Chapter 10

If I did what I was supposed to do, I'd have gone straight to Feros as soon as I left the Citadel.

But then, that wouldn't be very fun, now would it?

There were a few clusters between the Serpent Nebula and the Attican Beta cluster, where the Citadel and Feros were situated, respectively. So long as I didn't spend too much time in the intervening clusters, I didn't see any reason why I couldn't check them out first.

To start, I took us back to the Artemis Tau cluster. We were going to check out the planet Sharjila, in the Macedon system, and rescue Dantius's sister. Even if we didn't find any minerals to survey, adding another grateful politician to my collection never hurts. Or so I thought.

Once I'd told Joker where to go, I headed down to see Kaidan. He'd brought up a valid point earlier, and I thought we should address it.

Personally, I think Kaidan was relieved to do something other than stare at that blinking console, though he was too professional to say it out loud. I entertained the notion of discussing it in my quarters, then dropped that idea. It wasn't that top secret, anyways.

"Something you need, Commander?" Kaidan asked.

"Just following up on your comment earlier about the team arrangements," I replied. "I know I've been switching them up fairly often."

"Why are you doing that, Commander? In combat, the strength of a team lies in the ability of each member to know and compensate for each other's weaknesses; to make the best use of each other's strengths; to know and respond to each other's talents and quirks without being told. That's not going to happen if the teams keep getting switched every mission." (1)

"True, and that's why I will formalize the team arrangements. Eventually," I responded. "First, I want to get a sense of the strengths, weaknesses and talents of each squad member. The only way I can do that is if they've spent at least some time in my team. Plus, I'm giving everyone a chance to work with the other squad mates at least once. After that, I'll have a better idea of how to divide up the squad."

"I see. Do you have any tentative ideas on how to do that, sir?"

I shrugged. "Default composition? Something that gives each team some combat experience, tech support and biotic support. In special circumstances, I might tinker with the squad composition to make one team combat-oriented team and the other support-oriented."

"Hmm," Kaidan leaned against the wall and pondered my answers. "You know, this isn't Alliance SOP. I guess you really are taking advantage of your right as a Spectre to get things done your way."

I shrugged again. "Since we can afford to experiment a little and try new things right now, why not? Your points are valid, though," I added, "which is why I will formalize the teams soon. Probably by the time we reach Feros."

"Just wanted to make sure," Kaidan said.

"You wouldn't be doing your job if you weren't," I smiled. "We're heading towards Sharjila, to rescue Ms. Dantius's sister. Do a good deed, run through a quick survey, and—"

"And experiment a little," Kaidan interrupted with a smile of his own. "Gotcha. I'll run down and have the squad start suiting up."

I checked the chronometer. We'd probably be entering the Macedon system any minute now. "Might as well," I conceded. "I'll grab Liara and meet you guys down there."

Took a bit longer to get Liara down to the hangar. She was busy looking at one of those Prothean discs we found. When I found her at the back of the sickbay, she insisted she was on the verge of unlocking its secrets. After a few minutes, she sheepishly admitted that she had tried that very tactic two hours ago, and conceded that maybe it was time for a break.

Sharjila itself isn't exactly a tourist spot. Dense atmosphere, lots of silica particulates swept up and blown around by high-gale winds, scarce mineral resources (believe me, I checked). Doesn't take a genius to determine why the mercs who kidnapped Dantius's sister holed up here.

Their hideout was a standard prefab two-story structure protected by several guards, some of whom were perched in guard towers. Using the Mako's cannons, we quickly took out the towers in short order. Then I drove away from the compound, much to the surprise of my squad.

"Sensors picked up a crashed probe nearby," I explained. "Thought we'd check that out first. By the time we get back, the guards might be lulled into a false sense of security, and it'll be easier to check out."

Some of my squad seemed to accept my rationale at face value. Others were a bit more sceptical, particularly when I displayed a little too much eagerness in hacking open the probe. There were only a couple armour mods hidden away, but every little bit counts, right?

Well, I couldn't really justify stalling any more after that, so we went back to the compound. I parked the Mako on a hill. Just behind a large boulder, so the mercs couldn't see us.

"Ashley, Garrus, you're with me," I ordered. "We're going on sniper duty. The rest of you, hang tight."

I led my fellow snipers to the ridge. My HUD was already flashing a warning that the intense pressure from this planet was starting to compromise the hardsuit. We'd only have a few minutes to have our fun before we got squished into very expensive pancakes (hey, those hardsuits cost a lot of credits!).

We could see two guards hiding behind a large metal screen—which didn't help them since our vantage point gave a clear LOS to their flank, and another guard facing us—but not looking up.

"Call your targets," I said.

"Guard hiding behind the screen, farthest away from us," Ashley said first.

"Guard facing us," Garrus was next.

"I'll take out the remaining guard," I concluded. "Line 'em up."

We all peered through our scopes and steadied our aim on our designated targets. "Got it," I said first. Ashley and Garrus quickly confirmed they had their targets.

"Take the shot on three... one, two, three."

I heard three muffled shots, followed by three guards collapsing in unison, like they were a trio of puppets who'd just had their strings cut. Then I checked my HUD. Plenty of time to make it back to the safety of the Mako before our hardsuits started cracking.

Upon returning to the Mako, I checked the sensors. They were far stronger than the sensors installed in our hardsuits, so they had a better range. Not surprisingly, we still had a couple more guards on the other side of the building. Since I was feeling generous, I told Kaidan to lead Tali, Liara and Wrex and take them out, once I got the Mako down.

As expected, it was pretty easy. Heck, I inadvertently took out one of the guards when I ran him over in the Mako. As for the remaining guard, one blast of biotics knocked him on his ass, and a couple shotgun rounds finished him off.

The interior of the building was fairly cookie-cutter. Like I said, it was a standard pre-fab. Entrance hallway was clear, with one door leading into a large room cluttered with crates, which the mercs would inevitably hide behind. Room at the far left corner would have a few goodies. Stairway on the near right corner led to the second level: a catwalk with a bunch of crates on one end, and a door leading to a final room on the far right corner.

Before entering the main room, I took a second to switch up the team arrangements. "Just so you guys know," I began, "I will be finalizing the team arrangements soon. Right now, I just want to give everyone a chance to work with everyone else. For now, Ashley and Liara will follow me. Everyone else, with Kaidan."

I know, I know: it seems odd to deliberately put myself on the team with fewer squad members. On the other hand, I wasn't expecting a ridiculous amount of opposition, so I could afford to have fewer people to hide behind. Plus, it looks good when I don't seem to stack the team in my favour.

Once everyone had their weapons out, we entered the main room; my team veered to the left, Kaidan's team went right. There were a couple mercs sitting near one of the crates, playing cards or something. As soon as they saw us, one of them cried out for help while the other grabbed a shotgun and fired off a round, yelling some nonsense like "I will destroy you."

Seeing how they fired first, we responded with a clear conscience. By which, I mean, lots of tech mines, lots of biotics and lots of ammo. Oh, sure, that first pair was soon backed up by reinforcements, but we managed to hold our own.

Then I saw that we were outnumbered two to one, several of my squad had had their shields drained, and a couple squad mates had taken some serious damage to their armour.

"Fall back to the entrance," I yelled over a burst of pistol fire. "Fall back!"

To my pleasure, both teams responded immediately. Kaidan's team paused to lay down another volley of fire, giving time for my team to retreat to a cluster of crates. Then it was our turn to cover Kaidan's team while they retreated. A couple leapfrogs later, and we were back outside the entrance to the room.

"We need some crowd control," Ashley panted. "Otherwise, they'll outflank us for sure."

"Commander," Liara said. "I can create a micro-singularity that would draw in everyone and everything within a certain radius. It wouldn't crush them, but it would render them helpless while they float in mid-air."

"Nice," Ashley grinned.

I nodded my approval. "Liara, do that as soon as we enter the room. "Tali, Kaidan, take out the shields and weapons of any mercs that escape the singularity. The rest of us will open fire on the mercs that aren't floating around. Once they're down, then we can worry about the mercs caught in the singularity."

Things went pretty much as planned. Liara cast her singularity, which trapped over half of the mercs and several large crates. Judging by the thumps I heard, I gathered that those unlucky bastards were taking some damage from bouncing off the crates. Meanwhile, the remaining mercs lost most of their shields and simultaneously overheated their weapons, courtesy of a few well placed tech mines. A couple minutes later, and all the mercs were down. Hardest part was trying to track the mercs caught in the singularity, who kept spinning randomly around in space.

Then I felt a force hit me like a rapid transit car, slamming me to the ground.

I spent the next minute struggling to get up, and failing. A blue-purple force was pinning me down, and preventing me from moving a muscle. Guess it was about time I got hit with some biotics from the opposing side.

Eventually, I managed to get to my feet, though the biotic attack was still inflicting damage on my hardsuit. I saw a couple turians and a salarian firing back at Kaidan's team... though they seemed to be a man short. Those thoughts were quickly erased when I saw the asari, arm raised, a ball of biotic energy building in her hand.

Seeking to avoid another round of paralysis and helplessness, I dove to the side. Whipping out my pistol, I started firing at the asari, radioing the others to do the same. Kaidan, Tali and Garrus joined me from my end, while another group started firing from the side. Looked like the rest of the squad split off and sneaked up on the enemy's blind side. Good tactics there. With that kind of attack, it didn't take long for us to finish off the asari, and then deal with the last of the mercs.

Once the firefight was over, Garrus emerged from yet another stack of crates, followed by Ashley and Tali.

"Garrus took over as team leader after you were... disabled," Kaidan explained.

"I'm glad you guys could think on your feet," I said, meaning every word. My squad was demonstrating its capacity to operate while I was down for the count, and its willingness to save my hide.

Now that the action was over, it was time for my favourite activity: scrounging. "Kaidan, take your team and head up the stairs. See what you can find. The rest of you, with me."

Those slavers sure had a lot of loot. Three crates full of weapons and mods, and a medical container that held some hardsuits.

While I was gathering up the last of the goods, Kaidan came in over the comm. "Commander," he said. Something in his voice made me pause. "You better get up here."

"Understood," I responded. I looked around. "Are we done here?" I asked my companions.

"Think so," Ashley replied.

"If not, we can always come back later," Liara added.

Conceding both their points with a nod, I motioned them to follow me, and we headed for the stairs.

The rest of the squad was waiting for us in the room on the second floor, clustered around a desk. Kaidan handed me a datapad. "You'll want to take a look at this," he said seriously.

The datapad had two files open. One was a list of recent assignments; the other a list of personnel. The former made no mention of any recent hijackings, much less the capture of any asari named Dantius. In fact, based on their activities, it seemed that slaving was more their stock in trade. The latter did mention one Dahlia Dantius... an asari who just happened to be the leader of this gang of slavers.

I handed the datapad to Ashley and Liara, who simultaneously gasped in shock after reading its contents. "Interesting," was all I said.

"I thought this felt wrong," Garrus commented.

"Like I said, Shepard, felt like a hit," Wrex echoed.

"True," I agreed, "and I'll have to have a little chat with Ms. Dantius when we return to the Citadel. Right now, we have a few other matters to attend to."

Those matters involved heading over to the next few couple clusters and checking them out before arriving at Feros. After we finished clearing the base of any goods, of course.

When we got back to the Normandy, the squad headed down to the garage to pack away their gear. I stayed behind and headed for the cockpit. Figured it was about time I got to know my helmsman a little better.

"Commander," Joker greeted me. "Something you need?"

I shrugged. "I like to know my crew. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Joker snorted. "I can see where this is going. You did a background check on me, didn't you? Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told the captain."

Huh?

"You want me as your pilot. I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet. Top of my class in flight school? I earned that. All those commendations in my file? I earned every single one. Those weren't given to me as "charity" for my disease.

Okay, clearly I'd stumbled into something without knowing how the game was played. Rather than fumble around and try to figure out the rules, I chose option B: change the rules entirely.

"I'm sorry, Joker," I said quietly, sitting down in the co-pilot seat. "I didn't even know you were sick."

Joker looked at me incredulously. "You mean..." His face abruptly shifted to a look of realization. "You mean you didn't know." He shook his head. "Ah, crap."

"Okay. I've got Vrolik's Syndrome," he said, looking me in the eye. "Brittle bone disease. The bones in my legs never developed properly. They're basically hollow. Too much force and they'll shatter. Even with crutches and my leg braces, it's hard to get around. One wrong step and CRACK! It's very dramatic! But I've learned to manage my condition, Commander. Put the Normandy in my hands and I'll make her dance for you. Just don't ask me to get up and dance, unless, you know, you like the sound of snapping shin bones."

"What else can you tell me about Vrolik's Syndrome?" I asked.

"It's an extremely rare condition. No one knows what causes it. Genetic, maybe. It's treatable, but there's no cure. They classify my case as moderate to severe. I was born with over a dozen fractures—hips, thighs, ankles. My bones were already breaking in the womb. A hundred years ago, I wouldn't have survived past my first year. Luckily for me, modern medical science has turned me into a 'productive member of society.'"

"I see. Why does everyone call you Joker?" I moved on.

"It's a lot shorter than saying Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau," he replied sarcastically. "Plus I love to make little children laugh."

"I was just thinking how much you remind me of Santa Claus," I quipped back, looking at his beard.

"Look, I didn't pick the name," Joker said in an annoyed tone. "One of the instructors in flight school used to bug me about never smiling. She started calling me Joker—" he paused to make a mock funny face "—and it stuck."

"Why didn't you ever smile?"

"Hey, I worked my ass off in flight school, Commander. The galaxy's not going to hand you anything if you go around grinning like an idiot. By the end of the year, I was the best pilot in the Academy. Even better than the instructors. And everybody knew it. They'd all gotten their asses kicked by the sickly kid with the creaky little legs. One guess who was smiling at graduation."

Hmm. So that's why Joker was such a wise-cracking ass all the time: it was a facade to hide all the crap he'd gone through since he was born. At least I had twenty-odd years of normalcy before things went south.

"How'd you end up joining the Alliance?" I asked, trying to shift the subject a bit.

Joker saw right through me. Damnit, I used to be better at this. "If you're looking for an inspirational tale of the crushed kid overcoming impossible odds, you're going to be disappointed. My mother was a civilian contractor working for the Alliance. I basically grew up on the Arcturus station, back when they were building up the fleets. Spend all that time around Alliance ships and there's a good chance you'll end up going to the Academy."

"Either that, or enlist as a grunt," I agreed. "Both my parents were spacers with the Alliance. After that, might've been a bit odd if I didn't sign up as well."

"Just a bit," Joker agreed.

"How's the Normandy performing?" I said abruptly. Just to shift the conversation to something more in Joker's comfort zone. "Is she everything they said she'd be?"

"She's the best ship in the fleet..." Joker responded. He couldn't resist adding "...if you've got a pilot who knows how to handle her. Balance isn't what you'd expect. Takes a while to get used to that oversized drive core we got stuffed in the back. Her power can sneak up on you if you're not careful. The Normandy's probably too much ship for your average Alliance pilot, Commander," he concluded. "Lucky for you, I'm anything but average."

"Glad to hear it," I replied, before bending down and looking him square in the eye. "I don't make a habit of putting any of my crew on trial, so I don't want any crew members, average or not, doing something stupid because they think they have something to prove. Think you can pass that along?"

Joker got the message. "Sure thing, Commander." (2)

"I have to go," I said, straightening up.

"All right, see ya," Joker replied, already absorbed in his work.

Some people say they're never bored, because there's always something to do. Those people might be onto something. For example, I spent a merry half hour hacking into the intraship comm network. The look on the crew's face when "Secret Agent Man" blared out over the speakers was priceless.

Seriously, just about every system has something going on, and I keep finding it, either because I'm too damn curious or I'm too damn heroic. Or both.

For example, the Hades Gamma cluster. Last stop before the Attican Beta cluster, which houses the star system that Feros is in. Five systems. Each with its own little puzzle.

System 1, Antaeus, had a survey team on Trebin that had gone AWOL. Turns out, they stumbled across some wacky artefact that turned them all into husks. Nothing else to do but put those poor bastards out of their misery.

System 2 requires a little more explanation. It all started back on the Citadel. A woman named Helena Blake greeted me shortly after TPTB slapped the giant bulls-eye target of Spectre on my head. She was far too polite and dignified, so I knew something was up. Turns out, she was a high-ranking head of a crime cartel who wanted the two bosses eliminated. She took the moral high ground, saying they were red sand dealers who sold off any druggies who fell behind on their payments to slavers, and assured me that she'd restrict the cartel's activities to more tasteful crimes once she gained power. (3) Even though I politely declined, she forwarded their locations to me anyways, as well as the location of her hideout once I performed the hits. As they were on the way to Feros, I figured, why not. Worst case scenario, I could always take her out, too.

So, I went to Klensal, in the Dis system and took out a bunch of mercs. One down, one to go.

I hasten to add that I was doing my fair share of mineral and gas surveying and crate looting. Hadn't completely lost sight of my priorities, after all. I was looking forward to the same in the Farinata system when Admiral Hackett called me up.

"Commander," he greeted me "we've got a situation that requires your expertise. A group of fanatical biotics have kidnapped the chairman of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Transhuman Studies. Their freighter sustained damage and is dead in space."

"What are the biotics asking for?" I inquired.

"They're L2 biotics, and most of them are suffering major side effect from the implants. The subcommittee denied a request for reparations to all L2 biotics. Apparently, they'd like the chairman to reconsider," Hackett concluded dryly.

"Fancy that," I responded. "What's the priority on saving the chairman?" Had to ask. Alliance has a SOP for hostage situations, which Hackett quickly confirmed.

"Saving him would be my preference, but we must make it clear that these tactics don't work, Commander. Your top priority is to neutralize the biotics."

"Understood, Admiral," I said. "I'll see what I can do."

"I appreciate you taking the time, Commander. I'm sending you the last known coordinates of the freighter. Good luck. Fifth Fleet out."

With Hackett's data, it didn't take us long to find the freighter. Joker lived up to his promises by effortlessly docking with the freighter, the MSV Ontario, without a bump, and my squad went on board. Ashley and Liara were with me; Kaidan led the rest.

A standard Kowloon-class vessel, her design was everything I'd expected it to be. The airlock opened into a room with a bunch of crates which connected into a passageway that led off to the right into the main cargo hold, housing a maze of large transport crates. At the far end lay a passageway that connected to compartments on either side and the cockpit at the far end. What those compartments held varied from ship to ship: the modular design of the Kowloon-class allowed them to be swapped out for something more customized, thus fitting the desires of the captain or crew.

It was easygoing at first. Even managed to hack a few crates and pull out a Sokolov IX shotgun, a Volkov VIII sniper rifle and a couple miscellaneous pistols.

Then we entered the main cargo hold and ran into a pair of men. One of them raised a hand and sent a ball of biotic energy rippling towards us. Everyone got out of the way in time, except for me. As I got pinned down to the floor, again, I reflected that this hero/Spectre gig was definitely degrading my survival instincts.

The next minute was spent hearing exchanges of gunfire, with the odd cry of "I will destroy you" from the opposition. I blame the entertainment industry, and that damn series of inaccurate and special-effects laden movies in particular, for planting that annoying phrase into commonplace vernacular.

Finally, I managed to get back on my feet. By then, most of the terrorists were dead. I managed to take out the last one myself, mainly to stop her from yelling that really annoying phrase in an act of defiance.

Once we established that the cargo hold was clear, we raced towards the bow of the ship, checking each room. For once, the universe was smiling on us and we found the remaining terrorists, with the hostage, on our first try.

"See how it is," one of the terrorists, a balding Asian with a goatee who I took to be the leader, said. "You write letters and everyone ignores you. Force is the only thing people appreciate." He ground his pistol a bit deeper into the skull of a dark-skinned man, presumably the chairman. "So how 'bout I kill Chairman Burns and finish this charade?"

"Please! I was trying to help you people," Burns cried out.

"Let's not do anything we're all going to regret," I said soothingly. Well, relatively soothing, considering I was still holding my pistol.

"Why not?" the terrorist leader asked. "What have we got to lose? Since the chairman here decided he didn't get reparations," he jabbed the pistol into Burns's head again, making him wince "we have nothing else to live for."

"But I've changed my mind!" Burns burst out.

How convenient.

Burns continued speaking. "Seeing all of you, it's c-clear you all deserve—"

"You had your chance," the leader snarled. "Some L2s are nearly crippled from side effects of the implants, but you voted against reparations!"

"Think about this," I implored the leader. "Burns is the one man who can help you."

Burns pounced on my words like a starving dog on a bone. "Yes! If you release me, I can take another look at the reparations request."

The leader looked at me incredulously. "What? We're supposed to trust you? Sure, you promise us freedom and say everything will be fine, but as soon as we surrender, you'll double-cross us!"

"If you can't trust him, trust me," Kaidan jumped in. "I'm a L2, just like you guys, and I've faced the pain firsthand. Commander Shepard will help you. I'll make sure of it."

"I'm not promising to let you go," I took over, nodding my thanks at Kaidan. "All I'm saying is that Burns will take another look. Right, Burns?"

"Absolutely," the chairman said quietly. "I had no idea that the L2 biotics were this desperate. If I'd known... the reparations will come," he continued firmly. "For whatever it's worth, I promise that."

For a moment, I thought the terrorist leader would just pull the trigger anyways. Then, his shoulders slumped. He lowered his pistol as a look of fatigue washed over his face.

"You're right," he said. "I don't want to die. Maybe something will happen this time. We surrender."

As the other terrorists put down their weapons, Burns cautiously got back to his feet. "Thank you, Commander. I thought I was dead when they took me. I'll see to it that the reparation discussion is reopened. I didn't know they were so desperate."

Did you even bother to look, I wanted to ask. How can you call yourself a chairman if you weren't even doing your job? Aloud, I said "A Fifth Fleet cruiser will be by shortly to pick you and the prisoners up," and left with my squad. (4)

After looting the freighter, we left the Farinata system. Having decided that this cluster would have nothing but headaches, I decided to try somewhere else before I resumed my mission. We were on route to the Gemini Sigma cluster when Hackett called me up.

"Thank you for dealing with the hostage situation, Commander," he said. "Chairman Burns was quite impressed by the way you resolved the situation peacefully. Your assistance above and beyond formal duties has been noted, Commander. Fifth Fleet out."

With that, I entered the Gemini Sigma cluster, and quickly found out that it had the same delightful surprises as the Hades Gamma cluster.

Okay, the Han system wasn't really a surprise. I knew going in that it held the hideout for the second crime boss Blake asked me to take out. Nothing my squad couldn't handle, mind you.

The Mavignon system had another derelict Kowloon-class freighter, one with a cargo hold filled with booby traps. We boarded the freighter, called the MSV Worthington, managed to make our way through the cargo hold without being blown to bits, and slowly found out what happened.

Apparently, an accident on board left one of the crewmen, Jacob, brain dead. Understandably, his girlfriend, Julia, was rather upset. Even worse, she was a biotic, and her grief caused her implants to flare up, giving her severe migraines. The crew decided to take Jacob off life support in an act of mercy, and break the news to Julia afterward. Unfortunately, Julia overheard, murdered the entire crew, and set those booby traps.

Shortly after we pieced together the story, Julia attacked us. By that point, she was so deranged; she couldn't even muster a proper attack. We took her out, then went back and disconnected Jacob's life support. Might've been one of the easier missions I've encountered, but it was also one of the saddest.

By this point, I'd given up trying to find a nice peaceful system with nothing else to do but mindlessly search for resources, so I went to the Attican Beta cluster.

On my way to the Theseus system, where Feros was situated, we passed through the Hercules system. We were halfway through when Joker broke in on my comm and delivered a six-word phrase I was starting to hate.

"Message coming in. Patching it through."

I sighed and waited for Hackett to tell me what he needed me to do this time. My mission, should I choose to accept it, was to chase after space monkeys.

Okay, technically, I was chasing after a probe that was gathering intel on geth activities and retrieve the data module before the geth found it. Unfortunately, some space monkeys got there first and somehow removed the data module. We had to search every nearby colony of monkeys before we found the cheeky asshole who swiped it, down in some abandoned mine. Of course, by that point, the geth had caught up with us, and we had to shoot our way out.

Eventually, we reached the Theseus system. As we closed in on Feros, Joker radioed me again. "Message for you, Commander. Just came in over a secure channel."

I braced myself, expecting to hear another request from Hackett. I swear, that guy must have a target board that he throws darts at and rings me up whenever he hits the bulls-eye. To my surprise, the message was a recording from someone else entirely.

"Shepard, this is Admiral Kahoku," the voice whispered urgently. "I found out who set that trap for my men. The ones killed by that thresher maw. Damn, I hope you get this message.

"It was a group called Cerberus. An Alliance black-ops organization. Top secret, highest-level security clearance. They vanished a few months ago. Dropped right off the grid. Nobody knew where they went or what they were up to.

"They've gone completely rogue, Shepard," Kahoku cried out, his voice growing more intense. Frantic, even. "They're conducting illegal genetic experiments, trying to create some kind of super-soldier. I don't have any proof, but I found the coordinates for one of their research worlds. I'm uploading them with this message. (5)

"They're completely out of control. Somebody needs to stop them." Kahoku's voice abruptly became quiet again, so quiet I could barely hear him. "I've done my part. Now it's up to you."

"This... this is probably the last you'll hear from me. Cerberus is after me now. I need to disappear before they find me."

I watched Feros grow larger and larger in the viewscreen, Admiral Kahoku's words still ringing in my ears.

One can never get bored, no matter how much one might want to. There's always something to do.

(1): By this point, Shepard had made it clear to Kaidan that any one-on-one conversations between them could be considered "off the record," and Kaidan thus had permission to speak freely.

(2): Lieutenant Moreau and I had the same conversation, right down to Shepard's advice that he didn't need to prove anything to me or anyone else.

(3): A stimulant created from refined element zero, red sand may take its name from the "red planet" Mars, where criminal triads first created it. Providing extremely short-term euphoria and a biotic form of telekinesis, it is often used by non-biotics to "understand" what biotics experience. Side-effect include red-tinting of the eyes, yellowed teeth and a heightened withdrawal.

(4): Shepard later told me that he recorded the entire conversation, just in case.

(5): Shepard would run across this pro-human organization again during his mission. His encounters are detailed in future entries, and need not concern us for the time being. It's worth noting, however, that Admiral Kahoku's data may have been inaccurate: intelligence reports suggest that Cerberus had been conducting 'rogue' activities as early as 2170, thirteen years before this log entry.