A/N: Okay, and here comes the crazy part of this whole rigmarole.

Now, I'm going to leave this off with very little prefacing, but first, a little note.

If you go back to Chapters 10-12, you may notice that they look very different. This is because the Sur'Kesh arc has been rewritten. I was going to wait until I had my Tuchanka arc finished, but that would've entailed making you guys wait until after November since, you know, NaNoWriMo and all. So the Sur'Kesh chapters have been rewritten. As for why that continuity error is there with the Tuchanka chapters... unfortunately, that's something you'll have to wait on while I do NaNoWriMo and this.

Why? Because I wanted to end the Arrival Arc before NaNo. Why? Well... actually, I had to split this chapter in two, so... see then ext chapter for why.

Anyhow, there's the matter of the Sur'Kesh rewrite. So, check that out... and then there's this. Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, 'cause things are about to get crazy.


Chapter 28: Arrival Part 2: Prokofiev: Cinderella

Kasumi is busy rubbing her head as she remains seated in the back of the shuttle. She shakes her head as Carhon helps her to a sitting position.

"Wow... Ow, that hurt..." she comments.

"You flew against a wall, ma'am," says Kal. "I'd be more surprised if you weren't complaining."

I nod as Shepard looks at the thief. "You all right, Kasumi?"

The thief nods. "I've got a killer head-ow..." She brings her hand away from her head. "But... give it some time. I'll be fine."

"Good," says Shepard. "You'll hopefully be feeling better when we touch down on Aratoht."

I nod, even as Kasumi looks up at us. "What're we waiting for?" she asks.

"We're not actually waiting right now," says Jocelyn. "We're going to be on Aratoht in a few minutes."

I look up. "I just hope Al's almost got the asteroid secure."

Jocelyn crosses his arms. "He'll secure that asteroid," she says. "If he and Garrus kept the Normandy from being taken by Cerberus, then he'll be able to retake the asteroid."

"And then the hard part really begins," says Carhon. "I'm beginning to think that bringing me wasn't such a mistake."

"We'll see when we get down there," says Shepard. She looks to the cockpit, and I see Jenny peer into where we are before turning her attention back to piloting the shuttle.


*Albert Shepard POV*

Another security guard is sent flying into the wall. Come on...

I immediately uncloak, shooting at an unsuspecting guard who was distracted by the biotic display. I quickly turn my submachine gun on someone else once he goes down, but then he seems to catch on fire without any real prompting. That guard is then biotically shoved into a pyro that was unfortunate enough to be standing right behind him, and then... Yes!

I store my submachine gun almost immediately, and rush right to where the exposed cooling rod is. I run over to it even as a few last bullets fly over my head. I run up to the cooling rod, quickly getting my hands on it. As I hear a final groan, I push down on the cooling rod, giving it a little twist once I have pushed it all the way into its slot. It clicks into place, and then I hear the hiss of hydraulics all around me.

"Reactor meltdown averted. Core temperature dropping."

"Well, that was a fuckin' close one."

Jack looks to me as she crosses her arms. She gives me a rather amused look, as does Liselle from just behind her. Mordin checks his pistol one last time, and nods in my direction.

"Definitely was," says Mordin. "Would have seen meltdown. Could not let that happen. Project too valuable."

I nod. "Yes, I guess we couldn't have come here at a better time," I comment. "Good thing Joker was already waiting at the relay, am I right?"

"Yeah," says Liselle again. "Let's hope that bitch doesn't do anything else."

"You have done nothing, weakling!" says Dr. Kenson's voice over the PA system. "I can still override power to the engines!"

I roll my eyes at this, even as Jack pumps her shotgun a second time. "We'll see about that, bitch!" says Jack.

I nod. "Come on! To the engine's controls!"

I reload my submachine gun almost as soon as I say this, and I lead the way out of there. Jack, Liselle, and Mordin follow very close behind me as we leave, and I look right up in the next room to see Dr. Kenson standing at the engine controls. She turns to us, looking wild and deranged.

"I should have known she was planning something!" shouts Dr. Kenson. "I should've known from the moment she started asking questions on that shuttle."

"Can it, bitch," says Liselle as she moves closer to Dr. Kenson. "We didn't come here to listen to you ramble."

Dr. Kenson immediately lifts something in her hand... Damn, that looks like a detonator. "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you, asari."

Liselle frowns immediately upon seeing the detonator, but before I can say anything she begins walking back. I hear her scowl, and notice that there's a grin on Dr. Kenson's face. I shake my head, pointing my submachine gun at Dr. Kenson.

"Drop the detonator," I say.

"You can't stop me from pressing it," says Dr. Kenson. "You come here, decimate the security team and the scientists, and expect to get out of here alive?"

"That, and we hope to get as many batarian colonists as we can save get out of this system," Al says. "But to do that, we need to activate the Project."

"The Project cannot be stopped!" shouts Dr. Kenson. "We cannot stop the Arrival of the Reapers! It is inevi-"

I hear a gunshot go off, with Dr. Kenson's eyes going wide very suddenly. She starts bleeding from a hole in her head, and then slumps down on the ground. The detonator rolls across the room and lands at Liselle's feet.

...

I turn to look at Mordin, who is standing there with his gun raised. The salarian simply puts his pistol away, and walks up to the detonator.

"Spoke too much," says Mordin. "Ample time to fire. Shoot first. No doubt. Dr. Kenson indoctrinated." He sniffs. "Confirmed by Shepard."

I nod, putting away my own submachine gun. "At least you got her before she could activate the detonator," I say. "I say this asteroid is as good as ours."

"Yep," says Jack as she crosses her arms. "Now we sit here and fuckin' wait."

"In the meantime, we should probably find a communications terminal," I reply. "We need to tell Jocelyn that we've got the Project secured. And if not her, then we need to at least tell EDI."

"Yeah," says Liselle. "Now we just sit here and fuck around." She then frowns as Mordin walks to stand by her. "Shouldn't there also be a shiny artifact we need to stay away from?"

"I wouldn't say it's shiny, but we'll know where it is when we see it," I reply. "Jack, you're with me. Mordin, Liselle... do whatever."

"Sure." The asari leans against the wall, with Mordin looking directly at the controls Dr. Kenson was just standing in front of.


*Art POV*

"All right, we're in this 'ere atmosphere, mu'um."

Jenny says this pretty quickly, and I look out the window to see that indeed, we're re-entering Aratoht's atmosphere.

"Well, here we are," says Jocelyn. "Let's hope for the best."

Carhon snorts. "I'm still hoping the worst doesn't come to pass," he says. "Which is a pretty dim hope, when you know how this place is."

I shrug. "You'll still be going home," I comment. "Maybe you can even see your family get off this colony."

The batarian shrugs. "Maybe," he says. He mutters something else, but I decide not to press the issue. That's the Commander's job, anyhow.

I suddenly hear the comm unit on Jenny's navigation board come to life. "Unknown vessel," says a gruff voice on the other end of the line. "You are trespassing on batarian territory. Identify yourself."

Jenny nods. "Well, blather on, mu'um," she says. "You're up."

Jocelyn nods, leaning forward. "I am Commander Shepard," she says. "And I-"

"Commander Shepard?" I hear dead silence on the other end, even from where I'm sitting. "The Demon of Elysium?" I suddenly hear someone shout commands. "We are turning our orbital canons to you! If you don't turn back, we will fire!"

I blink, looking at Kal and Carhon almost immediately. "Well... I can't say I didn't see that coming," Kasumi points out.

"Wait!" says Shepard. "We have a batarian on board. You wouldn't fire on one of your own people, would you?"

The people on the other line pause. "You have a batarian on board," says the person on the other line in a rather unconvinced manner. "And I'll also bet you have a vorcha on board. I don't believe you for a second, Demon."

I glance to Carhon, gesturing to him. The batarian gives me a confused look, but before he can reply Shepard says something.

"Perhaps I can change your mind," she says. With this, she turns to the cockpit, and then grabs Carhon by the arm. She hauls him up, and pulls him into the cockpit. Shepard gives him a look.

"Go on," says Shepard.

Carhon swallows. He then looks directly at the panel. Shepard guides him forward, and I see from the way he moves that Carhon looks like he's giving in to fate. The batarian stands there, and then sighs.

"Stand down," says the batarian as Jenny activates the comm line. "It's all right. I'm unharmed, and I came here of my own free will. Actually, I did a lot of things here of my own free will. Don't fire on this ship."

The other line is silent for quite some time. I look over to Kal and Kasumi, feeling my fists unconsciously clench in fear of what might happen next. I breathe in... Come on... Let that work...

"C... Carhon?" asks the man on the other line. "You... You're alive?"

W... What the hell?

I jolt in place, looking at the cockpit immediately. "I... yes," Carhon replies. I notice from the way his body is bent that he doesn't sound happy at this. "Stand down, Shash."

"How the fuck did you get into the Demon's shuttle?" asks the traffic controller.

"It's... It's a very long story," says Carhon. "One that I don't have time to tell. It's all right. They don't mean any harm, I can tell you that now."

"I... Men, hold your fire! Let them land!"

The batarian nods. "Thank you, Shash," he says. "I hope everyone in your family is doing well."

"Let's not talk about that," says Shash. "You've come back. I think there will be a lot of people happy about that. You'll know where to land."

I frown, looking at Carhon. "W-what?" I ask.

"I..." He glances back to the rest of us. "I do. I'll be down soon..."

"I'll be waiting down there."

And with this, the comm line cuts out.

Carhon sighs, but the Commander looks at him with a curious look in her eyes. "You knew him?" asks Shepard.

"And at least a third of the colony," says Carhon. He turns to look at all of us. "I was hoping I could delay mentioning my past on Aratoht ever again. I knew it was inevitable once you told me to come onto this shuttle, but it seems..." Carhon opens his omni-tool, forwarding something to Jenny's omni-tool. "Take us to those coordinates on the planet. There's a landing bay there, and it's the only one close to where... they live."

I frown as Kal stands up. "Is there something you want to say to us, Carhon?" he asks.

The batarian nods. "I... Aratoht is my home," he says. "But it's not only my home. I..." He sighs. "I was... I was the oldest son of the ruling family of Aratoht."

I... Wait, what? That... No way... That's just...

Hold the phone! This guy is like...?

Whaaaaaat?

"So... So you're some kind of prince or something," I comment.

"I wouldn't say that," says Carhon. "I was not born into the highest caste, but I was still born into a pretty high caste. My family is still an important part of Khar'Shan's politics regardless."

"Well, that's certainly interesting," says Kasumi. The thief nods. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that."

Carhon nods. "It's something I don't like to bring up," he says. "I had a good relationship with most of my family, but my father..." He sighs. "I sent out feelers within the resistance to tell me who was ruling Aratoht. They couldn't tell me anything, except that my family is still in power." He shakes his head. "And if my father is still alive and still ruling Aratoht, then this just became much more difficult."

Shepard frowns, crossing her arms. "You could have mentioned this to me earlier," she replies.

"Yeah," Jenny adds from the cockpit. "And that's a whole bunch o' malarkey, you bein' all suspicious at Art for keepin' secrets earlier!"

I give Jenny a reproachful look. "Jenny, please," I comment. I then turn my attention to Carhon. "Why didn't you tell us?" I ask.

"We certainly could have used this information to our advantage, Carhon," says Shepard as she looks at the batarian. "We could have convinced your family to release Dr. Kenson into our custody under the premise of investigating what she was doing and worked something out like that."

Carhon shakes his head. "You don't know my father," he says. "If he is still there, I'll be shocked if I'm not executed on the spot.. He wouldn't listen to you, and I don't think he would listen to me either. My family... after what I did, I don't think they'd be so keen to listen either. And they especially wouldn't have listened since it's true that Dr. Kenson was in fact planning on crashing an asteroid into the mass relay here. They never trusted humans, and they're likely still angry at me for leaving in the manner that I did. No matter what we did, we would've had to rescue Dr. Kenson on our own."

Shepard nods. "And who knows how much time we would have wasted trying to reason with them then," she says. "And now... Damn, this is going to be harder than I hoped."

"Maybe not, mu'um," says Jenny from the cockpit. "Ya got that 'ole thing about the Reapers, right?"

"True..." says Shepard. "We didn't have time to download anything from the Project, though."

"But if we can get Carhon to tell them, then it'll work out, ma'am," Kal'Reegar points out. "Just give Carhon the data packet, and we'll be good."

Shepard nods. "Yes, I suppose that would work." She then stands up, opening her omni-tool and gesturing for Carhon to do the same. The batarian stands up, opening his omni-tool and accepting a download.

I nod. "This is gonna be rough either way," I comment.

Jenny looks out to us. "We're almost there, mu'um," she says. "Though I gotta say, this place looks like an ugly ol' tip."

I stand up, looking outside to see... Wow, it is ugly. I can see various buildings throughout the colony, but all of them look so... square. They look oppressive, they don't look like pleasant places to live in at all, and they just feel like they could crush a person or something. I don't know. Maybe it's because the windows are too small, or maybe it's because the balconies are all tiny, or maybe it's the fact that every damn face of every damn building looks exactly the same, or hell, maybe it's the fact that the colors of these buildings are drab and... well... grey.

Either way, though... Jeez, and I thought North Korean apartment buildings looked oppressive.

I shake my head, looking at Carhon. "This is your colony," I comment.

"Yes," says Carhon.

I shake my head, biting my lower lip lightly. "I don't know how you could stand it," I comment. "This place just looks so... unfriendly..."

Carhon snorts. "I won't disagree with you," he says. "Having seen the galaxy now..." He shakes his head. He then looks ahead to a little patch of concrete where I can see hundreds of people already gathering.

"There it is," Carhon says, pointing at that concrete patch. "There's the landing zone. And as I expected, they're waiting for us."

I nod, looking to Shepard. She nods, cracking her knuckles as she, Carhon, and... wait, when'd I step into the cockpit? Anyway, the three of us get out of there, and look to each other as Kal and Kasumi both stand up behind Shepard.

"Well, here we are," says Shepard. "Whatever happens, let Carhon and I handle this."

I nod. "Gotcha, Commander," I say.

"All right," says Jenny. "We're landin'... now."

And indeed, I feel the shuttle rock as soon as it touches the ground. I find myself standing right behind Shepard. Carhon pauses, and then goes to the head of the group. I see his hands clench into a fist, and he looks out to the shuttle door as Jenny finishes doing the things to park the shuttle. I hear the shudder, and then the shuttle door opens.

We're greeted by the sight of something along the lines of ten batarian soldiers standing there with weapons already aimed at us. This causes me to freeze up, even as I see that there are quite a few people behind them. I glance at Shepard and Carhon before the batarian steps out of the shuttle. He gestures to his fellow batarians, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Drop your weapons," says Carhon. "As part of the Erash family, that is an order."

"Yeah, and you came here with friendly humans?" asks one of the soldiers. "Fat chance of that happening."

Kal'Reegar comes out from behind Shepard, but even then I don't see the batarians flinch. Carhon looks to the other batarians. "This is not what you think it is," says Carhon. "There's a lot we need to talk about, and we can't do it with your weapons pointed at us."

"You're not the boss of us," says another batarian. "And especially not when you have humans with you."

... Oh, I really don't like these assholes. Come on! We're trying to...

No, no, Art, simmer down. These guys have hated humans all their lives, they probably don't trust us very easily. Let's just let them get past this stage first.

I look over to Jenny as she comes up next to me, with some of the batarians pointing their weapons at her. I glance at the pilot to see that she actually looks pretty terrified. I look over to her, my hand unconsciously coming to rest on her shoulders. She glances at me, and I feel her relax under my touch.

I glance outside again, suddenly noticing a commotion in the back as Carhon continues trading discussion with the batarians. There, I see another group of batarians that look better dressed than the soldiers immediately in front of us. These new batarians come in, with the crowd dispersing until he gets directly to the people with the guns pointed directly at us.

As soon as he gets close, I notice that these batarian soldiers aren't just better dressed, oh no. I wouldn't think that a batarian could be dressed with so many medals. I don't know, he looks like some kind of general there. And when he shouts at the soldiers to part, the soldiers do as he commands. And then he comes to stop right in front of Carhon.

And that's when I notice the other two batarian men standing close behind. They are wearing similar-ish military wear, and... Jesus, why am I getting the uncomfortable feeling that Shepard and the rest of us are just going to get arrested or something?

I immediately notice the expression of the man directly in front of Carhon soften, however. Before I can gather my bearings and take stock of what that expression could mean, the man comes forward and hugs the resistance member tenderly. The more regally dressed of the two batarians seems to be in tears, and Carhon can only pull his arms around... Hm... What is their relation, anyhow?

The two men part, the more regally-dressed batarian stepping back and looking at Carhon. "Carhon, you... You've come back..." He swallows. "After five years, you've finally returned."

I... Damn it, what is Carhon looking like there? "I... Am, M'shk," Carhon replies. "I... never thought I'd return."

"And yet, here we are," says the other batarian. M'shk, I think? "It has been ages, Carhon. I thought... I didn't think you would ever come home."

Carhon looks behind M'shk. "I didn't think I would either," he says. I can just tell that he's looking at the two people behind M'shk. "I take it Skresh and Vag'rash are both doing well."

M'shk looks behind him and nods. "They are," he says. He shakes his head right when he looks back at Carhon. "If only father could've been here to see this."

Carhon seems to jolt slightly. "He's dead?" the resistance fighter asks.

"Has been for a year and a half," M'shk replies. He then sizes up his brother, frowning. "And what happened to you, Carhon? You... You look like you've been through a lot."

"Omega has a way of changing people, M'shk," says Carhon.

The younger batarian looks at Carhon in shock. "You... You went to that rock?" asks M'shk.

"And got spit out alive," says Carhon. "This isn't the place to be talking about stuff like this. We need to be more private about this."

"So we do," says M'shk. He then looks behind Carhon, and steps around his brother. He then looks directly at Commander Shepard, who looks like she's presenting a cold facade for M'shk. "And you are the Demon of Elysium."

"Demon," says Shepard. "It's certainly a far cry from 'Lion of Elysium', that's for sure."

"Is that what they call you?" M'shk asks. "I see. They'll go to any lengths to cover up what they did."

I roll my eyes at this. Come on, really? "I was there at Elysium," says Shepard. "I was there when your people slaughtered thousands of innocent colonists in the initial assault. I was there when hundreds were taken as slaves. And I was there to see the people that were lucky enough to avoid both but bit the dust later." She takes a step forward. "So don't you dare tell me that the Alliance covered anything up."

M'shk simply chuckles. "Fiery," he comments. "I would watch my tongue, human. You're not in human-controlled space any longer. And last I checked, you had been arrested. I'm guessing you broke out." Before Shepard can get a word in edge-wise, however, he raises his hand. "I can wager the Council will be very happy to see you returning to their hands. Maybe they'll finally see humanity for the evil that it is."

Carhon steps forward. "M'shk, that isn't what happened at all," he says.

"Does it matter?" asks M'shk. "They still trespassed into batarian space. Four humans and a suit rat is not a common sight, especially when a batarian willingly brings them here. And for one of them to be the Demon of Elysium!" The man turns to Carhon. "You're lucky you are my brother by blood, Carhon: in any other circumstance, I would've had you executed in front of the whole colony." M'shk shakes his head, crossing his arms in dismay. "But as it is, this is something we need to deal with."

He then gestures to Shepard and the rest of us. "Guards, arrest them! And take them straight to the prison! I will decide their fate later."

But right before the guards can do anything, the two brothers that were standing behind M'shk suddenly come forward. "Hold a second, brother," says the older-looking of the two.

"And why not?" asks M'shk as the guards instantly stop in their tracks. "These people may be here to cause havoc!"

"But you don't know that, M'shk," says the younger-looking of the two siblings. Um... Who's who among these guys? "These guys were in the same shuttle as Carhon, and yet they didn't kill him."

"And what's your point, Vag'rask?" M'shk asks.

At this point, the younger-looking of the two of them looks to Carhon. "Don't you think it's odd that Carhon was with the Demon of Elysium, and yet he's still standing here?" he asks.

M'shk doesn't look convinced. "Yes, but this is the Demon of Elysium we're talking about," he replies.

"I'm still intrigued as to why Carhon is returning with four humans and a suit rat myself," says the only person... Hm... That must be Skresh. "And I don't think a human would risk doing something like this for any reason, especially not the Lion of Elysium."

"Does that matter?" asks M'shk.

Carhon then steps forward, lightly grabbing his brother's arm. "It does, M'shk," he replies. "I didn't just return home for no reason. There's..." Carhon pauses. "It's very complicated, and it's something we have to attend to right away. Trust me, M'shk."

"And why?" asks M'shk. "You left for five years while giving us no reason why."

Carhon frowns. "M'shk, I know I've made mistakes in the past," says the older batarian. "But you have to trust me. If you've never truly trusted me in your life, I need you to trust me now. Please. I come here in the middle of a dire situation, and these people may be able to help us."

"Humans? Help us?" asks M'shk. "I don't believe you."

"You'll have to soon enough," says Carhon. "M'shk, the entire colony is at risk here. All three hundred thousand people on this colony are at risk. And it's not just the colony, either. These people have put themselves here knowing just how risky it is to be here. This is important, M'shk. Trust me. Please."

By this point, Carhon looks like he might just go to his knees to beg some more. As it is, though, I see Carhon's limbs tense a rather large amount. M'shk looks up at us, and then back at Carhon. I notice a frown settling on his face as he looks around the area at everybody there. He looks to Skresh and Vag'rask before growling in displeasure.

"Fine," says M'shk. "You win, brother. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. And I'll even humor you. I'll put them close to the house. That satisfy you?"

I frown, looking at Carhon. Well, someone's bitter, isn't he? I see Carhon falter, but eventually he lets go. "Yes," says Carhon. "Where are you going to take them?"

"The abandoned compound," says M'shk.

I see Skresh frown. "The one for the slaves?" he asks. "I see..."

"Only place to put them that's close enough," says M'shk. He then turns to Carhon. "I am putting a big risk in this, brother. It better be worth it, because if it's not, I'm executing all of them on the spot."

Carhon frowns. "That may not be the best idea, M'shk," he replies.

"I'll be the judge of that," M'shk says. "Guards! Arrest them, and relieve them of their weapons!"

With this, I see the batarians come right up to all of us in the shuttle. I suddenly turn to Jenny, and watch as she gets pulled right to the side by an imposing-looking batarian. She is handcuffed, and then I feel two batarians force me to my knees. As one of them relieves me of my weapons, I feel the other go and cuff me. I clench my fists to keep myself from struggling against the batarians, and after a few minutes I'm hauled up to my feet. I'm then roughly shoved out of the shuttle, my feet tripping such that I fall face-first on the uninviting steel beneath me.

Ow... I swear, I got a black eye from that...

I hear the batarians laugh at my expense, and then I get hauled up to my feet again. I'm then pulled forward. I briefly catch a glimpse of Kal'Reegar as he walks forward. I then turn to Carhon as the whole procession moves forward. He flashes us with an apologetic look before we're all escorted off of this god-forsaken little landing pad.


*Madison Paige POV*

I slowly sit up in the bed, the bedsheets falling to about my waist. The room is a little warmer than I remember it, but... Perhaps that's the way of things. I glance over to the clock on the bedside.

...

Damn it, it's four in the morning again. I guess my insomnia never goes away.

I shake my head, sighing as I hold my legs close to me. I look outside the window to the Presidium, noting how the artificial night cycle is displaying itself proudly. It's... It's the first time in years I've ever seen a night sky, I guess.

First time in years I've seen a night sky. There's something I never thought I'd think. I slowly stand up, being careful not to disturb the other occupant of the bed as I walk up to the window. I glance above, looking at the artificial stars above. I... They look so beautiful tonight. I almost forgot how beautiful a night like this could be. I mean, they're artificial stars, but... Still. It feels strange knowing there will be an artificial sun that will be rising soon enough.

I sigh, placing my hand against the glass. I wonder what is happening with Ethan and Shawn now. Hopefully, they're still all right back home. They don't have to deal with this kind of thing, I don't think. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say.

I stand at the window, looking at the artificial stars above. I stand there, finding myself subconsciously counting the stars when I feel a three-fingered hand come to rest on my shoulder.

"Can't sleep?"

I nod, leaning back onto Garrus' chest. "Yeah," I comment. "I didn't mean to wake you up, Garrus."

"It's fine," the turian replies. His arms come around me, and then I find myself held in a tender hug. Garrus' head rests just on top of mine. "You know that the sky's artificial, right?"

I nod. "I know that," I reply. "But I can't help but look at it anyway. There's something... strange about seeing a night sky again." I bring one of my hands to rest on Garrus' arm. "Did the artificial sky always look like this?"

The turian shrugs. "Well, Sovereign's attack knocked a few stars out of the sky," he comments. "I didn't think Saren was actually capable of killing stars, but there you have it."

I roll my eyes at this. "I'll bet," I comment. I lean back against him, feeling his chest brush up lightly against my bare back. I sigh, realizing that I've started stroking Garrus' arm. "Garrus, do you think Shepard and Art and the others are all right out in the galaxy? And especially with them being in batarian space right now?"

"It's Shepard," says Garrus. "She'll pull through. She always does."

"Even when she's behind bars," I comment.

Garrus chuckles. "Well," he replies. "You know." He pauses. "But they'll pull through. And hopefully, they'll be back when Sparatus has been tried." He shakes his head. "That trial is going to be a joke."

"When even the Council agrees with that assertion, you know it's a joke," I add.

"Yeah, that's true," says Garrus. "It's actually kind of... strange. Here I figured the Council had their heads stuck pretty far up their asses. And yet now, when we really need them, they're actually being pretty helpful. I don't know if I should be happy about that, or afraid that this means the world is definitely going to end."

"I'd be with you either way," I comment. "Hell, if you decided to be afraid, I'd probably build the bomb shelter myself." I turn around, looking at Garrus as he looks down to me. I find my forehead bump against his, but I hold the position, not exactly caring all that much about where our foreheads are. "I just worry sometimes. How do you defeat an enemy that is billions of years old that will kill everyone?"

"I guess that's something we'll have to find out," says Garrus. He closes his eyes.

I nod. "That we will," I say.

We remain silent for a few seconds before Garrus parts. "Come on," he says. "You've got a shift guarding Sparatus along with Tidoses tomorrow."

"I do, don't I?" I ask as he leads me back to bed.

"Yes," says Garrus. "You should get some sleep before then."

I nod as he climbs back into bed. I follow suit, pulling the covers over both of us as I lay my head down on his chest. I swear, he still feels like a furnace even when I'm used to it. But nevertheless, I crawl up to Garrus, and find myself draping one of my arms over his chest before I comfortably attempt to fall asleep again.


*Carhon Erash POV*

I watch as the guards escort the humans and the quarian away towards the abandoned compound that they were mentioning. M'shk stands off to the side, and looks to be instructing a few of the guards. I look to Skresh and Vag'rask behind me, and then I turn my attention back to M'shk as he comes back to us. I watch the guards walk off.

"They're under orders to watch your human friends," says M'shk. "If they ever try to escape, I'm having the lot of them get executed. And then I'm shipping Commander Shepard's corpse to the Alliance. A present, since even they don't like her now."

I frown. "M'shk, that ch-"

Before I can finish, however, my younger brother pulls me in a very tight hug. "But either way... No matter what's happened, I'm glad you're back, Carhon," he says. "We missed you. And now... Now, we can be a family again." He steps back, and then I feel Skresh and Vag'rash place their hands on their shoulders. The two twins nod in my direction, giving me a smile.

I frown, looking at my younger brother. "We have much to catch up on," M'shk says. "I... I should get mother and M'yask. I'll be right back."

And with this, M'shk retreats into the house behind me. I turn to look at my younger brother leave, but before I can say anything he is through the door.

...

I shake my head. "Damn it, he's the one in charge now?" I ask.

"It couldn't be helped, Carhon," Skresh replies. I look over to my younger twin. "When you left, he was the one who was next in line to take over the colony. Second oldest brother and all."

"It's complicated," says Vag'rash. "I'm half-tempted to slap the shit out of you for leaving." He then steps forward, and I watch a frown come onto his face. "What the hell was that, leaving over what you left over?"

I frown. "I didn't tell you what I left over," I comment. "So don't assume things."

"We're not assuming," Skresh adds. "We already know."

Vag'rash steps forward. "What the hell were you thinking, trying to get back at your father like this?" he asks. "What would possess you to be so... so selfish?"

I look at the two of them. "You don't know that that's why I left," I comment.

"Really?" asks Vag'rash. "We talked to M'yask after you left. She said she knew everything about you and B'rashk. She told us that you were in love with B'rashk. And then she showed us your message history with B'rashk. That's when we put the pieces together."

I find myself chewing on my lower lip. "I did tell M'yask about that," I say. "She was the only one I trusted with that secret. But that doesn't have anything to do with why I left."

"Actually, I think it's got everything to do with that, Carhon, given what happened with B'rashk and his family," says Skresh. "You left because of what father did to them!"

"My father had them executed, damn it!" I shout, shaking my fist at my two younger siblings in anger. "They didn't deserve to get executed in the center of the colony, and they didn't deserve to be publicly executed for the reasons father ordered their execution!" I shake my head, turning around and looking back to where the abandoned slave compound is. "My father had them gunned down in public. The father... The mother... Even his sister. And all that, because B'rashk happened to be in the way of father's plans for marrying me off to some bitch I couldn't freaking stand," I add in a softer voice.

"And you didn't tell him about that?" asks Skresh.

"I did," I reply. "I told him when I first heard that B'rashk and his family was arrested. I told him after their execution." I shake my head, feeling my eyes sting with tears. "And every time, he refused to listen to me."

"So you left right after that," says Vag'rash.

I shake my head. "If my father couldn't accept that I was in love with a man, he didn't deserve me as a man married to a woman," I reply. "And you know that my father would've repressed me for being gay."

Skresh nods. "That's true, Carhon," he says. "But it still doesn't excuse that you ran away. Hell, you just admitted that you ran away to spite your father."

He still believes...? "I did not admit that," I say.

"You said 'he didn't deserve me as a man married to a woman'," Skresh replies. "That's about as close to an admission as we're going to get from you."

"You could've told us," says Vag'rash. "You could've told M'shk. Hell, you could've told mother. We would've found a way to get your father to stop trying to... well. You know. But you ran away."

I shake my head. "He wouldn't have changed," I say. "You know that."

"Maybe, maybe not," says Skresh. "Either way, it's useless to try to do anything about it now. You've returned home, and that's what matters."

"And we might want an apology out of you for leaving the way you did," says Vag'rash. "That was just..." He sighs. "It was bad, not knowing where you were for all this time."

I shake my head. "I wasn't going to get repressed by my own father," I reply. "And besides, this is about none of that right now."

"Well, you came back, right?" asks Skresh. "You've got to feel some guilt over leaving."

I frown. "Not exactly," I reply. "And besides, I didn't return to Aratoht because of some stupid sentimental crap. I'm here for a different reason entirely." Before Vag'rash can chime in, however, I raise my hand. "This whole colony is in danger. We need to evacuate everyone here. And we only have two days to do it."

The twins both look at me in shock. "W-what?" asks Vag'rash. "That's..."

"That's crazy, Carhon," says Skresh. "You can't just expect us to evacuate everyone in two days."

"And why are we even trying to evacuate this colony?" asks Vag'rash. "Carhon, what's going on? Is the Alliance going to attack?"

"No, that's not it," I reply. "It's actually worse than that. See, there's-"

"Carhon?"

I turn back to the door to see...

...

Wow, a lot has changed since I left.

I look at M'yask and my mother as they both stand there. M'shk stands slightly behind mother, and a young boy I don't realize is standing right next to mother. M'yask looks very different from how I remember her. She looks more... regal now. I can't really pin my finger on why she looks that way, though it may be because of her attire or something. I look to Mother, who looks shocked beyond belief that I am standing there. The young boy looks confused, but my mother slowly steps forward, raising her hands up at my face.

"You... You're alive... After all these years..."

My mother rushes at me almost immediately, pulling me into a fierce hug. I find that the only thing I can do is reciprocate it, looking to M'yask.

My younger sister looks at me in disbelief. "I'll be damned," she says. "You actually returned."

"See, sister? It's as I said," says M'shk from behind M'yask. "I think this calls for a fine dinner. Come. The chefs are already hard at work."

I frown. "Now?" I ask. "But you haven't even-"

"There will be time for such talk later," says M'shk. "For now, we have much catching up to do."

"Uh... Mommy, who's the strange man?" asks the little boy standing right next to mother.

I sigh... Damn it, I should've realized there would be a little brother I don't know anything about to contend with. I look down at him, but before I can say anything, M'yask goes right up to him, kneeling by his side.

"That is your long-lost brother, Jy'ak," M'yask says. "That's your brother Carhon."

The child eyes me suspiciously, but before he can say anything, mother comes and picks the child up. "We will have time to introduce you later, Jy'ak," mother says. "For now... It's doing what M'shk says."

I glance over at Skresh and Vag'rash in a displeased manner. However, their stern nods tell me that this conversation is not over yet. Well, at least they'll listen to me later. That's better than nothing, really.

With this, I walk up to M'yask. My younger sister looks up to me, giving a slight nod as Skresh and Vag'rash follow mother and M'shk into the house. "Carhon," she says. "I thought you told me you'd never return."

"The galaxy has different plans, apparently," I reply. "I didn't exactly come here by choice."

"You didn't?" asks M'yask. "Why?"

I sigh. "It's a very long story," I comment. "Just get Skresh and Vag'rash to come to my room tonight, and I'll explain further."

M'yask nods. "Just so you know, nobody ever touched your room after you left," she says. "Everything's just as you left it."

I nod, walking into the house and marvelling slightly at how the hallway to my left still has that damnable mosaic of my great-grandfather attached to it.


*Art POV*

I sit on the floor of the small room, looking over to Kal as he sits right by the door. Jenny is shivering on the floor next to the quarian, and Kal's practically hugging her trying to keep her warm. I notice that his face mask is off to the side, and Kal is simply looking at Jenny with as tender a look as he can muster under these circumstances. I glance to the other end of the room, where Kasumi and Shepard are both sitting by the window on a bench-like thing that looks like it's been eaten by more than a few worms since the last time it was used. It's gotten dark now, actually... The day cycle on Aratoht looks like it just ended. Which is kind of a silly observation to make, given where we are now.

And oh yeah, it's also pretty chilly. It's very chilly, as a matter of fact. And for people like Shepard and I who had to get stripped down to their body suits...

I shake my head, pulling my knees in closer for warmth as Kal pulls Jenny closer. "So..." he says. "Uh..."

I sigh. "Well, it's cold in here," I comment. "Very, very cold."

"And there's an asteroid that'll be crashing into the mass relay in two days," Kasumi adds. "That too."

"A-and i-if we're n-n-not on off th-this b-b-b-b-b-blasted tip by th-th-then..." says Jenny, her teeth clattering from the cold.

Shepard looks at Jenny. "We're not going to think like that yet," she says. "We're doing pretty badly right now, but you're forgetting that Carhon is still walking free. I'm pretty sure that by now, he's realized that he's the only person who can do anything about our current predicament at the moment."

"We could send a message for Alliance reinforcements, ma'am," Kal comments.

"And that would just make it seem like the Alliance is trying to wage war on the Hegemony," says Shepard.

"And that's not something you want when you're trying to help them," I point out, leaning back against the wall. "Well... I never thought I'd be sitting in a shack being held prisoner by a dictator in a place with a caste system, but there you have it."

"Who would?" asks Shepard. "I hope Carhon is all right in there."

"I know I'm not," says Jenny. "I'm f-f-f-freezin' m' bum off 'ere!"

"At least the prison seemed warm," Shepard comments.

I look up. "And this is where they used to put slaves," I add. "They treat their prisoners better than their slaves."

"That's what it looks like," Kal comments. "So what now?"

"We do the only thing we can do," says Shepard. "We sit here, and wait. And then we hope that Carhon pulls through for us. For everyone's sake."

I nod, looking back up to the ceiling. Or, what passes for a ceiling, anyway. "I hope it doesn't rain tonight," I add, pointing out the holes. "Otherwise, we're screwed."

"I can think of worse things to happen to us," says Kasumi. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"

I shake my head. "No thanks," I comment. I then look back up at the ceiling, seeing the rain clouds pass above us ominously.


*Carhon Erash POV*

"And this... This is why I'm here."

I finish this explanation, looking up at my siblings. M'yask, Vag'rash, and Skresh are all sitting around the room looking at me in shock as I finish relating this story. Dinner went about as well as could be expected when I returned after five years, but for some reason M'shk didn't even let me get a word in edgewise. He says we can get to it tomorrow, but the way he left when he told me this...

M'yask looks at me in shock. "C... Carhon..." she says.

Vag'rash immediately stands up. "That's crazy!" he says. "Machines that harvest all life? Where do people come up with things like that?"

I nod, opening my omni-tool. "When they have evidence to prove it," I comment, opening all the files I have on the Reapers and showing it to them. "Shepard's known about this for a while, and now they'll be arriving through our system."

"And if we don't stop them, then the entire galaxy is at risk..." Skresh shakes his head. "I... I don't want to believe this, and I especially don't want to believe anything about how the mass relay here has to explode. We have to evacuate the entire colony before the two days are up?"

I nod. "Which is why we came here," I reply. "We came to stop the Reapers' arrival, and to help the people in this colony."

M'yask looks at me, giving me an odd expression. "Well, this is an... interesting way to curry favor with the Hegemony," she says. "Save one of their colonies, make the Alliance look good..."

I shake my head. "You don't understand, M'yask," I say. "The Reapers are a threat to every species, not just humanity. The Reapers are the reason the Protheans went extinct. Three years ago, they also nearly invaded us."

"The incident with Saren?" asks Vag'rash.

"The Reapers were behind it," I reply. "You have to trust me on this."

"Yes, trust you after having left us nearly five years ago," says Skresh.

"That's such a brilliant idea," Vag'rash says. "What's next, brother? Do we have to grovel up and kiss your ass now?"

"Vag'rash, please!" M'yask turns to the twins. "He came back, and now he's here trying to save our lives. What else do you want?"

"You heard him!" says Skresh. "He didn't even tell the Demon of Elysium about the fact that he was technically supposed to be next in line to rule Aratoht!" Skresh shakes his head. "He didn't want the commander to know his past!"

"And?" asks M'yask. "He still came, didn't he? He protested that, and yet he's still here, isn't he?"

Skresh and Vag'rash are both silent at this. They both look back to me, still with frowns on their faces. They then look at M'yask. "It's not that simple, sister," says Skresh. "He... He left us for five years. And with how father was after that... How do we know that he..?"

I stand up. "Skresh, are you just looking for an apology?" I ask. "Because personal feelings on why I left aren't important in this situation. What is important, is that we have an opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of lives here. And..." I shake my head. "I don't think I can do it alone."

"You'll need our help?" asks Vag'rash. "I see..."

M'yask nods. "I can see why you'd ask for it," she says. "M'shk doesn't seem apt to talk to you all that much." She pauses, before looking at me. "Look, maybe there's something I can say to him. I don't know if it'll work, but if I say something to him maybe he'll be more open to listening to you."

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," says Skresh. "Especially since I get the feeling M'shk will keep pushing you away."

"You really think he'll do that?" I ask.

Skresh nods. "M'shk became a little bitter after you left," he replies. "Especially after the responsibility of ruling Aratoht shifted to him after you left and father died. You know he never wanted to rule Aratoht."

I sigh. "He seemed so friendly to me outside, though."

"Probably because he isn't the man father was," says M'yask. "He may be bitter, but M'shk is not unreasonable."

I nod. "Then... If you think it'll work, talk to him," I reply. "I know this is a lot to ask of the three of you, but we can't think about that now..."

"The entire colony is at risk," says M'yask. "And if this is a threat in which everyone is in danger like you say, then this isn't something we can take lightly."

"She's right, I guess," says Vag'rash. "I'm still angry at you for leaving, but... I guess I can put that aside. For now."

I nod. "Thank you," I say. "You don't know how much this means for everyone in this galaxy."

"We'll find out in due time, Carhon," says Vag'rash. "For now... It's getting a bit late, so we can't really do much about it now. M'shk might already be getting some sleep."

I shake my head, rolling my eyes. "He still goes to bed early?" I ask.

"Oh yes," says M'yask. "Well, unless he has an important meeting with the Hegemony, but still. Some things never change, you know?" She then comes to sit on the bed. "You... We sort of caught up at dinner tonight, Carhon, but... I think there's more to the story you left out."

I nod. "There was," I comment. "Mostly pertaining to some of the details."

M'yask nods. "I thought so," she says. "Now... I'm guessing there were a few details, but... I guess the one I'm most interested in after what happened with B'rashk..."

She looks at me, and I recognize that look from when I used to tell her all the details of my love life. "Was there anyone else?"

I sigh. "Not exactly," I comment. "I had... encounters, yes, but nothing like what I had with B'rashk. The closest I came to that was strictly 'friends with benefits'."

"Really?" asks Vag'rash. "You, in a 'friends with benefits' relationship. I don't see that."

"What was he like?" asks M'yask curiously.

"He was a quarian," I reply, breathing in deeply. "He was on his Pilgrimage when we met. He was odd. He was a biotic, he was gay, and he came from a human colony rather than the Fleet. He was a good kid, though. Nice person, always listened to me if I had to bitch about something... He was beautiful."

I then go on to tell them the story of what happened with him, and of my time on Omega.


*Madison Paige POV*

I lean against the cell, looking directly at Councillor Sparatus. The turian Councillor simply looks down at the ground, grovelling there. Even though he's behind an energy field, he's still handcuffed. Can't be too careful, I guess. I cast another glance to the C-SEC officers surrounding the cell, shrugging as I turn my attention back to Sparatus. For a brief second, I see him glare in my general direction, but just as quickly he directs his gaze down at the ground.

Hm... Well, I guess this is where things get interesting, somehow. I think. It's been like this for the past few hours. The C-SEC officers look like they're still grumbling to themselves, and one of them even glares at me every half hour or so. They don't say anything, but I can read it in how their eyes move on me that they don't really want me here. I can't blame them, but then, Sparatus is too dangerous to leave like this. If he's indoctrinated by the Reapers...

I find myself glancing at Jacob for the fourth time in this shift. He sits there, looking rather vigilant. He simply has his arms crossed and has his eyes resting right on Sparatus. Jacob simply shifts his weight, and I find myself sighing out of boredom. I know why we're here, but sometimes it can take a while. At least the others usually find themselves with something to do. Here... We simply stare at a Councillor.

He hasn't tried anything yet. But somehow, I can't shake the feeling that he's just biding his time.

I then hear a little beep, and look to a turian C-SEC officer who was just transfered here today. He looks at his omni-tool, opening it while glancing directly at me.

"Sorry," he says. "This wont' take long."

I look at the C-SEC officer, raising my eyebrow. "Receiving a message at this time?" I ask.

"Probably from my girlfriend," he replies. "This might be important."

I then look at the turian as he opens the omni-tool's message. After a second or two, I return to looking at Sparatus. I notice his gaze has shifted from the floor to the side, but he otherwise seems disinterested. I find myself glancing at the C-SEC officer, too, watching as he looks over the message. He eventually closes it after a few seconds, shaking his head.

"Sorry," he says apologetically. "It was just some spam message. I swear, we get too many of them as it is."

I nod, rolling my eyes and smirking. "Don't we always?" I ask rhetorically.

The turian grunts in reply, and then the area falls silent again.

Thankfully, we don't have to wait too long, for then I begin hearing footsteps down the hall. When I look past Jacob, I notice that Tidoses and Wrex are both walking down the hall. Wrex looks like he absolutely doesn't want to be there, and Tidoses just leers in the direction of the cell.

Hm...

"I guess this means we're out of here, huh?" asks Jacob as he uncrosses his arms.

"Yep," says Wrex. "Now I get to spend time trying to think of eight different ways to annoy turians."

I raise my eyebrows at the krogan. "I figured you'd be in the labs with Jarel and Anahit," I reply.

"Not today," says Wrex. "It'll be fun, he said."

"Yeah, the phrase 'blatant lies' could never have a better application than it does here," says Tidoses. "Well, we're here, so..."

I nod. "You watch him well," I say. "We'll let the next shift come in when they will."

"Sure," says Wrex.

With this, Jacob and I both leave the area around the cell. I shrug, looking at the former Corsair as we walk away.

"Well, I can see why Garrus doesn't like doing this for too long," I comment. "He'd be itching to do anything after that."

"I'll bet," says Jacob. "Still, someone's gotta watch over him. If we don't, then what happens when he tries something?"

I nod. "That's true," I reply. "Come on. I'll bet Garrus and the others are just itching for us to go find them."

With this, Jacob and I walk down the hallway on our way out of this prison.


*Albert Shepard POV*

"It's been a few hours since Shepard landed on Aratoht, hasn't it, Jack?"

Jack turns to look at me, leaning against the wall in what I'm guessing is our quarters for the time being. She shrugs, and I find myself shifting my position on the make-shift cot I've set up in this room. It's more like a science lab than anything, but it was the furthest thing from Object Rho that we could find.

"Yeah," says Jack. "But then, she did go to a batarian colony. I can't think of a faster way to get yourself killed."

I frown. "Don't say that, Jack," I reply. "Jocelyn'll get through this. She'll have to."

"Oh, I wasn't exactly saying she'd get herself killed," Jack replies. "Trust me, she'll pull it off. She'll pull it off, even if she has to get that pussy-ass batarian to sweet-talk her way out of it."

I roll my eyes. "You're insufferable with the swearing sometimes," I comment.

"You love it," Jack retorts.

I stare up at the ceiling before looking back to Jack. "I've gotta admit, it's grown on me," I reply. "And I am into 'bad' girls."

Jack smirks. "Thought so," she says.

I nod, finding myself smiling and looking back up at the ceiling. "You know..." I comment. "The Alliance would be glad to have someone like you with us."

"Really?" asks Jack.

I shrug. "Well, they've gotta have someone to help out at the Grissom Academy," I comment. I cross my arms. "And on more than just biotics, for that matter."

"Oh, God, are you giving me the couch treatment?" Jack asks.

I shake my head. "No," I comment. "I think... I don't know why, but I think you'd be good around younger people. And who knows? Maybe you'd give a pretty good couch treatment yourself."

I can feel the moment when Jack rolls her eyes. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," she says.

Oh, Jack... I sit up on the cot, looking directly at the biotic. I smile at her. "It's true, though," I say. "You don't believe me now, but I think it's true. You're trustworthy, you're brutally honest, and most of all you don't take shit from anyone. I think that people levitate to that, especially when they're younger than you are." I find my cheeks flush slightly. "Believe me, it's true. And you'd make a great mentor."

Jack's eyebrows raise ever so slightly. "You really think so, huh," says Jack. "I still don't think you're right."

I nod. "Give it time, Jack," I comment. "Give it time." With this, I go back to laying down on the cot.

And after this, we settle into a comfortable silence. It's strange that we're hitting a comfortable silence with less than two days to evacuate an entire batarian colony, but somehow it just feels right. Especially with Jack here...

I glance at her again, and our eyes meet. I don't really say much of anything as I look at her, but suddenly she's blushing intensely, and then turns her head as far to the right as she can.


*Carhon Erash POV*

I wake up pretty quickly the next morning. Even then, however, I find that I am still late to breakfast, and barely manage to catch M'shk as he steps out of the dining hall.

"Ah, brother," says M'shk. "Still late to breakfast as usual."

I blink. "You remember all that?" I ask.

"Of course I do," M'shk replies. "I remember how you'd always sleep so late and wake up so late that you'd miss breakfast." He shakes his head. "And I still remember how you'd only wake up early if they were serving that fried vegetable you always loved so much." He sighs sadly. "I miss those days."

I cross my arms. "I think we all do," I comment.

M'shk nods. "It's so much easier on me, too," he says as he looks up at me. "I always kind of suspected you were gay, honestly. The way you were around B'rashk... It was too close to be just 'best friends'."

I blink. "So you know," I comment.

"Everyone kind of figured it out after you ran away," says M'shk. "For what it's worth, I think father was wrong to execute B'rashk." M'shk shakes his head. "You know that it was a power grab."

"In hindsight, M'shk, everything he did was a power grab," I comment bitterly.

"Perhaps," says M'shk. "I tend to think that myself I don't think it excuses you running away." M'shk's expression becomes serious as he checks the time on his omni-tool. "Now, if you'll excuse me, brother, I have some very important business to take care of."

I frown. "M'shk, we have to talk about something now," I say. "The things I have to tell you can't wait."

"You forget that in this household, I am the one in charge," he replies. "And I don't think your issues are significant enough for me to address. I'm glad you're back, I really am, but there are other things that take priority."

I frown. "So the fact that what I need to tell you pertains to the safety of the whole colony doesn't matter?" I ask.

M'shk frowns, looking at me. "It's about the safety of the colony?" he asks. "Really?"

"Yes," I say. "And before you go assuming things, no, we did not come here to warn you about an Alliance invasion. Trust me, that's not what's happening here."

M'shk gives me an odd look. "I think you'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe after dragging an ex-Alliance person here, and especially a jail-bird." He crosses his arms and gives me a glare. "Maybe the Alliance will go after the Demon of Elysium. I wouldn't put it past the Council to order them to do something like that to get one of their prisoners. Frankly, this is a minor issue. We just turn her back in to the Council, and everything will be fine. I'm also fairly certain that the Hegemony would order me to do it anyway. I know my place, brother, and I know that the Demon of Elysium is a threat to us while she is still on the run from the Council. Now, if you'll excuse me."

He begins walking off, but before he can move far, my hand clamps down on his shoulder. "Shepard was acquitted by the Council!"

I feel M'shk jolt under my touch, and then he is suddenly turning to look right at me. "They... What?" he asks, the shock clearly visible on his top two eyes.

"Shepard was acquitted, M'shk," I tell him. "She's not a wanted criminal. The Council released her, and she's now working with the Alliance again."

M'shk blinks, frowning and looking at the ground. "They... The Hegemony hasn't said anything," he says. "How do you know this isn't Alliance propaganda?"

"Because I was there in the courtroom with the crew of the Normandy, M'shk," I reply. "I was there during the final hearing. And I was there when the Council told Shepard they wanted to drop charges against her. And there were a lot of other things that happened too. Sparatus was accused of treason, M'shk. And then he was locked up."

"Nobody has said anything about this in the Hegemony," says M'shk. "You... This has to be a desparate attempt to gain my sympathy!"

"It's not," I say. "I swear I'm telling you the truth, M'shk. I wouldn't be standing here today if I wasn't telling you the truth."

"And you expect me to believe it immediately?" he asks.

"Yes," I say. "We're not here to hide from the Council. If we were, we wouldn't have tried to touch down in a densely populated area. You know that, M'shk: I know you're not an idiot. I'm asking you to believe me, because she's trying to help you, M'shk."

"Why?" he asks.

"There are..." I pause. I then frown, opening my omni-tool quickly and showing him the countdown to the Reapers' arrival. "The entire colony is at a great risk, M'shk. And I don't think we can afford to wait for the Hegemony to do something before we need to start getting people out of here."

"What's this countdown?" asks M'shk.

"It's a countdown to a catastrophe that could affect the entire colony," I say. "It's not an Alliance invasion, M'shk. It's much worse than that."

M'shk pauses, frowning while looking down at the ground and contemplating what I've said. He continues looking down at the ground, and I can imagine he's thinking about what I've just told him.

After a while, he looks back up to me. "What you've just told me is... It's very difficult to believe. But if that's all true..." He pauses, shaking his head. "This is strange, brother. I can suddenly find no explanation for why the Demon of Ely-"

"Shepard," I reply.

M'shk glares at me briefly. "I can find no explanation for why the Demon of Elysium is here," he continues. He then pauses, crossing his arms. "I have important business to attend to with the Hegemony. They are asking for a status update, and I can't miss it. But... I'll try to mention what you just brought up with me, and I'll press for the truth. I'll probably be ordered executed, but if there's truth in what you say..." He frowns, turning away. "I shall send for you later. You will come to my office when you do. You'll know where it is."

With this, M'shk turns away and walks down the hall. He vanishes behind a corner, and while I feel a small amount of fury at how he's brushed me off so casually, I feel a small measure of relief that he at least listened.

I sigh, looking at the corner M'shk disappeared behind. I hear some more footsteps, and then turn my head to find Skresh standing there.

"If it means anything, I did try to bring up what you mentioned last night," says Skresh. "He didn't pay attention."

I nod. "Well, this is a start," I comment. I open my omni-tool again, looking at the countdown and sighing. "Though... Our window of opportunity is quickly vanishing here."

"Thirty-six hours until the Reapers invade," Skresh comments as he looks at the counter that is displayed on my omni-tool. "Let's hope that meeting of his doesn't last long."

I nod. "Yes, let's hope," I say.


*Art POV*

Kal has put his face mask back on by now, but it doesn't seem to mask his expression any. Even as the day has begun heating up, Jenny stays close to Kal while practically hugging the marine. Kasumi and I are still sitting by the wall, but now the Commander is busy looking at that which has been shoved into our cells.

I refuse to call it food. Seriously, that shit they're trying to feed us is fucking nasty... What, are they feeding us shit or something? 'Cause that's what it looks like. Either way, none of us are actually eating it, least of all Shepard.

Finally, she just shakes her head. "And to think this is what Dr. Kenson had to deal with," she says.

"I don't know," says Kasumi. "Say what you will about our experience as prisoners so far, at least that facility looked kinda nice."

"The roof wasn't filled with holes, for one thing," I add.

Jenny shrugs. "I dunno, mate," she says. "I could get used ta this."

I glance right at Kasumi, who seems to gesture sarcastically. "I think we all know why you're saying that," Kasumi retorts.

"Yeah really," I comment. "I mean, it's-"

I'm suddenly interrupted by the sound of very heavy footsteps walking towards us. Almost immediately, I spring to my feet, standing up and looking outside the cell doors. Oh dear...

"Do you think...?" asks Kal as he looks up to Jocelyn.

"Maybe," says Shepard. "We'll have to see what they want."

With this, Kasumi and Shepard also stand, with Kal slowly helping Jenny up. We all look outside the door, looking at the barred window that's there.

After a few seconds, a batarian comes into view. Somehow, though, this batarian's eyes are different, less... bulgy. Huh... I swear that's a little odd. This batarian also looks much more slender than you might think a batarian would look. It's almost like...

I blink. No way... "You're not... a female batarian, are you?" I ask. I then hold my hand over my mouth. "God, I hope that didn't offend you or anything. It's just..."

The batarian in front of me sighs. "I take it you have never seen a female batarian before."

...

Oh, boy, she's definitely a lady.

"Most of us haven't even been in batarian space before, ma'am," Kal'Reegar replies.

The woman sighs. "If it means anything, I apologize for the state you are in now," she says. "I wish... M'shk has never been the same since Carhon left."

Shepard steps forward. "I take it you're related to Carhon, then," she says.

"I am," says the lady. "Please, call me M'yask." She frowns. "I have to admit, I never thought I'd speak with a group of humans who look reasonable."

I cross my arms, biting my lower lip. Thankfully for me, it's Kasumi who speaks next. "Eh, we can be pretty nice," says the thief. "You just have to know what we like."

"Sure," says M'yask as she looks at Shepard. "Carhon... He spoke to me and two of my older siblings about why you're here last night."

I lean forward, as does Shepard. "He did?" she asks. "He told you everything?"

"Yes," says M'yask. "I just... I had to see you for myself first." M'yask then steps forward. "Why?"

I blink, looking at her. "Why risk our necks for something like this?" I ask.

"Yes," says M'yask. "I... It's tough to believe that a group of humans are trying to save a bunch of batarians. I thought all humans hated us."

Shepard steps forward. "Some do," she says. "But there are bad humans out there, just like there are bad batarians. This isn't about old hatreds, M'yask. This is about many other things."

"But you're the Demon of Elysium," says M'yask. "You slaughtered several thousands of batarians..."

"I did it to protect civilians on Elysium," Shepard says. "The batarians there were killing civilians and taking them captive. I didn't have a choice, and I did what I did to save them." M'yask moves to ask something, but then Shepard raises her hand. "And before you say anything, no, not all of these civilians were human. One of my greatest allies on Elysium was actually a turian. And there were a couple of asari that I was trying to defend as well."

"You defended non-humans?" asks M'yask. "But... You don't like aliens. That's what the Hegemony says."

I roll my eyes, even as Shepard falters slightly. However, she immediately looks back at M'yask. "The Hegemony said that?" she asks. "I wouldn't believe them if I were you. All life is important in this galaxy, M'yask. I'm here to help your people in whatever capacity I can."

"But you hate batarians!" says M'yask. "That's what everyone in batarian space says!"

Shepard shakes her head. "It doesn't matter what anybody else says," says Shepard. "What people say about my beliefs are isn't relevant. The greatest threat to our existence is crawling down on us, and soon enough we'll have to put prejudices aside to help make sure we can all come out alive. Because if we don't, then all of us will pay, not just our respective species." She shakes her head, walking up to the cell door. "But even with that, there's another issue, and in my opinion it's the more important reason. You're a batarian. Frankly, M'yask, I couldn't care less. Elysium or no Elysium, you're still people. And when there is a threat that threatens to exterminate people, I can't stand there and do nothing about it. I have to act. And the fact that you have two extra eyes doesn't change that. I came here to save people. At the end of the day, all we really are is people, regardless of what species we are."

...

Wow, Shepard... Hoo...

I missed your epic speeches, Shepard.

M'yask seems to feel a little weak in the knees as she looks away. "I... I have never heard someone speak like that before," she says. "You would make a wonderful propaganda master for the Hegemony."

I roll my eyes. "She would, but that's not likely," I say. "You satisfied?"

"More than I ever thought I would be," says M'yask. She pauses, then looks right at Shepard. "I... You're doing a great thing, De-... Shepard." She pauses, looking down at the ground. "It feels so strange, saying "Shepard". All anyone ever talks about is how evil you are. And yet..." She pauses. "I'm sorry. This is a lot to digest."

"It's all right," says Shepard. "I understand. I've seen more than my fair share of people who have had to adjust their thinking."

M'yask nods. "I... I kind of came up here to see if my faith in Carhon was well-placed." She looks directly at Shepard. "I'm glad to see my doubts were wrong." She leans closer. "There isn't much I can do to help convince M'shk to do something about it. Carhon will have to do that himself. But for what it's worth... I know a few merchants on this colony that have some ships that are large enough to fit small groups of people. I can warn them about this. It's not an official evacuation, but... I can begin helping with that"

Shepard nods. "It can still save lives," she says. "And time isn't on our side, so we can't be picky."

"That's true," says M'yask. "Though... I don't think we'll be able to evacuate all three hundred thousand people in time. And it'll be meaningless if the Hegemony stops the evacuation efforts before they even begin."

Shepard nods. "I have it covered," she says.

"You have it covered?" asks M'yask. "How?"

"I have my ways," says Shepard. "Mainly, involving Council ships that are currently on standby until I give the word."

M'yask looks to Shepard. "And they will help us," she says.

"I have Spectre authority," says Shepard. "And I patched into the Council on my way to this colony. They've agreed to help evacuate people here." She then nods, looking at M'yask. "Go tell those merchants. The sooner you can help people, the better."

M'yask nods. "I'll get right on it."

And with this, M'yask leaves. I watch her walk quickly down the hall, and then I notice that the two batarian guards that were guarding our door are suddenly nowhere to be found. I frown, putting my hands on the bars and looking around as...

"Hey, where'd the guards go?" I ask.

"Oh, you didn't notice?" asks Kasumi.

"Yeah, they went off right as soon as she came in," says Jenny. "Looks like they were caterin' to 'er or somethin'."

"That's what it looks like," I comment. I then turn to Shepard. "Well, it's a start. That's better than nothing, really."

"It is," Shepard agrees. She sighs. "It's been a while since I talked about Elysium."

I blink, looking at her. "So there was really a turian on Elysium?"

Shepard nods. "He was on leave, just like I was," she says. "He... He didn't live to see the Blitz end." She sighs, looking wistfully up at the ceiling. For a second, I can almost see a flash of fond nostalgia cross her face, her resolve temporarily breaking. "It's funny how the first person I've ever really told about him was a batarian. I don't talk about him all that much, though, but all I'll say? He was a good man..."

I look at Shepard. "Story for another day?" I ask.

"Story for another day," she replies. "For now, we have to hope that Carhon can convince his brother to help evacuate the colony. Because once that happens, that's when we can really begin helping."

I nod. "Yeah," I say. "Let's just hope..."


*Carhon Erash POV*

I end up walking with Skresh and Vag'rash to my father's old office. I walk rather quickly, as the slave who was sent to fetch me told me that my brother was very upset and needed to speak with me right away. M'yask is nowhere to be found, but we couldn't concentrate on that. For now... there's only this.

Before I even know it, I've walked into my father's old office. And it still looks exactly the same, with the framed paintings of old people in the Erash family hanging on the walls. I never got used to how regal they all looked in those military uniforms with all the medals sort of sitting there over their hearts, but they're still there. The room is spacious, but my attention is directed to M'shk, who is sitting there looking greatly displeased. He looks at the front of the desk with a frown before looking up at Skresh, Vag'rash, and myself.

As soon as he stands, his attention turns to the twins. "So they know," he says.

"Yes," says Vag'rash.

M'shk nods. "The Hegemony knew about Shepard as well," he says. "They denied the information, but..." He looks up at me. "You're right, Carhon. I'm not an idiot. I could see it in the way they moved that I know something I shouldn't know."

"So why do you look so upset?" I ask.

"The Hegemony explicitly told me to do nothing about Shepard," he says. "They never even suggested 'turn her back in to the Council'. They cited a strain on resources as the reason why I should stay there, but I know they're just covering their asses. They'll be sending an assassin here in a week, I'm guessing. I've become a liability." He then turns to look at me. "By association, you've put the entire Erash family in danger with this, Carhon. I don't want to regret letting you back into this house."

I nod. "I promise you won't," I say, opening my omni-tool and again showing this countdown. "I said this was a countdown to a catastrophe. It's..." I close it, opening Madison's file on the Reapers and the file Shepard gave me with the Council's research into the Reapers. "Have you ever heard of the Reapers, M'shk."

"The Reapers?" asks M'shk. "I can't say I really have."

I nod, opening Madison's file and showing all the information. "Most people didn't think they existed until recently, even in Council space," I comment. "And I can't blame them: the concept is so horrifying that I don't think most people want to believe that it's something that's real." M'shk walks up to me and looks at this data. "The Reapers are a race of sentient starships that, according to Shepard, are bent on the harvesting of all organic life. It sounds crazy, I know, but there's proof that they exist, trust me." I gesture to my omni-tool. "The data's all here."

M'shk leans forward, and begins reading my data. I glance to Vag'rash and Skresh to see them both looking at me. I notice one of Vag'rash's lips graze over his bottom teeth nervously, an action I find myself mirroring subconsciously. I myself am holding my breath... I hope my brother accepts this.

After a few minutes, M'shk nods. "This is extensive, brother," he concedes. "But are we sure this is a threat?"

I nod. "You remember Saren, right?"

"Of course," says M'shk. "The Hegemony made plenty of propaganda about it. Said the Demon of Elysium was trying to curry favor with the rest of the galaxy."

I nod. "That ship that Saren was piloting wasn't geth technology," I say. "It was a Reaper."

M'shk nods. "I see..." he says, rubbing his chin. "And how does that relate to why you returned to Aratoht?"

I close Madison's files, opening the countdown again. "The mass relay in the Bahak system is a special kind of relay that grants the Reapers access to the entire rest of the galaxy," I reply. "If we don't destroy that relay before this countdown reaches zero, then the Reapers will invade the entire galaxy. And it won't just be the Council's problem: it will be the Hegemony's problem as well. In fact, it will be everybody's problem."

"And how do you know that?" asks M'shk.

"Shepard had conversations with one of them," I reply. "The Reapers... They don't sound like good news. The Alliance knows that they're extremely dangerous, and that this threat will destroy everything if we don't deal with it now."

M'shk frowns, glancing at the counter before looking at Skresh and Vag'rash. "And that's why Amanda Kenson wanted to crash that asteroid into the relay," he says. He shakes his head. "So you're going to finish what she started."

"We don't have a choice, M'shk," I comment. "It's destroy the relay or allow the Reapers to invade when we're not ready." I pause. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

I see M'shk look at me curiously. "Interesting quote," says M'shk. "Where did you get it?"

"This old human movie, believe it or not. It's a long story, M'shk, and I don't think it would be a good idea to ask about that now of all times." I step towards M'shk. "But we've taken a third option. Shepard and I are here because we want to make sure that we can evacuate as much of the colony as possible before we have to destroy this relay," I say.

"The Demon of Elysium? Helping batarians?" asks M'shk. "That's..." I shake my head. "I don't know..."

"Believe me, she wants to help," I reply.

M'shk sighs. "If the Hegemony had not confirmed what you said by how they acted, then I would've called you crazy," he says. "Either way, this is a hell of a thing to ask me for only having been home for less than a day."

I glance at the counter. "Shepard came here with only two days to attempt to evacuate a colony," I comment. "She figured she might have been arrested. But she came here anyway, because she wants to help evacuate these people."

M'shk frowns. "And that's why she risked that much," he says... He breathes in through his nose. "I... I'm sorry, this is a lot to process. This information, and then all this information about the Reapers..."

"The Council did their own independent research based on data Shepard found," I reply. "They came to the conclusion that the Reapers exist."

"I see..." says M'shk. "I... This is..."

"I know it's difficult to believe, and I know it's disturbing," I reply. "And I know you're probably angry at me, but-"

"I didn't say it was difficult to believe, Carhon," says M'shk. "I don't have to say such things, but with all this evidence you've showed me of the Reapers' existence..." He shakes his head and raises his hand. "This is actually worse for me than you might think. It could end my political career."

...

Of all the...?

"We're talking about the lives of fifty thousand colonists here, and all you're concerned about is your fucking political career?" I shout suddenly.

"Seriously, M'shk?" Skresh asks. "You're doing that?"

"Relax." M'shk holds his hand up. "Politically, I'm likely in a bad place anyway for mentioning what I did about the De... Shepard." He pauses walking to his desk. "But there's another, more problematic piece of information that could end my career, not to mention stop all efforts to help this colony before they even start. And I think it would be of interest to the Commander." He then opens one of the drawers in the desk, and pulls out a datapad. "I guess Shepard hopes that the Hegemony can help fight these Reapers, right?"

"Well... yes," I reply. "Why... Why are you bringing it up? And why the hell does it concern your political career?"

He nods, coming up to me with the datapad. "Brother..." M'shk shakes his head. "The Hegemony is running experiments on the Leviathan of Dis. They asked me for volunteers to the project, and I sent them a few of our colonists. I haven't heard back from the colonists, but the Hegemony did give me statistics on the Leviathan and what has happened with it."

He then holds the datapad to me. "Seeing what you just showed me, I don't think the Hegemony will want to help Shepard."

"And why not?" I ask.

He looks to me, and I notice a desperate edge in the way he looks at me. "If your information is correct, and if some information the Hegemony gave me recently to update me on the status of the experiments on the Leviathan is any indication..." He shakes his head, closing his eyes.

"It looks like the Leviathan of Dis is probably a Reaper."

...

"What?"

I practically rip the datapad out of his hands, and I only notice that he willingly let go because of the fact that he doesn't act at all surprised. I look at the datapad... I... No way... That's a picture of Sovereign... But there are batarians around there... And these resource counts... So similar. And the way... No...

Oh, no...

I look up to M'shk. "Holy shit," I say. "It does look like a Reaper."

"I thought that might be your reaction," he says. "I'm not an idiot, Carhon. You're right that I shouldn't be stressing out about my political career with this. But since I'm already likely in hot water with the Hegemony..." He smirks, looking at me. "Remember when we used to prank father as little kids, brother?"

I give him an odd look. "This is an... odd time to bring this up," I comment. "But yes. Why?"

M'shk nods. "I think we're about to do something like that again," he says. "I know the Hegemony would never agree to this evacuation of the colony, especially not if they knew that it involved ships that were similar in design to the Leviathan of Dis." He then looks to me. "But we have no other way of getting my people out of here."

I blink, looking at M'shk. "So you'll help get these people out of here?"

My younger brother looks at me. "I'm still angry that you left the way you did," he says. "But this isn't about that." He then picks up a picture of father. "I'm not completely like father. I do actually feel a responsibility to the people of Aratoht. These are people I grew up with. And... I would be just like my father if I were to abandon them now."

I blink. "Well, uh..." I say. "Shepard probably has a solution, if you'll let her out so we can talk about it."

M'shk nods. "Then let's get going," he says. "If we only have thirty-two hours to stop a Reaper invasion while still saving this colony... We should get moving." He then nods to Vag'rash and Skresh. "Come on."

With this, he walks to the door of his office. I look at Vag'rash and Skresh in surprise. I...

Vag'rash shakes his head. "I have to say, I was not expecting it to go that well," he comments.

"Neither was I," I say. "Come on. We can't let this go to waste."

And with this, I walk toward the door, following M'shk rather quickly.


*Art POV*

We've barely sat down from having heard M'yask's bit when we hear more footsteps again. I stand up, and look outside of the door. I glance back to Shepard, looking at her as we hear the footsteps get closer. I see everyone else stand up, and before I know it I see the guards. I then notice that Carhon, M'shk, and two of the other batarians that were present when we got off the shuttle are standing in front of us.

I lean forward, looking at them. "Oh, boy," I comment. "Looks like we've finally got something here."

"You see that right, Art," says Carhon. "I... I can't believe this either."

"Believe what?" asks Kasumi.

M'shk comes up to the doors. "You did not come here to destroy us," he says.

Shepard shakes her head. "Not at all," she says. "I actually spoke with your sister about that. I told her that I don't care about species: people are still people. And your people are going to be in grave danger."

M'shk nods. "Then I think I have seen all I need to," he says. "Guards, release them."

I barely have time to register what the head of this place says before suddenly, the door is open.

...

Holy shit...

"Wait, so here's the part where we just waltz right out?" asks Jenny. "You aren't foosterin' for an execution or somethin'?"

All of the batarians in front of us turn to each other. "Foosterin'?" asks one of the guards.

"Uh, I think that's Irish slang, sir," Kal'Reegar comments.

Shepard nods. "I see," she says, walking up to the batarians. She then stands directly in front of them, and when they do nothing, I notice...

Holy shit, these guys are for real! Then that means...

Yes! Carhon did what he needed to!

I pump my fist, stepping out after Shepard. Kasumi follows my lead almost immediately, and then Jenny and Kal are both following suit. Shepard nods, looking at M'shk with a thoroughly pleased expression on her face.

"Well, I'm glad you could see reason," Shepard says.

"Some people in the Hegemony have labelled me as something of a rebel," M'shk replies. "I think that's about to be quite solidified here."

"That's what it seems like," says Shepard. "So I take it you know about what is happening to the relay."

"Yes," says M'shk. "Carhon also said you had a solution."

Shepard nods. "Then I need to contact the Council," she says. "I hope you've got the facilities to place that call, M'shk, because it will be quite heavy-duty."

"I do," says M'shk. "Follow me, please." He walks a few paces. "And by the way, Shepard, you were hoping to gain allies out of my superiors?"

Shepard frowns. "It was only a side objective, but yes," she says. "Why?"

M'shk nods grimly. "There's a complication with that," he says. "I'll explain when we're in my house, but if what Carhon has showed me is any indication, I don't think you should expect to get any help from the Hegemony."

I look to Shepard, before glancing right back at M'shk. "What, did the Hegemony find a Reaper or something?" I ask.

Carhon and M'shk look directly at me, their eyes widening in... Wait, why do they look so...

...

"He guessed it immediately, didn't he?" asks Shepard.

"He... he did," says Carhon.

Shepard leans forward. "They haven't been experimenting on it, have they?" she asks.

"Yes, they have," says M'shk. "I was even asked to send them some volunteers to help. Carhon said this was bad..."

"It's even worse than you think," says Shepard as she shakes her head. "The Reapers have the ability to... indoctrinate people. You don't even realize that you're carrying out their will until it's too late. If the Hegemony has been experimenting on the Leviathan..." She shakes her head. "Damn it, this is worse than I thought."

I open my mouth, but... Wait, shit, bringing up Carhon's resistance now is a very bad move, isn't it? Yeah... Yeah, I won't talk about that. But yeah, the resistance was apparently right to worry about all this. They were right to worry anyway, but now they're more right than they were before.

"Then we'll have to do this without them," says M'shk. "Come. We don't have any time to waste."


*Madison Paige POV*

"So that's why you nearly showed up late to that shift one time!"

"Yeah. Turns out, my father can't even leave the house. He's been... Well, you know."

"I see... I'm sorry to hear that, Tidoses."

"If you ask me... Well. You know. I managed to see all that footage of him at Shepard's trial, and you know... That was just bad, even for him. Honestly, I feel sorry for him."

I nod, looking in Tidoses with an understanding nod.

I'm sitting with Garrus and Tidoses on our time off from a shift. I glance over to the other end of our table at Apollo's Cafe to see Will Moskas and Nadeire both sitting there listening avidly to this. They both look rather happy, and rather well-off thanks to Shepard's trial. I can't believe I didn't meet with these two before, actually.

"Still, it kind of makes you feel bad for him," Will comments. "At least he has you, though."

"Yeah, there's that," Tidoses replies. She then shifts where she is sitting. "And as for you... You look like you're doing really well for yourself."

Nadeire smirks. "I believe Hannah Shepard may have something to do with that."

"Yeah," Will replies. "She gave me quite the paycheck for getting the Council to drop charges against her. Honestly, I didn't think you could pay a lawyer that much money."

"Trust me, I was also shocked," Nadeire adds. "Honestly, six million credits is nothing to balk at."

I find myself jumping back in my seat. "Six million credits?" I ask incredulously. "Wow, that is a lot..."

"It is indeed," says Nadeire.

"We're actually not sure what to do with it," Will comments. "But I'm sure that-"

Garrus' omni-tool suddenly pings rather loudly. The turian jumps up almost immediately, and then he looks at his omni-tool in surprise. "Well, I wasn't expecting this," he says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's a call from the Council."

I frown, looking to Tidoses before turning my attention back to Garrus. "Do you think...?" Tidoses asks.

"Probably," he says as he stands up. "I need to find some place more private. I'll be back ASAP."

With this, Garrus walks away from the table, and I watch him as he walks to a more isolated corner and begins speaking with the Council. I turn my attention back to Will and Nadeire right as they look at us in confusion.

"The Council is calling him right now?" asks Nadeire. "Why?"

"Long story," I reply. "And some of it is confidential."

"At least, until Garrus ends that conversation," says Tidoses. "Well, if that conversation is about what we think it is, anyway."

Will and Nadeire lean forward, with Will brushing some of his black hair out of his face. "I see..." says Will. "And it's important, which means..."

"It kind of refers to the Reapers," says Tidoses. "Not in the way you might think, but it refers to the Reapers."

"Ah." Nadeire sits back, crossing his arms. "I take it we will find out about what it entails soon."

"If Garrus doesn't tell us, then the Council's media outlets might," I reply.

"Why?" asks Will.

"Let's just say that this will involve moving ships in the Council Fleets to a certain position," says Tidoses. "That's all I'll say until-"

"-I get back." Garrus sits down at the table, looking at the rest of us. "The call was for what I thought it would be. A portion of the Council's fleet will be going to the Bahak system."

I blink. "So Shepard actually did it," I comment. "I'll be damned..."

"You've probably got Carhon to thank for that," Tidoses adds. "Now, we just wait and see what happens."

Will leans forward. "I'm sorry, but... the Bahak system?" he asks. "Isn't that in batarian space?"

"It is," I comment, leaning forward. "Trust me, they're going there for a good reason."

Nadeire shifts his position in his seat. "Care to enlighten us?" he asks.

"Yeah," says Tidoses. "But you better not tell anyone else. This shit is confidential."

And with this, Tidoses, Garrus, and I begin telling Will and Nadeire about what is happening in the Bahak System.


*Art POV*

"I gotta say, Carhon, the Erash house is actually kinda nice."

Kasumi makes this comment as we all sit in some kind of... dining room, it looks like. I glance up at the white walls, feeling more than a bit unsettled about the fact that there are large portraits of the Erash family sitting there. I know this is supposed to be regal, but I'll be damned if those things don't give me the creeps. Jeez, I almost expect to see an image of Mao Zedong up there.

"You're only saying that 'cause of the pictures up there," Jenny replies.

"Eh, they're not my type of painting," says Kasumi.

I glance at where M'yask, Skresh, and Vag'rash are sitting before I sigh. "None of this is really my type of place, I have to be honest," I comment. "I don't know how you people manage to live in such a cold place like this."

"Cold?" asks Skresh. "This isn't cold."

"To you, it isn't," I comment. "But trust me when I tell you that where I come from, this is..." I shake my head. "I shouldn't be talking about this. Not while we're waiting for M'shk to finish the announcement."

"Yeah," says M'yask. "I asked my merchant friends to help. It took a little convincing, but if they aren't helping get people out now they should be out helping people soon." She looks up. "The Hegemony will not be happy with this."

"I still can't believe that the Leviathan of Dis is a Reaper," Shepard comments. "This is worse than I thought it was."

I nod. "Well... it's all we can do now," I say. "How many ships did you say the Council would send?"

"About... fifty or so," she says. "It's a nice chunk of the Fleet that orbits the Citadel, actually, though they couldn't spare the Destiny Ascension."

"That doesn't surprise me one bit," Jenny replies. "I'm guessin' it's all smaller ships, too."

"It's mostly frigates and maybe two or three cruisers," says Shepard. "Still, it'll hopefully be enough to evacuate the whole colony." She pauses. "And then we take them to Khar'shan after that."

"Khar'shan?" asks Vag'rash. "The Hegemony would never let you in. This would go against everything they have fed to the people, it really does. And before you know it..."

"Nobody else would take so many colonists," she says. "The Hegemony may not want us to bring them there, but unless you can name another batarian colony world we can take them to..."

M'yask, Vag'rash, and Skresh all nod. "I can think of a few places," says M'yask. "But even then, the Hegemony would get involved. We know the Hegemony's politics, Shepard. We know they would never accept something like this whether it's on Khar'shan or a colony world."

"Well, I don't think the Council would take them in," says Kasumi.

"They're providing ships for the evacuation," Skresh points out. "Maybe they'd be willing to take the colony in for now."

"Not for long, though," says Carhon. "The Hegemony's spin doctors will likely come up with some crazy conspiracy theory."

I sigh. "God damn it," I comment.

"This is a right ol' pile o shite," Jenny adds. "We came in not knowin' what we'd do with these poor blokes. Any way we go about it, that Hegemony's gonna be a squealer."

Shepard shakes her head. "We're taking them to Khar'shan," she says. "I know the Hegemony might not be the best place to take them, but on this we'll have to bite the bullet."

"I guess we will," says Carhon as he sighs. He then looks up. "I just hope this doesn't get out of hand, Shepard."

I see the Commander wink at Carhon. "I think you and I both know that this will turn out for the better regardless of the situation."

I raise my eyebrows at her. Before I can comment on this, however, I hear footsteps from the door. I look up there, and then all of us in the room stand up upon seeing M'shk enter. He nods.

"The speech has been made," he says. "Hopefully, it'll be enough."

"It should be," says Shepard. "Now we wait for the Council's ships to arrive."

"They said the ETA was four hours, yes?" asks M'shk.

"Yes," Shepard replies. "Now... we wait."

I sit back down, looking to where Jenny is sitting. Kal'Reegar is of course sitting next to her, looking around the table. I look over to Carhon, and see that he looks visibly nervous.

I nod in his direction, feeling my own heart beat ever faster with each passing second. I hope they're right and that we can evacuate every colonist before we're forced to leave. I just hope they're right about that, at least...


*Madison Paige POV*

I sit on the bench next to Garrus. I find myself looking at him as we wait the remaining half hour for our next shift guarding Sparatus to begin. The Presidium is unnaturally busy at this hour, though not as busy as it has been given the departure of some of the Citadel fleets...

I sigh. "I can't believe they did it," I comment.

"I told you they'd do it," says Garrus.

"You did," I comment. "I still can't believe they pulled it off, though. And now, it's... what, a few minutes before the Citadel's fleet will touch down there? I wonder how the Hegemony will react to that."

"I guess we'll see what happens with that soon enough," says Garrus as I lean on his shoulder. "And then Art..."

I nod. "And then he'll be all right," I comment. "And we won't have to worry about three hundred thousand people dying. We did what we could, and that's the important part."

"That sounds about right," he says.

He then looks up at the artificial sky of the Presidium above us. I simply pull myself closer to him, and he makes no objection to this whatsoever. We sit there in this comfortable silence, simply waiting for our shift guarding Councillor Sparatus to begin. I very nearly close my eyes when his chest suddenly moves ever so slightly.

"You know, Madison..." he says. "One of these days, I'd like to go to the top of the Presidium."

I open my eyes, looking up at Garrus. "Really?" I ask.

"Yeah," says Garrus. "I've never been allowed there because of all these C-Sec regulations, and yet... I've always wanted to go there, shoot some bottles."

I chuckle. "Garrus, you know I'm no expert with a sniper rifle," I say.

"I never said anything about only sniper rifles," Garrus comments.

"You also didn't say anything about going together," I add, tracing a finger down his chest.

"Really?" asks Garrus. "Don't tell me I have to actually say those things now."

I shake my head. "Oh, trust me, that won't be necessary," I reply. "I got that all on my own." I glance up at the Presidium. "You sure that's safe?"

"Well, there wouldn't be fifteen C-Sec regulations in place if it was," Garrus comments. "But at this point, I don't care. And besides..." He looks to me. "I could probably enjoy the view with-"

"Ah, there you are!"

I promptly jolt, whatever mood we were in rapidly vanishing. I sit up, separating from Garrus slightly as we look up at Bailey. He is standing there, looking at us with a look of surprise. I stand up, as does Garrus.

"Bailey," says Garrus. "I didn't realize we were late."

"You're not," says Bailey. "But something else has happened that requires your attention."

I frown. "What?" I ask. "What would require our attention?"

Bailey shakes his head. "You're not gonna believe this, trust me," he says. "But the Council received word that a dreadnaught was allowed to dock at a docking bay on the Presidium without their knowledge."

I frown. "A dreadnaught?" I ask. "What's so unusual about that?"

Bailey shakes his head. "That's the strange part," he says. "By all accounts, it shouldn't be too odd. It's a turian dreadnaught, it came in for scheduled repairs... But there's are two really odd things." He clears his throat. "The first, is that the ship docked in a special docking bay that you need Council clearance to dock at. C-Sec is currently scrambling trying to figure out how that ship docked without getting the Council's okay first."

"And the second thing?" I ask.

"The second thing... You're not going to believe this," Bailey says.

"Well, if being on the Normandy has taught us anything, it's that anything's possible," Garrus replies. "What's the second thing?"

"Garrus..." Bailey shakes his head, leaning closer to us while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"The second thing... this ship is the Aurigos."