The black ship was just as disconcerting as it had been the first time Del had set foot on it. Entering through the airlock, in a full (and still incredibly heavy) hard-suit, she clutched the biocontainment case holding the krogan samples tightly, and tried not to let her nerves get the best of her.

She was in the midst of an escort of turians, and yet more were clustered in the huge 'control' room as they arrived. Weapons seemed to bristle from every hand, the turians all bearing the even and hard stares of seasoned soldiers.

One strode their way, nodding to her escort before fixing her a look. "Dr. Shepard, I am Colonel Levv Makkis, in command of the black ship. I'm under strict orders from the Council to allow you to access whatever systems in this ship that you need in order to produce your plague vaccine, but you will be closely monitored and under guard at all times."

"The Council thinks I'll do something to sabotage this ship?" she asked, indignant.

"The Council wants your safety kept…and it's true- they are unwilling to let anything reduce or eliminate their investment."

"Investment? This ship isn't an investment-"

"This ship has technology that will better the galaxy, launching countless species centuries forward…including your own. I shouldn't need to remind you of that."

"This ship has technology that, so far, has been used to do nothing but kill," Del replied. "Forgive me if I'm not that excited over the prospect of it being carved up piecemeal and put into hands that have no idea what they're playing with."

"Noted, doctor. Right now, your only concern is to produce that vaccine. I suggest you begin."

Glaring at him, she headed toward the pedestal that Miranda had used to get control of the ship systems. A turian was already integrated into it, and only half-glanced at her as she approached.

"Tell me what you need and I shall call it up," he said.

"No, it doesn't work that way," she replied. "I can't walk you step by step through a process when I have no idea how it works. I need to see it for myself-"

"That won't be possible, doctor-" Levv said, breaking off as Del set the case down firmly on the floor.

"Good luck with the vaccine then," she replied, and started back toward the airlock.

"Where are you going?" he demanded. She looked at him.

"I cannot walk someone through the use of equipment I've never even used myself before," she said hotly. "I either get access to that pedestal and figure it out, or you can do your best to figure it out without my help."

"You'd be willing to let trillions of people die-"

"No, Colonel. You are apparently willing to let trillions of people die rather than let the doctor that can help them actually make the cure. If you're so terrified I'm suddenly going to run off with the ship, I'll remind you that I would do so with at least two dozen armed turians aboard who could shoot me at any moment. I'm not that stupid and neither are you. Now. You either let me do my job and fix this plague…or I am done, and so is the galaxy."

His mandibles flapped once, and Del could see he was not pleased. Even so, it was only a moment before he looked at the man at the pedestal. "Step aside and let her have access."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you," Shepard said, walking over and taking the soldier's place as he disengaged himself. Trying not to be hesitant, she stepped in where he'd been standing and looked at the single light emanating from the pillar.

In an instant, dozens of screens seemed to appear around her, most scrolling information or displaying data that she had no way of reading. A single thought would dismiss one screen only to have another sail in from elsewhere to take its place. She felt a momentary surge of vertigo, and took a deep breath.

She had to find the information on the PMD and how Gellian had manufactured it.

Through trial and error she started hunting through the information, only to blink in surprise a few moments later. The symbols of what she assumed was the language of those ancient aliens who had built this ship, were transforming, shifting into English. That they changed at all shocked her, but it was notable they went to her native tongue and not Galactic.

The interface must be pulling the language directly from my mind and adjusting itself to compensate.

Even in English, she didn't understand half of what she was seeing, but it definitely sped up the process. Selecting a few options, she looked over the pedestal as the floor seemed to open up, a tank rising from the dark recesses below them.

"All right, I think I have it," Shepard said. "I am going to need someone to put the samples from the krogan into the tank receptacle. It's open there, at the base."

One of the soldiers came forward and hesitantly picked up the case. Del only half looked at him. "They're safe. They're sealed tightly so you don't need to worry about infection so long as you keep your gloves on and don't break one. Just take them from the case and plug them into the tank."

The soldier moved the case over to the tank, setting it on the floor and carefully opening it. As he plugged the vials into the tank, Shepard could see information appearing rapidly on the screens before her. Then, the graphics shifted, the screens disappearing and leaving only a three dimensional grid overlapping the tank itself. A soft voice seemed to speak directly in her mind.

"Samples accepted and processed. Would you like to start genesis?"

"Genesis?" she asked, then lifted her chin. "What is 'genesis?'"

"I don't understand-" Levv began, overhearing her. She gave him an irritated flap of her hand, then pointed to the pedestal and her ear.

In answer to her question, the hologram in front of her demonstrated taking the DNA strands from each of the samples, integrating them seamlessly, and developing a biosynthetic individual from the integrated strands.

So that's how Osco created Luka. She got a DNA sample and just had one grown to her specifications.

"No, I would not like to pursue genesis," she said. The image disappeared.

"Please state your desire."

"Isolate infectious structure noted as 'poly-mimetic DNA.'"

"Isolated."

An image of the PMD appeared in front of her, and she nodded. "Isolate programming done by Osco, Gellian to the PMD structure."

Lines of code began to sweep in front of her, and her eyes widened at the complexity of the programming.

It must have taken even Osco months to calculate this many variables, she thought.

"Can you clear the programming from the PMD samples?" she asked.

"Process will take sixty minutes. Replacement programming must be entered or samples will degrade."

"Replacement programming to be as follows: copy host DNA upon integration and revert. Isolate hostile infectious PMD and revert to host DNA programming. Once rewrite is complete, multiply corrected PMD to the same numbers as the infectious PMD in Osco's original batch."

A long moment of silence passed, then the VI (or whatever the hell it was) spoke again.

"Parameters accepted. Samples replicating, prepare for reprogram. Estimated time to completion of rewrite, sixty minutes and counting. Estimated time to complete multiplication, one hundred and twenty minutes."

Turning her head a bit she looked at Levv. "All right. That tank has accepted the coding of the infectious PMD and is rewriting it into the vaccine. It's going to take an hour to complete the rewrite, and another two hours to get the amount we need to start curing and vaccinating people."

"Three hours, that's all?" Levv asked with a blink. "Didn't it take Osco months to come up with her missiles?"

"Yes, but she had to code everything she wanted the PMD to do down to the last allele. All we have to do is have it copy the DNA of any host it comes into contact with, and erase any negative PMD code already in place. Far simpler."

"That's some damned good news," he said. Then, Del saw something flash on her display in the corner of her vision. At the same time, she caught a more full sight of something several yards behind Levv. Her body went cold.

"Colonel," she said, alarmed. "How long has that been there?"

He turned and looked, following her gaze. "That archway? Since we came aboard-"

"Was it black inside when you came on board?" she asked.

"No, it was hollow…what is that?"

"The door is open," she gasped. "Osco's going to-"

Something slim and brilliant emerald green lunged out of the infinite dark that had consumed the center of the doorway- a thin dart that snarled, incredibly long hands stretching out, claws slashing. Two turians, taken completely by surprise, were slaughtered almost instantly.

The green one was only the first of a flood, the same primary colored aliens pouring through the doorway onto the ship that had first attacked them back at the galactic core. In a heartbeat, half the turians were down, the others opening fire.

Horror came over her and she turned in what felt like slow motion, staring at the tank that was processing the only hope the galaxy had to survive the plague unleashed upon them. If it was destroyed or the process halted, they were doomed.

Her only thought- I have to hide! I have to hide it!

It seemed that was enough of a command for the VI of the dark ship to accept. Instantly, the tank began to sink back into the floor. Del, her body still obeying the command to run toward it, managed only two steps. She was just beginning to halt her momentum as she saw the tank sinking, when the floor vanished beneath her feet.

As swiftly and softly as a stone slipping underneath the waves of an unforgiving sea, Del Shepard was swallowed into the floor of the black ship, and disappeared.


For a long while, Liara could see only the smooth rock walls of the tunnel surrounding her. She sank as slowly and softly as a feather drifting to the ground. In each direction, just over a meter from her position, the almost polished rock reflected back the faint blue glow of her biotics…but everything else, including below her, was lost in darkness.

She could easily and safely have dropped a lot faster, but without knowing what was beneath her or how she would land, she kept her progress relatively slow, her eyes fixed below her.

{My omni-tool is picking up yours,} Feris said via her helmet com. {I'm using the signal to 'map' as much of that shaft and its surroundings as I can. From what I can tell, you are six hundred feet down and still descending. Do you see anything yet?}

"Nothing but rock all around me," Liara said. "Do we have word yet on the black ship?"

{Ash and the others have just lifted off. They should be to the black ship in less than ten minutes. According to the turian sentries, the black ship is still holding position and has not moved.}

"Understood."

She continued to fall, Sam updating her on the depth every few moments. When Liara reached the two mile mark, Feris informed her that Ashley's team was approaching the black ship.

{They should be locking on in…zzzz…two minutes,} she said, her voice broken by static.

"I still see nothing below me," Liara said. "You are starting to break up."

{I'll boost the signal. Even with a direct shaft the rock and the distance is making it hard to keep connected. Liara, you're over two miles down now. Without biotics we're not going to be able to descend that distance after you, and if you try and come back up for us you are going to be biotically exhausted.}

"I know. I cannot halt now, I must continue. Keep the signal boosted. When I come to the end I will do my best to scan the surroundings and get a map to you- perhaps you can find an alternate way to descend."

An extended pause, and then, {You're at three miles now, Captain. Anything?}

"Still only dark…no, wait. I believe the light is growing beneath me. I am going to slow my descent and take it cautiously. I may be near the end."

She slowed to half the speed she had been falling before, requiring a greater effort to reduce her mass even more than she already had. She could feel her arms trembling, sweat starting to break out as the effort exhausted her biotics that much quicker.

The dim light grew, the edges of the shaft vanishing as she found herself descending into a cavern.

The cave itself was clearly natural, and absolutely enormous. Ragged and uneven stone walls, marbled with lines of quartz and sandstone, shale and hematite, consumed a space that would have held a full Alliance cruiser, with room to spare. Stalactites bristled from the ceiling, some as large around as old-growth trees. Stalagmites also lifted from the floor, conical pillars of rock that had grown slowly over millennia.

Part of the floor of the cavern was taken up by what looked like a small lake, a reservoir of water that had probably remained untouched since before krogan even walked the skin of the world above. It was perfectly clear and notably deep, and the rock around it glimmered with veins of gemstones.

It was beautiful, but not what drew her attention.

Below her was a huge structure, as black as the ship they had found at the galactic core. It could possibly have been a ship itself, a dreadnought that had parked here a very long time ago. Long enough for the stalagmites to grow close enough to its hull to hold it in tight embrace.

Ship, or structure, it was obvious it had been built by the same hands that had formed the black ship.

And it has remained hidden here, three and a half miles below the surface of Tuchanka. What similar finds might there be on other worlds? Something like this could be undiscovered deep on Thessia, or far beneath Sur'Kesh's oceans.

Carefully watching to make sure she was unobserved- and in truth, seeing no sign of life anywhere- Liara lowered herself to the cavern floor several yards away from the structure. Crouching behind a stalagmite, she allowed her biotics to die with relief, then activated her com, speaking softly.

"I am in. There is another ship, or some kind of building, secreted in a cavern at my position. It is of similar make to the black ship in orbit. I cannot see the far wall…there may be an alternate route out of this cave than the one I took to enter it."

{Possible…shaft was for missile launch. True entrance may be miles away, which means other tunnels that…zzzzzt….than the way you got in. We're leaving the shaft….krogan can find the front door.}

Even boosted, Feris's voice was weak and nearly indecipherable with static. Liara understood enough of her message. The shaft was not the front door, merely the missile launch. Feris, Sihra, and Grunt would gather the krogan, pinpoint the true entrance to this cave, and come in force.

In the meantime, Liara had to find a way in. If Osco had sent in troops to take the black ship, then it was possible that Shepard was a prisoner in that structure right now.

Be honest, Liara. You know that it is unlikely Osco would leave her alive. It would be to her disadvantage. If there is any way she can accomplish it, Osco will kill Del, not hold her hostage.

She pushed that thought forcefully away. She refused to believe there was no hope. No, Shepard had to be somewhere in that structure, and Liara was going to get her out of there…and put an end to Gellian Osco, no matter what it took.


Three shuttles were nearing the silent black ship, closing in carefully on her airlocks. Ashley stood in the first, Garrus and the turians and several krogan packed shoulder to shoulder just behind her. She had described to them her first encounter with hostiles on that very ship, and while she was not sure they would be facing that same kind of opposition, she wanted them to be prepared nevertheless.

"We are nearly in position, two minutes to lock-in," the pilot announced, then blinked. "Uh, sir? I'm getting a ship that has just dropped out of FTL. Cruiser class…flagged Alliance? The Torlus is moving to intercept."

"Hold position," Garrus said. "Notify the other shuttles to hold position. Open a link to the Torlus."

"Done, sir."

"Torlus, this is Garrus Vakkarian. What is the situation?"

{Stand by, Vakkarian.}

A long pause, then the voice returned. {The Alliance is sending a shuttle to join you, with…specialists. They will move into position and engage the final airlock. Proceed with locking procedure.}

"Specialists?" Ashley lifted a brow. "We're the damned specialists…"

"Not about to turn down extra help, regardless," Garrus told her, then nodded. "Acknowledged, Torlus. We are about to lock."

The shuttle moved forward once again, carefully paralleling the black ship and then clamping on. As the airlock engaged, Ashley turned to the others.

"Remember, if those aliens are on board, they're fast and they're goddamn deadly. Stay out of arm's reach if you can and don't stop shooting until their heads are in pieces- you'd be surprised how much they can function after even horrific wounds."

"Stay careful and stay frosty, people," Garrus added as the lock light switched to green. "Let's go."


If the krogan were itching for a fight, they were not disappointed. Almost from the moment boot leather first touched the hull of the alien vessel, they were under attack.

As had been feared, the same Technicolor aliens that had all but slaughtered them before were aboard en masse…but they were not the only ones. Men in hard-suits slathered with Orthrus colors also came at them, and the sheer scope of their firepower nearly ended the battle before it had begun.

Bottlenecked in the short corridor, it was the sheer brute strength of the krogan pressing forward that got them through and into the much wider area of the main control room. The room was already a bloodbath, the turian team who had been in control of the ship utterly decimated. One look at Ash's heart sank, even in the middle of battle.

There was no way that Del Shepard could still be alive.

The tide started to turn in their favor as those from the other shuttles started to enter, joining the battle. Even so, the aliens were unbelievably vicious and resilient, their speed alone taking down more soldiers than would have been otherwise.

Ash had been pressed back to the further end of the room, near where the pedestal normally sat, when those from the final shuttle finally gained entrance. Four figures rushed in, hard-suited and raring to go. One was a salarian, two quite obviously quarian, and the third appeared to be human.

Ash had only a split second to note them before one of the quarians and the human suddenly leapt across the floor, moving nearly as fast as the aliens they pursued. The quarian caught one about the ankle just as it leapt and literally yanked it back, snapping its long leg as if it were nothing but a dried twig. The beast swiped claws toward her head so quickly the motion was a blur.

She caught it, wrenching the wrist around and then sending half a dozen rounds of pistol ammo directly into the thing's face.

The human skidded a little in the thick blood and gore that coated the floor, and seemed to hesitate a moment before one of the beasts lunged at her. Swinging a backhand, she struck it in the face…and Ashley saw bone actually crack and jaw distort beneath the blow. Its head whipped in reaction to the force and it collapsed, writhing, before the human crushed its head under her boot.

In moments, the battle was all but over. Ashley ordered the krogan to cover the black doorway and blow away anything that tried to come through it, then hurried over to the salarian as he removed his helmet.

"Ah, Williams. Good to see you," Mordin said with a pleasant grin. "Got here in time."

"Mordin, how the hell…?" She shook her head, then gestured at the two who had ripped their opponents apart with inexplicable strength. "What the hell?"

"Ah, amazing yes? Mutation complete, perfected specimens- wanted to help. Here we are."

"Mutation complete…you mean these are-?"

The quarian and the human removed their helmets, the former almost shyly fluffing a hand over her hair before exchanging a look with the young girl at her side.

"Yes," Tali said, her voice trembling a bit. "We wanted to help."

"Tali and Delphine…the mutation did this? The PMD?"

"Yes," Mordin replied. "Tali and Delphine meet Osco's notion of perfection. Cannot get sick, do not age. Strength increased exponentially, reflex time increased exponentially, neurological processes increased-"

"Exponentially, I got it. Shit, the Doc is gonna flip…" Then she remembered that Shepard was likely dead, part of the massacre that surrounded her, and she swallowed heavily. "That can wait for now. Our priority is stopping Osco. She's somewhere on the other side of that, and chances are so are a thousand more of these things that we just wiped out."

She nodded toward the black doorway, no fewer than a dozen krogan shotguns aimed at its dark heart.

"If Osco is on other side, we must go through," Mordin said. Ashley nodded, then straightened, putting her emotions away to make room for what needed to be done.

"All right, you two may be 'perfected' but helmets back on, we don't need to challenge the strength of your skulls against a bullet. Everyone else, regroup! If you are able to walk and shoot a gun then line up…we're going through that door, and we're putting a stop to this bullshit once and for all."