PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:

ASARI SAMARAI

Warning: Smut approaching. It will be located soon after the first 'loading...' segment, and if you're not interested in Tali+Shepard heated love, then do not read. I know I haven't made an effort to do it before, but I will be now. And if you're the guy or girl who goes 'I can handle it,' I'm not talking about your standard smut, like the ones you get in In Love and War by Rockycombo. I'm talking hardcore smut. As in 'Honeymoon' by Miraza style smut.

September 1, 2185

1405 hours.

NAPD Outpost, Nos Astra Spaceport, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus.

The skycar came to a abrupt landing just outside the NAPD (Nos Astra Police Department) outpost in the spaceport. Marcus had decided that he'd rather catch Thane during his assassination attempt, to which he'd ask the asari, Selyna, about later. Recruiting Samara now seemed like the more fruitful option. Besides, he always prioritized shock troopers over assassins; they were simply more efficient.

The five of them stepped out of the vehicle and quickly payed their fair to the taxi driver. Zaeed had been sent back to the ship and Mordin had attended them instead; saying he had left Lia in charge of the lab, believing that she would do fine without him and it would help her to learn how to direct a lab by herself.

The general area was shaped like an L. To their left was the outpost itself; a huge box with a door leading inside to multiple offices. To their right was, once again, a beautiful view of Nos Astra, while the main spaceport lay directly ahead; transports and freighters bigger and smaller than the Normandy leaving and arriving with produce and goods. As he approached, he could already see an asari, police by her white and red striped uniform, arguing with a black and grey suited volus, flanked by two turian guards with assault rifles. As he approached, he could hear their argument.

"...this is the last time I'm telling you; you're not leaving until my investigation is finished." The asari argued. Ah, a detective then. But what investigation? Always the curious one, he continued to listen in on the heated argument.

The volus took a breath, as all volus did and responded, "I already told you! *hsk* I didn't kill him! *hsk* If you want to find the murderers, then look at the Eclipse. They are the ones with a base directly under your outpost! *hsk* And what about that justicar that recently showed up? People say she could go crazy and start killing. I have to leave!"

The detective crossed her arms, "She'll only kill the unjust, so I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about. Stay here. If you try to take off before my investigation is over, and I'll order the Illium defense fleet to shoot you down."

With that, the asari took off into the outpost, door closing behind her and the volus mumbled under his breath. Obviously, whatever this investigation was about, Samara was involved. He decided he'd start with questioning the volus for any extra information he might have. He steadily approached, the volus taking notice as he got closer and waddling to face him.

"Ah, hello soldier," The volus greeted, looking at the group, "My name is Pitne For."

"I'm Commander Shepard and I'd like to ask you some questions," Marcus inquired.

"Ah, the hero of the Citadel *hsk* I'd heard you had come back from the dead. *hsk* What questions, might you ask?"

"I heard you arguing with that detective," The spectre declared, "What to tell me what that was about?"

"Ah, heard that I see," Pitne sighed, "You earth-clan are too nosy for your own good. *hsk* Well, let's see. The detective thinks I'm involved in a murder case. *hsk* She seems to think I killed my business partner, *hsk* Dakni Kur, which I most certainly didn't. *hsk* It was clearly those Eclipse! They've been running *hsk* around and causing havoc in this city for quite a while now. *hsk* Especially since Dantius came and took over. *hsk* Now she has Eclipse killing anyone she deems a threat. *hsk* Don't know why she thought Dakni was a threat though. But I didn't kill him!"

"Did they actually find Dakni's body? Or do they assume he's dead?" Garrus got in, Marcus moving inside. Garrus was ex-C-Sec; questioning was his speciality.

"Of couse they found his body. The Nos Astra Police aren't known for carelessness," Pitne informed them, "A shotgun blast in the back tore his suit open *hsk* and ripped his head wide open. Now tell me; do I look like the *hsk* business person who kills people with shotguns? *hsk* No! But the Eclipse do!"

Obviously, the Eclipse presence on Illium was alot stronger than he thought. And again with Nassana Dantius. She must have the whole city giddy. I'll have to have a meeting with this Dantius. See what the deal is.

"Thank you for your time," Marcus thanked and lead his squad away and towards the entrance to an alleyway leading to a luggage storage area. They stopped however, seeing that two asari police officers were guarding the doorway, a holographic crime scene tape set up around the doorway. Must have been where Dakni was murdered. Garrus whispered in his ear.

"That volus seems alittle suspicious to me," The turian declared, "I know the Eclipse would seem like they would be the culprits, but it seems alittle too convinient to use them as a 'get out of jail free' card."

"Agreed," Mordin piped in, "Recommend questioning detective. May have additional information. Could prove useful."

With a curt nod, Marcus motioned for his squad to move inside the outpost, ordering Kasumi and Mordin to stay outside. Tali and Mordin continued to follow him inside, allowing them a good view of the interior of the small building. Multiple sections were split off inside the room, all acting as offices, with desks and tropical plants in pots laying all over the place. They spotted the detective sitting at her desk to the right of the room and approached her. Seeing them approach, she looked up with weary eyes from her cup of coffee.

The asari detective's skin was a much darker color than most asari; almost bordering on a dark purple. She had no facepaint of note and her lips were slightly puffy, but she had no noticable makeup. She stood up and held out a hand to shake his, which he met, the asari following the gesture to his team. He sat down at her desk, the detective reciprocating.

"Nice guns," The asari complimented, "Try not to use them in my district. My name is Chief Inspector Anaya. What can I do for you?" Anaya's voice reminded him of a easily noticable North American accent.

"I'm looking for an asari justicar named Samara," He immediately began.

He noticed Anaya's hands group ontop of the table and clench before unclenching, an uneasiness noticable in the asari's posture.

"If you've got a score to settle with Samara, then take it somewhere else," Anaya demanded, the uneasiness telligble in her tone, "I've got enough trouble to deal with already. I don't need you adding to it."

"I'm on a critical mission," He offered in the same way he always had, "I need some of the most elite for this mission and I'm here to recruit Samara, not try and kill her. You can either help me or not, but I'm going to get what I want either way, so you might as well loosen your tongue alittle."

"That does sound above my pay grade," Anaya declared, "Justicars usually work alone, but, they are drawn to impossible causes. And if you're getting her out of my district, I'll get you to her ASAP. She's at the crime scene, I'll radio ahead to let them know you're coming. Be careful though, we heard Samara had come into contact with a Eclipse squad a couple of minutes ago."

Marcus raised his eyebrow at Anaya's eagerness to get rid of the justicar, "You seem awfully anxious to get Samara out of your district."

"My superiors want me to detain her," Anaya explained, "They're worried she'll cause some 'cross-species' incident," The detective shook her head at this, "But her justicar code won't let her be taken into custody. If I try it, she'll have to kill me. I have no interest in dying, so if you lure her away with some big noble cause before I have to carry out my orders, I'm thrilled to help you."

Marcus shook his head, leaning forward, "Your superiors are ordering you to commit suicide. You don't have to obey them."

From behind him, Garrus snorted, "We can disobey suicidal orders? Was I refused this memo when I wasn't looking?

Tali decided to join in on the tease, "That's about twice a day."

"Most of the time I'm not being stupid about it," Marcus grinned, "I can't say the same for Anaya's superiors."

"I'm a cop. I know my duty. I've been ordered to detain her and I will, what you see now is merely me delaying the envitable. So if you can get rid of her now, I'll be alot better off. Now if you don't, I've got a volus merchant to check up on. Make sure he hasn't left. Oh, better radio ahead," Anaya stated before hitting her omni-tool, "Dispatch 1-4, how copy?"

"This is Dispatch 1-4, Inspect-Alfa-November-Alfa-Yankee-Alfa, we copy. New orders?"

"Negative," Anaya responded, "We've got three..." Marcus shook his head, holding up five fingers, "Scratch that, make it five friendlies about to approach crime scene tape; I've given them the all-clear. You'll give them full access to crime scene: they've come to relieve Justicar Samara of on-site duty, over."

"This is Dispatch 1-4, we copy. Golf-Oscar. Over and out."

Anaya simply nodded to them before deactivating her omni-tool and moving outside to confront Pitne, who hadn't moved. Marcus gathered Mordin and Kasumi, who had been conversing before heading immediately towards the crime scene.

They quickly found themselves at the doorway and the two officers immediately parted to let them through, the crime scene tape glowing crimson red and beeping as each one of them walked through. Once through, both officers moved back into position, looks unchanging.

Upon moving inside, they immediately found the crime scene. A pool of white blood coated the ground, followed by a chalk outline of a dead volus' body. Volus' have white blood. You learn something new every day, it seems. The alleyway was dead silent, aside from the mumblings of security and police interaction. Marcus and his squad moved towards the entrance of the alleyway, but a security officer halted them.

"Sorry sir, it's too dangerous to continue. Eclipse mercs occupy the end of the alleyway," The officer stated.

The spectre raised an eyebrow and simply eyed his weapons. The officer seemed to get his meaning, "Okay, good point, just be careful. These fuckers are callous."

With a nod, Marcus nodded for his squad to equip their weapons, he himself pulling out his tempest SMG, enabling incendiary rounds. Tali equipped her geth plasma shotgun, Garrus his mattock heavy rifle, while Mordin and Kasumi equipped their own tempest SMGs, the latter activating her cloak soon after. With that, they trudged onwards and towards the luggage bay where Samara was reported to have been.

They moved through the alleyway steadily, not encountering any hostiles. Then he heard voices. Shouting. An asari yelling orders. Eclipse. He held up his hands for his squad to approach stealthily, ordering Kasumi to take point while he moved up behind, Tali, Garrus and Mordin behind him. He turned the corner and found the source of the yelling, immediately taking cover behind a crate; half a eclipse squad.

He spotted a salarian engineer, flanked by two asari and a couple of humans. As he looked around again, he cursed under his breath. Great, a fucking elcor too. He quickly equipped his pulse rifle in his other hand, deciding to dual-wield his SMG and assault rifle at the same time. He eyed Garrus, giving him the signal to draw the merc's fire while he took down the lone elcor. That allowed the rest of his team to concentrate on the rest of the mercs. With a nod of his head, the turian fired.

Cries rang through the corridor as the mercs quickly focused their attention on what they assumed was a lone turian. A torrent of assault rifle and SMG fire poured down on Garrus, the viglante making a jump for cover while managing to avoid a incineration blast by the salarian. He ordered Mordin to deal with the engineer while he swerved from cover and fired on the elcor.

It required less effort than he originally thought. The combined fire from his SMG and the heavy armor-piercing rounds of his geth pulse rifle easily tore apart the merc's shields, rounds ripping into elcor flesh extremely easily. As thick as it was, it stood no chance against his barrage of fire. He quickly moved to the colossus' four legs, ripping into them like a axe into a tree. The elcor quickly fell, Marcus having to reload both his weapons. He dropped his SMG and immediately slammed a fresh clip into his pulse rifle, rolling out of cover and shredding one of the human mercs instantly with his barrage.

The salarian deployed a orange combat drone before leaping into cover, letting loose a spread of SMG fire to keep away their fire. The combat drone hovered over to Garrus and zapped his shields, the turian turning to fire at the thing, but missing as it disappeared. Not worrying about it, Marcus once again charged, holstering his rifle and reloading his SMG, firing a widespread over the disorganized mercs. He caught another human in the shoulder, shields down, spinning him and allowing Tali to catch him in the back with her shotgun while Kasumi decloaked and rammed her omni-blade up the back of another.

The two asari paniced, resorting to their biotics and unleashing a bombardment on them. Unfortunately for them, they weren't the only ones with biotics. Pulsing with ethereal energy, he leapt up and launched a biotic shockwave towards the pair, breaking the concentration of one and sending another flying into a wall unconscious. The other tried to regain focus, but was quickly gunned down by Garrus. His shields recharged just as Marcus moved to finish off the salarian, the engineer firing. Expecting the round to be reflected off his barriers, the spectre was surprised when the round caught him in the chest, causing him to reel back. Confused, he checked his shield meter; no shields.

What the...? Then he found the source of his problem flying towards him. That engineer's damn combat drone. He moved to destroy it, but was stopped as another of the engineer's bursts caught him in the shoulder, forcing him to the ground to throw off the merc's aim. He moved to destroy the drone again, but smiled at the pointlessness of the gesture. The combat drone was hit by a burst of energy and turned around just in time to watch Chiktika ram into it, sending it flying. Before it could retaliate, Chiktika finished it off with a burst of incineration, destroying the drone. Tali shouted in triumph, yelling through the comm.

"Noone's faster than Chiktika vas Paus!"

The salarian, shocked, moved to run, but was stopped short as a incineration blast hit him in the back. Without shields, he was helpless as the fire consumed him, screaming in pain. To end his suffering, Kasumi emptied a burst into the back of his skull, killing him. Mordin nodded to the thief, reloading his SMG. Marcus stood, humming as the armor's injectors activated and medi-gel coated his wounds, shields recharging.

He watched as Tali caught Chiktika from the ground, having deactivated it, and pocketed it. With a nod to the spectre, Marcus grinned and motioned for them to move inside the luggage bay. Palming the door interface, they moved inside, weapons scanning the room.

He almost jumped back in shock as, seemingly out of nowhere, the body of a dead eclipse trooper, a human, slammed into the wall, her screams echoing through the room after her demise, body falling to the ground in a broken heap. He turned to the source of the merc's death, and saw nothing at first. But he did see the mangled bodies of numerous dead eclipse mercs; salarian, human and asari. He looked up above to see a lone asari merc, pistol out before her, eyes scanning the room in fear.

"Those were my best troops!" The asari screamed at her unseen enemy, "I'm going to fucking rip your throat out, Justicar!" Empty words for a dead woman, it seemed.

"Tell me what I need to know and I will be gone from here," Came a wise, yet beautiful, accented voice, "Where did you send her?" Then the owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows and into the light. She was an asari, as was already obvious, but she was different from the others he'd met, like Liara. She wore a crimson red uniform, ancient carvings and symbols aligning it, the uniform accenting her slim body. Her body moved gracefully; almost like every step took no effort, but always came out as hynotizing. He had to question the uniform itself though; it didn't take modesty into effect. Her cleavage wasn't just showing, but the whole thing could be seen. If the slit down the middle was any bigger, then...he didn't need to finish that thought.

Her face was a lighter shade of blue than any asari he'd known and had no facial markings. Above her eyebrows however was some pieces of red metal that curved around her eyebrows and on her forehead, serving a purpose unknown. Her body glowed in the azure light of biotics, ready to attack if nessacary.

The eclipse merc shook her head, "You think I'd betray her? She'd hurt me in ways you couldn't imagine!"

Samara seemed to ignore her her comment, "The name of the ship. Your life hangs on the answer, lieutenant."

The asari began to gain courage, raising her pistol slightly, "You can kill me, but one of us will take you down, justicar!" She then raised her pistol fully, squeezing the trigger. Three shots rang out, all repelled by a barrier Samara had formed infront of herself. Before the merc could counter with her own biotics, she had been picked up and thrown off the balcony into a pair of crates, winding her. Samara gracefully leapt off the balcony, using her biotic abilities to glide through the air and land softly on the ground, stalking towards her fallen prey. With no weapon, the merc just watched as Samara placed a boot on her neck, the merc trying desperately to escape.

"What was the name of the ship she left on?" Samara demanded.

The asari barely managed to choke out her answer, "Go. To. Hell!"

The justicar shook her head, barely fazed by the response, "May you find peace in the embrace of the goddess." With that, she twisted her foot, snapping the merc's neck, causing her to cease all movement. Removing her foot from her dead opponent, Samara finally turned to face them, regarding them with a watchful gaze. Then, after what felt like a tension-filled eternity, she approached them, Marcus ordering his team to lower their weapons.

"My name is Samara, a servant of the justicar code," The justicar greeted, "My quarrel is with these eclipse sisters, but I see five well armed people before me. Are we friend, or foe?"

Marcus nodded, looking at the dead bodies of the eclipse mercs, "Friend, I hope. I'm Commander Shepard, and I need you for a dangerous mission. I've come to recruit you. My illusive benefactor sent me a dossier saying you'd prove useful." Illusive, yes. Benefactor? We'll see.

Samara quirked her lips in impression, "You honor me, but I'm in the middle of a investigation."

"I need you to help me stop the collectors from abducting human colonies," Marcus offered.

This got Samara's interest, "The Collectors are a worthy foe. I would relish testing myself against them. But I seek an incredibly dangerous fugitive," He quirked his brows in confusion, motioning for the justicar to explain, "I had cornered her here, but the eclipse sisters managed to sneak her aboard a transport ship before I could get to her. I must find the name of the ship she left on before the trail runs cold."

He nodded and heard the door open. Before he could turn to see who it was though, Samara had formed a biotic barrier around him and four shots pinged harmlessly off it. He turned to see that it was another asari merc, and he instantly recognized her. She's the one my shockwave knocked unconscious. Before she could do anything else, the door opened again and she turned to see who it was, only to be gunned down by assault rifle fire. He sighed in relief as Anaya, leading a squad of Nos Astra Tactical Police troopers, marched into the room, all wearing armor except her. Seeing no other hostiles, Anaya moved towards Samara, all officers pointing weapons at her. Marcus felt his grin lessen. He didn't like this.

Anaya stopped a few meters away before turning to Marcus, "Is the justicar willing to leave with you?"

He shook his head, "She has to finish her investigation."

Samara nodded, "This is true. She is dangerous and must be stopped."

The sounds of weapon safeties being turned off could be heard while Anaya shook her head and sighed, hand drawing the sidearm on her hip, "I wish you were willing to leave with Shepard, Justicar."

Marcus knew what was going on. Anaya's superiors had finally done it. The detective couldn't delay it anymore.

She was doing to attempt to arrest Samara. Now he under the TPT squad, but he didn't think they would stand a chance against Samara. And if push came to shove, would he really fight Anaya and her fellow officers to save Samara? Could he really kill innocent officers who were just doing their jobs just to recruit some asari legalized viglante?

Anaya's voice broke his thoughts, "By order of the Nos Astra Police Department, and by approval of the Nos Astra City Council, I hereby am forced to place you under arrest Samara. People are afraid of what you might do and we don't need a panic on his hands."

Marcus' hands tightened around the grip of his rifle, getting ready to fight. But surprisingly, Samara's response took him off guard.

"You risk a great deal by following your superior's orders, detective," Samara responded cooly, unfazed, "Fortunately, I will not have to resist. My code obligates me to cooperate with you for one day. After that, I must return to my investigation."

Anaya shook her head, "I'm sorry, but my investigation will take at least a week to crack, justicar. I can't let you out that early."

"You won't be able to stop me," Samara responded.

Deciding to stop them before a all-out firefight broke out, Marcus decided to resolve the situation, "We'll find the name of that ship."

Samara and Anaya immediately turned to Marcus, the latter nodding her approval eagerly while holstering her pistol, while Samara smiled grimly at him. Anaya then motioned for her troops to lower their weapons, which they did begrudgingly.

"Do that and I will join you," Samara stated, "Then the code will be satisfied."

"Do you have any leads?" Garrus asked, ever the detective.

Samara nodded, "The volus merchant, Pitne For, is tied to this. Eclipse mercs are preparing to kill him. Get the truth out of him, he may be able to get you into the eclispe base." As she said this, Anaya activated a pair of omni-cuffs and clasped the around Samara's wrists, which were tried behind her back. Once finished, Samara moved out of the building, with the troopers following behind her. Just before she left, Anaya turned towards his group, which were moving to follow.

"Thanks for that," Anaya stated, "You can find Pitne inside my office. Had to keep him inside. He tried to leave again."

Marcus chuckled as he followed the detective, Garrus giving him that 'I told you so' look he gave people whenever he was right. He simply rolled his eyes. It wasn't long before they reached the NAPD outpost again, and Samara was quickly lead to a holding cell while Anaya sat at her desk, watching his group as they approached Pitne, the small, fat volus sitting on the ground. Seeing them approach, he tried to stand up, but failed.

"Hello again, Earth-clan," Pitne greeted, "Any luck finding out what happened to Dakni? *hsk* I hope you've discovered it wasn't me who killed him *hsk* by now. I want out of here; especially *hsk* now since that justicar is locked up in the same building as *hsk* I am."

Marcus shook his head, crossing his arms, team conversing with each other while Garrus tried fruitlessly to flirt with Anaya, "Let's cut the crap. Why's Eclipse out for your head?"

Pitne was quick to deny it, "Eclipse? Wanting me dead? *hsk* I don't think so. I'm merely an innocent mer-"

He squatted next to the volus and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him forward until his face was inch from the volus', "Stop bullshitting me. I get angry when people do that. And I get murderous when I'm pissed. Just ask the geth, or Saren's dead corpse. Which ever one you like."

If Pitne could piss himself, which assumed volus could, he'd be doing so right now, "O-okay! *hsk* Maybe you're right, Earth-clan. I'm desperate *hsk* I've got angry mercs wanting to pop my suit open *hsk* and now we have this justicar from the Thessia-clan *hsk* Let's talk."

Marcus nodded, standing and motioning for the volus to continue.

"I smuggled a chemical onto Illium that boosts biotic powers in combat *hsk*," Pitne stated, "It can also give you temporary powers if you don't have any *hsk* And trust me, even if you're wearing a suit, it *hsk* won't protect you. This chemical goes right through it. Don't know how *hsk* it works, but it does. Just warning you so you can watch that *hsk* clanless over there." He then pointed over to Tali.

He ignored his comment about Tali being 'clanless.' Yet again, volus do name people after their homeworld and the quarian's don't have one, so they are technically clanless. Doesn't stop it from sounding like an insult though.

"It also...is toxic,*hsk*" Pitne stated, "*hsk* I may have...um...forgotten, to mention that to the Eclipse *hsk* So they are perturbed and want to kill me."

He rolled his eyes. As much as he hated Eclipse, he could see why they'd want him dead. I'd be pissed if I was sold a tank that secretly would explode if you tried to fire the main cannon. Instead of scolding the volus however, he just decided to ask the more obvious question.

"I need to gain access to the Eclipse base," Marcus declared.

"I do have a passcard they issued me *hsk* so I could ship my goods in," Pitne admitted, looking around wearily, "Well, I obviously had to return that *hsk* one, but I just happened to make a copy. Here, take it." The volus fitted a three-fingered hand into a suit pocket and pulled out a small card, handing it to the spectre, who took it and pushed it into his pocket.

"Just be careful," Pitne as he turned to leave, "Each eclipse sister commits a murder to earn her uniform. It's quite possible Dakni's death was the result of a initiation. They are all extremely dangerous."

"Yeah, so are krogan, geth and collectors," Marcus offered back, "No trouble with them so far." He was technically right, with the exception of the events of Horizon. Pitne nodded and moved to leave, but found his exit blocked by Anaya, who stood there, shaking her head. Marcus pretended to be entranced by the passcard, grinning under his helmet. Pitne looked up to the Anaya, unaware of what was going on.

"Detective?" Pitne asked, "I've offered all the help *hsk* I can, can I not leave?"

"Why? Why would I let a smuggler go free?" Anaya said, desperately holding back a smug grin.

"Wait...*hsk*, how did you...hear about that? *hsk*"

"I have my ways," Anaya responded, before looking at one of her officers, "Pitne For, I'm placing you under arrest for the smuggling of illegal produce onto Illium and potentially causing the death of your business partner and many other innocents. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." As she said this, she followed Pitne as he was escorted down into the detainee cell room, where he'd be held before being taken to court. If found guility, he'd say hello to Prison.

Mission complete, he lead his team outside and towards a door located to the left of the crime scene; an elevator leading into the eclipse base approximately 44 floors down. Stepping inside, he hit the button for the 44th floor.

Seeing as this would take awhile, Garrus decided to talk with Tali, "So Tali, remember our conversation back on that elevator down on Noveria?"

Tali frowned at the turian behind her mask, not sure what he meant. But when she remember...well, she remembered. And it wasn't something she was going to continue. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the door, not listening to the turian, hoping her response stonewalled, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

"No."

Garrus smirked, not giving up, "Come on, remember how we'd all ask you about life on the Flotilla? It was an oppurtunity to share! Why should Shepard get you all to himself?"

Heat rushed to her cheeks, "This conversation...is over."

"Tell me again about your immune system."

"Ah yes, very interesting. Quarian immune system born from adaptation to life on Rannoch. Unlike other xenoimmuno systems who fought incoming bacteria instead of adaptation. Then there's-"

"Mordin, please."

"I don't know, I'm quite enjoying this."

"Not you to Kasumi!"

"Sorry little bucket, but this is too good to pass up."

"I have a shotgun."

"Ah...we'll talk later."

"That's right, bosh'tet turian."

"Your shotgun doesn't scare me, Tali."

"Kasumi, please! Shepard, help me!"

Marcus merely grinned, "Kasumi, leave Tali alone."

"Fine, Shep. You're no fun at all."

"I didn't realize torturing me about my culture was fun."

"It wouldn't be torture if you simply gave in-"

They all went silent as the elevator stopped and the door swung open, revealing an open room full of crates and two, inactive LOKI mechs. A doorway lay to the left with nothing to the right but crates. They were now in the bowels of eclipse territory. Equipping his SMG, he ordered his team to equip their weapons and move forward, keeping a look out for Pitne's dangerous chemical. He was worried about getting poisoned by the toxic chemical.

He looked through the doorway and saw a full eclipse squad; three asari, four salarians and five humans, all in the same room, patrolling, unaware of their presence, accompanied by three FENRIS mechs. He cursed under his breath, not loud enough to be heard by the mercs, but enough for Mordin to hear him. Then he remembered the two LOKI mechs that sat inactive in the corner. He had found his vanguard.

"Kasumi hack into those mechs and send them in," Marcus ordered, "Tali and Mordin, cover my back and Garrus, provide sniper fire. I'll go in, biotics blazing, right behind the mechs, use 'em as meat shields."

"Don't you mean metal shields?" Garrus remarked.

"Yes, that smartass."

Kasumi wasted no time in hacking into the mechs, having them active pretty quickly; apparently eclipse didn't bother with anti-hacking security. The mechs moved outside, pistols drawn, immediately opening fire on their original eclipse owners. One human was caught in the back of his head, shields down and no helmet; a clean hole ripped into his head as he fell to the ground dead. Hearing the gunshots, eclipse quickly reacted, firing. Marcus charged in behind them, biotics at the ready and SMG at his side.

One of the salarians was quickly able to disable both mechs, but Marcus merely resorted to using his biotics to throw them at the mercs, hitting one salarian and toppling him while knocking another human off to the side, assault rifle falling to the ground. Without waiting, he used the momentum gained from his biotics to tackle an asari to the ground, his team moving to deal with the rest. The asari straggled, grabbing his wrist and trying to rip him off of her. His omni-blade activated, slicing through her wrist and causing her to let go in a scream of agony.

He sliced her throat wideopen, purple blood spraying onto his visor and painting his chestplate. He quickly lifted himself off of the dead asari, only to be lifted off the ground by the second asari and thrown into Garrus, body's interwined as they toppled over each other. SMG still gripped in his hand, he moved to get up, standing up just as Garrus did. The turian lifted his sniper rifle and fired, the shot hitting true; blasting through her forehead and ripping a nice hole in that area, killing her. This left one more asari, who was quickly taken by Tali. The remainder of the eclipse force, two salarians and a FENRIS mech, tried to escape, using the mech as cover, but didn't get far as Kasumi appeared, emptying a burst into one's kneecap and while he was on the ground, placing another in the back of his head.

The other salarian hoped to continue his escape, but quickly found himself toppling into a large assortment of canisters, panic entering his features. Marcus understood why as he took down the last FENRIS with a biotic thrust, ordering his team forward. Those canisters were full of the toxic chemical.

The salarian screamed as he was surrounded by a deathly green mist, inhaling the fumes in his panic. Before long, he ceased all moment, biotics flaring up and disappearing rapidly as his body fell to the ground. He made sure to switch off his olfactory filters, not wanting to breathe it in, quickly ordering his squad to do the same. Then he remembered Tali. She was standing guard at the door, unaware of the toxic gas stalking towards her. He ran forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of the mist's path and back towards the group. The quarian nodded to him in appreciation.

"Come on, we'd better keep going," Marcus ordered, "And whatever you do, don't get anywhere near those fumes. Stay close to me."

"Shep, found something," Kasumi announced, running up to him, holding out her omni-tool.

"Found something, I gather?" He asked the petite thief. She quickly nodded, bringing up some file.

"Yeah, think I might have found out who leads the eclipse in this base," Kasumi admitted, "An asari by the name of Captain Wasea. She's the boss here, but apparently she answers to Nassana."

"Again with Dantius," Mordin piped up, rubbing the bottom of his chin, "Dantius must be extremely powerful with eclipse troops at her back. Likely that the only way to stop eclipse operations in area is to cut head off leader. Would be intelligent approach. Killing Nassana, seems like best option."

"We'll deal with this later," Marcus stated, "Let's just find the name of the ship Samara's fugitive left on and get out of here. We'll find out what to do about Dantius later."

They continued to trudge through the eclipse base, taking down whatever defenses the mercs set up. The mercenaries really hadn't been prepared for their break-in, and Wasea seemed to content to just throw her troops at them, like she was delaying them. During this time, they had found eclipse logs listening Minagen X3 as the name for the toxic chemicals; a substance once used during chemical warfare tactics by the geth against the quarians in the morning war. A deadly and effective weapon. It was illegalized by the Citadel Conventions.

Finally, they reached the final stretch of the eclipse stronghold. The majority of the eclipse forces had been disposed of, which hadn't been much bigger than a platoon, and just as he was about to move up a flight of stairs, he saw an asari merc with a shotgun trying to flee. He raised his weapon, "Stop right there. Drop the weapon and turn around; slowly."

The merc stopped in her tracks, dropping her shotgun and spinning to face them, face contorted in fear. The asari was young, still in her maiden stage most likely, and looked terrified, her hands fidgeting, "Please don't kill me! I didn't mean to kill anyone, I swear! Wasea made me do it!"

"What the hell are you on about?" Garrus demanded, "Didn't mean to kill anyone? Then why did you join a fucking mercenary company?"

"Please!" the asari pleaded, "When I joined the Eclipse, I thought it'd be cool! 'Elnora the mercenary!' I thought my friends would be impressed by me! I didn't know I was going to kill people and work for Dantius of all people! That justicar is probably going to kill me and I need out! I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear it!"

"If I let you go...," Marcus hesitated, "Just tell me, who is Nassana Dantius exactly?"

"You don't know?" The asari asked bewildered, "She's only the most wealthy and powerful asari on all of Illium. She owns the City Council, half of eclipse and has so much money, she can spend some of it building twin skyscrapers in her name and not even lose a quarter of her wealth."

He heard Kasumi whistle behind him, "A rich asari with eclipse at her back, Shep? You always choose the impossible kills."

He smirked at the thief, turning back to the asari naming herself Elnora, "You can go. But if I see you here again, I will shoot you."

Elnora nodded ecstatically, running the way she had been before, disappearing up the flight of stairs. With a shake of his head, his team continued upstairs and down the right corridor, towards Wasea's warehouse. Before they hit the door however, they bumped into what looked to be a drunk volus; at least he thought he was drunk. The volus was stumbling around, unable to keep his balance. He quirked an eyebrow at the volus. He then moved back slightly when he saw biotics flare around the volus' suit, the little alien turning to face them.

"I am a biotic god!" The volus declared, "I see things and I make them happen! *hsk* You will bow before me, Earth-clan! *hsk* For I'm biotic supremacy made flesh!"

"Keelah, we have a nutcase," Tali mumbled and the spectre chuckled lightly.

"You laugh at me now, but you are nothing *hsk* compared to my might!" The volus declared, "I am Niftu Cal! And I am a god! *hsk* When I breathe...when I breathe...*hsk* I fly! I was scared at first, but then Wasea *hsk* began to inject things into me. She made me into this. And now she laughs at my greatness. *hsk* She laughs at me, but I will show her," Niftu quickly turned to the door, "I will toss Wasea about like a rag doll!"

"This guy couldn't tie his own bootlace let alone fight," Garrus remarked.

Niftu made his way over to Tali, standing just infront of her and looking up at her, "You, clanless woman! Bow down to me! *hsk* You will be a servant of my pleasure! You will herald in my greatness!" Tali just looked blankly at the volus before looking at Marcus, shaking her head. He could tell she was smiling under that mask as she knelt down and pushed the volus, the little behemoth toppling onto his back, yelping. He had to hold back a laugh.

"Laugh all you want! I will destroy you! I am beyond your imagination! *hsk* I am-" Then, out of nowhere, the volus suddenly fell asleep, snoring loudly.

"Asleep," Kasumi finished for him, "And then the fire nation attacked."

Marcus guffawed, turning towards the the japanese thief, "Why do I happen to understand that reference?"

Kasumi grinned, "Because anime is awesome. I even know a few asari who love it."

"Anime? Fire Nation...attacked?" Garrus asked, mirroring Tali's confused gaze, "What is going on?"

"Fire Nation Attacked," Mordin started, "Reference to modern japanese animation, anime for short, called Avatar: Last Airbender. Very popular during earth twenty-first century. Will have to try sometime."

Kasumi just rolled her eyes and elbowed Tali in the ribs lightly, "You and I are going to sit down and watch an episode when we get back. Maybe a few episodes."

Marcus raised his eyebrows, "Is this that how it is? Well then Garrus, I'm going to have to show you Game of Thrones."

Kasumi immediately jumped, "That settles it! We are all watching that after this is done!"

Spirits lifted, his squad moved down the hallway and into the warehouse, door closing behind them. They were in a massive room, with the back packed to the brim with huge crates, presumably filled with Minagen X3. At the back of the room was three human eclipse mercs, right infront of a asari merc wearing heavy armor and with orange markings on her face. Standing next to her was Elnora, obviously talking to her. Damn it, he shouldn't have trusted her.

Upon hearing them enter, Wasea and Elnora immediately turned to the door, a grin creasing both their faces. The three mercs turned to them, raising their rifles as they did, immediately opening fire. Marcus formed a biotic barrier, allowing his team to get behind cover before he dropped the shield and dropped into cover, just avoiding the tsunami of revenant LMG rounds from one of the mercs. Save the best 'till last.

"Is this what the great commander Shepard does in the face of his enemies?" Wasea mocked, glowing in blue energy as she approached, "Wimper and hide? This is pathetic! I expected a showdown, not a duck hunt!"

Without giving her any time to respond, he primed a grenade and through it in her general direction, waiting for the explosion before grabbing his shotgun and charging her, weapon firing. Wasea managed to block the shot before he barrelled into her, his team engaging the enemy mercs, who didn't last long despite their heavy weaponry. Yet again, they were standing in the open. Dickhead move.

Elnora just seemed to watch the whole battle, not making any moves to join in the fighting. She just hung back, pistol out and moving from target to target, almost like she had trouble choosing who to shoot first. He struggled with Wasea, but she managed to shake him off with a biotic thrust, allowing her to land on top of him and try to shoke the life out of him. She straddled him, a look of desperation in her eyes.

Grabbing the sides of her face, he headbutted the asari, helmet impacting naked face, causing her to loosen her grip and reel back with a broken nose. He leapt at his attempt, wrapping his hands around her head and snapping the opposte way. With Wasea dead, he shoved her dead body off of him and watched as his team rejoined him as he stood up.

He turned to Elnora, sneering, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"You wouldn't dare kill the sister of Nassana Dantius!" Elnora blurted out at them. He stopped immediately, looking at her puzzledly. She smirked, "That's right. My name isn't Elnora, that was just a cover I used to keep an eye on Wasea and make sure she stated loyal. My real name is Dahlia Dantius, and you won't kill me if you want to live."

"Are you forgetting something?" Marcus asked.

"What?"

"I'm Commander Shepard," he deadpanned, "I've faced far worse than your sister."

"No, wait! I can-"

The sound of a SMG burst rang out, hitting Dahlia in the side of the head and killing her instantly, body toppling to the ground and purple blood pooling around her dead body. Every head in the room turned to the shooter, finding Mordin, SMG raised.

"Eliminated potential hostile," Mordin defended, anticipating their response before holstering his weapon, "Dantius armed and could have shot any one of us. Added bonus in her death too. Attract attention of Nassana; potentially cause her to step from shadows. Allow us to attack her like a prey would in ambush."

"As much as I loathe killing prisoners," Marcus shot a glare at the salarian, "I'll agree with Mordin on this one. If Nassana truly is this dangerous woman who owns Nos Astra through hegemonial rule, then we have to put her down for good."

"What about the name of that ship Samara wanted?" Garrus asked.

"Oh right, of course," Marcus said, remembering.

"Don't worry, I found it," Tali declared, pushing a datapad into Marcus' awaiting hands, "Found it on Wasea's body, of course."

He nodded to the quarian, looking down at the PDA. He found out that the ship Samara's fugitive had left on was a transport ship called the AML Demeter, headed for Omega. Seeing as the information on this would be more than enough to satisfy the justicar, he motioned to his team and they got out of there. He had had enough of fighting mercs for one day anyway.

{Loading...}

September 1, 2185

1615 hours.

NAPD Outpost, Nos Astra Spaceport, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus, Chief Inspector Anaya.

Marcus moved into the outpost with renewed purpose. They had done it. They had raided an eclipse base, decimated it's inhabitants, cut the head off of Eclipse's second-in-command within the area, killed Nassana Dantius' sister, which would hopefully get the attention of one overlord bitch somewhere. That, and they had also acquired the datapad holding the information nessacary for Samara's release and recruitment.

"I see you've returned," Anaya announced, "I had heard reports of gunfire down in the eclipse territory. Your doing, perhaps?"

"Most certainly," Marcus stated, smirking, "The Eclipse were definitely responsible for Dakni Kur's death it would seem. I had found information that proved that," he then motioned for Kasumi to provide the detective with the evidence, "I'd also like Samara released from custody so I may hand her the evidence she desires."

"You're a man of wonders, Shepard. I wish a quarter of my men were this competent," Anaya responded gratefully, before tapping her terminal, "Cell 6, release prisoner and bring her to my desk. She's been released."

"Copy that."

It took a few minutes, but Samara finally emerged from the door way, omni-cuffs still tieing her wrists. The officers, a turian and a human, uncuffed her wrists and saluted Anaya before leaving, Samara fitting her hands behind her back as she judged Marcus. Without waiting, he handed her the PDA, which she didn't hesitate in taking, her eyes glazing over it.

"That should be all you need," Marcus stated.

"Indeed it is, Commander," Samara, before fitting the datapad into one of her pockets, turning to face him again, "You have fullfilled your part of the bargain, and I will fulfill mine."

Before he knew what was happening, Samara had squatted infront of him, pulsing with biotic energy, eyes closed. Every asari in the room gasped and watched in awe, even Anaya seeming to get up from her seat and watch the moment. Then Samara spoke.

"By the code I will serve you Shepard," Samara pledged, "Your choices, are my choices. Your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code." With that, her biotic energy seemed to detonate, prickling the hairs on his skin as it blew past him, the asari in the room bewildered. They stood there, his team included, for a moment, before returning to their stations. Samara stood up while Anaya just continued to look in awe.

"I never thought I'd...see a justicar...swear an oath like that," Anaya declared in perputual shock.

Marcus just seemed confused, "I don't get what happened. What did you just do?"

"I swore an oath to follow you," Samara explained, "Most justicars work alone in their pursuit of justice, but when the time comes to follow a leading authority into a fight or to join a military faction seeking to overthrow that of a faction seen as unjust, then I must swear allegiance to them as my code can contradict certain operations. What I just did ensures that your authority supercedes the code until your mission is complete. When it is, my code takes over once more."

"I see," Marcus said in understanding.

"Of course...," Samara continued, "If you order me to do anything ruthless or cruel like slaughter or murder, I may have to kill you when the mission is over."

Before he could do anything, Tali had reacted within a second, placing herself infront of Marcus and striking a threatening pose, pointing an accusing finger at the justicar, "Like hell you will. You so much as try and hurt him and I will kill you." The group was shocked at Tali's action of overprotectiveness. Gone was the Tali who he talked to and would hopelessly stutter whenever they teased or pleasured each other. This Tali was fierce, badass and would kill to protect him. He was a lucky man.

He wasn't surprised by Samara's unfazed posture. But a smile slowly crept along her face, and that did surprise him.

"Ah, I see you are bonded to the commander and are his unionmate," Samara stated, turning to Marcus, "You continue to surprise me, commander."

"How did you...," Tali was shocked at first but immediately dismissed it, remembering Samara's threat, "You try and kill him and I'll kill you! I won't let you hurt him!"

"I have no intention of bringing harm to your unionmate, child," Samara explained, "I was merely dictating the set parameters. Besides, I highly doubt, judging by the stigma surrounding Shepard, that he would ever commit immoral wrong doings. During my time in my cell, I have done my research on you. I am honored to be joining your impressive crew."

Marcus nodded, bringing a hand on Tali's shoulder, the quarian slowly easing her defenseness at his touch, "I'll be fine, Tali. I think I can defend myself." He smiled appreciatively at her, the quarian nodding and moving back, wanting so much to hug him right now. But she couldn't, not here. Marcus' gaze lingered on her before focusing back on Samara.

"And I am honored to have you," Marcus returned, "Our ship is located in the business district of the Skaro Building, downtown. We'll take you there if you wish. Besides, we all have a movie date."

Samara nodded, motioning for him to lead the way. He quickly grabbed Tali's hand, squeezing it and smiling at his wonderful girlfriend. He didn't regret choosing her for one second. And after what she did for him, he already found a desire for her brimming inside of him. He leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear, "Want to um...have some alone time...you know, back at the ship?"

Tali hesitated before nodding. She suddenly remembered something she desperately wanted to do but didn't have the courage. She wasn't ready to have sex with him; she wouldn't be for a while yet. But she could do something for him. She had done her research on human sexual practises, and had found one that disturbed her slightly while also arousing her. And now she planned to do it. She had the antibiotics. She wanted to do it. With that thought on her mind, she was nervous the whole way back.

The ride back to the Normandy didn't take too long. Samara was more than willing to set herself up in Starboard Observation, where she immediately set about in meditation. Garrus and Kasumi had stated their desire to watch Game of Thrones, but Tali and Marcus said they'd pass for a couple of hours, with Kasumi and Garrus giving them an all too knowing look as they entered the elevator. Now Marcus approached his desk and sat in it, while Tali lingered in the middle, fiddling with her fingers. God it was hot in her suit.

Did she really want to do this? The antibiotics were already coursing through her system; she didn't have long and she might as well have made use of the time. But she want him to see this? She didn't know. Instead she watched the floor, gaining new interest in it. Marcus had finished looking through his emails when he turned to see Tali standing there, completely lost.

"Tali, what's wrong?" Marcus asked. Tali's look didn't leave the floor. He eventually got off his chair and approached her, taking hold of her fingers and seperating them, cupping her chin so she looked at him, "Babe, tell me what's wrong. Do you not want to do this. If you don't, we can still catch Kasumi and Garrus-"

"No, it's not that." Tali responded quickly, trying to find a way to tell him what she wanted to do. How she didn't want to resort to the simple and usual method of rubbing his groin or dry humping his waist. How did she tell him that she wanted to take it one step further?

"Tali..."

"Sorry, I'm just nervous. I...I want to ask you something."

"Ask away, babe. You can ask me anything."

She gulped and finally decided to come out with it, "I want this session...to be different this time. I want to do something new."

He eyed her suspiciously, "Tali, just what are you getting at?"

"I...do you trust me?"

What? "Of course I do. I'd trust you with my life. If you were trapped in a suit without air, I'd willing link our suits and share my oxygen with you. You can trust me and I can trust you."

His words warmed her heart, "Then I want you to close your eyes and sit down at your desk. No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, I don't want you to so much as try and open an eyelid."

"Getting sneaky, are we?"

"Please Marcus-"

He grabbed hold of her shoulders and gently squeezed them, leaning his head against her tinted visor, "I promise. Swear on my blessed life. I will not peek."

She nodded, inhaling a deep, shaky breath as she opened her omni-tool and locked the door, making it so that even Kasumi couldn't get through. Even a skilled tech thief wouldn't bother with walls of code designed to keep geth busy for days. Marcus moved to his desk and sat in it, immediately closing his eyes, squinting to make sure he couldn't see anything. She sighed as she approached him, stopping just before him. Oh Keelah...am I really doing this? What if the instruction sheet was wrong? What if this kills me? Could I handle...

No. You won't die. I will sacrifice anything to be with Marcus. I will not be trapped in this suit. It's time to take the first step, Tali'Zorah.

With another, sharp intake of breath, she crouched down infront of him, crouching on her knees. She leaned closer so she could reach her hands up to his belt buckles; apparently he now preferred belts to zippers, saying it was more sexy and erotic when she pulled down his pants that way. Men. Untying the belt buckle, she quickly pulled his pants down, revealing his boxers beneath, his pants falling to his ankles. She noticed Marcus shift himself on the seat, obviously anticipating the imminent sexual arousal. But he didn't open his eyes for even one second. Thank you, Marcus. Thank you.

With that, she grabbed his boxers and pulled down on them as well, his erect cock popping out like a air balloon being blown up. She felt her heart in her throat as she realized just what she was going to do. Get yourself together. Remember, you're a woman now. The first step, Tali'Zorah. The first step.

She looked at his erect organ for a little bit longer before reaching up the clasps holding her mask in place. Six-fingers reached under her hood and found the release mechanisms. She had asked Marcus to close his eyes because she wasn't ready to show him her face. She trusted him, but keelah, she was so damn afraid of what he might think of her. Would he find her ugly? Horrific? Would he reject her? Those were thoughts she wanted to delay for a little bit longer if she could.

Finally, a hiss entered the room and Marcus' shifting was met by a swat to his leg. Don't you dare open those eyes, it told him. He didn't for a second, loyal to her to the end, despite his desires. With a sigh, she lifted the mask away, placing it on the floor, the young girl humming as she felt the cold air on her face for the first time; or, at least, in his cabin anyway. For extra measure, she pulled her hood down, moving up to his erect cock and slowly grasping it with one hand. Marcus hummed in delight. She just looked at it as she stroked it first, not sure if she was ready. Marcus cooed.

She knew oral sex was popular among humans and was adopted by many other races, but what if it killed her? She knew that consumption of human semen would only wound her immune system and cause a tiny fever, as the semen couldn't survive in an alien environment, but it was just an extranet entry. What was she risking in doing this?

This is Marcus you're talking about. He's worth everything.

And finally, her desires gave in. Closing her eyes and inhaling, she let her hands grasping his legs and her mouth opened, tongue licking the tip of his cock, tasting him first. Marcus cooed louder than before. She smiled at the responses she was causing in him and she found that he tasted good. She continued to lick around his tip, but quickly found it wasn't enough. She needed him.

And before long, her mouth opened wide and wrapped around his cock, pushing downwards so it was fully in her mouth. She moaned, followed by Marcus' even louder one, his hands gripping the chair, but hers could be barely heard because of...obvious reasons. She quickly brought her mouth backup, having second thoughts. Then sexual desire took over once. She liked it, she realized. And she wanted more.

Her mouth pushed down again before moving back up and then repeating the gesture. Each time, Marcus returned her efforts with a massive moan, his right hand letting go of the chair and gripping the back of her helmet, encouraging her. She continued her motions, taking in the taste of his erect dick and his scent. Inbetween this motions, she'd pull off of him and lick his testes or the outer part of his organ, before immediately returning to sucking him.

Before long, she could feel his organ tensing. He was about to climax.

"Tali..."

She couldn't answer.

"I'm cumming!" Eyes widening, she pulled off, moving away just in time. A jet of white semen shot out of his organ, impacting the golden collar of her suit and dripping down her breasts. By the time he was done, the whole upper portion of her suit had a coating of cum all over it. Luckily she wouldn't have the taste of his cum today. Before she got aroused once more and tried a second run, she grabbed her mask and put it back on, straddling Marcus and telling him he could open his eyes.

"Holy...fucking...shit," Marcus exclaimed, looking her straight in the eyes, ignoring the cum drifting down her breasts, "That was amazing! I didn't know you knew about fillatios."

"I didn't until I came upon in my research about...us," Tali admitted, "I heard you humans enjoy it, and I didn't want you to get tired of me, so I thought I'd try it."

He stroked her cheek tenderly, "Tali, I wouldn't care if you never got out of that suit. As long as your safe and I have you, I'll be fine. But Tali, you know that was an incredibly risky thing to do. You could get sick, you could...die..."

She shook her head and embraced him, "I don't care. I'm willing to risk everything to be with you."

"If your death is a result of this, it ain't happening."

"I promise, I won't die," Tali reassured him, "But I need to feel your skin on mine. I need to kiss you. I need to make love to you; to meld and join with you. I can't do that in this suit, but I can do it with the proper research. We'll be together, I promise."

And with that, he just held her, not a care in the world.

"That was...one of my less...finer, moments."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I'm sure you enjoyed yourself."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"Oh, trust me when I say I did, it just seems awfully awkward now that we look back on it. Anyway, you went to recruit Thane next?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"In a few days, we did. But until then we just hung around on the ship, introduced Samara to the crew and shopped on Illium. Don't you remember that night when we watched Game of Thrones?"

- Interrogation Subject 001.

"How could I forget?"

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"But, of course, you're right. After that, it was time to recruit Thane. And you won't believe who we got to kill as an added bonus."

- Interrogation Subject 001.

A/N:

You're asking; really, a Game of Thrones reference in Prophecy? Well why not! GOT is the main reason it took me so long to pull the last couple of chapters from my ass, so I guess I should make up for it. Besides, GOT is awesome! For those who don't watch it, I recommend checking it out. It's just pure awesome.

If that is all, I have a season 1 recap to watch. I'm pretty pissed that I have to wait for a whole year for Season 4. -_-