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Sean's POV

Even though we were defiantly under the eyes of Cerberus again, I felt safe enough to stand outside the ship in casual wear to greet Shepard. Things were particularly quiet today, which gave me plenty of time to think about our possibilities at this point.

Even though I would kill to get onto the SR2, I still didn't trust our safety aboard it. I knew that TIM had bugged the entire ship with surveillance devices. It didn't help that the ship was also occupied with the Cerberus cheerleader, which in itself concerned me after the encounter in Anderson's office.

I was beginning to wonder if we would somehow play a different role in the near future.

Soon afterwards, Shepard strolled onto the dock wearing, oddly enough, and N7 hoodie.

"So, decided to go back to and older style, huh?" I said with a smile, looking her up and down. "I always did like hoodies."

"I found it in my cabin, tucked underneath the bed." She replied, looking at herself. "I liked it."

"So I only just now realized that you never did get the official tour of our ship." I started, looking at the airlock. "Wanna see the thing that's kept us safe these last two years?"

Shepard nodded her head, as I took her inside. I showed her everything, from the engines to the bridge. Along the way, I told her what had happened the last two years, from our rescue of the Alliance marines, to our abduction and subsequent rescue. Shepard stayed quiet during all of it, pouring over my thoughts.

Once we had come to the briefing room, everyone else on the ship was there, waiting for us, even Bastila in hologram form on the projector in the center of the table.

"And before we begin, I would like to introduce Bastila." I said, holding out my hand at her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander." Bastila greeted warmly, nodding as Shepard sat down. Shepard, to my surprise, was not as shocked as I expected her to be.

"First EDI, then this..." She muttered under her breath, holding her forehead as she quickly looked back at Bastila and returned her greeting.

"So Shepard... here we are, your old team." I said with a smile, as I sat down at the long end of the table.

"At least your conference room has chairs." Shepard said with some humor, sitting down. "So... you've told me your side of the story, I'll tell you mine since it's much shorter."

Shepard then went over the details of her useless assignment the council had assigned her after the Battle of the Citadel, the destruction of the Normandy, and her rebirth on a remote Cerberus research station. The moment Shepard mentioned Freedom's Progress, specifically the part about meeting Tali, I instinctively broke my silence.

"How's Tali?" I quickly asked, as everyone looked my direction. "I haven't even talked to her in almost a year."

"She seems to be doing very well, she was leading a few Mirgrant Fleet marines in the search for a quarian called Veetor, who had survived the attack." Shepard explained, looking a little harder at me. "We helped them to find Veetor, who had reprogrammed the colony's defenses to attack anything that moved. Once we found him and the evidence, we let her and those remaining in her squad take him back to the fleet."

Shepard then managed to acquire Mordin Solus and Zaeed before coming to the Citadel, finally meeting back up with us.

"So, this is the idea I came up with." Shepard laid out, standing up from her seat. "I have a list of people that can help stop the Collectors, but they're spread out across the galaxy."

"Are you saying you want us to help you get these... specialist for your little war?" Weigman asked, leaning against the table with a smile. "This sound like a challenge."

"I know none of you want to be anywhere near Cerberus, and frankly I don't trust them either after what you've told me." Shepard said, looking hard at all of us. "But after having a little "talk" with the Illusive Man, I've convinced him to lay off and allow you to help."

"Hpmh, sounds likely." Allen said, looking down at the ground with his arms folded. "The moment he doesn't need you he'll turn on all of us, just watch."

"I'm asking this of you, not him." Shepard said, shaking her head. "And as far as he is concerned, I'm in charge of this operation. At the moment, you six are the only people I trust enough to even tell something like this."

We poured over it for a few minutes, before Weigman said that he wanted to do it. We all followed shortly afterwards, as Shepard pulled out a datapad and handed it to me.

"I've split up the names he gave me, here." She said, as I looked over the names. On the datapad were dossiers for Jack, Thane Krios, Samara, and lastly, Tali Zorah.

"I've got one extra, a thief called Kasumi Goto, who I'm going to try tackling next." Shepard said, taking out her datapad and comparing. "Do you think you can do it? I've already had Miranda modify the messages that were sent out to your list."

"Now Commander, have we ever let you down?" I said with a smile, as I leaned backwards in my chair. "If you tell us to do something, we get it done."

"I was hoping you would say that." Shepard said with a smile, as she shook my hand. "I just wanted to make sure you all didn't lose your energy over the last two years."

"We kept ourselves busy." I said, as we all moved out to get ready. I led Shepard back outside, where I have her a big hug before she left.

Time to get to work.

Allen's POV

Two Hours Later

I dropped my bag of technical parts down on my desk as I sloughed into my room. Shepard was gone and for the most part we actually knew what was going to happen for a while, but my mind was still racing with possibilities. We had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen up until the end of Arrival, but other than that we were completely in the dark. My thoughts were cut short as my door rang.

"Come in." I said lazily, propping my feet on the edge of my desk.

It was John, holding a metal box.

"Um... I found this in the airlock." He said with a little disbelief, as he looked at the tag on top. "It just says "Recovered in Geth Space, extra ammunition inside."

"Is it anything dangerous?" I asked, looking hard at him, as I took it out of his hands.

"Bastila says they're isn't anything volatile or corrosive inside." John explained, looking hard at the box. "Perhaps... it's a Geth weapon or something."

The possibility of getting a new weapon got my blood pumping through me, so I set the case down on the bed and carefully opened it. Once I saw what was inside, my face lit up in one of the biggest smiles I had ever had.

"Is that... a minigun?" John asked, as I picked up the large weapon. "Jesus Christ."

I didn't respond as I looked carefully over the bluish-gray beauty. The organic style of the Geth was evident all over the weapon, aside from the four barrels connected with a large ring. I felt like giving this thing a hug it was so beautiful.

"Um... are you OK, Allen?" John asked, tapping me on the shoulder, which managed to snap me out of my daze. "There's a form inside as well."

"Oh, go ahead and read it." I said, still staring at the minigun.

"This is a Geth "Spitfire", recovered by me and my team from the scuttled Geth Cruiser you saved us from." John read, looking at me with a smile. "Since we we're only researchers of radiochemestry, I hope you can put it to better use. Signed, Dr. Mary Franklin."

"She's the shrink from that Geth ship, right?" I questioned, as I found the on switch for the gun, testing the spin of the barrels.

"Yeah." He answered, putting the paper back into the box. "Um... I'll leave if your planning on having sex with that thing."

"I just might." I said in a dirty tone, as I stopped the spin and placed it back into the case. "Thanks man."

"I'm always happy to help people out." He said with a smile, as he left the room.

I sat in my office chair, staring at it until I felt the ship's engines sputter to life.

"Hey, where we goin' first?" I asked, watching the stars fly by the window as the purple haze moved away.

"We're going to recruit Sean's girlfriend." Thomas replied with a bit of a mocking tone."She's on Haestrom, on some sort of mission from the Admiralty."

"You know, I did play the game too, you know." I said with annoyance, as I began unpacking my parts. "Just let me know when we get there, I have to fix my Contact Beam."

"Sure thing." Thomas replied, cutting the line.

Sean's POV

The shuttle touched down on the surface of Haestrom, as the six of us quickly piled out. The shuttle, controlled by Bastila, then quickly sped off to get back to the ship. She would be taking the Endar Spire out of the Geth-controlled system until we activated our beacon.

"Watch out, that sun will cook you like a nuclear reactor if your shields fail." I warned, as one unfortunate little creature made the mistake of venturing out into the light, cooking in seconds.

"Stay in the shadows, no problem." Weigman said, pulling his recon hood over his face.

We quickly stormed through the sunlight, making our way to the shade near a gate to the next area. Gunfire could be heard in the distance as we got closer. Inside the room with the controls, there were dead quarians and Geth still clutching their rifles.

"Damn it, looks like we got here too late." John said, leaning down to look closer at them. "You sure you know where Tali is?"

"I'm positive, we just need to get through this gate first." I answered, touching the biggest button on the panel. The gate shuttered open loudly, revealing two Geth waiting on the other side. We shot them, coming through to see a jungle-like amalgamation of rusted metal and concrete before us.

We were stopped on our tracks as a Geth dropship quickly flew over us, firing down Geth ready to fight. They didn't last long as we tore through their shields, splattering white fluids over the dark-grey concrete.

We raced through the sunlight again, reaching a smaller hallway which contained three Geth, one of them being a Hunter. I took down the Hunter's shields before it could cloak, as Allen started unloading on all three of them with a weapon I had never seen before. They were utterly shredded as the weapon tore through them like a plasma saw.

"Um...where did you get that...minigun?" I asked, looking closely at the quad-barreled weapon.

"Oh, I picked it up inside that guardhouse." He answered, spinning the barrels on it, then looking at the communicator on another dead quarian as it started emitting static. "Sounds like we still have people out there fighting."

I picked up the communicator, adjusting it so the static would clear up.

"OP-1, this is Squad Leader Kal' Reegar, come in, over!" Kal said from the other side of the line.

"This is Sean of the Endar Spire, me and my team passed a lot of your dead troops on the way in, you are the first survivor I've heard from." I responded, holding the communicator.

"Damn... Wait, Sean? The human mercenary that saved Tali's life?" Kal questioned, sounding confused. "I don't know why your here, but right now, any organic is a welcomed sight."

"I'm glad that someone is happy to see us today." I said off-hand, looking out into the distance. "Need some help?"

"Patch your radios into Channel 617 Theta. We were on a stealth mission, high risk." Kal explained, sounding out of breath as I looked at everyone to make sure they were patched in. "We found what we were looking for, but the Geth found us. They've got us pinned down. We can't get to our ship, and we can't transmit data through the solar radiation."

"Where are you right now, you current position?" I asked, as smaller explosions could be heard in the distance.

"We're bunkered down at the base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter, then doubled back to hold the chokepoint." Kal said, as more gunfire picked up in the background. "Getting Tali out is our top priority. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off you."

"Stay where you are, we'll get you out of here." I said, as a Geth dropship dropped more troops outside the safety of the tunnel. Allen and I quickly unloaded on them, reducing them down to size as we quickly went through. On the other side of the area, there were three quarians defending a door. Their base camp.

"Wait, watch your ass, we have a heavy dropship coming in!" Kal warned in the radio, as a larger Geth dropship swooped in and obliterated the cover, and the building entrance, that the quarians had been using. It also fired at us, as we all quickly dove behind cover to avoid the explosions. My ears were ringing, but we were unscathed aside from a few scrapes.

"Crap, the doorway is completely caved-in!" Kal exclaimed, as bits of rubble rolled down the pile. "Grab the demo charges in the buildings nearby and-"

"Hold that thought." Allen interrupted, as he ran up to the still smoldering pile of rubble and started sticking explosives inside it.

"We're moving ahead, the Geth are converging on Tali's position!" Kal explained, as more gunfire could be heard inside. "We'll try to hold them off until you get through."

"Good luck, Kal'Reegar." I said, as the line went dead. I looked at Allen, who was diligently placing explosives inside the rubble. "How long is that going to take?"

"About ten more seconds." He answered, still placing charges. He then signaled for all of us to get out of range, as we all took cover in the shade. "Kaboom."

Allen hit the detonator, as large chunks of concrete flew over our heads and shattered around us. When I looked up, there was but a crater where the large pile of debris was, and an opening revealing the entrance to the building.

We quickly made our way inside only to find more dead quarians and Geth. Not to much surprise, Tali was talking through one of the consoles, asking if anyone was here.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" She asked, as I pressed the receiver on the console.

"Tali, it's Sean." I answered, looking at her hologram as I spoke. "I'm sorry, but everyone else here is dead."

"Sean?" Tali exclaimed, holding the top of her helmet. "I'm not complaining ,but you've chose one of the strangest times to come and see me! What are you doing in Geth space?"

"Me and my team were in the neighborhood, and thought we could lend a hand." I said wish a smile, leaning on the console.

"Thanks for coming, Sean. It means a lot to hear your voice." Tali thanked, as she looked over her shoulder. "Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I have what we came for, but there's a lot of Geth outside."

"Is anyone else with you, or are you alone?" I asked, looking around the room. "Kal'Reegar and a few of his marines were just in here a minute ago."

"Reegar had a team of marines covering me when I ran for the observatory." Tali said, getting a bit more quiet. "At least some of them are still alive, I can hear them firing at the Geth outside."

"About that door, it's locked down." I said, looking at the flickering icon on the door. "Can you get it opened from where you are?"

"Hmm... let me see... yes, I can do it." She replied, looking down at her console. "Here, it should be unlocked now. Be careful out there, Sean, and do what you can to keep Reegar alive."

The hologram flickered away as the door opened, revealing another room. I hit the button on the console, as the window panels slid open, revealing a Geth Colossus. It was waiting for us, as it fired a heavy round at us.

"Mother fu-" Allen shouted, as I shoved him hard.

"Get down!" I shouted, as the round obliterated the console and the chunk of wall that was around it. Me and everyone else quickly got on our feet, giving our ears a moment to stop ringing as we scooted down to where Kal'Reegar was taking potshots with his rocket launcher at the Colossus.

"Over here, get to cover!" He shouted, leaning up to take another shot. "I still got no idea why your hear, but now's not the time to be picky."

"You wouldn't be getting a lot of help if that were the case." I said, as another loud explosion went off.

"Heh, Tali's inside over there." Kal said, taking a peek over the metal barrier. "The Geth killed the rest of my squad, and their trying to get to her."

"That's not going to happen." I said, taking a peek myself at the large formation of Geth.

"Exactly. The Geth are near platoon strength, but the Colossus is the worst part." Kal explained, as rounds whizzed over our heads. "It keeps getting under cover and repairing itself, and ever since I tried to get closer one of the bastards punched a hole clean through my suit."

"We need to get to Tali, any ideas?" I said, as another round tore away at the cover. "I see three ways to get to her, but they all seem equally dangerous."

"Just one." Kal said, looking at his rocket launcher. "I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I still got a rocket launcher the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in, and maybe I can take down it's shields so you can finish it off."

"You've done enough, Reegar, there's no need to throw your life away." I said, trying to keep him down.

"I'm not asking your permission." Kal replied, looking hard at me, as he got ready to take another shot. "It's my job to protect Tali, and this is the best we-"

I stopped him from getting up any farther, as I shouted "We don't have enough people on our side for you to be taking one for the team! Stay down!"

"I'm not going to stand there while you run into enemy fire." Kal argued, shaking his head. "They killed my whole squad!"

"And if you want to honor them, watch our back!" I countered, looking at the platform we came from. "I need you here in case any more of them show up!"

"Ugh... all right, Sean, we'll do it your way." Kal finally agreed, looking down. "Hit them for me, Keelah se'lai!"

"Alright... Allen, Sydney, and John, go along the left down there." I said, turning to my friends. "Weigman, Thomas and I will take that perch to the right. We;ll flank the Colossus on both sides."

With that said, Allen, Sydney and John shimmied over the ledge as me, Weigman and Thomas ran like a bat outta hell to the sniper perch. On the perch there was very little sunlight, so we resorted to taking potshots at the Geth, then making a run for the next pieces of cover. Us taking out the Rocket troopers up here instantly made things easier for Allen and the others, as they quickly hid near the Colossus' position. We quickly caught up, plowing through a Hunter that had almost managed to cloak before we destroyed it.

"Allen, I'm charging the BFG, get it to face you!" I said into the radio, as the pitter-patter of his minigun could be heard. This attracted the attention of the Colossus and the Geth around it, as I quickly popped out of cover and fired a charged BFG round at it. The entire battlefield almost went completely silent afterwards, as the Colossus and the Geth around it had all been reduced to a green-hot junk pile.

After we had regrouped at the entrance, I opened the door to the observatory. Inside, there were Geth bodies lying everywhere, with Tali on the other side of the room working at a console.

"Just let me finish this download..." She said, as we slowly walked to her. I found it funny that she was still wearing the coat that I had given her, which looked a bit scuffed around the edges. "Thank you, Sean. If not for you I would have never left this room. This whole mission has been a disaster."

"You know I'm always here to help." I said with a small smile, as I took off my helmet.

"What ARE you doing here, anyways?" She asked, folding her arms. "First Shepard on Freedom's Progress, now you here on Haestrom. It's like some sort of reunion."

"I met up with Shepard yesterday, and she wanted our help recruiting people to help stop the Collectors." I explained, sitting down on a piece of rubble. "We came here hoping you would join us."

"And you do know she's working with Cerberus, right?" Tali questioned, leaning against the console. "She was with two Cerberus agents in Freedom's Progress."

"She's made it perfectly clear to the Illusive Man that she is the one in control, Tali." I said with honesty. "You know we wouldn't be working around Cerberus if we didn't completely trust her."

"Yes... your right." She agreed, giving me a hug. "I can leave with you once I send the data to the fleet. And if the Admirals have a problem with it they can all go to hell. I just watch the rest of my team die."

"Maybe not the whole rest of your team, ma'am." Kal said, limping into the room.

"Reegar, you made it!" Tali said with relief in her voice.

"Your old mercenary friend's as good as you said." Kal'Reegar complemented, holding his chest. "Damn Colossus never stood a chance."

"If you need it we can get you out of here, Reegar." I offered, as he turned to face me.

"Well, the Geth didn't damage our ship, we'll be fine as long as we get out of here before reinforcements arrive." Kal replied, leaning against the wall.

"Actually, I won't be going with you." Tali said, looking at Reegar. "I'm joining Sean and his crew."

"I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened." Kal'Reegar responeded, looking at me. "She's all yours now, Sean. Keep her safe."

I nodded, as he left to his ship, and I activated our beacon. A few minutes afterwards, the Kodiak dropped down, as we all piled inside and sped back to the ship.

Back on the ship, it shuttered as we fled Geth space. Things were now safe.

"Once were out of FTL speeds you can talk to Shepard herself in the QEC, Tali." I explained, as we walked through the ship.

"That sounds good, considering the subsidiaries hovering above you and your team right now." Tali said, obviously not happy with the prospect of working for Cerberus.

"So... you want to talk?" I asked, stopping in the hallway. "About us?"

"Hm... and to think I thought you would never ask." Tali said with a hint of humor in her voice, as she walked up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "I have to tell you truthfully, I've missed you a lot these last two years."

"So have I." I said, giving her a big, long hug. "Why don't you come to my room for a bit after you've said hi to everyone?"

"You mean after I'm done making sure you haven't broken the engines that I fixed for you." Tali humorously corrected, pushing my shoulder a bit. "I'll be there."

"Gotcha." I said, walking to the elevator and hitting the "UP" button.

A/N: This was such a fun chapter to write, I must admit. I always did love the mission on Haestrom, and writing it was just as much, if not more, fun.

Since this will be the last chapter before Christmas, I hope you guys will leave me a good present in the form of a review, telling me what you think. I can't thank all of you enough for all the support you've given me over the last two years, It's nearly overwhelming.

Please remember to fav and review my story, this is GIR, signing out!