(A/N): Ah, Christmas: a happy time of, yet surprisingly stressful holiday (at least in most 1st World Countries). So, I did try to look up the Andromeda Initiative on the ME wiki to gain a better understanding of it, and it turns out the project was started in 2176, the same year of the Skyllian Blitz to save those some confusion. I seriously hope EA doesn't screw that game up, and that I'm not tempted into buying the deluxe version for the sake of the pet Varren. Besides, what is a Varren doing along as a pet instead of livestock? I get that they're trying to outdo the Space Hamster and fish, but last time I checked, scale-itch is a bitch to deal with, and now I've got several images stuck in my head.

Chapter 11: Born to Heal

Perhaps I was just never meant to teach at all. In retrospect, I already failed with Saren, so I should in no right make the same mistakes with Alliance troops, so what the hell am I doing? When this war is over, the Galaxy will be left with a Specter and several dozen Systems Alliance soldiers who act, think, and talk like me, but lack the same physical abilities and looks that I do. Perhaps I should've picked that up when I discovered that other personnel were teaching me medicine rather than Andrew himself.

Nov 7, 2176

21 hrs/32 min/44 sec

Khonsu, Fredrick's personal quarters

"I keep telling you, Max. You'll do fine. I've seen you on the field and you are more than qualified for the task at hand," Fredrick explained over the call.

Look, Fredrick, I'm just another field medic. Yes, I've done plenty of S&R over the years, but I am in no way any match for your capabilities or skillset, Max argued back. Besides, why don't you consider yourself up for the job? You're older, more experienced, are a proven leader, smart, and pretty much have a double quad set.

Fredrick stifled a yawn before answering. "I'm not leaving this galaxy until I see every last one of those mechanical fuckers flop and die like the worms they are. This job requires a more gentle hand, a gentle hand I cannot provide."

What the hell do you mean, 'a gentle hand?' Max paused for a second as he sighed. If I'm honest, I'm scared. I know the Harvesters are knocking at our door, and could come roaring down on us any day now, and I just need something to wrap my head around before I dive into a cryo pod, never to wake up again.

Fredrick leaned back in his chair, and sharply exhaled. He straightened up and said, "Because you're not me, Max. I'm confident if you asked anyone else, and I can even acknowledge myself, that I'm an absolutely heartless bastard. A broken old man who thinks he can change things for the better, and has some serious issues and habits he wants to ignore. You still have a clean slate, but you've set yourself a good path. All I'm saying is that my story is here, but yours is over there and is waiting to unfold."

Max sighed again and looked down, away from the monitor. I- if that's how you see the situation, then thanks. But if we get over there, will you still be here to pick up the call for when we try to come back?

"I'll most likely have returned to the ashes, but I'll be on the phone, waiting for the call. Anyways, I'm heading to bet, big day tomorrow," he saluted before ending the call, closing his monitor, and getting up to go to bed.

April 02, 2177

13 hrs/13 min/49 sec

Alliance HQ, Rio de Janeiro

"What the hell do you mean, 'after a few hours'? Your job is to find causality as to those marines' deaths so your precious Alliance marines can avoid a similar fate in the future!" Fredrick had only just docked on Earth for less than an hour, and he'd already found a bone to pick with some unfortunate officer.

"Lo-look, major. I've done everything I can-" the poor officer managed to weasel out before Fredrick interrupted him.

"Don't give me that excuse, sergeant. I've done myself the liberty of reading up on the colony while you were sitting here, dick in hand, and found out from land surveys that all land within an eight-kilometer radius of the mining colony was too hilly or mountainous to allow Thresher Maws to fester. Unless they set off some really big explosives right under their colony or some similar event to create enough surface activity to attract the fuckers from that distance, I suggest you whip together a report more than 'an accident happened on Akuze,' before your CO sees your lackluster work!" Fredrick exclaimed as he tossed a datapad right back into the officer's lap.

"Gah-uh, yessir!" the officer nervously answered before returning to his monitor.

Captain Anderson walked up to him as he walked away from the offices and saluted. "Good to see you again major, is there something wrong?" Anderson asked with concern as the two began to walk down a hallway to the barracks.

"Simply maintaining discipline in the office, captain. I heard about the marine unit on Akuze, and I honestly believe there to be deeper implications to the incident," Fredrick said. He was honestly surprised that Anderson managed to keep a level attitude despite his earlier diatribe.

"Please, it's simply 'Anderson' among friends. I'm aware how the circumstances under which the colony disappeared and the men were killed is rather suspicious, but we're having a hard time finding clues that suggest anything else," Anderson said.

"Any luck dealing with Cerberus? You know the public wants the Alliance to answer for the damage they've done." Despite what he'd said, Fredrick couldn't take Cerberus as an organization seriously. Even though the faction claimed its actions were for the benefit of the Human race, the experiments and movements they committed to stated otherwise. In his own terms, he thought of the extremists as cartoon villains from the ancient televised programs, complete with handlebar mustaches and black tophats. Their cause wasn't helped by the fact the 'experiments' they did perform were more along the lines of Nazi pseudo-science than actual research towards anything useful. Unfortunately, the Alliance would be constantly stuck in the political sinkhole they were in as long as the organization lived, as incident after incident harmed the Systems Alliance's credibility severely.

"We're trying, but the group is just dug in too far deep. We don't know how they get their seemingly limitless resources and manpower, or how they recruit. Humanity has dealt with similar threats in the past, but we were all on the same rock in those days." Anderson had lead many busts and efforts in an attempt to chisel away at the organization, but all to no avail, and was growing increasingly upset about the lack of progress.

"Moving forward, what exactly do you need me to do during the lead up to the eventual eviction of the pirate threat from the Attican Verge?" Fredrick asked as he approached the barracks.

"The boys and girls have been informed of your arrival, and were told to clean up for inspection. How you train them or what you teach them is up to you. If you need anything specific, I'll see to it," Anderson answered.

Fredrick turned and instantly took advantage of the opportunity. "I'm aware the request is far-fetched, but I need R&D or someone to give me something that can simulate a Thresher Maw. If you don't want acid burned and eaten marines, I need something to work with, like some specialized hologram for the arena."

Anderson nodded and chuckled. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," he said as the two entered the barracks to begin introductions.

The living quarters had two rows of bunks, and two walking areas dividing two of the aforementioned rows. Along each line, the various recruits were all lined up, eyes forward and with a straight posture. Fredrick slowly scanned the room before he took off his helmet and circled around the bunks. "I am Major Fredrick Müller, from here to the end of your training under my watch you will refer to me as "sir," and you will only speak when spoken to, do you mutts understand that?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the marines responded.

"Bullshit, sound off like your life is on the line!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Fredrick continued to hungrily circle around the bunks as he continued. "Should you survive under my watchful eyes, you'll stand head and shoulder above the rest of the nameless haze. But until that day, you're nothing but target practice for the enemy, nothing but Varren chow, nothing but god forsaken redshirts surviving on nothing but luck and prayers! You will follow my guidance, because I've been hardened by the battlefield, and we will not be friends. However, the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I'm stubborn like a motherless mule, but I'm fair. I will not accept speciesism under my regime. I don't look down upon Turians, Organic Humans, Asari, or Salarians. The galaxy is unforgiving, and will tear you a new one regardless of how well you can shittalk, do you mutts understand that?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Sound off like you've got a quad!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Fredrick ignored the glances Anderson gave him. Fredrick damn well knew that Anderson was willing to give him as much leeway he would need if these sorry excuses for soldiers were to survive. "I may have infinitely higher standards for a true warrior. I may always be able to infinitely jump higher, run faster, punch through walls, fling dozens around effortlessly with biotics, and see through walls, but that doesn't mean that my competence is nowhere within the confines of Human capability. You will learn to expend every last bit of ATP to finish the mission, you will learn to survive the harsh galaxy, and you will learn face everything this galaxy has to offer you, because I'm in no mood to let anyone flunk."

Oct 13, 2177

15 hrs/30 min/00 sec

Earth, Rio de Janeiro, Alliance Training

As a former Captain of the Spetznaz, General Sokolov had done his best to train Fredrick, and the others the skills they were praised for. He stood from a balcony watching over sparring pairs practice in the gym below. For the last several months, he'd been teaching the same combat techniques he'd been taught as a child, and as promised wasn't afraid to raise the bar. He'd put these marines through much more physically strenuous practices, far beyond what was normally given to Alliance marines. Additionally, he'd use a simulated arena he'd been given as requested to frequently put them through Thresher Maw combat. He'd be damned if he only produced subpar soldiers.

"Major Müller, please come to the conference office. Major Müller, please come to the conference office," a cool voice announced over the intercom. He turned away from the gymnasium and began to walk towards the exit. As he marched through the various offices, he finally entered a double-door room and sat down at a chair amongst several others. Most of the other chairs were filled with projections of other Alliance and Terran officers with an exception of the officer he sat next to. A projection of Admiral Hackett sat at the very back.

"Major, it's good to see you're here. We've just found the source of all our problems out in the Attican. A small moon called Torfan is serving as a staging area and trading port for various pirate factions near the edge of Batarian Space. No doubt this is going to be a tough fight, so we hope you're still up for the idea of taking part in the assault," Hackett said as a projection of the moon came up. The various bases and locations across the rock were lit up with red against the dark blue.

Fredrick shrugged as he said, "If you need me to keep as many patched up as possible, that's fine by me."

"That is what you'll be doing along the way. As we've been discussing earlier with your superiors, you have plenty of experience dealing with pirates and Batarians under your belt, and we've decided that you should be leading the charge rather than holding back. You'll be taking up this endeavor with Major Kyle, the officer beside you." Fredrick took a moment to look at the young, shorthaired man sitting next to him. "It's a small moon, but there are a lot of small pockets scattered all throughout, and they've dug themselves quite deep, meaning orbital strikes won't get anything accomplished. Major Kyle will be leading the charge on the Southern Hemisphere while you take the North. Is there anything you'll need before we begin the assault?"

Fredrick asked, "Are you still amassing forces for this invasion, what numbers am I working with, how many am I against, and what will happen should matters turn tail up faster than anticipated?"

"We're preparing and will be providing both of you with two thousand each, and we can't exactly gage how many are on the moon when we attack. The frequency with which pirates go in and out is too inconsistent to keep track within any given time frame. We're sorry we can't give you any tangible answers on this matter, but none of us have any doubt you'll finish the mission. Should your units be decimated upon initial landing, we will have multiple flagships in orbit to keep providing you with reinforcements and support fire. Other regiments are trying to prepare for the campaign, and we're hoping your unit is as well. Meeting adjourned." The holograms dissipated one by one as official after official was shown getting up from their seat. As Fredrick left the room, Major Kyle followed shortly behind.

"You think we can pull this off?" Kyle asked.

"Not completely without casualties. I have no doubt within your capabilities yet, but I'm open to carrying on the assault on my own should you fall or become incapacitated," Fredrick said grimly.

"Well, I guess being realistic is the best way to go about this. I heard about the stories of your first contact with the Batarians. What was that like?" Kyle asked again.

"Look major, we'll be fine. When we finally get there, I'll go over with everyone step-by-step how this game will play out. If things don't go exactly as we hoped, we'll improvise," Fredrick said sharply turning around to face the man.

"Fair enough, but most of us don't have first hand experience swan diving into hell."

Jan 05, 2178

04 hrs/22 min/40 sec Local Time

Pylos Nebula, Dirada System

"There it is. Look at the size of that thing!" Redann Reue exclaimed.

"That's a ship? Looks more like a bug," Wunar Virmu commented as he loaded a thermal clip into his claymore shotgun.

"Stop shitting yourselves, and let's get going. All we've been doing for the last several months has been picking on locals and wandering from system to system. Besides, what are we even doing this close to Geth territory? I've been hearing rumors that they've been readily treading outside of the Perseus Veil recently, chasing down trader ships even," Jium T'neris said as she adjusted the sights on her sniper rifle.

"That's the ship. Get ready to board, we'll be going on, sweeping, and seeing if we can get this thing up and running." Saren simply stared at the ghostly ship off in the distance. His life had been gradually building up to this moment, and he could barely contain his excitement. He now had access to the means that would defend his people from the haunting shadow of the Harvesters, and possibly more once the threat was no more. As their ship came closer and closer to the dock, he watched as the shadow created by the ship against the system's sun covered them in darkness. "Naela, take us in and keep us informed about anything coming into the system."

The Quarian nodded and responded with, "Understood. Everyone hang on, I'm adjusting the magnetic clamps for the dock." The side of the ship lined up with one of many tubes jutting out from the metallic body and locked on with a slight jolt.

"Everyone with me, keep your weapons ready in case there's trouble aboard. Naela, keep the door locked and the engines running," Saren ordered as he slipped on his helmet. He stepped out the airlock followed by a Krogan vanguard, an Asari sharpshooter, and a Salarian technician, each with their stocks nailed to their chest plates and eyes glued to their sights. Saren turned on his night-vision as he stepped into the vast, dark, empty space that was the dreadnought's docking bay.

"I don't think this is Prothean, boss. I've been on jobs to various archeological sites before, and I can tell you this is nothing I've ever seen before," Virmu said, sweeping wide, shining his flashlight on the dark room.

"Just keep moving. Redann, keep an eye out for a terminal to use, and get me diagnostics on the ship. This ship is too empty to have moved on its own." Saren was beginning to look behind him more frequently.

The group continued to move deeper and deeper into the bowls of the ship, looking for answers to what may have become of the crew. They entered door after door, going deeper and deeper into an evermore-elaborate labyrinth. "Where the hell are we? I thought the job was supposed to be simpler than this," Jium said, swinging around her sniper rifle with panic.

"I'm not liking this," Virmu said with a tinge of panic.

"Just keep your heads down, and keep moving. We've got to find a terminal," Saren said, trying to comfort the trio of mercenaries. He could understand the fear among them, wandering into an enormous ship with infinitely looping corridors, dark corners, and a strangely confusing aspect to its architecture. Whoever designed this ship clearly didn't put any thought into user-friendliness.

"Over there! This terminal is still active!" Redann exclaimed, as he dashed over to a screen. Pulling open his omnitool, he began to work with the UI to start the data-mining process.

"Excellent! Everyone hold position till-" Saren started before Naela called with panic in her voice.

"Bo – n yo – hear m- epeat, Sar – do – opy?" the Quarian's voice called.

"Naela? You're breaking up! What's going on?" Saren said as he batted his intercom. He was now beginning to really panic as his HUD started to flicker.

"Sy – tems ar – ling, I – raise any -" the line went dead, leaving only static.

Redann started screaming, clutching his head with increasing pain. "Get it out! Get it out! Someone help me!"

Saren pulled out his particle machine pistol and ordered to Virmu, "We're getting out! Everyone, move!" He made sharp gestures at the door, prompting the Krogan merc to run.

After only making three strides, Virmu made a painful grunt before freezing like a statue, and falling to the floor with a loud thud. The previously unstoppable Krogan now remained motionless on the floor, silent and stuck in a falling pose. Just as Saren continued the dash for the door, it closed tight, halting his escape.

"Stay back! Stay back!" Jium was lashing out at empty space with her biotics and her sidearm, attacking a seemingly invisible enemy around her. "Stay back you fucks! Don't get close!" She sharply whipped around and aimed her weapon at Saren, and froze with fear.

Saren tried to approach her slowly, saying, "Jium, it's all in your head! Don't listen to them!"

She began to shake her head and her grip began to shake, eyes widening with fear. "You won't take me alive!" she screamed, as she pulled the gun to the underside of her jaw, and pulled the trigger, sending a fountain of fire and purple blood through the top of her head, and her body tumbling lifeless to the floor.

After watching Jium just blow her own brains out, Saren began to sharply turn, eyes dashing back and forth around him. The shadows began to march towards him, closing in closer and closer. The only sound he could hear was his raging heartbeat, his breath, the sound of his feet, and Redann's screaming which had long since turned into maniacal laughter. Suddenly, a red light source turned on behind him, and he whipped around to face the new threat, machine pistol at the ready. He trembled at the sight before him, now truly lost in the bowls of the foreign ship.

"Hello, Saren Arterius. I've been wishing to speak with you."