz and Kohaku?

"30 seconds to drop, Commander".

Shepard revved the engine.

"Everyone ready?" asked Shepard.

Four voices of agreement sounded through the Mako,

"10 seconds to drop, Commander."

"Prepare to drop, team."

Tali held onto the arm-rest nervously. She had to resist wanting to grab a hold of Shepard's hand. She didn't think she could ever get used to this.

"Now, Commander. Go! Go! Go!"

Shepard dropped the clutch and roared forward into the sky again. He focused on his instruments, as the altimeter slowly but surely wound its way down. 100 feet from the ground, Shepard fired the thrusters to slow their descent. 10 seconds later and the Mako was on the ground. Shepard turned to check his team.

"Everyone okay?"

Garrus, Wrex and Alenko all stated that they were fine. Tali was silent. Shepard turned to look across at her.

"Okay, Tali?" he asked softly.

Tali could only nod her head. "Just something I have to get used to, I guess," she whispered back.

Shepard gave a slight grin, patting her hand at the same time. "You get used to it eventually."

"I'm not sure about that, Shepard," responded Tali, with a slightly nervous chuckle, "But if you say so."

Shepard shifted gears, and moved the Mako forward. "Anything on sensors?"

Tali flicked a few buttons on the console in front of her. "The transmitter is straight ahead. About 1500 metres."

The ground was relatively flat, with only a few crests and rises. The land was otherwise incredibly featureless. Mostly desert. Shepard and his crew were thankful for the relative comfort of the Mako. There was little conversation as Shepard kept the Mako on course for its destination. The Mako soon crested a slight rise.

"Transmitter should be just over this rise, Shepard."

The Mako crested the hill. Shepard brought the Mako to a halt as he could see the devastation in front of him.

"I think we found the marines," he stated quietly.

"Spirits, what could have caused that?" asked Garrus, mostly to himself, as he peered through the scope of the cannon. Bodies littered the area. The smouldering carcass of a vehicle was in the middle of the bodies.

"I don't know. I guess we should go find out," answered Shepard, as he shifted gear and moved the Mako forward. Slowly but surely he approached the scene of devastation. The Mako was about 100 metres away when the ground started to rumble. Suddenly, the ground exploded and what could only be described as a giant worm shot out from the ground.

"What the fuck is that?" yelled Shepard.

"It's a bloody thresher maw!" growled Wrex.

"Get us out of here!" shouted a clearly scared Tali.

Shepard didn't need asking twice, as he stopped the Mako, shifted gear and backed up the Mako as quickly as possible, as he watched the thresher maw turn towards the Mako and spit something at them.

"Watch it, Shepard. They spit acid," explained Wrex over the roar of the engine.

Shepard turned the Mako to avoid the acid while continuing to steer away from the thresher maw, which suddenly disappeared underground. Shepard slowed the Mako slightly, waiting for the next move. The ground rumbled again, and the thresher maw again rose into the air, this time behind them. Shepard shifted gear again, this time roaring forward. He tried steering left and right, but then he heard the words he already feared.

"Shields down, Shepard. We just got hit!"

"Fuck!"

Shepard roared the Mako towards the crest they had originally been sat on. He could feel the rumble of the thresher maw underground, but the rumbles were moving away from them, for the time being at least. Eventually Shepard parked the Mako back on the crest and sat there, the engine idling as he thought.

"Tali, I need you to work on getting those shields up. Now."

"Yes, Shepard. Working on it," her fingers a flurry of motion across the console.

"Guys, any ideas on how we tackle this thing?"

"We clearly can't take it from range, Shepard, it only comes up when we're in that area down there," stated Garrus.

"Don't suppose we can try ramming it?"

Wrex laughed at that one. "No, Shepard. It'll just squash us like a bug."

Shepard sat deep in thought.

Could I justify sending my team out on foot? No, that'll only get them killed. You lead from the front, Shepard.

"Alenko, take the wheel."

"Whatever for, Shepard?"

"I'm going to go out there and get its attention."

"What? Are you crazy, Shepard?" asked Tali.

"I agree with Tali, Shepard. You can't take on a thresher maw on foot. A colossus is one thing, but if this gets you with that acid...," added Garrus.

"I'll be fine, guys. But the Mako will be a sitting duck down there. So, I'll go down there instead, get its attention and you can light it up from back here. Just keep the Mako away from the kill zone down there and she'll be fine."

There were more murmurs of disagreement from at least three of the occupants.

"Want company again, Shepard?" asked Wrex, "Been a while since I've faced down a thresher maw."

Shepard stopped as he opened the door. "Fair enough, Wrex. I'll be fine, but if you want to come, by all means."

Wrex grunted in response and stepped out of the rear of the Mako. Shepard looked back at Tali as Alenko was about to climb in the front seat, giving her a grin. "I'll be back before you know it."

Sucking in deep breaths, trying to keep calm, Shepard slowly walked down the hill, assault rifle in hand. Wrex was alongside, almost a smile on his face.

"Been a while since I fought a thresher maw, Shepard."

"You've fought one of these?"

"Yes. Back on Tuchanka. All krogan warriors must face down a thresher maw to prove themselves."

"No wonder krogan have a quad!"

Wrex barked a laugh at that one.

Shepard could see the piles of bodies in the distance, surrounding the burnt out shell of the sky-car. Next to that was a transmitter of some sort. Shepard couldn't quite figure out what that was there for. He kept his eyes focused somewhat on the ground, taking each step carefully as he closed on where the thresher maw originally appeared from.

The ground suddenly started to shake, Shepard struggling to keep his feet. He stood still, not knowing where the thresher maw would rise up from. With a roar, the thresher maw shot up out of the ground no more than 20 feet away, appearing to look directly at Shepard.

"Shit!" he yelled as he started to run, Wrex alongside him, moving backwards while firing his shotgun. The thresher maw roared again, and then there was the tell-tale sound of acid flying his away, sizzling in the air, Shepard ducking and weaving to avoid being hit. He suddenly turned at a sharp angle, and heard the acid hit the ground, sizzling away. He also heard the sound of cannon and machine gun fire from the Mako. With another roar, the thresher maw disappeared back below ground.

Shepard ran towards the shell of the sky-car, taking cover as the ground continued to rumble. Wrex ran and joined alongside. Shepard looked up and over to see the Mako driving along the ridge. His eyes were searching once again, waiting for the thresher maw to rise once again. The Mako continued to drive slowly along the rise, almost waiting impatiently for the worm to appear again.

Another roar, and the thresher maw was up and out of the ground again, this time focusing its attention on the Mako in the distance. Shepard raised his assault rifle and started firing, Wrex joining in with his shotgun, both of them roaring as they unloaded bullet after bullet into the face, if you could call it that, of the thresher maw. Shepard figured it probably didn't make a lot of difference, but the cannon fire from the Mako was certainly taking its toll.

How long is it going to take to defeat this fucking thing?

The thresher maw disappeared once again, Shepard standing and sprinting towards the Mako. He opened the door to the driver's side, Alenko looking at him in surprise. Shepard leaned in slightly.

"Garrus, keep up that rate of fire! Surely we'll have to knock it out soon. What do you reckon, Wrex?" Shepard turning as the krogan lumbered up to stand beside him.

"Couple of more shots from the cannon should do it."

Shepard nodded his head, before slamming the door and running back down the hill, the ground shaking under his feet as he lost his footing and fell forward. He felt a tinge of fear as the thresher maw rose up no more than 10 feet away, looking directly at him.

"Ah fuck!"

So this is how I die then…

Shepard got to his feet and just ran. He didn't care where. He just wanted to get as far away from the thresher maw as possible. He heard the cannon fire from the Mako and the roar of the thresher maw. He heard the sound of acid being spat. He had no idea if it was coming near him. Shepard ran as fast as his legs and feet would carry him. He ran back towards the burned-out sky-car, diving over the shell and crawling back on his hand and knees into cover. He took out his assault rifle again and started firing. He could feel the sweat pouring down his forehead into his eyes but simply kept the firing. Wrex was again alongside him again, his shotgun firing again and again.

Soon there was a roar, almost of pain, and the thresher maw collapsed to the ground. The Mako's cannon fired again into the thresher maw, likely to make sure the thing was dead. Shepard stood up, stowing his assault rifle on his back, and waited as the Mako drove towards his position. He could feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins, the sweat running down his back, sucking in deep breaths almost to calm the nerves. He'd never done anything so ridiculous in his life.

He started to laugh by himself. He looked at Wrex who simply had a grin on his face.

"Good fight, Shepard," he stated simply, Shepard just nodding his head in agreement.

The Mako stopped nearby and the rest of his team slowly made their way towards him, hearing the sound of his laughter and stopping almost perplexed.

"Something funny, Shepard?" asked Tali.

"Can we all agree never to fight one of those fucker's again?" he cracked.

Despite everything, everyone joined in the laughter. However, the laughter stopped as Shepard looked around at the bodies at their feet. There was something in his gut that was telling him that something wasn't right.

"Search the bodies for identification," he asked his team, "Alenko, with me."

Shepard and Alenko walked towards the transmitter. Shepard already had a bad feeling about all this. Alenko opened up the control console and started keying buttons to bring up the information regarding the transmitter. He soon confirmed Shepard's thoughts.

"Commander, that isn't an Alliance transmitter. This was a set-up."