Like a stallion galloping away from a raging forest fire, the Normandy sped full throttle away from the approaching ring of fire that was the blast wave created from the destruction of the once dominating Geth dreadnaught. Staring into the aft camera display, Shepard watched as the ring of fire approached and moments later blew past them. Rattling the ship like a earthquake. A few seconds past before the g-forces stabilized allowing them free reign to move about the ship again.

"Status report!" he exclaimed.

"Multiple core systems overloaded. Cyclonic barriers offline, hull damage minimal." answered EDI.

"And the Quarians?" he asked, concerned.

"All retreating craft cleared the blast wave in time. Casualties to Geth forces moderate." replied the AI.

"Commander... you need to see this..." said Joker. Bringing up the starboard viewer display, they gazed at the devastated planet of Capek; it's surface turned to a state of fire and brimstone. Together the two stared in horror at the hell the Geth super weapon had created. The destruction was stunning, unimaginable.

"All life signs along the southern hemisphere of the planet have disappeared. I also read dangerously high levels of concentrated radiation." explained EDI as the two continued to stare at the display with their jaws dropped.

"What about the quarian mining crews? Did any of them make it out?" asked Shepard, fearing the worst.

"Negative. All mining crews were stationed near the old mech facility on the southern continent." replied EDI with a seldom sadness in its tone.

"Dammit!" he shouted as he slammed his fist down on the controls causing it to spark a little. Why did this have to happen he thought. Hundreds, maybe thousands of quarian miners all just trying to do their part to help their shipmates and families survive. Why couldn't he have saved them...

"Admiral Han'Gerrel to Normandy, Captain Shepard are you there?" came the voice of Han over the Normandy's comm.

Now broken out of his thoughts, Shepard replied, "We read you Admiral, we're alive and well. We took some damage in the fight but nothing serious."

"Copy that. We have repair crews standing by. They will be waiting for you in docking cradle 4." replied the Admiral.

Turning to Joker, he said, "You heard the man, let's get back over to the Neema and give the Normandy some well deserved TLC. And find out just what the hell the Geth did here today and why."

"Way ahead of you, commander. Setting course." replied Joker.

Still discouraged by the thought of the many quarians that lost their lives, Shepard slowly lifted himself up out of his chair. He patted his trusted pilot on the shoulder, giving him a job well done gesture, and then proceeded down the corridor to CIC. He halted just before passing the airlock when he noticed the transparent violet robe lying on the floor; Tali's ceremonial dress. Picking it up, he gently caressed the soft fabric and then began to neatly fold it in his arms. Taking it with him as he journeyed down to engineering.

"Hell of a wedding..." he thought to himself with a crooked smirk.

...

"Access Neema video logs, provide results showing all recorded data within the last 24 hours..." As Daro finished, the terminal in front of her automatically began scrolling through list after list of recorded logs in the Neema's systems. Several minutes later it paused with one result.

"Play recording..." The display began to play a recording of the recent battle with the Geth dreadnaught in the distance, swarmed by dozens of quarian fighters. "Increase playback speed..." The display began to fast-forward through most of the battle which held no interest to her. She only cared about one element.

"Pause recording!" The video halted at the moment the dreadnaught extended the super weapon from its forward hatch. "Magnify..." She watched as the screen zoomed in onto the cannon. It's very design baffled her. Though infused into the ship itself, the weapon didn't appear to be of Geth origin at all. She knew there was something amiss. There was no way the Geth had the technology to create a weapon with such devastating power. Speaking of power, another thing also had her at the end of her wits. The Geth are creatures of pure mathematics and would have surely predicted the overload that resulted in the meltdown of their ships reactor resulting in their defeat. So why did they fire? Was this an attack, or something else entirely...

Typing away at the terminal controls, she opened a channel to the Moreh's bridge. "Captain Jhana, I want salvage teams deployed to the dreadnaught's wreckage immediately. Have them search the area for any radiation anomalies."

"Yes Admiral, Keelah Se'lai." replied the Moreh's captain before closing the channel.

Daro leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Were it possible, she would conceal information of any findings in the wreckage, but there's no way she could make a cover story for sending heavily equip salvage vessels into the area. She would be forced to share the information, but it still may yet work in her favor. She still had another agenda to fulfill...

Every night the dream was the same. A simple blackness at first. Unable to feel, hear, and speak. But then it all comes into focus. Six apparitions materialized around him, all wearing the colors of the Blue Suns mercenaries. His instinct was to fight them off but they all surrounded him and proceeded to restrain him. He continued to struggle only to find that his physical strength was not enough to force his men off of him.

"You had to know this was coming..." He knew that voice. He'd recognize it anywhere, even in the most distorted transmission. Vido Santiago. His former comrade emerged into existence from the hallow darkness; a predator pistol in hand. He had relived this scenario a hundred times. He knew what was about to follow.

"Wish I could say it wasn't personal, but then I'd be lying..." Vido came closer, stopping at arms length and then raised his pistol, aiming directly at Zaeed's right eye.

"See you in hell, Massani..." A flash of light was the last thing that eye would ever see...

Zaeed awoke from his dream anxious and covered in sweat from the reminiscent nightmare. No matter where he slept or what kind of sleep medication he took, it always ended with the same dream, the same memory.

"Bloody hell..." he mumbled, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Was he condemned to relive the worst moment of his life forever? To see nothing but the face of his nemesis every time he closed his eyes or sighted down a weapon? Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, the only chance he had at ending his suffering would be to take vengeance upon the man that betrayed him and stole the very essence of his life. Vido Santiago.

"Hey, Zaeed." Came the voice of Aranya over the shuttle's intercom. Rubbing the dryness from his eyes, he didn't think to respond.

"Hey! One-eyed willy!" She yelled over the intercom, trying to get his attention.

"Shut the hell up you bloody Azure bitch!" he retorted.

"Goddess, to be believe I used to let you kiss me with that mouth. Anyway we're 2 minutes out from the Omega Nebula so you might wanna get off your wrinkly old ass and get up here." she said.

"On my way." he replied sullenly as he climbed up and out of his cot. Reaching under the cot, he slid out his armor and began suiting up from head to toe with the last piece being his pistol and holster. The light of the helm shone through the rusted cracks in the door as he stepped over to open it and exited the cabin.

"Sleep well?" she asked in a way that said she already knew the answer as he took a seat in the co-pilots chair.

"Well, I didn't wake up handcuffed to the bed with my trousers down. So yeah, I'd say just dandy." he replied.

"Aw, you know you'd like it!" she said with a devious smile.

"You wish..." he said while rolling his eyes back. Aranya began to laugh before a beeping sound interrupted her and she turned to look at the console in front of her.

"Disengaging FTL drive..." she said as the warped waves of hyperspace cleared revealing the normal void of space with the giant asteroid space station of Omega, domain of Aria T'loak, in sight. "Course plotted to Omega... Initiating docking sub-routines. Just sit back and enjoy the view."

"Huh... Omega... Ass hole of the galaxy. Ripe with the stench of Batarian armpits and road-kill Vorcha. Come here a hundred times on missions and still haven't gotten used to it. Takes me back to a Salarian smuggling operation we were contracted to provide security for. Was going smooth as first until Batarian pirates boarded the Salarian's ship and massacred half the crew. Damn near lost my whole squad that day-" He stopped to look at Aranya who was snoring with her eyes closed and giving the impression that she didn't care.

"I'm talking to you ya' scale itch infested whore!" he yelled which only managed to provoke hysterical laughter from her.

"I warned you this would happen! Your so called covert operation provoked an attack that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of our people!" The voice of Zal'Korris vas Qwib-Qwib echoed through the corridor.

"Will it never end..." Tali said to herself as she proceeded through the corridors to the Neema's briefing room while walking alongside her husband.

"Whatever they're going on about, I plan to put a stop to it. Many innocent quarians died today and this isn't the way to mourn them!" Shepard agreed.

They rounded the corner to see a single door at the end of the next corridor; the entrance to the briefing room. All the while the heated arguments of the quarian admirals growing louder as they came closer.

"It's because of the ships under my command that many more of us are still alive, Korris! I don't recall observing the Qwib-Qwib offering assistance when the Varranoi was destroyed!" Han's voice retorted.

They entered the Neema's briefing room to find the quarian admirals arguing amongst themselves while all standing around a holo-projector in the center of the room. All except Shala who stood beside the entrance with her hand covering her visor, obviously losing all hope in the rest of the admirals. She noticed Shepard and his wife enter the room and shot them a brief glance before turning to the other admirals.

"Quiet!" Shepard shouted. The admirals' heated arguments did not cease, however.

"Silence you bosh'tets!" shouted Shala. The room finally became silent at her outburst. "Go ahead Captain Shepard." she finished, looking at the couple.

"I know a lot of your people died today and I can understand why you feel so eager to direct your hate at one another, but right now we owe it to those mourning families to cooperate and find out just what happened today. Otherwise their deaths were in vain. Now... Has your intelligence gathered anything on the Geth attack?" Shepard asked, stepping forward.

"Captain Shepard. As a matter of fact, we have. Come closer." Han proceeded to access recorded data on the Geth dreadnaught which displayed in a 3D image above the projector as he continued. "We know that the power surge that resulted in the reactor meltdown that ultimately destroyed the dreadnaught originated from the super weapon they fired at the planet..."

"Forgive me for interrupting Admiral, but I have extensive knowledge of Geth technology and I've never seen any data suggesting that they could create a mass accelerator weapon with firepower of that magnitude. Where did it come from?" asked Tali.

"That's an excellent question, Tali'Zorah-" Zal said before being interrupted by her.

"Tali'Shepard, Admiral Korris." she replied, putting emphasis on 'Shepard.'

"-Miss Shepard..." Zal cleared his throat before continuing. "At first we did suspect that the weapon was of Geth origin, but the efforts of Admiral Xen have proven otherwise. Admiral?"

Daro tapped a series of buttons causing the projector to change to an image of a piece of twisted metal. "This is debris we collected from the dreadnaught's wreckage. Reconstructive analysis reveals it to be a fragment of the super weapon." She tapped another button making the projector display detailed information about the debris in quarian text. "As you can see, it's irradiated beyond decontamination with a form of radiation unknown to our scientists..."

"So we're dealing with technology more advanced than anything the Geth normally possess?" interjected Shepard.

"Correct." replied Daro.

"There is something else that is rather...disturbing." said Shala.

"Although we have no name for this form of radiation, based on collected samples from the planet, our scientists have been able to match its signature profile with trace elements collected from only one world in the galaxy..." Zal said, using the projector controls to bring up the image of a familiar, scared planet. Klendagon.

"Klendagon. The Great Rift valley?" said Tali, puzzled.

"Are you saying that weapon was the same thing that created the Great Rift valley?" asked Shepard, fearing the answer.

"Precisely. But that's not the worst of it." said Han as he brought up images of the planet the fleet was currently orbiting; still burning from the destruction the super weapon had caused. "I had thought that the Geth's attack pattern was odd, but my advisers have confirmed my suspicions. It didn't quite make since that the Geth would attack with a single dreadnaught against a dozen of our best warships, or that they used the weapon on the planet instead of our fleet where they could have inflicted many more casualties. This led me to one conclusion. That this wasn't an attack, but a test, maybe even a warning..."

"What remains elusive is how the Geth acquired a thirty-seven million year old doomsday device..." said Zal.

"They are being controlled by a Reaper. It makes perfect since that Sovereign would use his knowledge to dig up something like this to compensate for not having his Reaper body this time around. " Shepard concluded.

"If Sovereign was willing to destroy the weapon in order to test it, then I think it is safe to assume that he has come in possession of more than one. Every populated world could be in danger and have no way of defending themselves against such a weapon." said Tali.

"There must be some way of tracking these weapons before they're used again." said Shepard.

"I believe there is a way. With a few adjustments to our sensors, we can use the weapon's radiation signature to detect any Geth vessels that may be armed with it within the borders of an entire star cluster. With your permission, commander, I can have a team make the same modifications to the Normandy's sensor array and any probes you may be carrying." said Daro.

"Granted. As soon as our drive core is back online, we're going hunting."

"But John, even if we manage to find one we won't be able to take on another dreadnaught with just the Normandy. Much less probe the entire galaxy." said Tali.

"Agreed. We'll have to inform the council and enlist the aid of the Citadel's Fleet. I'll prepare the Normandy for departure to the Citadel and speak with them personally." said Shepard.

"Very well. If there is nothing else to add, this board meeting is hereby adjourned. Keelah Se'lai" said Shala.

As the other admirals exited the briefing room, Shala led Tali and Shepard to the corner of the room to speak with them. "This is very unsettling. I had thought the fleet would remain safe and secure as long as we avoided the veil. I was wrong..." said Shala.

"Worry not, Aunt Shala. We'll do everything in our power to prevent another massacre." replied Tali.

"You have my word on that, Admiral." interjected Shepard.

"You are both taking a great risk. I regret that such an unfortunate event has befallen us on the day of your bonding. But I know that the love you share will give you both the strength to quell this threat without further incident." replied Shala.

"Commander, a quarian shuttle is requesting permission to dock in the cargo bay to upgrade our sensors." came the voice of Joker over Shepard's comm link.

"Let them in. I'll be there in a few minutes to supervise." deactivating his comm, he said to Shala, "We should return to our ship and make preparations for the trip."

"Be safe, auntie." said Tali, leaning forward to warmly embrace Shala.

"And you, Tali. Keelah Se'lai." she replied.

"Keelai Se'lai." Both Shepard and his wife said before heading back to the Normandy.