Welcome to the Virmire arc. Everything you know will soon get turned on its head.

Nukeman (guest reviewer) asked (paraphrased): "What's the difference between Supernovas and Uniques? Why is Revan a Unique and Master Chief a Supernova, etc?" Good question, though I've already answered it with the entirety of Chapter 2. This is the bottom line people: Supernovas come from relatively linear games (read: stories), and the Uniques are mostly from RPGs with a lot of ambiguous choices involved. Normally, that would put Cole and Ryan in the Uniques category, but remember that Kessler and the real Jack Ryan are already filling those positions. It pains me to simplify it like that, but you asked.

Ray (guest reviewer) asked (Warning! Spoiler): "Cole should kill Kai Leng because they're true opposites and because Leng killed…" Okay stop right there. I appreciate the thought, but don't assume you know anything about what will go down in my version of ME3. That was a teaser, and I purposefully I left out all names except Leng and Ryan. You have no idea who else is in that room. For all you guys know, Cole is standing in the background playing air guitar. Also, when did I ever state that Leng would kill anyone? Like I said, assume nothing that I haven't explicitly described or referenced.

The poll is now closed, and the landslide victory has spoken! Don't rage quit until somebody actually dies though. I think I've earned that much.

IMPORTANT: There is a lot of original dialogue at times. It's not because I'm lazy. It's because the words here are so emotionally charged, and I didn't want to detract from what others were saying. Kirrahe's speech is there, but Wrex's confrontation is moderately different than what it usually looks like.

You people keep saying how the Supernovas make everything too easy? These next few chapters will give you quite the wakeup call…

Summary: The Supernovas hit the beach, but it's no vacation. From a possible Genophage cure to talk of splitting up the dream team, things are going to get seriously rough.

Spoilers: The usual, plus Fallout and KotOR.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you see here except the contextual use of the words Supernovas and Uniques. Any historical references are based in opinion rather than fact, and I'd greatly appreciate it if nobody made a big deal over them. Oh, and I don't own Apocalypse Now.

Another Day in Paradise

SSV Normandy

CIC

Helm

Approaching Virmire

"Gotta love the Council," Alex grumbled. "Our entire purpose for being out in the Traverse is to bring down Saren, and they wait until now to let us know about the Salarian STG? Your tax dollars at work, people!"

Cole rolled his eyes. Alex was mostly just pissed about the planet's ecosystem, just like him. There was too much water surrounding the drop zone for the conduit to survive more than ten seconds. That meant Ryan and the Chief were on their own. While the water wasn't lethal to the virus, he couldn't traverse through it worth a damn. (A/N: It's true. Check the Web of Intrigue. The Blacklight Virus can't cross bodies of water, and infected can't move through it.) He'd be there to help the ground team, but between running along the walls and generally staying out of the deep water, Alex's combat effectiveness would be drastically limited.

"Alright Commander," Joker reported, all business like every time he was tasked to his limits. "I'll get you in underneath their radar, and you take out those defense towers."

"Copy that," the N7 Trickster replied.

Alex sighed. He knew the angle that Joker would use for dropping the Mako, and no way in hell did he plan to be in the hangar for that. Stepping into the airlock, the sociopath closed the door behind him. "Oh this hurts already," he groaned as the ship lurched.

While Alex could fool the decontamination systems that kept the Normandy relatively clean, he learned that altering his biomass while in the airlock was a quick way to get himself vented. It happened when they left Feros, much to his embarrassment, and now the predator would be doing it on purpose. Shifting into his armor, the virus prepared for a wild ride.

Contaminants detected. External decompression engaged.

FWOOSH

The door opened, and as the Mako came to a graceful halt on the shores of a Virmire coastline, Alex went hurtling into the far wall. He smashed into the cliff shoulder first, and something definitely made a cracking noise. Latching onto the rocks with his hands and feet, the virus was happy to see that the wall was the only thing damaged.

"Nice landing, Goose!" Naturally Ryan had taken the appropriate time to get out of the Mako and make a joke at the spectacle. Now his pride was damaged too.

Facing the Splicer King, Alex called back, "I'll scout ahead as best I can. If you need my help, I want a lay of the land first." With that, he leapt off into the distance.

Ryan chuckled and returned to the tank… only to see that the Master Chief had taken his place at the wheel. "That's low, and you know it," the Rapture-spawn growled.

The Spartan turned to face him, and Ryan could practically hear him raise an eyebrow. "You drive like a madman. What did you expect?" Conversation over, the Chief floored it into the lagoon.

As they came upon a squad of drones, Alex chimed in over the comm. "The Normandy airdrops us on a beach so we can invade the enemy's entrenched positions. Where have we heard all this before?"

As Ashley blew apart the last drone with the cannon, she huffed. "I've read my history, Alex. There weren't any killer robots back in World War II."

Kaidan, on sensors, chuckled. "Good thing too. They would have kicked our asses back then."

As the Mako drove forward, Ryan chose not to comment on how certain versions of "back then" had ridiculously advanced technology, from genetic engineering to quantum mechanics to huge gargoyle cyborgs with domestic abuse issues. He shuddered at that last one. At least Big Daddies cared for the Little Sisters in their own creepy way. The Songbird was so bad that Elizabeth had developed Stockholm syndrome as a result.

The Splicer King was shaken from his reminiscence when the squad began trouncing yet another batch of geth drones, troopers, and rocket troopers. He even caught sight of the flattened remains of a juggernaut in the rear camera. Normally, this many hostiles would be a problem for a Mako pilot. However, there was nothing "normal" about the Master Chief in the slightest. Reacting far faster than any known organic, the Mako was practically a Warthog with exponentially more armor and firepower. And the Chief knew damn well how to drive a Warthog.

"Is it just me," Kaidan noted, "or is this a little too easy?"

Ryan facepalmed. "Don't say that! It's practically tempting fate to give us a…" a massive gatehouse came into full view, "challenge." The Splicer Spectre tapped the comm. "Alex, we've got a roadblock."

"What roadblock?"

That was all the warning the squad got before a wall of groundspikes sank the gatehouse's sandy foundation back into the water, killing all geth in the process. "Who says I'm bad for the real estate?" the virus joked. I just created prime beachfront property in seconds."

Everyone was stunned, even Ryan and the Chief. When the super soldier finally returned to driving, Ashley broke the silence. "I'll have to agree with the LT on this one. Either we're getting too good, or this is getting too easy."

Again, these words practically conjured up another problem. Rounding the next corner, a colossus was ready to greet them with a siege pulse.

"Dammit!" Ryan yelled as the Master Chief took evasive action. "Next person to call anything about this mission 'easy' gets my diplomatically immune foot up their ass!" He turned to the half-ton driver and said "Be right back," before teleporting out of the Mako.

"Normally, this is where I'd question our fearless leader's sanity," Ashley muttered. "These days, I just don't see the point."

"Good call," Kaidan remarked.

Ryan shattered back into existence about ten feet away from the colossus. In shallow water, he was now more powerful than the geth would expect from previous encounters. When war finally broke out in Rapture, the more opportunistic individuals began to capitalize on the angle of fighting in an underwater city. Naturally, the infrastructure would take hits, resulting in leaks and floods. Scientists churned out gene tonics that enhanced the abilities of any splicer making physical contact with the water.

The Splicer King obviously had these from the beginning. The water was possibly his greatest weapon. Whether it was a puddle or the ocean, if he was standing in it, Ryan was unstoppable. Cole once noted it was like a conduit's powers; regenerating and gaining physical prowess while taking in a particular element (in this case, water). As the Rapture Raptor he once possessed deadly hydrokinetic powers that surpassed anything else in the deep sea dystopia. Even without those, he was still more than a match for this walking tank. (A/N: Again, I'm not making this up. The "Waters of Life" tonic is what I'm referring to, and Big Sisters were shown to mentally lift water in the trailers for Bioshock 2)

Charging electro bolts in both hands, Ryan fired two streams of blue lighting into the colossus' face. It didn't destroy it, but now the geth platform was deprived of its main weapon. Running in too close for the secondary machine gun to target him, it was all too easy from there. He placed a fiery cyclone trap on the colossus' underside, teleported away, and literally blew his four-legged adversary up. When the remains splashed back to the ground, Ryan froze the machine just in time for the Master Chief to run it over, shattering the remains and continuing along the shore.

"Radar shows three armatures and one or two more colossi up ahead," the Spartan informed him over the radio. "Let's get it done."

"Copy that," the Spectre responded before switching channels. "Hey Alex, can we get another assist?"

"They've taken position among large rock columns," Alex replied. "My advice is to drive through that area very quickly."

Ryan paled. "Oh shit. Leave it to Alexander Mercer. Even outdoors, he'll still bring down the house!"

Engaging the various speed boost plasmids at his disposal, the Splicer King tore through the shallow water and into the cove. Heeding Alex's warning, both Ryan and the Mako group ignored the Armatures. They took a few hits, but it was nothing serious. Staying behind to fight would have been a whole different story.

Seconds after they exited the rocky T-junction, the virus glided in from above. With his hammerfists, he broke the naturally formed towers of stone and let them drop on the armatures below. Underneath that much punishing weight, the walking tanks never stood a chance.

From his elevated position, Alex spotted a colossus, out of sight, to the left of the team's objective. "That thing will murder them when they're not looking," he said to himself. "Time to even the odds."

Hurtling through the air, the predator leveled out into a glide. Coiling up once above his target, Alex plummeted straight down in his trademark bulletdive bomb. Hitting the colossus dead center, the resulting shockwave turned the surrounding beach into a crater. Sand went flying for half a kilometer but a lot of it was currently digging into the sociopath's skin. Blasting the thousands of tiny pebbles out of his body with a shift into armor, Alex sighed. "The things I do for the 'greater good'."

Meanwhile, the last remaining colossus was being a pain in the rest of the squad's ass. Fighting intelligently against two enemies, it was keeping the more accurate machine gun fire trained on Ryan while shooting at the Mako with siege pulses. Of course, when the Master Chief simply rammed it into the cliff face, backed up, and rammed it again before telling Ashley to shoot, this tactic became irrelevant.

"The Mako's taken some damage," Kaidan announced. "I can fix it, but we shouldn't just sit here waiting for the duration"

"Agreed," said Ryan. "You and I will hold the fort. Master Chief, take Ashley and scrap the geth in that next gatehouse."

"On it," they replied in tandem. Hoofing it to the geth structure, they stopped long before actually reaching it. Dropping to the ground, both soldiers pulled out sniper rifles and began picking off any hostiles in view. Ashley wasn't as good as Garrus, but she was still a damn fine shot. The Master Chief, naturally, was better. Soon the perimeter was clear, and the green giant exploded into action. Switching his sniper out for the assault rifle, he used the jets on his back to land on the top walkway. The geth, planning to ambush their attackers by the stairs, were caught off guard and cut down with ease. The destroyer tried closing in, but the Chief saved it the trouble, sacking it, pushing it into the wall, and filling its platform with holes.

"Chief," Cortana alerted him, visiting the side screen on his HUD. "I'm reading lot's of cyberwarfare activity in the control room."

"Hoppers," the Spartan deduced.

The smart AI nodded. "That room has the gate access and the AA gun controls. Unfortunately, they're learning. I can counter most of the various beams, but against that many at once, including assassination rounds…"

"I think we can manage," the Master Chief replied calmly. Radioing Ashley, he gave her instructions to cover him from the hall. Then he stepped just barely inside the entrance to the room. The ghosts and sappers waiting inside were merciless, but the Chief was far worse.

Covered from behind by Ashley's sniper fire, he focused all his attention ahead. The beams served as early warnings that he could deftly avoid, and the lesser pulse rounds hardly did scratch damage to his shields. The moment an assassination beam came his way, he threw out the hardlight shield instead of dodging. Microseconds after the failed attack, the Chief took down the shield and aimed with his pistol.

Maybe "aimed" was the wrong word. With Cortana's assistance, he was shooting where the froglike platforms were going to be when he pulled the trigger, thus killing them mid-leap. Repeating this process soon became tougher, as they started attacking in groups of two or three. Unfazed, the Spartan engaged active camo, swapped out for his assault rifle, and paused a few seconds before unleashing hell. Cortana was already countering their hacks and overriding their jamming. Now with an invisible target and a room full of phantom dots in its stead, the tables were completely turned on the geth cyberwarfare units. It took little more than a few rifle bursts and sniper rounds to end the skirmish from there.

Hitting the gate controls and disabling the AA guns, they left the structure as the Normandy pilot made contact.

"I'm reading that the grid is down, Sir. On approach to the salarian base camp now. Out."

The Mako was waiting for them under the gatehouse, repaired and with Ryan at the wheel wearing a shit-eating grin. "Need a lift?" he remarked as the Normandy thundered by overhead. Both soldiers remained silent as they climbed in. The second the door closed, the Mako was already moving, though with Ryan, this was hardly a surprise.

"Seriously Commander," Ashley groaned. "Were you a taxi driver in a past life?"

Ryan chuckled, though in honesty, he actually had been a cabby during a job on Coruscant. It paid well for an undercover gig, though the target Revan sent him after might have disagreed with the… customer service.

They came upon a third base, but with Alex's help, that too became a non-issue. Even the Splicer King was beginning to feel optimistic about the mission at this point. And that's precisely when Joker called in again to ruin it.

"Commander, the Normandy's touched down at the salarian base camp, but it looks like we're grounded." The pilot hated that word more than anything. It meant that somebody, somewhere, had just taken away the only thing that mattered to him. "The salarian captain can explain when you get here."

Cortana jumped up again on the Master Chief's HUD. "You think we'll get lucky and this is just a Council spec ops turf war?"

Pretending to think for a moment, the Spartan finally gave an eloquent answer. "No."

Ryan sighed. "Never a dull moment, huh marines?"

Three "oorahs" answered the commanding officer.

Virmire

Salarian Base Camp

Upon reaching their destination, Ryan was quite pissed to see that they were indeed grounded. Not only that, but all members of the ground team were off the ship, likely on orders from the STG boys. Realizing this wouldn't be a pretty scene, he motioned for the others to go on ahead while he contacted Alex. The last thing anyone needed was a pissed off immortal sociopath. "Any chance you can be diplomatic on arrival?"

His answer came in the form of a muffled thump behind him, and the virus entered the camp, ready to talk or terrorize as the situation demanded. Ryan sighed in minor relief and followed his associate, eager to smooth out whatever was causing issues.

Cole, Kaidan, and Ashley were all standing before a relatively imposing salarian operative. "Cole reached for his dataphone and discreetly messaged the Splicer King. "What the hell?"

"I intend to find out."

Vocal communication hadn't ceased in this time, as Ashley raised her arms in frustration. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

The STG in charge had yet to change posture. "We stay put until your CO shows their face and we can come up with a plan."

"Have you still not heard that Ryan and I are both Spectres?" Cole growled. "I've got all the same clearance."

"Yes," the salarian answered, "but you're not military. I mean no offense, but without the Commander present, I simply cannot-"

Ryan showed up at this moment, and was more than happy to interrupt. "You're in charge I take it? Commander Ryan at your service." He gave a slight bow of the head before narrowing his eyes. "In the future, don't withhold any information from my colleague. The military has brought him on for past services rendered, and he knows intelligence work inside and out."

This wasn't completely false. Cole's life before the Supernovas had involved the NSA, FBI, DARPA, CDC, and even official military for a brief time. He'd been on the black list, and he'd served as a civilian asset. This far into his work for the Uniques, the conduit was very knowledgeable of agency playbooks and inner workings. He didn't like it, of course. Cole usually said this experience just numbed the pain of getting inevitably screwed.

Regardless, the STG submitted. "Apologies, Commander. There's just never been a civilian Spectre in Council history. He'll get everything you do." Returning to business, the operative huffed. "I'm Captain Kirrahe. Third Infiltration Regiment, STG. You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hotzone. Your ship attracted the attention of every AA gun for ten miles, to say nothing of the denizens that own them."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Send me the coordinates and those guns are history."

Kirrahe held up a hand. "Nobody's going anywhere until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested."

The next few moments were tangibly awkward. Finally Kaidan broke the silence. "We… are the reinforcements."

Just when Alex thought a salarian's eyes couldn't get any bigger, Kirrahe proved him wrong. "What?! You're all they sent?! I told the Council to send a fleet!"

Cole streamed lightning over his right arm, Alex shifted to his blade, and Ryan set his hands on fire. "You were saying?" the Splicer King deadpanned.

To his credit, Kirrahe took the new development in stride. "After losing half of my men reconnoitering this place, it's hard to feel optimistic. Still, four army-killers are a step in the right direction."

Satisfied, the Supernovas went back to "normal" as Kaidan pressed for answers. "So what have you found?"

Kirrahe's expression hardened again. "Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

Again, Alex couldn't resist. Pointing down, he said "beach". Pointing to the ship, he said "Normandy". He finished by pointing into the distance and saying "fortified position". Looking to the rest of the group, the virus grinned. "I can't be the only one finding this humorous." (A/N: Bioware, you sneaky people.)

Fixing the sociopath with a glare, Ryan asked the salarian captain what exactly Saren was researching. Kirrahe shook his head in something akin to disbelief. "He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan."

Heavy footsteps came closer as Wrex became very interested in the conversation. "How is that possible?"

Everyone in the camp was thinking the exact same thing: "Oh shit!"

Kirrahe still remained calm. "Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the Genophage."

"He what?!" Alex hissed. "How? Why?"

The salarian shrugged. "They make excellent shock troops, and they'll follow his command. This facility and its secrets need to be destroyed."

Wrex growled. "Destroyed? I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure can save them." Everyone's terror slowly got worse."

Captain Kirrahe didn't budge. "If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. They'll overrun the galaxy once more, and this time nothing will keep them from winning. We can't make the same mistake again."

Alex buried his head in his hands. He'd witnessed a lot of stupid things in his life, but calling the krogan uplift a mistake in front of a krogan battlemaster was easily among his top five.

Wrex got up close to Kirrahe angry as hell, and for once the STG operative actually looked afraid. "We are not a mistake!" Rather than kill the amphibious soldier, he just stormed off in fury.

Regaining his composure, Kirrahe gave the sulking battlemaster a nonplussed look. "Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with."

Alex rolled his shoulders back and forth. "I've got this. Everyone just stay the hell away, and for the love of anything holy, keep your mouths shut." That was Kirrahe's cue to leave and think of a new strategy. The rest of the team followed the virus from a distance.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Apparently, Wrex was taking his anger out on the ocean. Cole turned to Ryan whispered, "We're sending an omnicidal sociopath to calm down a pissed off, eight hundred pound lizard with a shotgun. What could possibly go wrong?"

Virmire

Salarian Camp

Standoff

Alex approached his brooding friend carefully. Violence was his forte, not peaceful solutions. Still, he felt Wrex deserved better than the "kill the problem and move on" approach.

Wrex heard Alex approach. "You've consumed other krogan, Alex. You of all people know that this isn't right." He glared at the hooded hunter. "If there really is a cure," his voice was thick with countless emotions, "we can't destroy it."

"And you of all people know what would happen if that cure made it off world," Alex countered. "Combine this indoctrination shit with Saren's natural charisma, and every krogan in the galaxy would be fighting for galactic enemy number one."

Wrex growled. "Enemy? If this cure makes him an 'enemy' then the line between friend and foe is getting pretty damn blurry."

"I've looked at the Genophage, Wrex! I've seen it in the krogan biomass I've consumed. There's no possible way Saren could have made something that complex in secret. Unless the Salarian Union randomly decided to back him, or he somehow got a few krogan females off of Tuchanka with nobody noticing, that turian bastard is probably lying through his mandibles!"

"What if Saren isn't lying? What if it's real? You see why I can't afford to ignore this?!" Wrex bellowed, unable to think clearly with the current stakes. "This is the fate of my entire species we're talking about!" The battlemaster became quiet as he backed a few paces from the virus. "I've been loyal to you so far, 'Supernova'." That particular title drop was a sign he was becoming dangerously unhinged. "Hell, you've done more for me than actual family. But if I'm going to follow you for one more step…"

Wrex grabbed his shotgun and pointed it at Alex. "I need to know it's for the right reasons." The ultimatum had been made.

The camp started buzzing with chatter, gasps, and more than a few guns drawn in response. Cole sighed as a vicious wave of nostalgia overcame him. He'd been in both men's position at New Marais. If he used the RFI, all humans would be cured, but the conduits would die. If he sided with the Beast, conduits would live, but every single regular human was doomed. The worst part? He went into that choice not even sure if the RFI would work, but he'd seen firsthand that John's method of activating the conduit gene saved lives, albeit fewer. This was going to be tough.

Alex rounded on gawking crowd. "Would you people put the guns away? I've got this under control."

Prey species and predator stood silent for a moment. Alex shrugged. "What are you gonna do Wrex? You know that shooting me will just-"

BOOM

The virus hissed in pain as mass-accelerated snowblind rounds broke a clean hole right through his gut. Staggering weakly, he held up a hand to the many people watching. "Don't shoot dammit! I'm fine! Let me fucking handle this!" Hesitantly, they backed down, though all Supernovas present kept on high alert. Ryan had a hand resting on a hook, and Cole was ready to drop the sky on Wrex any second now. The Master Chief prepared to bring out his sniper rifle, and if the krogan made another wrong move, it was over.

Alex, painfully aware that his body couldn't properly regenerate against Bose-Einstein condensate, stood tall regardless. "Smart planning Wrex, but you know it's not enough. If we fight each other, you will die. Are you that committed to something that may not even be real?"

Urdnot Wrex made a rumbling noise in the back of his throat. "It's worth it."

To everyone's complete surprise, Alex Mercer smiled. The man currently lacking intestines was smiling. "Then let's call Saren's bluff together. If it's real, I'll hand it over and we kill Saren. If not, then we still kill Saren, only with more creativity." The virus held out his hand. "Deal?"

"I want to trust you, but what about the salarians and the Council?" Wrex was struggling with the idea that there may actually be a future for his people.

Alex peeked out from underneath his hood. "Let me worry about that. Assuming the cure exists, let me offer a warning: start another Krogan Rebellions, and I'll infect your race with something that makes the Genophage look downright mild. That's my first, last, and only offer, and it expires immediately. Make your choice."

The seconds ticked by, seeming like hours. Finally, Wrex huffed and put away his shotgun. "Done, but on one condition: When we find Saren, I want his head."

"Get in line," Alex retorted without missing a beat. "Grab the HE shotguns and two Strikers from the armory. We're going in heavy."

Virmire

Salarian Base Camp

Main Tent

The salarians were in awe. He'd talked down a krogan. The Animal of Akuze, legendary for murdering first and asking questions never, had talked down a krogan! After the krogan shot him! Only Kirrahe didn't seem overly impressed. Compared to what Specialist Solus used to do on a regular basis, such scenes were almost mundane. Emphasis on the "almost". People usually didn't survive a point blank shotgun blast before proceeding to win an argument.

Finally beginning to heal, Alex walked away from his friend in satisfaction. Liara quickly rushed to his side. "Goddess, Alex. What if he hadn't listened? What if he'd shot you in the head?"

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can't speak for Wrex, but I'm fairly certain it would have hurt."

That broke the tension instantly. Glad to still be a tight-knit team, it wasn't long before they laughed like one again.

Kirrahe returned at this point, bringing the serious mood back with him. "Thank you for speaking with the kr-" he stopped when Alex gave a cautionary look. "With Urdnot Wrex. This assault is going to be difficult enough already, even with all of your abilities."

"What's the plan?" Cole and Ryan asked simultaneously. They then stared at each other in minor confusion before returning to business.

"We're going to convert our ship's drive system into a twenty-kiloton ordnance," Kirrahe explained. "Crude, but effective."

Alex shivered. "You know, maybe Wrex has the right idea. Suddenly blowing up the base isn't a good plan." Everyone looked at him critically. "I'm kidding," he defended, "Mostly…"

Ashley frowned. "How is this 'difficult' at all? We drop the nuke from orbit and call it a day."

"Unfortunately," Kirrahe replied, "the base is too well fortified against that very tactic. We can't airdrop it without getting shot down. The only answer is infiltration. If a team can get inside the base, disable the AA guns, and eliminate ground forces, then the Normandy can deliver the bomb to the ideal blast zone." (A/N: "Too well fortified" my ass. That thing blew up an eighth of the damn planet. Just saying.)

"Storm the castle it is then," Ryan said.

Cole shook his head. "I'm more than happy to kick ass, but we're not exactly subtle people."

Kirrahe sighed. "Nor do we have the numbers for a straight up fight. But my men can still make it look that way."

Kaidan looked suspicious. "What are you saying?"

The Captain gave a grim smile. "I'm going to divide what's left of the Third Infiltration Regiment up into three teams. We'll hit the front of the facility hard. While that keeps the main geth and krogan forces occupied, your "shadow" team will slip in the back."

"Wait," Cole interrupted. "You want to send all four heavy hitters through the back door? Your teams will get torn apart!"

"We're tougher than we look MacGrath," the STG assured him. "It's true though. I honestly don't expect many – or possibly any – of us to make it out alive." He looked aside hesitantly before turning his gaze on Ryan. "And though it increases the odds of my men, what I'm about to ask you isn't at all easy."

Captain Kirrahe's voice took on a pleading tone. "I need one of your people to accompany me. To help coordinate the teams."

"I volunteer," Kaidan announced without hesitation. Obviously the sentinel wanted the task.

"Not so fast LT," Ashley cut in, also eager to serve. "They'll need your help arming the nuke. I'll go instead."

"With all due respect, Gunnery Chief," Kaidan pulled rank, "It's not your place to decide."

Ashley snorted. "Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect' they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"

Ryan clenched his fist. He'd been planning to send the Master Chief with the salarians, ensuring they had a Supernova at their disposal, but now it was more complicated. Ashley and Kaidan both wanted the position and whoever he didn't send would be left guarding a nuke for the rest of the mission. If Ryan turned them both down for the Chief alone, they'd resent him for it.

Luckily, Cole stepped in. "Gunnery Chief! Master Chief! You two are helping the salarians, got it?" When everyone looked at him funny for making the Commander's decision, he sighed. "Ash was right saying that Kaidan would need to arm the nuke. I'm literally dead in the water, so I'll provide overwatch and aid where I can. Alex and Wrex need to get in with Team Shadow to look for Saren's alleged cure. Naturally Shadow will be led by Ryan, and he'll be bringing whoever else he wants. With Ash coordinating via radio, the Master Chief can simply sprint between each salarian team for personal aid." He shrugged. "It sucks, but it's the best we've got under the circumstances."

Ryan agreed. It definitely sucked. Something felt off about this plan. Still, he gave the ok. "You heard the man, soldiers. You're with the salarians, and Kaidan's on the bomb."

"Aye aye, Commander."

Kirrahe nodded in approval. "Allow me to speak with my men. You may wish to do the same with yours."

After he departed, Ashley sighed. "This is it, I guess." She looked at Cole and Ryan. "Don't you boys do anything more stupid than usual while I'm gone." She laughed when they feigned complete innocence.

Kaidan smiled. "We'll be fine. You'll see."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I just…" she paused, unwilling to admit to something, but nobody knew what. Giving up on voicing it, Ashley just finished with, "Good luck."

Cole frowned. "What's up, Ash?"

The Gunnery Chief sighed. "It's just weird. Going under somebody else's command. I've gotten used to working with you… All of you, even the nonhumans." Hearing her admit this was big, and everyone knew it."

Again, Kaidan tried to be reassuring. "Don't worry. We'll see you on the other side."

Snapping a salute, Ashley nodded. "It's been an honor serving with you, Commander." She smiled. "You too MacGrath."

For some reason, that feeling of his final battle in New Marais was creeping up on Cole again. This was getting too much. "Don't get all sentimental on me now, Williams. I'll be watching from any dry land I can find. Now let's start with some ass-kicking…"

Ryan smirked and caught the shotgun that Wrex tossed his way. "And end with some name-taking."

"OORAH!"

Virmire

Salarian Base Camp

All Teams Present

Captain Kirrahe paced back and forth before his men, prepared to give them a rallying speech. "You all know the mission and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life, but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share these concerns."

The salarian stepped down until he was no longer above his troops, but at their level, presenting himself as a peer psychologically. "We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed." He waved away this notion, indicating that heroics meant little to them. "Glory in battle is not our way."

Attempting to remind them of what STG had done in the past, he continued. "Think of our heroes: the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot."

Ryan smirked and sent a message to Cole's dataphone. "Been there."

"Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts."

Another message. "Done that." Cole promptly flipped off the amused Splicer King.

Kirrahe shrugged. "These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers."

Pulling out all the stops, the STG operative finished strong. "Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that, we held the line." He stopped pacing and spread his arms. "Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line!"

Cole, Alex, Ryan, and the Chief looked at each other, silently asking "Is this guy for real?"

Stepping up to the place where he'd begun his speech, Kirrahe pointed to the sky. "Our influence will stop Saren! In the battle today, we will. Hold. The line!"

Amidst the cheering of his men, Kirrahe turned to the Supernovas. "Good luck to all of you. I hope we will meet again."

Alex growled. That "hold the line" speech had him thinking of Blackwatch and their Red Line tenacity. "Count on it."

And you can count on hearing from me again soon. Again, I kept so much of this dialogue from the original game because it was so powerful. Seriously, I love Virmire. And don't worry about the lack of real hardcore action. There's plenty of that. Lots of drama too. I have been building up to this since the beginning, and now the time draws nigh!

But for now, you know the drill. Read, Review, and Enjoy! (I should really consider putting this catchphrase at the beginning.)