I do not own Mass Effect. Bioware does.


It may have been a long flight, but the Aran'tar, the Normandy and Victus's capital ship arrived at the Citadel.

"I'm impressed, Robin! You really handled that very well," Garrus complimented as he took off his armor.

Robin smiled as she took off her suit of armor.

"Thanks, Garrus!" Robin chirped, "I'm just glad we made progress in our little resistance."

Garrus smiled as he helped Robin remove her suit.

"I think this last venture may justify a hardware upgrade," Garrus offered, "think your suit could use something new?"

Robin took a moment to examine the few dents in her suit.

"I guess I'll need that upgrade," Robin nodded.

Once the ships finished docking, Garrus, Victus and Brendan's teams disembarked. Garrus left with Robin to search for the nearest armor smith while Brendan led his crew towards the immigration office. It took a while for the young ambassador and the turian commander to find a shop that they were searching for. A volus waddled out from behind the store front to greet the two of them.

"Greetings, my name is Expat," he said between wheezes, "how may I be of service…Earthclan?"

Garrus stepped forward, placed the suit container on the counter.

"We were looking to replace the materials used in the armor pads on this suit," Garrus requested, "also, I'd like to see if you could replace the shield emitter with something better."

Expat took a moment to open up the container and examine the suit.

"I can arrange that. What…do you want something relatively light?"

Robin shrugged.

"Is it possible to make it tough and light at the same time?" she suggested.

"I've got…an option you might like. Would you like to retain…these current colors, or do you wish to change them?" Expat continued as he observed the chest-plate.

"I'd like to keep the color scheme the way it is," Robin requested, still admiring the white and blue color scheme of her armor.

The volus nodded before tapping his omni-tool.

"It will be done. The total will come to thirty-five hundred credits for the armor replacement…and the shields upgrade. I've still got a few projects to complete for other customers…so this one could take until tomorrow at this time to complete."

"I can afford it," Garrus answered as he confirmed the payment, "here's my contact information. Let me know when it's done."

Accepting the payment, the volus took a moment to examine the contact information Garrus provided. With their business done, Garrus and his human girlfriend left the shop. As the two walked back to their apartment, Garrus wrapped his arm around Robin's shoulder.

"It's been a long day, I'm feeling beat," Garrus sighed.

Robin smiled and leaned into the touch.

"Do you mind if we invite Tali and Liara over?" Robin requested.

Garrus' mandibles shifted into a smile.

"Sure, we've earned the rest. What do you have in mind for later tonight?"

Robin raised her arms over her head and folded them behind her head.

"I'm not in the mood for take-out tonight," Robin answered, "maybe we could find some recipes online and go buy ingredients?"

Garrus nodded.

"Sounds good. I know of a marketplace not too far from here. Want to check it out?"

Robin wrapped her arm around her turian boyfriend.

"That would be great!" Robin smiled.

The two spent just over fifteen minutes before they returned to their apartment. As they gradually got to work on a recipe Garrus found on the Extranet, Tali and Liara arrived.

"Hey Garrus! What are you guys cooking?" Tali asked after Robin let them in.

"Kasumi and I are helping Garrus with a meal from scratch," Robin explained.

"Well, it certainly smells nice," Liara complimented as she entered the kitchen, "a soup I presume?"

"It's more along the lines of a stew," Kasumi answered, "it's also a mix of something we found online."

"I…see," Tali mused.

While Liara and Tali stepped into the living room, Robin returned to the kitchen.

"Looks nice, I think we're almost done here," Garrus said, peering into the pot.

"Now just leave it to simmer for a few more minutes," Kasumi told him.

She took a spoonful and handed it to Robin.

"What do you think?" Kasumi asked.

Robin tasted the sample before giving Kasumi a thumbs up.

"You did great with the seasoning," Robin complimented.

"A master's hand goes a long way," Kasumi smiled.

Garrus nodded as he turned away from the pot.

"Right," Garrus offered, "I'll start getting the kitchen counter set."

Robin responded by opening the cabinet door and rummaged for bowls. She pulled out some bowls and set the kitchen counter while Garrus gathered some silverware. A few minutes later, the team discussed the course of the mission.

"So Wrex and Jack go on a hunt to see who can kill more Cerberus personnel in the factory. Though Wrex did come out on top, Jack was pretty close behind," Kasumi explained, "of course, he tried to play off the relatively close score."

"I'm surprised someone of her stature managed to accomplish such a feat," Liara remarked between bites.

Robin listened in while she took a bite of her dish.

"At least Jack is faring well since we first met her," Robin mused.

"Hey Robin, I heard you ran into Miranda…again," Tali prompted.

Robin turned her head towards Tali.

"Yeah, and I learned of a weakness we can use against her," Robin answered.

Liara placed her finger on her cheek.

"I remember seeing Saren speak to you for a bit on the way out of the base," Liara mentioned, "did you already tell him about what you discovered?"

Robin stammered nervously while she twiddled with her fingers.

"Apparently, she has a thing for turians as well," Garrus replied, swallowing a bite.

"Oh, by the Goddess," Liara muttered.

"To be fair," Garrus started, "it's still something we can predict her behaviors upon."

"Still, it's coincidental in a canny way," Tali agreed.

Kasumi thought over the conversation while she continued eating. She then remembered the vid she received involving Miranda's business deal and scandalous affair with Xavier Tillerson.

"If Miranda is attracted to turians," Kasumi asked, "then why does she let CEOs of Toby Dunn's trusted corporations have their way with her?"

Garrus scratched his mandibles.

"Maybe she's too ashamed to come out of the closet," Robin assumed, "and she objectifies herself to keep her mind off of it."

"Put it in that context, it does make sense," Garrus agreed, "it's just that hearing someone of her position has these interests just make sense when you initially hear it."

Tali sipped her beverage through a straw.

"So Robin, how exactly do you intend on using this to your advantage?" Tali asked, "because I doubt bringing turian troops without armor will cause her to surrender on sight."

Robin just finished her meal and set her spoon down.

"I haven't thought about it yet," Robin admitted, "but you do bring up an interesting point."

"We'll be hitting a Cerberus medical and supply station next," Garrus mentioned, "Robin had mentioned this with Saren, which does give me a few ideas."

Robin raised her eyebrows.

"Along with targeting you, I've heard from Saren she's been very persistent trying to 'apprehend' him," Garrus explained, "initially, I thought it was to cut him up, make him an example to the Council. However, if she really is interested in Saren for other reasons, we could bait her out in an attempt to catch him."

Robin couldn't help but shudder while Tali finished her meal.

"That sounds kinda risky," Robin commented.

"I'm inclined to agree," Liara spoke up, "we'll have a chance if we prompt her into acting irrationally."

Kasumi and Garrus soon finished their meals and it was only moments later before Liara finished hers.

"Sounds like a plan," Kasumi confirmed.

Robin, Kasumi, Garrus, Liara and Tali took some time to clear off the table and set the dishes near the kitchen sink.

"So, who's up for some Star Wars?" Robin chirped.


Meanwhile, Brendan grew tired of waiting for confirmation of his immigration status, so it was no surprise he rested his head on Vega's shoulder while they sat side by side.

"Hey Loco! You alright?" Brendan snapped awake as Vega nudged him.

"Yeah, I needed some shut-eye. God this is taking forever," Brendan quickly replied.

"I hear you, commander. We've been here for twelve hours."

The two along with ten other troops had been going through paper work and rushing around the Citadel to meet the right people. After waiting through an excruciatingly long queue, the group finally took the opportunity to get some rest on the nearby benches.

"I am not sure how long it took for Robin Hood to get immigration status for herself and her friends," Brendan mused, "but I'm betting she had it easier than I did."

"Your sister's an ambassador, right?" Vega asked, "couldn't she have helped us?"

Brendan scratched his head in confusion.

"Why bring my sister into this mess?" he objected.

Vega shrugged.

"Sure, it would be nepotism, but I figured someone of her position could give us the clearance we need for a lot of these things. She trusts you, right?"

"She does," Brendan answered, "but I'm certain I can handle this by myself."

As such, Brendan and James waited until several minutes later, a C-Sec officer stepped into the room.

"I appreciate your patience, commander. I've helped with a few other things to make the final stretch much shorter for you," the officer replied as he handed back the documents they had been carrying all throughout the Citadel, "all you need to do is bring them back to the immigration office back on the Presidium, check them in, and you should be set to move in onto this station."

With a yawn, Brendan stood up and accepted the papers.

"I appreciate it officer. We'll be on our way. C'mon, James."

Drowsily, the whole team got back on their feet and returned to the shuttle station. It would've been easy to just head back to the Normandy for some sleep, but Brendan still persisted on getting the job done before he turned in for the night.

While the others returned to the Normandy, he and Vega barely stumbled into the immigration office. Luckily, it was one of the few office buildings on the Presidium that ran the full day and night cycle, at least with automated tellers.

"Scannings have been initiated. Compiling numerous profiles," the VI chimed as Brendan filed them into the machine. After a brief pause, the VI returned, "compiling completed. Welcome to the Citadel Station."

Brendan sighed with relief before beginning to fall backward from exhaustion. Vega ran forward to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Easy, Loco. I'll help you get back."

"G-Good to know yooou're watching my-y back…" Brendan slurred as the pair slowly stumbled to the nearest taxi with his arm over James' shoulder.

Once they hopped into the taxi, Brendan leaned back and started dozing off.

"Brothers in arms, no? Even if the world around us is burning down, that's what we're for. We see to it we all get home," James said with a weary grin.

"Let's just hope Toby Dunn hasn't burned the world to ashes by then," Brendan mumbled.


"Yeah, yeah, I had a lovely chat with the President of Taiwan. She's a great person, and I'm honestly honored it happened," Toby replied with hearty laughter.

Suddenly, his secretary buzzed over the intercom, interrupting the call.

Tapping a button on his desk, the calm feminine voice reported:

{Sir, a Mr. Harper has arrived. He says he heavily invested in your campaign during the presidential run. He says he would like to discuss matters about extraterrestrial relations.}

"Of course, send him in!" returning to the call, he quickly finished, "look, sir, I've got to go. I've got a small business call coming up."

Without saying anything further, Toby hung up and stood from his chair in the Oval Office.

Minutes later, a very distinctive individual entered. He was well within his fifties, wore a slim two-piece suit, had pale skin, wavy and combed gray hair, and glowing blue irises, with unique circular symbols. Toby jumped with fright as he entered.

"Ah, the Illusive Man! What a pleasure to see you!"

The Illusive Man walked up to the chair in front of the desk.

"I wish I could say the same, President Dunn. I've got plenty to talk about," while the tone was friendly, a subtle but distinct layer of bitterness dripped from his words.

Still, the Golf Party president shook the Illusive Man's hand. Toby's ever-present inflated confidence had quickly evaporated.

"I-I see, sir. What is it you had in mind?"

"I'm afraid you've lost touch with our end goal. You see, humanity needs to defend itself against the Galaxy, but you've kept your mind turned inward for so long that it's almost like you've forgotten the rest of the Galaxy exists. I demand to see improvement in productivity," the Illusive Man's tone went from moderately friendly to downright sour, "I've managed to get ahold of some krogan-made warheads and plan to make our next set of moves soon. The main problem is you are far behind schedule. When my job is done, I want you ready to secure humanity's place. If the other species refuse to recognize, they will know their place and your job is to enforce it."

"N-Now look, I'm doing all I can. The other countries aren't exactly cooperating with the organization ideals," Toby stumbled.

"Hmm. Strange how all that talk about your self-proclaimed success as a 'business mogul' has evaporated so quickly. Well, here's today's reminder," the Illusive Man pulled out a datapad with a list of names. Toby didn't need to work so hard to see his own name backwards, "your life is on a thread. This is your only warning. Act like it."

Dunn leaned back in his chair with a single bead of sweat sliding down his face.

"Understood, sir."

For once, the Illusive Man's crooked smile appeared.

"That's what I thought."