Author's Note:

Welcome back, readers old and new. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you: now that 'Aria's Lament' and the events of ME3: Omega are over, we're back to my ME3 novelization.

FYI: credit to 'ANARCHY RULES' for what ultimately became of Petrovsky's old chessboard.

Chapter 47: There's No Place Like Home

It's good to be back.

That's the conclusion I came to upon my return to the Normandy. It felt like months since I'd seen my ship. Walked along her corridors. Talked to the men and women, friends and comrades, who'd made up her crew.

Oh, I knew that wasn't the case. I wasn't gone that long. Just a few days. A week at most. And I wasn't alone—Garrus had been with me. Fighting alongside me while I helped Aria T'Loak take back Omega from the Cerberus forces who had driven her from her throne and, more importantly, occupied the heart and centre of the Terminus Systems. We'd gone through hell and back—emotionally as well as physically—to take one of Cerberus's most important pieces off the board and restore some measure of freedom and liberty to Omega's people.

But the galaxy hadn't been standing idly by while I'd been away. The Reapers hadn't halted their endless slaughter while I ran from firefight to firefight. Cerberus hadn't gone on a ceasefire while I assaulted one of their prize strongholds with bullets, plasma and wisecracks. And the Normandy's crew hadn't been twiddling their thumbs, waiting for me to return. I had to get caught up on what I'd missed.

Most of my interactions with the crew involved saying hello, asking for a sitrep and giving a quick summary of my recent mission to Omega. There were a few exceptions, though. As it turned out, there was one key conversation that stood out on each deck of the Normandy.

"Took this from General Petrovsky on my recent visit to Omega," I said to Traynor on Deck Two. (1) "Seeing how he's in lockup, I figured that you'd get the most use out of it."

Traynor took the chessboard and chess pieces I handed her. "Thanks!" Her smile faltered as she examined them more closely. "Um… Commander… why are there only sixteen pieces?"

"There was a holographic interface and an extranet router built into the board," I replied. "The idea was—"

"Oh, I heard of that," Traynor interrupted. "That way, you could play with other opponents—who'd use holographically generated chess pieces—without being in the same room, or even in the same system. This means these chess pieces would have internal mechanisms to generate tactile feedback when they interacted with the holograms." Then she frowned. "Given that some of the people Petrovsky might be playing against could also have Cerberus ties, do we really want to be bringing this onboard? What if it's booby-trapped? Or someone tries to hack into the Normandy's systems through the chessboard?"

I held up another bag, this one full of wires and circuit boards. "That's why I stripped everything out that could possibly cause a problem. Figured we could run an analysis on the components. If it checks out, you can reinstall them. If not, well, you can always pick up the missing pieces the next time we visit the Citadel."

"Possibly. Though my credit account's still recovering from the new toothbrush I bought."

Right. The Cision Pro Mark IV that uses mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage gums. Seemed a really expensive way to make sure you had healthy teeth. "Then you can always use our fabricators to build your own set," I said gamely.

"I suppose."

When I reached Deck Three, the first person I wanted to visit was Garrus. He'd accompanied me on my mad quest to help Aria retake Omega, only to run into an old flame with whom he had some history… and some unresolved issues. Issues that never got addressed due to her untimely death. I wanted to see how he was doing.

However, he was a bit busy when I entered the Main Battery. "Do you ever feel awkward," I heard Tali ask over the comm, "being the only turian on the ship?"

"I don't know," Garrus responded. "Should I?"

"I just mean... not having anyone else like you around."

"Doesn't seem to bother Liara."

"But she can eat their food."

Seeing how I didn't want to disturb their conversation, I showed myself out and resumed my rounds. Most of the people I ran into had their duty stations on Deck Three.

With one exception. "Whaddya say, Doc?" James asked. "Do I get a clean bill of health?"

"Indeed you do. Much to my surprise."

"Woohoo! Oh, Commander. Welcome back."

"James," I nodded. "Doctor. What's this about a clean bill of health?"

"Well, I kinda got my head knocked about a while back."

"By 'knocked about,' Lt. Vega means to say he suffered a mild concussion during a mission against a Cerberus outpost," Dr. Chakwas clarified. "Apparently he rescued a civilian from an errant grenade, but was unable to find shelter himself before it went off. The resulting explosion threw him against a nearby wall."

Aw, crap.

"For medical reasons, I forbade him from going on any more missions or participating in any intense physical or mental activity. After a few days' observation and treatment, I allowed him to take some shortened shifts with reduced workloads."

Right. Basic concussion protocol. "And now he's got the all-clear?"

"Quite. Though I do hope he won't try and make up for lost time."

James shook his head—carefully. "No way, Doc. I might be a dumb grunt, but even I know the brain ain't something you mess with lightly."

"Amen to that," I agreed. "Glad to hear you've got a clean bill of health, James. Carry on."

"Yes sir." He saluted the two of us, then walked out of sickbay.

"All teasing aside, I have to admit that he's been a model patient," Dr. Chakwas confided. "Not to mention grateful—I take it he didn't have access to the best of medical care growing up."

That would make him more appreciative of a caring and conscientious doctor when he met one. "Then he's lucky to have you," I declared.

"I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully you'll still feel the same way after your physical. Now sit down on the bed."

Damn it!

Eventually I escaped sickbay and made it to the elevator. It took me to Deck Four. The doors opened. I walked forward—and almost ran over Adams.

"Sorry, sir," he apologized, stepping back. "Welcome back."

"Good to be back, Adams," I smiled. "How's the Normandy doing?"

"Just fine, sir. All systems functioning within optimum parameters. In fact, they're performing so well, we made a few upgrades."

"Oh?"

"After some consideration, we decided to tune the GARDIAN anti-fighter lasers to fire in the ultraviolet spectrum. (2) Standard operation procedure is to use longer infrared frequencies for mechanical reliability, but given how rarely a stealth ship like the Normandy engages in combat and the importance to have every edge possible—"

"You decided to take a page from the salarians' book," I finished, recalling a similar discussion the squad had had when disabling a geth dreadnought—and rescuing Legion, for a short time anyway. Before he sacrificed himself for his people.

"Salarians and the geth," Adams corrected me, unaware of my sudden introspection. "Using UV frequencies will increase our firing range by six times and boost the damage we can deal. Granted, the accelerated degradation will shorten the lifespan of the focal arrays and mirrors, but I think the trade-off will be worth it."

"I see. Is that where you're headed? To check your latest handiwork?"

"No, we finished the final modifications yesterday. I'm going on a meal break. Apparently there's duck tonight?"

"Red potatoes, garlic butter green beans and duck confit," I confirmed, recalling an earlier conversation I had in the mess hall. (3)

"Sounds delicious," Adams approved. "Hopefully there'll be something just as good for Garrus and Tali. If they ever get off the comm."

They were still talking? This I had to see. Saying my goodbyes to Adams, I wandered into Engineering.

Tali was the only one there. Sure enough, she was busy talking to Garrus. "Okay, toughest mission," she said.

"Horizon."

Yeah. Dealing with all those Collectors, including the random ones that would get possessed and upgraded by Harbinger, was no picnic—and that was before the Praetorian crashed the party.

"No fair! I hadn't joined up with you yet."

"Fine. That dead Reaper, then."

"Really? the husks just ran up to us."

"Have you ever noticed that I carry a sniper rifle?"

Um, yeah, I'm with Garrus on that one. All those creepy glowing zombies charging towards us with no sense of self-preservation and nothing on their mind other than ripping us to shreds with teeth, claws and sheer numbers? Followed by the realization that I'd blithely waltzed into a real-life Lovecraftian horror at TIMmy's request? No freaking thank you.

"You're the one who likes things at short range."

"And you prefer to keep everything at a distance."

I was suddenly starting to sense a little subtext here.

"Exactly. Wait, what?"

Unlike some people.

"Creepiest thing we fought?"

"The Thorian. But wait, what do you mean?"

"I didn't mean anything. I'm going with the rachni."

"The queen?"

"No, the little ones. They look like spiders, and they scuttle right toward you."

"I thought you liked it when things got up close and personal."

"I guess it depends on who it is."

Yep. Definitely subtext.

Last, but definitely not least, is Miranda.

We met in my quarters, mostly to take advantage of the heightened security measures available. Given the events that had happened on Omega, perhaps I can be forgiven for starting off our chat with the whereabouts of Kai Leng, TIMmy's personal assassin. (4)

"The signal from Oriana's tracker is still deep in the Anadius system," she replied. "Regrettably, it isn't strong enough to provide a more precise location. Not without sending a ship in to trace the signal. Or broadcasting a transmission to ping the signal."

"Both of which would give us away," I nodded. "Which is why we seeded recon probes in the Pax system. What have we learned from them?"

"They have detected a steady stream of ships in and out. The transponder signals of those ships don't match anything registered to any known government or private organization."

"Lots of people don't register their ships," I pointed out. "Maybe they forgot. Or they were trying to save a credit. Or they were smuggling illegal goods. Doesn't mean they're Cerberus."

"True. But the examples you cited are unlikely to equip their ships with military-grade kinetic barriers and weaponry. Nor are they likely to make regular visits to and from the Anadius system."

"And you could tell this by?"

"The probes obtained detailed scans of the ships, along with the unique composition and vectors of their ion trails."

"Sounds convincing," I admitted. "How have we been getting their scans and how sure are we that they weren't detected?"

"Data files have been compressed and sent by burst transmission at random intervals."

"Random according to…"

"According to a pattern devised by Specialist Traynor. EDI or I could have set it up, but that ran the risk of inadvertently using a methodology familiar to Cerberus."

"That works," I conceded. "I take it that's still our best bet on Kai Leng's whereabouts."

"It is possible that he was transferred to one of the other vessels our probes detected. We simply do not have enough intel to know. All I can confirm is that the tracker has not moved.

"Fair enough. How goes the hit-and-run campaign?"

"Well enough. As you know, we launched a series of carefully timed strikes against known Cerberus operations and locations, both to draw forces away from Omega prior to your assault and to weaken Cerberus as a whole. We were able to make use of the Normandy's stealth and mobility, the coalition of ex-Cerberus operatives I've contacted—"

"You mean—"

"No, Shepard, they are still not willing to call themselves 'Charlie's Angels'."

Worth a try. "Go on," I relented.

"We launched hit-and-run attacks using the Normandy, the ex-Cerberus operatives who are not and will never be called 'Charlie's Angels,' and an Alliance task force formed from the Sixth and Seventh Fleets—though the latter was reassigned to Omega."

"They arrived just in the nick of time," I said. "Things were bad enough on Omega as it was. The last thing we needed was fresh reinforcements to turn the tide."

"That was Admiral Hackett's primary intent. He'd also hoped that they could expedite your return to the Normandy and any prisoner transfers—on the assumption that you would be successful in your mission, of course. However, there was an additional reason: by tying up or dispersing the Cerberus forces stationed at Omega, it prevented them from being dispatched elsewhere to bolster existing operations throughout the galaxy. As a result, we were able to deal far more damage—both immediately and in the long term."

"Good," I approved. "Taking Omega and General Petrovsky away from Cerberus was a serious blow to the Illusive Man, one that was desperately needed. We need to continue while we still have the momentum."

"Agreed. Which is why we're en route to another system which Cerberus has designs on. We should arrive by tomorrow morning… which gives us time to squeeze in a sparring practice and get a good night's sleep."

Like I said, it's good to be back.

Ontarom is a little planet in the Kepler Verge, near the Shadow Sea and Ninmah Clusters. It would be a blip on the galactic radar… except for the fact that the orbit of its moon was decaying, causing all sorts of tidal disruptions and electrical storms. A multi-species effort had been underway to catalogue and preserve Ontarom's biosphere before the moon inevitably collided with the planet.

So why did Cerberus bother to plague the place with its presence? Because the Alliance had set up a satellite dish field there sixteen years ago, which had since grown into a crucial communications hub. Losing the facility would make it harder to relay critical information in a timely manner or coordinate our forces with any degree of effectiveness. We might even lose sensitive data to Cerberus. Obviously, that couldn't be allowed to happen.

Once we arrived, we suited up and boarded the shuttle. As usual, Admiral Hackett headed the briefing over vid-comm. "Commander, Cerberus has taken one of our communication facilities. All campaigns in this theatre depend on the information that dish array supplies."

"What do we know?" I asked.

"We're getting intel from a tech who survived the attack: Grace Sato. She's hiding in a security bunker offsite."

"A civilian?" I wanted to clarify.

"Yes. Patching her through."

Hackett's image was replaced by a young woman—Sato, presumably—who was nervously looking around her. "Ms. Sato—what's happening down there?"

"I'm staying hidden, but I'm the only one left," she whispered. "They're trying to hack into our systems to access Alliance operations protocols. I'm tracking their activity, but they're bound to find me sooner or later."

"Hang in there," I reassured her. "We'll be there soon."

"Yes… yes, Commander."

Sato got off the comm, and Hackett's face came back on the screen. "It's not ideal, but she's the only one with any traction on this."

"Don't worry, sir. This isn't the first time I've coordinated with a civilian. I can work with her."

"I hope so. The information stored in that network is critical, Commander. If it gets into enemy hands, we'll lose a lot of good people."

"I'll take care of it, Admiral."

"See that you do. I'm sending you her contact frequency now. Hackett out."

Cortez flew us between two rows of satellite dishes before dropping us off on the outskirts of the AO/base. I quickly took in the battlefield. About eight or ten hostiles. Most of them were the standard mix of basic infantry and officers—assault troopers and Centurions, in this case. What concerned me more were the pair of combat engineers. It was a good bet that they were lugging around a portable weapons turret. If they managed to set them up, we'd be in a lot of trouble.

"They're locking on to me," Cortez warned. "Moving out of range."

Quickly coming to a decision, I gave my orders: "Teams One and Two: take out the engineers. Team Three: maintain a defensive perimeter. Fire at will."

EDI and Miranda landed the first blow with twin EMPs, which Liara and James detonated with biotics and concussive rounds. The cacophony of the explosions undoubtedly alerted the Cerberus forces to our presence—though it was a fair bet that they'd already detected us on our approach. (5) Mind you, none of those forces would get here in time to make a difference. We had a fire-team of three ganging up on each engineer. And that was before I started taking headshots.

While I took out the engineers, Team Three gave the other hostiles their undivided attention. Garrus and Tali deployed some EMPs of their own against the closest Centurions before focusing their fire on one hostile at a time.

After a couple kills, the other teams were able to pitch in. Seeing that they had things under control, I got on the comm. "Ms. Sato, we've landed at the comm facility and are engaging the enemy. What are we looking at?"

"They're trying to seize control of three critical access points. I'm updating your NavPoint with the location of the terminal they're closest to cracking."

"We'll keep them from hacking in," I promised. "Shepard out."

Unfortunately, there were still a few more hostiles to deal with—starting with a particularly slippery assault trooper who'd been dodging our attacks with only a couple scratches to show for it. I finally landed a headshot on the sucker while EDI and Liara fried a Centurion's shields. Once that trooper collapsed, I joined Team One in finishing the Centurion off while Team Two entertained themselves with another trooper. Tali and Javik disabled a second Centurion's shields, setting up Garrus for a headshot of his own.

I spotted another trooper lurking about, but I couldn't get a good bead on him. So I settled for barbequing his ass. The guy was probably still alive—barely—but I figured the coast was clear enough to start advancing. "Team Two, sweep around to the left; Team Three has the right. Team One on me—we're going in."

EDI and Liara followed me as I headed down a ramp into the courtyard. The terminal Sato had pinpointed was close by, but I wanted to clear the area first. And by clear the area, I mean look for hostiles. And thermal clips. Okay, maybe medkits, salvage and hardsuit mods too. (6)

Having cleared the courtyard, I climbed up a ladder and began moving further into the facility. To my surprise, we didn't run into any hostiles. So I was able to pilfer another medkit…

…and something else too. "Cerberus encryption algorithms of some sort," I muttered to myself, having stopped at an open terminal. "Could be useful." I downloaded them to my omni-tool for further study before moving on.

A few more minutes of running around and I still hadn't come across any hostiles. Salvage, yes. Medi-gel, yes. Cerberus goons… no. Huh. "All teams report in," I said over the comm.

"Team Two: no hostiles seen."

"Team Three: clear."

Well then. Maybe Cerberus was focusing on getting those operations protocols. In which case, it was time to take care of those critical access points that Sato mentioned. I found a nearby console and began deactivating the first one. Getting on the comm again, I told the other teams what I was doing. "Keep your eyes open," I said. "This'll probably get their attention."

To my surprise, the deactivation sequence went off without a hitch. No one tried to shoot at me or interrupt my work. I braced myself for the inevitable unpleasant surprise…

"Commander Shepard, Cerberus shuttles are scouring the area. I—I think they're looking for me!"

There you go. A flicker of movement inside one of the buildings caught my eye. Sneaking forward, I spotted a Centurion. We managed to drop an EMP on his shields, but he deployed a smoke grenade and retreated before we could press the attack.

"They're using comms to pinpoint Sato's location," Cortez told me.

"Oh no! How do we—"

"Nothing's changed," I butted in, taking care to use a soothing voice to calm the civvie. "Just upload the next set of coordinates, then find a place to lay low." Activating my cloak, I charged through the smoke cloud. The Centurion was doing what I would've done in his situation: found a quiet spot, knelt down and waited for his shields to recharge. Aiming my sniper rifle, I drilled a hole through his helmet before he could get back into the fight.

"I—yes, Commander. Updating your NavPoint."

A beep on my omni-tool confirmed receipt of the coordinates. Heading out of the building, I spotted a lone assault trooper. Maybe he'd been paired with the Centurion I'd just killed. Whatever: one bullet later and he went the way of his buddy.

Just in time too: according to my HUD, we had a lot of hostiles converging on our position. I wasn't the only one who noticed, either. "Team Three to Team One: Shepard, we've got company."

"I see it. Everyone get ready." Using my HUD, I signalled EDI and Liara to find cover. As I cozied up by an oversized crate, I noticed that Liara was right next to the next console we were supposed to hack. Not that we could worry about that now.

A Centurion poked his head out just as we had settled down. While I activated my cloak, EDI and Liara got rid of his shields. Then I fired my sniper rifle and watched with satisfaction as his head exploded. A few seconds later, I spotted another Centurion. He was moving more cautiously—understandable given what had just happened to his buddy. Before he could get any ideas, I fried his shields—I couldn't let EDI and Liara have all the fun—and landed another headshot.

The sound of gunfire pierced through the air. Judging by the echoes, I could tell that Teams Two and Three had their hands full. But some of the gunfire—and the ricochets—were a bit too close for comfort. Turning around, I saw EDI and Liara taking on an assault trooper. What concerned me more was the Nemesis sniper trying to flank us. I fired a shot, but her shields were more than up to the task of deflecting the bullet. Then I had to reload.

By the time I was ready, the sniper was gone. I couldn't wait to reacquire a shot as there were three more assault troopers sneaking up behind us. I quickly fired a shot at the first one, set the second on fire, fired again at the third, then reloaded. Moving back to the other side of the crate, I noticed that EDI and Liara had finished off the trooper and were now dealing with a Centurion. The Nemesis sniper was still out there somewhere, but I couldn't line up a shot on—there she was! One more shot from my sniper rifle took out her shields, but she rolled behind some cover before I could fire again. Damn, she was a slippery one!

I moved to another position, just in time to detect another Nemesis sniper and an assault trooper. The latter was hiding behind a few barrels, but there was just enough of a gap for me to land a shot. The former moved to my right, so I followed in an attempt to line up a shot. That's when I spotted the first Nemesis that I'd been taking pot-shots at. She was doing a good job of keeping EDI and Liara pinned down… which meant she wasn't expecting me to take out her regenerating shields with one shot and her head with another. I had to go after her, you see. After evading me for so long, her luck finally ran out.

Of course, that left one more Nemesis sniper. This one was a lot easier to deal with. I didn't know whether it was due to faulty implants, lack of experience or overconfidence. Whatever the reason, she didn't know enough to move around the battlefield. Not quickly enough, anyway. I managed to take out her shields with a couple shots, then dropped a fireball right on top of her before she could retreat. Liara managed to tag her with her biotics to put her out of her misery.

Quickly scanning my HUD, I determined that Team One was in the clear. Time to deactivate the next console. "Teams Two and Three; sitrep," I said into the comm.

"Team Two clear. Encountered several Cerberus troops, but we managed to take them out."

"Team Three here. Still fighting Cerberus, but we have them pinned down. Garrus out."

Okay. Situation under control. For now. Looked like Garrus and his team had their hands full, but they didn't need any additional help. So I could leave Miranda and Team Two where they were and focus on deactivating this console. Which I did.

"Ms. Sato, come in," I said after working my usual digital magic. "Ms. Sato?" I repeated when she didn't answer. "Are you there?"

"She must be afraid they'll find her if she responds," Liara guessed.

"Grace, listen to me…"

"Can't talk. They're right outside."

Maybe they were. Maybe they weren't. That didn't change the fact that Cerberus could still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. "Grace," I said as calmly as I could, "listen to me: I know you're scared. (7) This is more than you signed up for. But we need the final coordinates. We've deactivated two of the terminals, but there's still one more. You're the only one who can tell us where to go. I know you're in danger, Grace, but I won't let you down. I promise."

…

"Okay, Commander. Updating your NavPoint with the last location now. But if you get to me in time… just hurry. Please!"

"Commander, I think I can make a run and get her." Cortez offered.

"Do it." I quickly reviewed the situation. Team Three might still be dealing with Cerberus. Even if they weren't, they'd been getting a lot of activity where they were, so maybe they should stay put. The rest of Team One needed to back me up while I found that last terminal. That left... "Team Two: find Ms. Sato and escort her to Cortez.

"Understood."

That left one more terminal. Looked like it was inside one of the facility's main buildings. Naturally it was under guard.

Once again, EDI and Liara fired off a combo of EMPs and biotics to disable a Centurion's shields. Once again I fired my sniper rifle. Once again, his head went poof! Spotting a second Centurion, I disabled his shields with my own EMP before using up the rest of my thermal clip. He went down, but not before deploying a smoke grenade. Rather than wait for it to dissipate, I motioned for EDI and Liara to move up to the next stack of barrels and see if they could get a bead on any hostiles.

Judging by the way they started shooting, I gathered they were successful. As I reloaded, I peered through my sniper scope. Looked like we had a couple Centurions running around, several Nemesis snipers—Nemeses?—setting up shop... along with a Phantom. That's right: lots of snipers to pin us down while a cybernetic ninja tries to hack us to pieces. I signalled Liara and EDI to hit the Phantom with biotics and plasma before activating my cloak. Once her barrier was gone, I took the shot. Boom. One less cybernetic ninja.

My next shot was at a Nemesis that was running for cover. Hitting a moving target is always tricky, but I think I should get points for knocking out her shields before I lost sight of her. Panning to the left, I focused on one of the Centurions I'd spotted earlier. EMP. Biotics. Sniper round. Done.

The cloud from that smoke grenade was still providing some cover, but I thought I spotted another Centurion. I tried a shot, but he ducked just in time. So I sent a fireball arcing up and over the rail he was hiding behind. Hopefully it would tag him. I thought about moving around to flank them, but decided to reload instead. When I lifted my rifle again, I saw a Centurion—shields intact. Either my fireball missed him or this was a new one. Either way, EDI was ready with her EMP, Liara was ready with her biotics and I was ready with my sniper rifle.

By this point, the smoke was starting to clear. I could've sworn I saw some movement, so I waited. Yep, my sensors were definitely picking up someone up ahead with shields. So I waited, allowing my sensors to gather more data. It soon upgraded the sensor contact from 'shields' to the frequencies consistent with 'Nemesis shields.'

If I looked through the scope of my sniper rifle, I could make out some movement. Maybe even a figure. The temptation to take the shot and see what happened was strong. But I resisted. The moment I fired, the hostile would know I had found her and would take evasive action. And if I hadn't landed a kill shot, I'd lose her. Which would mean I'd have to track her down all over again.

It was galling and frustrating, but I had to wait. For a few seconds, for a few minutes. Until my immediate surroundings changed, I had to wait.

…

Movement again. Sensors still detected a Nemesis sniper right in front of me. She was moving forward. Activating my cloak, I let her move into my sights. Just a little bit further…

…

…I gently exhaled…

…

…I pulled the trigger…

…and she collapsed as my bullet pierced right through her shields and into her brain. Yes!

Now it was time to advance, I decided. With EDI and Liara hot on my heels, we ran towards the building where the last terminal—and the hornet's nest—were located. (8) We had just reached the entrance ramp when a Centurion stepped out. Before he could swing his rifle around, EDI and Liara had already dealt some serious damage to his shields. A shot from my sniper rifle did some lethal damage to his, well, head.

I stopped outside the entrance and carefully peered in. The harsh voice croaking orders, the smoke cloud and my HUD told me there were still a couple more hostiles to deal with. Plucking a grenade off my belt, I set the timer to five seconds and tossed it in. As the grenade went off, I began scanning the room, relying on the specialized scope of my sniper rifle to pierce the gloom and pick up the hostile. Which it did.

After taking him out, I scanned the room. Spotting another Centurion, I pointed him out to EDI and Liara. Once they softened him out, I tossed another grenade in and let the explosion finish him off.

As we entered the room, we saw a third Centurion. This one chose to retreat, no doubt wishing to avoid the fate of his companions. Naturally, we pursued him. I was in the lead and had activated my cloak, which was the Nemesis sniper crouching down didn't see me. And she never did, as a round from my sniper rifle blasted through her shields and blew up her head.

Meanwhile, EDI and Liara had found that last Centurion. They had just depleted his shields when I arrived. One more shot from my sniper rifle was all it took.

Seeing that the coast was clear, I had EDI and Liara cover me while I tackled the third and final terminal. I'd just deactivated it when Grace got on the comm. "Commander! They've almost got the doors open. Help!"

"On approach to extract her," Cortez said.

"We see them, Shepard," Miranda assured me. "Engaging now."

Miranda was right. There was a squad's worth of hostiles milling outside one of the buildings. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. "Teams One and Two engaging hostiles now," I said over the comm. "Team Three; converge on this NavPoint and provide support as needed."

I highlighted a couple hostiles using my HUD. Then it was time to strike.

Miranda and James fired a biotic blast and concussive round at the assault trooper closest to the door, while EDI and Liara hit the rearmost Centurion with an EMP and fireball. As far as the Cerberus hostiles were concerned, the explosions were happening everywhere. They wouldn't know where to go or what to do. That would only last a moment, but a moment was all we needed. "Weapons free!" I shouted.

I targeted another Centurion with my sniper rifle. Unfortunately, the remnants of his shields took the brunt of the hit. So EDI and Liara wound up getting the credit for that kill. Kaidan unleashed his biotics on the next trooper, cracking his hardsuit—and his innards—open like an egg. While that guy was busy dribbling on the pavement, Miranda and James let loose on another trooper. Speaking of havoc, it was well past time I set someone on fire. So I did.

By that point, half of the Cerberus soldiers had been taken out. One of the survivors had the presence of mind to drop a smoke grenade. Not a bad idea, but we still had a fairly good idea where they were. All we had to do was just concentrate our fire on that one area and we were bound to hit something. Assuming Liara's singularity didn't yank them off the ramp, out of the smoke cloud and into plain view for the squad to pick off one by one. There were still a few Centurions whose shields somehow managed to resist the gravitational pull. Thankfully, my scope was able to pierce the gloom and pinpoint their location. By the time the smoke cleared, all the hostiles were dead.

And then Team Three deigned to grace us with their presence. "Garrus," I teased. "You're late."

"Couldn't be helped," he replied nonchalantly. "Had to take a call. You know that monument that's being built to celebrate who's the best sniper on the Citadel? Seems it isn't big enough."

"If you want it as big as your ego," I retorted, "it'll never be big enough!"

Cortez broke in before our conversation could get out of hand. "Sensors aren't picking up any additional hostiles. Looks like the area's clear."

"Copy that," I said. "We'll pick up Ms. Sato and head for the rendezvous point."

Before I knocked on the door to give Grace the all-clear, I looked at my squad. "Good job, people!"

"Our communications station is secure," Hackett informed me when I contacted him with my AAR.
"Operations in this theatre are safe again." He sighed and shook his head. "No small task to keep it that way."

"I suppose not, sir," I replied.

"How is Ms. Sato doing?" he asked.

"Good, all things considering. She asked to be transferred to a nearby Alliance station. She wants to help however she can… but she'd like a change of scenery."

"I don't blame her," he chuckled. "Well, I think we can oblige her. She did send out the initial alert of the Cerberus attack and stayed behind to provide critical intel. After all that, a simple transfer request seems reasonable. We need all the help we can get. Hackett out."

Miranda was waiting for me when I left the Comm Room. "We've arranged to rendezvous with the SSV Budapest," she informed me. "They'll pick up Ms. Sato and take her to her destination."

"Good," I nodded. "Then I take it we finished debriefing her."

"We did. Aside from the eyewitness account of the attack, we did get something else of value: it seems Ms. Sato had the presence of mind to copy the schematics for the Alliance's latest and most advanced communications relay. At the time, she'd intended it as a contingency should the facility fall to Cerberus hands. Now, she plans to use them to build smaller arrays for intelligence gathering throughout the galaxy. If they are placed in the right spots, they should provide a considerable wealth of information."

"Make sure we get a copy."

"Already done. Regrettably, we won't be able to set up a similar communications relay for our… side project… without drawing the Reapers' attention. However, I should be able to use Ms. Sato's data to construct a software update."

"Better than nothing," I approved. "I'll leave you to it."

"Actually, I had another idea."

Miranda advanced, her sword darting forward in a series of thrusts. I backed away quickly, my own sword working furiously to keep her at bay. She thrust forward, feinted a jab at my hip, then abruptly reversed her movement and slashed at my shoulder. Snapping my sword up, I deflected her slash aside.

As we fought, I noted her skin glistening. Hopefully that meant I was making her work for it, which in turn suggested I had made some progress in my training. There was a time where she'd disarm—and defeat—me without breaking a sweat.

Before I could get too distracted, Miranda attacked again. I hopped back from her low thrust, ducked her high thrust, then quickly stepped to the side and swung at her side. Her sword parried my own, then went back wide. I didn't take the bait. She'd clearly created an opening where there was none. If I seized the opportunity, I'd fall right into her trap. Instead, I took another step back, finally getting back to some means of even footing.

"You could have scored a hit," Miranda said.

I shook my head. 'No, I couldn't."

"No, you couldn't," she agreed.

We sheathed our swords in unison. I moved towards the bench, where a towel and water bottle were waiting. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miranda raise her hand as if to wipe her sweat off her brow.

Then I saw her hand drop to the side.

By the time she charged, my sword was already in my hand, as if I had willed it to leap out of its scabbard. I braced myself for her latest attack.

Then she switched to a one-handed grip. Her left arm suddenly glowed as a flash-forged blade burst forth from her omni-tool. The practice blade, I should say. Which only meant it would hurt like hell if it struck home, rather than hack off a limb.

Miranda's blades crossed, went wide, then cut across her body—omni-blade high, sword low. I feinted a dodge to the side, then planted my left foot behind me and dropped into a crouch. Dipping my head to avoid the omni-blade, I parried the low-rushing blade, then lunged forward.

Her blades snapped back in a flash, trapping my sword on either side. With a flick of her wrist, she forced my sword aside. Rather than resist, I swung to the side, using the momentum to slash at her hip.

Miranda's backhand blocked my strike, sending my sword high. But her feet weren't positioned correctly to take advantage. By the time she was ready, I had recovered. More importantly, my omni-tool had generated a blade of its own, ready for Miranda's next attack.

She stepped forward, once, twice, her blades alternating strikes. I snapped off counters, making sure none of her attacks came close to hitting me. She retreated two steps, then advanced two steps. Again and again, with a few attacks accompanying each movement forward. I almost got used to this give-and-take, settling into a comfortable rhythm.

So I guess I was caught off-guard when she suddenly pressed the attack instead of retreating. She came in hard, striking low, low, high before thrusting both blades forward. I batted aside her first three attacks before dropping my blades on her double-thrust, hoping the sudden weight would drive the blades down low.

Bracing herself, she withstood my attack with her omni-blade. Her right arm moved in a circle as she dropped her sword, spun it up and over, then jabbed at my shoulder. I disengaged in time to deflect her sword and took a step back.

Once again, Miranda attacked, coming on with a flurry of cuts and stabs that put me on the defensive. I spent the next few minutes fending off attacks and dodging any thrusts. After a while, I came to realize what she had in mind. Her attacks had been gradually getting higher, focusing more on the upper chest and shoulders than anything else. Which meant sooner or later—

—sure enough, she altered the angle of her next attack to force my blades high. Then she stepped back and thrust both blades at my stomach. There was no way for me to dodge to the side or hop back in time. The best response would be to drop my own blades on top of hers, thereby halting her attack before she could strike home.

But then I got an idea.

I started crossing my blades over Miranda's. At the last minute, I halted my right arm so only my left—and the omni-blade attached—deflected her blades. With my right blade free, I spun it over and stabbed forward.

Unfortunately, Miranda realized what I was trying to do and abruptly dropped the tip of her omni-blade to the ground. Having expected to have my omni-blade be evenly resisted by her blades, the sudden shift made me lose my balance. I quickly extinguished my omni-blade and caught myself before I spilled on the floor completely, though I felt the impact as I fell on my hand and knees. I sprang upward to resume the attack, only to have my feet swept from under me as Miranda dropped to the floor, spun around and drove her boot into the back of my right knee. Having caught me right as I was trying to regain my balance, I was unable to recover, and found myself flat on my back.

From there, it was all downhill. Miranda batted my sword aside, planted her foot on my chest and pointed her omni-blade at my throat.

"Yield," I croaked.

"You were doing well until that last move," she told me.

"I know," I groaned.

"You know the proper counter."

"I do." Rolling over, I got to my feet and walked over to get my water bottle. "I was experimenting."

"The parry—"

"—is the proper counter, yes. But all it does is get me back to even footing. I want to do more than that. I want to get an advantage." I took a sip of water and mulled it over.

"Let's try that again," I said. "I've got an idea…"

(1): Second-hand accounts indicate that General Petrovsky tipped over the 'king' piece shortly before surrendering. In some chess circles, this is recognized as a sign of resignation or surrender.

(2): General ARea Defence Integration Anti-spacecraft Network; the system of missile and anti-fighter laser turrets on the exterior hull of a starship.

(3): While it may seem strange to have food on a military vessel approaching what some might call 'fine cuisine,' I remind readers that the crew size of the Normandy was substantially smaller than most cruisers. Furthermore, Cerberus was responsible for the initial build of the Normandy SR-2, and they did appreciate modern luxuries and creature comforts. As such, the cooking staff was able to regularly produce meals of a higher quality than the mass-produced food available on other ships.

(4): While fighting to drive the Cerberus occupation off Omega, Shepard and Garrus discovered that Kai Leng had killed Aria's daughter. This revelation explained much of Aria's behaviour during that time, which by all accounts could best be described as erratic and short-sighted.

(5): Shepard is referring to the fact that the UT-47A Kodiak was routinely detected by enemy sensors, despite the fact that it had stealth technology based on the Normandy. To be fair, though, the Kodiak's stealth features were in the prototyping stage.

(6): I would argue that 'looting' was a higher priority than Shepard otherwise implied.

(7): Evidently Shepard switched to her given name in the hopes that a more personable approach would persuade her.

(8): Shepard was not referring to a literal hornet's nest. Rather, he was employing the human idiom for a situation or subject that would anger or aggravate people.