Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Escape from Tarkov/Mass Effect crossover. Thank you, once more, for your support and patience. I greatly appreciate it and your feedback.

Now that most of the 'main' story line is taken care off, aside from the penultimate and ultimate story line missions, are complete, we're going to be looking at some of the side quest story lines. I believe that this will add depth to this story, and I'm certain more than a few of you are curious to what will happen in this interim period.

Either way, thank you for your support, and I hope to see your continued support in later chapters.

As always, leave a review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Escape from Tarkov or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Electronic Arts, BioWare and Battlestate Games. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

Normandy

Departing Citadel

2183

While he was checking over his new weapons, O'Connor felt as though he was forgetting something. While checking through his ammunition, his mind promptly alerted him as to what he was forgetting about. Garrus, he remembered with a bit of a start. Garrus had a problem that he needed taken care of. I need to talk to Shepard about that.

Getting up from his seat, he began to quickly head to the CIC, while making sure that he didn't cause any flare-ups in his chest in the process. Walking onto the CIC, he quickly found Shepard, who was just finalizing the last parts of the restocking that he needed to do. Spotting O'Connor, he said, "O'Connor, is there something I can do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could talk with you for a moment," O'Connor replied.

"Of course. Tell me what's going on."

"It's related to Garrus, so I'd prefer if we talk this over… in private."

"Sure," Shepard nodded. "Meet me in my quarters. We'll talk there." Nodding, O'Connor followed Shepard into his quarters on the crew deck. Once inside, Shepard locked the door and said, "You wanted privacy, we've got it. What are we looking at?"

"Garrus told me of a criminal that got away on one of his investigations," O'Connor replied. "The criminal in question, Dr. Saleon, is a sick bastard. I still have trouble figuring how he got away with the crimes he did."

"What kind of crimes?" Shepard asked.

"He used people as walking, breathing organ cloning laboratories," O'Connor replied. "Grew the organs inside of his employees before surgically harvesting them and selling them on the black market. That's how Garrus found out about him in the first place."

"Really?" Shepard asked, his voice filled with surprise, and more than a little disgust. When O'Connor nodded, he said, "That's… that's pretty fucking sick alright. What happened to let him get away?"

"Saleon blew his lab when he found out he'd been discovered. Took his employees as hostages and, once onboard his personal ship, threatened to kill them if they didn't let him get away. They sent the military after him, but he managed to get away somehow. Garrus was pretty upset when that happened; nearly resigned from C-SEC as a result."

"So, what do you need me to do?"

"Just get us to the system that he's at. Garrus put out feelers for him and found Saleon under an assumed identity. He calls himself 'Dr. Heart' now, probably the sick fucker's idea of a joke. Garrus gave me the transponder codes for his starship. If you can track down his starship, Garrus and I can get onboard, arrest the sick motherfucker, and call it in. How's that sound to you?"

Shepard was silent for a few moments as he thought things over. Well, I've been talking with Wrex, and he's wanting his family armor back, he thought. It's just like the favor that Garrus is asking for, so why not? Nodding, he said, "Alright. I can get you there. Just make sure Garrus doesn't go overboard."

"Don't worry," O'Connor reassured Shepard. "I've worked with plenty of people that were very much like Garrus. I can keep him in line if need be."

"Then it's agreed upon, on one condition, though."

"And that would be?"

"That you help me get Wrex's family armor back. He specifically requested that you come along on the mission. Wants to see how well you can take on highly trained mercenaries."

"That's… a reasonable request," O'Connor conceded after a moment. "Alright, Shepard. Count me in. My bone bruises will have fully healed up by the time we get to where Saleon's starship is at. Besides, I'm eager to try out my new AK pattern rifle."

"Good to hear. Dismissed."

Walking outside of Shepard's quarters, O'Connor nearly ran right into Garrus, who was leaning on the door frame. "So, what's up?" he asked. "Did Shepard -?"

"He agreed to it," O'Connor replied. "Apparently, Wrex was asking for a similar favor. The only condition was that I also help out Wrex on his personal matter."

"And that would be?"

"Recovering his ancient family armor. Apparently, it was stolen by a collector that specializes in things like that. On top of that, he's hired 'professional mercenaries' to protect his assets. We'll see how professional they are when I run into them, though I might be surprised."

"Hopefully not," Garrus replied. "I'd hate to see what would make you surprised."

"Well, as they say, 'hope for the best, prepare for the worst.' You going to get Shepard the transponder codes."

"Already did."

"Then let's get to work."

. . .

It turned out that Dr. Saleon was, in O'Connor's words, 'a sneaky bastard', as it took Shepard around a week to find the location of Saleon's starship, or rather stumbled onto it. While they were in the Herschel System, located in the Kepler Verge, Joker happened to pick up an unusual signal. "Got something, Commander," he reported.

"What is it?" Shepard, who was at the galaxy map, asked.

"Got a weird transponder signal, sir," Joker replied. "According to the computer databanks, though, it matches the transponder codes that Garrus shared with you a few days earlier. If we're looking for this one guy he's been obsessed about, then chances are we've found him."

"Good to hear," Shepard nodded. "Inform Garrus and O'Connor to get ready. It's a two man mission for this one."

"Aye aye, Commander," Joker replied.

. . .

O'Connor, who was already in the cargo bay, was wondering how he'd lost on this game. Sitting on a cargo crate, he was scratching his head as he looked at the cards that he was playing. On the other side, Garrus' face was like that of stone: fully relaxed, and not betraying a single emotion. Damn, O'Connor thought to himself. I'm shit at this form of Poker. I much prefer Texas Hold 'Em to Skyllian Poker. A moment later, he said, "I fold. Looks like I've got Two Pair."

"Full House," Garrus beamed, his mandibles spreading in the Turian equivalent of a smile. Opening his omni-tool, he collected his winnings, which happened to be around two hundred credits.. "I thought you said you were good at Poker, O'Connor."

"Certain kinds of Poker, not all of them," O'Connor countered. "I much prefer Texas Hold 'Em to this Skyllian shit. Now I'm starting to regret teaching you how to play Poker."

"Why is that?"

"You Turians have the perfect Poker faces. If you want, you can become as readable as a sphinx simply by keeping your facial plates relaxed and still. You'd probably make some of the Poker legends from Earth's 1900's break out into a cold sweat."

"That does make sense. Still, you'll have to teach me how to play Texas Hold 'Em, that way, I can see how good you really are. By the way, why is it called 'Texas Hold 'Em?'"

O'Connor really didn't know why, something he was about to explain. Fortunately, he was saved by the sound of the intercom chiming overhead. "William O'Connor, Garrus Vakarian, report to the CIC immediately. O'Connor, Vakarian, report to the CIC immediately," an ensign announced.

Dropping his deck of cards, O'Connor said, "Well, looks like we're needed. I'll bet that Shepard's found Dr. Saleon's starship."

"I think so too," Garrus nodded. "There's only one reason why he'd call the two of us to the CIC." With that, they headed up towards the elevator.

Once they got to the bridge, they found Shepard standing near the galaxy map, both eyes snapping onto the two of them as soon as they were in sight. "O'Connor, Garrus, glad you could make it. We've found the bastard."

"Dr. Saleon?" Garrus asked, a hopeful note in his flanged voice.

"Bingo," Shepard nodded. "We've found his starship. From what we can tell, it's a modified Kowloon-class modular conveyor."

"Modified how?"

"There's a lot of biological research modules that were installed onto the starship. Given that Dr. Saleon is a geneticist, then it makes total sense for him to do that. Probably even did it under his assumed identity. Beyond that, it has the standard cargo bay that you'd expect for a starship of this type.

"We'll probably have to deal with a lot of… interesting experiments," O'Connor guessed. Looking at Garrus, he asked, "So, how do want to go about this, Garrus?"

"You'll be the mid to close range combatant," Garrus decided. "I'll support you in case you need help. I'm also good with electronics, so we can break through any cyber security in our way."

"Sounds good. I'd better get suited up and ready to rock."

"Good luck, you two," Shepard told them.

. . .

Around fifteen minutes later, Joker had expertly docked the Normandy to the airlock of the MSV Fedele, the starship in question. Entering the airlock, O'Connor and Garrus put their helmets on, with O'Connor checking the seal on Garrus' helmet, and vice versa. Once both were certain that their helmet seals were tight, they mentally prepared themselves for the mission at hand.

Already, O'Connor could feel the comforting weight of his new rifle in his hands. He'd taken off the optic that had been pre-installed, since he didn't need it at such close ranges. Besides, it's been a while since I've used an AK. I need to get used to using the iron sights once again. I know ranging and the like, but actually firing without any assistance from any electronic forms of aiming is something that needs to be taught, and practiced.

Garrus, who'd also equipped his weapon, an assault rifle in this case, breathed in and out. Turning to O'Connor, he asked, "Are you ready?"

"More than ready," O'Connor replied. "I'm fully aware of what we might encounter in there. For all we know, we could be facing superhuman bio-weapons."

"Or zombies."

"Hopefully not."

Any conversation that would've continued was promptly stopped when the airlock finished cycling. With the quiet hiss of motors, the door that led to the interior of the Fedele opened, with both men immediately raising their weapons. The room they entered was small, roughly ten meters in length, and was empty. The floor was made out of a tough metal alloy, while the ceiling was transparent, allowing them to see into the stars.

"Clear," O'Connor reported.

"Clear," Garrus confirmed. As they proceeded forwards, he said, "I don't like this. Saleon's got something planned. I don't know what, but I don't like this."

While O'Connor didn't reply, he knew why Garrus was on edge. It's too quiet, he said to himself. We're likely walking straight into an ambush. Exchanging his AK for his Saiga, he flicked the safety off before proceeding to the door ahead of them.

Opening it revealed a sealed door in front of them, as well as a hallway. Here, the floor and ceiling were transparent, something that caused the hairs on O'Connor's neck to bristle, but not by much. While the door ahead, and the hallway to the left were clear, there was another door to his right.

This time, the door was locked, the normally green holographic panel an angry red color. Hitting the open command sent a text message to O'Connor's helmet. Access Denied: Biological Hazard Detected.

"Garrus," O'Connor called out. "Got something here."

"What is it?" Garrus asked as he came to O'Connor.

"Looks like we were right to wear helmets here. The door's sealed due to a biological hazard. Can you work your magic on it?"

"Sure thing," Garrus nodded. Omni-tool activated, he walked to the door and began breaking through the door computer's cyber defenses. After a few minutes, he said, "Got it. Saleon paid for top-notch security measures. Since that's the case…"

"We're looking at a major threat," O'Connor finished. Checking his shotgun, he confirmed that a shell was in the chamber, ready to dispense death and destruction against anyone that threatened the man holding the gun that would fire it. "On your go."

Standing back from the door, Garrus counted down. "Two, three… Go!" As soon as he said "Go!", he hit the open command with a talon. The door quietly slid open, with O'Connor bursting inside, shotgun at the ready as he looked around.

The cargo hold he was in was filled with cargo crates that were stacked from floor to ceiling, obscuring his line of sight, as far as he could tell. To make matters worse, they weren't arranged neatly, but were instead staked in a haphazard manner, making small pathways that, he figured, were either dead ends, or treacherous. This is a clusterfuck waiting to happen, he thought as he advanced slowly inside.

To make matters worse, it wasn't deserted either. He could see contacts that were showing up on the suit's motion tracker, indicating hostiles that were present. This only caused him to proceed more cautiously, with Garrus smoothly moving behind him. Both men remained tightly clustered, ready to act in the event one of them was caught off guard by an attack. This proved to be the right choice.

As soon as O'Connor moved to the left, he rounded a corner and moved into an unexpectedly open space. The crates he'd seen were actually a partition between the entrance and a now much emptier cargo hold. The door to the bridge was located up ahead, it's lock also an angry red.

What had his attention were the… things that were inside of the cargo hold. O'Connor could see around thirty of them, all of which were in various states of disfigurement. Turians, Salarians, Asari, even a few Krogans and Humans, were all inside of the cargo hold. O'Connor guessed that the air smelled awful inside of the cargo hold, if Garrus' sniffing was anything to tell by.

As for the things themselves, it was an awful sight. The Turian individuals looked as though they'd been turned into feral monsters. Talons had been elongated into all out claws, faces stretched into teeth filled jaws, while long, muscular tails swung to the left and right. The Krogan individuals looked the same, only now they had long, bone-like spines growing from their backs. The Human and Asari figures didn't look heavily modified, though O'Connor could tell that something had been done to them. The Salarian individuals had heavy sacks beneath their chins, likely poison sacs.

The mere sight of it all was enough to cause O'Connor to gag. "What the fucking hell?!" he gasped. "That fucking monster!"

"Looks like Dr. Saleon is doing more than cloning organs," Garrus observed, though the expression on his face indicated that he was just as disgusted and horrified as O'Connor was. At that precise moment, the test subjects, which was he'd guessed they were, turned and looked at them. "Oh, shit!"

"FIRE!" O'Connor shouted as the test subjects, seemingly bereft of reason and logic, charged at them. The ones that were formerly Turians roared, before leaping at them with prodigious speeds. One charged at O'Connor, only to have it's elongated head blasted apart in a shower of blue blood and gore.

Swapping his shotgun for his AK, O'Connor took aim and fired. The weapon roared, a blue-white flame ripping out of the muzzle as the 7.62mm round inside was launched at speeds far greater than the original cartridge could've achieved in it's heyday. The weapon kicked, though not as much as he'd thought it would; in fact, it seemed to kick less than the modified AKM that he'd once used at Tarkov.

As for the test subjects, it would soon be over for them. The rifle, and the bullets it fired, seemed to be eager to protect it's user, as the test subjects were ripped apart in gory fashion. Limbs and bits of flesh were blasted off by rounds designed to penetrate, and then detonate, inside of a target. One test subject, an Asari, had it's face practically explode from a direct hit, while another, a Salarian, had it's poison sac, as well as one of it's limbs, ripped off by the powerful explosive filler in each of the bullets.

Behind O'Connor, Garrus continued to fire, providing fire support with his assault rifle. Contacts that O'Connor couldn't get to were neutralized by precision shots from him. Spotting one coming from his right, he fired on the test subject in question, blasting the alien creature apart.

That left O'Connor open, though, as one of the Krogan test subjects roared loudly, barring it's fang linned mouth, before charging at him. O'Connor, panicked, dumped an entire magazine into it's head and chest, the rifle roaring loudly as he held down the trigger. Said Krogan test subject fell dead to the ground, it's head and chest ripped apart from the inside out.

Eventually, after two more minutes of frantic firing, retreating, and counterattacking, the test subjects were lying dead on the floor, all but one. One of the Turian test subjects, a male, must've retained whatever intelligence he had left, as instead of attacking, he held up a claw and said, in a distorted voice, "P-please. H-help m-me."

"Garrus, is this guy a threat?" O'Connor asked, keeping his rifle pointed at the heavily altered Turian.

"I don't think so," Garrus replied. Bending down, he said, "Can you tell us anything about Dr. Saleon, or rather Dr. Heart as he calls himself. If you can, we'll do anything we can to help you."

"T-that b-bastard turned me into this… this m-monstrosity," the Turian replied, motioning to his restructured head and tail. "M-mixed my DNA with s-some other poor b-bastard's. It – it was p-painful. It – it still hurts… s-so bad." A groan of pain came from the altered Turian's muzzle as he pointed at the door. "H-he's in t-there. K-kill him! K-kill the b-bastard!"

"We will," O'Connor replied. "You can bet on that."

Relieved, the altered Turian said, "N-now… e-end my s-suffering. K-kill me."

"Why?" Garrus asked.

"Wouldn't you ask the same in his position?" O'Connor replied. "I would want to die if I was turned into this kind of a monstrosity. This, in my opinion, is a fate worse than death. Who are we to deny him a chance to find peace."

Garrus looked as though he was about to protest, but then he nodded. "You're right," he decided. "We can't let this poor bastard suffer anymore." Pulling out his handgun, he said, "I'm sorry." Moments later, he fired.

The round pierced through the altered Turian's chest, destroying it's heart. Slumping onto his back, the Turian in question said, "T-thank y-you. I-I'm coming home, V-Vorena." Moments later, he fell limp, his eyes filling with relief for a few seconds before the life inside of them faded completely.

Garrus bowed his head, the sight having deeply affected him. Moments later, with a loud roar, he smashed an armored fist into the nearby wall, the force of the blow denting it. "I knew Saleon was going to do something like this!" he snarled. "We can't let him escape!"

"Certainly," O'Connor nodded. "Once we bring him before a judge, he'll get the death penalty, no exceptions." Rifle raised, they advanced through the hallway. Spotting a door on their right, O'Connor, weapon raised, had Garrus open it.

Inside, there was a large amount of medical equipment, along with some cots. A single Salarian wearing a science uniform was inside, a rifle on his back. He jumped for a moment as soon as they came inside, then relaxed. "Thank you," he gasped. "Thank you for saving me from those things."

"That's him," Garrus told O'Connor. "That's Dr. Saleon."

"What?!" Saleon gasped. "M-my name's Heart! Dr. Heart! Please, you have to get me out of here!"

"You certain?" O'Connor asked.

"Positive," Garrus replied. Looking at Saleon with a murderous gaze, he said, "There's no escape this time, doctor. I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time." He cocked his shotgun as he said this, the menacing sound filling the air.

"You're crazy!" Saleon gasped. Looking at O'Connor, he said, "He's crazy! Please! Don't let him do this to me!"

"I have half a mind to let him at it," O'Connor snarled, AK firmly pointed at Saleon. "However, I won't stoop to barbarity, unlike you." Turning to Garrus, he said, "Cuff the bastard. We're taking him alive."

"B-but we have him!" Garrus protested. "We can't let him get away! Not again!"

"If we kill him right now, we'll never know how he did what he did," O'Connor replied. "Plus, if we kill him, his victims won't get the justice they deserve. Is that what you want for them, Garrus? Can you give that to them?"

"I've -" Garrus began, then he stopped. For a few seconds, he considered O'Connor's words. If they killed him, Saleon would be dead, but all the knowledge he had would be lost forever. On the other hand, if they captured him, not only would he be given the death penalty for his crimes, he'd also be interrogated.

With that, he finally growled, "Alright." Sighing, he looked at Saleon and said, "You're lucky my friend here's with me today. You owe O'Connor your life."

Saleon, however, sneered. "Oh, thank you so very much." Before Garrus could say anything, Saleon bolted, a hidden door in the room opening up to reveal what looked like an escape pod. Garrus pulled out his weapon, though he knew it would be too late. O'Connor, though, had his weapon out and ready. Spotting Saleon running, he pulled the trigger.

Two loud gunshots ripped through the room, with each bullet tearing into Saleon's body and sending him to the floor. Saleon screamed, a loud wailing sound as he crawled to escape. Before he could do so, though, O'Connor walked over and smashed his boot into Saleon's back. A loud CRACK echoed in the room as Saleon's spine shattered like a twig, sending the Salarian into an even longer bout of screeching and howling.

Rolling him over, O'Connor was confronted by the Salarian's handgun, with the alien firing. Reacting fast, O'Connor fired the AK again. This time, the round passed through Saleon's skull, splattering his brains all over the ground, while the bullet Saleon fired went wide, missing O'Connor by a good margin. With that, the room fell silent, save for O'Connor and Garrus' breathing.

After a moment, Garrus said, "And so he dies anyway. What was the point of that, O'Connor?"

"A good lesson that my Drill Instructor taught me at bootcamp," O'Connor replied. "You can't control how other people will react, but you can control your response to what they do, Garrus. In the end, that's what really matters."

Upon hearing this, a thoughtful expression crept onto Garrus' face. "Yeah," he decided. After a moment, he said, "You know, I've never really encountered a mercenary like you, O'Connor. Now, let's get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice," O'Connor replied. Looking around, he could see the medical equipment that Saleon had used. All of it was splattered with blood from many species. Pale blue, violet, orange, and more than a little dark red.

Part of O'Connor wondered what could drive a man to this level of horror and pure, unadulterated, evil. The same kind of evil that Saren will perpetuate if not stopped, a part of him decided. Either way, this was something that he knew he would remember for the rest of his life.

As they left, O'Connor fired two more bullets into Saleon's body, the corpse jerking from each impact. I have no sympathy for you, Dr. Saleon, O'Connor snarled internally, I hope you rot in hell, you sick, twisted bastard. With that, he left the room, following Garrus into the safe and comforting ship that was the Normandy.