Cadmus stood in front of the vastness of deep space, hands clasped behind his back. He'd wandered into this particular room more than an hour ago. It contained a table surrounded by several chairs; Cadmus guessed a place for the wealthy owner to court business partners. And apparently, the owner wanted to impress his guests thus one entire wall was composed of glass, exposing a breathtaking view—thousands of stars glittering like delicate jewels on an exquisite gown. Cadmus had briefly been in the room on Decimus' tour five days ago. The room had been a curiosity then. Now he sought the peace its view offered.

In the last few days, his mind had turned to Garrus often. Being assured of Solana's survival and health, he couldn't help but dwell on the remaining member of their family somewhere out there intimately tied to the fate of the Reapers. Cadmus had tried multiple times to contact Garrus again, but to no avail. He'd been informed many comm buoys had been damaged over the course of the war. He hoped such was the case and not that his son had perished like his grandmother.

But it wasn't just concern over Garrus' welfare that consumed Cadmus. Ever since his fight with Aiolus and his discussion with Decimus afterwards, Cadmus had been reevaluating his relationship with his son. He'd come to understand Garrus better, at least to identify with his passion that induced him to unwise action. He hadn't quite grasped his son entirely, but some aspects of Garrus that had so frustrated him made more sense now.

Cadmus sighed lowly, turning his head to look in the direction of Palaven. Had Garrus advised retreat from the turian homeworld? Was it abandoned to the whims of the Reapers? Cadmus rubbed a hand over his face. He was tired. He still didn't sleep well. I probably won't sleep well for years, he warned himself. A whoosh behind him and a slight gust of air indicated someone had intruded on his solitude.

Cadmus glanced over his shoulder to see Decimus inside the door. He turned back to the window. He hadn't talked to Decimus since their discussion after the fustuarium. He'd been shaken by Decimus' change of heart. He'd based much of his life on Decimus' way of thinking and operating, having learned years ago that his chief was wiser than he and worth emulating. Decimus' change in philosophy produced turmoil in his spirit.

Cadmus heard Decimus walk farther into the room, pull a chair out from the table and sit down, a rustling creak emanating from a leather cushion.

"I don't want to intrude," Decimus spoke, voice low, "but I owe you an explanation."

Cadmus agreed, but in deference to his old chief, said, "You don't."

"Your silence these past two days clearly means I do."

Cadmus' shoulders slumped. "I haven't meant any insult."

"I'm not insulted…Cadmus, sit down."

The last words come out as a command and Cadmus, so used to obeying such a voice, turned. Decimus leaned forward, his hands resting on the table. His yellow eyes pierced Cadmus the way they had in his rookie days. Cadmus reluctantly pulled out a chair and sat across from his former chief, his posture severely straight.

Decimus tapped a talon on the table. "I've never articulated this."

Cadmus heard in Decimus' voice the fact that he had chosen to confide in him. "I'm listening," Cadmus said. Sitting here facing Decimus felt reminiscent of when he'd made a vow to hear Garrus out when he spoke about his experiences with Shepard.

Decimus grunted. "I've told you I had come to a…sensitive point in my life when I saw Nissa again."

"In a club on Omega, wanting to drink away."

"Yes…" Decimus paused and Cadmus blinked at him. "I didn't tell you exactly what I thought when I saw her."

"You hated the way she was treated."

"I meant when she had passed out in her room." Decimus shifted his gaze, staring out the immense window at space. "After I found the Hallex, I waited for her to wake up. I couldn't fathom how she had gotten to that point. She looked a mess. Back on the Citadel, I would have prepared a speech while she slept, ready to slap her with it when she woke up. But then, worn out from my own fruitless search, I understood her; at least, I knew what it was like to be broken, too."

Decimus returned his gaze to Cadmus who said nothing but continued to look on him with skepticism, unsure how this was an explanation for anything.

"Something…" Decimus continued, then paused, searching for the right words. "Came alive in me. I committed myself to her protection and recovery. In hindsight, perhaps I wanted to fix her problems when I couldn't my own. And so I did, whether she liked it or not. I didn't care how much she hated me or abused me."

Cadmus got a mental image in his mind of Nissa yelling and throwing things and Decimus calmly watching her. "It was the right thing to do."

Decimus flexed his brow plates. "Yes. But what came next…" Decimus let out a slow breath and linked his talons, eyes intent on Cadmus. "When she was well enough to travel, I took her to Tuchanka. But such an action wasn't without consequences."

Cadmus' own brow plates raised. "What happened?"

"Before we left, I received a call from an old friend. Aiolus had been spotted on route to…Omega."

Cadmus' mandibles clacked in surprise. "Omega? He was coming right to you."

Decimus' remaining mandible tightened into his jaw. "Yes. I had to choose."

"Why?" Cadmus spoke loudly. "An extra day or two on Omega…"

"Nissa was in a fragile state. She hardly trusted me. I knew she'd flee if I left her side. She already hated the suggestion she return to Tuchanka."

Cadmus clenched his jaw. "You chose Nissa."

Decimus locked his eyes on Cadmus. "I did. It was the first irrational thing I'd done in my life. I could have my brother in my clutches, finally a whole step ahead of him, or I could go with Nissa and there was no guarantee she even cared for me." Decimus chuckled softly. "Ridiculous, isn't it? A curmudgeonly, old turian running after a drug addled asari. It made no sense. I've asked myself a dozen times if it was right…I'm not sure it was. But I did take her to Tuchanka. And I'm glad I did."

Cadmus' thoughts reeled. Aiolus could have been under lock and key three years ago, back on Tridend paying for his crimes. Cadmus felt the sting of betrayal from his former boss.

"I know it doesn't make sense to you, but I'd changed by then. The search for Aiolus had become my obsession. I'd put all my energy and time into him and it ate away at my spirit. Helping Nissa taught me what really mattered. For the first time in years, I was…free. Burdenless. I couldn't give that up."

Burdenless. Free. Cadmus closed his mandibles tightly against his jaw. Decimus sounded so content. Cadmus didn't know what that meant anymore. Garrus' rebellion, Solana's sorrow, Laelia's disease, the Reaper war and overwhelming death—he was bound by their effects.

Decimus had apparently paused to see how Cadmus was taking his confession. Cadmus glanced away from him, eyes flicking to a turian painting on the wall of the room with a mythological scene depicted—two titans with swords at each others' throats. Decimus followed his gaze. "That's us," he said quietly.

Cadmus glanced back at him. "Us?"

"Turians," Decimus clarified. "We're born to obedience and struggle. Life is a battle. Isn't that what we say? Life is the upward struggle to honor and success, fighting ourselves to serve our people at our highest."

Cadmus clacked his mandibles at Decimus' tone. "You take issue with our way of life?"

Decimus' lone mandible fluttered. "I take issue with its implementation."

"How so?" Cadmus asked, tone challenging.

"Life is more than service and profession. There is a…spirit element to it."

"We don't deny the spirit of individuals."

"No, we don't. We seek to harness each spirit to what most benefits society. But we speak of even our spirits as the seat of skills and capabilities. We teach the spirit to serve, to obey, to cling to duty. I preached such to you, didn't I?"

Cadmus nodded at his old chief, eyeing him warily.

"Duty killed my spirit, Cadmus."

Cadmus shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the admission.

Decimus nodded slowly. "It did. If you think Palaven turians are bound to duty, Tridend turians are more so. I have always done what had to be done—my time in the mines, walking the beats in the dead of night, building a character profile of turian perfection. Duty and duty alone led me." Decimus paused, hands folded and still, moving his gaze back to the vastness of space behind Cadmus. "Then Aiolus escaped. My hunt began. He was my brother and he had committed unspeakable crimes. My duty hung on my finding him and bringing him back to justice."

Cadmus still didn't understand what Decimus was trying to say, but sensed distress in his tone. "You found him and he will face justice."

Decimus smiled and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm glad of it, but by that time I'd released my spirit from finding him."

Cadmus let out a harsh breath and jerked his hand at Decimus. "How did you become such a philosopher? It doesn't fit you."

Decimus chuckled. "To speak plainly, my failure to complete my duty killed me. Do it right or don't do it at all. I was going to do it right. But I couldn't do it right, because Aiolus evaded me every time I got close. The Primarch officially pulled me off the chase and I hated her for it." Cadmus' eyes widened. "Yes, I dare to say I hated my Primarch. She cast off the core of my life and when I tried on my own and still couldn't manage to bring in my brother..." Decimus broke off, linking his talons in front of him again.

Cadmus felt sorry for his chief. As the years had passed and Decimus hadn't contacted him, he'd gone on with life, assuming he'd hear something when it mattered. He'd never considered the frustrating time Decimus was having. "I'm sorry I didn't help you."

"I didn't want any help," Decimus returned. "Completing my duty alone would be the only proof I was worthy. My point, Cadmus, is that choosing Nissa over Aiolus released me. I wasn't tied to failure anymore. I told you I needed Nissa. I needed her to remind me that life is more than duty."

Cadmus stared hard at Decimus. "If I am hearing you correctly, you believe the pursuit of duty should not be our focus."

"Duty is good and well," Decimus replied. "But only a portion of life. I wouldn't have learned such if I hadn't taken Nissa to Tuchanka."

"Is this another 'I've lived with krogan and learned so much' thing?" Cadmus asked, perturbed. As much as he respected Drong, he didn't like Decimus continually speaking like krogan had given him some kind of enlightenment. It smacked of disparaging his roots.

Decimus sighed. "I've touted my experience too much perhaps, but it is illuminating what you can learn from a race so different from your own."

Cadmus looked askew at his friend. He had a working knowledge of most of the races in the galaxy. He admired some of them, despised the actions of others. But he would never have examined his own upbringing in light of theirs. He was turian. All that mattered was turian structure and practice. "And what have you learned?" Cadmus asked politely, though without enthusiasm.

Decimus looked him eye to eye. "To let results fall as they may."

Cadmus' eyes maintained a hard gaze, but curiosity alit in them despite.

"Krogan have a phrase: 'You're hunting wild varren.' They use it when a difficult task has resulted in failure. A wild varren pack is difficult to find, almost impossible to defeat. And yet, I have watched Drong and Scraul search for a month and return to their clan with pride on their lips. The point of the exercise isn't to capture the varren—it's enough to attempt it."

"I would think failure would enrage a krogan," Cadmus muttered.

"As did I," Decimus replied, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "But for the most part, they do not concern themselves with success. I suppose instead of saying 'Do it right or don't do it at all,' they would say, 'Just get on with it and do it.' It is the doing that matters."

"I wouldn't call it wisdom to forgo consideration of results," Cadmus mumbled.

Decimus disagreed. "There is strength in such a concept. I'm not advocating we stop considering outcomes, but such an approach to life has given the krogan the ability to deal with anything they face. It's a philosophy born out of harsh adversity and an uncertain future. That is the strength. To Drong and Scraul, my hunt for Aiolus was praiseworthy even though I hadn't found him. I have found with them an acceptance of my best that I can't find with my own people." Cadmus placed a hand on his chin, rubbing it in agitation. Decimus slowly stood. "I apologize if I have disappointed you, but I'm seventy-eight. I've given up caring what people think of me and I'm too old for my own pride. I've let go of my need to always be right, learned to take joy in the hunt whether I bring home a carcass or not."

Cadmus stopped rubbing his chin. To parent even if your children don't turn out the way you intended, he thought unintentionally.

"Of course," Decimus concluded, "there are disadvantages to the krogan viewpoint. Rushing an enemy force with brute strength might bring you glory, but when you discover they've surrounded you, you're in trouble. Krogan rely on superior numbers, not intellect to win the day. They have little patience for objective planning. In this, they would do well to take a lesson from turians. I'd like to think Drong and I have bolstered each other's weaknesses." Decimus sighed. "I just wish I'd learned to appreciate the other races of the galaxy sooner."

Decimus limped to the exit. Cadmus watched him go, unable to speak. He swiveled in his chair, staring back out at the calming blackness of space. His turian upbringing rebelled at much of what Decimus said, but another part of him championed its validity. Two days ago he'd come to realize his son had always been good of heart. And he'd never let him know that. He had held Garrus to the unmovable turian code of duty, berating him for failure and the inability to do things right.

But now that Decimus had admitted his own way of relating to Cadmus hadn't been entirely accurate, he was reevaluating his own life. Hadn't he spent most of his own life berating himself? Punishing himself? Arguing with himself? He'd treated his son as he treated himself and it hadn't brought about anything like Decimus had—peace with himself. Maybe there was another way. But the krogan way?

Cadmus' eyes shifted to various areas around space. Viator was out there somewhere with a quarian daughter and on a ship full of turians and quarians working together. Here krogan had accepted Decimus into their lives. Decimus had found love with an asari. Selyna with a krogan. Garrus had given his loyalty to a human woman. What had he learned from her? Cadmus had never asked or cared. Now he wondered if he had missed something. As much as he loved his home planet and its culture, he wondered if there was something he'd lost by allowing himself to be so insular.


"We're coming up on Tridend," Decimus announced when Cadmus stepped onto the pilot's deck. He took up a position next to Decimus, staring out the view port. About an hour ago he'd felt the rumbling shake as the ship careened through a mass relay and having added up the jumps of the week knew it was the last one.

Cadmus ran an eye over the ships within the view. They were a small group, three turian frigates, six smaller vessels like theirs, one turian cruiser and one quarian heavy frigate for protection, probably all that could be spared. He realized that the navy hadn't wanted to spend much on the small refugee group. They'd had to plan for the possible loss of the convoy. Cadmus perceived a bright glare to the right from the system's sun. Decimus pointed ahead to an unimpressive brown colored orb. "There it is."

Memories of the last time he'd been on the planet passed through Cadmus' mind. He hadn't been there since the intervention with Decimus' family thirty-two years ago. He wondered if it had changed much. He remembered a desolate planet, greenery only present where turian hands had forced its growth.

The ship drew closer by the minute, the globe growing in size. The pilot, a krogan, nodded curtly and looked up at Decimus. "Traffic Control. We have clearance."

"Coordinates?"

"Not yet."

Decimus' eyes were trained on his home planet. Cadmus spoke quietly. "How long since you've been back?"

Decimus grunted. "Since the Primarch fired me."

Cadmus turned back to the view port. He heard in Decimus' voice a bitter truth—his inability to "do it right" had cost him his planet. Cadmus surmised Tridend turians wouldn't have received him kindly for his perceived failure. From Decimus' descriptions, Tridend turians were even more unforgiving than those from Palaven. He recalled Decimus' angry, haggard mother on the day of Aiolus' intervention. He wondered if the old crone had lit into a son who'd been unable to bring her convict child back. If Decimus had been thrown off by family and home, it was no wonder he'd ended up depressed in a club on Omega.

The brown orb had grown, filling half the view port, when the krogan pilot's head snapped up. His finger's played over the controls, bringing up camera feeds on screens to their left and right. "Incoming," he growled loudly.

Cadmus' eyes shot between the screens and he groaned aloud. This had to be some cruel twist of fate. They'd made it off Palaven alive and relatively well and now this? Each screen was filled with dark spots blotting out stars in the sky, their shapes oblong and dangling with spindly legs—Reapers.

Decimus slammed a fist onto the pilot's dashboard, cursing aloud. The krogan shot him an angry glare and swiped his hand away, protective of his property even if he shared the sentiment. "Where are they?" Decimus shouted.

"On our tail," the krogan informed him. He'd increased speed as had the rest of the convoy.

Decimus tapped furiously on his tool and looked at Cadmus. "I'm patching us in."

Cadmus put his hand to his ear, blood racing, waiting for the comm to pick up. They must have been tracking us, waiting for us to get in system before gunning for us.

"We're scrambling shuttles. We need coordinates now!" Cadmus' recognized the voice—Captain Ocella of the Valorous, the ship Solana was on.

"We're scrambling our own defenses, Captain! Your landing zone is now occupied." The voice that had replied was unknown, but obviously someone on the ground on Tridend.

"I have refugees! Prime harvesting material for the barefaced on their way. If you wish to hand us over to them…"

"We don't have coordinates! We're figuring out how to reroute you now! I suggest you give us time to do so!"

The chatter stopped and Cadmus shared a nervous glance with Decimus. Decimus broke his gaze and turned his attention to the screens. Cadmus followed his lead. The Reapers were gaining. They'd be on them in less than ten minutes. Tridend now filled most of the view port. We're so close, so close.

Decimus snarled, tapped on his tool, put his hand to his ear, drumming his foot impatiently. He finally spoke, Cadmus privy to only his side of the conversation. "Brigid, it's Decimus. Where are you?" A quick pause, then, "Forget about that. I need you now. We're still family." Cadmus pursed his lips, assuming such a statement indicated Decimus had been sanctioned by his family. "I'm above Tridend, on a ship. We've got refugees from Palaven onboard and Reapers on our tail. Traffic isn't giving us coordinates. I want to land us in your caldera." Another pause. "Get them underground now. They won't have a chance any other way." Pause. "Stop making excuses! We're going to die if you don't let us land!" Long pause. "Yes. I understand. Yes." Decimus lowered his hand and leaned over the pilot's dashboard. He tapped quickly over the panel. "Head there. And don't listen to Traffic when they protest."

The krogan smiled maliciously, apparently enjoying the fact someone would be upset over their next maneuvers.

Decimus tapped on his tool again and then spoke into his comm to the convoy. "This is Captain Decimus Mehrkuri. I have sent landing coordinates. All those able, follow the Brashius in. This will be a manual landing without sanction, but this is your only hope. I recommend you follow. Mehrkuri out." Decimus glanced at Cadmus, then spoke to the pilot. "Get us there as fast as you can."

"Hold on," the pilot laughed aloud.

Decimus backed up and gripped a handhold to his right. Cadmus looked around and found another to his left. He held tightly, watching out the window. Captain Ocella's ship was too large to land easily. Cadmus had understood when he'd said he was scrambling shuttles that he was giving the refugees a chance to escape before the Reapers arrived. He hoped Solana was one who had managed to get off the Valorous in time.


The ride into Tridend's atmosphere was chaotic and bumpy. Cadmus kept alternating from watching the view port to watching the screens showing the Reapers approach behind them. They were one minute from contact. Dozens of shuttles had the foreground now, following the Brashius in its descent. Cadmus had been afraid dutiful turians wouldn't follow them in when Tridend's Traffic Control had a fit over their disobedience, but the will to live seemed greater than their worry over offending the air control of a backwater turian colony. The turian frigates and cruiser and the quarian heavy frigate had taken up a position in the back to defend the fleeing smaller ships from the oncoming Reapers. With thirty seconds to contact, they were joined by Tridend fighters, several cruisers and a dreadnought.

The Reapers came into range, their red beams firing and swarming black dots indicating they'd dropped their own fighters. Multiple explosions blossomed on the screens as turians and Reapers engaged one another. His attention was commanded to the view port when he felt the violent shaking of the Brashius entering Tridend's atmosphere. They were descending at an alarming rate and he beheld with trepidation the grinning krogan pilot.

The Brashius plummeted for quite a distance, then leveled out sharply, skimming over the brown wastes of Tridend. Cadmus had to concentrate on breathing for a time, recovering his stomach that had sailed into his chest on their entrance. Soon an expansive indentation in the landscape came into view. Cadmus estimated it was at least a couple kilometers in diameter.

"Do you see the landing area?" Decimus asked tensely.

The krogan didn't look up as he answered gruffly. "I see it. Stop panicking." The Brashius descended into the crater. Cadmus noted several buildings to the far right side and parallel gashes from the right to the middle. The left hand side was entirely open and flat. The Brashius came down, Cadmus bracing himself for a hard landing and utterly surprised when the ship lifted again and landed softly.

Decimus immediately headed for the landing ramp. Cadmus followed in his stead. On the way they met Drong who questioned Decimus about what had happened.

"Reapers above," Decimus explained shortly.

Drong growled.

"I had us land at my sister's mine. Our priority is getting underground."

Drong spoke openly. "You aren't going to fight?"

"Tridend has sent its forces. We have nothing to fight right now. We don't want the fight to come to us, do we?"

Drong narrowed his eyes and didn't answer. Decimus reached the landing ramp and punched the control panel, lowering it. Cadmus felt a rush of hot air and inhaled stale dust.

"Get your clansmen off this ship."

Drong nodded curtly.

"Have Scraul bring Aiolus."

"Leave him," Drong stated, eyes flicking to Cadmus and then back to Decimus.

"Justice the turian way. I'm not arguing again."

Drong grinned. "Yes. Scraul will bring him." Drong marched back into the ship.

Decimus charged down the ramp, Cadmus running briskly to catch up to him. They were met at the bottom by a tall, dark female with the same wide white marking as Decimus. She wore a baggy yellow suit and her clear green eyes gleamed. Cadmus recognized her even through the years—Decimus' sister Brigid.

"Mother ordered us not to communicate with you," Brigid stated, her tone declaring she concurred with such a command.

Decimus stopped a few inches from her, meeting her eye to eye. "Mother's dead." Cadmus cocked his head, surprised at the news.

"And you didn't come back to light her pyre."

"I was occupied."

"Humph…You were off the task force. You should have come."

"I couldn't, Brigid, and we don't have time for this. And she wouldn't have wanted me to light it anyway, would she?"

Brigid's eyes smoldered, but she perused her landing area, now peppered with shuttles pouring forth their refugee complements. "We're holding the service elevator. Take them there." She turned on her heel and made her way to a speeder, mounting it and zooming off towards the other end of the caldera.

Decimus watched her go and Cadmus questioned under his breath. "Did she even notice your wound?"

Decimus turned to him, a wry smile on his face, and lightly touched his cauterized scar where his mandible used to be. "She did. You remember my mother?"

Cadmus nodded. How could he forget?

"Let's just say Brigid is her replacement." Decimus took a deep breath. "Let's get below."


Cadmus and Decimus organized the refugees into a semblance of order before proceeding to the mine's service elevator. A squeal drew Cadmus' attention and he saw Nissa had found Decimus. She placed a hand over his wound, then enveloped him in a loving embrace. Cadmus felt a twinge of envy but it dissolved when he found his daughter. Solana gripped his wrists tightly, blue eyes moist with emotion. He walked next to her when the group traversed the caldera to the elevator, holding her left arm as she hobbled stiffly on her brace.

The service elevator was large, meant to hold bulky equipment as well as numerous workers; even so, they had to descend in three batches. Solana refused to leave Cadmus and so both he and she ended up in the last group to go down. Cadmus had never been in a mine and expected to be swallowed in darkness. He was pleasantly surprised when the elevator deposited them into a well lit entrance area piled with cargo crates and various equipment. Brigid met them, directing the group to a storage area they could occupy. She apologized that all the beds were taken. Workers stayed underground for two weeks at a time and no personal space was available. She did, however, provide the group with a stash of pallets and blankets.

As Cadmus helped Solana get situated, he saw Brigid beckon Decimus away from the group to talk in a corner. Cadmus couldn't hear what they said, but their gestures and faces made it clear it wasn't pleasant. He was distracted when he felt a tight grip on his wrist. He turned to see Solana staring up at him. "Please sit, dad. Stay with me."

He smiled at her. "I have no where to go, do I?" He lowered himself down, knees bent, hands braced on the floor behind him. "Are you alright?"

Solana considered her leg. "I'm…fine."

"You're hurting, then?" Cadmus inquired, perceiving her delay.

Solana's mandibles fluttered. "A little," she admitted.

"I'll ask for medication," Cadmus said, making to get up, but was stayed by Solana's hand on his knee.

"No, dad. I'm alright." She removed her hand from his knee and Cadmus saw it was shaking.

"You're not alright," Cadmus insisted. "You need medication."

Solana bowed her head. "It's not just my leg."

"What's wrong, then?"

Solana swallowed and looked up sheepishly. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about Palaven…about the Reapers…about grandmother…about mom."

Cadmus drew in a breath. This sounded all too familiar. "We won't be able to forget, Solana," he spoke sagely. "We'll learn to handle it, but it will never leave us."

"I don't want to forget," Solana spoke vehemently. "I just want to rest!"

Cadmus looked compassionately on his daughter. He hadn't slept much even when he thought he was safe. How could anyone sleep peacefully in this horrific war?

"And now with them up there…" Solana pointed angrily up.

Cadmus wasn't sure how to comfort her. They'd been thrust right back into the fray and this time they couldn't make a difference. All they could do was sit back and see what happened.

"Lay down, Solana," Cadmus commanded.

"But…"

"Do it."

Solana sighed roughly, but allowed Cadmus to help her lean back on a pallet. Cadmus pulled a blanket up around her. He glanced back at Decimus, still speaking animatedly with his sister. "Have you heard from Garrus again?" Solana's voice was so quiet, he hardly heard her question. He looked down at her. She had her eyes closed.

"I haven't been able to reach him."

There was such a long pause, Cadmus thought she had finally succumbed to sleep, but as he turned away, she whispered faintly, "Me, either."


"Ten in sector sixteen! Spear Fighters on the way!"

Cadmus sat stiffly in a metal folding chair, arms crossed over his chest, Decimus to his left. They occupied a conference room for mining operations, one whole wall of which contained production readings on the mine. It blinked and flashed as text and numbers scrolled up and down. Tridend may have been embroiled in war in the skies above, but Brigid Mehrkuri refused to let that fact distract her from her work. The workers were on rotating shifts in and out of the deep parts of the mine. She'd even drafted some of the more restless refugees to participate in minor work. Decimus had mentioned that she didn't like the idea of idle turians lingering in her mine.

Cadmus hadn't asked to work. He'd spent his time aiding his daughter, making sure she was getting enough food, medication and sleep. They spoke little to each other, unable to come up with much to say. He'd learned from Solana that Bresien had chosen to stay behind on the Valorous. Cadmus looked to the mobile comm speaker on the table in front of him ushering forth the chatter of battle above. The Valorous made an entrance here and there, still holding its own. Three days had passed since they'd landed on Tridend and with very little to do, Cadmus and Decimus had found themselves falling into a routine. Every morning after breakfast they'd listen in on the channels above, picking up what they could. Cadmus was impressed with Decimus' staunch calm.

"Sector sixteen is where our major shield generators are located," Decimus informed Cadmus.

Cadmus sucked in a breath. That was troubling. The Reapers had already managed to take down a plethora of comm buoys. Shields down in major cities would bring their utter destruction if Reapers could get past the Tridend navy and land. "Are they well fortified?"

"I assume so," Decimus said. He put a hand to his chin, listening to the next statements and commands.

"Spear Fighters engaged." Silence reigned for a time, then, "Dreadnoughts aiding fighters. Reapers retreating."

Decimus let out a low breath he'd been holding in. He reached out, pushing the side of the comm unit with a talon, shutting it down. Cadmus looked up at him curiously. Decimus' yellow eyes burned. "Why am I doing this?"

Cadmus tipped his head. "Why are you listening?"

Decimus stretched his arms out, then leaned back in his seat, folding his hands in his lap. "What's the point? It's just killing my resolve."

Cadmus sensed strong emotion in his friend. Decimus wasn't as calm inside as he was outside. "You think they'll lose."

"I think we have little hope," Decimus said. "After you've been on Palaven and you know what your enemy can do…" Decimus' voice faded and he passed a hand lightly over his facial wound.

Cadmus had no encouragement to give. Daily he relived his experiences on his home planet. They had run out of hope, forced to feed on destruction and pain and desolation. "Did you retrieve our armor and weapons?"

Decimus nodded. "We might need them."

Cadmus didn't want to think that he might have to put on his armor and take up his guns again, but the likelihood that he wouldn't was slim.

The door to the room opened and Brigid traipsed in. Her critical green eyes passed over her brother as she marched to the far wall. She held a data pad in her hand and tapped as she looked between it and the production screens. There was a command center, Cadmus knew. He didn't understand why she kept coming in here. Maybe to get away from the noise of the center? But as she finished and passed back out, sending daggers at Decimus, Cadmus wondered if she didn't do it just to antagonize him.

As the door shut, Decimus sighed loudly, his lone mandible fluttering. So far Cadmus had proceeded as if he didn't notice the contentious way Brigid interacted with Decimus. Now, however, in the quiet, it felt awkward ignoring the fact that something was wrong. "Does all your family treat you that way?"

Decimus looked over at Cadmus and smiled wanly. "No."

Cadmus nodded and clacked his mandibles, afraid he'd gotten too personal. Perhaps, if he shared… "My son and daughter can't get along. I haven't been able to fix it."

Decimus snorted. "You can't fix it if they won't let you."

Cadmus flexed his mandibles, recognizing the truth in the statement.

Decimus chuckled sadly. "Brigid and I hadn't talked personally since I was thrown off the task force. She took mother's point of view that I had let the family down by failing to bring Aiolus in. Cosima didn't care. Vidori wasn't pleased, but amiable enough to keep messaging me."

"But now that you brought Aiolus back…" Decimus had conferred with Brigid and she had provided a storage unit with a solid door weighing tons as Aiolus' current prison.

Decimus grunted. "It won't make up for my other crime."

Cadmus raised his brow plates, but didn't pry.

Decimus' eyes shifted to the door and then back. "I took an asari mate. Vidori stopped messaging me. Cosima messaged she didn't understand, but she still talks to me now and again."

Cadmus' mandibles flapped. This was Decimus' biggest offense? "Other turians have mated with asari."

"Less admirable turians. Weak ones. And never, ever Mehrkuris."

Cadmus understood now how much of a life changing choice Decimus had made when he took Nissa back to Tuchanka and stayed there. He'd broken his relationship with his mother, sister and brother completely.

"Mehrkuris commit to pure turian blood, an unsullied line from the Admiral," Decimus explained. "I committed to it. But experience changed things."

Cadmus contemplated. He'd never really thought how he would feel if Solana or Garrus chose a mate from a different race. Solana didn't seem to have any interest in aliens, her tastes exclusively turian. And Garrus' life had been so chaotic, he hadn't even broached the idea of marriage. In fact, by this time Cadmus should have been on him for getting so old and not choosing a mate. But they hadn't exactly had the kind of relationship for that talk.

Decimus snorted and Cadmus looked to him. "You don't like the idea either, do you?"

Cadmus unfolded his arms and put his hands on his knees, responding carefully. "Your relationship is your affair."

Decimus smiled ruefully. "But it isn't turian, is it? We're back to the fact that turians are bound by strict duty. We mate to add our progeny to the state. I cannot do that. At best, I can only add to the asari."

Cadmus drummed a talon on his knee. Decimus had accurately stated the majority turian opinion. "I'm not offended or angered you chose Nissa," he clarified, not wanting his chief to think his tie to turian tradition meant he was upset with his friend.

Decimus chuckled. "Is this what you told Viator?"

Cadmus stammered. "Uh…" He'd been wholly adverse, advising Viator of the foolishness of mating with a quarian.

Decimus laughed heartily. "You didn't like it."

Cadmus looked uncomfortably around the room. He didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"I didn't like it either. When I heard Viator Lentinus had mated with a quarian I chocked it up to another rash decision of a weak-minded fool." Decimus laughed. "If I had only known." He reached out and flipped back on the mobile comm unit, eyes on Cadmus. "You don't have to respond to that. I'll let you off the hook, Cadmus."

"Valorous! On your aft! Incoming fighters!"


"No more meds."

Cadmus eyed his daughter with vexation. "You still hurt."

"No," Solana spoke forcefully. "I want to be lucid."

"You will not fight. You cannot fight."

Solana's mandibles shot in and out angrily. "What if they come down here?"

"We're in a mine," Cadmus argued. "They won't come down here."

"You know what their beams can do."

"They won't be down here. Why would they care about a mine in the middle of a desert?"

"I don't know. They don't make any sense, the things they do." Solana threw her hands up in frustration.

Cadmus held out the two pills to her. "Take them."

"Dad, please don't make me." Solana's mandibles drooped and her eyes pleaded with him.

Cadmus sighed, pulling back his hand and stuffing the pills back into their bottle. When she looked like that, he couldn't make her do anything. Solana wasn't one to beg and he knew he'd pushed her far enough.

Two more days of confinement had passed by. The Tridend navy had held out longer than Cadmus had thought it would. He had dared to hope that they might fend off the enemy, but then more reinforcements arrived on the Reapers' side and the mobile comm unit was filled with voices cut off in the midst of death. The mounting pressure of the battles above was felt by the turians confined in the mine. Cadmus had to settle more than a dozen disputes between refugees. The unrest was fortunate for Cadmus. He had taken up a leadership position among the refugees from his legion, and thus could pour himself into his role instead of thinking about the losses that had plagued him since they left Palaven. He also had Solana to attend to. In short, he was able to separate his mind back into its detached boxes.

Sudden shouting drew Cadmus' and Solana's attention. On the far side of the storage area, an asari and a turian female were arguing. Solana grunted. "I wondered when they'd go at it."

Cadmus nodded. Brigid hadn't been welcoming to Nissa. In fact, she'd verbally insulted her every chance she got. Cadmus had been surprised how well Nissa dealt with her sister-in-law. Perhaps Decimus' control was slowly growing on her, though not enough it seemed. The dam had burst.

"Do you think they'll come to blows?" Solana asked, concern in her voice when the two females started gesticulating.

"I wouldn't put it past them," Cadmus murmured. He stood. Someone had to stop this and Decimus wasn't around. Already they had the attention of most of the refugees in the room, especially children who had stopped playing and stared in wide-eyed confusion.

Cadmus made his way over to the females, cautious. He'd stopped hundreds of fights on the Citadel, often diving into them and pulling assailants apart. But this was a family squabble and he didn't like the idea of inserting himself into Decimus' relationship problems.

He spoke loudly when he reached them. "You're scaring children," he admonished, gesturing to the rest of the storage area. Both Nissa and Brigid cut off their argument, glancing where he pointed. Brigid looked chagrined at losing it in front of turians. Nissa grinned, glad the argument had brought attention and embarrassed the turian female.

Brigid nailed Nissa with a look that could kill. "Just stay out of my office!" She spun around and left, boots pounding the floor.

"Argh!" Nissa exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, then rounding on Cadmus. "What is it with turians, Vakarian? Most of you have sticks so far up your asses you can't think straight!"

Cadmus couldn't help but be amused and an unintended laugh escaped his lips.

Nissa's eyes narrowed. "I don't see what's funny."

Cadmus coughed, recovering his stoicism.

Nissa put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Tell me."

Cadmus pressed his lips together, not sure he wanted to engage an angry Nissa.

"Tell me, Vakarian, or I swear I'll…"

"You've always…preferred turians. You chose a turian mate."

Nissa let out a long sigh, arms dropping. "He's changed. She's just like all the rest!"

"Like me," Cadmus came back.

Nissa regarded him. "Not exactly."

"You won't win Decimus' sister over by antagonizing her," Cadmus warned, wanting to give her some friendly advice. "Leave her alone. You put pressure on her and she'll keep exploding." Cadmus' mind flicked back to his conversation with Decimus and he thought of Viator and Leea. He'd always thought Leea was a flighty choice on Viator's part, but he had to admit that over time he'd gotten used to them as a couple and accepted Leea as far as he could.

Nissa grimaced. "I'm not good at making nice."

Cadmus smiled at Nissa's frank admission. "Try."

Nissa drew in a deep breath, turning. "I need to mediate more. Selyna keeps telling me that. I'm going to find Decimus." She strolled away. Cadmus turned to walk back to Solana, but before he got more than a few steps, Decimus' voice spoke into his ear.

"Cadmus. I need to see you in the conference room."

"On my way." Cadmus trotted over to Solana. "I'll be back."

"Okay," Solana acknowledged.

Cadmus made his way down several short hallways to the conference room. He was surprised to see workers crowded inside. Cadmus and Decimus had had the room to themselves the last few days. As he stepped inside, Cadmus noticed the middle screen had changed from a readout to a video display. Decimus had been waiting inside the door for Cadmus and nodded towards the screen. Cadmus strained to listen over the murmurings of the workers.

The picture was of a couple Reapers stomping around in a city. Cadmus didn't recognize it and his heart sank as he listened to the voiceover. "So far the Reapers are confined to the southern continent and have attacked only three of our cities: Paestum, Hispalis and Cuicul. Our forces are engaged. We will not give in. We fight for our families, our kin, our way of life. For Tridend!"

Cadmus looked to Decimus whose face was grave, eyes glued to the screen. The Reapers had landed on Tridend. Decimus understood the full import to his home planet. He had seen Palaven and knew the devastation about to be wreaked upon them.

"I'm sorry," Cadmus whispered.

Decimus turned stiffly to him. "So am I."


Another day crawled by. Cadmus became restless. Reports on the Reaper advance on Tridend had become sketchy, communication limited as towers were brought down. The refugees from Palaven who had been so relieved to escape were on edge as the familiar fight against fear overcame them. Tempers flared, Cadmus intervened. Solana continued to refuse medication and even took to walking around the facility unaided for short bursts of time. Cadmus knew she didn't want to die lying down. Part of him admired her determination; the other grieved her mindset.

At the end of the day, Cadmus laid heavily down on his pallet next to his daughter. He rolled on his side, surreptitiously gazing on his progeny. She slept deeply, chest rising and falling slowly. He ran his eyes over her face, the curve of her forehead, the narrow mandibles. So like Laelia. Cadmus' heart skipped a beat. He'd thought he'd gotten Solana to safety, that he'd protected her as Laelia would have. He lay back on his pallet, looking to the ceiling, envisioning the stars and the worlds beyond. There was no guarantee of protection with Reapers in existence. Your weapon better work, Garrus. We desperately need it.

Cadmus drifted off into a quiet sleep. A vision danced before his eyes. Laelia was beside him, holding his hand and smiling at him. She pointed to a field in the distance. Garrus was there, a teen shooting at targets. Solana wasn't far from him, sitting with knees drawn up, data pad held before her eyes. Suddenly, a loud clanging filled the air. Solana's head jerked up and her eyes darted across at him. Garrus screamed and fired his weapon into the sky above. Cadmus turned to Laelia, but she was gone. Instead he saw a flurry of husks headed his way. The clanging continued and Cadmus felt a painful grip on his arm.

"Wake up! Dad, wake up!"

Cadmus opened his eyes, blinking rapidly and feeling terribly heavy. He'd been deep in dream. He coughed and realized the storage area was flashing with a glowing red light. The clanging sound from his dream echoed throughout the chamber. Cadmus pushed himself to a sitting position, shaking his head to gather his thoughts.

"Dad!"

Cadmus turned to see Solana sitting up and gripping his arm. Cadmus glanced around the room. Turians and krogan had come awake, yelling at each other over the noise, wondering what was going on.

"What is it?" Solana shouted over the blaring.

Cadmus shook his head, identifying the source of the red flashing—whirring lights high on the ceiling. He stood up, stretched his arms and called out loudly for all to hear. "I'll find out what's going on. Stay here."

Cadmus walked the hallways, making for Brigid's office. He wondered if this was some mine safety drill. Decimus had explained to him some of the workings of the mine, including regular safety maintenance. Cadmus hadn't made it far when Decimus showed up, rushing down a hall.

"What is going on?" Cadmus asked.

Decimus breathed shallowly, out of breath from running. "Reapers in the…caldera."

"What?!" Cadmus hissed out.

"Video feed caught them…before the cameras were destroyed."

Cadmus couldn't believe his ears. Why would the Reapers go for a remote mine?

"They're cutting into the ground, Cadmus…They've already exposed part of the compound. Brigid has some ships…for protection from pirates; she's getting them in the air now."

Cadmus managed to speak through his disbelief. "What do you need from me?"

Decimus' mandible pulled into his jaw. "Get all able bodied soldiers ready. We're going up the elevator in ten."

Cadmus' pulse raced and he nodded. Decimus turned, shooting back down the hallway. Cadmus rushed back to the storage area. The red lights still flashed, the alarm still blared. Turians and krogan looked to him expectantly. He steeled himself, glancing once at Solana before speaking. "Reapers are in the caldera of the mine. They are cutting down into the compound." Gasps and wide eyes met the news. "Anyone who is able to fight is to meet at the surface elevator in ten minutes."

Activity broke out in the warehouse, turians and krogan strapping on armor and weapons. Cadmus had to get to his own armor stored in the conference room. Solana had stood, limping over to him on her brace. Cadmus opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head shortly. "I'm going. I'm not sitting down here. I'm not leaving you again."

Cadmus ground his teeth, but didn't have time to argue. He turned and sped back to the hallway. He careened into the conference room, changing as quickly as he could. His armor hadn't been cleaned and he wrinkled his nose at the scent of sweat and blood. He yanked on its pieces and keenly felt the weight of it now that he had been in a suit for over a week. Anger coursed through his mind. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to be safe here. Cadmus hooked his guns to his back and ran through the door. He felt the foreboding of death. He knew that this would be his last fight.


The elevator rose, filled with fifty turians ready for battle as well as Drong and his krogan. Decimus had given them the run down. It would be dark outside, but that was to their advantage. The second the door opened they would rush out and take cover behind a metal wall that encircled the compound unless husks were already present. Then they would be forced to engage them immediately.

As they neared the surface, Cadmus heard the wail of the Reapers' red beams. He felt a firm squeeze in his hand and turned to look into his daughter's eyes. Solana's blue depths gleamed with determination and fire. Cadmus squeezed her hand back and worked his jaw to keep moisture out of his eyes. This is the end. Our end. The elevator jerked, lifted, then stilled. The doors opened.

The group poured into the compound. Straight ahead, a crescent moon peeked over the lip of the caldera. Stars twinkled brightly, unobstructed by ambient light. The view would have been breathtaking had it not been marred by the monstrous abominations evident above the compound wall. Their beams were slicing every which way. A ship raised overhead, a harvester preparing for its work. Realization hit Cadmus. They knew refugees were here. Somehow they knew.

He cried out in anger. He heard a garbled mechanical voice—marauders. Cadmus ran with the group to the metal wall. He called to a soldier, ordering him to kneel down next to him so he could get a lift above the wall to survey the field. The soldier complied and Cadmus was lifted up on his shoulders. The sight almost broke his will. In the light afforded by the red beams of the Reapers he beheld an army composed entirely of marauders. They would fight their own. Cadmus jumped off the soldier's shoulders and hunkered down, putting his hand to his ear.

"Decimus! Marauders only. Five harvesters. Three Reapers. Spaced across the caldera."

Decimus' voice came back. "Brigid's fighters will engage in one. Then we go in."

"Acknowledged." Cadmus looked at the soldiers that had been assigned to him. "Ships incoming. When they assault, we go."

The soldiers acknowledged his orders. Cadmus reluctantly looked into his daughter's shining eyes. She gripped her shotgun so tightly her knuckles had paled. Cadmus' heart pounded. He was so proud of her. She had faced so much in her life and she still chose to be here, right next to him. Cadmus swallowed. "Solana…"

She nodded to him. "I'm ready."

"No, I wanted to say…You've been…"

Laser fire cut the air, followed by explosions. Solana turned away, standing, raising her shotgun.

Cadmus looked away from her to the group. "Engage the enemy!"

The soldiers charged forward through the compound gate onto the field. They took the right flank, rushing the marauders several yards away. Cadmus cried out long—a final battle cry. There was no way they could win this. He would die today, but he would do it with strength on his lips.

That was when it happened. A loud crackling split the air. Cadmus kept on running. The caldera brightened with a sustained burst of eerie red light and a sudden crash to Cadmus' left commanded his attention. Cadmus slowed. A Reaper had plummeted to the ground, red energy prickling over its surface. He had drawn his gun and glanced ahead at the marauders in his way, but saw the two other Reapers encased in the same red energy. They shuddered, stumbled and then both fell. The earth shook under his feet. A red wave emanated from the Reapers and the marauders before them were caught in its wake. Cadmus watched in awe as their bodies were incinerated in an instant. He blinked and turned, yelling, "Retreat! Retreat!" Most of his soldiers had stopped as dumbfounded as he. They turned as he commanded and flew back towards the bunker.

Cadmus felt the wave hit him, but instead of knocking him off his feet, it passed right by him, its only affect a sharp heat. He halted in his steps when it ended at the metal wall. He breathed in and out quickly and turned to look back. The Reapers lay still, dark and motionless. Bodies of marauders littered the ground, those that hadn't disintegrated with the wave.

Cadmus stared in disbelief. He put a shaky hand to his ear. "What happened?"

Decimus' voice didn't return for several seconds. "I don't know."

"Your sister has fission weapons?" he questioned in his shock.

"No. And we'd be dead now if she did."

"Dad?" Cadmus looked at Solana limping towards him, chest heaving, eyes confused. "What's going on? How did they go down like that?"

Cadmus shook his head.

"Decimus, are you there?" Cadmus recognized Brigid's voice over his comm. She must have patched in to them all.

"I'm here. Reapers are no longer a threat."

"Reports coming in. They're going down everywhere on Tridend. Reaper forces are self-destructing."

Cadmus continued to stare into his daughter's eyes. He must look as dumfounded as she.

"How?" Solana asked.

Cadmus' mandibles shook and he looked to the sky. Garrus' weapon. The weapon they had to wait for. What if…but how? "I don't know," Cadmus answered her, looking back at her. "But I think…it might be over…for good."

Solana's mandibles trembled and she suddenly gulped, tears in her eyes. Cadmus reached out a hand and she took it. He drew her into an embrace and peered back up at the radiant stars. Could the war really be over? If it was, he didn't care how. As long as the Reapers were gone, he didn't have to know. The only thing he wanted to know now was if his son lived.