With the Tervho in orbit, the team was dispatched to the facility. Radiation had flooded the entire facility and the team had to seal up their suits just to be safe. Captain Riley's team was also in EVA sealed suits as most were scattered about to assess the situation and a turian greeted them. "Mandalorians, Corporal Nyrek reporting. Captain Riley is on point, waiting for you."

As the others spread out, Aay'han was still with Nyrek, "Update soldier. Anything good?"

"Nothing really, sir. No bodies, no signs of a struggle. Massive radiation leak that's got us waiting up here until we can open up a new route."

"No kidding," Sal was doing a spectral analysis and was still getting the readings from the overview, "There's enough radiation out there to kill a vorcha before it could adapt."

It was too quite. Aay'han tightened his grip on his WESTAR, "Alright team let's stay frosty. Don't want the enemy to think we're onto them yet."

"An ambush for an ambush?" Tishad started to look at the generator, "Well now that's going to be interesting to execute."

Unfortunately Doctor Bryson did not survive his injuries, despite Pyth's attempt to save him. With new resolve Pyth remained at the lab with R4 to continue where Bryson had left off while Shepard and the Mandalorians mounted a rescue for his daughter, Ann Bryson, before the Reapers could reach her on the planet Namakli.

Shepard's team within the LAAT with Mandalore as they prepared for a fight. Ash turned to Shepard, "Any word besides a bunch of scientists under attack?"

"No, but that means the Reapers are one step ahead of us. We need to pick up the pace. And since Bryson's daughter is our only lead, our objective is clear."

"Mandalorians, were' going in hot. The larty and Prudii will provide cover fire and ensure we have an escape route while the rest of us, including Shepard's squad, mount a ground offensive."

Rang shot up his arm, "Question, if you've lifted my probation on explosives, why was I only given three of each type?"

"Partial lift," Rasen slapped the back of his head, "You're still being punished."

"Guys," Swoop buzzed in, "I'm picking up an unusual signal. Not completely Reaper, but I'd say we're about to hit a shitstorm."

"Take us in and carved a path through."

Prudii was preparing his sniper rifles, strapping them to the ground as he connected his lifeline to the overhanging. The others were already prepared to come out guns blazing as the flak started to kick up. "We've got someone on the landing platform controls."

Prudii pulled his sniper rifle out of the way as the doorway opened up for the others to see. "That's her."

Bryson and another person contacted them, "Attention, shuttle! This is Dr. Ann Bryson! We are under attack!"

"Okay, let's get—" before Shepard could say anything else the gunship pulled away, with Rook cutting through the Harvester that tried to ram into them.

The door was left open as Prudii was keeping everyone in, "Hold on! Bugs are chocking up the skies! We're falling back to one of the lower platforms but you're going to have to jump and run! Get ready!"

With the platform insight Prudii moved as everyone prepared to jump. The team rolled out and the gunship pulled out with two more Harvesters chasing them. Prudii popped out with the Widow and shot the wing off the first Harvester before pulling back in and the door shut.

Once recovered from the jump and roll, Shepard and the Mandalorians were being bombarded by Reaper forces, mixed within the shellings were ground force deployments. "Sirs, this platform won't last much longer if the Reapers continue their bombardment!"

"Move!" Shepard shot through the Cannibal as Ashley and James covered his flanks, "She's somewhere above us."

Reaching the first structure, Bev was picking up a very weak signal. He adjusted the signal strength and patched everyone in, "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm coming down!"

Rang stopped everyone just as a shell blasted the interior of the colony box, "No! Stay where you are! This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy—" pushing onward, "it's too dangerous! We'll come to you!"

"Yes, okay! You should take the elevator up on the far side!"

One of the structures took a hit, collapsing before them, "Copy that! We're on our way!"

Mandalore was keeping his eyes on the skies, "Rasen, point. Bev eyes up, with me. Rang watch our asses!" Rasen moved up next to Shepard as the two of them jumped onto the roof of the structure that had collapsed.

They spotted a few husks, but their attention seemed focus on the artifact. Rasen stopped as their path looked block. "Are we jumping down there?"

"No choice!" Shepard jumped first and soon the others followed.

"Commander," Ann returned onto the channel, "they're swarming everywhere up here!"

"Can you find a place to hide?"

"I'll try!"

"Get there! Stay put!"

The gunship flew overhead, still with Harvesters after them, but the tail gun was keeping them at bay a bit. Three sniper round fired off, taking out three Cannibals who were out in the open and exposing two others who ran off to feast on their fallen comrades. While they were occupied the others blasted through, continuing without slowing down.

However as they approached the next stair way, a Harvester came from below, blasting the walkway. "Shit, there goes the easy way!"

"You know if it was smart, they would have blown the bridge with us on it." James turned to Rang with a scowl, "What, I'm just saying that's the smart thing to do."

"Forget the obvious, there's got to be another way across."

Rasen pointed up to the cliff face, "Over there, I can see a control panel."

"And that looks like a retractable bridge." Bev turned to the ladder behind them, climbing it first. As he reached the top a husk was actually lying in wait for them. Bev broke its knees and slammed it the ground. As it tried to recover he jabbed his force pike through its head before tossing the body down the valley.

They rushed to the controls only to see it busted. Bev moved to fix it, and Rasen joined him, "Two heads are better than one, or so they say."

He wasn't arguing as the two mechanics got to work repairing what they could. Mandalore tapped Bev's shoulder, "Don't keep them waiting too long. The Reapers want dance partners."

The team was putting down the husks as quickly as they deployed, but they just kept coming. However it didn't take long before things started to move, "Bridge controls operations. Extending now."

"Great, now we've got a screecher who wants a date!" Rang was targeting the fuel cells as the Banshee hopped over closer toward them with more cannon fodder husks rushing them.

"Break through its barrier fast!" with a full assault from three clone commandos, a Mandalorian and three highly trained Alliance soldiers it wouldn't stand a chance, however the only reason the Banshee was still standing was because of all of the husks coming to support it.

Rang had enough of this, "And this is why," Rang had his DC-17 in its anti-armor configuration as he popped off the first round, taking the remaining husks and the Banshee out in a single, fiery blast, "you let me have explosives, for moments like this!"

Mandalore looked back, "The bridge is up, let's not lose this momentum!"

Since the facility ran on a duel reactor system the team has split up. Aay'han's team managed to remove the radiation and were about to reinsert the fuel rod. "Hey Sal," Taridus pointed up high, "Fifty cred says they'll start crawling out from right there."

He took a moment to survey the surrounding area, "Yeah right, like I want to lose fifty to you."

"Captain, we've reached the fuel rod controls. Is your team ready?"

"Ready and able. We've already reset ours. Now we're just waiting on you to light this candle."

"Alright. Fuel rod has been reinserted."

"Detecting hostile movement heading toward our positions."

Everyone had their weapons up, pointed at the pipes above, firing the moment the first husk crawled into view. "Ha! Bastards didn't think we'd be able to turn their death trap against them did they?"

"Focus on killing the enemy first, then berate them for their tactics. Captain, how is your team fairing?"

"We're fine. We've got a good firing position and we're picking them off as they come into scope."

"Well don't get cocky here. We've still got a reactor to bring back online. Sal, why isn't the reactor activated yet?"

"Warning: Coolant leaks detected. Reactors One and Two. System restart impossible."

"Uh…what the VI just said."

"Captain, looks like we've still got some work to do before our mission can be called a success."

"No worries. We weren't planning on leaving until we get this depot running."

"Good cause these things don't seem like they're going to let up anytime soon. First we have to mop up these bastards then we'll deal with the reactors."

Shepard and the Mandalorians had a bit of a setback they finally managed to reach the elevator leading to Bryson. "Elevator's online. We're coming up."

"Please hurry. I think Hopkins is dead."

Arriving at the control deck, they spotted Bryson and a she was leaning over a man covered in blood. Rang quickly moved to the man checking his injuries. It didn't take long, closing his eyes and nodded to Mandalore, "Kyramla. Kaysh dar."

"He tried to run. I told him not to, but he wanted to help the others. Where did everyone go?"

Shepard came to her side as the Mandalorians secured the area, "I'm sorry doctor. They didn't make it."

"Oh, god."

They didn't have time to let her to mourn, "Doctor, I need you to come with me."

"Yes, of course." Shepard helped her up to her feet as Ash took point now. Continuing they noticed that the Harvesters were too preoccupied with the gunship to pay them any heed, or so it seemed. "I…was at another dig site when they attacked. I got back as quickly as I could, but…what's happening?"

A whistle echoed out as Mandalore was looking to a wall, "I think I know why now."

The wall Mandalore was looking at had a depiction of a Reaper with the indigenous people fighting back. "Mandalore's right, that painting probably has something to do with it. Is that supposed to be Leviathan?"

"Yes…yes, we think so. It's old. Much older than my father thought." Bryson pointed to another part of the painting, "And there, as if the natives were under its power. Clearly a Reaper, but acting alone. Not like any Reaper we've seen before."

Shepard was looking to the wall painting as well, and it wasn't giving him much comfort seeing how closely it depicted a Reaper. "Doctor, I understand you found something recently."

"The artifact. Yes, of course. Incredible. It's just ahead." Shepard started to move up as the others followed, "It may sound strange, but I'm certain it affects people, their behavior. I've only had a short time to study it."

"Not strange at all. Did you find anything?"

"Not much, but I did learn something about the energy it generates."

Shepard was about to tell her about it but he spotted the artifact, and unwelcomed guests, "Get down!" everyone rushed to cover, "What're they doing?" The Marauders were tending to the orb as another was being manipulated by the orb's energy.

"They've activated it somehow. I've never managed anything—"

The sudden silence did not go unnoticed, "Doctor?"

Ann was standing out in the open, pointing to the artifact, "They've learned too well. The darkness must not be breached…"

Shepard rushed to stop her and he did need Mandalore to say, "Take it out!"

"With pleasure, sirs." Rang threw a thermal detonator at the feet of the Marauders, making sure it detonated as it touched the ground. "Yes, three for one!"

Rang had to duck as fire near missed his helmet. "Dagger, we've got Bryson! We need to expel ASAP!"

"Copy that, we're on our way!"

Shepard turned to Ann, "You see the gunship, you run. Don't look back!"

"Okay. Yes." She moved to cover and out of the way as the others rushed into battle against the Reapers.

"Bev, Ras, keep the right clear. Rang cover me!" Mandalore rushed into the mid section of the platform with Ashley close behind him while Shepard and James stayed with Beviin and Rasen.

As the team was clearing the area of Reapers a Harvester landed on the platform. "Mandalore you're going to have to take that out one. If we try, we might take the platform out with it."

"You heard Swoop, we need that bug gone if we want to evac!"

"I'm on it boss man," Rang tossed an EMP grenade out to the Harvester's feet. "Free kill on deck!" Shepard's group focused fire on the stunned Harvester, not giving it the chance to recover from the EMP blast. The Harvester was quickly dealt with as it collapse and fell off the platform.

"The pads cleared. Anytime now!"

"We've got the approach, don't make us wait long."

"Rook…"

"Yeah Prudii, I've got the wall."

The door opened as the gunship was hovering a few inches away from the platform. The shield was down as Prudii started to pick off Reaper units to allow the others the time to reach them. Rook started to laser part of the wall, collapsing it onto the Reapers in the far back and hiding within the building. Mandalore stopped just before entering, turning back with both his ACP Repeater and DC-15s pistol to provide more cover fire for the others. With everyone onboard, Mandalore walked backwards into the ship, pulling them into the air as the door slammed shut and the gunship pulled out.

Prudii was retrieving his sniper rifles from their straps as the others eased back into the calm of the gunship. Shepard turned to Ann, "You okay?"

Ann was leaning against the door as she slid down to rest, "Yeah, Commander. I think so. I blacked out."

Shepard wasn't going to delude her, he had to tell her the truth. "Leviathan took control of you. We cut the connection before you got hurt."

"Leviathan itself? That's incredible."

"Yeah grand," Rang looked to the others, "if you want to become a potato."

Mandalore joined Shepard and Ann, "The Reapers seem as interested in it as we are."

"Yeah, it certainly seems that way."

"We were hoping you could help us figure out why. But first," Shepard kneeling down to her level, "Doctor, I have some bad news…"

"Ann, please. Suppose Leviathan's broken away from the other Reapers?" too focused on her theories to stop, "Never went back to dark space? Like a rogue or even a defector. I have to call my father. He'll want to know."

"Ann," Shepard grabbed her arm gently, "you need to listen to me, okay? Your father is dead. I'm sorry."

"He's…what, dead?" If she wasn't already sitting she would have fallen over, "He can't be dead."

"We met with him, hoping to find out what he knew. Something happened."

"Something happened?" demanding more from Shepard.

"You're not the first to lose control. Your father's assistant. One minute he was fine, the next—he drew a gun on your father." Shepard turned to Mandalore, "An associate of ours tried to save him, but he eventually succumbed to his injuries."

Ann leaned her head against the door, "I can't believe this."

"We have to find out what's behind it all. You're the only one who can help us. Ann?"

"I…I want to see his office."

"We'll arrange a shuttle." There wasn't much that could be said to her now, she came across a discovery of a lifetime and is followed up by news of her father's death.

The reactor restart was nearly complete, however the Reapers were starting to push even harder against the two teams, "We're being overrun! Position indefensible! We're not gonna make it!"

"Hold tight, one of us is coming." Aay'han turned back, "Tishad!"

"Right. Just a few pipes away, what could go wrong?"

Taridus joked, "Right, like we're going to have it much easier with only bunnies and rainbows waiting inside the reactor."

Tishad smiled, "Well don't forget to give a little extra something for me then," running off and taking the shortest path to Riley's team.

Sal started to work the console to finalize the restart but as he started the reactor doors opened and a Brute accompanied by two Marauders appeared along with one of those Reaper barrier generators. "Lure it out! We can't kill it if the shield generator continues to protect it!"

The Brute was easy enough to lure, trying to swipe at Sal only to find the salarian was just a hologram. A grenade slide to its feet as Aay'han and Taridus continued to lay down fire against it. With the armor severely weakened the grenade's blast was simply the finisher to it. Several from a Scorpion pistol stuck to one of the Marauders still inside as Sal reappeared next to the door.

"And that's how you get things done." The shot detonated, taking out the two Marauders and the barrier generator.

Life came back to the reactor now as the energy flow became apparent. Aay'han did a quick scan of the area, then with the periscopic rangefinder came down and he scanned the area again, "Looks clear, for the moment. No signal from Riley's team?"

"Or Tishad." Sal was checking on the reactor's status, "The reactor is interfering with my gear's instruments. We'll just have to head back to the LZ and hope they made it."

They cut through the open reactor to save some time, reassured by Sal that the current level of radiation wasn't significant enough to affect them, yet. Reaching the rendezvous they found Tishad with Captain Riley and her team, minus one. Seeing the Mandalorians arrive, Riley greeted Aay'han with an open hand, "You saved our asses. My team is in your debt."

"If you want to thank anyone, thank Tishad."

"They did," Tishad flashing a few cards, though not long enough for anyone to see what they were.

"Nice job everyone. Now let's report back to the shuttles and get to the decon showers."

A/N: That was a pain to get out, but I suppose my schedule wasn't helping much either. As a notice my updates are going to be slowed considerable due to other matters that must take precedent.

Mandalorian Translation:

Kyramla(keer-AHM-la)- It's fatal

Kaysh dar(Kaish dahr)- He's gone