Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 6

Sora headed for the Consort's rooms, something that wouldn't look at all suspicious considering she was a fellow Asari, many of their people went to see her and her Acolytes. She smiled when she saw Nelyna at the greeting desk and her contact/friend smiled in return. She'd already set up an appointment so they were soon within a private room and Sora relaxed on the bed while Nelyna went to work. Her specialty was touch and Sora needed the chance to relax.

"Are you alright?"

"As much as I can be considering my Mother has apparently lost her mind and is working with Saren," she admitted.

"If Saren had ever come to see the Consort we might have more information…"

"But he never did and if he had, you wouldn't be able to share that information," Sora finished for her.

They would never share information about clients but they would work as a way for Huntresses and the like to send and receive data without it being tracked. Considering what it had taken for the Council to strip Saren of his Spectre status it was better to not rely on official channels while on the station.

When Sora left she had an OSD stashed in her belt, information on Saren and Binary Helix from several sources she didn't have access to herself.

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Riku was surprised to hear the Normandy was in dock but he made his way towards where it was, his Alliance id enough to clear him through to the correct bay where he paused to just study the incredible ship. She was beautiful, sleeker than most other ships, the Turian influence? He stepped up and used the signal to let the ship know someone was outside.

"Identify," a male voice ordered.

"Lieutenant Riku Yamada to see XO Pressly," he answered.

"One second."

Riku fought the urge to fidget as he waited, wondering if the man would want to see him but then the door opened.

"Okay, you're cleared, welcome aboard."

Riku stepped inside, waiting for the decontamination to run before entering the ship. A glance to the left showed the cockpit where the man in the pilot's seat turned to look at him.

"Turn right, he's at the end of the hall," it was the same man he'd spoken to on the comm.

"Thank you," he saluted, assuming the pilot held a high rank on such a ship and unable to see his rank from where he was standing.

He followed the corridor, past the various crewmembers, ignoring the looks he got as a stranger until he came out into a large room holding the galaxy map. Interesting layout. He smiled when he saw Pressly at the console speaking with a crewmember, approaching, and then stopping at a respectful distance.

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Charles sensed the approach and finished up, turning, and then smiling at the sight before him. He'd been very surprised when Joker announced there was a Lieutenant Yamada at the door. He looked over the boy…except he wasn't a boy anymore. He'd grown in the years since he last saw him, had filled out well, his body looking fit and with no sign of the damage done by his years as basically a slave. He returned Riku's salute and then offered his hand, shaking firmly.

"Good to see you kid," he offered.

"I haven't been a kid in a while, sir," Riku practically rolled his eyes at him which was great to see. He'd still been very hesitant in his interactions when he left for Grissom, it was good to see him acting more normally for his age.

"You'll always be a kid compared to me," Charles smirked. "So what do you think of the Normandy?"

"She looks impressive enough, kind of pretty," Riku was obviously trying not to laugh, and Charles shook his head.

"With the Commander on the Citadel, I've got command otherwise I'd ask if you want to grab a meal."

Riku shook his head. "We're due to depart in thirty but when I heard the Normandy was docked…" he looked embarrassed.

"I meant it, it's good to see you," Charles promised. It was sad but the Admiral and him were the closest the younger man had to family now. "You're alright?"

"I'm not the one on a ship going after Geth and Rogue Spectres," Riku argued. "I'm…okay. Things on board have been tense since we got word of Eden Prime."

He nodded, it was likely tense on every ship now, they'd lost one of their most stable colonies to Saren's attack and then the damage to Feros as well… "Try not to worry too much, Commander Shepard's working hard to track Saren and the Geth down. Just focus on doing your duty," he advised, not sure what else he could say.

Riku nodded. "I better go."

"Stay safe kid."

"You too." Riku offered a small smile and then left the ship.

Charles watched him go and…he had the feeling he'd never see him again. He shook it off, no one, not even biotics, could tell the future. It was just his worry over the mission.

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Liara closed her eyes and leant against the wall. She needed to push those emotions aside and focus on the mission, they had to stop Saren and…Benezia. The idea that Mother had fallen to some kind of mind control, it scared her. She'd had the normal training to help keep her emotions steady in order to avoid biotic flareups but it wasn't helping at the moment. She'd never thought she'd envy Sora the training she'd had. She needed to keep her focus on what the Conduit could be, not what it had felt like to meld with the Commander, the strength of his mind, the intelligence and compassion…no, not thinking about it.

She glanced at the time and stood; it was time to return to the Normandy. She replaced the various sources she had been studying and left the public archive.

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John absently returned the salute offered by the younger officer who quickly moved out of the way of their group, though his attention was briefly caught by his hair colour, was that natural? He saw Sora glance back at the…lieutenant curiously but then they were in the lift and headed back to the ship.

"Is that colour hair common among humans?" the young Asari asked.

"It must be for him due to regulations, but no, I've never seen someone with almost silver hair before," he admitted. And it had appeared to be more silver than blond, a very striking colour.

They waited for the decontamination and then they were on board. "Take us out Joker," John called to their pilot.

"Gotcha," he called back.

He headed back to the galaxy map to input the new coordinates.

"Admiral Hackett for you Commander," Joker's voice called over the comm even as the others headed down the stairs.

"Patch him through," John answered, listening as the Admiral explained what was happening at the Lunar training facility. A rogue VI? That was dangerous and needed handling, but why not someone closer? Still, orders were orders, Spectre or not.

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Sora stared out the viewport at the planet not too far away. She'd never seen Earth before, not outside an image anyway. They'd come to the Sol system for some Alliance mission on Earth's moon, one that Shepard had only taken the Alliance members of the team for. She understood, just because they were working together against Saren didn't mean their interests wouldn't later differ, and giving up intel on their military would not be good.

It wasn't like Sora minded being left behind, the break on the Citadel hadn't been all that long and she hadn't really taken much of a break since she'd been gathering intel. She was grateful she'd had a few minutes to stop by her Father's office and she'd been happy to see both of them since she'd dragged Liara with her. She just wished…Mother had been there too. She missed her, wished she'd dragged her back to Thessia when she had the chance. The Thorian was dead so they couldn't drag Benezia back there for the same kind of freeing as Shiala had undergone but surely there were other ways? And Mother was a Matriarch, maybe whatever Saren was doing wouldn't have worked as well on her?

She eventually moved on, going to talk with Garrus. He was helping her hone her skills as a sniper since that hadn't been her focus as a Huntress but it was a skill that was very useful on this mission. She'd done well so far but she could always be better.

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"Everyone clear?" John asked, checking the ground team he was taking.

On missions where the Mako was needed for transport, they were rather limited in who could go, unless a second was lying around like on Feros. He'd put in a request for a second, if they could find a way to make it fit.

Since they were targeting pirates it was completely his choice who to take. He'd added Sora to the team since the hostage was an Asari, figuring her presence would put the other at ease. Wrex and Ash rounded out the team for fire power since pirates weren't going to surrender.

"Sora, your target is Dahlia Dantius. She'll likely be more comfortable with a fellow Asari after being held by pirates," he explained and the Huntress nodded. "This is a rescue mission; we go in and we get her out. Taking out the pirates is a secondary objective."

They all nodded and headed for the Mako. They'd found the base on sensors and it didn't seem heavily manned or armed, there were no ships in orbit either so the main force was likely out 'working' leaving only guards behind. They got strapped in as the Normandy headed into the atmosphere. The cargo bay opened as the Mako dropped, John firing the jets to slow their descent for a mostly smooth landing, well away from the base.

It was a quiet journey, though he noticed Ash didn't seem all that impressed. He was forcing her into working with their new teammates to try and get her to be more accepting of the aliens now aboard the Normandy. He could understand her attitude towards Turians, though he did not agree with it, but the Krogan, Asari, and Quarians had not been involved in hostilities with Earth. He also knew she wasn't the only one aboard with such thoughts, even Pressly tended to look at aliens the same way. Though things had been improving as they proved themselves to the Alliance crew members.

They made it to the base and Ash used the weapons to deal with the guards outside before they headed inside, weapons ready. Sora moved around the edges of the fight, searching for the prisoner. John caught movement out of the corner of his eye, a figure moving, weapon raised towards the Asari so he spun and fired, dropping them. Sora glanced over and nodded in thanks before moving on. So he was surprised to find her staring at that body when it was all over.

"Sora?"

"This is Dahlia Dantius and according to the records in the office this is her operation. Except they aren't pirates, they're slavers," she explained.

"I think we better talk to her sister." He did not like being given bad intel. He'd put his people at risk to rescue a civilian, if he'd known he was facing slavers he would have approached the mission differently. "You got all the records?"

"Of course," she nodded.

"Then let's get out of here."

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Riku led the squad carefully through the narrow halls, gun up and ready. It was his first time leading a mission and it was to explore a seemingly derelict ship along their patrol route. He was nervous but determined to be successful. Everyone was on alert after the attack on Eden Prime and further sightings of the Geth. Even pirate activity was picking up and it had the brass concerned. So when Riku spun, he was already aiming even as he spotted the light in the corner. "Geth!"

They were everywhere! Riku dodged to the side, ducking behind a damaged crate even as he fired back, throwing up a biotic barrier as the only other biotic on the team did the same, trying to cover their team as best they could.

He fell back as something slammed into his armour, feeling someone grab him and drag him behind better cover.

"Lieutenant!"

He gasped in air, shaking off the shock of impact, looking down to find a burn mark on his armour but no wound. "Fine," he forced out, pushing himself up again, grabbing his assault rifle to start shooting again.

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Liara stared at the approaching planet in trepidation. Noveria…if the rumours were true then Mother was down there, or had been. What would they do if she was? The Council wanted to question her about Saren but she was a powerful Matriarch. Would she come quietly? Or…would they be forced to fight her?

When a hand wrapped around hers, she squeezed back, taking comfort in the presence of her little sister. It would be so much worse for Sora, she'd been travelling with Mother for two years, had always been closer to her. If she chose to fight them…

"We'll find a way," Sora whispered, and Liara wished she could believe her.

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Getting passed security had been a pain but they were finally through and with their weapons. Garrus didn't like the idea of going up against a Matriarch without them, especially when they didn't all have biotics. Being asked to help a Hanar smuggle goods into the port was a surprise but unsurprisingly Shepard turned them down. The money would have been nice but Garrus was coming to see that in some things, Shepard was very much by the book. Thankfully, they weren't all needed to go and confront Administrator Anoleis about Benezia's presence, he followed Wrex to the nearest bar.

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Riku kept his face blank as the ships' doctor checked him over. His armour and shields had taken the brunt of the blow but it felt like his ribs were bruised, the skin darkening. Yes, he hurt, but he was nowhere near the worst off from the fight. Martins was dead, Fernández was unlikely to make it unless transferred to a hospital, and Patel had a bad concussion along with a broken arm. It could have been worse, he'd seen what the Geth had done to the ships' crew and he'd nearly thrown up in his helmet, his ribs hadn't thanked him for that.

He hadn't understood attitudes towards the Quarians before but he got it now. They had created the Geth and then failed to put their creation down. It was their fault the things were doing…that to people.

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"You will excuse me if I don't stand up I have no time to entertain spaceborne vagabonds," the Salarian stated without even looking up as they entered his office.

"I see you looked at my service record," Shepard crossed his arms.

"Only a fool that does negotiation without knowledge of the other parties tendencies. This greeting is a courtesy, I will only cooperate as required by the executive board. Businesses come here to avoid the second guessing of galactic law."

"Are you telling me you have no safety protocols?"

"Don't be ridiculous, do you think a for profit company would take no precautions against loss of life and material? Project leads have the final say here not some politicians," Anoleis sneered.

"Do you do business with Saren?" Shepard asked, and Sora watched the Salarian closely, not sure how good the Commander was at reading their body language.

"He's a major investor in Binary Helix corporation," was the answer, and Sora suspected there was a lot more to it than that.

"Is binary Helix developing weapons for him?" Alenko spoke up, trying to throw Anoleis off but she didn't think it would work.

"It's possible given his interests. What our clients do in their labs is their business," sure enough he shrugged it off.

"I've heard in an Asari matriarch is here," Shepard changed the subject, and Sora managed not to tense.

"Matriarch Benezia? She arrived a few days ago accompanied by a personal escort and some cargo, she's up at peak 15."

So she was still there, good. They wouldn't have to go chasing after her. Of course, the Administrator had no intention of allowing them to go to peak 15 to see Benezia, it was very obvious he wanted them gone. But…she was only on leave from her assignment to her Mother. "I am Sora T'Soni, Huntress, assigned to Matriarch Benezia," she told the Administrator, seeing the flicker of surprise. "I've been on leave; did she leave any instructions?"

"Well, I…" he looked to his computer. "Actually, yes." He pulled out a pass. "This is the pass necessary to access Peak 15, it was to be given to you upon your arrival. Now, is there anything else or can I get back to my actual work?"

"Thank you for your time," Liara told him.

"She left you a pass?" Williams demanded.

"I can think of two reasons for doing so," Liara murmured, uncomfortable.

"Oh?" the human pushed.

"Either this control of Saren's has not totally taken her and she is seeking help or…"

"It's a trap," Sora finished for her sister.

"Either way, we've got to go," Shepard told them.

Of course, when they met up with the others at the hotel bar, they found Tali and Garrus had promised a Turian they'd raid his office for evidence of Anoleis' corruption. The longer they lingered the more dangerous the trap could become but getting rid of a corrupt official could also be of help later. Once again they split in two groups, one to secure the ground transport to Peak 15 and the other to Synthetic Insights to gather Qui'in's evidence.

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She read the reports of the little mission they'd arranged and was saddened by the deaths but pleased by Yamada's reaction to the test. He appeared to be listening more to the anti-alien sentiments aboard since seeing what the Geth did firsthand, especially comments aimed at the Geth and Quarians. Someone had to investigate that ship, having the Cape Town be the ship to do so hadn't taken much work. He didn't quite fit a standard recruitment pitch, though if the trouble with Saren and the Geth continued he might, but she had several ideas on how to approach him when the time was right. He needed a bit more battlefield experience so how to go about getting some…ah, there was a distress call from some marines on Edolus.

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Liara worked at the machine to make the cure for Dr Cohen. She may be a scientist but she was an archaeologist! The needed Dr Chakwas but since she was back on the ship, Liara was the next closest. She just had to follow the notes which were rather confusing at first but she believed she had worked them out. Perhaps they needed someone with some medical training on the team, beyond the basic first aid that those with military training could offer.

As she finished, the door opened and Dr. Alestia Iallis walked inside…with three Geth.

"Your mission ends here Shepherd."

"We'll see about that. What happened to Ventralis' man?"

"I didn't have permission to come in and he got in my way," she shrugged, and Liara glared at her fellow Asari. Such callous disregard for another's life, was this Saren's work or just how she was? "I was ordered to eliminate you should the opportunity arise and here you are trapped in this lab," she smirked.

"Weapons free," Shepard ordered and Liara let go of the singularity she'd been charging, making them float into a small group and turning them into easy targets.

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"Bringing the Rachni back, how could anyone believe that was a good idea?" Liara asked as they moved through the maintenance area, not wanting to have to fight anyone else Benezia may have placed to take them out.

"Only an idiot could," Wrex growled angrily.

"Did you fight the Rachni, Wrex?" Kaiden asked and Wrex laughed.

"I'm not that old."

"I don't know about you, but even just thinking about Saren with an army of Rachni at his command gives me the chills. We weren't exactly winning that war until the Krogan were brought in," Garrus pointed out.

"Do you think the scientists know about Saren? I mean, what he's really up to," Liara asked.

"Hard to tell," Kaiden admitted. "Captain Ventralis seemed to be just doing his job as security, but there's no way to tell. If we hear alarms though I guess the Commander will have found out he's not." Of course that was when the alarms went off, meaning the security team was working for Saren and Benezia, or at least had bought whatever story they were spinning. Taking the maintenance access though meant they went through without issues…till they found more Rachni.

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Riku stared as the ground shook and then a massive creature emerged. That…was a Thresher Maw!

TBC…