From Ashes
Chapter Twenty: Provocation

A/N: I realized last chapter that there are probably some who don't go off and do all of the side missions in the trilogy, so I will do the courtesy of listing the ones I'll be referring to throughout. I'll have them in the second author's note so as not to bore with details and possible spoilers before reading. :)


The retreating pair of medics had alerted at least one person to the commotion upstairs. Doctor Chloe Michel, having been called to the presidium clinic for assistance with the triage, had seen the two men coming down the stairs in a hurry. One had been going on about an asari who had lost it and had nearly thrown him off the roof. Her shift ending, she left the queue that had formed near the lift and headed for the stairs. Meeting a salarian on his way up as well, they engaged in a simple conversation to relieve the silence.

"Good afternoon, Doctor." Wiks greeted. "Chloe Michel, isn't it?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Padok Wiks." He introduced. "I assume you've been working all night as well."

"I have." She nodded with fatigue slipping into her tone. "Quite different from working in the upper part of Shalta ward."

"I can imagine." Wiks nodded. "Not so different from my experience. I have a mind for medicine, but I came here from working on a genetic research base on Sur'Kesh. This is a definite change of pace."

"Did you hear about what has been going on up here?" She motioned toward the rooftop they were headed for. There was a skycar dock located on its lower end that was easier to get to than heading down onto the presidium and taking one from the transport terminals.

"Haven't heard. Anything interesting?"

"Apparently, one of the medics was nearly thrown off."

"You're not talking about the one that just came down raving about some asari, are you?"

"Yes." Chloe nodded. "I hear he is a xenophobe."

"From what I hear, it's worse." Padok shook his head. "Rumor has it he just detests aliens altogether… Makes me wonder why he joined the Alliance sometimes."

"There are a few like that in the ward I work on." Michel shook her head in disapproval. "They come in all forms and races."

"Pity." They emerged out onto the rooftop and were prepared to head for the Launchpad for the skycars when something caught Wiks' eye. Two people; one on the ground, and the other working to keep the first's body still. "Hang on. Something's not right." He changed directions and made for the two asari when recognition dawned on him. Calling out, he moved faster. "What happened?"

"I'm not certain." Irissa spoke; the panic still present in her tone. "One minute she was suspending that medic in mid air and the next, she lost control."

"So the rumor was true." Wiks muttered to his colleague.

"It looks as if her muscles are contracting." Chloe took a closer look while performing a scan with her omni tool. "Too much for a natural reaction."

"Subjected to a fair amount of electricity." Wiks clarified as he prepared an injection. "Seems to be a latent reaction." Turning to Irissa again, he questioned. "What exactly was going on up here? Give as much detail as possible, if you can."

"An argument between her and a human medic was escalating. I'm not sure what it was about, but he touched on a very… volatile subject." Irissa spared the details as to what. "He made one last remark and it set her off; she stood and used her biotics to lift him off the ground. That is as far as it got before this happened."

"How did he escape?"

"He was dropped involuntarily. I advised him and his colleague, who was trying to get him to walk it off, to leave. The next thing I know, she is crashing to the ground and I was just able to spare her head."

"I see." Opening a local comm channel, Wiks spoke quickly. "Security, get the footage from the roof access." Injection ready, he paused before delivering it. "This will stop it but render her useless for the next ten hours." When it was done, the result was soon to follow; the downed asari's body slowly started to relax, breathing was slowed, and her eyes closed. Unfortunately, her breathing deceased to a dangerous level, but Chloe stood ready to compensate for it with another injection that would localize the muscle relaxer to the extremities, rather than core body functions.

"Good call." Padok nodded his approval while getting up. "Let's get her out of here."


Shepard meanwhile, had left the hospital and was headed for her ship to review some of her reports made throughout their pursuit of Saren. There had been many asignments she had been tasked with that weren't part of her initial mission, but she had done them anyway. The ones she had mentioned to Anderson just a short time ago were at the forefront of her mind when she exited the lift and boarded the Normandy. Once there, she headed to her cabin and transferred her logs to a datapad before heading into the mess to sit at one of the tables where she also used a terminal o access her hard suit computer's recorded footage that had been saved on an OSD.

The first encounter with Cerberus had been on Edolus, where Admiral Kahoku had asked her to investigate the disappearance of his men. Cerberus had planted a distress beacon on the mostly dusty world, and when Shepard's team had reached it, they found it to be in the center of a Thresher nest. That had led them to combat the maw, kill it, and then search the wreckage. Oddly enough, the nem hadn't been devoured, and their ground vehicle hadn't burned completely; charred remains revealed that some of the men had tried to seek refuge inside it before they were killed. The second encounter had been in the Styx-Theta cluster. The Normandy had been in the area, and Admiral Hackett had requeted that Shepard and her team look into a distress call sent out from one of the listening posts there. That had been where Lieutenant Marie Durand had come into play.

A battle-worn soldier, she had not said much at first while her unit was fending off another wave of creatures that they had encountered. The 14th Regiment, 3rd Brigade, Alliance 10th Frontier division had been here fighting off what they did not know were Rachni that had been released from a freighter; Depot Sigma 23. They had also been dropped on another planet in a neighboring system that Durand's team had lost contact with. Shepard, while leaving the mako there to give the auto-turrets power, had investigated a mine and eliminated the source of the rachni before leaving Listening Post Alpha to check on the other, Theta, in the next ystem. Rachni had taken over the outpost and killed everyone present; leaving hardly a trace of anything else behind. Shepard had then returned to her ship and requested an extraction team for Durand and her people; their provisions low. There had been an offer of extraction via the Normandy, but Durand was under orders to remain until others were sent.

That left the "Colony of the Dead" that Shepard and squad had found on the planet Chassica in the Maroon Sea cluster. Initially, they had gone through the area due to a message with Alliance intel that an ExoGeni-funded colony had gone dark. Not unlike Feros, Shepard and the others landed on the planet and looked around. Previous recon showed the locations of two outposts, and upon entering them, they found Dragons' teeth and husks mounted upon them. Inside one of the prefabs, they found something about samples sent from Feros. Upon arriving on Feros and entering the ExoGeni building, Shepard saw the origina correspondence; samples had been sent to that colony on Chassica and to an organization calling itself "Cerberus".

The matter with Kahoku had already been discussed, and it was still fresh on Shepard's mind. That much didn't need reviewing. Finally removing and storing the OSD again, Shepard locked the terminal and stood up. She had the information she needed for the upcoming briefing, whenever that was going to be, but there was still a matter she wanted to check out. They had come across another message on Feros about Thorian creepers being sent off somewhere for study. Having gone straight to the Citadel after retrieving the Cipher, they hadn't had time to look into that. Deciding on a quick call to Anderson, Shepard entered her cabin and placed the call via her terminal in there. When Anderson's face appeared on the display, he didn't look all that surprised to hear from her.

"Shepard." He greeted in his usual way. "Something on your mind?"

"There is." She cut straight to the point. "There is still one matter I would like to investigate before all of this comes down."

"Let me guess, it involves you leaving the Citadel."

"It would, but only for a day or so at most." Shepard clarified. "While on Feros, I found something that linked to Cerberus and never got the chance to check it out."

"Anything useful?"

"Maybe." Shepard thought back. "When we found Kahoku's body, we were attacked by what we later discovered to be Thorian Creepers; people that the plant organism on Feros converted into thralls."

"That was before you had found the Thorian."

"Yes." Shepard nodded. "I want to know how Cerberus got hold of them and if ExoGeni knew what they were getting into."

"That will be a tough one." Anderson admitted. "I'm pretty sure that they don't want you leaving the station; especially in that ship at the moment."

"I can understand it Sir, but I want to know more about the organization that was responsible for all of this;" Shepard said quietly "Responsible for the raised eyebrows I'm getting lately."

"Don't make any plans just yet." Anderson warned. "I'll see what I can do." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "In the meantime, take some time to really wind down. You'll wish you had it over the next days."

"I will, Sir."

Ending the call, Shepard prepared to get up, but as she moved her hand away from her terminal, it hit a smooth surface. Turning to look, she recognized it instantly. It was the artifact that she had encountered on Eletania; a prothean orb that had, after she used the object that Sha'ira had passed on to her, had transferred something of a life experience into the back of her mind. After the experience, it had collapsed; shrinking to the size of a softball, and she had retrieved it. Picking it up for a moment, she spun it around with the odd thought that it could have shown more along the lines of what it had before, but it didn't. As she was placing it back down, she heard a tap on the cabin's doorframe. She remembered that she had left the door open during her conversation with Anderson and looked up.

"Chief." Shepard stood and moved to the table near her terminal and motioned for Ash to sit down.

"Hey, Skipper." Ashley, dressed in blue combat fatigues, sat down. "How's it going?"

"Well enough." Shepard admitted. "Ribs are fine so far; haven't done anything to make them protest yet. Going alright with you?"

"Yeah." Ash leaned forward slightly. "Worst I got was a fractured arm. It's handled." She indicated the small brace around where the fracture had been. "Nothing serious. Just been doing things around the presidium to pass the time. There are massive repair efforts already starting in the wards. Tayseri and Kithol got hit hard."

"I heard about Tayseri earlier today in a news report." Shepard nodded. "Shalta ward wasn't so bad."

"Not as bad, yeah."

"Actually, I've put in a request to leave the station."

"You what?" Ash straightened up. "Not that I'd mind it at all, but why?"

"There's something I want to look into." Shepard answered. "Remember that communication on Feros I found; the one that mentioned Thorian creepers being sent off-world?"

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "Not sure who would want to deal with those things."

"Something didn't sit right with me." Shepard admitted. "Thre was mention in the report that there had been some specimens sent to Cerberus."

"Not good."

"Exactly."

"Well, if you get the opportunity, you know we're with you."

"Captain said he'd look into it." Shepard clarified. "Whether they'll actually let us go is another story."

"Can't exactly bust out of here like last time." Ash grinned.

From that point, Shepard had gone from her cabin to the presidium to pass the time. There was nothing else to do aboard the ship. Walking along one of the overlooks looking down on the reservoirs, she saw a cluster of people gathered around a large scorched place in one of the Citadel's bulkheads. Heading down to get a closer look, Shepard saw several people trying to lift a new piece of bulkhead manually, and they were failing miserably; it was simply too heavy. Frustrated, they stepped back, but a turian stepped forward with a suggestion that Shepard found to be very possible.

"We could try using biotics to lift it into place and have others waiting to seal it in on the lifts." She suggested. "It would take a few of us to do it,but we could probably lift it easier than any machine could."

"That's an idea." One of the workers nodded in her direction. "How many do you think it would take?"

"I don't know." The turian thought for a moment. "Best to have at least ten if not fifteen to lift it. If we dropped it, well… I wouldn't want to think of what could happen."

"How many biotics are around here?" The same worker called out. "I know a few of my guys are. Come on out." It was assumed he was the crew chief, and at his words, a few men and women, five, stepped out from the general crowd. "I assume you'll take part in this as well, Miss?" He referred to the turian who had suggested it.

"Of course." She nodded. A few asari that had been nearby also volunteered. That put their numbers right at ten: five humans, the turian, and four asari.

"What are you up to, Shepard?" Distracted by what was going on a few yards away, Shepard hadn't paid attention to the pair coming up behind her. It was Wrex and Liara; the former having asked the question. "Not thinking about defying the salarian's orders to keep it low key, are you?"

"Maybe." Shepard admitted. "They're working to get that bulkhead into place to stop a water leak from up there." Shepard indicated the scorched and warped bulkhead that had been removed from its place above them. "Can't physically lift it, so they're trying for biotics. Thought I migh lend a hand." At Liara's raised brow, Shepard added. "Don't think it would put too much stress on me. Besides, there's nothing else productive to do at the moment."

"True." Liara admitted. "Why not?" She finally nodded slowly. "It will be different than shifting debris around like I've been doing off and on."

"You there," Wrex called out to the crew chief who looked to be searching the small crowd for any other volunteers. He looked up sharply; along with some others. "We'll lend a hand."

"Good." The turian counted again to be sure. "Thirteen should be enough." Addressing the three who were approaching, she realized who they were. "Thanks for the assistance. This thing's been leaking water for the last several hours. They can't fix the water main until we get this up there." She motioned for the biotics to move and surround the piece of tritanium bulkhead. Rather large and angled, it could do quite a bit of damage if it fell. "Have your torches standing by, chief."

"We're ready up here." Another man called out near the edge of the hole. "Go for it."

"Lift slowly and precisely on my mark, but be prepared to give and take a bit; we probably won't get this right the first time." The turian and everyone else began charging their biotics so that a field flowed evenly around them. "Now."

They all slowly focused and lifted the bulkhead straight up in a very slow manner. It seemed that everyone was watching for any sign of direction from the others as the bulkhead rose steadily off the ground and past one of the upper floors of the building it was nearest. As it rose, Shepard was sure she wasn't the only one feeling the strain. Others, including Liara and the turian, were gritting their teeth as they continued to focus. The bulkhead was where it should be at the moment, and workers with blow torches were prepared to seal it in place.

"Give it a hard shove, guys. That should wedge it in so that we can get it secured." One of the engineers up top shouted down.

"Easier said than done!" The turian responded. Her tone easily reflecting the strain. "It has to be coordinated or else it will not hold and will fall back down; killing us all."

"Everyone move directly in front of it, but keep your hold steady!" Shepard explained. "Once we have everyone in position, we can attempt to push forward." People complied albeit timidly. They weren't sure about losing their proverbial grip on the heavy metal bulkhead, but it was the only way to accomplish what needed to be done. Finally, when all thirteen were in front of it, rather than surrounding it, the turian finished Shepard's thought.

"Force it directly ahead!"

With a screech of metal on metal, the bulkhead slid into place and was wedged tightly enough so that welders up top could start work on sealing it in. They would also have to make the transition from the catwalks seemless, which would be the last thing they focused on. Holding position for a few more minutes and offering support while the welding was going on, all biotics were holding their breath. If something went wrong, they would have to bold; knocking anyone nearby out of the bulkhead's path in the process. Finally, after about twenty minutes more, they were given the all clear and could let their biotics cool down. Shepard and the others stepped back; they were slightly disoriented due to the sudden lack of such a strain, but it was only a short few moments before they regained their footing.

"Another bulkhead down," The turian remarked. "Nothing short of five thousand to go…" She was letting her biotic field cool down alowly; a light pulsestill emitting from her as she eased up. "I've been doing this for the last fifteen hours, if not more, and I'm heading back to Palaven to recruit others to assist in the reconstruction." Finally letting her field drop completely, she extended a hand to Shepard. "Lieutenant Ferina Nazarro of the Cabal unit, third regiment, Ma'am. It's a pleasure."

"Commander Seryna Shepard." Shaking the turian's hand, she didn't miss the look she got from her two squadmates. "Doctor Liara T'Soni and Urdnot Wrex." She motioned to them in turn. "How have the repairs gone so far, Lieutenant?"

"As well as expected." Ferina motioned to a few others that had been done earlier in the morning. "We put up a new bulkhead, and the keeepers are all over it before we turn our backs. I would have never pegged them for heavy work."

"Don't think any of us would have." Wrex commented dryly. "So small, I'm surprised they get anything accomplished."

"Remember what Kirrahe said." Shepard said simply. "We're stronger than we look."

"The keepers actually resemble the rachni in a sense." Liara mused. "It wouldn't surprise me if they were distantly related."

"They come along and make what looks like a crap repair look as if it's been there for years." Ferina motioned to the previous bulkhead again. "This morning, it looked like someone primed that thing and just shoved it into a hole. Now, it seems as if there was no damage on the outside."

"If only all of the repairs could go that smoothly." Shepard muttered. "The wards took more damage than the presidium, and even it is going to be a challenge to repair completely."

"Exaclly." The lieutenant nodded firmly. "They'll concentrate their efforts in the most dire places first, as well as the presidium; got to make tis place look as good as possible." Wiping a trickle of sweatfrom her forehead, Ferina straightened up. "I'm due to head down to Bachjret ward in a short time to work with a few teams in replacement and clearing of salvage for a few more hours. Here's hoping it goes as easily as this did."

"Good luck, Lieutenant." Shepard nodded. "I haven't heard much about Bachjret ward on the news. The others are said to have taken a heavier beating."

"They did." Ferina paused in her retreat toward the wards' access. "There are heavy pieces of that ship, Sovereign, that have rained throughout all of the wards. One hit a massive power substation on Bachjret. We're hoping to get power restored and the pieces destroyed."

"I would suggest isolating them first." Liara cautioned. "Being around any reaper technology seems to cause indoctrination. If you can, destroy it once the wreckage is cleared."

"I'll pass that along." The lieutenant said. "I heard what that can do from a few reports released. No need for anyone else to act as their slaves."

"So," Wrex said slowly after the lieutenant had left through the access tunnel. "Figures, you wait until now to start using your first name."

"I knew that was what that look was about." Shepard laughed it off and then explained. "After being called by your surname in the military for a while, it just sticks with you; sometimes you forget you have a first name."

"Krogan never seem to have that problem." Wrex shrugged. "Our names consist of our clan and well… our name."

"It just depends on the stage our people are in, I suppose." Liara thought on it for a moment. "Typically, we are called by our first and last names when addressed formally, but that seems to change when one enters the matriarch stage or is given a position of significance."

"Like the council position?" Wrex suggested. "Or rank in the military?"

"Basically, yes." Liara nodded. "Some huntresses prefer their surname, but it just depends on the situation."

Remembering something from earlier, Shepard raised a question. "What do you know about Matriarch Irissa?"

"According to rumor," Liara said slowly. "She is a somewhat cold and calculating woman; speaks her mind as far as political issues are concerned. Why do you ask?"

"She is on the station right now; taking over in the asari embassy." Shepard explained.

"That makes sense." Liara nodded quickly. "According to Benezia's files, she was next in line, should something happen to the current councilor. She and my mother also seemed to get along well enough; their correspondence were archived in what files I have."

"She said she was here on a temporary basis." Shepard recalled what she had heard earlier. "We'll see how that turns out and what Udina's impression of her is soon enough."


"That footage you requested is here, Doctor."

A C-Sec officer that had been collaborating with the hospital's own security had created a copy of thd surveillance footage that Wiks had requested, and had brought it up from the security office near the atrium.

"Ah," Wiks actually looked happy about it for a moment. "Thak you, officer." He accepted the OSD and headed for his "office". Moving his reports aside, he accessed his terminal and inserted the OSD. "Now, we might actually find out what happened up there." He muttered to himself. "What could have provoked her so much that she was prepared to attack him and put unnecessary stress on herself…"

"I can think of one thing."

"Please, if you know something, then by all means." Wiks encouraged as he turned to look at the other matriarch who had been present toward the end. "Anything that might give me an idea of her state of mind would be useful."

"It was on this day, two hundred and eighty-eight years ago that her ship was downed over Rannoch."

"Wait…" Wiks blinked and then addressed Irissa again. "That was during the…"

"The Geth uprising, or as they referred to it, the Morning War."

"Morning war…" Padok scratched his chin with a long finger. "I'll come back to that… What was she doing there?"

"Her team was sent in on a reconnaissance mission to see just what was going on behind the Veil when all of this was going on." Irissa said quietly. "I am not sure as to who sent them, but their ship was shot down, and her bondmate was critically injured. Died due to said injuries a few days later on Thessia."

"So the geth involvement in the attack on the station triggered it?" Wiks questioned, but he shook his head almost instantly. "She seemed so level-headed earlier; a bit stubborn, but well…"

"It is a complicated issue." Irissa explained. "I cannot say for certain that it had anything to do with what happened, but I can guess that it may have played a role in it; how big of one, I cannot say."

"Well, we'll know soon enough." When he had reviewed the footage of what had occurred, Wiks frowned deeply before looking out of the smoked glass window at the medic that had played a role in his own near… accident. "He's lucky she didn't throw him off."

"Don't tell me you agree with the action." Irissa gave the salarian a sideways look.

"Ethically, I am not supposed to." Wiks admitted. "I can see why she would, though. Anyone here will tell you that Thomas Post is a walking definition of "Space-racist"."

"His brother perished during the battle against Sovereign." Irissa remarked. "Naturlly, he would be angry about that."

"That may have played a part," Padok nodded finally. "But he doesn't care for aliens of any sort. Any doctor around here will tell you they've heard their share of remarks from him in regard to their species."

"Why deal with him then?"

"His embassy has pulled strings to keep him here." Wiks muttered. "If you ask me, as soon as he realized who she was, he tried to get at her nerves. He just didn't realize what he was getting into."

"I take it that she will recover."

"Oh yes." Wiks nodded. "The muscle depressor will wear off in just short of ten hours. After that, it's just going to depend on her taking it easy and letting the muscles, nerves, and skin damage resolve itself."

"That will give me time to get some work done at the embassy." Irissa decided. "Then we will talk for the first time in two decades."

"She didn't realize it was you up there, did she?"

"No…" Irissa looked at the paused surveillance footage. It was at the point where the medic, Tom, had been in the air. "She didn't."


A/N 2: Well, this was one I actually had to think about. Wasn't sure how far to take the side plot (I do let my head run away with things like this) so, I'll be getting back to the main plot more in the next chapter. I'll be starting chapter 21: Our Own Worst Enemy later today.

Reverences: Thisis where I'll list said side missions/assignments that I've used in each chapter. In this case, I'll list the ones throughout the story so far. (There are loads, so long list)

Garrus: Find Doctor Saleon
Tali and the Geth
Wrex: Family Armor

Citadel: Old Unhappy, Far Off Things (Spacer)
Citadel: Asari Consort
Citadel: Rita's Sister
Citadel: Reporter's Request
Citadel: Presidium Prophet
Citadel: Xeltan's Complaint
Citadel: Doctor Michel
Citadel: Family Matter
Citadel: Snap Inspection
Citadel: The Fourth Estate
Citadel: Our Own Worst Enemy

UNC: Privateers
UNC: Dead Scientists
UNC: Asari Diplomacy
UNC: Colony of the Dead
UNC: Hostile Takeover
UNC: Geth Incursion
UNC: Espionage Probe
UNC: Cerberus
UNC: Depot Sigma 23
UNC: Derelict Freighter
UNC: Major Kyle
UNC: Missing Marines

Feros: Geth in the Tunnels
Feros: Varren Meat
Feros: Water Restoration
Feros: Power Cells
Feros: Data Recovery

Noveria: Espionage
Noveria: Lorik Qui'in
Noveria: Rift Station
Noveria: Quarantine
Noveria: The Hot Labs

Virmire: Assisting Kirrahe's Team
Virmire: Wrex and the Genophage

For any and all details, have a look at the Mass Effect Wiki. Sorry, can't put a ful website due to coding of these pages (They really should fix that to where you can link to things in chapters) For those who spot it, if I missed any in this list that I have referenced, let me know :)

Cheers!