Editorial Note: This personnel report focuses on Shepard's executive officer, Miranda Lawson. It includes numerous conversations spanning from the completion of Professor Solus's recruitment to a personal mission conducted on Illium.

Personnel Report—Miranda Lawson

To say Miranda Lawson had an infamous reputation would be putting it mildly.

You see, the crew of the Normandy had various opinions about our XO. A small minority regarded her as the second-in-command. Jack called her 'Princess' or 'Cheerleader.' Many ogled her from a safe distance. Several others took jabs at her, such as calling her 'Ice Queen' or 'That Bitch.'

For example, I recalled a conversation I overheard between Ken and Gabby down in Engineering. "I've got green across the board," Gabby was reporting. "The forward tanks are buoyant and elevated."

"Are you talking about the Normandy," Ken asked slyly, "or Miranda?"

"I'm talking about the ones that are covered and protected, not bouncing in the breeze," Gabby snapped.

"I don't know," Ken leered. "Operative Lawson's uniform is very official. It always makes me stand at attention."

"You're such a dog," Gabby muttered.

Regardless of these disparate viewpoints, there was one thing most people could agree on: Miranda was very scary and intimidating. The general consensus was to follow her commands, hope they didn't contradict anyone else's, and stay as far away from her as possible. Mostly out of self-preservation. Since my self-preservation had atrophied long before Cerberus patched me up, I blithely ignored that nugget of wisdom. Besides, I had to indulge my curiosity.

Aside from our chat when I was first meeting and greeting everyone on the Normandy, we hadn't had a chance to talk. It was time to rectify that, I decided, shortly after recruiting Mordin.

"Hey Miranda," I said. "Do you have a minute?"

"Of course," she nodded. "I'm just finishing an operation report. I'm impressed, Shepard. So far, things have gone exceptionally well. As far as Cerberus operations go, this is one of the best I've been a part of."

High—and rare—praise from her, I was sure. "Maybe that's because this isn't a Cerberus operation," I suggested.

"Not to you, maybe," she replied. "But I report directly to the Illusive Man. And I'm here because he wants me to be. Cerberus gave you a second chance, Commander. Maybe you should do the same for us."

Uh huh. I'm a dumb grunt, not a stupid one. Still, if listening to the sales pitch meant getting some intel and satisfying my curiosity, who was I to say no? "Cerberus obviously has your loyalty. How did you get involved with them?"

She considered that question for a second. "I suppose you've earned the right to know," she said at last, gesturing towards the sofa across from her desk. As I sat down, she started to talk. "Do you remember when I told you how I was genetically altered?"

"Intelligence, strength, looks, immune system," I rattled off. "The whole nine yards."

"Well, that wasn't my choice," Miranda said. "My father... created me."

Created?

"He's a very influential man and extremely controlling. He didn't want a daughter—he wanted a dynasty. I ran away as soon as I was old and brave enough. I went to Cerberus because I knew they could protect me."

I had to admit that this conversation had taken a few unexpected turns. Of all the reasons one could theoretically have for joining Cerberus, this was Miranda's. At least, this was the one she gave. Was this a rare admission—perhaps the first time she'd ever told anyone? Because no one had bothered to sit down and ask, too cowed by her usual icy demeanour or awestruck by her undeniable beauty? Maybe it was a bit of quid pro quo. By her admission, I'd proven that I wasn't a one-trick pony and had earned the right to get a couple answers. Or maybe she was playing me. Using the cruel-father card—which might not even be true—simply to tug at the ol' heartstrings.

I decided to continue. If nothing else, I was getting her to talk freely, which was a vast improvement over our prior conversations. "How bad were the terms you and your father parted on?"

"Shots were fired."

Yeah, that was pretty bad. If this was true, no wonder she held Cerberus in such high regard. It was like a civvie joining the Alliance to get out of the slums. "You seem capable of defending yourself," I noted. "Why did you need Cerberus?"

"My father invested a great deal in his dynasty. It wasn't a matter of just leaving. I knew he would continue to pursue his... investments." She said that last word with a certain emphasis.

"Who exactly is your father?" I asked curiously.

"A businessman," she replied vaguely. "But a very wealthy one. It's ironic—my father believed deeply in a human-positive agenda. He donated generously to Cerberus... before I joined them. That's how I first heard about Cerberus—through my father's connections."

"What happened to your mother?"

"I never had one," she said sadly. "Most of my genetic material is based on my father's tissues. All except his Y chromosome, which was altered with an amalgam of desired traits from various sources." She paused for a moment, positively quivering. "How arrogant can you be? The man is completely egomaniacal. Just another reason I had to get away from him."

Emotion. Definitely emotion. The question was why. Either she was telling the truth, and it was still a sore and painful subject, or she was continuing to spin another sob-story, in which case she was one hell of an actress. If it was the former, that brought up another question: what did it say about Miranda if the only parent she had was one she so thoroughly hated? Was she a rebel, striking out against a cruel and unfeeling daddy? Was she an insecure wreck, alternatively lashing out at everyone while desperately seeking approval? Was she a fighter, forged in the fires of adversity and suffering, tempered into an unyielding and uncompromising woman? Who was she? Who was Miranda?

The fact that I kept asking questions while the hamster wheels in my brain kept spinning probably speaks volumes about my insatiable curiosity. "I assume that Cerberus approves of your enhanced abilities?" I guessed.

"Of course," Miranda confirmed. "Cerberus fully endorses anything that advances the cause of humanity—genetic alterations included. But unlike my father and his own selfish reasons, Cerberus and the Illusive Man believe in a greater good. They see the bigger picture... and I feel like I have a purpose here."

Despite the obvious difference in feelings that she had for her father and Cerberus, there was a common thread running underneath. "You talk about yourself like... I dunno, like you're an asset or tool. Something that your father or Cerberus can use. If I've understood you correctly, anything they did for you was an investment, to use your words, so you could better meet their ends."

"Maybe," she admitted. "I like to know where I fit in the galaxy. It helps me find meaning in how I was created."

Created. Boy was that impersonal or what? "You are who you are, Miranda," I said. "You don't need to word it as if you're making excuses or anything."

A bitter look flashed across her face, gone before I knew it. "That's easy for you to say," she replied, without a hint of the rancour I'd just glimpsed. "We've both been engineered for greatness, Shepard. The difference is you were great before we rebuilt you... I'm great because of it."

So despite that veneer of professionalism and perfection, deep down, Miranda had some serious insecurity issues. "Miranda, it's been years since I took any genetics classes, but I'm pretty sure they haven't discovered a gene for greatness. It's your spirit and personality that make you great. Hell, it's what makes anyone great."

For the first time in our conversation, she gave a slight smile. "That's kind of you. I'm not sure I believe you, but thanks for saying it."

I would never have guessed Miranda felt that way about herself based on her performance. She did a bang-up job handling the day-to-day operations aboard the Normandy. Better than I did when I was XO. Her abilities to analyze situations and execute plans on the battlefield were remarkable, especially for a civvie. Not to mention the diverse skill set she could employ against all sorts of enemies. And yet, she didn't feel like she deserved any recognition or accolades for her accomplishments. As much as she tried to hide it, she definitely felt quite strongly about this.

To be honest, I was quite curious about that, but Miranda refused to talk about it. Or anything else that didn't involve the Mission, for that matter. So I was rather surprised when, shortly after Horizon, Kelly told me she wanted to talk to me. As soon as possible.

"Shepard," she said in a quiet, but tense, voice, "I find myself in the unpleasant position of asking for your help. I don't like discussing personal matters... but this is important."

It had clearly taken a lot for her to admit that, so I didn't pinch myself to check that I was dreaming. "What's going on?"

"You remember what I told you about Father?" she asked. "Building a dynasty?"

"Yep."

"There was another reason I went to Cerberus for protection." Miranda got up and started pacing around the office. "I have a sister," she revealed. "A twin."

Well. This was a fascinating development. Joining Cerberus to hide from Daddy is one thing, as it basically boiled down to trading service for safety. Joining it to protect your sister was another matter entirely, as it meant that part of that safety was for someone else. That kind of altruism, particularly when combined with her usual cold facade, lent a lot more credence to the possibility that she had been honest with me from the beginning. "What was the deal, exactly? You join Cerberus and let it reap the benefits of your intelligence and talents, in exchange for her safety?"

Miranda shook her head. "Not exactly. I wanted my sister to have a normal life, away from machinations and agendas. She would never have that as long as she was with my father. Nor would she have that with Cerberus. The deal was that I would join Cerberus. In return, they would set her up with a foster family who would raise her like any other child—well, any exceptionally gifted child—and keep Father's operatives away. Up until now, they've succeeded. Father has been chasing false leads for over a decade while Cerberus kept her safe. But he still kept searching. And now he's found her."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"Illium."

"You're sure your father has tracked her down?"

"Positive, Commander," she nodded, biting her lip in the process. "My sources indicate he knows that she's on Illium. I've tried to keep her hidden without impacting her life, inserting my own false intel to mask her whereabouts, but I'm out of options."

I don't think I'd ever seen or heard her so worried or panicked. She needed to stop and take a deep breath to calm down before continuing. "He's too close. I need to relocate my sister's family before it's too late."

Now I could see why she had wanted to talk to me. Technically, this had no direct impact on the mission, which meant she couldn't override my authority as ranking Cerberus officer and order me to Illium—not that I would have listened anyway. She had to convince me to make a detour.

Granted, this could still be a setup. An elaborate hoax to trick me into sympathizing with one of the most strident and obvious pro-Cerberus operatives on my ship. But if she wasn't pulling a fast one and her sister really was in danger... could I really take that risk and do nothing? Besides, I knew what I would do if I were in her shoes. Boots. Whatever. "What else can you tell me about your sister?" I asked.

"She's my genetic twin. We're identical. But she deserves a normal life," Miranda said firmly. "And she's going to get it, no matter what."

"Does your sister's family know about this? Are they okay with being relocated?"

Miranda shook her head. "They know nothing. They're completely uninvolved. Normal. I told Cerberus and they're coming up with a positive reason to move the family."

That was the second time she said the word 'normal.' Plus, she'd used Cerberus resources to arrange an emergency relocation. Clearly there was something else that was just as important to her—if not more—than the mission. "Okay," I agreed. "What do you need me to do?"

She sighed in relief. "My father is extremely persistent. I'd like to go to Illium when Cerberus is moving the family to make sure none of his agents get too close."

"We have to head to Illium eventually to recruit Thane and Samara," I said. "No reason we can't take care of that as well."

"I've already set up the relocation to coincide with when we're most likely to arrive," Miranda nodded.

Of course she did.

"My contact's name is Lanteia. She'll be waiting for us in the Eternity lounge, near the Nos Astra docking bay."

At the time, I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go or how long it would have taken. But apparently Miranda did. We wound up meeting her contact the day we arrived on Illium, about ten hours after we left the Normandy.

When we arrived at the private room in the lounge, an asari was waiting for us. "Ms. Lawson, I'm glad you made it," she said without preamble. "We've had a complication."

"What happened, Lanteia?" Miranda asked immediately. "Is Oriana all right?"

Given that Miranda had never actually stated her twin's name before, I took a wild stab in the dark and guessed that Oriana was the sister in question.

"She's fine," Lanteia reassured her. "But... you listed a man named Niket as your trusted source? He contacted me, warning that your father had sent Eclipse mercenaries to make a sweep. He suggested that the mercs might be watching for you personally. He's offered to escort Oriana's family to the terminal instead."

"Who is this 'Niket'?" I asked. "You didn't mention anything about him."

"He's a friend," Miranda replied. "He and I go back a long way."

"Do you want to bring in any of your other Illium contacts, Ms. Lawson?" Lanteia asked.

"No," Miranda shook her head. "You and Niket are the only two I trust on this."

"Is there anything you can do about the mercenaries?" I asked.

Lanteia shrugged. "I could try to alert the authorities, but so far they've done nothing illegal."

"You made the right decision," Miranda reassured her. "We'll handle this ourselves."

"It's your sister, Miranda," I said. "What do you want to do?"

Miranda quickly came to a decision. "Lanteia, follow Niket's suggestion. We'll take the car and draw their attention. Have Niket escort the family to the shuttle. Give him full access to the family's itinerary, just to be safe."

"Understood, Ms. Lawson."

I raised a hand. "Just so I'm clear: the plan is for us to get shot down by Eclipse while your sister gets to safety?"

"Eclipse will be under orders to take my sister alive," Miranda said. "They won't risk anything that could kill us."

Presumably because they didn't want to accidentally shoot the woman they were being paid to 'rescue' just because she bore an uncanny resemblance to a hostile party. "Speaking of which," I frowned, "I doubt Eclipse will send all their people just to stop you. Do you want to give Niket any backup?"

"Niket can take care of himself," Miranda replied. "Besides, any armed backup just draws attention to him."

Eh. Fair point. "I'm ready whenever you are, Miranda."

We paused long enough to break up the squad into teams, allowing for the capacity of aircars to hold four people. In the end, we settled on Miranda, Grunt, Kasumi and I in Team One; Garrus, Jack and Tali in Team Two; and Jacob, Zaeed and Mordin in Team Three. (1) As long as we could scrounge up enough aircars, we'd be fine.

Miranda glanced at me as we walked away. "Thank you, Shepard. I appreciate this. I hadn't planned on Eclipse... but they never planned on you."

Story of my life.

While we got all the aircars we'd need, Miranda plotted a route that would intercept the Eclipse mercenaries. Then we got in, flew off and waited to get noticed.

That didn't take long.

"Damn it!" Miranda swore, looking out the window. Turning my head in the direction she was looking at, I uttered a similar curse. "Gunships," I identified. "Probably Eclipse."

"They'll be dropping troops in the cargo areas," Miranda guessed.

As long as they did that and not shoot us down. Hopefully these particular gunships were optimized for transport only. I opened the comm to the rest of the squad. "Land in that cover behind them," I ordered, highlighting the designated area with a waypoint marker.

"Let's hope they really do want to take us alive," Kasumi murmured.

A second later, gunfire started ricocheting off the aircar chassis. "Hope everyone got their seatbelts buckled," I said, immediately weaving the aircar in random vectors to keep the mercs guessing. Unfortunately, the aircar wasn't as responsive as I'd like, thanks to all the damage we'd taken. The only saving grace was that the gunfire was indeed coming from the ground, rather than the gunships. We wound up bouncing off the ground before skidding to a halt. As the other aircars touched down, my team popped out.

"I got this," the merc leader said to his mercs, striding forward. He was wearing a high-grade hardsuit, but eschewed a helmet, relying on his tech armour to protect his head. (2)

"Since you're not firing yet, I trust you know who I am," Miranda called out.

"Yeah," they said you'd be in the car," he confirmed. "You're the bitch that kidnapped our boss's little girl."

Miranda took exception to that. "Kidnapped? You clearly don't know what you're doing. I suggest you take your men and go."

"Think you've got it all lined up, huh?" the merc boss sneered. "Captain Enyala's already moving in on the kid. She knows about Niket. He won't be helping you."

"What do you mean, Niket won't be helping us?" I asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about," the boss said, waving me off. "Nobody's going to get killed unless you do something stupid. You walk away now, the girl goes back to her father, and everybody's happy."

"Everybody but my sister," Miranda retorted. "And me."

"Maybe we should talk to Captain Enyala about this?" I suggested. "Try to work this out."

The leader grinned. "You don't want to talk to the captain. She's not as... polite... as I am. She's the best commando I've ever seen. I've seen her tear people in half with her biotics. And she's getting paid a lot to stop you."

"She gets in my way, she'll never have a chance to spend it," Miranda snapped.

"Ease up, lady," he laughed. "We just want the kid."

The hell?

"Miranda, why is he saying Oriana's a 'kid'?" I murmured. "You said she was your twin sister." I mean, Miranda looked good—real good—for her age, but no one would go so far as to call her a kid.

The boss overheard me. "Is that what she told you?" he laughed. "No, this crazy bitch kidnapped our boss's baby daughter. He's been looking for her for more than a decade."

"It's complicated, Shepard," Miranda quickly said. "We share the same DNA, just not the same birthday."

"You took a baby from the richest guy in the galaxy, lady," the boss scowled. "I don't know what your damage is, but you're not getting away with it."

Clearly I didn't have the whole picture, but now wasn't the time to play Twenty Questions. "You're not getting Miranda's sister," I returned. "If you push this, it'll go badly for you."

He crossed his arms. "Captain Enyala ordered us to give you one chance to walk away. But this whole time we've been talking, my men have been lining up shots."

As he swaggered forward, I glanced around, determining where everybody—and everything—was. Now if someone could get a little closer.

Boss guy politely obliged, getting in my face and snarled "When I say the word, we unleash hell on your squad. So I suggest you walk away nicely, unless you want things to get ugly."

I glanced at Miranda and the rest of the squad. Catching on, they each gave a barely perceptible nod. Looking back at the Eclipse boss, I tilted my head in confusion. "Just how ugly are we talking about, here?"

"Huh?"

"Do you mean 'mildly unpleasant' or 'not fit for polite company'? Or maybe you meant 'nauseating'. That I can handle. I mean, I'm a big boy. I've seen my share of uncomfortable situations. As long as we stick to that, I'll be okay. But please, please don't tell me it's worse than that. Tell me you don't mean 'Oh for the love of God, close your eyes, it's hideous.' 'Cause if that's what you're talking about—"

My little ramble caused quite a bit of distraction, judging by all the looks of confusion and—more importantly—gradual lowering of weapons. Seizing the moment, Miranda reached to her hip and pulled out her pistol. The leader immediately turned his attention to her. Taking advantage of his distraction, I pulled him towards me, got a good grip on his head and snapped his neck. (3)

As the leader crumpled to the ground, Miranda and the rest of the squad was laying down cover fire. I grabbed my own pistol and started shooting at the clamps of a freight crane. It took about seven shots before the clamps snapped open; dropping the cargo crate it was carrying on top of a pair of mercs. The crate exploded, sending one of them flying through the air. He bounced off another crate, barely missing a salarian merc—who dropped his pistol and stared after him, mouth gaping open. Funniest thing I'd seen so far.

Miranda took advantage of his distraction to zap his shields. Next thing he knew, he was on fire, courtesy of yours truly. Garrus led Team Two forward to a small platform while Team Three took cover behind some barrels on our left. Looking around, my sensors ID'd a merc who had better shields than the typical rank and file. I signalled everyone to focus on him. With my luck, they were the ones who'd have better weapons. Or could generate those annoying combat drones.

Kasumi drained most of that guy's shields. Grunt's weapons fire took care of the rest. He would have continued firing if Zaeed's concussive round hadn't blown his head off. He turned back and roared "No stealing! That one was mine!"

"Stop whining and keep shooting!" Zaeed retorted.

Tali shook her head and tapped her omni-tool. I expected her to fire off an EMP of her own. So I was a bit surprised when a drone spawned right next to her. "Go for the optics, Chikitta!" she ordered. "Go for the optics!" The drone chirped a reply and sped off to the nearest merc. That merc started cursing—at a high volume, given all the gunfire chattering around—and started slapping at... Chikkita. Mordin took advantage to send a bolt of plasma sizzling into his face.

Within a few minutes, the mercs were eliminated. The only one left was hiding around the corner with a rocket launcher. That one was easy to handle—I just cloaked, snuck up on him and pummelled him into a pulp.

"Come on!" Miranda urged. "We've got to get to Niket!"

"Sure," Jacob pointed with his arm. "Just as soon as we tackle those guys."

Two more mercs came barrelling out of an elevator. Standard Eclipse troopers. We ran them over without too much fuss—not literally, of course. "Hah! Weakling!" Grunt crowed as the last one bit the dust.

There were no more mercs popping out, so we walked towards the elevator. A squawking voice had everyone jerk their weapons up and look around.

"Hang on," Miranda said. She strode over, bent down and picked up a radio. "I'll patch us in, see if I can get an idea what we're up against." She looked back at me while her fingers danced over the radio. "Shepard... I think I owe you an explanation. Oriana is my twin, genetically. But my father... grew her when I was a teenager."

'Grew?'

"She was meant to replace me. I couldn't let my father do to her what he did to me. So I rescued her."

"Why didn't you tell me that we were saving a kid?" I asked.

"She's not a child," Miranda corrected, "she'll be 19 this year. But... well, it didn't seem relevant at the time, I suppose. There are people who'd use her against me. I'm very protective when it comes to Oriana. Still, I'm sorry I didn't trust you sooner. You deserved to know."

Leaving out bits of intel like that can get people killed, and I was in no hurry to become one of them. Having said that, I'd probably keep things on a 'need-to-know' basis if I were in Miranda's shoes. Well, not exactly her shoes since I could never wear high heels—and how the heck could she walk around in those things without toppling over? Never mind run on the battlefield. But I digress.

"How young was Oriana when you took her?"

"Only a couple months old."

"Juggling a way to escape your father and take a baby sister with you," I marveled. "That couldn't have been easy."

Miranda shuddered, which by itself spoke volumes. "If you knew my father, you would understand why I had to try. I wasn't the first one he made. I was only the first one he kept. I was brought up with no friends—other than the ones I made in secret—and pushed to meet impossible demands. Any action I did that did not consider every variable and possible outcome was a failure. Any academic score that was less than perfect was a failure. Anything I did that wasn't 100% perfect was a failure. I wasn't a daughter to him. I was..." She broke off, visibly upset, before concluding "I don't know what I was. Oriana has had a normal life. I made the right decision."

"All right," I nodded. "If Eclipse knows where Oriana is, they'll be moving in on her soon. We need to hurry."

"Agreed," Miranda replied. "I'm a bit worried by what the merc said, though. If they've got to Niket somehow, this is going to be harder than I'd planned. According to the specs I reviewed, we'll need to cut through the cargo processing yard to get to Oriana."

"What do the specs say about the cargo processing yard?" I asked.

"We'll be moving through conveyor systems," Miranda summarized. "There'll be a lot of movement. Finding targets won't be easy. We'll need to stay sharp. And these cargo transports carry hazardous materials, so watch what you shoot at."

"We'll do that." I quickly looked at everyone to make sure they understood. I really didn't need to get blown up by indirect friendly fire. "I hope your friend can be trusted," I added, turning back to Miranda.

"Absolutely," Miranda said. "Niket is one of my oldest friends. I guess you could say he was my only real friend. He's the only person I didn't cut ties with when I left my father."

The conspiracy buff in me started getting nervous at that last sentence. "Is there a chance your father could be using Niket to get to you?"

"I'm sure he's tried, but Niket's one of the few people who understands what my father is really like," she replied confidently. "I trusted him with my life when I ran from my father, Shepard. He won't betray me now."

"Let's go find Niket and Oriana," I said, activating the elevator controls.

When the elevator doors popped open, we slowly crept out, guns at the ready. I led the squad over to the right and through a cargo container—

Hello. A PDA. Bound to have a credit account worth hacking if experience was any indication. As I started tapping away, Miranda was peering ahead. "Trouble on the far side of the conveyor line!" she warned. "Time your shots!"

As soon as I'd hacked the PDA and transferred the funds to my own account, we started towards towards the area Miranda indicated, leapfrogging teams forward one at a time. Naturally it was Team One who was closest when the mercs started firing.

Kasumi tried to knock out the shields of three mercs, but only succeeded in knocking out one. That poor guy was promptly set on fire. Meanwhile, Miranda sent her own EMP, with Grunt quick to fire a concussive round into the merc whose shields had suddenly dissipated.

While Garrus led his team forward, Team One started a steady round of EMPs, fireballs and concussive rounds. We were outnumbered about two to one, but we just slowly picked off mercs one at a time. It probably helped that the conveyor belt that was automatically moving cargo along blocked our line of sight as well as the mercs. And once Team Two joined us, things quickly turned in our favour. Even the extra reinforcements that showed up didn't slow us down.

During the fight, I kept a steady eye on the HUD. It looked like there were a couple more mercs over on our left. But they weren't joining the fight. What were they waiting for?

The answer became evident shortly after the mercs on our end fell silent, in the form of two combat drones.

Gritting my teeth, I ran past them. The sooner they started zapping me, the sooner their own systems would short out. And it was better to set them off now than when we were actually under fire.

Once I got closer, I could see that there were two salarian mercs hiding behind a stack of crates. Team Three had arrived by this point, so I ordered them to move forward and cut them off before they could flank us on the left. Garrus got the idea and did the same on the right.

It was a textbook flanking move—keep the enemy pinned down, slowly advance on them, cut off their escape routes and get into a position where you can get the jump on them—or take advantage of any stupid moves they make. The mercs tried to counter with combat drones and fireballs of their own, but we were ready for them. In desperation, one of the salarians bolted for another set of crates, trying to get a clear shot. My fireball was ready for him.

"We need a medic!" the unburned salarian cried out, presumably into his comm. Too late—his buddy succumbed to the burns a second later. He tried to sic another combat drone on us, which Tali prompted countered with her own. While he was trying to figure out what to do next, Jack levitated him up into the air, allowing Garrus to snipe him in the head.

"This is Enyala," an unfamiliar voice called out over the comm, just as the salarian dropped to the ground with a thud. Guess Miranda had successfully patched into the Eclipse frequencies after all. "Keep the bitch back! Niket is nearing the transport terminal!"

Miranda immediately let out a blistering string of curses. "Garrus, swipe the medkit in the container over there. Jacob; possible schematic in the adjacent container. Grab them so we can get moving."

We all looked at her. "How did you know they were there?" I asked.

She gave me a look that clearly said "Who are you talking to, again?"

"Never mind."

We grabbed the loot—which was exactly where Miranda said they would be—and moved on. It wasn't long before we blithely blundered into more bad guys. LOKI light mechs, for the most part. Mordin and I automatically melted the armour off the closest pair.

"Burn and die!" Grunt roared. He charged at one of them, knocked it over and blew its head off with his assault rifle. Tali settled for a more delicate approach, choosing to hack the other mech and turn it against its compatriots.

"Everyone hold your fire," Garrus called out. "Wait until the other mechs catch up. Focus on the mech Tali hacked."

Realizing what he was thinking, I followed his lead. "Miranda, Mordin and I will take out the armour on the other mechs," I added. On my HUD, I watched as the mech suffered more and more damage, while the rest of the mechs came a little closer. Just a little bit more...

"Open fire!" Garrus yelled.

On his command, the rest of the squad unleashed a single volley at the mech, while Miranda, Mordin and I melted or blasted the armour off of its compatriots. The damaged mech stumbled, collapsed on the ground and exploded—taking out the remaining mechs in the process. In the distance, I heard someone—presumably one of the mercs curse. He must have lodged a complaint or something, because Enyala soon responded. "I don't care how many mechs you lose!" she snapped. "Just stall them, damn it!"

It was possible that the mercs were hard of hearing, because the next couple mercs we ran into didn't stall us at all. Their demise did not go unnoticed, unfortunately.

"Divert everyone except my guard from Niket," Enyala ordered. "I'll handle him and the kid personally."

"Damn it!" Miranda cried out. "I'm not letting her get Oriana."

"Look on the bright side," I told her. "We're making them react to our assault instead of the other way around."

"As long as we don't regret it," she fretted.

Her words proved to be prophetic. The next wave of mercs were heavily armed and they got the first shot off—a round of assault rifle fire and a rocket sent us scrambling for cover. Of course, we quickly got our wits together and disabled their shields. After that, it was a tossup in our favour.

Moving around the corner, we found ourselves travelling down a narrow corridor created by one of the walls and a tall stack of crates. A perfect fire zone to focus weapons fire if I ever saw one. The mercs must have had the same idea, judging by the dozen troopers and mechs waiting for us. We promptly knocking out the shields from random mercs, delivering well-aimed concussive rounds to knock them into their comrades or just merrily set them ablaze. With all that chaos, we quickly got the upper hand.

Unfortunately, the next wave of mercs had seen us and was less inclined to stand out in the open and let us whittle them down. Instead, they made ample use of all the cover they had at their disposal, and another damn conveyor belt which kept blocking our way with cargo.

In hindsight, I didn't really do much fighting. Oh I sniped a merc before he could send some fireballs or combat drones after us. But most of my time was spent keeping a close eye on the status of my squad and the mercs, figuring out when the former was ready to do something like launch an EMP, fire a concussive round, whip off a fireball or cast some biotic voodoo, and which merc should be the next to suffer our wrath. Should I set that one on fire... no, let Zaeed kill him with a concussive round. I'll burn the next guy and, let's see; Garrus and Jack can tag-team merc number three.

Glancing over to my right, I saw a merc trooper and one of the higher-ranking mercs run for cover. A quick order to Miranda and the trooper lost his shields, just before they ducked behind cover. I kept a close eye on them, waiting for them to emerge. When they did, they took an EMP and two fireballs to the face.

I then consulted my HUD and almost had a heart attack when I saw the number of enemies had multiplied. It was only when I took a cautious look around that I realized what had happened: the only mercs left were equipped with those fancy omni-tool upgrades that let them spawn combat drones. Apparently they were so worried about a mass assault that they generated tons of them. Now if they had sent the drones after us, we might have had a problem. Instead, the mercs surrounded themselves with the drones like little glowing bodyguards. I quickly gave the order to stay back, avoid provoking the drones and pick off the mercs one by one. There were a few growls of protest—mostly from Grunt and Jack—but the squad obeyed my orders.

Once the last merc was down, the drones obligingly flickered away. We were then free to loot thermal clips, credits and the odd pack of eezo to our heart's content.

Well, until EDI interrupted us. Killjoy.

"Eclipse operatives have attempted to delay you by disabling the elevators," it confirmed us. "I am overriding their lockdown."

That would help us later on. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything about the dozen mercs that were guarding said elevators. "Concentrate on the troopers," I ordered. The more cannon fodder we eliminated, the less firepower we'd be facing as the fight went on.

That plan went pretty well at first. We managed to drop a couple mercs here and there. Then I noticed an asari sneaking forward, barriers and shotgun at the ready. Somehow, I figured having her get up close and personal was a bad idea.

Miranda thought the same thing, judging by the large biotic explosion against the asari's barriers. Three concussive rounds punched through what was left and knocked her over. The asari spent a few seconds flailing around, mainly because she was trying to slap out the fires I'd started with my omni-tool. Then she tried to get up.

By that point, Grunt was charging straight towards her, roaring all the way.

Trusting that the asari would no longer be a problem, I turned my attention back to the battlefield. Just two more mercs—one was spitting out rockets; the other spitting out combat drones. I sniped the former and, in my infinite generosity, let someone else handle the latter.

Just as the last merc dropped to the ground, we heard Enyala again. From the sounds of things, she was giving the mercs a sitrep. Probably something like—

"Niket has reached the terminal. He'll switch the family over to our transport."

Aw, crap. I hadn't considered anything like that.

"Niket? But... that can't be right..."

Apparently, neither had Miranda.

We quickly scrounged up any thermal clips we could find—and some much-needed power cells—and got into the elevator. I was trying to figure out how quickly we could get to Enyala and Niket, given my past experiences with elevators.

Miranda was frantically rationalizing like there was no tomorrow. "Maybe the captain knows we're listening in and she's feeding misinformation about Niket making a switch," she tried. I silently tapped the elevator controls. And groaned: we were at Dock 78. According to the info Miranda provided before we arrived at Illium, the terminal that Oriana's family was heading towards could only be accessed via another elevator at Dock 94. In other words, we had to take this elevator all the way to the top, traverse yet another battlefield, then take another elevator. This could be a long trip. Heck, this elevator ride alone felt like an eternity. Especially with that annoyingly cheerful muzak.

"Or maybe it means something else," Miranda continued desperately. "Niket wouldn't do that. Damn it, why won't this thing go any faster?" She abruptly swivelled and slammed her fist into the control panel. That did more than vent her frustrations—a signal transmitted from her omni-tool, shutting off the music and dramatically accelerating the car.

I wish I had thought of that two years ago. It would have made all the elevator rides in the Citadel—and Noveria and countless other places—more bearable.

I turned to Miranda. "Now might not be the best time to ask this, but what makes you so sure that Niket wouldn't turn on you?"

"He could've turned on me when I ran away," she replied in a calm, but bewildered, tone. "I'm sure my father tried to buy him off. If he didn't do it then, why would he do it now?"

A sudden thought occurred to me. "Did Niket know that you took Oriana from your father?"

"No, he just found out about that recently. It was too personal to involve someone else."

I raised an eyebrow.

She picked up on what I was hinting at. "I never really thought about it, but maybe... no. He'd have understood why I did it. He knows what I went through."

"Well you're the one who knows him, Miranda," I reassured her. "If you don't think he'd betray you, then I'm sure there's another explanation."

"I don't know, damn it," she said in despair. "But I guess we'll find out soon enough." Her face adopted a look of grim determination. "And then I'll have a word with this Captain Enyala."

Apparently Enyala and Niket didn't see eye to eye on certain matters, as they were arguing loud enough for us to hear inside the elevator car.

"This isn't worth my time, Niket," a female voice—presumably Enyala—complained. "I get paid regardless of how the girl gets there."

"No," Niket said emphatically. "I was told that I could handle this my way. We're not traumatizing the family any more than we—"

The elevator doors opened at that point, interrupting whatever he was going to say. The squad barrelled out, guns at the ready. We could see several mercs scattered throughout the dock, but focused our attention on the Niket and the two asari. Presumably the one holding a shotgun instead of a datapad was Enyala.

Niket's eyes widened in surprise. "Miri."

"This should be fun," Enyala snorted, hopping off the crate she was sitting on and lifting her shotgun. The squad immediately raise their weapons in response. Niket jerked his hands up halfway between 'Don't hurt me' and 'I surrender.'

The dock official took that opportunity to run for it. She made it about three steps before Enyala sent a shotgun shell after her. The impact sent her flying into a nearby barrel. Between the gaping hole in her back and the angle of her neck, it was safe to assume she wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

"Niket," Miranda greeted her old (ex)-friend coldly. "You sold me out."

"How do you want to handle this, Miranda?" I murmured.

Apparently, shooting wasn't Plan A. That was good—easier to get answers that way. "Why, Niket?" she asked, her voice tinged with hurt and betrayal. "You were my friend. You helped me get away from my father."

"Yes!" Niket replied. "Because you wanted to leave. That was your choice! But if I'd known that you'd stolen a baby—"

"I didn't steal her! I rescued her!" Miranda snapped back.

"From a life of wealth and happiness?" Niket asked in disbelief. "You weren't saving her! You were getting back at your father!"

Since we were playing Twenty Questions, I decided to chip in. Get some actual information instead of bandying accusations back and forth. "How did Miranda's father turn you?"

"Yes," Miranda echoed. "How?"

"They told me you'd kidnapped your baby sister all those years ago," Niket said. "They said I could help get her back peacefully. No trauma to the family. I told them you'd never do that. That they could go to hell. Then you finally told me what you'd done. I called them back that night."

Oops. That's the problem when the people who need to know aren't on the 'need-to-know' list.

Miranda's voice thickened with emotion. "Why didn't you call me, Niket?" she burst out. "We've been through a lot. You could've at least let me explain."

"I deserved to know that you'd stolen your sister, Miri." Niket's voice was calmer, but no less betrayed than Miranda. "I deserved to know you were with Cerberus. But I had to hear it from your father first."

It was then that I noticed the quality of his clothes. Hardly high-class, but pretty close. That raised a nagging suspicion. "How much did Miranda's father pay you?"

"A great deal."

A choked noise popped out of Miranda's mouth before she could stifle it. Sometimes I hate it when my hunches pay off. "Damn it, Niket! You were the only one I trusted from that life."

"He knew you felt that way," Niket nodded. "That's why he bought me."

Twisted symmetry and sticking it to his own daughter. The man was clearly a piece of work.

"So you just took his money," Miranda spat.

"Don't get holy with me, Miri," Niket hissed back. "You took his money for years."

"Whether or not you agree with Miranda, Oriana has been with her family for years now," I pointed out.

"Her father can still give her a better life," Niket disagreed.

"You don't know what my father wants for her," Miranda argued.

"I know that I've been poor," Niket replied. "I didn't much care for it."

So he thought a better socioeconomic status might be in Oriana's best interests. There were a few holes in that argument, I thought. But I guess it was one way to justify all the betrayal he was feeling, including the one that came from accepting Daddy's paycheque.

"That's what you're going with?" I snorted. "Yeah, Miranda grew up in the lap of luxury. But then she left all that behind and ran. With Oriana. Shouldn't that tell you something? Shouldn't that suggest that maybe this guy isn't all he's cracked up to be? That maybe life with him was hardly a happy little picnic? Besides, Oriana was a baby when Miranda took her. She won't remember her biological father. Which means you're delivering her to a total stranger."

"Exactly," Miranda chimed in. "My father wants to take a girl away from the only family she's ever known. By force. Like Shepard just said: doesn't that tell you what he really is?"

"If not," I added, "either you're really determined to stick your head in the sand and ignore what's in front of you, or you just don't care because there's a lot of zeroes in the paycheque you received."

Niket had nothing to say this time. I decided to let him stew on that while I switched targets. "By the way, I knew Eclipse was willing to get their hands dirty," I said, turning to Enyala, "but kidnapping a kid? Isn't that a little low, even for you guys?"

"I'm not stealing her," she corrected. "I'm rescuing her. Come on, Niket. Let's finish this bitch off and get out of here."

"Take your best shot," Miranda bit out behind gritted teeth.

"I was just waiting for you to finish getting dressed," Enyala retorted. "Or does Cerberus really let you whore around in that outfit?"

"I like her," Jack piped up. "We're still recruiting, right?"

I chose to ignore that comment. Besides, something else had occurred to me. "Miranda, if Niket knows about Oriana, then your father does too. Relocating her won't work."

"Miranda's father has no information about Oriana," Niket admitted. "I knew you had spy programs in your father's system, Miri, so I kept it private. I only told him I had a number of leads to follow up. I'm the only one who knows the whole thing."

"Which means that you're the only loose end," Miranda concluded sadly. "This isn't how I wanted it to end, Niket. I'm going to miss you..."

I grabbed her arm and yanked it up before she could pull the trigger. "Miranda, wait," I cautioned. "You don't want to do this."

"This has to end here, Shepard," Miranda replied. "My father will keep trying to find Oriana."

I looked at Niket, who looked more and more like he was regretting his earlier actions. "Maybe Niket can help," I speculated. "With your father." I turned to Niket. "Just tell him Miranda got here first. Or better yet, say your leads didn't pan out."

"I can do that," he agreed. "I'll say that you did too good a job of hiding her. That I couldn't find out where she is and I have to keep looking."

Miranda nodded stiffly, then stabbed a finger towards him. "As long as your 'looking' takes you far, far away from me. I never want to see you again, Nik—"

A shot rang out.

Niket slumped to the ground. A wisp of smoke trickled from Enyala's shotgun. "Done," Enyala said calmly. "Now if you don't mind, I have a shipment to deliver."

The shock on Miranda's face vanished in an instant, replaced by fury and rage. She made some kind of gesture that enveloped Enyala in a biotic field and lifted her up in the air. "You'll die for that, bitch!" she snarled. A bolt of biotics lanced out from her hand, sending her arcing through the air, barrelling through a stack of crates and slamming into the floor. She quickly got up, though, and started moving towards us. Along with the rest of the mercs.

I quickly assessed the battlefield. There were three paths between us and the elevator. Enyala was heading down the left; everyone else was slowly moving towards the right. Centre path was clear.

"Team Three; keep Enyala busy. Team One, with me. Team Two; help whichever team's in trouble." I ordered."

The way I figured it, it would be easier to eliminate Enyala's flunkies and then tackle her than try to wear her down while said flunkies were shooting up our backsides—so the left path was out. Still, I didn't want Enyala sneaking up and making mincemeat out of us while our backs were turned. That's what Team Three was for.

Centre path meant running the gauntlet. I'll pass, thanks.

Right path had the most mercs, but it also had lots of cover and lots of clutter. If they tried charging towards us, they'd just get funnelled into a narrow kill zone and trip over each other. I was fine with them making that mistake, but not us—hence why only Team One was going in.

And if we got in over our heads or Enyala proved to be even more of a headache than anticipated? That's why Team Two had operational discretion to act as a mobile reserve and reinforce whichever team needed help.

First things first—another asari. Barriers, shotgun—probable headache. Miranda landed an expert hit with her biotics that drained almost two thirds of her barriers. A quick sniper shot did the rest. Kasumi launched an EMP at one of the troopers, leaving him wide open for Grunt to fire several shots. He tried to finish him off with a concussive round, but the merc ducked just in time.

Speaking of which, it was time for us to duck, as the mercs sent a volley of gunfire—and plasma fire—back at us. While we took cover, I checked to see how the others were doing. It looked like Enyala had taken a couple licks from Teams Three, though her barriers were still holding. Team Two had assumed a holding position behind some crates, where the other mercs couldn't see them, and was laying down cover fire whenever it looked like Enyala might start getting aggressive. So far, so good.

Miranda shifted her position, her body posture indicating she wanted to head back. Probably so she could give Enyala a good pounding. I grabbed her arm again and shook her head. She glared. I glared back, pointed to her and Kasumi, and pointed forward. She sighed and nodded. I got Kasumi's attention, repeated my series of gestures and counted down from three.

On my signal, Miranda and Kasumi simultaneously fired off EMPs. Miranda managed to knock out another trooper's shields, so I set him on fire. Kasumi was aiming for the guy who looked like he had the most seniority, but he managed to generate a combat drone just in time to intercept the pulse. Grunt fired a couple shots to drive him back, and then swivelled towards the merc who had ducked his concussive round. That merc didn't get lucky again.

I took another look back to see how things were faring behind us. Enyala's barriers were almost gone. A pair of mercs had joined her, but they weren't exactly turning the tide of battle. I glimpsed Tali sending her own combat drone forwards to harass the merc leader while Jack used her biotics to send the other mercs flying.

As for Team One, we'd reduced the opposition to a mere handful of mercs. I gauged where they were and what weapons or tools they had at their disposal, and then gave my orders. Kasumi lobbed a flashbang grenade to disorient them. While they were busy blinking stars out of their eyes, Grunt and I ganged up on one of them while Kasumi tackled another. Miranda was holding her EMP for merc number three, sending it as soon as he lobbed a fireball at her. Her pulse obliterated his shields, opening the way for me to send a fireball back at him. While he was flailing away, I lifted my sniper rifle and put him out of his misery—just as the rest of the team dropped the last merc.

At that point, Enyala knew she was screwed. To be fair, she'd put up a tough fight. She'd singlehandedly tied up two thirds of my squad with her constant assaults, made all the more dangerous by her prolific use of offensive biotics and the frequency with which she replenished her barriers. Unfortunately—for her—the entire squad was now free to concentrate on her, all her buddies were dead, her barriers had been drained yet again and her armour was showing some serious damage. It was time for her to bail.

Her efforts to run, however, brought her right into the sights of my sniper rifle. One pull of the trigger cracked her armour wide open. Judging by the way she winced and doubled over, I guessed the bullet had actually penetrated her hardsuit and went through her body, but didn't have enough leftover velocity to punch its way out of the hardsuit—which meant it was probably bouncing around her innards at this very moment. Shame.

Miranda probably thought the same way, given the ferocity with which she attacked Enyala with her biotics. I guess the best way to describe it is as follows: Enyala went up in the air, slammed back down and didn't get up again.

"There could be more Eclipse mercs near the shuttle," Miranda fretted. "I want to make sure Oriana and her family get on safely."

"Right," I agreed. "Team Three; search up the left side for anything useful. Team Two gets the centre path; Team One takes the right. We'll meet up at the elevator in five minutes."

It actually took six. Miranda wasn't complaining, however. Now that the excitement had died down, the betrayal that she had suppressed came surging back with a vengeance. I actually had to call her over when the elevator doors opened.

"I can't believe Niket sold me out," she said as she joined us. "I didn't even see it coming."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," I told her. "Even with all your upgrades, you're only human."

Her voice trembled with emotion as she replied "But I let it get personal... and I screwed up. Why didn't you let me kill him?" she demanded, turning towards me. "I could have handled that. But watching him get gunned down by that asari bitch..."

"It's hard for a guy to make amends when he's dead," I replied. "Besides, you still cared for him. Even if he did betray you."

"You're right," she said. "And my father knew it. He used that against me. Like he always did. He'd give me anything I ever wanted, but there was always a hook, an angle for his long term plan. I threw away everything he ever gave me when I ran. Everything from my old life. Except Niket. Weakness on my part, perhaps?"

"You can't toss aside everything you care about just to be safe," I pointed out.

"You can try, though. What is it?"

The sudden shift in conversation kinda threw me for a moment. "Huh?"

"You look like you want to ask something."

Well, that was true. But was now really the best time?

Miranda must have realized what I was thinking. "It's okay, Shepard," she reassured me. "My father hurt me, but he didn't break me. As much as he tried to turn me into exactly what he wanted, I'm my own person. Niket hasn't changed that. Ask your question."

"All right," I sighed. "Are there any other old friends your father might use against you?"

She considered that for a second. "No," she shook her head. "I cut ties with everyone else. Anyone I'm close to now works for Cerberus... or you."

Wow. Now that was a big admission. I almost missed her add "My father's powerful, but he won't cross the Illusive Man."

"If you say so," I said. I reached over and hit the elevator controls. As the doors closed, I casually said "You're wrong, by the way."

"Oh?"

"You haven't abandoned everything from your old life. You still have Oriana."

"I said I abandoned everything from my old life that my father ever gave me," she reminded me. "He didn't give her to me. I rescued her. But yes, you're right. I still have something. Thank you."

We split up into teams again once we reached the terminal and did a quick sweep. For once, there were no more mercs.

"It looks like we're clear," Miranda said as the last team reported in. She looked throughout the terminal one more time...

...and froze.

"There she is."

Following her gaze, I saw a group of three people talking. One of them was a young woman who looked vaguely familiar. "Oriana?" I guessed.

Miranda nodded absently. "She's safe. With her family." Oddly enough—given all the trouble she'd gone to—Miranda looked kinda sad. "Come on," she said abruptly. "We should go."

"Now?" I asked. "Don't you even want to say hello or something?"

She looked at me blankly. "It's not about what I want. It's about what's right for her. The less she knows about me, the better. She's got a family. A life. I'll just complicate that for her."

I think that's when I got it. Miranda had devoted her life to Cerberus and her sister. Two goals with one common thread: a better world. A better galaxy. She had dedicated herself to doing what must be done so that others could be happy and normal, even if it meant creating a paradise that had no place for her. If it meant she would spend her days alone, so be it. She didn't deserve anything else. (4)

Boy was that screwed up.

"Look," I sighed, "she doesn't need a full debriefing, but would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister out there in the galaxy who loves her?"

Her mouth dropped ever so slightly. She glanced at Oriana and quickly lowered her head. Then, ever so slowly, she lifted her head back up. A look of longing filled her eyes as she whispered "I guess not." Her mouth twitched into a smile, as if this was a dream come true and she couldn't believe it was happening.

Which was probably why she just stood there. After a minute, I realized that she'd need a little more prodding. "Go on," I urged. "We'll wait here."

Miranda walked off slowly, gradually picking up her pace as she approached. I watched Oriana—and her adopted parents—as they saw this woman approach them. Their looks of confusion rapidly turned to surprise, which morphed almost immediately into delight.

They wound up chatting for over two hours. (5) Catching up on the last decade or so, I guess. Several members of the squad got really bored, so I let them wander off and explore—as long as they didn't burn down anything, kill anybody, get arrested or sign a contract. The rest of us stayed, talked amongst ourselves and waited. To be honest, I had trouble picturing Miranda and Oriana as twins, despite the fact that their genomes were virtually identical. It wasn't the age difference. Not really. It was just... the way they looked. They way they moved. Oriana seemed to have an air of innocence, exuberance and hope, while Miranda had a lot more awareness—in her surroundings, her sensuality, that sort of thing—experience and confidence. Seeing the two of them together, you would never have guessed that they were related.

Eventually, Miranda said her goodbyes and rejoined us. We got back into the elevator. Miranda and Oriana kept staring at each other right until the doors closed. Oriana had a smile on her face.

Miranda had tears of joy in her eyes.

I gave the squad the rest of the day off. We all needed a break. At least, I did. Though I still made an effort to make my usual rounds.

"Thanks again, Shepard," Miranda said solemnly when it was her turn to be interrupted by yours truly. "Taking the time to help me with my sister... "

She broke off for a moment before continuing. "I couldn't have reached Oriana in time without your help."

"I'm glad Niket tried to redeem himself," she added, getting up. "For what good it did." She walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, staring out the window into space. "Thank you for stopping me, Shepard."

"What was he like? Back then, I mean."

"I didn't have many friends. Niket was one of them." She smiled as old memories resurfaced. "He never wanted anything from me. He was... safe. Comfortable. A reminder of a more innocent time, I suppose."

"Are you happy about your sister's relocation?" I asked.

Miranda smiled again. I tried not to keel over. "She has what I wanted her to have—a normal life and the freedom to choose her own path. And she knows she has an older sister. A friend."

I moved so I was in her peripheral vision. "What did you guys talk about?"

"I introduced myself. Her family was shocked. She adjusted quickly, of course. She's as smart as I am. She plays the violin. Loves the adagio movement of Nielsen's Fifth, just like I do. She wants to work in colony development. Told a joke about it. She's really funny. Something we don't share."

She looked at me gratefully. "Thank you for convincing me to talk to her. It was... more than I could have imagined."

"Just personal experience," I shrugged. "I know how reassuring it can be to have a sibling to rely on or care about."

"A sibling?" Miranda repeated with a frown. "I studied your records very carefully. You're an only child."

"Well, not sibling in the biological sense," I hedged. "Since you studied my records, you know I bounced from ship to station to ship along with my folks. Kinda hard to make friends when you have to leave them every year or so. And keeping any friends is really hard when you consider the challenges of interstellar communication—even with military-level authorization, getting anything close to real-time conversations is a luxury. Extranet e-mails were the best I could do."

"But there was one exception," Miranda guessed.

"Ellie and I first met when our families were both stationed on the Einstein," I confirmed. "It was a total coincidence that our families were also reassigned to Arcturus Station. Or back to, I should say—it must have been Mom's third or fourth duty assignment there. Maybe fifth. Anyway, Ellie and I wound up hanging out together."

"Makes sense," Miranda said. "She was the one familiar face outside of your parents."

"Yeah," I nodded. "That was really important, especially after my dad... disappeared. Got to the point where Mom refused to go anywhere unless Ellie and her parents were given the same assignment. By that point, she had enough seniority and—more importantly—friends that strings could be pulled. In the end, Ellie wound up being the older sister I never had."

I don't know why I was telling Miranda this. I'd never really brought it up with anyone. Heck, I never even brought it up with Ashley, and she knew how important family was as the only constant in her childhood. (6)

"What happened to Ellie?"

"I'm not exactly sure," I admitted. "I've kinda lost touch with a lot of people over the last two years. Last I heard, she had finished med school and was in the middle of her residency." I made a mental note to get in touch with her. After talking to Mom, of course.

"Are you gonna talk to her again?"

"I honestly don't know," she confessed. "For once, I haven't planned that far ahead. I'll deal with it after our mission. I have to stay focused. Besides, she needs time to adjust to her new home."

"It's funny," I admitted. "I think of you as all business. Always about the mission. It's good to see that there's a person under there that did something for herself."

Her eyes shifted from the stars towards me. Getting up, she extended a hand. For a moment, I thought she was trying to shake hands. Then I realized her arm was too high. It looked like she was reaching for my...

...shoulder?

Miranda lowered her hand, almost reluctantly. "The mission's too important to let personal feelings interfere."

She was talking about Oriana's relocation.

I think.

"Thank you again, Commander. My sister is safe again, thanks in large part to you. I won't forget that."

"You're welcome, Miranda."

I got up to go. Rounds to make and all that. I had almost reached the door when Miranda called out: "So when can I expect to hear it?"

"Hear what?" I asked, turning back.

"Whatever obscure song you've selected to broadcast over the comm system." She raised an eyebrow at me. "What? You didn't think I'd noticed your pattern?"

Actually, I was wondering why she was the first one to call me out on it. I did have something in the works, and it seemed pointless to deny it. So I activated my omni-tool, pulled up the program I'd set up and overrode the time delay. "Satisfied, Miranda?" I asked, echoing Jacob's words when we'd left to meet the Illusive Man all those months ago.

"I suppose," she nodded.

The song began to play as I walked out the door, wondering who'd be the next one to admit they'd figured out my little game:

"Notes from the underground.
We're the mice who must write our lives down.
In the night, I hear you calling out to say
'It's all right, love, you're in good hands.'

"Tears on a borrowed bed,
Between walls that are painted somebody else's red.
If you hear me cry, I'm calling out to say
'It's all right, love, you're in good hands.'

"Still out on the roof,
Howling at the moon.
Exiles.
Another exile in the kingdom.
Still out on the roof,
All I need is you.
Exiles.
Oh, we are exiles.
We two." (7)

When I got back to my quarters, there was a new e-mail waiting for me in my inbox.

From: Oriana (Lawson)

I hope this is the right Commander Shepard. I'm Oriana. My sister only told me a little, but I don't think it occurred to her that I'm as smart as she is. I poked around a little and found an information broker who got me this address.

I got to thank her, but I never got to thank you for helping me. My parents don't really understand it, but I know how much Miranda did, how many little things over the years were her looking out for me. I'm not going to tell them. I still want to go to school and get some degrees. But I wanted you to know that I know you saved me.

I had a guardian angel all these years. I don't know if my sister has anybody. She said she's working for you, and it was pretty clear that you were doing something dangerous. Make sure she comes back alive, okay?

—Oriana

PS: Don't tell her I sent you this. It would just make her angry.

PPS: Miranda, quit looking at Shepard's messages. Oh, don't act like you don't. It's what I'd do.

Heh. That was cute, that little dig at Miranda. As if she could...

...

Nah. She couldn't.

...

I decided to do a security sweep of my e-mail filters. Just to be safe, I told myself an hour later, as the results came up on my screen. I mean, Miranda must have been right about Oriana being funny...

...

Goddamn it.

(1): By this point, Shepard had enough individuals in his squad and a grasp on the skills and interactions of each member to determine how best to divide them up.

(2): An energy-based armour suit that boosted the user's shields. It typically sends out a concussive energy pulse when destroyed that inflicts damage on nearby enemies while staggering or knocking them over.

(3): While tech armour was excellent in absorbing damage, it—like all forms of protection—was designed to allow free range of movement. Therefore, someone with enough knowledge and strength would be capable of performing a feat like the one Shepard pulled off.

(4): One wonders if Shepard is talking about Ms. Lawson or himself. Or both.

(5): Shepard conveniently neglects to mention that he ordered EDI to disable the transport's systems, which delayed their scheduled departure.

(6): Shepard was indeed reticent to talk about his friend and surrogate sister. Subconsciously or otherwise, I believe it was his way of shielding her from unwanted attention, either at the hands of hostile interests or, after the events of the Skyllian Blitz and his newfound reputation as a hero, the media. The fact that he was willing to tell Ms. Lawson, after all his previous concerns and suspicions, indicates how far their relationship and trust in each other had developed.

(7): 'Notes from the Underground' by Sarah Slean, released in 2008. By this point, Shepard had figured out how lonely Ms. Lawson must have felt at times, and wanted to give her something that would acknowledge that.