A/N: OK, I'll admit it. I suck, I'm a terrible person, and my update rate has not improved a bit. I won't give you any vague promises of improvement anymore, since they don't work. Sorry if I'll update so slowly for some time. School is a bitch.

REVIEWS:

Guest: Well, isn't it a nice surprise, am I right? :D

That being said,

Enjoy!

Normandy Sr-2, En route to Lexaant system, Deck 3, Medical lab.

"Mom?" Zia whispered. Both she and Nalik slowly stepped forward from behind Virox.

Calia's eyes immediately shifted towards them. She let out a short, quiet gasp. A single tear fell down her cheek and down on the ground.

"I missed you so much." She whispered, and at that moment all three ran towards eachother and locked themselves in a tight embrace.

The entire scene was just so heartwarming. Kids were whimpering quietly as they hugged their mother, while Calia hugged them so tightly that she could break their backs any moment. Virox and Chakwas were just standing there, speechless. Even other Carvins in the room shifted their gaze towards them.

"I'm... assuming that you know eachother..." Chakwas said, trying to act as if she didn't feel awkward.

"...Yeah." Virox replied after a momet. It took him a while to process what she said. "Her mate was a friend of mine since I returned to the Empire after our mission at the Collector Base. But I thought she was dead when that Reaper shot their house and I took care of the kiddos."

When the now reunited family heard the word 'mate' they froze, looked at Virox, then back at eachother. The mood seemed to have worsened, as Nalik and Zia looked down with saddness.

"Did dad... did he..." Zia started, with her voice shaking, but her mother put a hand on her mouth, a Carvin gesture for silence.

"Shhh. Don't worry." She reassured her and patted her on the head, then pulled her arm towards the bed she was tending to earlier.

Virox approached too and looked at the Carvin who was lying on it. For a normal, non-Carvin person, the patient would look like any other Carvin. However his species has developed a way to memorize small details and various significant characteristics. In this case Virox noticed the major bruises and wounds on the head of the Carvin, as well as something else hanging from the chain of his dog tags. A medalion, Carvin equivalent of a wedding ring.

"Arill..." He whispered in disbelief.

"Dad!?" Both Nalik and Zia gasped in shock, which was soon replaced by joy. "Dad!"

They were about to give him a bear hug, but their mother stopped them.

"Not yet. He's in a bad state." She blocked them with her hands. "We'll be taking him to a hospital on Carvistorn. I'll spend all my savings to give him as much of a priority as possible."

Kids nodded their heads and just put their hands on their father's arm, to at least touch him, seemingly making sure he's still there.

"Well, what a happy family reunion, but as much as it pains me to interrupt it, we still have work to do." Chakwas finally decided to step in, then looked at Virox. "I can make a quick check-up to see if there's anything requiring my immediate attention, but if there isn't, I'll have to tend to my more... urgent patients."

"Alright then." Virox replied and approached the doctor.

Chakwas activated her omni-tool and held it in front of him for a while, pointing at his head, torso, and arms. Then she clicked some buttons a few times, and finally deactivated the omni-tool.

"My medical scanner registered that you have at least half a kilogram of bullets and shrapnel inside you. Nothing critical, as I learned by experience that your body can do the job itself with smaller pieces, but I'll try to get around to you once I'm done." She said. "Your body is healing slower than usual, but I'd attribute it to the shortage of food and water, as well as exhaustion. Other than that you're good to go."

"Gee, thanks doc." Virox chuckled and lightly pushed Nalik forward to go next.

Just like before Chakwas did the same type of check-up and looked down on the young Carvin with impressed expression.

"I've read the files that Virox sent me on the rapid growth of Carvin children, but when I see it now... it's unbelievable. Your wounds are healing much faster than those of your uncle." She stated with admiration. "Get some good rest and you'll be alright in no time."

It was now Zia's turn, and Virox had some sneaking suspicions as to how it would turn out. His worries were only reinforced as Chakwas spend an awfully long five seconds keeping the scanner on Zia's head. When she finally finished, she had a grim expression.

"Your brain... the strain you put on it..." She struggled to find words. "I can't believe you're still conscious and sane. But one thing is for certain. You must refrain from using your biotic powers for AT LEAST a week, and reduce any mental strain on your brain."

"But I'm feeling fine!" Zia protested, but Chakwas' expression turned stone cold.

"No discussion. Doctor's recommendation." She interrupted her with an autocratic, but then her expression turned more kind. "If I find some time for you, I'll try to do something to negate the effects of you over stressing your brain. But for now that is all I can do for you."

"It's alright, doc. Thank you." Virox reassured her, then turned towards Calia who was applying medi-gel to one of her Carvin patients. "I'll see you soon."

She responded with a nod and returned to the wounded Carvin. In the meantime, Virox patted Zia and Nalik on their backs, signaling them that it was time to go. They obliged.

"So..." Virox sighed and looked around the entire deck. "Since we have little to do now, how about I show you around? Although the place DID change since the last time I saw it."

"Cool." They both said at the same time and followed their uncle.

Virox first turned right, towards the long corridor that led to the Main Battery. Space that he used to share with Garrus. He still touched the walls of the ship, to feel that he was there again. When they approached the door, he pressed the button and they slid open with a quiet hiss, revealing the dark room that was the Main Battery. In front of them, but facing the other way was obviously Garrus, already calmly clicking buttons on the console.

"Hello Mr. Calibrations." Virox said and put a hand on his shoulder. "Already working?"

"Oh, you're back from Chakwas already?" Garrus turned around sharply, seemingly startled by this sudden entrance.

"Yeah, but she has more important matters to deal with, like stopping a few guys from bleeding out or some other shit like that." Virox replied, then put his hand on Zia's arm. "Only Zia needs some professional medical attention, but it's not so urgent. She did overstress her brain a little bit with those sick stunts she kept pulling off with her biotics."

"I already told you I'm fine!" The girl grumbled and tried to shake off Virox's hand, though her reaction was much slower and weaker than usual.

"Nuh uh, I've spent enough time with Chakwas to know that you shouldn't argue with her medical expertise." Her uncle shook his head.

"I have to back your uncle up here, kid. It's better to just accept it. She obviously has your health as her primary concern." Garrus added.

"Fine..." Zia rolled her eyes, but ultimately accepted the verdict.

"So, you finally decided to come home?" Turian turned back towards Virox.

"Actually, I was just showing them around the ship, and I guess I just started with the place I spent the most time in between missions." Virox explained.

"I'm surprised you're so calm... you know... after what happened." Garrus pointed out.

Virox turned around and stared at the wall for a few seconds. Both kids immediately stopped being as cheerful as they were before. Garrus thought that it was a mistake to say this, but then his friend sighed.

"Maybe it's just my fucked up head, or... I don't know. The point is that there are more important things to worry about." He said, though he couldn't hide the pain in his voice. "The time for mourning the dead will come later. Now we need to focus on what needs to be done."

"Ok. Just so you know, we're all in this together. You can spill anything out if you need to." Garrus gave him a strong pat on the back. Virox looked at him for a moment, then a small grin appeared on his face.

"Deal." He nodded, then turned towards Zia and Nalik. "Alright, I guess it's time for us to continue. Cheer up, because there's certainly a lot more to see."

Kids tried to act like they were happy, but it couldn't go away. Nevertheless, they politely waved goodbye to Garrus (after Virox glared at them with the most terrifying expression he could produce) and all three left the room. They walked to the right again and stood in front of the door.

"I remember that Miranda used to reside here, but with her gone, your guess as to who lives here now is as good as mine." Virox said and pressed the button to open the door. "Hello whoever lives here... now..."

He was startled at the amount of glow emitting from the room. Specifically the screens that covered most of the right side of the entire room. The desk that used to block the path to the other side as Virox remembered it was gone, and a smaller version was put on the left, behind what he could only guess was a giant computer. Then there was the bed on the far side of the room, but that remained unchanged.

"It seems that no one is home." Virox said as he looked around. "What the heck is all of this."

"If I were to take a guess, it's some kind of network, operated from here. At least partially." Nalik suggested, still observing all the equipment.

"You wouldn't be too far from the truth." A female voice spoke from behind.

The combat instincts, forcefully perfected during the time on Qreten instantly kicked in as all three of them immediately grabbed their sidearms and pointed at the source of the voice... which was an Asari standing in the doorway.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" She raised her hands up reassuringly. "Relax, it's alright. And in fact you're the ones invading someone's space."

"Oh, right..." Virox recovered from shock and holstered his weapon, followed by the kids. He stared at the Asari for a moment. "Wait a minute... I know you."

"I would be very surprised if you did not recognize me." She smiled. "Liara T'Soni. We worked together while hunting for the Shadow Broker."

"The who!?" Both Zia and Nalik gasped in surprise.

"But... I thought you were making that up, uncle!" Zia looked at Virox who had a smug expression on his face.

"So... this entire room is essentially..." Nalik began piecing it together.

"My Shadow Broker headquarters. Yes." Liara nodded. "Although it used to be larger when I still had the ship."

"The ship..." Young Carvin said in a tone suggesting that his mind was already somewhere else.

"Ok, ok. I think we already abused Liara's hospitality in more ways than one." Virox interrupted and nudged both of the little Carvins to leave. "It was nice seeing you again, Liara."

"Likewise." She replied and waved at them as they left.

Next, the three of them moved back to the area around the elevator and checked the rooms around. They mostly skipped the crew quarters (Virox rarely ever went there) and the room on the right, where Kasumi used to reside, as there was a card game going on, with people Virox didn't know. Surprisingly, the area occupied previously by Samara was also empty at the moment, although it was clear from the books on the couch, as well as other objects that someone did indeed live here.

"I guess that's all for Deck 3." Virox said. "Let's move to the lower levels."

They entered the elevator and he clicked the number 4 on the control panel. It was a few seconds before the doors opened again, revealing the window with a view on an entire hangar bay. It was now largely occupied by the Carvin CAAT, as well as the soldiers resting on crates or the ground. Virox turned left towards the room that used to be Grunt's home. But the moment they opened the door, they were met with a low voice.

"Leave." It said.

Virox looked around to see the weird alien, called Javik by Shepard and Garrus.

"Geez, man. We didn't even do anything to you." He replied with surprise.

"I do not care. Leave." Javik repeated.

"Asshole." Virox said and led the kids out of the room.

"What's wrong with him?" Zia asked.

"Beats me." Her uncle shrugged.

Instead of going inside the engineering room, they only peaked in, but when Virox didn't see the person he was looking for, he pulled the kids out, and headed right of the elevator.

"I wonder if anyone actually lives where Zaeed used to reside." He wondered and carefully opened the door. "Hello?"

There was silence for a moment, but then a sudden noise of something falling down, followed mumbling, broke it. Only a while later, a human female stepped into their sight lines.

"Oh..." She stared at them for a moment, with a surprised expression matching theirs.

"Uh..." Virox tried to get out of this awkward situation. "Forgive the intrusion. It's just that I used to live on this ship for some time, and I'm both showing my niece and nephew around the ship, as well as catching up with what has changed. We can leave if you want."

"Wait." The human stopped them with her hand raised. "You're the Carvin that some of the people were talking about... Did you serve with Commander Shepard during his time in Cerberus?"

"...Yes?" Virox looked at her suspiciously. "Not the ENTIRE time, but I just kind of hopped in after the first contact incident."

"And you have taken part in the defense of Qreten?" She continued, and Virox noticed her clicking something on her omni-tool.

"I have a strong feeling like you're some kind of spy, or a journalist. I don't like either." He replied, sharing his honest opinion. "Also, are you stupid? Or you just haven't taken a good look at me?"

He then pointed his hands at himself, to emphasize how battered he was.

"Oh... sorry." She looked baffled by the sudden outburst. "I didn't mean to."

"Well... if there's nothing else to say here, we'll just get on with our lives." Virox said, but she stopped them again before they could leave.

"Wait a moment!" She exclaimed and ran away from their sight for a while, then came back with a camera drone at her side. "I know this might be really insensitive, but you're right that I'm a reporter and-"

"Let me guess... You want an interview." Virox interrupted her with an annoyed expression. "Look, I get that this thing will be hot shit for the media to cover, but I think that I speak for all three of us when I say we're not in the mood."

Zia and Nalik nodded in approval.

"True, but consider that the media will be onto the Carvin leadership, now that they literally blew up a planet, which will for sure demonize them. You don't want that, do you?" She asked.

Virox took a moment to think about it. With how sensitive the galactic community could be, especially if the media might colorize the story, the entire civilized space-faring world will despise them. Maybe saying something in defense of their leaders, from someone that has actually been there could make the matter seem a bit clearer.

"Alright, but I don't even know your name." He finally said. "By the way I'm Virox Ri'Kaan.

"Diana Allers, war correspondent from Alliance News Network, and the main reporter for the show 'Battlespace'." Reporter introduced herself.

"Now that you say it that way, it sounds like a TV show for kids." Virox commented. "But who am I to judge? Let's get on with it." He then looked at the kids. "You stay away from the camera."

It took a few seconds for everything to be set up, and Virox had to change standing spots five times to have an 'acceptable background'. Finally, a red lamp appeared on the camera drone, indicating the start of the recording.

"Welcome again to 'Battlespace'. My name is Diana Allers and today we will be taking a look at the Battle of Qreten, as well as its... disturbing conclusion." Diana started. "My guest here is a soldier who was stationed on Qreten during the attack, and who might give us some insight on the battle, as well as clear up misconceptions. Please, introduce yourself."

"Lieutenant Virox Ri'Kaan, 2nd company of the 6th regiment, 260th mechanized." Virox said, while trying to not twitch. The camera made him feel uncomfortable.

"First and one of the most important questions: were you present on Qreten when the Reapers attacked?" Diana asked.

"Yes, I was stationed on Qreten for a few months before the Reaper arrival." He replied.

"And can you tell us how exactly did the Reapers initially attack the planet?"

"Well, we weren't fighting on the surface from Day 1. When the first attack came, it was just to test our defenses, from what I know."

"True, but the Carvin defensive fleets have held firmly even when the main attack came. Can you give us any hints as to why?" Diana asked.

"I guess there were a few factors to that." Virox started, though he felt something else in his head, seemingly giving him ideas what to say. "First one is the fact that Qreten was attacked by the Collector forces roughly a year ago. It caused the colony to invest more into defensive infrastructure, and combine it with the pre-war mobilization effort, it was better prepared. Second of all is the amount of ships used in the defense, which was pretty substantial. And then there are the Ion Cannons that proved to be kicking some serious Reaper ass. There were probably more reasons but as you see, I'm a grunt."

"But when the Reapers finally reached the planet, the defense line was falling apart, am I right?" Diana pointed out.

"Yeah, so far there's no effective conventional way of taking out the Reaper ships on the planet, other than of course orbital bombardment or using fighters and bombers." Virox kept going, which amazed not even himself but the kids as well. They were giving him surprised expressions, that also had a pinch of awe.

"Nevertheless, the time you managed to hold on is still impressive." Diana said. "Do you have any ideas as to why, besides the ones you already mentioned?"

"Tenacity, determination, the fact that we had nowhere to flee, and most importantly, Reapers allowed us too much freedom." He replied.

"Can you... specify?" This time Diana was visibly confused.

"I don't know how much people of the core worlds know, but the Reapers need our corpses relatively intact." Virox explained. "You can't make a husk out of half a corpse. And they can't obtain as much of our genetic material if the body is severely damaged. The point is that they NEED to restrain themselves from using their most destructive potential to utilize the advantage that capturing our corpses is. But I can tell you from experience that Reaper husks usually are pretty weak, and they are no match for us in close quarters combat. Most of them are really dumb as well."

"Alright. What's your opinion on the deployment of over one million conscripted soldiers on the planet, without the stable supply line to support them?" Diana asked.

That one caught him off-guard. He also questioned the idea behind it, but he had to somehow appear as if this was justified.

But as he was about to speak, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together.

"Well from a moral standpoint, you'd think that this was an unnecessary waste of life. But, if you consider the actions of our command later, then you might change your mind." He said, basically thinking out loud. "If the Reapers want the genetic material... then a giant amount of soldiers seems like a nice juicy meal from their point of view. So they come in greater numbers... and then the planet blows up, killing all the Reapers, husks and destroying all the potential corpses and genetic material to harvest or transform. A costly victory, but a success in the long run."

"That's... a pretty terrifying yet logical explanation." Diana said. "One last question. Do you approve of what has been done?"

"Look, I'm not the one to have complains. I knew what I signed up for when I joined the military. You usually don't get the luxury of voicing your own opinion." Virox replied. "But if you really want my opinion, then... I guess I have no better idea. What happened was traumatizing to say the least, but I guess it achieved its main goal."

"You seem to be taking it pretty well, considering that it happened just half an hour ago." She noticed.

"It's not like I don't feel anything. I just put it aside for a moment when I'll be able to let it out. Like I said before, we don't get the luxury to complain." Virox shrugged.

"Thank you, Virox for this interview. I'm sure that what you said will help clear up any misconceptions people might have after what happened at Qreten." Diana nodded, then turned towards the camera. "And thank you for watching 'Battlespace'. Stay tuned for more information, as soldiers from all races continue to resist the Reapers." She clicked a button on her omni-tool and the red light on the camera drone vanished. "Well, that was pretty good. I'll try to polish it here and there, then I'll send it to my manager."

"Sounds good. Even after being on the Citadel only a few times I realized that these people are probably sitting on their asses watching the news, but don't realize that there's a real war going on." Virox said.

"Unfortunately." Diana replied. "I'm assuming that I won't need to worry about any lawsuits from you due to me using your face on the video."

"Are you kidding? Other races can barely see the differences between people from our race." He laughed. "If you'll ever get a lawsuit, it's either gonna be from the military itself, or from someone who disagreed with what was said in the video."

"Fair enough." She nodded.

"Well, since the moment has passed, I guess we'll be going. We spent too much time here already." Virox said and looked at Nalik and Zia. "Come on. There's still the hangar, since there's some new stuff there, as well as Deck 2."

Both kids stood up and waved goodbye to Diana, and left with Virox towards the elevator.

"How did you know?" Zia finally asked as the door slid open.

"Know what?" He asked back.

"... Know how to answer her questions in a convincing way?" She specified. "Haven't you noticed it? You suddenly got the ideas and figured out the meaning of the entire operation in a matter of seconds."

Virox had trouble to reply to that. It was strange to him as well, since it came so unexpectedly. But the feeling was quite familiar. He felt very similarly back then right before the Suicide Mission. When they flew through the debris field, and something in his head activated, causing him to feel like he recognized some of the wrecks. Weird.

"I'll have to think about it too." He said with honesty.

"Are you... ok?" Nalik asked with worry.

"Yeah... let's go." Virox cut the conversation as the door slid open.

They couldn't take a good look at the hangar bay when they left the shuttle. Now Virox could see that a lot has changed. He wasn't visiting the bay often, usually just to get to the shuttle, but the entire room looked like someone was in the middle of a repaint but at one point suddenly abandoned the idea. Nevertheless, it looked more appealing to him than before. Maybe it was the orange color that got him.

Then they heard grunts from the left. All of them turned towards the direction the noise came from, just to see a muscular human male, doing pullups on a bar. The entire area around the bar seemed like it has beem appropriated by a specific person, which they guessed was the man using the bar.

When they approached him, he stopped mid-pull and took a closer look at Virox.

"So you're the crazy Carvin that Scars and others keep talking about." He said and dropped down.

"I'm sorry, who?" Virox was confused.

"Scars. The Turian. I gave him that nickname, because of... you know." He smirked.

"Ah..." Virox nodded, still a bit confused. "Virox, by the way. And since I'll probably be staying here, I'm assuming you already have a million of nicknames for me."

"Good guess. James Vega by the way." The Human introduced himself and they shook hands. "So how do you like 'Sawbones'? From your tail? Or Terminator? Nah, you won't get it."

"How about Jaws?" Virox joined the brainstorm. "You know, since I have two sets, and one actually consists of three?"

"Hey... that's a pretty good idea." James said, impressed. "Jaws it is."

"Geez, uncle you really are crazy." Zia rolled her eyes, seemingly ignoring what happened earlier.

"Shut up. I'm trying." Virox snapped playfully, then turned back towards James. "So this is your little corner?"

"Yep. Anything I need and want, including dumbbells, the pull-up bar, and a table to work on my weapons." James said, while pointing at everything. "Not much, compared to others, but I don't complain. Sometimes simplicity is better."

"Agreed." Virox nodded. "Was good to meet you, James."

"Likewise, Jaws. See you around." James gave him a little human-style salute and they headed back to the elevator.

There were a few other people around, including one human trying to fix something with the engines of a Kodiak shuttle, but Virox ignored them. There would be time for more chatting. Now he wanted to see a certain wise-ass, arrogant pilot, that just so happened to be flying the Normandy.

"Come on. I need to introduce you to someone." He said to Zia and Nalik as they entered the elevator (again).

"Who?" The former asked.

"I think you'll like him. He's the kind of person that I joke around with, though he doesn't have as dark sense of humor as I do." Virox explained.

After a moment that took the elevator to get them to Deck 2, the doors opened, revealing the shiny room on the other side.

"Whoa..." Nalik gasped in amazement. "Look at all this stuff! I wish I had some more time to take a look at everything, and see how it works..."

"Nerd!" Zia teased him.

"Oh bugger off, hothead!" Her brother snapped back, visibly irritated at her.

They continued to argue, until the long corridor that led to the cockpit finally ended with the door. Virox then silenced them both, and opened the door.

"Well, well, well... Look who we have here? The asshole pilot himself." He grinned as he walked in.

"Well, well, well... Look who we have here? The crazed maniac himself, has returned." Joker grinned back after his chair turned 180 degrees towards him. He then looked at Zia and Nalik on both sides. "And you managed to become a father to two kids? Geez, Virox. I always knew you were off with the head, but I don't envy the woman that gave birth to both these children in such a short amount of time."

"Fuck you!" Both kids replied in a perfect unison.

"And it seems that they have inherited their wit from the father." Joker's grin grew wider.

"I'm actually an uncle to them." Virox said. "Well, not a biological one, but I became friends with their father, and the whole 'uncle' title is a result of a misunderstanding in translation. You humans, as well as most of the other races don't have a word for a person who is kind of a voluntary member of a certain family, so I guess the 'uncle' is a simplified term." (A/N: Yes, I'm gonna continue using the term 'uncle', if you're wondering.)

"Uh huh." Was Joker's reply, though he still didn't seem convinced.

"He's right, Jeff. I have checked the linguistic program that contains the translation data for the Carvin language and it appears that Virox is saying the truth." Another familiar voice spoke from the right side.

"EDI?" Virox looked around in confusion, as the voice did not come from any of the speakers, nor her terminal that was placed in the cockpit too.

"Yes." The source of the voice revealed itself, as a second pilot's chair also turned towards the three of them, revealing a female-looking synthetic body.

It took a while for them to process what they were seeing.

"I ship it." Virox finally said and let out a chuckle he desperately tried to hide. "Get it? Cuz EDI basically IS the ship?" (A/N: I deserve to die.)

"I agree." Zia answered after a moment of thinking whether to be impressed or embarrassed for her uncle.

"Me too." Nalik added without hesitation.

"What the-" Joker was about to burst into explanations and denial, but EDI interrupted him.

"Language, Jeff. We have youth among us." She said with a voice of an upset mother, scolding her son.

"Oh, really? They are allowed to swear, but I'm not?" He asked, not even showing the genuine anger in his voice.

"You should be an example for them." EDI explained.

"Yeah... that won't work." Virox chuckled nervously. "They picked up a few bad habits on Qreten that aren't coming off easily, and some might even stay until the end of their lives."

"And I'm fine with that." Zia added, with the most smug expression she could make, and tried to show off, by activating her biotics to glow around her, but after less than a second she felt dizzy and started loosing balance.

"ZIA!" Virox practically yelled at her and caught her before she could fall, then turned her towards his face. "What? Did? Chakwas? Tell? You? About? Using? Your? Fucking? Biotics?"

"S-sorry." She stuttered a bit, since it was rare for her uncle to have an outburst like that.

"You're going to the Medical lab, tell your mother what you did, and wait patiently for Chakwas to examine you." Virox ordered.

"What? But..." Zia tried to argue, but Virox cut her off.

"That was not a request. That was an order from a superior." He said with voice cold as vacuum.

Zia nodded her head, and still massaging it she left the room and headed to the elevator.

"Sheesh... talk about overreaction." Nalik whistled, though fell silent when Virox glared at him. "I didn't say anything?"

"I agree with you." Joker said.

"Well, at least he cares, Jeff." EDI defended him.

It was at that moment that most of the tension just seemed to have disappeared from Virox. He started laughing, because the entire situation felt so familiar, so close to the memories he had on this ship a year before.

'It's good to be home.' He thought as the happiness was so strong he could almost forget that there was a galaxy-wide war going on.

Almost.

Normandy Sr-2, en route to Lexaant system, Deck 2, War room, Communication node.

Shepard stood in the comm room alone, looking at the now deactivated holographic projector. He has hastily assembled a report on the mission and its conclusion on the way to Normandy, and sent it immediately to Admiral Hackett. It was less than ideal in its content and form, but to him at least it was important that the Admiral receive this information as soon as possible. He was now waiting for the inevitable response.

As Normandy was being dragged by another Carvin ship to Lexaant system to drop off the soldiers and the High General Indrigan, the atmosphere on the ship was tense at least. Carvins (with the exception of Virox and the kids he was protecting) weren't exactly very social, and combined with the destruction of Qreten, they were almost unapproachable, making the crew even more nervous.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the holographic projector came to life and the glowing particles formed into the silhouette of Admiral Hackett. It was clear from his expression that their mood was similar.

"I have read your report, Commander... and it's disturbing..." He started, his voice showing his emotions clearly. "To blow up an entire planet..."

"It was decided between the Carvin High Generals from what I know. They were preparing for this for some time." Shepard said.

"I would be surprised if they weren't... it still doesn't make it any less shocking." Hackett replied. "Carvins are probably one of the only ones that fully take this war seriously if they resort to such brutal measures."

"High General Indrigan mentioned that he envisioned this was as the most total war that ever occured for the Carvin Empire." Shepard added. "He said that every man, woman and child will have to contribute to success."

"As much as we might hate it being a possibility, he's probably right." Admiral sighed. "I'm still impressed that the planet itself managed to resist the Reapers for so long with moderate effectiveness."

"I've seen the city, sir. And it was probably the best representation of the stance that Carvins took in this war." Shepard said. "They are going to fight until the bitter end, and Qreten was a way to buy them some time to prepare a bit more."

"Agreed. But as disturbing as this entire situation is, the Carvin attrition strategy might've caused a bit more damage than we may have previously thought." Hackett said and activated his omni-tool, which then caused the holographic projector to display a galactic map. "After mere minutes after the moment you claim the explosion took place, multiple main Reaper offensives have drastically slowed down or even stalled completely. In some systems attacks were stopped as Reapers just retreated. And they are constantly diverting ships and resources from other planets towards Carvin-controlled territory. Even from Earth."

"They got the Reapers' attention." Shepard concluded. "The question is if it's good or bad."

"It's difficult to say for now. We're not sure how big of a force Reapers plan to divert to reconstruct the Carvin front, and how effective will the Carvin preparations be." Hacket said. "But it's clear that this had helped other races on almost all fronts. Although it would be bad if too many Reaper forces decided to focus on the Carvins. We need their fleets and soldiers, but also their incredibly high industrial capacity."

"I will make sure to pass this message to High General Indrigan." Shepard nodded.

"Good. Hackett out." Admiral's hologram slowly vanished, leaving Shepard alone again.

He sighed and slowly walked out of the communication node, then looked at the galaxy map in the war room. It would take a while for the new data to be processed and analyzed by the program that calculated the effective strength of the summit, as well as predicted Reaper movements, but few key elements could be seen now already. For instance, the estimated number of Reaper ships significantly decreased in Turian and Human territory, and even in the conquered parts of the Attican Traverse and Terminus Systems. As much as he hated to admit it, Shepard could now see the reasoning behind the decisions made by the Carvin High Generals. Or at least some of them.

"Uh, Commander? Could you come here for a second?" The voice of Traynor from the speakers interrupted his analysis.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's... your Carvin friend." She sounded a bit unsure. "He somehow managed to get his hands on both levo and dextro amino alcohol and there are loud noises coming from the cockpit... I think you might want to investigate."

'Oh boy... he really is back.' Shepard thought, imagining what could now be happening in the cockpit.

With Virox back, their fight with the Reapers might just turn out a tiny bit more fun.

A/N: Yes I know it's shorter, yes I know the update rate sucks, and yes the chapter isn't perfect. If I update anything before the New Year's Eve, it'll be a Christmas bloody miracle. Then again I'll have more time to write. I hope you don't hate me and did not abandon the story just yet. So if I won't write anything before the New Year's Eve, I wish you all merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year just in case. Carry on! Bonker out!