A /N: Hey fellers!

Terribly sorry about the long wait time on this chapter. A lot of things have happened since the last update. Like real life stuff, and me bringing another story back from the death. I therefore bring you a semi-long chapter, that will hopefully be alright. I think I made a promise long ago that I will never give up on this story, and I intend to keep my promise. So hopefully you guys won't have to wait as long for the next chapter.

Anyhow, enjoy the chapter!

22/4/2186

SSV Normandy.

It had been two days since the retaking of Rannoch. Somehow they had manage to come to a peaceful solution. The Geth and the Quarians were both alive and kicking, expect Legion of course… He walks with God now. This massive force had just been added to their ever growing alliance, and it felt like they were making headway. It felt like they were getting that bit closer to coming home… To retaking Earth.

But they weren't there yet. They were still quite a bit away. Mads knew it was still a long way coming. Mads sighed as he walked to the elevator and pressed the button that would take him to the CIC. In his hand was a steaming hot cup of coffee, which hit just right so early in the morning. Tali had already went down to make herself useful in engineering. Truth be told, her presence did wonders for him… But he was still afraid that she die… Especially now, she would be in the very thick of it.

It that moment, it was quiet on the Normandy, safe for the normal noise generated by the crew. Mads felt as though today was to be a slow day, which he couldn't complain about. Apart from all the fighting, there were many days in between, as they traveled from place to place. He sipped his coffee as he entertained the idea of a lazy day, where nothing really happened.

"Captain? Admiral Hackett is live in the comm room, asking for you." Joker said, which meant that this was likely not to be a slow after all.

"Copy that Joker. I'll be there in a second." Mads replied with a sigh. He sipped some more coffee as he made his way through the security scanner, greeting the two service women always there guarding it. Must have been the most boring job in the world, serving on the Normandy, but your only job is standing guard somewhere where it really isn't needed. He cleared his mind from that, some soldiers would consider that a blessing.

Everything was it used to be in the war room. People working hard to update the screens on the current affairs. Anderson had planned to make this his mobile command center, and Mads wondered if perhaps it would have been better if Anderson was here, and not him. Perhaps it wouldn't have been such a mess… Perhaps there would would be structure, perhaps they would have already won. Once again, he had to stop himself. Things were as they were, you couldn't change them once the wheels were in motion. No use in trying to think of an alternative universe, were it all worked out perfectly. It would just be someone else asking the same question.

Mads stepped into the comms room, and quickly pressed the answer button. He placed his coffee on the table just to the side as he made a quick salute to Admiral Hackett.

"Captain. Nice to see you are still in one piece. Hell of a nice work you did on Rannoch, making peace like that. I never thought I would see the Quarians and the Geth working together, much less living together." Hackett congratulated him.

"Thank you Sir. It wasn't easy, but we got double the resources for the same price. Seems like diplomacy can win sometimes." Mads smiled.

"It sure does. Are they getting along? No hard feelings?" Hackett asked, but he probably already knew the answer.

"Some of them have a hard time accepting it, especially the Quarians… But they'll learn to live together again, as equals now, I suppose." Mads answered, it was the most safe answer he could give. They would learn to live together, or they would kill each other in due time.

"Let's hope they do, we need them both. So far so good Romanov. I got another assignment for you, if you are interested." Hackett offered. It was weird he was asking first, he usually gave them out, no questions allowed.

"Of course Sir." Mads accepted. It could hardly be worse than what he had already achieved. But then again… There would also be another mission, a more dangerous mission. He just wondered what it would be about this time.

"We have had several teams dedicated to uncovering as much about the Reapers as possible since you came back from the Collector base. One of our main teams, headed by Dr. Garret Bryson, has apparently recently made some breakthroughs. I want you to go the Citadel, and see if you can't help him out. This might be a good way to gain more intel on the enemy." Hackett explained.

"Of course Sir. I'll set a course right away." Mads promised.

"Good. Hackett out." And with that, the hologram of Hackett disappeared from view. Mads picked up his cup of coffee and drank the last bit remaining. If this Doctor had found something useful, then that could really help them out. Understanding their enemy was to be the key to victory. No doubt this was another adventure he was embarking on.

"Hit me with another one." Mads requested. James obliged and put down another card, which proved to be Mads' undoing. "Fuck… 23. Looks like Blackjack isn't for me." Mads remarked with a sigh.

"Wanna go for another one? I'm sure you'll win this time." James chuckled smugly.

"Fuck off James. Piss me off some more, and that Tattoo might depict something else when we finally get around to doing it." Mads threatened with a smile, and that made James pause, which caused Kaiden to laugh. Mads fished out a cigarette from his pack. He wasted no time in giving it light.

"What were we doing on the Citadel again?" Kaminski asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Hackett called us there. Apparently a Dr. Bryson has something that might be interesting. He says it's intel on the Reapers." Mads replied as he took a drag of his cigarette and passed the pack to Kaminski.

"Excuse me, but what kind of intel?" James asked as he shuffled the cards.

"The kind that Hackett didn't feel the need to send over the comms, so it must be something. Perhaps it's the location of that damn catalyst. The one thing we're missing." Mads answered.

"I do still wonder what it could be. Fascinating stuff if you ask me, the very thing to make the weapon work." Riesman remarked with a smile.

"It's probably nothing good. If what we gotten so far is any indication, getting to it will surely make for another grand adventure." Kaiden proclaimed.

"Hear hear!" Mads said with a smile. He took another long drag of his cigarette.

"Poker?" James asked.

"Sure, at least I know I can win in that." Mads chuckled as he placed his cigarette in the ashtray for further use later.

"God I wish I could win a game of poker." Kaiden said, and that learned a laugh from all of them.

"You just gotta play against the rookies. Try Garrus, I think that could make for a fun game." Kaminiski suggested.

"No way! No one can read Turian facial ques, it's not fair!" James objected, probably from the experience of playing with Garrus a few days ago. Mads smiled as he pictured it in his mind. They continued the game for some time more, before they went to do other things. It was nice to have these little sessions with each other. A good way to calm down after missions, and keep morale up. Good communication was always key to success in Mads' mind, knowing your crew did just that.

24/4/2186

SSV Normandy, docked at the citadel.

The citadel was still recovering from the Cerberus coup once they arrived. But that was to be expected. It took a long time to recover from the Geth attack almost three years ago, and even then, some parts of the citadel was still lacking in care. Before Mads would drop by the Doctor's lab, he had to pick up a few things, including ammo and a tattoo machine. People were still surprising optimistic, all things consider. But the attack had been a wake up call for most.

As the day passed by, and Mads crossed each thing of his list. He decided that he could might as well get a snack before getting to the lab. But, only when he stood outside the abandoned shop did he remember that Tony and Olga were not longer in business. A damn shame, he couldn't stand the other food stands on the citadel, so he would save his hunger for later. Considering all of this, they might as well get to work.

Tali would meet him at the doctor's place, she insisted on coming with him. Spending more time together and stuff like that. Despite everything, it would be nice. Perhaps they could find somewhere to dine afterwards. He was sure he owned more than one dinner to her. He smiled as he tried to recount just how many times he had to save his skin through the promise of a nice dinner.

"You alright?" Tali asked, pulling him out of his daydreaming.

"Ah yes. I was just thinking of a place we could get some dinner once this is done." Mads replied with a smile.

"Good, you owe me. I think it's five dinners at this point." She remarked, and he knew she was smiling under that helmet.

"Really? Thank God, I thought it was seven." He jested, and she punched his arm, and he faked a grunt. "Anyhow, let us see what the good Doctor have for us. If it's good information, it might very well be worth it's weight in gold." Mads said as he gestured to the taxi that would ferry them there. Mads opened the door for her.

"What a gentleman. Thank you." She said with some slight sarcasm thrown in there. Mads mockingly rolled his eyes. They had a bit of small talk on the way to the doctor's lab, which took no time at all. It was a nice place that Dr. Bryson had, located on the beautiful presidium. Though judging from the outside, one might even be able to guess what was located inside. The garden was a mess, filled with garbage.

"Keelah… Why do some people live like this?" Tali asked, probably drawing from experience from the fleet. Cleanness was a big part of their culture. The captain's quarters in the Normandy had never been as clean as when Tali began spending time there.

"Probably doesn't have the time to clean it up." Mads remarked. Brilliant men usually left their workplace as a right mess. Like that saying 'there is a fine line between being a genius and a madman.'

Inside was no better. Filled with both garbage, as well as what appeared to be Reaper artifacts and other interesting things. Both of them spotted Dr. Bryson, who seemed to be looking up some things on his datapad, at least he did not notice them. The doctor seemed to be an old and frail man, but judging from the house he was still very much keeping up with his work.

"Dr. Bryson?" Mads asked as he came down the few steps to the main floor.

"Ah, Captain Romanov! So glad you could make it! I think I may have come across something you might find interesting!" Bryson did seem to be n a bit of a chipper mood, hopefully due to something groundbreaking. "Oh Hadley, would you please gather the Leviathan data for us?" Doctor Bryson asked his assistant.

"Of course sir." The assistant eagerly replied. Bryson gestured for Mads and Tali to follow him further into his lab.

"I'm sorry if it feels a bit empty here Captain. The rest of my team is out in the field investigating possible leads right now. I'm Doctor Gerret Bryson, and this is Task Force Aurora." Dr. Bryson filled Mads in.

"Admiral Hackett only told me a little bit. Care to tell me about the assignment?" Mads asked, all of this had peaked his curiosity.

"Our mandate is to investigate legends, rumors… Old stories about the Reapers before anyone knew they existed." Dr Bryson answered.

"I see. Good to finally have someone look into that, just wish someone had done it a long time ago." Mads remarked with a sigh.

"Yes, I agree. If people had paid more attention to you and your story about the Prothean beacon, then perhaps we wouldn't be standing as badly as we do now. But now, with the new information we have uncovered, a breakthrough might just be near." Dr. Bryson said as he began to type away on the console that showcased a giant map of the galaxy. Mads and Tali began looking at some datapads that Brynson had given them. Out of the corner of his eye, Mads saw the assistant move in.

"Ah Hadley, did you get the data for us?" Bryson asked. Mads looked up, and just as he did, he realized what was happening. Hadley muttered analmost quiet 'no' before he pulled the trigger of a gun. Mads barely had time to react before it was too late, Mads stormed at the man, hoping to tackle him to the ground. Seemed like he was too late, but Tali managed to throw her datapad at the assistant, temporary disabling him, but it was enough time for Mads to force him on the ground.

"TALI! GET C-SEC NOW!" Mads ordered as he knocked out the man.

"Of course!" She did it instantly, but it didn't stop the fact that when Mads went to check on Bryson… He was already dead. Fucking hell Mads thought, trying to figure out what they were going to do now, as far as Mads had understood it, Bryson was the one behind it all. The brains, if you will. "Are you alright?" Tali asked concerned as she came over to Mads.

"I'm fine… Can't say the same for Dr. Bryson though. A damn shame…" Mads had really hoped they could get something out of this. Something that could tell them a little more about what was going on with the Reapers. Where they came from, what they really were. He had long since grown tired of the Reaper's own version of the story.

"You shouldn't be here…" The assistant muttered.

"What?" Mads turned to the man, who was still lying on the ground limp.

"The darkness can't be breached." Something was not right here. If Mads had to wager, the assistant must have been part of a cult or something. It seemed as such… But why did it seem like he struggled to pull the trigger when he was so emotionless now?

It didn't take long before C-sec was there. They showed up in force, especially when a Spectre calls in a crime. C-sec was quick to secure the scene and went on to try and understand what had happened. Mads told them the story as best he could, and it seemed like they accepted that as fact.

"Records show his name is Derek Hadley. He's worked here for a couple of months." One of the Turian officers said. The other Turian officer held guard with his rifle, made sure the assistant didn't try anything funny. Though he was already in handcuffs, so he wasn't too much of a threat.

In that moment, Edi also showed up. "Romanov. I monitored a C-sec call from this location. Were you and Tali harmed?" She asked as she approached them.

"We're both okay, thank you. Good thing you are here though, we could use your help here. We need to understand what happened, as well as what to do next. Have a look at their files, Tali and I will poke around a bit as well." Mads requested as he scanned around the room once more.

"At once." Edi replied, and went straight to work. Mads looked over at the assistant, who seemed to be getting back to consciousness. Perhaps now they could get a few answers.

"Hey! Are you awake?" Mads asked as he snapped his fingers in front of Hadley, who seemed responsive.

"… What? I-..." He was confused, not surprising since he had been knocked out cold. "What's happening?" Hadley asked as his eyes switched from the C-sec officers to him, and then back again.

"I think you hold the answer to that question son. Start talking." Mads ordered, his voice firm as he looked down on the assistant.

"I was gathering data when you arrived, and then-… It was… It was dark, and cold… It felt as though I was somewhere else…" Hadley tried to recount it. He sounded sincere enough though, but not enough for Mads to feel any sort of sympathy for the man, not yet anyhow.

"And then?" Mads asked, pressing the kid for more answers.

"I DON'T KNOW! A gun was in my hands! Dr. Bryson… There was a loud noise… And… And-" Mads had enough, he grabbed the kid by his arm and forced him over to the body of Dr. Bryson, who was still lying on the floor… Dead.

"You shot Dr. Bryson! You killed him! WHY?!" Mads all but yelled, the kid was on the verge on shitting his pants.

"NO!... I couldn't have! I'm not a murderer! I didn't do it, It wasn't me! I swear! You have to believe me!" Hadley panicking as his mind raced to find answers, in fact, everyone was trying to find answers.

"You better start explaining boy. I saw you pulling that trigger. What, did someone else force you to do it?" Mads asked, he wasn't buying this bullshit.

"But I would never do that!" Hadley was clearly in shock.. But why?

"Captain, if I may… This does resemble the reports of indoctrination." Edi said, and she was right. That could of course be a possible answer. The Reapers probably weren't too keen on them trying to uncover their secrets… But how had they gotten to him then?

"Indoctrination? Me?" Hadley was equally as confused, in fact, they all were. It was hard to know what was fact and what was fiction at this point.

"Tell me about that 'Leviathan' thing Dr. Bryson was talking about. Does that have anything to do with this?" Mads asked. He softened himself up a bit, perhaps this kid was bullshitting after all. It's just hard to trust someone when you have seen them blow someone else's head off.

"It's some kind of old creature, our field teams have been tracking it. That artifact-" Hadley pointed to the weird globe thing that was on display. "-Came in from our researcher Garneau. He sent an audio log if you want to-" And just like that, Hadley appeared to be in agony, he screamed as it looked like he cowered. He fell to his knees.

"What's wrong?" Mads asked concerned.

"Turn back…"

"What are you talking about?" Mads recognized the tone, same one he spoke with when he killed Dr. Bryson.

"You bear his influence… The darkness can not be breached, we are not yet ready." And then, Hadley's eyes rolled back into his skull. He fell to the ground, seemingly without any sign of life.

"Get medical down here now!" Mads ordered. The C-sec officer quickly acknowledged the order and did as told. Mads had no idea what just happening, but it almost seemed as though someone had control over Hadley, like Edi said… Indoctrination.

Captain. You might want to see this. It's an outgoing message from Dr. Bryson to Admiral Hackett." Edi played the clip of the meeting. Admiral Hackett asked about the project, and Dr. Bryson telling him that they were onto something… Something big. Apparently the Batarians had found a Reaper corpse about 20 years ago, and then promptly covered it up to research it on their own, hoping to get some sort of edge out of it. Dr. Bryson mentioned in the message that whatever had killed that Reaper… That was the real Leviathan.

Edi then showed another message, a few weeks later. Dr. Bryson discussed how his team was being stalked by the Reapers, as if the Reapers themselves were out looking for the leviathan. Dr. Bryson asked for further assistance, which Hackett gave him almost instantly.

"It would appear that we are that assistance" Edi replied.

"Well I'll be damned. A Reaper killer… Could be very useful… But that's only if we can control it, or bargain with it… There no guarantee for either." Mads remarked. He wasn't too sure if it was worth it all, but right now they needed every advantage they could get. Whether he liked it or not, they had to pursue this lead.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say. We should look into this." Tali voiced his own internal dialogue quite nicely.

"We need to find it then." Mads stated.

"Dr. Bryson's assistant did mention that they recently received a log from a researcher. It might contain useful information." Edi suggested.

"Right you are." Mads replied as he picked up the log in question. It shed some more light on the whole thing. Apparently that orb was indeed the artifact mentioned, one that Dr. Garneau had dug out. He was sure that Leviathan has been through the place he was… He signed off by saying that he would try and crunch some numbers, see if he couldn't predict the Reaper killers movements. "Seems like Dr. Garneau is our best lead right now… Only question remains is… Where the hell is he?" Mads thought out loud.

"We can find him, if he just focus on what he said. Crunching numbers… Dr. Garneau must have had some sort of data to go off." Tali suggested.

"Hmmm, yes. But had do we narrow it down then?" Mads asked.

"The team appeared to be using a galaxy map to track the Leviathan's progress. It can probably help us find Garneau." Edi proposed. Mads went over to the large map at the center of the room.

"Let us have a look then. There ought to be something here." Mads remarked as he began to study the map. It was just a standard interactive map of the Galaxy, useful for planning trips and the like, but useless on it's own. "Damn… Nothing on here. Thoughts?" Mads turned around and asked. Tali came over and took a look at the galaxy map, and pondered on how to proceed for a second.

"I could probably add in some filters if we find some data or hints on where Garneau was going, we could probably narrow it down." Tali suggested. Mads smiled, she really was a smart cookie.

"Alright, let us have a look around, see if we can't find something." Mads ordered. And then began to look further around, studying this mess that was a lab. It worried him that Dr. Bryson had the head of husk on display. Poor thing was kept alive, he wanted to end it's misery, but decided against it. The first thing he found was crime data, where the suspect had claimed memory loss. It seemed like Dr. Bryson was already on the right track, but that road also led to his own doom.

He studied the other rooms, finding encrypted data on the Reaper fleet's movements and afterwards the encryption key, which was located in a picture his daughter had made for him… Sweet, yet sad, given his fate. There was unknown creature sightings, meteorite fragments, Rachni fleet records, intercepted Batarian communications and the likes. Dr. Bryson has done in depth study on this field… If only Mads had gotten there sooner, perhaps he could have learned more useful stuff.

With all these things in hand, Edi and Tali made the filters for the Galaxy map, allowing them to try and locate where Garneau might have gone. It was a shot in the dark, but the best shot they had. Mads tried to combine several different filters, hoping to at least narrow it down. After struggling for a while, and attempting different combinations, they found three different systems that seemed likely to house Garneau, after narrowing it down a little further, they found the most likely system. Now the rest was up to them. They would have to scour these three systems, look for a signal of some sort.

They all rushed to the car to get in. They couldn't afford to waste time on this.

26/4/2186

SSV Normandy, on route to Caleston Rift.

They had made haste out of the citadel on away towards the possible location of Garneau. Mads was wondering if Garneau knew just how important he was right now. Probably the only living link to solving this thing, Mads just hoped he was alive and talkative enough to get them further on the hunt. He pondered on just how willing he was to go on this mission, as if something was pulling him towards it. Like somehow it was something needed to solved sooner rather than later. An Ancient mystery almost… Most of all, he thought about the comment the assistant made just before he died. Hadley said Mads had someone's influence over him. Was it Reaper's influence? Cerberus? Prothean? Or perhaps…

No, it couldn't be… That would have meant he lied to him… How would they be able to tell? The Reapers sure as hell couldn't. Something was certainly wrong here, the more he thought about it, the more nervous he got.

"Hey! Easy with the needle there Loco." James pulled him out of his thoughts. Where was he? Oh right, tattooing James' back. He had promised the hot head marine he would do as much, seemed like he had slipped up and went a little bit too deep into the skin. Otherwise the tattooing seemed to still be going well.

"Sorry James. Been a while since I last sat down with a tattoo gun." Mads replied as he continued his work, keeping rolls of paper and disinfection spray handy.

"Is that code for 'actually I have never done anything like this before'?" James asked a bit sarcastically as he looked back at Mads.

Mads looked annoyed at him. "Back during my Spetsnaz days, we used to give each other tattoos. Half of us didn't have any artistic talent. Here, I have one on my ankle-" Mads rolled his office chair in front of James and pulled up his pant leg to showcase a poorly made skull and bones tattoo. "Mate named Viktor did that one, couldn't draw to save his life. Luckily for you, I can, in fact, draw." Mads remarked as he rolled back to continue the work on James' back.

"Lucky me…" James was just dripping with sarcasm.

"Careful there Jimmy. Otherwise this tattoo might just be a little bit different than you envisioned." Mads replied as he continued the work.

"That's not fair Loco." James chuckled. The work continued on for about another 30 minutes, before the massive Tattoo of the N7 Logo was done on James' back. Quite a piece of work, one of the larger ones Mads had ever done. But it was worth it in the end.

"Let me take a picture, then you can see it." Mads said as he fired up his omni-tool, just as he did so, Tali came into the cabin. "Oh, hey Darling. What's up?" Mads asked as he proceed with taking a picture. She came over to look at the progress.

"Why did you draw a penis?" She asked, subtle enough that it caught James off guard.

"I swear to God Loco! If I see that picture and anything but the N7 Logo is there, you're dead!" James was serious, it was clear. It made Mads laugh, he then rolled over to in front of James to show the picture, which instantly calmed him down. "Alright… That's good. Thanks Captain." James finally admitted after looking at it for a few seconds.

"Happy to oblige. But now you need to earn it." Mads replied as he stood up, removed the latex gloves and went over to his desk to get a cigarette.

"I know. I'll do my best… You two need alone time?" He asked as he gestured to him and Tali.

"I don't know, do we?" Mads asked Tali with a slight wink.

"No, not right now. I wanted to discuss the mission." She answered as she leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, what's going on?" James asked as he stood up, trying to put his shirt back on without any discomfort.

"Dr. Bryson, an expert researcher and leading archaeologist had got the wind of something interesting. He calls it Leviathan, a Reaper Killer. If the evidence collected so far is any indication, learning more about it could help the war effort. So that's what we are doing." Mads explained.

"You think Garneau is in danger?" Tali asked.

"I do. The Reapers are probably tracking the Leviathan, same as us. Poor feller probably doesn't even know what he is walking into. When we get to that mining colony, we'll secure him and find out what we can." Mads answered.

29/4/2186

Mahavid

"Looks like this is it." Cortez remarked as he flew them closer to the asteroid turned mining facility. It looks grim, but all asteroids did, it brought back unpleasant memories of what happened X57. Seemed like a life time ago, back when they didn't fully understand the Reaper threat, and they were just gunning for a rouge Spectre.

"Take us in." Mads ordered, and Cortez happily obliged. As they got off the shuttle, and Cortez flew back. Mads took in the massive size of the place, T-GES sure had the money to finance this sort of operation, and those unlucky souls to be working here probably enjoyed a good salary.

They went further in, and it seemed pretty quiet as they got to an elevator. But as luck would have it, this would be anything but easy. As soon as that elevator got to their desired floor, they spotted a Reaper scouting party banging on the front door of the facility. Desperate to be let in. All of them got ready for a fight.

"Take them out!" Mads ordered and fired the first shot, killing a few husks within seconds. Garrus sniped a marauder, while James and Tali got up close and personal with the brutes. The entire team helped bring down the massive monsters, and Mads realized just how glad he was that he had all of them with him here. They fought well together, perhaps all those myths about the Normandy's crew weren't so over the top as they thought. Bringing down the rest of the scouting party, they went about looking further into this facility.

"Let's go!" Mads yelled as they got to the front door. Tali got the doors opened within seconds, and they all got into the relative safety of the base. But something was wrong. As soon as the second set of doors opened, it seemed as though these people were just going about their work, not even realizing there was a war going on. "What the hell?" Mads said to himself.

"They don't seem awfully scared that a Reaper scout was ringing their door bell." Garrus remarked as they all looked around.

"They seem way too calm." Tali agreed.

"Something doesn't seem right here." Mads holstered his AK on his back, but kept a firm grip on his magnum. They all looked at him as he passed through the lobby towards the reception desk. It was as if they were seizing him up, trying to intimidate him away from this place. Two men were working at the reception desk, without a care in the world. "I'm Captain Romanov of the Alliance Navy. Are you aware there were Reaper troops crawling at the front door?" He asked.

"Are they still there?" Mads had never heard anyone speak in such a monotone voice, as if spoken without any form of emotion.

"Well… No, but-"

"I see. Then that will be all." And just like, one of the men shut down the conversation.

"Excuse me?" Mads tried to restart the conversation, but those two just flat out ignored him, as if he wasn't even there. Garrus somehow managed to restart the conversation by pressing the bell, but it was clearly fruitless. The men didn't answer their question, and it was obvious that they wanted them to leave. Tali stopped Mads from pushing further. "What in the hell is going on here?" Mads asked his crew.

"Something is wrong with them… They seem… I don't know, like possessed, not in their right mind." Kaminski tried to rationalize it.

"Could be indoctrination. Seems to fit the description pretty well." Liara suggested, most of them agreed.

"But if the Reapers were indoctrinating them… Why were they banging on the door to get in? Wouldn't they just let them right on in?" Mads asked. Liara shrugged her shoulders, no one had any answer for that. "Doesn't matter… Let us try to find Garneau then. Seems like our only lead right now." Mads gestured for him team to follow him as they went exploring the base.

Apparently Garneau had been there in the last week, now it was just a matter of if he was still there. The two men at the front desk had lied about that. It was strange, even for this Reaper war they were fighting this was strange. Every place they went, angry eyes followed them. Edi said that the miners were doing everything but mining. It seemed as though it was getting clearer, and yet more foggy at the same time. Mads really hoped Garneau was still there, and alive.

They found an audio log by Garneau, which stated that he had found another artifact, like the one in Dr. Bryson's office. As they dug further, they found surveillance tapes with Dr. Garneau on them. There wasn't anything to indicate he had left yet, especially since Cortez had remarked that he found Garneau's shuttle was still there. They had to navigate the facility, hacking through pretty much every door they came across. That was until they reached medical.

Through the dim windows and into the dark room, there was a figure laying on a table. The figure seemed lifeless. "Is that Garneau?" Mads asked as he tried to get a better look.

"I hope not…" Garrus replied as he went to take a closer look as well.

That was until a voice interrupted them from the other room just behind them. The room was equally as dark, but there was clearly a human male standing there. "If you are looking for Garneau, then you are in luck. I'm Dr. Garneau." The man said.

"Thank God. I'm Captain Romanov of the Alliance Navy. Are you alright in there?" Mads asked as he went over the window with Garneau in it.

"Yes… I'm fine… Only I'm trapped in here." Garneau replied.

"We'll get you out, no worries. But I need your help Doctor. Dr. Bryson led him to you." Mads said as he began to look for a way to get Garneau our of that room.

"Dr. Bryson sent you?" Garneau asked as he seemed a little confused.

"Yes… Though he is dead. Killed by his assistant."

"I see…" Garneau didn't seem touched by it, just like everyone else. No emotions, as if he was just a bad actor.

"I need your help Doctor. I need you to tell me everything you know about this leviathan." Mads requested.

"It's a myth… A dead end." Garneau quickly replied. Mads raised an eyebrow.

"But you said you had found another artifact in your research log?" Tali asked, and it was the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I did? No…"

"Yes Doctor, you did. We don't have a lot of time, Reapers are closing in, so I'm gonna break you out of here. We can grab the artifact on the way out." Mads said as he took out his magnum. The glass seemed weak enough to be broken easily enough.

"The Reapers? The darkness cannot be breached." Once again, the darkness…

"What?" Mads asked confused.

"Why do you pursue me? Did he send you? We are trying to atone." The voice was darker now, as if someone else was speaking through Garneau,

"Doctor?" Mads hoped there was still something left in there.

"Leave the artifact. We will not appear until we are ready to face him." Garneau threatened. Once again, he referenced him. Did he really talk about-

"I don't think we're talking to Dr. Garneau." Tali said. Mads nodded.

"You killed a Reaper. I need your help." Mads demanded.

"You bring only death." The very ground shook, and a loud piercing noise made them all cover their ears as the glass broke. In the confusion, Garneau… Or whatever the hell it was, made a run for it.

"Get him!" Mads ordered as they all ran like hell to get their hands on the man.

After a lengthy chase halfway across the base, and countless fights with a small army of Reapers, they finally reached the artifact, as well as the man whom the Leviathan spoke through. The Husks were gaining on the man, who cowered his way toward the artifact.

"The darkness must not be breached before we are ready" The man muttered as he got close to the artifact.

The artifact was the same as the one in Bryson's office. It must have some importance. "Move! I got a shot!" Mads tried to save the man, but it seemed like the leviathan had other plans.

"TURN BACK. WE ARE NOT READY TO FACE HIM YET."

"NO!" Mads yelled, but it was too late. The man pushed the button and destroyed the artifact… And himself. Not to mention it knocked them all on their ass. By the time the dust had settled, Mads went in for a closer look at where the artifact had been.

Why do they keep referring to him? Is it really God they mean? Or someone else? Mads debated with himself internally. Clearly, there was something grander at play here.

"Captain?" Riesman asked. Mads snapped out of it and went over to Riesman to see what was going on. "Looks like this was the real Dr. Garneau." Riesman said as Kaminski helped him move the body a bit. Didn't do them much good, Garneau was dead all the same. Their lead was lost. But, as they took a closer look at the personal logs from Dr. Garneau, the plot thickened. The Leviathans were powerful beyond belief, clearly being able to kill Dr. Bryson, take over an entire mining facility and use it's people as puppets.

"What's going on?" A voice asked from behind them. They all trained their guns towards it, but once they saw that it was just normal miners, the lowered them. "Who are you?" A female asked.

"Captain Romanov. Of the Alliance navy. Are you alright?" Mads asked.

"I think so… I feel a bit strange but-… all right." The female replied. Mads tried to grill them for some answers, but it was useless. They were all confused. When nothing more stood to be gained, Mads decided to pull the plug and get out of there.

"Cortez, can you bring the shuttle around and get us out of here?" Mads asked into his earpiece.

"Sure thing Captain.. But strangest thing, the Reaper just went up and left. Can you believe that?" Cortez asked back.

"Reaper? What's a Reaper?" One of them asked.

Mads looked at his crew mates, who just looked back at him equally as confused. "What year do you think this is?" Mads decided to ask. He wanted to see if his hunch feeling was right.

"2176." An Asari replied.

"2176 was 10 years ago." Mads said, and those people just had the shock of their lives. This hunt was getting more and more interesting by the minute.