"I demand an apology!" Daro'Xen shouted, standing from her chair and pounding the table with a fist. Her eyes were narrowed in anger, short, angry breaths escaping her. "I have handled your accusations calmly, but this is too far!"

"Admiral," Raan began, using Xen's title as a way of trying to intimidate her. It did not work, of course. "We are simply looking into rumors we have heard. If they are unfounded, then we will not concern ourselves with anything else we find, and strict measures will be taken to squash the rumors once and for all." Raan snuck a glance over at Gerrel, but Han's focus was solely on Xen, as if he could read her mind if he stared long and hard enough.

"You have no right to treat me this way!" Xen yelled. "I am an admiral of the Quarian people, just like the rest of you! I demand respect, and an apology!"

"Daro, if you refuse our request, you leave us with little choice but to believe there is some truth to these rumors, and the rest of us will be forced to vote on whether to search the mines without your consent." This came from Koris, who spoke the words uncomfortably. He was the closest thing to a friend Xen had on the Admiralty Board, though that was more due to Koris's personality than any like of the woman.

"I know where Gerrel stands." Xen was fuming, turning her gaze to Tali. "And you?"

Tali had to force herself not to laugh or scream at the gall this woman was showing. "I stand with the rest of the admirals."

"Of course you do," Xen said dismissively. "You're a pathetic young girl who has no business holding the power you do."

Raan opened her mouth to defend her niece, but not before Tali stood to defend herself. "I am an Admiral, just like you, and I was willing to give you a chance. Your refusal to let anyone search those mines tells me what I already suspected, that you are insane and doing something terrible." Xen began to stomp her way towards Tali, and the youngest Admiral did not back down, facing Xen with fire in her eyes. Raan, Gerrel, and Koris all placed themselves between the two women.

Xen did not fight when Raan placed a hand on her shoulder. "When would you like to search the mines?"

"This afternoon would be the earliest we could prepare a search party," Gerrel said, his first words since the meeting commenced.

"That will be fine," Xen responded before storming out of the room.

Once she was gone, Tali began pacing, angry at herself for losing her temper. It was conduct unbecoming of someone in her position, and she knew that. She watched as Gerrel and Koris left as well, leaving Tali alone with her aunt. "I should reprimand you for losing your temper that way, but it was the final push we needed to force Xen to agree," Raan told her. "Good job, Tali."

The youngest admiral giggled. "Reprimand me? I have a certain human on my side, in case you've forgotten." Tali smiled. "I'm still sorry for acting that way. It sure would have felt good to hit her. Do you think there's any chance we find geth in these mines?"

Raan shook her head. "I'm sure Xen is heading directly to these mines to get rid of any evidence, so no. I am absolutely certain now that she is up to something. Maybe we will get lucky."

Tali shook her head as well. "I don't see why we don't just go over there right now, before she has a chance to hide whatever she doesn't want us to see."

"Because that's simply not the way the game of politics is played, Tali. You should know that by now."

As probably the most educated quarian alive when it came to geth and finding any signs of their presence, Tali insisted that she be part of the team searching the mines. They were built into a small mountain range, all within the same two-mile compound. Small buildings that once served as offices and areas for lunch break dotted the compound, all of them empty as Tali and her team of twelve walked by. Large ramps led to the mine entrances, much the same as the dozens of mines she had seen when accompanying Shepard while chasing Saren. The similar sight brought back fond memories of the days her initial interest in her bondmate began. No place for those thoughts, Tali thought, climbing the ramp to the entrance for the first mine.

The mine was mainly empty, the only thing occupying the vast space being empty crates stacked in odd spots throughout. Tali had her team search every inch of those crates, but there was nothing to suggest they had been in use any time recently. There were some mining tools, rusted from disuse. Otherwise the mine was empty. Mineral deposits shown brightly within the walls, suggesting that this mine had focused on the recovery of gems of some kind. Tali did not recognize whatever was forming, and wondered if they were some type of gems unique to Rannoch. Once every inch of the mine had been searched, absolutely nothing to be found, Tali led her team out and towards the next one.

The second mine was much the same as the first, the only difference being that whatever had once been mined was not as pretty to look at as the first mine. Just like the first one, the only things within were empty crates and rusted mining tools. Tali searched even harder, trying to find a loose circuit, a stray wire, a tool that had no place within a mine, anything out of place, but there was nothing. As her team entered the third mine, she again wished that they had immediately conducted their search the second Xen left their meeting. The third mine appeared much the same as the first two, nothing but empty crates and mining tools to be seen. Tali had to resist the urge to kick something. She settled for punching the wall, grimacing when it gave away, clumps of dirt and rock collapsing around her arm, up to her elbow. She pulled away, disgusted, stopping when she felt her suit snag on something. Gently, so as not to rip her suit, she reached in with her other arm, shocked when she realized that her suit was snagged on. "Over here!" she shouted. "In the walls! Search for hollow spots and smash them in!"

Martin flexed his hands, still sore from his fight a few days earlier. Working on delicate machinery all day didn't exactly help. Luckily for him, the police did not charge him with anything after hearing how he became involved in the fight. Unfortunately neither did any of the Terra Firma members, under the condition that they no longer come within a certain distance of the apartment building anymore. It was funny, because now those same people stood as close as they could and shouted the same things, which put them directly in Martin's way instead of just being a sight along the way to work. A few angry looks came from the bruised and swollen faces of those that had taken punishment that day, but mainly they ignored Martin as he walked past. Luckily, despite missing work that day and being arrested, his boss had also decided that Martin had done the right thing and not fired him. Martin had not been sure how his boss would react, and was glad to see that he was a decent man.

Martin was nearly home when a familiar voice called out his name. He turned towards it, to where Lucanus was walking his way. Since the fight with the Terra Firma members, and their subsequent conversation on the way to the police station, Martin, Piok, and Lucanus had hung out a couple of times, discovering that they got along pretty well. The first time, the three of them sat around Lucanus's apartment, commenting on the various bullshit happening around the galaxy and cracking jokes about their fight. The second time, the previous night, they had gone to a bar and had a few drinks. A few drinks for Martin had meant two light drinks. For Lucanus it had meant a couple of hard drinks. True to a krogan, Piok had spent all three hours at the bar gulping down the hardest krogan liquor the place served, yet never seemed to move beyond buzzed.

Martin stopped walking, giving a quick wave Lucanus's way. "I had something I wanted to talk to you about," Lucanus said, direct as always. While Martin had met a few turians in his life, he had never met one as serious and short of speech as Lucanus. If he had something to say, he came out and said it, and did not tolerate attempts to change the subject. It was a personality trait that the human could respect. "I have an uncle who's a representative for one of the biggest Turian weapons manufacturers, a company named Harome. His job basically consists of flying around the galaxy to try and get local governments to buy their weapons and defense systems from his company. About five workers on his ship quit a week and a half ago, and obviously he's looking to replace them. He asked if I would come work for him, and I mentioned Piok's and your name as well. Interested?"

The offer floored Martin. "What is the job?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"For myself and Piok, security. For you, I told him about your abilities as an engineer, though I may have exaggerated a little more than I needed to. He agreed to give you a chance."

"Wow, um…" Martin stood there like an idiot, knowing that's how he looked but not sure what else to do. "I have only been working at my current job for just short of two weeks. I'd feel kind of bad if I quit already to take another job."

"Is it money? I can guarantee you will make a lot more credits working for my uncle than you are now."

"No, it's not that. Maybe I just feel a little too loyal."

Lucanus nodded understandingly. "My uncle won't be docking here at Lowell City for another week. In the meantime, think about the offer."

The two shook hands. "Absolutely, and I appreciate the offer. I'll let you know in a day or two." Lucanus nodded, walking away.

"Wait!" Martin called out. "Why did you offer me this job? Not that I don't appreciate it, but we've known each other for a week, not even actually. For all you know I've been lying about what I can or can't do."

"You don't strike me as a liar," Lucanus said. "I've dealt with my share of liars, and I know what they are like. If anything, you probably undersell yourself."

"Thanks, Lucanus," Martin said gratefully. "I'll let you know in a day or two. Maybe we can do something and the three of us can talk about it."

"Sounds like a plan."

Shepard watched, stunned, as quarian workers carried out pieces of geth units ranging from small pieces of armor to entire limbs or a torso. There were no fully assembled units, but that mattered little. Unless Xen was going to try and convince someone that these mines somehow grew geth units naturally, she had been found out. That fact that no one could find or contact her suggested that any completed geth units she might have had were taken wherever she had disappeared to. An hour had passed now since Shepard arrived at the request of the Admiralty Board, and over that hour the stream of workers carrying out geth parts had not slowed. Shepard had not seen his bondmate yet, as Tali was still inside one of the mines. It was quite likely she was very pissed off right now.

Another half an hour passed before Tali emerged from the entrance of one of the mines, envirosuit covered in dirt. She walked down the ramp that led down from the entrance, the Admirals hurrying to meet her at the bottom. Shepard moved a little closer, but kept his distance. Tali used constant tense, angry hand gestures as she talked, erasing any doubt about her anger. After a few minutes, Raan placed a hand on her shoulder, and the angry young admiral calmed slightly. Shepard was waved over, and did not hesitate to join them. "The news is pretty bad, it seems," he said. "I saw a lot of geth parts being taken out, and I was only here for an hour."

"That insane bitch had the walls of these mines hollowed out like a honeycomb!" Tali hissed. "And every hollow pocket held a geth part of some type. These were just the parts, who knows how many fully assembled geth she has! She could have an entire army! If she reactivates these geth, we could face a second exile from Rannoch!"

"That will not happen," Gerrel said as calmly and convincingly as he could. "She could not possibly have that many units. At worst we may have to deal with an unfortunate fight."

"A war, you mean," Tali said.

Gerrel acknowledged her with a nod. "The quicker we find Xen, the quicker we can resolve this situation, and the better our chance of avoiding another war against the geth."

"Then we need to send out search parties immediately, and mobilize our soldiers," Koris said. "Gerrel, prepare your marines immediately. Every single one of them needs to report to the nearest base and be ready to act on orders immediately."

"And I'll prepare my scouts to begin the search for Xen," Raan said. "Perhaps she left some clue within her residence we'll start there."

All of the admirals walked away, all except Tali, whose gaze had averted to the ground. Once they were all gone, Shepard moved forward to comfort his bondmate. Despite their relationship being very public knowledge, when Tali was working in an official capacity the two of them maintained a professional demeanor. "We'll find her, and we'll stop her," Shepard said.

"Keelah, what if we don't?" Tali argued. "What if she has an army of geth out there, an army she won't be able to control if activated? We just got our homeworld back, and I can't handle the thought of losing it again."

"You won't," Shepard told her, with all the authority he could muster. "The other admirals are right, there is no way there are enough geth to do what they did before, if they are even capable of activating again. We will find Xen and arrest her, we'll destroy her geth, and you will get to live the rest of your life on your homeworld. I promise."

Shepard could tell Tali was smiling. "As long as that promise means you will be with me every step of the way, you handsome bosh'tet. We have work to do in the meantime, let's get to it."

The ship owned by Lucanus's uncle was far bigger and of much higher quality design than the Voyage. It was at least two and a half times larger, included all the latest technology not classified by the military, and contained comfortable beds for all of the admittedly small crew, about forty people. Having spent a decade with the quarian people, he knew from seeing their ships and hearing their stories that this ship could fit at least double that, and probably around ninety or hundred crew members. It made the ship feel empty. Along the side of the painted green hull, the name Leatum was prominently displayed in dark red. Martin asked what that meant, and Lucanus told him it was the name of the most powerful god in an ancient Turian culture.

Martin and Piok had both accepted the offer Lucanus made to them on behalf of his uncle, but now that they were on the ship the young human was more than a little nervous, and he could see that Piok felt the same. It was a strange sight, a nervous krogan. He paced back and forth, his steps short and angry, his teeth grinding together. Martin tried to keep his distance, not knowing how Piok might react to anything at the moment. The three of them stood near airlock, waiting as Lucanus's uncles finished preparations for takeoff. From a distance, Lucanus's uncle appeared much the same as any turian. He was dressed in a high quality green suit that matched the color of the hull. A hard face and sharp, commanding voice barked out orders to the rest of the crew. Not even a glance came the way of the three nervous young men standing nearby. Only when the ship finally left its dock did the captain turn their way, walking over with confident, authoritative strides. "Lucanus," he greeted, his voice no softer than when he ordered around his crew.

"Uncle."

"Martin and Piok, I presume?" he asked, both the human and krogan nodding as an answer. "Captain Caus Vulkar," he said, shaking both of their hands. "Rules on my vessel are simple. Follow my orders, do your job well, and respect your fellow crew. My nephew told me you are capable, and for your sake and his I hope he was right. Follow me, I'll give you a tour of the vessel, and show you where you your quarters."

The beds that Captain Vulkar assigned them were in a room with four others, comfortable single sized beds with clean sheets and new pillows. Martin was surprised, he assumed as new crew members he and Piok would be placed in one of the two cramped, small rooms he saw during his unofficial tour earlier. After they put down their belongings, Vulkar told Piok to go with Lucanus and meet someone named Tiros, while he personally brought Martin to engineering, two decks below the crew quarters.

Almost everyone on the crew was turian, the only exception being one of the other five guards besides Lucanus and Piok, who was a krogan. For all his talk about knowing turians in the back of that police car, Martin did not know what to expect when the captain left and he was alone with the four other engineers still on duty. After an hour, he found he was quite comfortable around them. They were focused on their duty and made little small talk, but all of them were friendly as the head engineer, Remus, introduced Martin and explained what their responsibilities were. As with the Voyage, Martin's initial responsibilities involved helping others and working on less important systems.

The tasks were quite easy, easier than what he had been responsible for on the Voyage, and not even comparable to what Tali had taught him before he left on Pilgrimage. In the inevitable boredom, Martin found himself reflecting on how quickly his Pilgrimage had changed. His boss on Mars had told him that he was sorry to lose such a good worker, and that if the job on the Leatum did not work out he would have a position available if ever Martin wanted to come back. Compared to Harold, Captain Vulkar was a hard ass, that much was certain. Still, this was what every quarian on Pilgrimage hoped for, a chance to travel the galaxy on a ship, experiencing the many different cultures that existed beyond their home life. Here he was, a human, doing what other quarians dreamed about. He couldn't help but feel guilt, especially remembering Yala, stuck working a farm on Eden Prime. Yala, he would definitely need to tell her what happened. Sure, he'd probably hear all kinds of halfhearted insults out of jealousy, but she would be happy to hear about his new job. Maybe, if he kept this job long enough and did a good job, he could convince the captain to give Yala a job as well.

When his first shift was over, he headed back to his quarters, where Lucanus was stretched out on his bed, listening while Piok told some story about fighting the Reapers on Tuchanka. The two acknowledged their friend before Piok continued. "I'm watching from an upper floor while Urdnot Wrex head butts Urdnot Wreav, the two of them seemingly moments from pulling guns on each other. Then Bakara shouts both down. I knew right then that we would win the battle, with Bakara and Commander Shepard inspiring us, and every krogan watching roaring their approval. We were unstoppable."

"Yeah, sure," Lucanus said, sitting up. "Since we're on the subject of Commander Shepard, I have a question for you Martin." The young human tensed. He knew the question that was to come, and kind of wished it was not going to ask. "Are you related to him? You look a lot like him, and I figure that plus the last name can't be a coincidence."

Martin didn't look their way. "He's my dad," he said sheepishly.

Piok roared his laughter. "I knew it! I could tell the moment I saw him in action with that Terra Firma crowd! You owe me two hundred credits, Lucanus."

The turian sneered and nodded. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because you never asked? Besides, I kind of want as few people as possible to know."

"Your dad is the biggest hero that ever lived," Lucanus said. "Why wouldn't you be proud of being his son?"

"I am very proud to be his son," Martin responded loudly. "People treat me different when they know, and I hate it. They never stop asking me about him, they act like I'm too good for them, they are suddenly intimidated when they never were before, it sucks. See, like the way you two are looking at me now, you just see Commander John Shepard's son, and from this day forward you'll treat me differently."

"We were pretty sure you were his son or at least related to him all along, though."

"Yet you apparently bet against Piok."

Lucanus shrugged. "He was offering to pay me 400 credits if he was wrong, and I only have to pay 200. It was worth the bet."

"Relax, Shepard," Piok said. "We have bigger things to worry about than being intimidated by you. Like drills tomorrow."

"That bad, huh?" Martin said with a chuckle.

Piok groaned. "Damn turians are harder taskmasters than any battlemaster I've ever served under."

"You'll get used to it," Lucanus said. "If not, we'll get what we can out of you and throw you off the ship when we can."

Borderlands 2 is making it hard to focus on this lately, LOL. I figured I could do more with it if I got Martin off the planet, but that doesn't mean Terra Firma won't still be involved. I'm not going to make them Cerberus part two, more just a growing public menace making life difficult for aliens. Review, comment, criticize, whatever you want, I appreciate all feedback.