Out of the many shops in Sol's Legacy, Marco Jevings always liked to go to the one owned by a man named Jeffrey. Aside from being a reliable engineer, he was also one of the original colonists. He knew Sol's Legacy inside and out, literally, since he helped build a lot of the buildings. This colony is more of a home to him than Earth is. That is why he and Marco became friends so quickly.

Earth was Marco's home world but he never considered it home. In fact, he's only been to Earth only a handful of times. Jevings was born on a spaceship. He suckled his mother and played games with his father on one. Occasionally, they would take him to planets where they did their businesses. He's been to Thessia and Palavan. He's even been on the Citadel more than he's set foot on Earth. Then, when his parents died, Marco was stuck on a spaceship for the rest of his childhood and throughout his teenage years. He was forced to see the same walls every minute of every day. He wasn't a prisoner or a slave in the traditional sense of those words. He was something worse.

But, when he became an adult, he earned his freedom and was able to move about as he saw fit. When he first came to Sol's Legacy, the colony was just getting started. At first, Marco went there to hide from someone he had screwed out of a deal. The best thing about the colony is that the planet it was on, Ontarom, was out of the way. It was on the border of Alliance space and the Attican Traverse and far away from popular trade routes. The planet's moon was on a slowly decaying orbit so no one else saw it for any long term potential. The solar system's mass relay was only used when the colonists needed to go somewhere. Occasionally, a trader would come through but, for the most part, the rest of the galaxy paid Ontarom no mind.

It was perfect for Marco, so he volunteered to contribute to the colony's progression. He started giving them pieces of tech and other supplies. But soon, he contributed large sums of his payments as a mercenary to the colony. No one knew the kind of work he did. Everyone assumed he was a successful business man who worked in another part of the galaxy and only lived on Ontarom. Marco played the role of their assumptions.

His contributions to the colony became so great; he was awarded a thank you gift. One day, after returning from a mercenary job to hide from someone who nearly killed him, Marco walked into the center of town and was greeted by a surprise party. The colonists, only five hundred at the time, threw the party to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Sol's Legacy. Marco Jevings was the guest of honor. In appreciation for all of his contributions, the colonists built him a beautiful villa on top of the nearby hill which overlooked the ocean to the east and the woods to the north.

It was at that party where he met a stunning red headed woman in her mid twenties. Her name was Tanya and Marco took a liking to her. She wasn't stunning because of her large breasts or wide hips. In truth, she was only average in those sectors. But, what she lacked in physical proportions she made up in personality. Tanya had a passion about her. She loved life and loved to live it but Sol's Legacy was a peaceful place and didn't offer mush in the way of excitement. She wanted to be free which was a desire Marco knew all too well. He took her with him to see other places. He took her to Omega's Afterlife and the Citadel's Prosidium. They even had a run in with a Geth patrol ship in the Terminus Systems.

One day, the same man, whom Marco was hiding from the day of he was given the villa, found him again and tried to kill him. Marco and Tanya played cat and mouse with the man's henchmen inside a cave of some distant planet for a whole day. To Marco's surprise, Tanya kept her cool and was completely in control of her emotions. She didn't cry or panic under the stress. She was calm and calculating.

And, when the henchmen finally found them, she grabbed Marco's pistol and shot two of them in the head giving them enough time to escape. As Marco flew the Arrowhead back to the colony, he told her the truth about himself. He told her all of the truth. He showed her appreciation for saving his life by giving her the pistol as a gift. Tanya showed her appreciation for his honesty by making love to him for the first time.

For some reason, walking into Jeffrey's shop for the first time since coming back from this whole ordeal with the Shadow Broker's disk brought those memories back. Maybe the recent events with Ish on Helyme had certain similarities. Or maybe seeing Jeffrey's welcoming smile reinforced the fact that Marco was in his peaceful home again. In any case, Marco steps inside to see aisles of engineering equipment throughout the shop.

The establishment is in perfect order. Each shelf is properly categorized and organized. Tools used for casual functions are in one aisle and those used for ship functions are in another. The aisles are alphabetized and the tools are arranged either in price order or size order. Jeffrey walks up to Marco and shakes his hand. On casual occasions, the two men would welcome each other with a quick hug and a pat on the back but Jeffrey knows to keep things formal in the business environment.

"I heard you had returned" says Jeffrey "Welcome back".

"Thank you".

"Did you and your wife enjoy your retreat"?

Marco had almost forgotten the lie he told everyone before he went on this whole ordeal with the Broker's data disk but he recovered without Jeffrey noticing. "Oh yes" he replies "In fact, we had a little too much fun. That's why I'm here. The front end of my ship is charred so I need something to repair it. I also need a new charge for my armor's kinetic barrier".

"God, what happened? Oh, never mind. Sorry" Jeffrey apologizes "It's none of my business". With a friendly gesture, Marco puts his hand on the shop owner's shoulder as they walk down the aisles. "It's okay" he says "We had to meet a Volus corporate owner who was so paranoid he wouldn't leave his station which was in the middle of an asteroid field. The front end of the Arrowhead got nicked by a rock. I went to try and do repairs but my armor took too much damage from the meteorites".

Jeffrey laughs and turns into the aisle labeled "Heavy Repairs".

"I know you and Tanya like to live a life of adventure but, as a friend, you shouldn't try to make those kinds of repairs out in space like that".

"You're right" Jevings says "I scared my wife with that little stunt".

"Tanya? I've never known that woman to be scared of anything". Jeffrey then reaches into the shelf and pulls out a toolbox the size of a briefcase. He hands it over to Marco and says "The equipment in there will take the char off of your hull but, if the scorching is bad enough, you're going to need a new paint job". Marco carries the case under his right arm and replies "By now, the whole ship needs a paint job".

"You keep putting it off".

"Been busy".

"Well, take it from a long time engineer, you have a pretty ship. You should make her look like one. Now, let's go see about your shield barrier". The two men walk down the aisle, make a turn and head into the aisle labeled "Armor and Accessories". All of the armor is stacked on the left side and all of the accessories are placed in size order on the right

The shelf is so organized; Marco can see the small barrier emitter before they reach it. Jeffrey already knows where it is by memory. He grabs it from the shelf and says "This should do it".

Jevings reaches into his left pocket and pulls out a handful of credits. "That should be enough". The gesture was all too familiar to Marco in the eyes of the colonists. Marco would always give more than what was owed to them. Everyone knew that about him from all of his contributions. Credits were no object to Mr. Jevings. It was a fact that was true for his real identity as well. Marco never cared about money. His success as a mercenary provided him with more than enough and, even if he didn't have credits, he knew where to get them.

"It's more than enough, Marco" Jeffrey says.

"Keep the change then. And tell your wife Tanya looks forward to seeing her again". The shop owner graciously accepts the credits and smiles as he says "Jessica would enjoy a visit. Thank you very much, Mr. Jevings. Have a nice day". Marco smiles and exits the shop with his equipment.

It didn't take long to return to his home on top of the hill. When he opens the door and enters the living room, he is greeted by a delicious smell. The aroma of pasta and cooked chicken has already filled most of the house and makes Marco's mouth water with every breath. He puts the tool box and the shield emitter on the table and walks to the kitchen.

The kitchen is big with plenty of room to move around. In the center of the room is a counter that is waist high. Marco can see the sun beginning to set through the glass wall. He looks around to see everything is normal. Cabinets rest on two of the three other walls. And, on the right, is Tanya at the cooking station which is between the sink and the food storage cabinets. When Tanya hears her husband's footsteps, she turns to him and smirks.

"You know, technically, it's your turn to cook" she says.

"I know" Marco smiles as he walks up to her and kisses her "But my cooking wouldn't smell this good". Then he goes over to the counter and leans on it with his arms folded.

"Did you get everything you were looking for?" she asks.

"Yeah".

"Good. Which reminds me; as soon as you left, Samantha and Jon called. They asked us to go over their place".

"Why"?

Tanya shrugs her shoulders and says "They miss us, I guess. I told them we will stop by after dinner". Marco lets out an unenthusiastic "Oh" and talks in a tone he knows will ruin the mood. "I kind of had other plans".

Tanya turns away from the cooking station and looks to her husband. "Like what"?

"I haven't reported to him since this mission began" Marco says "You know how he doesn't like to be kept waiting. I was thinking we head out now and get this over with".

Tanya's objections are quickly made apparent. She folds her arms as well, looks at her husband in defiance and speaks firmly. "No" she begins "Marco, no. We just got here. I'm cooking dinner. And, quite frankly, I'm tired. The last few days have been very stressful and I need to relax. And so do you." She then walks up to her husband and calms her body language as she holds his hands. "Remember he needsus. And we deserve a little peace before heading back".

Marco takes a deep long breath as he thinks it over "I don't know" he says "Those eyes of his still scare me, even after all these years. The way he looked at me, you could tell this mission was important to him".

"The forecast is predicting a beautiful night" Tanya pleads confident she can change her husband's mind "Our friends want to see us. Let's enjoy their company. After that, we'll come back here, enjoy each other and get a long night's sleep. We'll leave tomorrow afternoon. One day, hunny. Let's know the peace we have here for one day. Please".

Marco can feel his wife caressing his hands. He wanted to resist and put his foot down but her plans for the evening were too good to pass up. "Okay" he says "But we'll leave tomorrow morning. Not in the afternoon". Tanya wanted to complain but then decided not to and accepts the compromise. "Deal".

A small personal craft enters Helyme's atmosphere. Its hull is dark green and its engines are on the sides. The craft lands on the landing pad of the slave compound. The door opens and a Drell walks out of the craft. His scaly skin reflects the daylight as he stands next to his ship. The Drell is wearing an outfit which can best be described as a tuxedo made of black leather. The shoulders are pointed and the two tails of the outfit, hanging from the bottom part of the back, flap around in the wind. The center of his outfit is designed with a single vertical stripe colored brown.

The Drell's fish-like eyes scan the rest of the compound. He notices blood on the floor and the Batarian staff picking up dead bodies of different races, including their own. Then he sees a Batarian walking toward him.

"Thane Krios?" the guard asks. The Drell nods his head before answering "Yes. I've been summoned". Thane's voice naturally sounds rasp. Every word spoken sounds as if his vocal chord is rubbing on itself as he says them.

"This way" orders the guard. He leads Thane into the barracks building. The Drell walks down the corridors with his webbed hands folded behind his back. He notices bullet holes and more blood on the walls.

It's not long before the guard escorts Thane to Drim's office. The doors open and the guard extends his arm, welcoming him inside. When Thane enters, the guard takes a step back into the hallway to let the doors close.

Thane stands at the threshold watching Drim sitting at his desk and inject himself with one of the syringes. Drim tosses the needle to the floor and waves the Drell over. "Come. Sit down" Drim says.

Thane walks up to the other side of the desk and takes a seat. "Do you have a job for me?" he asks.

"Yes I do" Drim answers and then turns his computer screen to face Thane. The screen shows the still picture of Marco and Ish which was taken from the recording of the dead engineer's omni-tool. "The human is called Marco Jevings. I've never seen the Asari before so I don't know who she is. But I do know they are working together. The Drell folds his hands on the desk and leans forward to study the picture as he lets Drim continue. "That mess you saw outside was their doing. They stole two things from me: a data disk and a Human female with red hair. I want you to get them back for me".

Thane continues to stare at the picture, putting it to memory. For the Drell race, every memory is incredibly vivid and every detail is remembered with accurate precision. In their minds, the memory feels as if it were taking place in real life for the first time. "What are the contract parameters"?

Drim answers right away. "The Human female must be returned to me alive and unharmed. As for Marco and the Asari, I would prefer you capture them and bring them to me so I can kill them personally".

When Thane hears that, he chuckles. Drim takes notice and asks "What's so funny"? Thane leans back into his chair and puts his hands on the arm rests. "Funny that you would hire an assassin to capture people. Besides, the storage hold of my vessel has barely enough space for three people…and a data disk".

"I know it's not part of your repertoire but I need the best man for the job and that's you. I'm willing to pay you extra for it".

Thane was excited to hear that but didn't show it. His professionalism and experience has taught him to always be stoic in front of the people he does business with. "How much more extra?" he asks.

"Thirty thousand more for three prisoners" Drim replies "That sounds fair".

The assassin quickly shakes his head and says "Thirty thousand each for three prisoners. Thatsounds fair". Drim leans back in shock at the counter offer. His two sets of eyes widen at first but then narrow back down again. For what Marco did to him, Drim would gladly pay double that. Not just to satisfy his vengeance but because he knew once he cracked the data disk's encryption and sold the information he would have more money than he knew what to do with. Of course, he didn't tell Thane that. He pretended to think about the counter offer, as if he were actually hesitant to agree to it. Then he nodded his head and said "You have a deal, Thane".

They shook hands and Thane asks "Do you have any places where I should start looking"?

"As a matter of fact, I do".

Drim then presses on the terminal's interface. The picture of Marco and Ish is replaced by a picture of a planet. The planet is made up of large oceans and white clouds with a single moon in its orbit. "Planet Ontarom" he says "The first time Marco did a job for me, like all mercenaries, I had him followed by one of my men to see if he could be trusted. He did his job but he took a detour to this planet. My man told me there is a human colony there. He may have a home there".

"Then that's where I'll start".

Drim and Thane stand up from there chairs. "I have to tell you though" Drim adds "This information is two years old. It may be obsolete".

"It doesn't matter" Thane says "Even if he doesn't live there anymore, someone in that colony knows him. I will capture all three of them and retrieve the data disk".

Drim walks Thane to the exit. As the door opens Drim says "I knew I hired the right man for the job. And you will receive every credit promised".

"I know I will" Thane replies before walking down the hallway with his hands folded behind his back.

Ish's stolen shuttlecraft enters the asteroid rings of planet Aegis. Marco has been to The Forum many times so he made finding the facility look easy. But, since this is Ish's first time navigating through the field herself, she realizes it is not so. The ship's sensor grid is not responsive due to the heavy distortion field. But she eventually finds the Shadow Broker's facility. She slowly approaches the station hoping that Gretell had done his job and cleared her ship for landing. So far, the station's weapons had not fired on the ship. Then, at the corner of her eye, she spots a series of guiding lights leading to one of The Forum's many hanger bays. With a command to her console, the ship carefully flies to it.

After the shuttlecraft lands, and the engines power down, Ish walks out of it with her rifle folded shut and strapped to her back. She is holding a data pad which has the directions to Gretell's living quarters displayed on it.

Like the hanger bay the first time she arrived with Marco, this one was completely devoid of objects and activity. When the hanger doors open, it revealed another long empty corridor which leads to an elevator. Once inside the elevator, Ish presses the button for the main floor. The lift slowly moves giving Ish time to think. It is at this time that she realizes how much danger she is in. She thinks how the Shadow Broker could have told Gretell to lure her here just so he could have her killed. She holds her breath expecting the lift to stop and the neural toxin be released. But, instead, the elevator picks up speed. When it comes to a stop the doors open to once again show the splendor and grandness of the main promenade and all of its patrons and vendors.

The main level is just as crowded as before and the people act as if nothing happened the last time Ish was here. But she did notice more of the passersby having guns strapped to their backs and hips. Ish focuses on her task at hand and reads the directions off of her data pad.

Moments later, she is walking down another corridor in a different part of the station. This section is meant for staff apartments and, as such, the corridors have many doorways. The area is sparsely populated. Only a few others beside Ish are here. As she passes the doorways she reads the apartment number. A moment later, she finds the number that matches the one on the data pad. After she rings the bell, she wonders again if she will be ambushed.

The door opening suddenly interrupts her thoughts. When she sees Gretell dressed casually and wearing a smile on his face, she puts her concerns aside. Remembering to play the flirty Asari, she returns the smile and says "Hi".

"I'm glad you're here" Gretell says trying to be as suave as a Batarian can "Please come in". When Ish walks past him to enter his quarters, she makes sure to stick out her chest and walk with her hips waving back and forth. The Batarian lets out a moan as if a feast of his favorite food were laid before him. Then he closes the door.

Gretell's apartment is a respectable size for a man in his job. The main room is big and easily fits a couch, an entertainment center and even a couple of statues of Batarian art. The statues are brown and made of many curves intersecting each other. Because of the secretive nature of the station, there are no windows. The room is well lit and there are two glasses and a bottle of Asari ale on the table.

"Please have a seat" he tells Ish "Put your weapon down and get comfortable. You are a guest in my place and I want you to feel contempt". When Ish does what he says he walks up to the table and picks up the bottle. "Would you like a glass"?

"A glass would be lovely". Ish watches closely as the man pours the drink into the two glasses. She makes sure he doesn't slip anything into her glass. As the Batarian walks to her with both glasses in his hands, she takes a quick look around her surroundings. She notices, beside the couch, is a small counter with a picture frame on it. The picture is of Gretell holding two Batarian children in his arms. All of their smiles are frozen in the picture.

"Here. Take it. I have something to say" Gretell says offering her the glass. When she takes it, he sits next to her holding his drink. "I wanted to apologize".

"Ish looks at him confused and shakes her head. "About what"?

"Back at the bar" he answers "When we first met. I was rude to you and I made you feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I can be a cocky son of a bitch. I wanted to say sorry and to offer a toast to new beginnings".

Ish listened carefully to every word trying to find any hints of deceit but couldn't find any. The man sounded genuine. She raises her glass and repeats "To new beginnings". Then she puts the glass close to her lips but doesn't sip the ale. She first watches Gretell to see if he waits for her to drink first. To her surprise, he nearly drinks half of the glass in the first gulp. She takes a small sip. If it was poisoned then at least she would only get a small dose. But there was no strange taste. The drink was delicious.

The Batarian smacks his lips from the pleasure the drink gave him and says "I noticed you didn't have the money with you".

"The case was too heavy for me to carry" Ish says "It's in the cargo hold of my ship. Marco told me to give it to you right away but I believe in pleasure before business".

"Words to live by" Gretell says with a smile "I've been living by the wrong philosophy all this time". Ish's giggle was almost genuine. She had to force herself to make it audible but she did find the joke funny.

All of a sudden, the Batarian puts his glass down, looks Ish in the eyes and sincerely asks "Hey, you're not doing this because someone is forcing you to, right? Marco's not forcing you to be here? You're here because you want to be"?

Ish was taken back by the question she never would have expected him to ask. She looks at her glass and then hisses to herself.

"What's wrong?" Gretell asks.

"Nothing" Ish says "It's just that I have lived over two hundred years and you are the first man to ever ask me that. This is a strange fucking galaxy". Gretell chuckles and she answers "The answer is; yes I do want to be here".

Gretell gives a soft smile and says "Follow me. I'll show you to my room".

They both stand up and the Batarian leads the way. When they pass by the table, Ish grabs the bottle of Asari ale. Gretell is the first one to enter his bedroom. The bed, as well as the room, is clean and tidy. There is a computer terminal on the stand next to the bed and a cabinet standing on the other end of the room. The walls are painted dark red and the floor is covered with a brown carpet.

"Please get comfortable" he says as he walks further in the room. Then he turns to look at Ish and asks "Would you like to freshen-".

Out of nowhere, a sharp pain pierces through Gretell as Ish smashes the bottle across his head. The pain is amplified as the alcohol mixes in with the cuts. As he covers his head with his hands, he stumbles over the corner of his bed and crashes to the floor. He rolls on his back thriving in pain and screaming "My eye!" over and over again. Ish pounces on top of the man's chest, pulls his hands off of his face and pins them to the floor with her hands. As the blood pours down his face, he yells "Why did you do that"?

"I'm looking for Marco!" she yells back "You're the one in charge of recording the flight data of every ship that comes here. I want the flight path of Marco's ship"! The more the man tries to struggle free, the more Ish's grip tightens. Convinced he is at a physical disadvantage, he remains still to conserve his strength and pleads for his life. "Don't kill me!" he cries out "I have two children"!

"I don't care" she barks back.

"The Shadow Broker will have me killed if he found out I gave that information to you"!

"If you don't give it to me, I'll kill you right now". Ish then takes her left hand off of Gretell's arm and wraps it around his neck instead. With his throat squeezed like a vice, he struggles to breathe. Ish looks him dead in his now widened eyes and says "You feel that? You know I mean it. Tell me what I want to know and I promise the Shadow Broker won't get his hands on you".

Gretell tries to tell her he will do as she says but only grunts and gargles come out of his mouth. He nods his head instead. Ish releases her grip and gets off of the man. After a few seconds of gathering his strength Gretell crawls to his computer terminal next to his bed and puts his hands on the interface.

"You better not try anything" Ish warns him as she carefully watches every single command he inputs.

It took a little time for Gretell to log on to the database and pull out the information Ish wanted but he did it. After he sees a picture of the Arrowhead, Marco Jevings and its flight data on the screen he lets himself collapse on the floor to cradle his wounds.

"There" he forces out "Take it and go".

Ish walks over the man to get to his terminal. As she reads the Arrowhead's flight data she notices one word repeated many times over. Ontarom. She looks down the flight history and sees the same pattern.

Ontarom, Thessia, Omega, Ontarom, Earth, Ontarom. There are even planets Ish has never heard of. Ontarom, Aegis, Horizon and Ontarom. The last two entries were Omega and Aegis which Ish recognized as the places Marco's ship had visited since their mission began.

"Ontarom" she says to herself "There's a human colony there. He must have a home or safe house there. I found you, you son of a bitch".

Without saying a word, she walks over Gretell again and heads to the doors. Gretell watches her leave the room and forces himself to sit up to try and gather the strength to get help. He holds his wounded eyes and cries while trying to stand up. Suddenly, Ish walks back into the room, this time with her rifle in her hands. When she points at the man, he says "No! What are you doing"?

With no emotions, Ish replies "Keeping my promise" and pulls the trigger. A burst of thermal rounds puncture Gretell's chest and he falls dead on his back. Ish deactivates her weapon and, once it folds in on itself, she straps it to her back and exits the Batarian's apartment. Without any resistance, she goes back to the main promenade level, walks past all of the shops and people, enters the elevator, walks down the long empty corridor, enters the hanger bay and gets inside her ship. Once inside, she jumps into the pilot's seat and quickly preps the ship for takeoff. Ish flies her ship out of there faster than the engine's recommended safety speed.