Chapter 52

Suen, Maskim Xul System, June 2182

Getting everyone back to the ship was difficult. Julia and Shev'rash had to maintain a lighter gravity on the Turian, and Henry just tried to keep them on a safe driving route. The GRIZZLY whined as it had traveled through the frozen regions of Suen, every seat filled and every hanging medical bag used. Don was eating anything he could get his hands on, and the biotics were all being fed however possible.

Henry got them back to the Acheron, though. The man was breathing hard, and wasn't moving very well. When the ship came into view, they were waved on board by a Quarian in a thick fur coat. An odd sight. The garage was iced over at the doors, and there was a crunch as the GRIZZLY went over the last of it. No one was there to help them unload besides a single Batarian nurse, her four eyes widening at the sight of so many wounded.

Hannah had to help everyone to the medical bay,though the doctor glared at her acid burns with purpose. She didn't say anything to stop her from assisting, nor did she complain when Julia also started helping. Garrus Vakarian had the most injuries, but the doctor wasn't skilled in fixing Turians. Henry was next on the list, his internal bleeding an issue. Don was just told to go eat, and to get some alcohol over the acid burns. The big male slumped onto one of the benches, his arms bandaged loosely.

Kreana had lost her eardrums. The Drell hadn't been able to sense any kind of balance or hear anything since. They had wrapped her up in a blanket and left her next to the others hit by the pressure grenades. They were a moaning mess. Each one got some strong painkillers, and then they had to go to work on Kaidan Alenko. The entire back of his head was under pressure, and his temperature was above 102 degrees fahrenheit. He had burns on the skin at his amp, and they had to stick his head in lukewarm water to keep his temperature from spiking further.

She left after making sure that no one was going to be dying. Or rather once most of the team was stabilized she and Julia were pushed out of the medical bay with a few tubes of medi-gel for their acid burns. Hannah sighed, seeing that most of her torso had small burns and cuts from extended use and deployment. Julia at least had her biotic barrier to keep that sort of thing from happening. She had barely taken off her gloves when she got a notification to come to the cockpit.

"Come on. You've got the family rate. Heavily subsidized, almost free." She motioned to Julia. "Jack has been forwarding most of our information to you already. We'll see what we can drum up for you."

Julia only nodded. She hadn't said anything on the drive, and hadn't complained when her Omni-tool had been remotely shut off by the ship's defense systems. She had just followed, mechanically acting and moving. It may have been shock. She didn't even respond when they walked through what used to be a ballroom. It had now been converted into an armory and computer chamber. She gave it a glance and then moved on, the cockpit only having room for five people. Captain Qing was the only one there, and he looked exhausted.

"Can we leave now, Ma'am?"

"We have reason to believe that the ships in system are not friendly to anyone aboard." Hannah told him. "The Human marines tried to wipe us out. Take us out and go to stealth. We have to get to the relay and get out of here."

"Aye, Ma'am. Our section of orbit appears to be clear, but if they left any drones they'll notice us lifting off." Qing said. "I'm letting our heat billow a bit, so that we can melt some of this ice. The teams outside are already sending in their thanks, Ma'am."

"Well, let's hope this doesn't get too dangerous. Captain Qing, meet Alliance Commander Constantine. She will be joining us for a short time."

"She's the spittin' image of you, Ma'am. Is she your daughter?"

Hannah scoffed. "No, no. She is related to some of the company board of directors, however. Have your men be on the best behavior around her and her people."

"Aye Ma'am, be nice to the visiting dignitary." Julia seemed to notice him speaking, but didn't respond at all. Hannah took her out of the cockpit, and led her over to the bar. Being Jack's ship, it had a full stock of alcohol and drinks on board. No one was at that station, as there was no reason to have them tend to it while the ship was parked. So Hannah walked around the bar, grabbing a thick brown bottle of Irish whiskey, and grabbing two cups.

"You alright?" She asked Julia, who had sat down at the bar. She didn't seem comfortable here, but that might be natural. This was a connection to the world of her childhood. The world outside of the Alliance and their never ending missions.

"Yeah." She said. She didn't refuse the whiskey, and drank a quarter of the glass before putting the drink back down.

"This can't be the first time that you have lost squadmates." Hannah said.

"I was a solo agent. I've never had a squad."

"You're at war, dear. People die."

"Not from accidents. They aren't supposed to go like this." Julia glared. "Not to some overgrown wildlife."

"They didn't die for nothing." Hannah told her. "You did rescue me."

"I thought I was helping you rescue the rest of your team. But I realize that it was just… him lying to me again." Julia glowed with biotic power for a moment, before she saw her glowing hands and forcibly calmed down. "He just treats me like a tool."

Hannah wanted to tell her that Jack actually cared. That the man was so paranoid that he was following the Normandy obsessively. But Jack was depending on secrecy. If she told Julia, she might go looking for her father, and Jack had no way of stopping her if she knew that he was following her closely. "He didn't know you were coming. He had no way of predicting that. Hell, the man makes sure he interferes in your life as little as possible now that you're a damn Spectre."

"Candidate. They don't know if they'll actually take me."

"It's a done deal." Hannah said. "The big wigs and money dealers are all making agreements. Both of the Batarian candidates will be promoted to Spectre, and maybe the Volus. Then the Humans get a Spectre, so long as we don't antagonize the Batarian Separatists further. For some reason they have been having a minor panic attack about incursions near Torfan."

"How do you know that?" Julia asked, with a slight tone of unhappiness.

"Because everyone wants to know everyone else's business. Jack lends money to groups in the Terminus, which means that the Turian Blackwatch colonies take money from him to try to convince the Turian Councillor to not give Humanity a bigger say in things, and if there is a discussion of Spectres they are willing to talk about formal trade agreements with other Terminus factions in exchange for favors that they can use to keep Humans from getting more power. Or pushing into their contested area of space." Hannah sipped her whiskey, finding it to be delicious. Nothing like a dry week spent in a cave to make you crave some alcohol. "That's just the Blackwatch. The Batarians won't accept Humanity getting any kind of Spectre unless they are getting more, as they finally complied with Council Law and abolished slavery." Not to say that horrific living conditions and discrimination against 'lessers' didn't exist in its place. But it was progress.

"So you think I'll be made into a Spectre?"

"One of you. That Arab armored warfare specialist with the Senator for a dad, or the orphaned Jenkins. Having you as a Spectre positively scares people. But I think it's a no brainer. They would have to be bull headed sods to ignore the fact that you would make a better Spectre."

"I'd be a terrible Spectre." Julia said. "They wouldn't trust me with anyone."

"They trust you enough to send you out with one of their best agents already. I don't know if your father told you this, but your Spectre down there has nearly killed him on three occasions." Hannah chuckled, seeing Julia give her a look as she sipped her drink. "Damn good shot, he is. Too bad about the trash compactor, though. We didn't think he could make a shot while being flushed down the proverbial toilet."

Hannah grimaced, as her wounds along her ribs ached. "Garrus tried to kill him?" Julia asked.

"Oh yes. On Omega. Illium. Once at Korlus." Hannah shrugged. "Lots of people try. Garrus is just one of the first one to actually get through."

Julia seemed to be debating about asking for details. But then she looked down at her arm, where some of the acid had melted through the thin armor. "Good for him, then." She drank the rest of her drink slowly, sliding her cup down to Hannah for more. "Tell me about Clan Ganar."

"They don't like outsiders, and they don't like being hired for much of anything. They were the only Krogan clan to not be forced to surrender during the Rebellions, and don't really make much of an appearance anywhere. But they were the Krogan research and development clan. They invented a lot of the old technology that they used during the war."

"With the Rachni?"

"Mhm." She hummed around her glass, topping off Julia's drink. Biotics could burn through alcohol so quickly that it seemed that some of them got alcohol poisoning. "But if you want to talk to them, you're going to have to have some sort of connection. They only meet with people that they respect." Hannah smirked. "Why didn't you bring the Cain we sent you?"

Julia's cheeks turned red. "That was you?"

"Well, Jack was the one who bought the weapon. He's spent the last fifteen years getting connections with the different Terminus groups, and he spent a lot of money on a weapon that historically worked to kill Rachni." Hannah didn't mention the fact that she test fired it. There was enough of a scandal with Anderson being dead. That Turian Spectre, too. "Though not to say you should have brought it, I was just wondering."

"I haven't used it yet, and it is somewhat bulky."

"I added a layer of paint that works with your tactical cloak. If that is what you're really worried about." Julia decided her drink was more interesting. Classic signs of guilt. "It wouldn't have been enough to kill that bug. It's meant to be used from extreme distance. Shooting it up close like that would have just wiped out you and all of your squad instantly. Nothing you have would have been enough to save them."

"Well if you are so smart, what would have stopped it, huh?"

Hannah didn't smile. "I would have used one biotic as bait. Someone that could get attention. Lure it away from the main group. If it was already upon me? Run. Do the same thing you did. Either way, against something like that, without any weapons that can put them down, you are losing people." The alcohol was rich. "Don't blame yourself."

Julia didn't say anything in reply, instead just grabbing the bottle from Hannah's hands.

"I'll see if I have any contacts that you can hire to meet with Clan Ganar." Hannah told her when Julia didn't say anything back. She wasn't even looking back at her now. Hannah patted the bar, standing up. "I'm going to get this thing off and start working on getting it back to full capacity. If you need anything just let me know. You can use one of the barracks rooms upstairs."

Julia gave a short nod, but didn't look at her. Hannah left her at that point, making it upstairs to the room that she and Jack shared on board. Once she sat down, she got out of the catsuit that she had lived in for the last week. There was a crust of blood on her torso, from where she had gotten acid inside the suit. She gave one look at the catsuit and called it almost a lost cause. She dumped it off to the side and made a note to have one of the Quarians fix it up. They always did a better job than she did, anyways.

A shower, mouthwash, and a fresh change of clothes made her feel absolutely Human again. The buzz that had come from that little burst of whiskey faded, and once she was back in one of her two spare catsuits she felt much more capable of handling the rest of her life. It also made her feel less self conscious about contacting Jack.

The comm terminal rang a couple of times before Jack answered, his face the only thing that came through. He must be using a helmet or a space suit of some sort. "Did everyone make it back?" He asked, before she could say anything.

"Your concern for your daughter and girlfriend are noted." She replied. "Yes, everyone made it back. Though Julia is blaming herself for the losses her team suffered."

"Did you recover the beacon?"

"No." Hannah admitted, wiggling her toes inside their precious heated Uggs. "When that Reaper landed, it took the shuttle full of Rachni crap and the beacon. Liara claimed that she had overloaded its central processing unit, but if the Rachni are able to glean anything from it, then we failed."

"Rachni crap?" Jack asked. "What was inside the shuttle?" He was focused, his eyes not glancing at any information feeds to the side.

"I don't know. Large crystals that they had in the walls of the Prothean structure. The Reaper took most of those, too. The Rachni were loading up so many of the things that they couldn't fit their own on board."

"Rachni used crystals to communicate with computer systems and store data." Jack noted. "What kind of chamber was that, when you entered?"

Hannah didn't have the clearest of memories from a week ago. "I would say some sort of construction area. Or repair facility for ships."

Jack frowned. "Rachni ships are made out of crystal. Not to mention that they don't use the same basic technology for their craft. I've been looking for any signs of their fleet, or the old version of their ships. The only thing that the Rachni had to reverse engineer was the engines, so at least we can track those parts. But the rest looks like they form or shape the rock itself around the engine housing. I'll forward you the files, and you can sneak them onto whatever intelligence package you create for Julia. Poor girl has enough on her plate looking for leads herself."

"I think you should meet with her. Directly." Hannah offered.

"That's a terrible idea. Not only would that risk our operation with the Normandy, but that would ruin any hope we have of stopping whoever the Reapers have leading their forces. Which reminds me. Julia will be looking for anyone with connections to us and connections to Hock. She will want revenge for her team. The problem is that the leak is singularly her own fault."

"That won't be what she wants to hear."

"Jones knew where she went because Julia has been meeting with Miranda. Secretly, supposedly. I am aware of most of their meetings, but felt that it would be unwise to intrude. She chose to meet at a bar on the Citadel owned by our old friend James. Best pilot I had ever had. But he got wet feet and decided to get out of the business while he could." Jack seemed to sigh. "His bar is closed, and C-sec is investigating the suicide of James. The reason that Jones was able to go after you is because Julia broke comm security protocols and Hock picked up on it. Though Charles tells me that the STG are all over our comm networks right now, thanks to that breach. Positively dreadful."

"Shouldn't you be the one to explain this to her?"

"Leaving my only law abiding daughter even more angry at herself? No, I would rather close the data breach and give Miranda a stern talking to. Now she is going to get all kinds of attention. As for Julia, she needs something to drive her forward, and she needs to find out where the Rachni are getting their weapons and armor from."

"You have two of our ships out doing that already, if I remember correctly." Their fleet was small, and to commit two ships was already pushing things. Especially two deep space survey module ships. They were cruisers, and had large scanning modules instead of missile banks. Expensive pieces of work. "Why send her on a wild goose chase? Why not just take her to Ilos and show her everything?"

"Julia is not ready to see the war we are fighting. If I took her to Ilos, we would have the Council mustering to invade within hours. She needs to find out all of the clues herself, and come to the conclusion that the Reapers exist long before we bring up our proof. Not to mention the only people who could have made weapons and armor of that quality and quantity are both terrifying groups of people. It is either the Geth or clan Ganar. If we are those ones to discover that, then the Council will assume it's just rumor mongering and ignore it. If their Spectres find it, then it proves our point, and gives the Council legitimate excuse to take action."

"Well, who do we send Julia to? Clan Ganar hardly even gives us the time of day, and you just spent a few hundred million credits on their products."

"Clan Ganar will bend the knee only to the clan they served during the war. If they can restore their old glory, Clan Ragus has to take power again."

"Alright, who do we know from that clan?"

"The last confirmed warlord from that clan was Jarrod. Ragus Jarrod. He died some two hundred years ago, leaving a few offspring in other clans, but only the females of a clan may imbue their children with a clan name. Without any females in his clan, Jarrod had a few children. Some of those descendants still exist, and a couple of direct sons."

"So one of them could claim that heritage?"

"Yes and no. Krogan rites and traditions are not well documented. Some directly contradict each other. The few Salarian sources are unlikely to be easily accessible. However I can give you two names to have Julia follow up on. Ream, formerly Ganar, no clan name given, and Wrex. Urdnot Wrex. Both of them have had a history of strength and biotic abilities. Ream hasn't shown up for the last century, but Urdnot Wrex was last sighted on Illium, and is a known enforcer for the Shadow Broker."

"Those aren't very solid leads."

"Then give Julia access to Daro'Xen and Rael'Zorah. Both of them will direct her to what our forces have found."

"I don't like that either." Hannah muttered. "Where should I drop her off?"

"Drop them off on Illium. It's four relay jumps away and they can get a shuttle to the Citadel easily enough there. Though, Hannah, please keep one of them with you as insurance. Claim that you need to do some reconstructive surgery. Julia will try to betray us before she will agree to help us."

"You want me to hold one of her people hostage?"

"I know my daughter well, my Lady. She will go after us if she can. Keep one of her biotics and send her off with Vakarian. They'll need a Turian doctor anyways. The good Doctor K'kre isn't rated for Turians."

"So, we are going to hold a hostage here indefinitely?"

"For at least a few weeks. Perhaps long enough that we can upgrade their amp to an L5 system. She will want the added firepower." Jack seemed to hum a tune. "I was going through your mission logs. It sounds like Donovan Hock has our old friend Henry Lawson. As well as some other Doctor of note, a Doctor Lionel."

"He's a facial expert. One of the people who developed synth skin. Plastic surgery and limb reconstruction specialist. He was an asset that belonged to the Office of Intelligence at some point." Hannah said, remembering that she had gone under the knife with him. "He was quiet about his work, but I think he had a small obsession with Prothean artifacts. He had one of them on his desk, I think."

"So Julia could investigate that easier than we could. But I don't want her connecting this mess with James' death. Not to mention someone will be warning Hock of her investigation before she ever gets close."

"I'll tell Julia about the Quarians and the Krogan. She might lose trust in me if I keep one of her people hostage, though. We shouldn't risk that."

"We will risk it. The opposing risk is much greater. Not to mention if she takes the Normandy back to the Quarians we can install the new fuel filters."

Hannah gave Jack a look before ending the call. The coward wouldn't even call his own daughter. She didn't like the idea of possibly betraying Julia. The woman was like a friend she never had. Sighing, she sent a message to Captain Qing to head for Illium at best speed and stealth. With the stealth system damaged, they had to take cover behind some planetoids and vent off heat before they could use the stealth systems again and make it to the relay.

Apparently the Turian cruiser was destroyed, though it managed to shoot down one frigate and damage the other two heavily. They were leaking parts and air all over the upper atmosphere, both frigates trying to make it back to the relay. The Batarian fleet tender was still at the sight of the X-19 station, cleaning up the bodies. Qing was avoiding any contact with anyone, as their ship had enough to repair already without risking battle with a frigate. Hannah flipped through the camera feeds on the Acheron, and found Julia still nursing her bottle of whiskey in the observation lounge outside the medical bay.

She grinned, coming up with an idea. She cloaked, and grabbed the thickest woolen blanket from her personal supply. This she carefully snuck onto the table next to Julia, and then stealthily retreated back upstairs. Julia noticed when a blanket seemed to flash into existence next to her, but didn't say anything. She didn't have to. But she put the bottle down. Hannah finally slumped into her own bed, content that she would be able to fix all of this. Or at least make it seem like Julia wasn't having a hostage left behind.


Nos Astra, Illium, July 2182

It took days to navigate the relay system with the Acheron. The reason that the raids were so far apart was due to the Acheron not being designed around a stealth system, and their maximum speed being reduced while they were not giving off emissions. Unlike the Normandy, which could contain all emissions and move at full speed, the Acheron seemed to have a lot of overheating issues. Julia was confined to the main deck, and sat and watched as her crew were taken care of by a Batarian doctor. She kept an eye on her, and grudgingly admitted that she was doing an alright job. Kaidan was coming down from an infection he got on the planet, and his fever had finally broken. She had assumed that his problems were from overtaxing his biotics and trying to Throw the Remeltan, or whatever that predator was. Andrew Ta'u was another story. The pressure grenades had damaged his inner ears, his right lung had been punctured, and his armor had been inoperable. Broken ribs, and internal bleeding from being bitten by the Rachni Brood Warrior. His hands needed a dermal treatment, as acid had eaten away a lot of his skin.

Garrus was stabilized, but he wasn't waking up. He was kept stable by not moving, as one of the collar bones had been pushed down into his inner organs. The doctor had strapped down the Turian and then used as many antibiotics as she dared. Thankfully Quarians had a lot of those on hand, and Garrus was going to be able to make it to a Turian hospital. The Acheron pulled into the Nos Astra space port and landed, Hannah coming to see her for the first time in days.

"Julia." She greeted her. "Sorry I was so busy. Being stuck in that cave for a week wasn't exactly helping me get through my normal work schedule."

"Thanks for the blanket." Julia didn't trust anyone around here, and she had taken a couple of showers in the medical bay. That was the only time she left her team members alone. "As well as the doctor."

"Well, Dr. K'kre used to work with slaves before the cultural revolution. Now she likes getting paid in more than food. Doctors in Batarian society are pretty much the most important role a female can find work in. Or be recognized for. She is one of the best that we could find in the Terminus. She doesn't have a clue for Turians, though. You'll have to get your friend to a better location."

"Mind if I borrow a rollaway bed?"

"You'll just hide most of my whiskey in it. We'll have him prepared to leave. It's your other teammate, the big one, that I am worried about."

"Lt. Ta'u was doing better, the last that your doctor told me."

"He has some bone shards near his aorta. If you have him try and walk out of here, he is going to tear that open and bleed to death long before you reach an Alliance hospital." Hannah told her. "If you don't mind, and I haven't told Jack about this, I want to offer you our medical services until he gets better. Your friend Alenko we can get out of here without much trouble, he just needs some painkillers and anti inflammatory meds."

"Great. So what, you're just going to help my officer? I'm sure that Dad would try to take advantage of the situation." Hannah nodded.

"If I bother to tell him, yes. But I owe all of you for coming to help me. Not to mention your father is so Human centric the idea of trying to manipulate a war hero would be below him."

"You promise not to let him get involved?"

"That man has plenty of other things he can focus on. I would like to at least have a romantic dinner at some point this year. Haven't seen him physically in nine months."

"Well," Julia offered. "He never really was good at seeing women on a schedule. Or waiting for them."

Hannah snorted as she chuckled. Her laugh was just one of those things that wasn't very pleasant to hear. "Oh God, he's terrible like that! Ever since I made him agree to a monogamous relationship he's never been on time to anything!" Hannah stopped talking about her Dad, seeing Julia frown a bit.

"So, are you going to be alright with your team injured? Not to mention all of the damage to the ship." The Acheron had limped its way through the relay system.

"We've got more ships, guns, manpower, and lots of other things. Oh! I've got a few things for you that you can take a look at while you're here on Illium, as well." She handed Julia a datapad, with an OSD in it.

It brought up the weathered face of a Krogan. "That's a Shadow Broker agent named Urdnot Wrex." Hannah said. "He's someone old enough to be able to help you go after Clan Ganar. We don't know his exact location, but last we heard he was here on Illium. The rest of that OSD is information on another Krogan that might be able to help you get in contact or track down Clan Ganar."

"There is more than that here." Julia stated, seeing that the OSD was packed with data. Some of it was regarding protocols on witnesses and the hiding of key civilian figures.

"Jones mentioned that she was modified by a Dr. Lionel. As well as Henry Lawson. You know as well as I do that those two doctors are associated with the Office of Intelligence and the industries surrounding Cerberus. I've included information on them, if you want to investigate that. If I remember correctly Henry was responsible for many of the Infiltrator mods that were invented."

"I'll take a look, Mum." That was all she could promise. If the Alliance had them under lock and key, she wouldn't be able to do much. But she could alert them to the fact that Jones was acting around those security protocols. They would take that seriously. "I'll let you know how it goes, through some dead comm lines."

Hannah grinned even wider. "I've added a list of new comm channels you can contact us through on the OSD. You'll be able to contact me through any comm drop."

Julia considered long and hard about her next question. "Mum, do you know of another female officer named Shepard? Special Forces? Another redhead?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Something that I found in Anderson's files." Hannah looked away. It was there, something that felt off about that. Hannah recovered immediately, changing her glance to the empty bottle of whiskey that Julia had crushed. "It isn't important." Julia changed the subject, before Hannah could say any sappy line about David. "That whiskey was good, by the way."

"You were being all selfish with it. I better hope it was good!" Hannah said in mock anger. "Those things are expensive!"

Julia actually smiled at that. "I'll get you a replacement bottle at some point."

"Find a crate. We both know you aren't any better about sharing it."

Joking aside, Julia wanted off of this ship. It made her feel insecure in ways that weren't normal. Not to mention they had left their shuttle behind on Suen, and it had all of her changes of clothes and toiletry supplies. She had been living in the same outfit for days, and it was going to be at least one more before they were going to get back to the Citadel. Hannah sent her off the Acheron, and helped her get a shuttle that could carry Alenko and Vakarian.

After that, the Acheron took off, flying elsewhere. Julia took a picture with her Omni-tool, which had finally been released from whatever blocks it had been under while on board. She wanted picture evidence that she had been on that ship. Alenko was barely conscious, when she sat down in the shuttle they had rented.

"Ma'am, where are we?" He asked, blinking at the light.

"Illium. Terminus Systems. I've rented this shuttle to get us back to the Citadel." Julia explained. "Lt. Ta'u has been placed in a medical facility to recover and will join us at a later time." Alenko would want to bring him, and she had to trust that Mum wouldn't do anything to harm her squad member. "I need you to pull yourself together. Vakarian is still being kept in a medical coma, and I need you to make sure that the shuttle is not breached and that Vakarian is safe."

"What will you be doing, Ma'am?" Alenko's eyes were dilated, and he looked confused more than anything else. He at least appeared coherent enough to understand what she was saying.

"Meeting with a contact. Someone that will be a lead to finding out about the Rachni weapons and armor."

"That sounds great, Ma'am." Alenko admitted. "After all of this, we deserve to bring back something."

"Keep Vakarian and the shuttle safe. Understood?" She interrupted him. During his more lucid moments he had called out for the members of the Titans that hadn't made it. She needed him focused. At his nod, she closed the shuttle door and set the code on it to some random set of numbers. She would just hack it when she came back rather than identify any of her code systems to any of her enemies. Illium was notorious for being an information gold mine. But right now she needed to find a Krogan.

An extranet search ended up with a small blurb about the Krogan race and a list of different notable Krogan in history. Conflicting accounts made it hard to get any information about living ones. She sighed, and then moved towards the shopping district. She had lost everything on board the other shuttle they had left behind at Suen. Where she was going now, she couldn't go framing the Alliance. An Infiltrator walking into a building of ill repute was going to be terrible news to any of the Alliance informants.

Most of her credit chits on hand were spent on getting a full civilian outfit. Some nicely fitted Asari dress, a pair of trendy shoes, and a small handbag. Her catsuit rolled up into the handbag well enough, and she walked out of the store looking like some trendy young woman. A fake smile and some flirtatious looks at some of the Asari cops patrolling the district centered her look, and she considered herself as ready as she was going to be.

This time she took an air car directly to the Fornax Tower. Coming in the front door was much more graphic than the back door had been. There were lines of people going through scanners that were equivalent with the C-sec security scanners at the Citadel. She chose one of the furthest on the left, hopping into line with a few dozen Asari, all of whom had colorful outfits that made hers look cheap, or inexpensive. Asari with hundreds of years of investments were hard to keep up with on disposable income.

Security flagged her, of course. She had a pistol, knives, and a catsuit with enough technology that they couldn't not notice it. She was taken into a side room, where the two Asari security officers opened her bag and made excited sounds at the weapons and catsuit. Julia was held off to the side, where another officer made sure she didn't do anything.

"Well, you planning on killing anyone with all of this?" The lead Asari asked. "I'm surprised there are no explosives in this purse." She fingered it. "Nice material, by the way."

"My name is Agent Constantine." She said. "I work for the Council and the Systems Alliance, and have been here in the past to meet with Raelya Dantius. I have business with the Shadow Broker." They would be able to check her credentials, but someone from Fornax of all places trying to look her up would simply be piled with the rest of the extranet searches regarding her. After she was announced as a Spectre candidate, she featured on some Fornax and extranet searches.

"We are going to have to clear that with her office. I hope you don't mind waiting." The lead officer left her in the processing room, making her appreciate not buying some uncomfortable heels. She remained standing with the remaining security officers while their superior checked out her claims. They were professional about things, but gave her enough space to be courteous.

When the officer returned, it was with a security badge and a small bracelet to hold it on. "The boss would prefer if you come in the back door from now on." She saw that her card listed her as an 'actor'. She frowned at that. "She will see you soon. Take the far elevator to the tenth floor and then cross the hall and take the opposite elevator to the thirtieth floor. You will receive further directions at that time."

Julia glanced over at her purse, which still had all of her items in it. "May I have my things?"

"You may not. Matria Dantius has requested we hold your weapons and gear until you return."

Julia nodded. "Tampering with it will cause unwanted reactions." She mentioned. "Not to mention a friendly lawsuit regarding property rights." She gave them a false grin.

"Your things will be sealed in our security vault. You may come with us for that process." She did, making them lock it in a multi-grid vault and giving her the key to that individual vault. She didn't doubt that they could get in, but at least now there would be visual record of it. Once she had that, Julia walked through the lobby and followed the given directions to the thirtieth floor. The tenth floor was mostly offices, oddly enough. There were none of the outrageous stages or studios that she was expecting.

The elevators had the overly nosy Salarians as bell boys, keeping track of anyone who entered or left. She never touched any of the buttons, as they did that for her. But the Thirtieth floor was interesting. It was for Volus and Hanar, and had technicians maintaining one of the chambers that the Volus normally lived in. Seeing them rolling around, outside of their suits, it was like watching small bear or mole like Humanoids. Of course, this was all for Fornax, so this got interesting rather quickly. She kept her eyes forward, careful not to show too much curiosity.

The Hanar aquariums, as that was what she could best describe them as, were the location of activity between Hanar and other races. Almost one hundred percent of the time, apparently. She took a small glance at the schedule for the day, seeing that there was no instances of pure Hanar couplings. They must not be too popular. Or they were so outlandish and scary to see that it wasn't a turn on. She noticed that one of the Aquariums was lit up, but not scheduled for use. Julia wandered over to it, seeing the surface of the water rippling, and a few Asari swimming in the water.

"You are Constantine, Yes?" She turned, seeing a Salarian walking up to her. She hadn't heard him approach, and a glance at his feet showed that he had noise canceling footwear. Expensive gear. "Matria Dantius will see you now. Follow me."

That took her to another elevator, this one only going up to where the pools were exposed to the air. The sky was open on this section of the tower, the haze of a kinetic barrier not ten feet above the only thing between her and the sky. It was not like a business building at all from this angle. It looked more like a luxury hotel, with a bar and a beach side resort built into the side of the tower. Asari in little or nothing littered the deck, as well as a few Hanar. One of whom was a bartender, handling three drinks at once.

"Miss Constantine, come, sit down with us." There she was, Raelya Dantius. She was lounging with the greater number of Asari, and judging by how much was on display she had aged into her Matriarch years very gracefully. There was a seat across from her, surrounded by Asari, that was empty and waiting for her to sit down in. Julia sat where it was offered, and faced the agent of the Shadow Broker.

"Good Morning, Matria Dantius." She was careful to keep her eyes neutrally located on the Asari's lips. Anything above that would be considered sensual territory. Anything below that and she would be looking at her barely-concealed form. That would be considered entirely sexual.

"A pleasure to have you, Miss Constantine. I did not think you would come back so soon. Are you interested in signing our contract?"

"This is not regarding the previous offer." There was no way that nudity featuring her was going to be anywhere. The Systems Alliance would sack her so fast, she wouldn't be able to get her money and assets moved out. "I am looking for another of the agents that work for the Shadow Broker."

"Just business? How tasteless on such a nice day." Dantius didn't seem pleased about that. "It seems beneath me to be a simple information broker with these kinds of conditions. Normally it is just so rainy and cloudy."

"Urdnot Wrex." She stated. Dantius gave her a look that Julia risked looking her in the eyes to match. "I need him."

"What kind of need?"

"Classified action regarding Rachni."

"He would enjoy that, I am sure. I know what he is doing at this moment, though I have little reason to share that with you."

"I am not lacking in credits. How much for his location?"

Dantius grinned. "One interview."

"What?" Julia blinked at that.

"You're going to become a Spectre if you help the Council fight the Rachni, and I don't plan on coming away from this empty handed. The price of Urdnot Wrex is one interview with me, where you answer every sordid and graphic question that I ask you in enough detail to satisfy my subscribers. Once you become a Spectre, I'll publish it. If you become some sweet scandal, I'll still publish it. But to me, money is not something I have a difficult time acquiring. Information is so much sweeter. As a public figure your love life and mating habits are going to be the subject of thesis papers at the local university. All the sweeter if I already have that information on file, for premium cost."

"Ask your damn questions." Julia said. "If I don't like them I'll let you know."

It was hours before she was able to return to the rented shuttle. She had disagreed with the most sordid questions, and agreed to a single photo for Wrex's comm address. She was positive that Raelya Dantius hadn't given her as much information as she could have, with her evasion of questions regarding her bedroom habits. That photo wasn't a nude shot or anything, but the image of a Systems Alliance Infiltrator on the front of a Fornax post was going to make her superiors quite angry. It made her wish that she had bought a turtleneck and sweats instead of a nice dress. But no one looks at someone who dresses like everyone else. There was power in being anonymous.

She changed back into her catsuit once she got to the docking bay, and hefted the nice purse on her right arm. She kept it, seeing as all of her other clothes were at the Normandy or in storage in various places. She could use a purse at some point. She made sure that there was no sign of any of the places she had been, or any programs that had snuck into her Omni-tool. She blinked, seeing an entire Fornax subscription had been added to her files. That was not what she expected.

She hesitated only for a moment before deleting it. It was tempting, to see what Fornax would have. But that would only be giving Dantius more information. The hacking of the shuttle doors took longer than she expected, so she just rapped on the door. Alenko let her in, looking tired and drained. "Thank God, Ma'am. I can hardly keep focus anymore. We have some docking official telling us we have to leave, and she's been hitting our comm line every half hour for the last three."

"Let's go, then. Eat a ration bar before you fall asleep, Lt."

"Yes, Ma'am." He looked at her quizzically. "Did you get a suntan?"

Julia had the composure to feel a little bit embarrassed. "I was detained. But I finally have a lead on the Rachni weapons."

He nodded, before handing her a ration bar and slumping into a seat near Garrus. She took the shuttle and gave it a set of navigation coordinates, getting permission to leave from some irate Asari. Then it was straight to the relay. It would be at least a day before they got back to the Citadel, and once there she could finally get somewhere on all of this. Not to mention hold a ceremony for the Titans.


Suen, Maskim Xul System, July 2182

Rahna awoke with a start, her eyes not seeing anything but a dull orange glow. She could feel her entire right side erupt into pain from simply breathing. Her gasp must have alerted someone, because the glow of an Omni-tool shone into her face, blinding her.

"Doctor! This one is waking up!" The words seemed scrambled, like her translator couldn't keep up.

"Ten milligrams saline drip. Apply through medical monitoring implant." Another voice said dismissively. "Good life signs, pain receptors responding well. Acid did not burn them out." A second light shone onto her, and she couldn't see at all now. "Injuries causing tightness of breathing and difficulty in oxygenation. Apply two cubic kilograms of medi-gel to open wound."

"Yes, Doctor."

"What's.. going on?" She managed.

"You are safe. Remeltan has one glaring weakness. Managed to bring two of you into secure cave for recovery and security." The face of a Salarian filled her vision, aging lines all over his face. One horn seemed shorter than the other.

"Andrew?" She remembered seeing the claw coming, and Andrew Ta'u not facing the appendage. She remembered throwing herself in front of it, trusting her biotic barrier to protect her.

"Sit. Remain calm, adrenaline levels are spiking. Administering aide. When you wake up, you will be in safe location. Doctor's promise." He adjusted something on his wrist, and Rahna could no longer see clearly. Doctor must have some good medicine to be able to knock out a biotic so fast.

"Doctor Solus, the acid went right into the lungs on this one! He's going into cardiac arrest!"

The last thing she saw was the Doctor patting her cheek and smiling. "Doctor's promise."


Earth, Sol System, July 2182

The shuttle crunched as the machine outside did its level best to kill them. Jenkins was gripping his seat tightly, already with his helmet on. "Get us out of here!"

"Niet, Limpet!" Nikolai yelled. "Must be recycled completely first! Then they no care if we fly away!"

"It was a stupid idea! Let's not follow it anymore!"

"Niet, niet. Experience the consequences of giving commands to ships in the field. Expect your officers to follow orders to their deaths. Now, recycling almost done, and if we have working engine after that, we get to safe place, yess?"

"Oh God!" The biggest metal grinder he had ever seen was up ahead, right in front of the trash disposal compartment.

"Rasputin's Hairy Ass!" Nikolai rumbled, before finally taking control of the vehicle and pushing the engines to get them out of there. "Vell, looks like we get to fly to my friend's place. He owns small repair shop at Jovian moon." Flying a shuttle with no maneuvering thrusters was a terrifying experience. But they went to some Helium stations in orbit around one of Saturn's Moons, and met with some other old Russian, and that guy gave them a ride to Earth in exchange for the old shuttle.

Vodka was exchanged, and then Jenkins of course had to participate. He was an Alliance marine, he had to prove it by out drinking some crazy Russians. The rest of the ride to Earth was spent singing, and was pretty hazy. He definitely picked up on certain words in Russian, and they taught him a drinking song that involved looping your elbow around the man's next to you, making the entire circle of drinkers have to keep pace with one another, not to mention keep you from spilling your drink on the other guy. It made the really drunk moments a bit easier, especially when they took the shuttle down to South America.

"Where are we going?"

"The only place you vill learn, limpet." Nikolai said, handling the controls well for having drunk most of small bottle of vodka. "Old Russian Navy sold off most of old submarines. Collectors and Drug Lords keep the rest. Submarines still good for smuggling the lighter drugs. Hydroponics labs make the heavier ones."

The coordinates that Nikolai was going to didn't lead to any space port or sanctioned landing pad. He led them right into the freaking jungle, with gigantic trees and old plaster buildings everywhere. Growing in between the walls of plaster were plants and crops that had to be drugs, with the men standing over them with guns protecting it.

"Don't die, Nik'! I won't bail you out again!" The old man who took them here said, pushing them off his shuttle as fast as he could and taking off.

"Bail?" Jenkins asked.

"Not important. If we get caught, your turn to pay bail." Somehow this was just sounding like a terrible idea. But if Alliance Command thought this was the best way to learn how to command the Normandy, who was he to disagree with their judgement. He followed the old Russian as he jovially whistled his way through the city of armed men and women. People here were a mixture of Latin and African descent, all hard lines and frowns.

"Nikolai! You old bastard!" Someone bellowed. Nikolai grinned as a large man of Latin skin coloration and African hair and eyes greeted him. "The Don has been waiting for you. You said you would be back yesterday."

"Niet. I said I would be back when I damn vell felt like it."

Jenkins wisely didn't say anything, carrying his duffel bag and giving hard looks back at anyone who was giving looks at Nikolai. "Well the Don has a schedule to keep. Now we are behind schedule an entire day!" The big man glanced at him. "Who is this?"

"He is limpet. Needs experience commanding boat."

"Well, if he is anything like you, we should be fine." The big man laughed. "Looks like the Don knows you're here."

Walking down the lane was a Latin man in a nice suit, and gold rimmed sunglasses. He was surrounded by ten men in full armor and weapons. All of the models appeared to be pretty high end, enough to be able to take on a group of Alliance marines. Though considering the Alliance only paid for the cheapest of armor for their marines to start with, that wasn't hard for most groups.

The man walked over, frowning and squaring his shoulders towards Nikolai. "You worthless old Bastard! I've got thousands of credits on the line and you take a bloody vacation! What is this, eh?"

"You need me to pilot your sub. I told you I had someone call in a big favor. Had to go past relay."

"So that's how it is. You think you can just leave whenever you want? And who is this, huh? I've met your only kid, and he didn't pass on your oh so precious genes." Whoever this guy was, he did not like much of anything. But Jenkins could recognize an authority figure. He kept his mouth shut for now.

"Limpet. He is learning how to command submarine. Part of my agreement."

"I swear, you old man, I can replace you if you prove to be untrustworthy." The Don muttered. "Go get on my damn sub and get the shipment to where it needs to go." He chucked an envelope at Nikolai, who caught it without any trouble. "I took a cut out of your pay for all this damn waiting."

Nikolai gave him a sour look. "I'll make the time back."

"You'd better." The Don growled, turning around and walking back where he came from. The big man who had greeted them held out a few bottles of dark liquid for Nikolai. This brought a grin to the old man's face, and he fished out a couple of credit chits to pay him.

"That saves me the trip. Thank you Mario." Then he handed Jenkins what had to be over five thousand credits. "There you go limpet. Your cut." Then Nikolai started walking down to the coastline.

"What the hell is this?" Jenkins asked him quietly, as they approached an old plaster warehouse on the waterline. "Who was that guy?"

"He is the leader of the gangs here. Don Pablo."

Jenkins stopped. "Like Don Pablo the huge drug dealer?"

"Very same man. For old man like me, few people still have use for submarine commander. Hard to find employment. Part of the reason why Alliance asked me to train you. Best way to learn how to command stealth vessel is when you have real consequences for failure."

"What exactly are you doing here?" Jenkins asked, hoping that his guess wasn't correct.

"What you think? I ship drugs all over. I have expensive wife, and these longevity drugs mean that she is going to live for another thirty years at least. Retirement benefits won't last that long. So I go back to work. Now, you follow me. You command boat. You learn how to avoid patrols, avoid detection, avoid notice. If we are found, they will shoot us first and then see how much we were smuggling."

Jenkins gulped. What the hell was the Alliance thinking? "This is the best way?"

Nikolai gave him a toothy grin. "It is the only way. All other subs are just collector pieces that are tracked by governments. This one, this one is old nuclear sub that I used to command. You vill learn everything I can teach you. Then you be judge of how to implement. Stealth vessels always are at the center of conflict. If you take anything away from this, take the knowledge of how to make the most mess." He chuckled. "Nothing like stealth vessel for making political messes."

Jenkins' eyes were wide as he saw the eighty foot long submarine that he was going to learn how to command. "What about the Alliance?"

"If they find us, you never be free man again. Just like me. Now move, Limpet. We must be in California before storm passes. Storm will give us some cover from satellites."

Jenkins followed the old Russian onto the boat, wondering just how many Naval regulations he was going to be breaking out here.


Presidium, The Citadel, July 2182

Julia helped C-sec get her two occupants on board a medical transport. Kaidan Alenko was headed for Huerta Memorial Hospital, and Garrus was headed for the C-sec hospital. He was still medically out of it, and was wearing his shattered armor. The C-sec officers handled him with extreme care, getting him out of the shuttle as carefully as one would handle a child. She appreciated that. By the time that she had offloaded the shuttle and dropped off the keys at the rental agency, she was alone again. She had her purse and her damaged catsuit. Her first priority was to find this Krogan, Wrex. Then she had to check in with Alliance Command, make sure that they knew she was here.

She arrived at the embassy via stealth, only coming out of cloak when she approached the shielded and secured military personnel entrance. The soldiers checked her ID and ushered her through with no trouble, but on the other side she could see trouble had lined up to greet her. Two Infiltrators, one man and one woman, uncloaked on either side of her and motioned towards one of the secure meeting rooms.

She ducked inside, and saw a full meeting table. At its head was Donovan Hock, who looked like he was under some crushing pressure from some of the Alliance Senators that sat to either side of him. One of them was Senator Al-Mahjidi, Halmabad's father. He looked furious. The other looked like the Senator representing China and its colonial interests. Two men who represented a lot of capital and people.

At the other side sat a few Admirals, including Steven Hackett. He was sitting with a female Admiral that could have been one of his support officers. Her Omni-tool claimed that it was Rear Admiral Maria Raquel, the admiral in charge of all of the medical cruisers that were scattered throughout the fleets. She looked frazzled, as she was the one in most demand by the other fleets at this point.

Sitting next to her was another Admiral, this one Julia recognized. Rear Admiral White. Contrary to what you would expect, he was an African American. His black skin stood out among the other Admirals. The white and blue of the Alliance uniforms did not suit him, but he wore it as well as he could. Upon seeing her, he stood up and excused himself from the proceedings. She saluted as soon as he approached, and he bowed his head slightly at this.

"Come with me." Was all that he stated. With two other Infiltrators at either side, she could hardly disagree. Especially when the Rear Admiral that she was supposed to report to was in the room. But David had made her connection to Hackett, who had told her to report to him on any matters dealing with the Normandy. They went to a section of wall that Julia hadn't seen open before, and it closed seamlessly behind them.

"Sir." She stated. "I was not aware-"

"It defeats the purpose of being in charge of all of you if I make you aware of my every move. The general idea of being in charge of this organization is to be as unpredictable as possible."

"Yes, Sir." She didn't know if he was angry or not. White was expressionless.

"You've been busy, Commander." White said, sitting at a small table inside the room. "Your reports detail an operation at Torfan, normally off limits pending my approval. You did not request this. Then you had an operation at Illium, where you ransacked an Eclipse base. We did not receive any requests for approval, and your operation terminated one of our best informants within the Eclipse ranks. One of the highest placed elements that we have, and now due to your actions half of the Terminus is now dark to us."

"I didn't-"

"You didn't consider this, we know. Hackett and I had a small chat regarding this. You know that the Terminus systems are restricted to our agents, save for direct approval." Admiral White was not interested in excuses. "The purpose of this meeting is not to restrict you, as you might guess. Some of the Council voted for you to be pulled off active duty, but the civilian oversight branch vetoed this. Your pending Spectre status has convinced them to take a risk that I do not agree with."

"What might that be, Sir?"

"A promotion, first. You won't be able to access our full network without being a full Commander." White wasn't smiling. "Secondly, you'll need this." He handed her a small pin, marked with a small depiction of an African American with glasses on. "Get that back to me when you've got something that'll turn things around."

This was his challenge pin. "Sir?" She said, "Why?"

"Because no one else has done anything about the Rachni. When your name came across our desks as a candidate for the Spectre program, we voted almost unanimously to support the decision. You've proven that decision to be worthwhile." He tapped his wrist, bringing up his connection to the Intelligence Network. He didn't even filter it, everything was right there. All of his contacts, all of his active agents. Everyone and their updated locations. She was wide eyed, all of this information need to know, not something for her to see. "Your rank comes with it several privileges. Including full access to the network. You will have the right to request aid from any nearby agent."

"What is all this about? Are you reassigning me?"

"On the contrary, no." White said. "You've given us comprehensive intel on Rachni. How they're moving, how they're hitting our planets. More importantly, you're the only one who is finding leads on what the hell they're armed with and who is making it." He tapped the Omni-tool, a Human model, and brought up another file. This one was of multiple agent reports, of men and women on the ground with the Rachni. All of their reports led to dead ends as to how the Rachni were being supplied, how they were communicating. Worse, they all lead to dead ends. A couple of Asari had been sighted, but none of them had been connected to the Rachni. But agents were out there, looking for those connections.

"You're following up on my leads?"

"The only other leads we do have regarding Rachni are from Council sources. We can't trust those. We have to double check them, and usually the trail is long cold by the time that we verify anything. Or the STG have picked over it." White tapped his Omni-tool again, bringing up her most recent report. It was of the death of Neilanna T'y'tella. Her suspicions that she may have been murdered to cover up Asari secrets. "The reason I brought you here is because of this."

"What's wrong?"

"We put our best on this. Every Asari linguist we have is on this project. Nothing. Not even a peep from any contacts, libraries, and even a couple of universities. Those are difficult to gain any sort of contacts in." He brought up a small planet that was at the edge of the Terminus systems. "We got something. A panicked comm call with a keyword. Eri-Asha. We managed to get a hold of the comm address, of one Miala T'sara. She lived on Astaria. An Asari farming world, lots of independent villages. She lives in a small one that translates as Deepest Wells."

"Elee'ranu." Julia translated. "Isn't that planet being hit by Rachni?"

"It's got a tight lipped population. There was a massacre there about fifty years ago. Entire village slain." White said. "The Asari never caught the perpetrator. But the planet hasn't ever recovered from that. They don't have much of a military presence or standing militia population. The Asari Republics are dedicating only a blockade force to the planet for now. But as far as we know they have abandoned their people on the planet."

"So you found something."

"A lead that is on the most dangerous location that we can send anyone in Council Space. The world has fallen to the Rachni, and there are no friendly forces that will be willing to help you. With your new rank comes operational freedom." White leaned back. "File your reports with me, but don't ask for permission. Do whatever you need to. You've got enough special teams and a ship that can break the Asari blockade. If you fail, then we are going to claim that we didn't send you. Standard modus operandi. But this is the only lead that every Alliance asset was able to find."

"Yes, sir. Does this mean you want me to stop investigating the weapons leads?"

"You haven't sent me a report of what occurred in the last four days. Do you have more for me?" White actually smiled a bit.

"I haven't reported on my last mission, sir. I had a contact that was investigating Rachni sightings in the Skyllian Verge. They got pinned down on Suen, the Rachni home world. I went in with the Titans and Spectre Vakarian." She kept her eyes on his as she moved onto the next section of her report. "We were not prepared for what was down there."

"Did you retreat?"

"We called upon reinforcements, and two Alliance vessels and two Batarian vessels came through the relay at our call. The listening post set up by the Turians to observe the system was gone, wiped out and destroyed. Fuel depot was also wiped out, and pieces of debris were everywhere. All of it was old construction, all built near the end of the Rachni War. Nothing was up to code, as you might imagine." Julia tapped her Omni-tool, bringing up the credentials for the Alliance frigates. "The Agincourt and the Yorktown showed up, both aging frigates. We assumed they were friendly, but they were full of mercenaries and another old friend." Julia brought up the file on Julianne Jones. "She was there. Along with more of those techno-zombies. My contact has been calling them Husks. Due to their EMP interference, we were led into a trap. Then our reinforcements showed up and backstabbed us, while the frigates destroyed the Averro Dominus. That was the Turian cruiser that assisted us in getting there."

"Your contact survived?"

"Yes. Though five of our team died before the fighting ended." The Titans. Every single one of them people she had gone to school with, and all of them just reduced to a number. "Spectre Vakarian is still in urgent care, and Lt. Alenko has reported to Huerta for intensive care. Andrew Ta'u is still on Illium, in a private medical facility until he can be safely transported."

"The rest of your team? Were you able to recover their bodies?"

"No, Sir. Rachni acid or local predators consumed them. We won't be seeing them getting up for the other side."

"The Titans represent a significant investment. We will be sending a few teams after their bodies." White said. "Your lead?"

White probably dealt with deaths in the field every day. "I have two suspect groups that may be supplying the Rachni with weapons and armor. The Krogan clan Ganar, and the Geth."

White leaned back in his chair. "Our previous dealings with both groups are spotty. As to the Geth, we had one of our Corsair groups run into them and get a good sight on their ships. They didn't engage, and both sides had an awkward stand off. As for clan Ganar, they maintain a token force on Tuchanka. We had a couple of Corsair ships get boarded by their forces. One of them managed to get out of there, but those Krogan are better armed and trained than the usual. That's all we have. Both files are heavily classified. Don't share them without first filing a request."

"Yes, Sir." Julia released a deep breath. "This is what I plan on investigating."

"I see no problems with this. The other members of the Council may disagree with your actions, but at this time you are to receive no demerits. Report to Hackett for Naval Operations. Report to me for Intelligence."

"The Normandy is still down for repairs for a few weeks, Sir." Julia stated. "I was going to pursue these leads then."

"Until then, we have a request. Naval command has requested that you become more familiar with their regulations, regarding your fleet combat actions near Illium. You will spend the next five to seven weeks in Naval Command training, at Arcturus." A file was transmitted to her Omni-tool. "Alias enclosed. I expect top marks."

"Yes Sir." She glanced at the file and grimaced. Blonde. She never enjoyed being a blonde. Thankfully the other facts about the alias were more passable. Shy, bad history with men, enjoys spending time on her own. She just never liked being a blonde. It reminded her of Jones. "I will return when I have completed the Command classes."

White actually saluted her. "Carry on, Commander. I expect more regular reports. If you prove successful, we may send more agents with you."

Now that she could get behind. More than just a single Intelligence Agent? That could be helpful. "I have one contact to follow up on before I leave for Arcturus."

"Good luck, Commander."

She saluted and watched as the two Infiltrators and Rear Admiral White left. She had this room to herself, but she checked it for bugs anyways. She then brought up the comm address for Wrex. The only Krogan she had known in her lifetime well enough to consider an acquaintance was Don. He himself had claimed that he was not a normal Krogan. The comm line picked up after a good minute of waiting, and a heavily scarred Krogan face greeted her.

"What do you want?" He grumbled.

"My name is Constantine. I would like to hire you to assist me in going after critical Rachni intelligence that could lead to ending the war."

"How did you get this comm address?"

"Raelya Dantius." His face soured. Or it could be a smile. She didn't know what Krogan expressions were supposed to be like. "I would like to meet with you and discuss terms."

"Meet me at Chora's Den. I'll be at the Quasar machines." The comm channel ended abruptly, making Julia blink. He must not like her very much. She knew Krogan respected strength. Showing up looking like a civilian was definitely out. But that meant that she was going to have to be publicly visible. That required help of some sort. She had no resources here on the Citadel. She could of course sneak into the Chora's Den building, but the Quasar machines would have security guards and cameras everywhere.

Her comm addresses list were pretty small. She called Halmabad, but the man was in Huerta and wasn't answering his Omni-tool. Alenko reported as being in the intensive care ward, and wasn't looking at an early release. Williams was on board the Normandy, as were Tali and Pressley. She could requisition an agent to help her, she now realized. She tapped into the local network, and saw that there were three agents on the Citadel right now. The two escorts of White, and herself. She sighed at that. There were no assets here that she could request. She didn't dare strip White and Hackett of their protection.

She sent a small message to Desolous, but didn't get anything back from him. So, that left few options. Operational security was still paramount. After a short debate, she called the Spectre offices and explained that she needed someone to assist her with convincing a Krogan to work for her. They told her that a Spectre had volunteered to help her. So when she showed up at Chora's Den, under cloak of course, she could see the Asari waiting for her.

Tall, with dark blue skin and purple markings, the asari was wearing actual heavy armor. Unlike what most Asari soldiers wore, this armor seemed to be functional. She approached the Asari and spoke, knowing that she would be able to hear. "Spectre."

She jumped a little bit. "Goddess! You're quiet. You need help?"

"I can't be directly seen by the cameras. There are groups out there that mean me harm, and I cannot let them find a pattern to my appearances."

"Got it. What do you need me for if you can do all this?"

"I need someone to be in the room with the Krogan so that it doesn't sound like a voice is just coming out of nowhere." She said. "His name is Wrex."

"I know." The Spectre said. "I've worked with him before. If I go with you and vouch for you, he will certainly agree to hear you out. I've worked with Wrex a few times in the past century. He's reliable."

"How did you know it was Wrex?"

"He's the only one on the Citadel right now that has the quad to go after Rachni. Not to mention the rest of the Krogan on this station right now are mostly just goons. Tough guys hired for their brutality, and not their brains. Wrex is more than that."

"Hmm." Julia said, considering. "What do you mean?"

"Used to be some kind of clan leader, or warlord. Long ago, before I met him. But that's not my story to share. If he doesn't tell you about it then he doesn't fully trust you. I'll introduce myself, and make sure that you and Wrex at least have the chance to chat." She pulsed her biotics, making Julia's barrier flare ever so slightly. "Tela Vasir, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet a Human candidate."

"Julia Constantine." She offered back, not shaking her hand. It would break the tactical cloaking field. "It's nice to see an Asari that wears actual armor."

"Hey, don't hate on it until you try it. That armor is a product of some of our creatures on Thessia that are highly resistant to biotics. While it might seem ineffective, most of the people that we have to fight are biotics. Therefore it pays to be able to resist that. You mentioned Krogan and I went and fetched my heavier armor."

"I suppose it isn't much different than any other armor." Julia mentioned. "I'll need you to walk through their scanners at an easy pace. I'll be slipping through with your bio signature."

Vasir smirked. "You're like a Salarian. I like that." Julia shuddered. Asari were flirtatious, and she didn't need to worry about that right now. "Where is he?"

"Quasar. Probably for the security."

"Hah. If I know Wrex, he just wants a nice open space just in case things get rough. He doesn't care about security or who knows about him. He's a Krogan. They like being noticed at some level. Goddess, I don't think I've met a Krogan that could stand being out of the spotlight."

Walking through the doorway into Chora's Den sparked an alarm from the door scanners, but Vasir flashed her biotics a couple of times and threatened the Krogan guarding the door. That got them through, but gained some attention for Vasir. She ignored the stares, fetching two bottles of thicker alcohol and bringing it towards the Quasar chamber. It was up some stairs and in a side room, with long rows of the gambling machines and a few patrons sitting at them. Sitting at the back was a gigantic Krogan. He was wearing blood red armor, and slung on each shoulder was a heavy weapon. Or at least a shotgun sized for a Krogan and an assault rifle that qualified as a squad support weapon.

"You are the worst pilot and gambler I have ever seen, you know that?" Tela said loudly, and the patrons at the machines quickly noticed that someone was challenging the big Krogan. They wisely evacuated.

"You are the worst female that I've ever threatened to mate with." The Krogan said, turning around. He had a pistol in hand, while the other was stuffing credit chits from his machine into pockets. "What do you want?"

Julia noticed that the cameras here seemed to be an older model. But she still didn't risk exposing herself. There were a couple of blind spots from the cameras. Those locations coincided with the Krogan's girth. "Sorry for the roundabout way of introducing myself, but I don't like cameras."

"You're the Human that called me." Urdnot Wrex said, sniffing the air. "You're one of their little death-walkers." He took a deeper breath, before exhaling. "Biotic, as well. Interesting."

"Death-walker?"

"On Tuchanka, the Krogan revere noise. Noise is evidence that the planet still lives. Only when all things are quiet do we now death is coming for us. Your kind, as well as the Salarian STG, you walk without being seen." Wrex seemed to glance at Vasir. "What do you want?"

"I'm tracking down the Rachni. I've just returned from Suen, where we fought them inside one of their old Hives."

Wrex nodded. "I've been there. Old caves, with old webbing and broken armor everywhere you dig." He grunted. "You came looking for me?"

"Raelya Dantius recommended you. As did other members of our intelligence networks. I need someone that can take on Rachni and whoever are supplying them with their weapons and armor."

"You'll need a few thousand Krogan to take on a single Rachni Hive, Human. Hiring just me isn't going to get you very far."

"I've already fought enough Rachni and their corpse animating machines to know what I'm up against. Your name is on a short list of Krogan that I am looking for." Wrex seemed to look away for a moment when she mentioned corpses.

"Who are the others you are looking for? Maybe I'll call them and we can debate price." The old lizard chuckled.

"I don't have to tell you that."

Vasir laughed at both of them. "You're both being idiotic. Wrex, she's a Spectre candidate. Helping her helps the entire Galaxy and its concerns. Especially your concerns. She's looking for ways to kill the damn bugs. They found some of them on Thessia, Wrex. During the wars they never got to any of the homeworlds." Vasir settled her hands on her hips. "This time they are actually using strategy. Subterfuge, sabotage, hacking, in ways that the STG are envious of. Goddess, Wrex, she's looking for someone who can take on whatever the Terminus throws at them."

Wrex grumbled something that her Omni-tool didn't translate completely. The one word she did translate was 'young'. His file claimed that he was at least six hundred. He had the right to call her that. The rest of the words she wasn't sure about. "I'm on a job right now, Human." He grunted. "Where are you planning on going?"

"Geth space. Possibly worse places." The Krogan stood up to his full height.

"What kind of places?" He seemed curious.

"If the Geth don't turn up, then we might go to Tuchanka." Clan Ganar had an outpost there. It would be her first place to look for them. Or at least get in contact with them. "I'd like it if you came with me."

The Krogan grumbled. "There is nothing for you there. Tuchanka offers nothing to the other races. I won't waste my time on a dead end planet."

She didn't question him. But it seemed odd that a creature would not enjoy his homeworld. She liked Earth, and she had some of her best memories there. "When do you finish your current job?"

The Krogan rolled his shoulders. "Whenever they fulfill their contract. The Shadow Broker wants this guy to know 'fear deeper than any greed'. So once they prove that they are capable as a low level contact, then I get to leave. Until then, I get to be a partial observer. If this Fisk guy proves he's capable, then we go on our way, and nobody gets killed."

"Wrex." Vasir said. "She can afford you, too. This isn't charity work."

"You better be able to. My combat rate is over two thousand an hour."

"I'll be prepared to pay for a few months up front." Julia said. "Unless the other Krogan I'm looking for agrees to less."

"Who else are you looking for?" Wrex asked. "It's only fair to know who the other sap is."

"Ganar Ream." It was unclear which clan he was part of. "He might be going by Dargur or Weyrloc."

Wrex was quiet for a moment. "Ream, huh? We used to have a blood feud." He grinned. "I'll help you out, Human. I owe it to his memory."

"He's dead?"

"I made sure of it." He grumbled. "But he was something, even if he was almost nine hundred when I finally caught up to him." He glanced around at the cameras. "Hey, turn off everything in here for a moment! I gotta make a call." The lights dimmed, and the quasar machines went silent. Wrex held up his Omni-tool, a model that Julia hadn't seen before, and the room was hit by loads of encryption and firewalls. "I won't make any deals with people who won't introduce themselves properly. Show me what you look like, Human."

She stood up next to him, within easy range of his guns. "Call me Constantine."

He grinned. "Oh, I know your face. But the broker calls you Harper."

"That name isn't mentioned among pleasant company."

"Hah. You were born under that name, and that destiny. Names have power, and they aren't easily escaped. I'll call you whatever you want, so long as it isn't some damn title." Wrex grinned. "Oh yes, I think I will enjoy this."

"I think we've made enough of a commotion. Wrex, nice to see you as always."

"Vasir. Nice to see you brought real armor this time."

She gave him the middle finger as she left, Julia trying not to laugh as she followed the Asari closely. Vasir's air car was still outside the bar when they got there, and she left the door open long enough for her to slip in. Once the door shut, she handed Julia a small card. It was a comm address. "My personal code. Let me know if your other mentors aren't up to snuff. I'll come and make them see reason."

With all of the tracking devices around, Julia was hesitant to answer, but she sent a small message from her own comm address to show that she had received it. The Asari dropped her off at the Presidium, and seemed to waltz off without a care towards the shopping district. Julia herself escaped back to the Embassy and the barracks, where her disguise gear was.

She hated being a blonde. Getting the eyebrows right was impossible, and everyone already thought you were a dye job before you even talked to them. Her red hair was much the same, but mimicking a blonde had all kinds of other problems attached to it. Everyone thought you were an idiot, that you were an easy girl, the whole works. Redheads at least had a history of being extremely violent. Blondes had a history of giggling and partying.

Her report to Rear Admiral White included an update on Ganar Ream. If that was the right Ream that she was looking for, anyways. But she felt good. She had made some progress, even if she had to create another military alias again. Not to mention she got a promotion. She would need the new pips added to her one dress uniform on board the Normandy. She practiced her giggle, as she got on board a shuttle headed for Arcturus. There were plenty of men leering already. God, she hated being a blonde.


Author's Note

Wrex! Goodness I love that guy. His personal task mission is going to be interesting. Speaking of task missions, I am letting you guys decide Garrus' loyalty mission. As of right now, there are an equal amount of votes for 3 out of the 4 choices. Sort of amazing, really.

I've been working on a bit of research regarding Krogan. Their regeneration, mostly. They can regenerate from most wounds, and their form of regeneration allows for eyes and other critical organs to come back from the brink. The Earth-based creatures that can do that are basically starfish and invertebrates. Some species can regenerate specific limbs, or grow back patches of skin(Humans are awesome!), but Krogan have the full gambit. Regenerating an eye takes a lot of specialized cells and chemical ingredients.

As such, I have surmised that their regeneration is based on some completely specialized organ attached to their nervous system. It would have to be there, where it could send out the signals to each of the cells that need to be rebuilt. I'll probably touch on that in the story a bit.

Writing from the perspective of a Krogan is actually a bit hard. It's like writing a 75 year old adrenaline junkie. With tattoos, scars, and the ability to shake off anything. Words, punches, and gunshots. They almost have a sense of immortality to them, except for the love of war and the likelihood of their own deaths. The young ones are just all ego and testosterone, while the old ones are all about ego and moments of heroism. Mid life crisis? Holy crap I might be a dad. That's about the most worrisome thing that a Krogan has to deal with. Parenthood. The rest of their lives they are told to follow the convention of Might makes Right, and just prove their existence through manly deeds. If they can be recognized enough, then they will get female attention. Great incentive for proving that you are an accomplished warrior.

But that sort of cripples the genes that are supposed to be passed down for intelligent pursuits. Scientists(The Krogan had them, it is well known), Mechanics, Engineers, Architects(Wish they would make a come back), and Inventors haven't been bred for and haven't been cared about since the Rachni Wars. Four generations of Krogan born into that kind of trouble. Society will completely degenerate over time if that isn't corrected.

But Jack doesn't hold the Krogan as his responsibility. That, he will leave to Julia and the Council. He's got enough people to worry about before adding the Krogan into the mix.