Author note: a little smaller a chapter, but its a prep one, so forgive me. hope you like it anyway!

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June 8th - 2155 – Widow System – The Citadel

Counciler Tevos let out a heavy sigh as she fell into her chair and found herself staring across the room at a bottle of Alliance alcohol, Brandy, if she recalled the name correctly. It seemed so tempting, but she wasn't about to try it, not until she could get it tested.

Dealing with the Alliance was tiring. Their policies, their people, their operatives, their ambassador, all of it. She was so utterly tired of dealing with them that when the man, Charles Saracino, appeared in front of her, introducing himself as the leader human organization Terrafirm, one that the alliance had flagged as terrorists, she actually had stopped and let him speak!

He had been polite, respectful and cordial the entire time, something Tevos was not used to when dealing with humans, but despite his cordial nature, what he claimed to her was painful to take in, and potentially disastrous.

Humans were being weeded out, bred out of existence from the Alliance. That was the main point that Mister Saracino had spoken on. He explained it as a planned genocide that no one would argue. Humans being turned into Youkai, half-Youkai or even half Lunarians, being bred out for some reason that neither he, nor anyone who realized it was happening could discern why.

He had all the data, and had willingly handed it over for Tevos to compare against the data the Alliance had given the council years ago. The data was the same, but Saracino's data gave more detail to its numbers, showing that humans were in fact, being born less and less as normal humans, and that the regular human population was indeed going down, while the youkai population went up at almost the same amounts.

It was startling, but not evil, at least not in Tevos's eye. Her own people after all did something similar with how they reproduced. Any partner they had would never have a child of their own race, only an Asari.

No, it wasn't evil, or even illegal by Alliance, or Council laws, and therefore it shouldn't have been anything requiring her attention. But then Saracino had brought up why Terrafirm exists.

A place where humans can live as humans, unaffected by the influence of magic. He claimed Terrafirma was normally peaceful, that the terrorists claiming its name were simple extremists using their name as a moniker, as a way to shift blame. But what was most startling was what he had said last.

Terrafirm wished to join the Citadel council as a solely human protectorate, to both protect them from the Alliance, and to join the galactic community as humanity should.

Terrafirma, becoming a protectorate of the council. The idea was strange admittedly. She couldn't give an answer immediately, that required the whole council. So she did the only thing she could do, had one of her own personal guards, a Asari commando, take Charles somewhere safe so that he could be protected so that she could call a meeting.

The idea of the council getting a human group, even one with a bad history with the Alliance, especially one such group, was extremely tempting, so she hoped everything went well.

It was time to call a meeting.

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The merchant docks of the Citadel were, as always, busy. Ships came and went on a sporadic basis, dropping off or acquiring cargo, and to make sure it all went smoothly, there was a massive force of dockworkers handling it all. Combined with the number of passenger vessels with their passengers, and security forces, the docks were nearly always bustling with people.

So when a pair of what looked like humans, a man and women, came off a ship that had just come from Asari space, no one had batted an eye. And even the person who saw them get off via the cargo ramp instead of the passenger ramp, hadn't even spoken up about it as he had too much work to do.

If that one person had spoken up, everything could have been ruined, but instead, the two people found themselves unnoticed as they waltzed deeper into the cargo docks, weaving between containers until the noise of the masses was nothing but a dull roar.

"So, I can see three different ways we can get out of here. Only one of them involves killing someone surprisingly," The woman stated with a smile. She had short blonde hair that glowed like gold, and eyes that looked like stone, a solid dull grey.

The man had hair that was a silvery gold in color, and eyes that were deep blue like cobalt. They both wore what looked like simple clothes, very loose puffy pants and jackets with solid boots and high collared shirts under the jackets. To anyone they would look like a pair who felt cold, but the truth was far more devious.

"I can see the main door with its scanner, a side door with security cameras and maybe a security station, and a ventilation shaft. I'm guessing you want to go by the security door, Eva?" the man asked.

Eva Core smiled deviously. "You know me so well, Jack. Are you coming with, or are we splitting up here to begin our search?"

"Let's split up. We'll cover more ground searching for him that way. Text message updates every hour."

"Of course. Now if you excuse me, I'll be going to have some fun!" Eva declared as she began sauntering off.

"Fine, just don't get caught!" Jack yelled as he turned and began walking closer to a wall, where a ventilation plate sat a couple meters above his head. With a quick snap of his fingers the bolts holding it in place broke, and a second later the grate fell down, being gently caught and put aside before jack leapt up to the now open entry point and disappeared within.

The inside of the ventilation shaft was, for lack of a better term, untouched. It was large enough that Jack could move through it without too much difficulty, but the fine layer of dust despite the gentle breeze made it clear the grate were seldom taken off. At least, until he came to a large central shaft. It was easily ten meters across and went straight up. Dozens of other ventilation shafts were along its walls at varying levels, all of them with simple metal handholds bolted, welded and screwed into the walls in a haphazard fashion. The little dust that was on the floor, also had very obvious footprints of various sizes upon them, making it clear that this shaft saw use often by the Citadels poorer class.

Intelligence said they were called duct-rats, children of the less fortunate on the Citadel who either lost their homes, ran away from them, or never had homes to begin with. They lived in the ducts and used the maze of metalwork to travel between all areas of the station. Some supposedly ferried goods or messages between people, especially the less than desirables of the Citadel, while it was said that others simply used it as a place to stay moderately safe.

As if answering a hopeful thought Jack suddenly heard the echoes of some noise from a duct above him, so he sat in the duct way he came from, his legs dangling out clearly in sight, and waited.

"Have you heard, there's people looking for her."

"Really? Wonder where she went then."

"Yeah, just up and left without a word. Maybe her family are criminals."

"Oh, come on. The only Asari that are criminals are the matriarchs and the mercs, you know that!"

"Nu uh, I've heard that businesspeople can be criminals too. They call it uh, purple color crime, I think?" One of the two people, young Batarian and an equally young Asari talked as they climbed down one of the ladders to the bottom, allowing Jack to see them and smile.

"That would be blue collar crime, actually," He said with a smile, causing both the Batarian and Asari children to suddenly turn to him in surprise, surprise that quickly turned to nervousness and fear.

"A h-human?" The Asari muttered in surprise, while the Batarian child turned and hid behind the Asari.

"Wh-what's a human doing here? You don't belong here!"

Jack let out a light chuckle at the way the Batarian child was acting. It made sense after all, his people had been devastated by the Alliance, but what did he think an Asari child could do? She was barely four feet tall, probably not even fifty years and still a young maiden who should be at home by Asari standards. "I don't see any names on the walls, or even any set of rules anywhere. Why can't I be here?" Jack asked using logic that a child would understand.

"There aren't any, but adults don't belong here!" The Asari said as she held a hand forward, a small aura of Biotic energy forming around her hand and sputtering all over. It seemed she hadn't learned any real control, and was having difficulty even with the simple show she was giving. And thankfully because of that is wasn't so strong as to be uncomfortable.

"Especially not humans!" The Batarian boy declared from behind his friend.

"Oh, I see," Jack said with a nod of faked understanding. "But you see, I can't just leave. I'm looking for someone you see. Someone very bad who could endanger all of the Alliance, and the Council. He could even bring about the destruction of the Citadel!" Jack declared, acting positively righteous. It wasn't that he was exactly lying, he and Eva were after a criminal, but his danger was far from what he was saying. The kids didn't need to know that though.

"What?!" Both children yelped in worry as they stepped back a bit. The Asari quickly swallowed her nervousness and stepped forward again though in surprising time. "Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be going after him if you're some kind of security officer?"

"Oh, I would. But the problem is that he's in hiding, and I believe he's trying to infiltrate the Council. If they choose to defend or hide him, I won't be able to find him as easily. So I thought I'd use the ducts to get to the presidium."

"Oh, you need to get to the presidium?" The Asari asked carefully.

"Yes. Otherwise I cannot start looking," Jack stated as he stood up and stretched, making both the little ones stare at how tall he seemed to them. "But, I was wondering. You kids hear a lot, right?"

"Well, maybe, what's it to you?" The Asari replied standoffishly as she held her biotic covered hand up at Jack

"Now then, there's no need to be so violent," Jack said as he held up his hands, the silver bangle on his wrists shaking a bit. "I'm not even armed here, I just wanted to ask you two things. Is that alright?"

The two children looked to each other and then back at Jack. "What do you want then mister . . ."

"Call me Cerberus," Jack said, giving the children his operation alias instead of his real name. "Firstly, I need to get to the Citadel presidium ring, and was wondering if one of you would be interested in leading me there for a small reward."

"A reward?" the Asari asked with clear interest. "what kind of reward?"

"I'll give you this credit chip with one thousand credits on it to lead me to the presidium," Jack said as he pulled out the chip in question and then stuck it back in his inner jacket pocket.

"I'll do it!" The Asari said instantly with a gleam in her eyes at the thought of money.

"Excellent. The other thing I wanted to ask was for you to perhaps pass on information to others that live in the ducts."

"What kind of information?"

"Information, that I am here, and looking for a man named Charles Saracino. He's a blocky man with short black hair and an angry face, likely in a business suit of some form. He's a criminal, likely being protected by corrupt Citadel forces, and I need to find him. I'll give anyone who can give me solid information related to him two thousands credits!"

"I'll tell them!" The Batarian child declared as he suddenly began scrambling up the nearest ladder and disappeared into a duct.

"I get the feeling he doesn't like me."'

"No he's. . . . nervous around most people," The Asari said as she turned to the nearest duct. "This way, it's a long trip to the presidium ring, but I'll show you the way! He'll be smart enough to tell anyone where you're going too!"

"Excellent, please lead the way!" Jack said as he began following the Asari, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling from being so near a Biotic. Regardless he began wondering if he or Eva would get to the presidium first, and who would have information. It was like a race. A long, drawn out race, to hunt for a man who needed to die!

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Eva Core was not a happy Youkai.

Youkai were magical, and most, she included, did not like having to hold back or control themselves. That did not mean she didn't obey the rules of society, oh no, nearly all Youkai did. No, what she didn't like having to control was her power. Having it caged in, unable to emanate off of her, felt wrong, stifling, suffocating. So when she and Jack had been given a mission to hunt down a Terrafirm agent who very well could be their leader, she jumped at the idea!

And then found out that he had been sighted on a council world of all places, boarding a ship to the Citadel. So off to the Citadel they went, to the one place where they both had to wear two Eezo repulsion bracelets to be safe, to hunt down a single man.

It was infuriating, nearly as much as not knowing where their lead had come from. Sure everyone had suspicions as to where the lead had come from, of course. In the Alliance there were only two places random information fell on your lap from. One of them usually toyed with you for the better part of an hour before handing it off, while the other was a supposed existence that most people could not even see or prove existed.

Great options. Really great options!

Regardless of where the information had come from, it had been trusted by their higher ups so here she was, on the Citadel, with her magic and powers mostly sealed-

"Put your hands in the air and don't move!" A Batarian C-Sec officer yelled as he and his Turian partner pointed their handguns at Eva.

-And being held up by officers with more honour and duty than brains.

"Is there something wrong, officers?" Eva asked as she raised her hands and put on her best innocent puppy dog eyed face.

"You tried to steal my weapon," the Batarian claimed angrily, very clearly holding said weapon at Eva's face instead of her centre of body mass. Did C-Sec not train their people well, or was it a holdover if he was a merc before?

Eva let out an exasperated sigh. "I did run into your side sir, and for that I apologize, but I was trying to not walk into that Hanar that went by. I was not trying to steal your piece."

"Of course you tried, human. You're all the same like that!" The Batarian officer yelled as he stepped closer, until suddenly the Turian placed a hand on his shoulder

"Calm down, she might have, but she claims to have not. And I did see that Hanar wobbling around. Probably drunk."

"But, she tried to steal-"

"Why would I steal you're pathetic excuse for a weapon when the Alliance has far better?" Eva asked, giving up on playing innocent. "I just accidentally bumped into you, and I'm sorry. Can I go? I have a meeting I need to get to."

"That's fine. We apologize for the situation, don't we!" The Turian officer said as he essentially dragged his cohort away.

Eva let out a sigh and continued walking down the ward, ducking into an alleyway a few minutes later as she pulled out a sleek blue credit chip. She hadn't been after the man's gun, but his money. After all, Jack had their council funds for the mission, and she had forgotten to ask him for half of it so she could do what was necessary.

Oh well, that officer was an ass, he probably didn't need the money!

Leaving the alleyway Eva glanced around for any kind of bar, information broker, or anything of use and scowled. Everything was in alien script. Not impossible to decipher, but not easy for a Youkai who completely and utterly despised the aliens! Except for the Turians. Yeah they had attacked, but they were the most likable aliens, so similar to the Alliance, yet held back by the foolishness of the Asari.

Eva shook her head. She was getting off topic. She needed to find Charles Saracino and kill him. Well, she and Jack needed to, but the both of them enjoyed a challenge, often making it a form of race. They hadn't said anything about it, but that wouldn't change anything.

"Excuse me," came a new voice, female, and calm.

Eva turned to the voice to see an Asari standing before her, dressed in what looked to be a uniform, but not that of C-Sec. she had a pistol on her waist, and while her expression was calm, her eyes were not. This Asari was after something. "Yes, can I help you, miss?" Eva asked casually.

The Asari seemed taken aback a bit, as well as visibly insulted somehow, but quickly overcame it. "I need you to come with me," the Asari suddenly said politely, though her tone made it clear it was not a suggestion.

"May I ask why?" Eva asked feigning ignorance. The reason could be one of easily a dozen after all. Ranging from a random security check to having been seen swiping the officers chip earlier.

"Because you snuck through our security checkpoint," the Asari stated clearly as one of her hands hovered over her pistol.

"Ah, I see." Eva simply said. In a way she had been hoping to be seen as it would make things interesting, but she hoped to be seen in the checkpoint, not after the fact.

She couldn't create modern art out in the open after all!

"Will you come quietly, or no?" the Asari pressed, her tone cool and neutral, but loud enough that many passer-by's were now keeping their distance, or even stopping to watch.

This had not gone as planned.

Eva let out a heavy sigh and shrugged. "Well, I suppose I should, but I really do have places to be."

"The only place you need to be right now is in a security room answering our questions. Now come along, human," the Asari said as she took out a pair of what looked to be manacles. Manacles clearly powered by Eezo.

First being called a human, then Eezo powered manacles. Eva tensed visibly and took a step back. "You are not putting those on me!"

The Asari acted immediately, pulling her pistol out with one hand and throwing the other up to use Biotics, but as she did, Eva acted as well. With one swing of her arm she knocked the Asari's handgun into her other hand, giving her a chance to bolt into a nearby alleyway, turning as quickly as she could as shots flew past her.

The Asari had bad aim.

Eva took a turn, then another, and another, until she came to a dead end and smirked, climbing up the wall until she could climb up onto the top of a nearby building, and waited.

She didn't have to wait long as the Asari came barrelling down the alleyway, covered in biotic energy making her light up like a Christmas tree. As soon as she found the dead end she began glancing around, eyeing the piles of refuse, the piles of boxes, and the two doorways at the back opposite each other.

"I know you are here," She said calmly as she walked deep in, suddenly looking around a pie of boxes with her gun ready. While she sounded calm, she acted far from it. "Come out, and I will not hurt you."

"Ha, just putting those manacles on would hurt!" Eva called out, using a small weave of magic to throw her voice.

"What do you mean? They are just manacles."

"Eezo powered! You council races really need to learn to differentiate humans and youkai!"

"Youkai? Then, why are you on the Citadel? Nearly no Youkai aside from your ambassador come to the Citadel. All of your kind are rare here, so what are you here for?" she demanded, now sounding worried.

"Thinking of letting me go about my business?"

"No, you intentionally snuck through a security checkpoint. You will be taken in and questioned. I merely have begun the questioning early."

"Oh, how forceful! Tell me, do you like art?"

"What?" the Asari asked in confusion as she spun around, looking around for the voice she still could not find.

"Art. Paintings, music, sculpture. I like sculpture. A lot! They have such emotion to them!" Eva declared as she silently leapt down from the building above and landed behind the Asari without making a noise. "Especially fear and surprise!"

The Asari spun around at hearing Eva's voice behind her. It was her first and last mistake. Eva grabbed her gun hand and lifted it up against her biotic arm, pushing it up into the air, while Eva leaned forward, her face right in front of the Asari's as her eyes began to glow.

"Strike a pose!" Eva said happily.

The Asari opened her mouth to speak, but it quickly turning into a low cry for help as she felt her sense of touch leave her. It took barely two seconds for the Asari's entire body, clothing, and the gun in her hand to turn into solid greyish blue marble.

"Hmmm, I wasn't sure if it would work, but that turned out nicely!" Eva stated as she took a step back and admired her handiwork. It was perfect mixture of shock and growing fear, along with an excellently shaped female form. Another excellent piece! "Now I can get back to-"

CRASH!

Eva turned to see a Turian child standing in the entrance to the alleyway's dead end. A broken box of dishware was on the ground at his feet, and his expression was one of horror.

And as soon as he and Eva's eyes met he did the most intelligent thing for a child and turned around and ran off as fast as his feet could carry him.

"Aw, Stones," Eva grumbled in annoyance. If it had been any kind of officer, adult, or anything else shed have just fix the problem. Killing or even harming children was never right or allowable though. She quickly typed a message on her wrist comp and hit the send button, letting the message out.

Jack, I screwed up.

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Operative Stealth Ship Normandy – unknown location.

Garrus Vakerian sat down in the small, but easily large enough room he had been given aboard the Normandy. When he had been given his mission by the council, he had figured he would be in a mixed dormitory or a multi-person cabin. Instead everyone had their own cabins. It was small, only big enough for just a single person bed, a desk, a locker and a small walkway in the middle, but it was far more than he had expected. The room could even have its head and humidity changed to his own liking, making it surprising comfortable.

But the most important thing was not his own comfort, but how easy the room made it to do his primary job. His orders were simple.

Assist in hunting down the rogue spectre, Saren.

Learn anything he could about what connections Saren could have.

Discover any other information that could be of use to the Citadel council, including information on the Alliance.

Simple orders, yet also not so simple. As soon as he had boarded the ship he knew it would be a wealth of information. Alliance weapons, infantry tactics, personal views on combat magic up close, he was learning so much, and marking all of it down on his Omni tool to make sure he forgot nothing. He didn't even need to worry about it getting damaged either, for his Omni tool was military grade, and had been designed for the mission. It had no Eezo, was hardened and encrypted, and most importantly, was built into his armour and had no wireless connection of any kind. With no wireless connection he couldn't hack things with it without directly connecting it to anything, but that was fine, as it meant it couldn't get hacked and there was less chance of data corruption or loss.

And the data he had just gotten was worth not losing!

He hadn't managed to decrypt all of it, that took time even for automated programs, but what he could access was both interesting and dangerous.

Tela Vasir was working with some other organization, not the Council or the shadow broker, and was dumping large quantities of her own personal funds into it. Yet, she still had the funds to have an Asari commando and many other Asari mercenaries originally from Eclipse serving her so willingly, without pay. That alone was something of interest, but the last pieces of information he could glean were even more so. The name of the organization she was part of, an Alliance word of some kind, and another piece of information, the name of a ship that supposedly was captained by Saren himself.

Sovereign.

The real question however, was what to do with the information. It was only partial, but with the right connections it could lead to something even before the rest of the data was decrypted. Would he simply hoard the information and look for that which connected to it, or reveal what he had found to Adaaya, Desolas and Nihlus?

Suddenly a low beep rang in the room, and a small blinking green light lit up beside a button on the wall. Letting out a sigh Garrus reached over and tapped the button, connecting the speaker. "What do you need, pilot?"

"Oh good, I was hoping someone would pick up!" came Jokers voice over the intercom. "everyone else won't pick up, or can't, but I figured I'd tell you that Desolas and Co are going to call that debrief soon. Figured you'd want to know beforehand.

"Thank you for that, I'll head over now. Is Spectre Nihlus with them there?"

"Yep, the three of them have been going over how the mission went. Or complaining about it. It's hard to tell from when I listened in."

"I see, thank you. If there's time I'll come up and talk with you, if you would be fine with that?"

"Sure, talking with an investigator, what's the worst that could happen?" Joker said as he ended the connection.

Garrus could only smile. He had talked to the pilot only once before since getting on the ship, but he liked him. He was open, sarcastic, and strangely knowledgeable about things, while being perfectly fine with passing on information. Information that was basic and easily acquired, but still.

It felt like he was some kind of agent, or an operative himself, though that would be hard considering the disease he supposedly had.

Letting out a sigh Garrus switched his Omni tool to its low power mode and got up and left the room, quickly heading down the hall as he began going over the information in his head. The hallways were mostly clear, aside from a few crewmen. They were surprisingly friendly as well, giving a wave or a greeting as they passed, but the entire time he had the feeling someone was watching him.

It felt like someone could attack him at any moment, like he could be discovered with a terrible secret that would ruin galactic economy, or like he was being watched to be made to slip up. It was a nice feeling that kept him at his best.

Being a C-Sec investigator was tough work, but it was a trillion times better than being stuck at a desk!

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"It went well, aside from your excessive electrocution of a ships systems that could have had information on them," Nihlus said off handily as he, Adaaya and Desolas stood in the meeting room on the Normandy.

"It went better than expected really," Adaaya said with a grin. "I was not expecting you and that investigator to keep up with us. The Krogan was obvious, but I honestly thought you would have fallen behind!"

"A Spectre must be capable of working for days at a time without rest if necessary. A little light sprinting will not tire me that quickly," Nihlus quickley stated in his defence.

"Oh, you seemed pretty winded though? Or was that just from having to corral your insane brain surgeon? Desolas replied in a snarky tone.

"You must have miss seen things. I was neither tired, nor having difficulty with the doctor. She has been helpful already in helping organize the Prothean images in my head after all," Nihlus declared simply. "And you haven't said anything about that ship you so worthlessly devastated."

Desolas shrugged. "It was a quicker way to get rid of its crew, and if we really needed info off it, the Alliance has its ways. Besides it's now covered in liquefied rock, so there's no issue!"

"No issue? If they had prisoners they are dead! If there was worthwhile data, it's gone! If there was any form of lead, a trail to who they worked for, how they knew Doctor T'soni was there, or why they were after her, it is gone! And you say there is no issue?!"

"Of course there's no issue, it all got covered in liquid rock!" Desolas exclaimed, almost happily.

Something Nihlus picked up on. "Now that I think about it, you didn't seem all that afraid of it yourself. Did you perhaps-"

"Know a volcano was there? Of course not," Desolas said with a chuckle. "Adaaya and I just know someone who's magic is kind of like lava, only a hundred times worse. So a little lava is less scary than his magic!"

"I find that difficult to believe," Nihlus said with a sigh as he decided to change the subject. "With Doctor T'soni's help I have pieced together a few bits of the visions I've been seeing. It's some sort of warning message, but its fractured, and the doctor believes that if I was to find another working beacon that it would clear up."

"And how is that supposed to help us find Saren?" Adaaya spoke up in a snarky tone. "Even if he has the same vision, Prothean beacons do not grow on trees!"

"I know that! I am just saying that if we find any information related to the Protheans we should keep looking into it!" Nihlus stated angrily.

"And that's fine," Desolas spoke up. "But we need to decide our next move before the debrief so there's no wasted time. We've wasted enough already."

"On that I agree. The other leads we had were the science lab on Noveria that Saren now owns, and the council colony on Feros that went dark," Nihlus stated as he tapped his omnitool a bit and did the Turian equivalent of a scowl. "That's odd."

"what is?" Adaaya asked curiously.

"I've gotten a notice that the Council knows of Feros, and that Lonar Maerun, the councils only Hanar Spectre, volunteered to go and investigate."

"Why is that odd? It means they are actually doing their job" Desolas said with a huff.

"It's odd-," Nihlus began as the door opened and Garrus walked in.

"Because Lonar Maerun is known as an assassination specialist, and because he is known to cause many unneeded deaths. He normally works in the terminus systems hunting down warlords and pirate captains that get too arrogant, and the Council would instantly ask him to not go there due to his personal opinions on many things," Garrus said as he walked up to the table and sat down. "I apologize, but I was outside when I heard Lonar's name."

"Its fine, Investigator," Adaaya said with a odd grin. "Seems like you know your stuff. I was under the impression that Spectre activities are top secret though, no?"

"They are, but investigators get access on some occasions to look into things. One investigation I had to deal with last year had Lonar as a potential suspect, so I've seen and memorized his dossier," Garrus explained before looking to Nihlus. "I apologize if I interrupted you."

"No, its fine. I haven't spoken with Lonar, what can you tell us?"

"Hold that thought," Desolas said quickly as he tapped his wristcomp a few times and then nodded. "Just telling Joker to tell everyone to come here for the debrief, continue.

"Well, he's a Hanar, first of all. They use Mass effect powered levitation systems to keep themselves upright out of water, and their tentacles can both grip tightly, and secrete natural toxins. Each Hanar can produce a different form of toxin, and Lonar is said to be secrete one that is extremely deadly, capable of killing within a minute after contact with the skin by causing them to lose motor control. Essentially a hyper powerful paralytic. He uses this, along with his grav system to move faster than people might expect a Hanar to, and to strangle and kill people. According to his dossier anyway."

"Sounds dangerous, but effective," Nihlus said with a nod, seeing the value in such tactics. "what of his personal opinion you mentioned?"

"He, like most Hanar, believe that the Protheans uplifted their people and gave them language. They call them the enkindlers, and while most Hanar are protective of Prothean technology, he is downright addicted to it."

"Addicted to technology the Council makes everyone share?" Desolas asked carefully.

"Yes, apparently, if he encounters any place of Prothean ruins, or a Prothean artefact, he has a habit of going in and killing anyone to secure it."

"That's bad. If I recall correctly, the Council colony is based inside the ruins of a Prothean tower complex," Nihlus said nervously. "And the whole planet is covered in Prothean ruins.

"So we have a lab controlled by Saren, and Prothean tower colony that is under attack by Batarians, robots, and now possibly a fanatical Hanar. They sound rather equal honestly," Desolas said with a sigh.

It was at that moment that the door opened and Wrex, Ashley, Kaiden and Tali all came in.

"Good, now we can get this meeting . . . . Joker, why is the doctor not here?" Desolas spoke up as he pressed something on the wall.

"She wasn't ground team, figured you didn't want her. Do you?" Joker replied from a speaker that Nihlus couldn't quite find.

"No, that's a good point. Never mind."

"Alright. Oh, and I'm sending you and Adaaya something we just got over comms. Encrypted Operative channel, and it checks out on its security bits. Should take a minute to get to your wrist comps."

"Uh, now that he's out of the way and everyone's here, debrief time," Adaaya said contently. "First of all, everyone, good job out there, both on that rock and in the hanger. Tali, good job taking initiate with covering, and Wrex, Garrus, good job with keeping up, you did better than we figured you would honestly."

"We've gotten our Spectres little doctor and he's helping him with what he needs," Desolas then spoke up as he tapped his wristcomp and brought up a hologram of a simple, single line message.

OKS – 27 – Attican b –Theseus – two

"For those of you who don't know, this is a simple Operative Code. The first part tells who is sending it, the first two numbers are the code itself, and the rest is a location."

"So, Attican Beta, the Theseus system and . . .that's Feros!" Garrus quickly pieces together. "But who sent it?

"One of the highes ranking Operatives. And a code 27 is a request for immediate support to prevent loss of life. So it looks like we're going to Feros," Adaaya said with a sigh. "Joker will get us there in a couple hours, so rest while you can. Dismissed."

Nihlus waited until everyone but he, adaaya and Desolas had left the room before speaking up. "So, Feros. Is it that important with the message?"

"As Adaaya said, a code 27 is a request for immediate reinforcements to stop a loss of life. Civilian life. And considering who sent it, the situation must be grim."

"But, who is it?"

"One of the first Operatives that the Citadel races set eyes upon. And the second rank operative in all of the Alliance," Adaaya said with a grin, "Kotchiya Sanae!"

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Codex-

Operative coding – operatives use a simple encrypted code system to alert others of their intentions or need for assistance. The codes may look simple, but without knowing the encryption key, and the codes meaning, are difficult to discern.

The first three letters of a code are the initials of Operative (O) then the operatives initials themselves. The codes after them fall into a simple grouping arrangement.

1-5 – singular operative situation reports

6-12 – multi operative reports.

13-17 – mission all clear/ exfiltration requests

18-30 – various requests for reinforcements, or support depending on situation.