Book I - Chapter 10: Virmire - Part 1

It took the Normandy four days to reach the Hoc system and Shepard spent those four days sitting on pins and needles, agonizing over every little detail, imagining everything that could go wrong in the upcoming Virmire mission.

Fortunately for the Commander, Liara would not allow her to stew on her own. Every time Shepard found herself sick with worry running worse case scenarios non-stop in her head, Liara would magically appear by her side to pull her out of it. The young asari maiden was very good at distracting her; she could do it with a simple touch, or with a mere look. Shepard had no idea when Liara had became so attuned to her mood, but she was very glad her lover's attentiveness.

Once the Normandy was within range of their destination, Shepard ordered Joker to engage the stealth system as soon as the ship dropped out of FTL speed. Quiet as a ghost, the frigate glided into the planet's orbit and began scanning the surface to locate the missing STG unit. Suffice to say, they found a lot more than they bargained for.

Vasir was already fully armed and armored when Shepard came up to the bridge from the crew deck. The asari Spectre was visibly upset by the results of the Normandy's scans. "Intel is all wrong. Virmire is supposed to be a virgin world unsettled by anyone. Look at this base, look at all these defenses. This is a fortress! It must have taken years to construct them all. How could Saren afford any of this?"

"There's your answer." Shepard pointed at one of the monitors on the workstation specifically calibrated to detect synthetics. "It's crawling with geth. Free labour. I'm actually more impressed that Saren was able to keep this operation a secret for so long."

Joker spoke up. "Commander, we have company. Several geth dropships are in orbit."

Vasir tensed. "We should call for backup."

"Not so fast. The Normandy is in stealth mode. We don't show up on their sensors; they are blind to us. The only way for them see us is to look out of a window, and Geth dropships don't have windows; I've seen enough of them up close to know that for a fact." Shepard said to Vasir.

Joker added, "as long as we don't all start singing the Russian national anthem, they won't spot us."

That comment earned her an unamused blank look from Vasir, though Shepard grinned at her pilot's cheek.

"Found them, Commander." Kaidan looked up from his monitor. "Organics outside the facility. Looks like they've set up a base camp on the beach. It barely made a blip on our sensor. Bit of a problem though. There are AA towers all over the place. The Normandy won't be able to make a landing."

"Where is heavy cruiser air support when you need it? Right, the Council wouldn't give it. They wanted to make nice with slavers and drug lords in this region instead. Stability, my ass." Shepard commented wearily. In the corner of her eyes, she noticed Vasir's thunderous expression, and inwardly smiled to herself.

Good. Be appalled by the Council's inaction, be angered by their refusal to listen. I want you ready to bite their heads off once you're back.

"Alenko, keep your eyes peeled on those sensors. Look for anomalies. Saren has this place wrapped up tighter than his grandmother's couch for a reason. I want to know what he is hiding inside. Get the whole team on it. Pressly, look for a quiet place to drop the Mako. We'll slip in and take out the AA towers."

"Aye, aye, ma'am." Kaidan and Pressly saluted and went about their work.

Shepard turned to Vasir. "I assume you want to tag along?"

"You assume correctly. I wish to see for myself."

"Have you engaged geth recently?" Shepard asked, and got a quick shake of head as her answer. "At a distance, they are not that big a threat. As long as you dodge their attacks, you'll be fine. I'm trained as a vanguard; I can disable them with my biotics at mid-range. Don't let them get close to you. A geth destroyer at close range can do significant damage to your shield. Be very careful when you're on the ground. I expect to see a lot of geth drones. Those flyers are immune to most crowd control biotic attacks, and they can pack a lot of damage. I will bring my best engineer to support us for this mission."

Vasir regarded the Commander with an odd look of respect. "You have fought a lot of geth, haven't you?"

"Since Eden Prime, yes. Why do you have to ask? I thought you've read my file."

"I have, but obviously I didn't read every report you've ever submitted. Just the summary, and the major reports." Vasir said.

Shepard nodded in understanding. "Yeah, we found a lot of geth in the Armstrong Nebula. So far, every time we investigated a place Saren was interested in, we found an army of geth in our way. Eden Prime, Feros, Noveria, and now Virmire."

Vasir's left eye twitched in annoyance. Shepard only noticed because she was keeping a very close eye on the asari's reactions. She wondered if her colleague was more annoyed at Saren or at the Council. "Now that I've seen the situation, I find myself agreeing with your earlier recommendation to the Council. They should have sent in the Citadel fleet, even if the geth were our only problem."

The Commander smiled. It felt good to have a fellow Spectre agree with her, even though that person was Vasir.

"Commander, we've found something else in orbit. You need to see this!" Kaidan spoke up urgently and pulled up an image on his monitor.

"What kind of geth ship is this? Look at the size of it." Vasir frowned at the real time vid feed.

Shepard clench her jaw. "This is no geth. This is the Reaper dreadnought, Sovereign. Saren has been using it's unique tech to enslave others. So this is where it's been hiding." She pulled up the image from Eden Prime from her Omni-tool and placed it next to the monitor for comparison. It was clear that the two were the same ship. "Sovereign was on Eden Prime. I didn't see it land, but I saw it take off. I was there. A dreadnought of this size, and it just rocketed off the planet. Can you imagine the size of it's eezo core in order to generate a mass effect field large enough to do that? When it fires its weapon, it's going to knock any ship out of the sky in one shot."

Vasir looked completely loss for words.

Frowning in dismay, Shepard continued. "If the Council had listened to me and sent in a fleet in the first place, it would have been a few cruisers, tops. No way it would have been enough to take on Sovereign. The most they would have done would have been to bombard the facility into dust and hoped their presence be enough to warn the Reaper away."

Vasir scoffed at the Commander. "Warn the Reaper away? A dreadnought, fleeing because of a few cruisers? I don't think so. The fleet would have been ordered to retreat."

Shepard shook her head. "Not necessarily. For some reason, Saren is still out there looking for the Conduit, even though he already has the firepower of an army of geth plus this dreadnought. This means he is not ready to engage in open battle. I think he has something a hell of a lot more dangerous than this one Reaper dreadnought hidden up his sleeves."

In her mind, having a few ships here to see Sovereign in person and then ordered back into retreat would have been the best case scenario. Shepard had wanted the Citadel fleet to have a taste of what was to come, so they would not underestimate the Reaper. In all likelihood, Sovereign would not have given chase to the retreating fleet, and the Council would have been sufficiently warned of the danger they were facing. Had she been able to pull off this scheme, she would have reduced the casualty count dramatically for the upcoming battle.

If she had been truly lucky, the Council would have then ordered an enormous fleet to take out Sovereign immediately, and the battle would have taken place right here, in the middle of nowhere, instead of over a densely populated space station filled with civilians.

Alas, this best case scenario was nothing but a nice fantasy. Shepard could not even persuade the Council to send in one cruiser to evacuate the STG unit, so she had to fall back on the next best thing - Vasir's testimony.

"Regardless, this is nothing more than idle speculation. The reality is, we don't have a fleet, and our plan hasn't changed. It doesn't look like they've seen us, either. Pressly, have you found a place to drop us yet?" Shepard asked the XO.

"Yes ma'am," the Navigator replied, "I've found a spot with enough clearance a few clicks away from the facility."

"Alright. Joker, tell Tali to get ready. Fly us in under the radar, quiet as you can. No matter what you do, stay far far away from Sovereign. Maintain evasive maneuvers if it starts to move. I don't want to find out first hand if the Normandy can take a hit from Sovereign's main gun." Shepard gave Joker her final order.

For once, Joker was in no mood to joke. "Aye, aye, Commander. You can count on me."

"Good." Shepard turned to her XO. "Pressly, alert the crew to assume battle stations. I want all hands on deck for this one. And Vasir," she addressed the Spectre, "let's hurry. You can brief me on your fighting style in the Mako."

x-x-x

The constant rumble of tidal waves crashing against the broken shoreline, together with the noise of distant thunderclaps, formed the perfect natural disguise to mask the loud bang of the Mako's cannon fire. Geth troopers and drones patrolled the narrow strip of corridor where it was shallow enough for the Mako to drive on. Even while under heavy rocket fire, Shepard's squad had to come out of the relative safety from within the heavily armored vehicle to storm the locked gatehouses on foot several times.

It was a bit of a shock for Shepard to find out that the way Vasir fought was eerily similar to her own style. She had thought Vasir would be more of a typical asari commando than a human vanguard. Apparently her assumption was way off. If anything, Vasir actually came off as more reckless in battle than even Shepard herself was. Instead of using crowd control abilities such as lift and pull, Vasir favoured blasting off a couple biotic shockwaves in mid-range and immediately following up with a head-on charge to bulldoze her opponents. To support this combat style, Vasir maintained an extremely strong barrier at all times. This alone demonstrated the asari's mastery over her biotics.

Shepard mentally filed this information away for later. For the duration of this mission, she would try not to show all of her biotic abilities in front of Vasir. It would be difficult considering what she was planning to do, but she had to try. Before the Shadow Broker was taken down, Shepard could not afford to trust Vasir, the yahg's top agent, with more of her personal information.

Soon after the squad took down the third sets of AA tower controls, Joker radioed in to give Shepard the newest status update. "Commander, the Normandy has touched down at the base, but it looks like we are grounded. The salarian captain can explain when you get here."

"Roger that." Shepard acknowledged simply, already expecting this turn of event.

Vasir, on the other hand, was less than impressed. "Grounded? Who does that slimy lizard think he is to ground a Spectre's ship?"

Shepard gave Vasir a look. "You are not big on political correctness, are you?"

"I call it as I see it. If you want political correctness, go talk to a politician." Vasir said petulantly. It was obvious the asari was very short on patience for any perceived incompetence. Seeing how Vasir had not attempted to use degrading terms on either Tali or herself, they must have passed some kind of test in Vasir's mind. Then again, Vasir had not made any attempt to small talk at all during the entire Mako ride.

By the time the Mako rolled into the base camp, every member of her ground team had joined the STG team to assist them with evacuation. There was surveillance equipment to take down and injured troops to patch up. Kaidan and Ashley were already speaking with Captain Kirrahe when the two Spectres approached.

"Are you in charge here? What's the situation?" Shepard asked. Standing next to her, Vasir silently observed the proceedings with her arms crossed.

Captain Kirrahe introduced himself and explained, "you and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hot zone. Every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence. There is no way for your ship to take off. We will have to stay put for the Council to send in the reinforcements we requested."

Vasir looked ready to pop a blood vessel. "We are the reinforcements!"

"What?" Kirrahe was dumbstruck. "You are all they sent? I told the Council to send a fleet!"

Shepard sighed. "Hate to burst your bubble, but the fleet you requested is not coming. We're all you've got. The message you sent out was unclear, so the Council deemed it more prudent to send me here to investigate the situation."

"That is a repetition of our task. I've lost half of my men investigating this place." Kirrahe spat.

The Commander understood Kirrahe's frustration only too well. "I'm sorry to hear that. What did you find?"

"Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

Vasir perked up. "Have you seen Saren? Is he here?" Her tone set off an alarm bell in Shepard's head. She began to suspect the real reason why the Shadow Broker wanted Vasir to tag along.

Assassination. Lovely. Saren must have truly pissed off the Shadow Broker for him to send Vasir all the way here to rip the turian's spine out and beat his face in with it.

Kirrahe shook his head. "No, but we've intercepted some comms referring to Saren from the geth. This is his facility, there is no doubt about that."

Shepard inwardly braced herself before she asked, "any idea what's Saren researching?"

"He is using this facility to breed an army of krogan." Kirrahe answered in a clipping tone.

A beat of deafening silence later, and the questions began.

"How is that possible?" Vasir looked stunned. "Countless attempts have been made to counter the genophage. None ever worked."

Not far from the group, Shepard noticed Wrex watching the conversation intently while making no attempt to speak up. The only outward reaction she could see was how rigid his posture became.

"Apparently, Saren's made it work. This facility is not only crawling with geth, it is filled with an army of krogans. If this gets out, Saren will be unstoppable. We must ensure the facility and its secrets are destroyed."

Finally, Wrex could no longer hold himself in. "Destroyed? I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure can save them."

Kirrahe was less than happy with the old krogan's interruption. "The krogans will overrun the galaxy if they get their hands on this cure. We can't make the same mistake again."

Shepard winced at the poor choice of words.

Wrex exploded. "We are not a mistake!" He growled into Kirrahe's face, before visibly getting a hold of himself. He somehow managed to stalk away without headbutting the salarian.

Shepard was impressed by Wrex's self-control.

Kirrahe sputtered. He gave Shepard a reproachful frown and asked, "is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogans to deal with."

"We should put him down before he even thinks of doing anything funny." Vasir reached for her pistol.

Shepard jumped in front of the asari with a hand up. "No. I'll talk to him. He won't be a problem."

In the distance, Wrex pulled out a shotgun and began randomly firing into the water. The booming gunfire clapped like thunder. Shepard understood Wrex was livid and vexed, but she wished he had not done that. The image of an angry krogan shooting off his firearm did not help his case.

Ashley frowned unhappily while giving Shepard a dubious look. "Are you sure, skipper? It's not that I don't trust him, but I really don't want you getting shot in the face."

"I am sure. Both of you, don't do anything. Let me talk to him." Shepard was firm and waited until she got a reluctant nod from Ashley and Vasir before she went to Wrex.

Wrex racked his shotgun when he saw her approach. "This isn't right, Shepard. If there is a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it."

Shepard stood next to him, gazing at the water instead of looking at the krogan. "Do you remember Feros?" She asked.

Wrex stared at her. "What about it?"

"There were krogan mercs on Feros. Liara wondered out loud why they would ally themselves with the likes of Saren, and you said…"

Wrex finished her sentence. "Saren has no allies. He has tools."

Shepard nodded. "Exactly." She turned around to face Wrex. "I think Captain Kirrahe is wrong about many things. I don't think the krogans are a mistake, and I don't think Saren really has the cure for the genophage."

For a moment, Wrex looked like he didn't know what to say. Eventually, he let out a sigh.

"Explain."

Shepard smiled. "Alright. I'm not krogan, and I'm definitely not a racist. But does it ever occur to you that all of Saren's krogans look pretty much identical?"

"Wha… No. Really? I don't pay attention to their faces when I shoot them." Wrex scratched his head. "Wait, you are right. Those bastards do have the same ugly mug. I can't believe this. They are tank-bred clones!"

"That's the conclusion I came to as well. I could hardly call this a proper cure for the genophage. It's an assembly line. This is where Saren manufactured his brainwashed soldiers. Remember Noveria? Krogan is not the only species on the menu. Saren got his talons on the rachni, too. The only difference is that the rachni went insane, but the clone krogans became his obedient slaves."

"We need to destroy them! This is an abomination! Hell, I'll help you blow up this place! Saren doesn't get to use my people as his weapon. We are nobody's slaves!" Wrex roared.

Shepard stuck out her arm. Wrex clutched her wrist in a warrior's handshake. "I'm glad you're on board, Wrex."

Wrex gave the Commander a fierce scowl. "Saren will bleed for this."

"You've named our target," Shepard replied with a bloodthirsty grin. "It will die."

The old battlemaster gaped at Shepard like he had never seen her before. It took him a while to fully collect himself. "You are not krogan, but you are krantt. I'm honored."

"The honor is all mine." Shepard said and withdrew her hand. "Speaking of which, did I tell you Liara is a quarter krogan?"

"No kidding?" Wrex gaffled. "No wonder I like her."

After speaking with Wrex, the Commander sauntered back to talk to the salarian captain. The gobsmacked looks from both Vasir's and Kirrahe's faces were quite comical, Shepard thought.

"I told you Wrex wasn't going to be a problem. He's very intelligent, and not just by krogan standards. Why are you surprised?" The Commander smirked.

"Un-fucking-believable." Vasir muttered. The half-pained, half-awed expression on her face told Shepard that the asari was re-evaluating her opinion on her, the young upstart human Spectre who was a fraction of her own age.

Kirrahe cleared his throat. "Commander, thanks for calming him down. I have used the time to come up with a plan to complete our missions."

"You've found a way to destroy the facility and get us off this planet? I'm listening."

Kirrahe began. "First, the bomb. We can convert our ship's drive system into a twenty-kiloton ordnance. Unfortunately, we will need to place the bomb at the far side of the facility for it to be effective. The only weak spot is the geothermal tap that powers this facility."

Shepard understood the reasoning. "This base is fortified so it can withstand a regular nuclear strike from orbit. Saren is one paranoid bastard."

"Precisely." Kirrahe continued. "Your ship can drop the bomb off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns, and pacify any ground forces first."

Vasir pursed her lips. "You'll have to go in on foot. You don't have enough men to pull this off."

Kirrahe shook his head. "No, we don't. I'm going to divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility. While we've got their attention, you can sneak your 'Shadow' team in the back."

"Not a bad idea, but there are a few problems." Shepard frowned as she listed them out. "One, your men are infiltrators, not frontline shock troopers. In a frontal assault, they are going to be slaughtered. Two, there are a few geth dropships in orbit. The second we arm the bomb, they are going to rain geth down from the sky in enough numbers to disable it. Three, Saren's dreadnought is parked close by. It's crewed with geth and krogans. Their ground troop can mobilize at a moment's notice. Four, once their reinforcements arrive, we will be pinned down in two places. There is a good chance no one will survive."

Kirrahe's face scrunched up like he had just sucked on a lemon. "I did not know about the dropships in orbit or the dreadnought. This changes things. Do you have a better plan then?"

Shepard nodded her head slowly. "Yes. It's the opposite of your plan, but the concept is the same. Essentially, it's a simple bait and switch."

Kirrahe tilted his head in interest. "Go on."

x-x-x

Personally, Liara thought that the waiting was much more unbearable than being on the ground while getting shot at. In fact, she would much prefer to be shot at right now, because at least that would mean that she was drawing fire away from Shepard.

The entire STG unit, the Normandy's ground team, and all the Alliance marines who did not have to man the ship's workstations at the moment, were all armed and armored inside the cargo bay, waiting just as impatiently as she was.

Ashley glowered. "I don't like this plan." Gripping her rifle tightly, she glared at nothing in particular as she seethed in impotent anger at the unfairness of it all.

Kaidan gave the woman a weary sigh. "With all due respect, Gunnery Chief, it's not your place to decide."

"Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect' they really mean 'kiss my ass?'" Ashley exhaled noisily. "We should be out there by the Commander's side. The skipper is risking her life playing bait with no one to watch her back. And for what? The Council sent her here with no back up. They are not going to thank her for going above and beyond her duty! They're going to blame her for anything that goes wrong instead!"

Garrus reminded Ashley, "the Commander is not out there alone. Vasir is with her."

Liara grimaced. Having to rely on Vasir to keep Shepard safe was a bitter pill for her to swallow. It was difficult enough to tolerate Vasir's presence on the ship when the older asari kept making passes at Shepard. Knowing this asari Spectre took on a side job as an agent of the Shadow Broker only reduced her credibility.

Ashley gave the former C-Sec an incredulous look. "Are you serious? Do you trust that woman to not shoot our Commander in the back?"

"I trust her to value her own life. Cooperating with the Commander gives her the best chance at getting out of this alive." Garrus explained.

The Gunnery Chief grudgingly accepted the cold logic. "Fine. I just… I just…"

"It's going to be alright." Liara spoke up, not only to reassure Ashley, but also to remind herself. "Shepard knows what she is doing. For her plan to work, she needs the mobility, and we need the strength in numbers. We would only slow her down if we go with her."

Tali looked up from the bomb she had been working on to speak her mind. "This is an accurate assessment. I don't know much about biotics, but Shepard did mention that she was very impressed with Vasir's biotic barrier. I have seen Vasir in battle. She is exceptionally fast. It is disheartening for me to admit it, but I suspect she is the only person who could keep up with Shepard for this mission."

Another bitter pill to swallow. Liara wished she had been good enough to watch Shepard's back in battle. The commander had made it perfectly clear that it was not about competency or compatibility. It was a matter of specialization. Stealth was required for the first half of the operation, while mobility and the raw power to smash through a great number of enemies were essential for the later half. The only person who fit the bill was Vasir.

Ashley was about to say something, when Shepard's voice came through the radio. "Communication tower disabled. Satellite uplink destroyed. Geth flyers ahead..."

The crew waited with baited breath.

"... and geth flyers destroyed."

The tone of that voice was almost cheerful, Liara thought. She couldn't help but wonder whether the Commander was putting up a brave front to calm her troops, or she was really doing well on the ground. This feeling of helplessness frustrated her to no end.

Another few minutes later, Shepard reported in again. "Stay put. We triggered a false alarm at the far side of the facility. Shadow is going in."

Liara let out a sigh of relief. The false alarm would draw attention away from Shepard. That meant she could remain undetected for even longer.

Clinging to the Commander's report like everyone else on the ship, Kirrahe and his infiltration operatives all looked very impressed with Shepard's progress. Their good mood did not last long.

"Found your missing men. I'm sorry. They are gone. Saren destroyed their minds." Shepard sounded resigned.

Kirrahe hung his head. Every single operative of the STG unit all looked ready to eat the crusty old turian alive. "How?" Kirrahe asked.

Liara explained. "The dreadnought, Sovereign, is a Reaper ship. Saren has been using its unique technology to indoctrinate people to do his bidding. This research facility is not only for cloning krogans. It appears Saren is trying to figure out the secret to mind-controlling people."

Her thoughts went to her mother. If an asari matriarch with an exceptionally strong mental fortitude could not resist the effect of Reaper indoctrination, what chances would the salarian soldiers have had? It was not a surprise that the captured salarians had been reduced to nothing more than mindless shells.

The salarian captain was repulsed by this information. "What? Saren can mind-control people? I see. This is how he controls the krogans. They are not loyal to him, they are his puppets! This is worse than I thought. We must inform the Council immediately."

Ashley could not help herself. "The Council has been informed, repeatedly, ever since Eden Prime! Commander Shepard warned them again and again, but they refused to listen. All they ever do is send people out to investigate. They didn't like what the Commander finds so they sent her out to investigate some more, as if reality would alter if she investigated enough! This has been going on for four months. She stuck her neck out for you guys even before this mission. Now she is out there, drawing fire for everyone!"

This was news to Kirrahe. "What do you mean? What did the Commander do?"

Garrus' mandibles flared in the equivalent of a turian sneer. "She contradicted the Council's decision and advised them to send in a fleet to extract your unit. Councillor Sparatus used some diplomatic words, but essentially, he called her a coward for making such a suggestion."

"Found a live one! Lieutenant Ganto Imness." Shepard sounded excited. "They used him as a control group. I'm sending him your way. Follow protocols."

"Yes!" Kirrahe's men cheered. A group of three salarians were dispatched to wait outside so they can verify his identity when he reached the Normandy. A while later, the group came back with the previously captured operative. Lieutenant Ganto Imness was immediately disarmed and set to be escorted to the med bay by two Alliance marines as per regulation - just as their Commander had ordered.

"Captain Kirrahe." The salarian Lieutenant called out on his way to the elevator and saluted his captain. Liara could hear his voice break, even though it was clear the operative was doing everything he could to hold himself together. "My apologies, sir. I'm the only one who made it back. My team… We were wrong. The krogan clones are nothing compared to the horror of indoctrination. What they've done to our men... death is a mercy."

Kirrahe put a hand on Ganto's shoulder. "I'm glad you're back. Through you, our comrades' voices will be heard. Your… first hand account is invaluable intel that will serve to save a lot more lives in the future."

Ganto nodded and headed to the med bay. Before he left, he said to Kirrahe, "Commander Shepard did not have to let me out of the cell. There were dozens of captives in the compound, but she could tell I was the only one not indoctrinated. She gave me a spare pistol, told me the safest route to get here, and instructed me to walk around in a daze as if I were a mindless zombie to avoid combat. It was a very effective strategy. She saved my life."

Liara felt a swell of pride bubble up in her chest as she smiled at the recount. The same proud grin was mirrored on many Alliance soldiers' faces. Ashley looked especially smug, as she should. Shepard was a shining example of what humanity could accomplish; of course all her men were proud to hear of her exploits. This hero worship was comparable to how asari younglings thought of justicars in fantasy stories.

Shepard's voice interrupted the conversation. "Found the cloning lab. Wrex, if you're listening, I'll have you know I just killed a krogan scientist. I think he might be the only one in existence in the whole galaxy."

Wrex barked out a harsh laugh as a smiled found its way up to Liara's face. Shepard always knew how to make her crew feel better, especially in this kind of nerve wracking situation. Was it a surprise that her crew trusted her so much? This woman was a natural leader who inspired confidence and loyalty everywhere she went.

Another few minutes of silence later, Shepard reported in again. This time, she sounded tense. "Shadow is in the communication tower. We've found a… sensitive spot that guarantees to attract a lot of attention. I'm going to poke it. This is it, Archangel. Move out. And good luck."

At the command, Garrus, Liara, and Ashley dashed out of the cargo bay and headed straight for the facility, following Shepard's steps exactly as she had gone in. The Commander had sent them a very detailed map through her Omni-tool. She must have had Widget record it in the background for their team's benefit. It was amazing the amount of carnage the two Spectres had dealt out, if the amount of broken geth and dead krogans on the ground was any indication.

They did not slow down when they passed by cells filled with zombie-like, dead-eyed salarians.

They made it to the cloning lab without being seen by anyone before a horrible screeching shriek reverberated throughout the entire facility. Even ballistic glass windows got blown out by the terrible, terrible noise that seemed to pierce right through their skulls.

"God! Whatever it was she must've really poked it!" Ashley grimaced, grabbing her head with both hands in a vain effort to stop the ringing.

The three of them hid behind a few crates as numerous geth and krogans ran past them, heading straight to the communications tower where Shepard and Vasir were currently barricaded.

"Now's our chance." Garrus said. They headed for the opposite direction and ran towards the AA tower.

There were a few drones standing guard over the turret control console, but the team made quick work of them. The majority of their would be opposition had been lured out of this area by whatever Shepard had done at the other end of the facility. Just to be safe, they not only turned off the remote turret control, but Garrus also went to the extra step to encrypt the control panel so that the geth couldn't immediately turn it back on.

"Archangel to the Normandy. AA guns are disabled. Drop in Red Rover. We're going back for Shadow!" Garrus called.

Joker replied, "roger that. Hurry, Archangel! The dreadnought just took off and pulled a turn that could shear any of our ships in half! It's heading for the Commander! You need to get her out, NOW!"

Shepard interrupted Joker. "Belay that! Stick to the plan and head to the rendezvous point instead. Assist Red Rover. We can handle ourselves!"

The order froze Liara's inside in an instant. All of a sudden, all she could hear was Shepard's broken voice, repeating that one line from her nightmare.

Let me die.

Liara yelled into her helmet comm. "I'm not leaving you behind!"

"You're not! You are helping me by drawing fire away from my position." Shepard yelled back. "Trust me!"

The weight in the two simple words made Liara lurch in her step.

Wrex's gravelly voice boomed through the comm. "If you die, Shepard, I'm gonna kill you myself!"

There was a flurry of activities in the minute that followed.

"All defenses in position. Red Rover will hold the line! We are primed and ready!" Kirrahe reported in.

Joker urged again. "Hurry up, Commander! It's raining geth out there!"

Garrus barked out his order to Liara and Ashley. "We need to move, now!"

Liara couldn't see it herself, but she was sure her expression must have been fixed in the most fearsome scowl she could manage. "Wait, I have an idea. Shepard needs a distraction, so I'll give her the biggest scene ever. Garrus, can you hack into the turret control to auto-target the dropships?"

"Yes I can!" Garrus racked his rifle and began frantically typing into his Omni-tool. "Haha! It worked! I'll lock it, too." He pulled out his shotgun and blew the control panel to slag.

"Ladies, let's move!" Ashley shouted as she blasted through the geth troopers coming up towards the control room from the breeding ground - fresh reinforcements dropped in from the geth ship outside.

The breeding trench outside was filled with enemy troops. The two geth dropships hovering over the yard were being harassed by the turrets, but they still managed to stay in position long enough to airdrop in an army of geth troopers and krogan soldiers. At the other end of the trench was the Normandy with its cargo bay ramp down, supported by temporary defensive walls made from empty crates, and manned by both the STG unit and the Normandy crew. The ship's engine was on, and the kinetic barrier was strong enough that even direct rocket fire could not scratch the paint job. It was a different story for the ground troops, however.

"Take out the rocket troopers first!" Kirrahe's voice shouted through the comm.

A familiar loud bang later, Wrex answered coolly, "got them." He had taken them out with the Mako's cannon; Liara only just noticed the heavily armored vehicle hiding behind the wall of crates.

To Liara, an asari maiden who had never had the opportunity to see a proper battlefield, it was a strangely organized chaos. Red Rover, the code name for all combined ground forces guarding the bomb, had dug in their collective heels and built a defensible perimeter around the back of the Normandy's cargo ramp while they waited for Shadow and Archangel to rendezvous.

Backed with the Mako cannon fire and forty very determined soldiers, Captain Kirrahe held the line. Every time a rocket trooper dropped onto the battlefield, it was immediately identified and taken out before it could fire off a single shot to damage the defensive walls. With ample coverage to protect the salarians from enemy fire, those infiltration specialists had the elbow room to do what they did best - sabotage. After stripping off enemy shields and overheating their weapons, the Alliance marines would then step in to finish them off from a respectable distance. This demonstration of their superior firepower gave credence to the old saying that every marine was a rifleman.

Most of the enemies were drawn to the Normandy like moths to flame. The few that were closer to Archangel's position, however, decided to charge at them.

"The Commander will be right behind us. We'll clear the way!" Garrus growled and switched out his assault rifle for his beloved sniper rifle. "Chief, cover fire. Liara, keep the krogans back."

Liara's body hummed with biotics as she snapped out bursts of energy in quick succession, herding the enemies away while bunching them into a tight group. She repeated the biotic attacks as quickly as her body could handle the strain. Even when she couldn't recharge fast enough to continue the assault, she used her pistol to make up the difference. One thought was constant on her mind - every enemy she took out was one less obstacle between Shepard and the Normandy.

Just as she had a group of three geth and two krogans trapped in a singularity, Liara heard a whoosh of air rush past her, and then the group exploded in a brilliant inferno of blue.

In its place, Shepard stood at ground zero of the biotic explosion. "Hope I didn't make you guys wait too long?"

Liara and Garrus gleefully shouted her name to welcome her back. They were too busy shooting at moving targets to give snarky comebacks, but Ashley whooped and laughed loudly enough for the three of them. "'Bout damn time!"

Hot on the Commander's heels, Vasir charged into the trench in a flash of biotic energy. "You are one ridiculous human, Shepard!" The asari Spectre spat out the Commander's name like a curse.

Shepard ignored Vasir's hostile attitude in favour of giving out orders through the comm. "Red Rover, we are coming in. Get ready to pack up. Joker, where is Sovereign?"

"Three more minutes and it's gonna be right on top of us!" Joker replied.

"All hands, on the double!" Shepard shouted, and everyone sprinted.

Less than a minute later, Liara found herself collapsed on the cargo bay floor along with many other soldiers, all of them panting and gasping hard from the mad dash to safety. The ship made the slightest jerk, and off it went into FTL speed, just as the nuke went off on Virmire.

x-x-x

Earlier that day, in the salarian base camp on Virmire:

"Yes. It's the opposite of your plan, but the concept is the same. Essentially, it's a simple bait and switch." Shepard said, though in fact the plan was nowhere near as simple as she would have Kirrahe believe. She had spent months plotting for this mission to unfold exactly the way she wanted it to happen.

Her first move was to steal the sophisticated VI Hannibal from the Alliance lunar base for her own use, so she could locate Cerberus bases without getting Admiral Kahoku killed. The next step was to use the hard won Cerberus intel to maneuver the Shadow Broke into giving her help. She had stolen, lied, and manipulated her friends and foes alike to get to this point.

In the days to come, she would continue to cajole and threaten and make tremendous sacrifices. Shepard was prepared to win this war without her limbs or honour intact.

Kirrahe tilted his head in interest. "Go on."

Shepard began to explain. "You want to create a diversion to draw enemy fire in order for another team to sneak in and disable the AA guns. You don't need to throw your entire unit at the enemy to achieve the desired effect. A small group of infiltrators can do the same job. If I were Saren, I would be more suspicious as to why a salarian infiltration team would bother to attempt a suicidal frontal assault. I mean, what exactly could you even hope to accomplish with this assault other than suicide by enemy fire? It's not like there is a chance you could win against their numbers."

Vasir agreed to the logic. "That's a fair point. It is very suspicious if you think about it."

Kirrahe looked uncomfortable to have his plan picked apart by the two Spectres.

Shepard continued. "You said you've lost half of your men investigating this place. To put it bluntly, I think the reason why you have not lost all of your men is because Saren did not see you as a real threat. A nuisance, maybe, but not worth the trouble to root out as long as you behave. Here is where we can use Saren's arrogance against him. If a small infiltration unit gets in the facility, my guess is no one would be too surprised. They would probably think, 'hey, it's the salarians sniffing around again' and let whoever assigned to guard a certain area to deal with the small problem on their own. Geth might share processing power when they are in proximity with each other, but they don't have a hive mind nor do they share sensory data. Plus, tank-bred krogans are not smart. That means they can both be tricked."

Kirrahe narrowed his eyes at the Commander for a moment before he let out a defeated sigh. "It vexes me to admit it, but your evaluation on the situation is embarrassingly accurate. The only reason why we are still alive at all is because we've been hiding here waiting for reinforcements instead of trying to get back inside the facility to rescue our men. The geth are content to ignore us as long as we do nothing."

"We can use the situation to our advantage." Shepard laid out her plan in more detail. "I've studied the map of the facility you gave me. The turrets are at the far end of the facility, close to where the geothermal taps are. If we send in one infiltration team to cause a lot of disturbance at the opposite end of the facility, another team can use the distraction to turn off the AA guns. We can then land the Normandy right next to the taps, plant the bomb, build a temporary defensive wall around the bomb, and guard it with as many men as we can spare, for as long as we can before the dreadnought arrives. Preferably, after the two infiltration teams make it back to the ship."

Blinking owlishly in the salarian equivalent of a thoughtful frown, Kirrahe agreed. "This is a better plan. I will assemble my best infiltrators for this assignment."

"No." Shepard shook her head. "Your men are trained infiltrators, that's precisely why they are not suited for this job. The two infiltration teams will encounter significant enemy opposition once the reinforcements arrive. In other words, both teams need to be heavy hitters. My squad can handle this. Your men will be more useful guarding the bomb. I have over a dozen Alliance soldiers on board. They will do well with some tech support."

Kirrahe still looked uncertain. "Are you sure about this? No offense, but I don't have the confidence that the first team whose job is to cause a distraction will survive. I was going to ask for volunteers amongst my men for this suicide mission."

"This is not a suicide mission. You don't want to know what a suicide mission looks like." Shepard stressed. "In fact, I already have the team picked out. Vasir and I will do it."

Said asari Spectre gave the Commander a sharp look. "Did you just volunteer me without asking?"

Shepard grinned innocently. "Yes I did. Unless you don't want to?"

"Careful, Shepard. You presume much." Vasir warned.

"Well, I need someone who can keep up with my speed. It would be a bonus if this person can pack a punch. I suppose Wrex is a better choice." Shepard said, rubbing her chin in a show of consideration.

"Keep up… Are you joking? I am a master at biotic charge! Few asaris can keep up with me, much less a human. You will find no one better for the job." Vasir snapped at her.

Hook, line, and sinker. Asari superiority is so damn predictable.

Shepard regarded Vasir with doubt in her eyes. "Does that mean you've changed your mind? I thought you didn't want to do it."

"You insufferable pyjak." The asari Spectre cursed when she realized Shepard had backed her into a verbal corner. Her pride would not allow her to be passed over in favour of a krogan. Growling menacingly at the human, Vasir said, "I will remember this," and stalked away.

"I'll take that as a yes. Thank you." Shepard said to Vasir's retreating back.

Vasir flipped her off without looking back.

Shepard was not offended by the rude gesture. She thought she deserved a little rudeness from Vasir for manipulating her this way. "Captain Kirrahe," the Commander turned back to the salarian to finalize the plan. "Vasir and I will be Shadow. The second infiltration team will be Archangel. May I ask you to lead the third team, Red Rover, to guard the bomb?"

Kirrahe agreed without a moment of hesitation. "Yes, Commander. Red Rover will hold the line."

Shepard smiled at the reply. Human reference to a children's game probably did not translate to the salarian, but it was still funny to her. "Excellent. I'll brief my team and then we can get started."

x-x-x

The Commander gathered her ground team in the Normandy's bridge to update them on the operation. As expected, there was resistance to Shepard's plan from her own crew; all of which stemmed from concerns for their Commander's safety. Understanding that mere reassurance would not be effective to assuage their fear, Shepard decided to employ a different tactic.

"Once the bomb is armed, the enemies will converge on the bomb site to deactivate it. During the second phase of this operation, your job is not only to guard the bomb, but also to divert fire away from my position. This means that if you can present yourselves as a bigger threat while holding the line for as long as possible, the better my chance of survival would be. I have no intention to be anywhere else but on the Normandy when that nuke goes off. I'm not suicidal." She said with a confidant smirk.

Her crew seemed to relax after she said that. All except Liara. The maiden made a distressed noise that sounded like a whimper. Shepard recognized the fear in her innocent blue eyes; she had seen it before - the night before Ilos.

The situation made it so it was inappropriate for Shepard to openly show too much personal concern for Liara. As the CO of a military vessel, certain professional standards must be observed.

"Really, I'll be fine." She said quietly to Liara, and lightly touched her arm. The brief physical contact was all it took to establish a shallow mental connection.

Trust me, Liara. I am yours. I will come back for you. I promise.

Liara kept her eyes closed so the black wouldn't show.

As I am yours, my love. Keep yourself safe for me.

When Liara opened her eyes again, Shepard was relieved to see that the shadow of fear had been somewhat muted. It was not completely gone, but her lover did not seem to be on the verge of a panic attack either.

Having done that, Shepard then turned to address team Archangel. "Garrus, Ashley, Liara. You three will be on the ground as well. Depending on how the situation unfolds, I might give you different instructions. If everything goes according to plan, I want you to head straight back to the rendezvous point as soon as you disable the turrets. You will follow my orders, even if you don't like them. If you can't agree to this, tell me now and I'll switch you out."

The three exchanged significant looks with each other. "We will do as you command. You can count on us." Garrus said, while Ashley and Liara nodded firmly in agreement.

"Good." Shepard turned to Kaidan. "Lieutenant, you are most familiar with our crew's capability. I want you to assist Captain Kirrahe to work out a defensive plan. Use everything and the kitchen sink. I want to minimize our casualty."

"Aye, aye, Commander." Kaidan saluted and went to round up marines for the operation.

"Joker, Pressly, the hard deadline is before Sovereign reaches the rendezvous point. I don't care who is still on the ground. You take off and run like hell if the dreadnought is here. Are we clear?"

The two gawked at her.

Shepard's voice hardened into an unforgiving snarl. "I said, are we clear?"

There was a flash of defiance on both men's faces, but they relented under Shepard's flinty glare.

"Yes, ma'am. Perfectly." Pressly replied.

"Crystal, Commander." Joker said in a subdued voice.

Satisfied with their replies, Shepard wordlessly left the bridge to make her own preparations.

When she got on the empty crew deck, she found Kasumi standing next to her locker, waiting. The thief was fully cloaked as per usual, but Shepard had gotten the hang of sensing her position after four days of trial and error. She opened her locker and pretended to do a final weapon check. "Remember what we talked about. Stay safe, stay hidden. Do not engage in combat unless you absolutely have to. Here," she gave Kasumi an OSD and explained, "tracking program. I'll be able to see you with my cybernetic eyes, but you won't show up on the HUD."

Kasumi took the disc and slotted it into her Omni-tool. "You are taking on a lot of extra risk, keeping me hidden from Vasir."

"I don't know how much information she is passing on to the Shadow Broker. The less she knows, the better." Shepard said quietly.

"I suppose that's a solid reason to not trust her." Kasumi muttered. A beat later, she asked, "I've seen you in combat before. It was this video footage on that asteroid where you popped the batarian terrorist. How should I put it… You were impressive, don't get me wrong. But you came off as the steady kind of fighter, not the fast kind, if you get what I mean. Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

Shepard's lips twitched into a lopsided smirk. "I'll be fine."

x-x-x

A/N: The next chapter is the Virmire assault from Shepard's point of view. These two chapters are meant to be consumed in one sitting. It's more fun this way. Enjoy.