After going through the information, Shepard, EDI and Pyth were able to narrow down Garneau location, somewhere hidden in the Aysur system within the Caleston Rift. Pyth volunteered to remain at the lab to continue her work and see what else she could learn from their research while Shepard headed off to find Dr. Garneau.

Pyth also forwarded the information on the other potential sites to Mandalore, who forwarded them to Prath for the Mandalorians to investigate. Once the Normandy reached the system, their scanners found him, and a team was dispatched.

"We're about five minutes out, Commander."

Shepard stood behind Cortez, "What exactly's on this asteroid?"

Cortez pulled up the data, "Mining facility. T-GES Mineral Works. Small operation. Could be a good place for Leviathan to hide."

"Not likely." Lissarkh continued to meditate in the middle of the shuttle, "I sense many strange things in the area, but I do not believe the 'Reaper killer' is here."

Shepard turned back to the others, "We've all read EDI's notes on Bryson's lab. Any questions?"

Garrus stood up, "Is there a clearer idea of what this 'Leviathan' was?"

"Not really," Shepard turned to the others, "We only know it killed a Reaper."

Lissarkh remained on the floor, "And let's not forget that we're looking for Dr. Bryson's research partner, Garneau."

"Right," Shepard grabbed the railing, "If we find Garneau, we find Leviathan."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rang kicked back in one of the chairs, "So remind me again, why was I defused?"

Lissarkh finally opened her eyes, glaring toward Rang, "You are still being punished for your actions during the Rannoch campaign. However it is also for safety reasons," even Rang's spare anti-armor rounds on his legs were taken, "we cannot allow one of your explosives to rupture the colony. Only the two of us are wearing EVA capable suits."

Shepard pulled out his assault rifle, "The doctor was right about this: anything powerful enough to kill a Reaper needs to be investigated. I just hope Garneau has the answers we need."

Cortez noticed something, "I'm reading Reaper enemy signatures in the asteroid field."

"Bryson said they were shadowing his field teams. If they're after Leviathan, too, Reapers are a good sign."

Cortez shrugged, "That's not something you hear every day."

"Take us in." The shuttle passed through the colony's atmospheric barriers, touching down onto a small landing pad for the team to disembark. "Don't go anywhere, Cortez. We'll grab this guy and be right out. Keep me updated on the Reaper situation."

"Yes, Commander."

Rang was leaning against the railing of the elevator, "You know, we say that and things turn bloody. When someone like you says that then it turns into a real bloodbath." The elevator was lowered to the sight of two Marauders and a Brute trying to break down a door. "See."

Garrus turned to the left of the group, "And it sounds like they brought some friends."

Rang had one of his moments as he signaled the others to cover. Lissarkh pulled Rang back, careful not to attract their attention. "We are not using explosives."

"No offense General, but you're a real killjoy for us jarheads. And how are we supposed to kill two Brutes in such confined space?" Lissarkh simply lifted her lightsaber into view, "Right…two years of not seeing a Jedi in action really throws a guy out of perspective."

"As if that would have changed your plans." She released her grip on him now as she turned to Garrus for the first strike.

Garrus more than obliged, with the Black Widow in hand and shot the head off the Marauder. Shepard, using the recently requisitioned N7 Typhoon, worked on the second Marauder with Rang as Lissarkh moved toward the Brute that was pounding its chest. Lissarkh slowly walked alongside the hail of fire that was finishing off the last Marauder. The Brute tried to swipe at Lissarkh with its large claw, but the Jedi's reflects allowed her to avoid it and counter with a lightsaber slash nearly bisecting it from the hip.

Rang tossed a concussion grenade at an approaching Brute on Lissarkh's flank, causing it to flinch. Shepard emptied the remainder of his thermal clip into the second one and Garrus also fired off two shots from the Black Widow to finish it.

Rang kicked one of the Marauders, "Can't say the welcoming committee was what I wanted but it was a fun practice gallery."

Shepard pressed on, "Let's get Garneau before the serious troops arrive."

Garrus looked to the door the Brute was clawing at, "The people in this facility will be scared."

Continuing through the door with the least damage, the automated greeting kicked in. "Welcome to T-GES Mineral Works. All guests need to sign in at Reception."

To their surprise the workers continued on as though nothing had happened. "They're taking it pretty well, don't you think?"

Rang turned to Lissarkh, waving his finger, "General, I know what you're probably thinking, but for the love of all things decent I beg you, do not say those seven words!"

"You know it will happen even if I don't say it, correct?"

"Yeah, but I feel better when we don't say it."

Shepard was still weird out by the placid reaction everyone seemed to be giving. He moved to the reception where two of the miners were, "I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance. You just had Reaper troops attacking your front door."

"Are they still there?"

"I've taken care of them for now."

"I see," the other worker noted, "That will be all."

"That will be…?" The workers continued on as if Shepard and team weren't there.

Garrus moved to the button, pressing it for 'assistance'. "Yes," the man on the computer looked up, "welcome to T-GES Mineral Works. How can we help you?"

"Yes. For the tour, please sign in."

Shepard looked around, everyone still eyeing them, "You don't seem worried about those Reapers. You know something I don't?"

"T-GES Mineral Works is a small to mid-level supplier of tungsten to the galaxy."

Shepard started to rub his temples, "That's not what I meant."

"Are you familiar with the applications of tungsten?"

Shepard leaned on the counter, "I'm looking for a researcher named Dr. Garneau. He would have arrived within the last couple weeks. If he's still here, I need to speak to him."

"We have no Dr. Garneau."

"Do you need to see a doctor?"

Shepard step back, "How about I just go in and look around?"

"No," the receptionist quickly let out, "the access elevator is broken." Looking toward the elevator now, one of the workers moved away as the elevator door was now jammed. "And now…we're done. Step away."

"Step away. You don't belong here."

Lissarkh stopped him, "Tread carefully, the waters here are murky indeed." Lissarkh wasn't one to side step her words without a reason. They moved away and moved to the door.

Garrus looked to Rang, "So I'm assuming you had a breach charge in there that would vaporize this door and anyone three meters from it?"

"Vap? Nah. Char probably, cinder maybe."

Shepard looked to Lissarkh, "So why don't we use the repair drone?"

"Who said we need some stupid drone." Rang's omni-tool was active, "My preferred method is blasting everything to kingdom come. I may not have Bevii's magic fingers, but that doesn't mean I can't jury-rig this open. Though I need a bit of privacy."

As they covered Rang, Shepard leaned over to Lissarkh, "So what can you tell about the miners?"

"It's hard to explain. I hear a voice, far stronger than anything I have ever felt, washing over everything that stands before it." She started to scan the area, "Their thoughts and actions are not their own…"

Rang tapped the elevator controls, getting the door to wedge open enough where he used his knuckle blade to pry it open fully. "So can we kick some doors open later? I've got records showing our dear 'friend' using this elevator about a week ago."

Lissarkh continued to watch the humans in the area as they gathered onto the elevator. None of them looked, though she felt as though they were still watching them somehow. She stepped back and Rang activated the elevator. A voice is calling to her, trying to control her, but her training was proving to be her saving grace, fighting back against an entity that wasn't use to such resistance.

Meanwhile on the Normandy, Hioja was double checking something while Traynor was away. It was the Reaper search pattern that wasn't adding up to her. If this Leviathan was indeed a Reaper killer, it had to have considerable firepower and technology, or even if it was a rouge Reaper the search parameters were too small. Yet the data seemed to suggest that they were seeking something no bigger than an Alliance shuttlecraft. We're they really after Leviathan, or a means of tracking it down?

"Hioja?"

She was startled, having spaced out like that with the data, but she quickly eased when she saw his black armor, "Oh, Prudii. I'm sorry. I was just caught up in something."

He looked over her work, "Reaper patters are confusing."

"You…understand what I'm trying to do?"

Prudii nodded, tapping his chest, "Scout, remember? I know troop movements and deployments. Aran and Bev taught me the ship version." He looked back to the map Hioja was working on of the system, "Not using EDI's help?" He looked to her, though he couldn't hold it against her what with the recent war against the geth. "Wish the Reapers used standardized ships instead of only Destroyers and Sovereigns. But your right, the rock is too small for the Leviathan, organic or machine."

"So…you think we're only going to find clues or something?"

"Probably. More if we're lucky. But like Jedi say, there's no such thing as luck. We keep digging, we will find it, whether Leviathan wants us or not."

After investigating further, they found more evidence of Garneau's arrival and him still being within the facility. They also learned of an unidentified male who was involved in an altercation in the mines currently in the med bay. Once they gained access, Lissarkh was starting to feel woozy. "You alright ma'am? Need some pills?"

"No, it is not a physical ailment…"

Garrus and Shepard looked to one another, knowing this couldn't be a good sign. They started to look around the medbay, worried about more husks but nothing. "What do you sense?"

"I…I can't be sure…" Lissarkh looked around trying to figure out where this pain is coming from, "But there is something familiar, but strange about it."

With her warning, the team was even more cautious as they searched the beds. Rang spotted an occupied one but, "Is that Garneau?"

Rang scanned him, "If he is, that'd suck. Wasted a perfectly good field trip for nothing but a corpse."

Shepard was used to dead ends, but with the stakes so high now… "If you are looking for Garneau," the voice came from another patient behind them, "you have found him. I am Dr. Garneau."

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance," moving closer to that window to get a better view, "Are you alright?"

There was a pause, as he looked down, "Yes. Only…I'm trapped in here."

"What's been going on in this place?"

"I was doing my research—until the incident."

"They attacked you," inferred by the information they've managed to get.

Garneau fell silent again, "It's true. But, aside from my confinement, I'm fine."

"Bryson's research led us to you."

"Bryson sent you?" Garneau sounding almost fearful for some reason.

"He's critical, Doctor. We don't know if he'll make it. Shot by his assistant."

Garneau looked relieved, though with the tinted window they didn't see it, "I see."

"I need you to tell me everything you've found on the Leviathan. Bryson seemed to think it killed a Reaper."

"It's a myth. A dead end."

Garrus looked over, his C-Sec training kicking back in, "But what about the artifact you mentioned in your message?"

"I did? No."

"Yes, Doctor, you did. But now we've got Reaper forces attacking, so I need to break you out. We'll grab the artifact and go."

"Reapers," almost like a trigger word, something seemed to be changing about Garneau, "The darkness must not be breached."

"The darkness?"

Garneau slammed his fists against the window, "Why do you pursue me?"

"Doctor?"

He slammed his fist again, this time cracking the window. "Leave the artifact. You will not take what is mine."

Everyone took a step back, Rang grabbing his weapon already, "Yeah, a million ced says this ain't Garneau talking."

"You," Shepard piecing it together now, "You killed a Reaper. I need your help."

"You bring only death." The man's left nostril started to bleed before a mind shattering noise rang out and broke the glass. Lissarkh seemed to have gotten the worst of it as she screamed in pain, falling to her knees.

Garneau ran out of the room now and Shepard was the only one who had recovered quickly enough to try and give pursuit. Unfortunately Garneau already locked the door he traveled through to slow them down.

Shepard quickly got to hacking the door open as the others staggered toward him with splitting headaches. Rang checked on everyone, "Nothing wrong here, just some psychomological stuff our friend Garneau just pulled."

Garrus shock his head back, "I think it was a bit more than psychological…"

Opening the door the power shifted to the backups. "He's trying to slow us down."

Lissarkh moved forward, drawing her lightsaber and stabbing the blade into the middle of the door. "No it will not." She quickly pulled down, cutting through the locking mechanism, throwing her arms out and using her powers to fling the doors opened.

The man ran through another door shouting, "Leave this place."

Rang grabbed for one of the few breach charges he was allowed to keep, "My turn!"

"Wait," Shepard stopping him, "We need to get to that artifact before he does." Shepard looked to a nearby map of the facility.

Garrus nodded. "The mines." Garrus joined Shepard at the map. "Look, if we cut across from the outside we should be able to cut him off here," tapping his talon at the entrance to the mines.

"Then let us be quick about it." Lissarkh jumped up to the emergency hatch.

As they continued around the way, Shepard spotted a pair of husks climbing over a wall, "Looks like we're not the only ones headed that way."

"Of course not," Garrus was lining up his shot and killed the first one up, "Wherever we are," taking the second one down next, "always expect an eighty percent chance of Reapers."

Lissarkh dealing with another group of husks trying to slow them down. "And the other twenty percent?"

Rang ran ahead, "Don't you know, General? Cerberus or the idiotic merc who doesn't know what he's doing." The next area he quickly got to cover as Reaper forces started to crowd in, "Reaper creepers hard dropping on us." The area was crawling with Marauders and Ravagers, "And this is why you don't defuse the demo guy! For marks like these!" Rang dove to cover, just barely avoiding the hail of fire and mortar rounds from the Ravagers.

Garrus killed the first Marauder, ducking back behind a wall, "Isn't that why your gun can be different things?"

"Yeah, but where's the fun of seeing your enemy go up in a fiery inferno?" tossing an incendiary tech attack.

Lissarkh extended her arm out, gripping her hand as a Ravager was lifted into the air and compressed into a ball, showering two Marauders in its acidic fluids. "Less complaining more fighting."

Garrus popped a Marauder's head and spotted a human running through the chaos of the battle with the Reapers before him. "We got a runner."

"Damn fast little fierfek, ain't he!"

Shepard tapped Rang, as he moved to a new position, "Just focus on the enemy in front of us for now! We'll reach the mines soon enough." As they continued to cut down their numbers, the Reapers deployed Banshees and a handful of husks were climbing up the wall. Lissarkh jumped over to intercept the Banshees, leaving the other Reaper creations to the team.

"Keep your head down." Nyona pushed down the batarian governor, Grothan Pazness, as she waited for a patrol of Reapers to get out of the way. "Forta, how's the shuttle?"

"They haven't found us yet, but they're getting nosy. Our window of escape is getting smaller by the second."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure the engine's hot by the time we get there." Nyona checked with her timer, "Distraction in three…" an explosion detonated just beyond the Reaper holding pens, far away from the shuttle's position, "Hope your resistance fighters are good, cause their on their own now." Nyona waited thirty seconds after the explosion before pulling Governor Grothan across the ruined plaza to where the Mandalorian shuttle was hiding inside the ruins of a marketplace.

Forta pulled Grothan up followed by Nyona. Aay'han tapped the pilot, "Package secured. Get us the hell out of here!"

The little shuttle quickly left the planet and the Reapers didn't seem all that concerned. "I must thank you Mandalorians. If not for your aid, the batarian people would have no future after this war."

Aay'han looked over his shoulder, "Figure heads are just as important as the men fighting the battles. Keep giving those speeches and we'll get you to the Citadel as quickly as possible. Though I think it'd help morale if we got you on the extranet right now."

Emily Wong left her seat in the cockpit and her camera followed her. Emily was wearing a combat skin that was recovered from the ancient derelict Mandalorian ship, a condition given to her by Aay'han. Nyona was about to leave, but Governor Grothan stopped her. Grothan cleared his throat, as Emily made the introduction, "Greetings, this is Emily Wong with FCC on board the Mandalorian shuttle after the successful extraction of Governor Grothan Pazness from Camala. Governor, do you have anything you wish to say for our views?"

"My fellow batarians, I wish to express my gratitude to the men and women who are fighting and dying against the Reapers. And I must give my personal appreciation to those still fighting on Camala, resisting Reaper occupants and to the Mandalorians who risked their lives to see to my personal safety. I promise you, my people, we will see the light at the end of this tunnel, we will rise stronger as a species, but we must work side by side with our brothers and sisters in arms to do so. I will be transported to the Citadel, to ensure our refugees are given every resource they my brothers and sisters, fight for the day that the Reapers are nothing more than legend."

With Grothan's gesture, Emily's camera turned to her, "Thank you Governor. We will continue to have more coverage in our war against the Reapers as they come. This is Emily Wong signing out."

A/N: Updates are slowing down due to clutter popping up in life. I'll continue to update, don't worry about that, just don't expect them as quickly as they used to be. Skipping one of the points that defined the DLC, the investigations. Hurts but all of that investigation would have cluttered the story. Fun game mechanic, terrible from a fanfic perspective. And for those who don't know Rang's dreaded 7 its 'I have a bad feeling about this'

On a side Star Wars note, I am interested in seeing how Lucasfilm plans to clear up the 'clutter' in Star Wars lore and make it one coherent piece, particularly pieces that are called canon yet have conflicting information with a piece prior(please non-canon Death Trooper, Galaxies, Force Unleashed II, parts of the Clone Wars CG cartoon, a handful of the 80s Marvel comic stories and a few others I can't recall at the moment)

Mandalorian Translation:

N/A