From Ashes
Chapter Twenty-Two: Humanity's Secret

A/N: I have to say that I took a break from this story for some time. I didn't want to get too involved in it and then grow tired of it, but I hate that I've been away from it for so long. Thanks to all who have kept up with this and to those recent followers that have brought me back to it.

I've been working on another Mass Effect story that has taken over my head for a bit. Still, I think it's time to get back to the one that started all of this. Eclipsed will have its day in due time. For now, here is chapter 22.


They had hit the Widow relay and were moving quickly for the Maroon Sea. Anderson had spoken with Shepard briefly about what he knew about Cerberus, which wasn't much more than she did, but he gave her a bit of background that she hadn't known. Allegedly, the organization had been formed after the events of the Relay 314 incident at Shanxi. It was currently headed by someone called the "Illusive Man", and no one really seemed to bother with his identity anymore. Anderson suspected that there were some in the Alliance that knew, but he wasn't certain.

It was said that Cerberus had vowed to further the advancement of humanity, and that they would do just about anything to accomplish that goal, but they had not always been that radical. It was even rumored that they had been behind the construction of the Normandy; a joint project between the Alliance and Turian Hierarchy. That hadn't been proven, but there had been hints that the Alliance hadn't come right out and worked with the turians out of good nature. Shepard could see that. She had heard from Kaidan that they had hired turians to help with understanding biotics and training people who had been effected by exposure to eezo. Kaidan had mentioned that had been a backdoor arrangement as well; the Alliance didn't want humanity to look soft in front of the other races, so they didn't go through Citadel channels to get assistance on biotic training. Bringing this up with Anderson, all he could do was nod.

"Jump Zero at Gagarin Station was definitely not the best place to learn about practical use of biotics." He commented as they sat down at the table in the mess. "Lieutenant Alenko must have filled you in."

"He did." Shepard nodded. "He was an L2, and I dealt with others who were having complications due to the implant earlier on."

"I heard." Anderson nodded again. "Chairman Burns was very appreciative of what you did there."

"They were out of options." Shepard went on. "They'd been dealing with terrible side effects, and no one seemed to want to do anything."

"Seems to be a common trend."Anderson observed. "Only when the issue is pressed does anyone do something."

"We've left the Caspian system, Captain." Joker reported. On our way to Vostok."

"Good." Anderson replied. "Engage the FTL drive for a jump. Let's not waste any time." When Joker affirmed and the comm was silent, the captain clarified. "I don't like that the science station went dark; no need o wait for answers."

"Still no word from the facility, I take it."

"Nothing." Anderson shook his head. "I've been monitoring all channels since we entered the cluster, and so far, it's been silent."

"Damnit." While they sat there, they could hear the drive core get a bit louder as engineering prepared for a jump. This would, as it had before, cut down on travel time at the expense of letting people know that they were coming. Seeing as there had been no real activity in this cluster, that didn't matter. They could vent the heat sinks when they reached Nodacrux in the Vostok system shortly.

"Have you thought anymore about how you will deal with the committee?" Anderson changed the subject for the time being.

"There isn't much to think about." Shepard admitted. "I did the right thing by pressing the issue to save the Ascension. Hackett was the one that made the final call, though. As for the matter of Admiral Kahoku…" She thought about it. "I don't have any records of talking to him in the Citadel tower, but I do have the transmission he sent about being in danger and looking for answers himself."

"Good." Anderson nodded. "Use that. It wll show that he knew what he was doing and went off on his own to do it.'

"Exactly my thoughts." Shepard nodded. "I have the coordinates for where his team was last seen on Edolus, and I've got hard suit recordings: where we found his team, the thresher nest they were lured to, the Cerberus beacon that was used to do it, and when we found his body."

"That should be enough to get them off of your back." Anderson muttered. "As for the battle against Sovereign, they're trying to find someone to blame for the lives lost on our side."

"They can't point a finger at anyone, Sir." Shepard pointed out. "Sovereign and the Geth were the cause of that, but they've been dealt with. I still don't know what motivates them, though."

"What do you mean?' The captain questioned; archiing his brow. "You think there's more to this?"

"I think so." Shepard nodded. "No army of machines just decides to wipe out all advanced life, organic and synthetic, in the galaxy without some direction."

"Question is who's behind it…"

"Exactly."

The Normandy entered the Vostok system shortly after that conversation with the use of the FTL jump. Nodacrux, the second planet from the system's star, was still silent, and scans showed no hostile activity in the area near the station. More localized scans would be done when they entered the planet's atmosphere. Shepard had left the mess and suited up; she didn't expect any heavy combat. The armor would be enough to keep the thralls at bay, should the need arise. The rest of her team were already waiting by the mako whnen she headed down with Anderson. The Normandy was just about to enter the planet's atmosphere, and sensors were still picking up nothing.

"Still no communications from the facility. Fro all we know they may have had to go radio silent." Anderson started. "I'll continue monitoring from here, and if I find anything, I'll patch it through."

"Any parameters, Sir?" Shepard questioned as she made sure her weapons pack was firmly in place.

"I believe I said it well enough on Eden Prime, Shepard." Anderson shook his head as he released the clamps on the Mako that held it in position. "The mission is yours."

"Let's go, people." Shepard nodded sharply to the captain and opened the hatch on the tank. "Sooner we get down there, the sooner we'll know."

"Area around the facility is too mountainous for a drip, Commander." Joker added. "I'll be letting you off a few klicks south."

"Copy that, Joker."

Once everyone was secured and had safety harnesses on, Shepard signaled Wrex, who prepared the tank's launch sequence. He waited until Joker gave the signal and sent the mako barreling out of the ship's hangar bay; thrusters blazing to slow their descent. When they did hit the ground, they heard the Normandy moving past them and back up into th atmosphere to monitor communications. The location they were in was quiet, flat, and built like a plateau. Using both the mako's cannon scope and the exterior cameras, Shepard's team got a good layout of the land and of where they needed to go. The facility was 2.9 klicks due north, and they had a few mountains to bypass to get there.

"Take it slow, Wrex." Shepard advised. "We don't know what we'll find out here." Turning her attention to Tali, she continued. "Tali, can you send out a text only broadcast on emergency channels for those who might be in or around the facility?"

"Working on it." Tali said while looking over a panel with a display and using her omni tool as a remote holo keyboard. "I got a look at ExoGeni's communication protocols when we were on Feros. With luck, onlythey should receive this."

"Nice work."

"Over there." Garrus pointed something out that he had seen through the scope of the cannon. "I can see the edge of the facility behind that hill." He looked a bit closer. "Something's moving near it."

"Hostile?" Ash questioned as she moved to look through the scope after Garrus had abandoned it. When she saw what it was, she shook her head. "Nah. Space cow herd." Taking over the scope, Ash kept an eye out for any sign of activity, while Garrus worked with Wrex to navigate the mountains. While it was true that the M23 Mako could climb over nearly anything, that wasn't the best thing to try here. As they went through the low valleys in an attempt to keep the ride as smooth as possible, they found the crash site of what looked like a small ship. Stepping out to investigate, they were met with trouble.

"Creepers!" Garrus called. He spotted the mossy-skinned skeletal figures coming out of the surrounding trees.

"We're on the right track, then." Liara commented as she caught a little over half of them in a singularity. "They were sent here from Feros."

"Question is: Why are they around the crash site?" Shepard aimed her pistol and easily shot the remaining ones that hadn't been captured in Liara's singularity; their bodies collapsing and a muddy liquid saturating the ground from the fatal wounds. "The memo said that they had found some way of controlling them…"

"Looks like these overrode the ship and caused it to crash." Ash muttered as she forced open the ship's hatch and entered. It was a very small cargo ship, so there wasn't much there to look at. The cargo bays were littered with provisions and other supplies that had been intended for the facility here, but there was a smell about the areas; it was an odor associated with decomposing plantlife. Looking inside and stepping back, Ash shook her head. "Some of them were killed in there as well."

"Some others were in here." Garrus was on the bridge and was looking over the ship's logs. "They did crash, but itl looks like the crew survived."

"One of the ground rovers is gone." Liara observed. "Perhaps they left for the ExoGeni research station."

"We've got a problem." Wrex interjected as he looked over the ship's scans of the immediate area. "Shows there's a civilian camp nearby."

"Let's check it out." Shepard decided while taggingthe ship for record with a tracker. "If the Alliance wants to deal with ExoGeni for this, they can."

They got back to the mako and headed further north. Everything was rather quiet, but they didn't fly through the hills just the same. They found the camp in about the same shape as the cargo ship they had just left. Boxes were upturned, prefabs were ransacked, and there were a few creepers still alive. Dealing with them was easy enough, but they seemed much less coordinated than on Feros. Liara assumed that it could be due to the fact that the Thorian was gone and that they were far enough away from it to where they would not be able to communicate with it. Either way, they were dealt with and the team continued their progressive trek toward the facility. They also came in contact with a probe that had crashed as well as turian wreckage.

Once on the small plateau that the facility was built on, everyone exited the mako and dealt with its defenses. The mounted turrets had been set to fire at any unknown vehicle, and so they did. Thankfully, they were easily disabled. A few well-placed shots caused them to overheat and backfire. This left the actual building itself accessable. It was a prefab structure that was partially underground. Upon entering, they found a room that had a large desk, multiple terminals, and even a few decorative pllants. It looked like a reception or something. The desk was still standing, but datapads that had been evenly stacked were strewn everywhere.

"Shepard." Tali was standing near the back left corner. "I don't think they were only transporting the actual creepers." She indicated a bulbous plant that had ruptured; brown muddy liquid dripping from it.

"They took samples of the thorian itself." Shepard frowned. "How did they get close enough to do it without being infected by the spores…"

"They probably didn't do it." Ash thought about it. "Probably had Fai Dan's bunch get in there and take samples."

"That's likely." Shepard agreed and they headed further into the facility. The next room they entered was a large one, and everything was in disarray. Boxes were toppled over, tanks were ruptured, and there were even scientists' bodies near the door they entered from; as if they had been running toward it and were attacked from behind. "Watch yourselves. They're in here." She had just finished saying that when she spotted one of the creepers coming from around a corner. "Incindiary or high-explosive rounds. Take them out. Keep your eyes open for civilians."

Fighting their way across the room, all of them saw the large vines and bulb-like plant that had spread through the building. It was not as extensive as the one on Feros, and the vines didn't seem to lead to a central core, but that didn't matter. There were at least thirty creepers in all, and they came out from every angle. Thankfully, with lack of coordination, they didn't have as focused an attack; the downside, they were more frenzied. It took a little more time to make sure that they were all down for the count than it should have due to the obstacles in the room, but once it was done, Wrex led the way into the furthest part of the building. There were two rooms; one empty, save for more pods and vines. The other had the remaining facility staff in it.

"Rescuers?" A soman with medium-length black hair questioned as the door opened to reveal Wrex, Liara, and Shepard with the others behind them. She then turned to a colleague. "I told you they would investigate that distress call…" Addressing Shepard's team again, she went on. "Thank God you found us… We've been trapped in here for three days and were almost out of food and water. I'm Doctor Ross, chief researcher at this facility."

"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy." Shepard introduced. "I need to know what was going on here." She decided to let them hang themselves, rather than hit them with what her team already knew. "Why is this place crawling with Thorian creepers?"

"How do you know about the Thorian?" Ross asked sharply. Shepard and the others simply looked at each other for a second before answering.

"We saw what happened to those colonists at the Zhu's Hope outpost." Ash explained. "How your people used them as test subjects."

"So, our secret's out, then." Ross frowned. "No point in my white-washing it. The creepers at this facility were created by altering samples taken from Feros." She explained. "We had found a way to turn them into dosile, obedient servants."

"My people learned the hard way that servants rebel." Tali remarked.

"Everything was going fine up until a few days ago." Ross went on. "Then the creepers suddenly went berserk."

"Tends to happen when the creature that controls them is destroyed." Wrex said.

"You destroyed it?" One of the others asked. "That plant was valuable-"

"That thing was an abomination." Liara corrected. "It not only caused the colonists who came in contact with it pain, but it played a part in the near destruction of our known galaxy."

"We also didn't find you by means of that beacon you mentioned." Shepard clarified. "We found out about your facility because of someone who seemed to grow a conscience at this facility. They sent word back to Feros that they were concerned about what was going on here."

"Must have been my assistant who died two days ago." Ross dismissed. "This is an isolated facility. We closed off communications so that no one would accidentally find us, report us to the authorities, or sell off trade secrets to a rival firm. If anything were to happen, a signal would have been sent to Feros and they would send a team to investigate. It seems though, that they have problems of their own."

"Not anymore, they don't." Ash answered. "They had a geth bombardment to deal with for a while, but it's been handled. Now, they're just cleaning up their own mess."

"Any chance there are others still alive here?" Garrus asked.

"Not likely. The only ones that we've had contact with have been the handful in this room. The creepers overwhelmed us."

"What did you expect?" Shepard's tone suggested disgust. "You were all dealing with something that should have been left alone and destroyed."

"Look, I know what we did here was wrong." Ross started. "I admit that, but there's no need for the authorities to be notified; it's over now."

"You were in charge of this project." Shepard waid evenly. "The lives of your subordinates were your responsibility. People died here due to ExoGeni's carelessness."

"Be reasonable." Ross tried again. "None of us meant for this to happen. Normally, ExoGeni would have my back, but it seems they've got their own mess to handle on Feros." She stopped to think for a second before speaking again. "I've got money, a nice auxiliary fund I set up a while back; it's yours if you let us go."

"Ha." Wrex snorted. "Spoken like a true bureaucrat. She belongs with the pyjaks on Noveria."

"Yeah, like the ones left to freeze at Peak 15." Ash added.

"The victims here and on Feros deserve justice." Shepard agreed with the others, but she had to go by the book. "I have to take you in."

"That's not going to happen." Ross pulled a gun and motioned for the others to do the same. "Open fire!"

"Gladly." Ash said as she removed her shotgun and waited for the science station's crew to take the first shot.

"Hold it." Shepard put up a hand for a moment. "If it has to come to this, then answer one thing, Doctor." She hadn't drawn down just yet, but Ross didn't lower her weapon. Shepard continued anyway. "The creepers you dealt with here; did you send any of your samples or results to an organization known as Cerberus?"

"Why the hell would I answer that?" Ross questioned; hand tightening around the pistol she aimed at Shepard. "Think I'd screw myself over like that?"

"You don't have much of an option." Wrex answered. "None of you will get out of here alive, so you might as well speak."

"Did you deal with Cerberus or have any knowledge of what went on on the planet Binthu in the Voyager Cluster?" Ash elaborated on Shepard's question; knowing where this was headed.

"And if we did?" One of the others, one that looked to be one of the cargo ship's crew, questioned. "What of it?"

"An Alliance admiral died there." Shepard snapped. "If you have anything else to add, I suggest you do it."

"We don't have anything else to say." Ross said defiantly while the others sided with her.

"All I needed to hear." Shepard said as she charged her biotics. She decided to be more or less true to her word and go easy on the combat. Sharing a look with Liara, the two used a heavy stasis field on the lot of them. When the facility's staff were trapped in it, Shepard addressed the others. "Surround them. The second the field breaks, knock them out."

"Going to let the Alliance try and force them to talk eh, Skipper?" Ashley asked. "Personally, they don't deserve any deal they'll probably get."

"I agree, but we need answers, and they might have them."

When stasis broke, all of the researchers and cargo ship crew were thumped over the head with whatever gun Shepard's squadmates were carrying. This left them to be restrained and brought out one by one to the mako, which was parked near the facility's main door. Shepard, standing in the facility's reception, radioed the Normandy and gave Joker exact coordinates for the Normandy to touch down. It was a space not too far from the facility that was easily accesable via the mako. When Joker responded, she had Wrex and Garrus load the remaining facility staff into the tank and get them to the ship. They would b held in the brig unti the Normandy returned to the Citadel. There, they could be properly questioned. When they left, Shepard frowned.

"Something is troubling you." Liara observed.

"It's these creepers." Shepard explained. "There were still some on Feros that were not awake or alert when the Thorian died. I hope they didn't act like this."

"You think these people actually had something to do with Kahoku's death?" Ashley wondered.

"No way to know." Shepard answered. "If they did, hopefully, the Alliance will get them to talk."

They waited for the mako to return, and when it did, it was empty. Garrus had stayed aboard the ship to assist in getting the temporary passengers locked away, and Wrex had returned to pick Shepard, Tali, Ash, and Liara up. Boarding the tank, Shepard debated on destroying the facility or leaving it for authorities to find. She had tagged it with a marker and had a signal broadcasting on Alliance channels, and as they pulled away from it, she decided that had to be enough. They would have to see just what had happened here and what ExoGeni had been dealing with for themselves.

"You know, for this planet to be second in its system, it's got some chilly nights." Ash remarked as they stepped out of the mako once it had docked back in the Normandy's hangar bay; the hangar door closing slowly.

"Third planet is an ice giant, as far as I remember." Garrus commented. He had come up from engineering; the brig being in the same area. "They're secure down there; not the happiest about it, but I'm sure they'll manage."

"Good." Shepard nodded her approval. "Good work down there."

"They deserve worse than they're getting." Ash thought aloud.

"Yeah." Shepard nodded as she headed for the lift to get to the crew quarters. "Yeah, they do."

After she headed back up to the crew deck, Shepard entered her cabin and accessed the terminal. It was rumored that the brass that were going to question her would be aboard the station by the time they got back; Anderson deciding against taking the quickest way back due to increased traffic in the Serpent nebula. Looking over the latest news reports, she wasn't surprised that there were conflicting opinions: one side would call her a heroine for what she had done during the battle and before, but there were also many that believed that she was an alien sympathizer and a traitor to the human race.

"Looks like I win some and lose some…" Shepard shook her head and went to file her report on what had just happened down on the planet's surface. She could hear the drive core below in engineering as the ship left the planet's atmosphere and began a course to the system's edge. The affiliation with Cerberus was not officially confirmed, but there were hints toward it: Ross's unwillingness to answer, the crashed ship they had encountered… "Cerberus." Shepard muttered as she finished the report. "There's got to be something…" Turning back to her terminal, she looked through the Alliance databases that she had access to. There were only hints of Cerberus and mentions of the "Black Ops" group. "It's like they don't exist at all anymore…"

"That's what the Alliance wants everyone to think." David Anderson said as he stood in the doorway. "I saw where you filed your report on Nodacrux, Shepard. Good work down there." He looked around the cabin that was his for a brief time. "Love what you've done with the place."

"That would be a whole lot of nothing, Sir." Shepard put the datapad down that she had transferred a copy of her report to and leaned back in her chair. "Haven't exactly had time." At that, Anderson chuckled.

"Can't find anything else on them, can you?"

"No." Shepard shook her head. "Haven't found anything yet. The Alliance seems to just want us all to forget that Cerberus was an Alliance sanctioned organization."

"That's exactly what they want." Anderson nodded. "However, there are other organizations that have had a history with Cerberus."

"Like the Council?"

"Possible." Anderson nodded tentatively. "They have said that Cerberus is a vowed enemy, so I assume that means that the Illusive Man has burned a few bridges."

"I'll look into it when we get back to the Citadel. The Spectre office might have more information." She hadn't had much time to utilize the office since becoming a spectre, but that meant that there might be information that she hadn't seen yet on the shadowy organization. "I do still see this as a babysitting job, Sir."

"Do you now?" Anderson laughed in earnest. "I can see it. Well, it's almost over." He crossed and sat down at the table for a moment.

"Yeah." Joining him, Shepard leaned back in her chair. "I get that the Alliance hated losing those people." She finally said as she gathered her thoughts. "What did they expect me to do? I can't just work for the Alliance anymore; not after they pushed for the Spectre promotion."

"I know." Anderson muttered.

"That's the part that gets me. They push for this position, and then when I get it, I'm also tasked with investigating Alliance issues while working to track down a rogue spectre." Shepard weighed the two metaphorically with her hands. "I know what takes priority, but that clashes with what they want."

"Of course it does." A voice sounded from the other side of the cabin near the doorway that made Shepard start. The subharmonics of a turian that wasn't Garrus registered, and she blinked at the one standing there. "That is the hardest of challenges that you will ever face as a Spectre, Shepard. I am pleased to say that with your decision, you have exceeded all expectations."

"Nihlus." It was all she could say. She didn't like the tone in her own voice, but it was all she could offer.

"I had my doubts when you suggested this." Captain Anderson said as he looked to the turian who had now fully entered the cabin. "I was sure that it was the wrong move to make."

"In a way, I'm sure it was." Nihlus Kryik, the spectre that had been shot on Eden Prime by Saren crossed his arms; he stood in simple under armor now. His Phoenix class armor was gone as well as his weapons. "Unfortunately, the circumstances called for it." Looking to Shepard again, Nihlus spoke directly to her; offering an explanation. "I am sure that this comes as a terrible surprise, Shepard, and I must apologize for the inconvenience. When I saw Saren on Eden Prime, I noticed a change in him. He stated that the council had assumed I would need assistance on the mission to Eden Prime, but they knew full-well what I was doing there; it was not merely abou the prothean beacon, as you know."

"Oh I know." Shepard finally found strength in her voice again as she spoke to the other spectre. "I know too well."

"There was something strange about Saren's presence on Eden Prime." Nihlus continued while acknowledging Shepard's statement. "I could not fully trust him when we met there near the docks. I looked at him and saw a control within him that I had never seen bfore. Saren, while calculating and ruthless, did not have the control that most spectres prize. He did not seem surprised that there were geth on Eden Prime either."

"Did you suspect him then?" Anderson asked.

"No." Nihlus answered quietly. "No, I cannot say that I did. I knew something was off, but I did not expect him to be in league with the machine we saw before touching down."

"So you turned your back on someone that you knew was behaving oddly." Shepard said with a slight frost to her tone. "What did you think would happen?"

"I didn't think." Nihlus responded patiently. "I heard the sound of the gun as he raised it. I managed to raie my barriers to withstand the shock, but there was just enough impact to knock me to the ground. Right after the moment of impact, I let the kinetic barrier collapse and look as if he had shattered it."

"That was a great risk." Anderson said quietly. "Saren could have fired again. If he had…"

"Yes, I will agree that it was a significant risk." Nihlus nodded. "Saren was thankfully distracted by one of the geth troopers reporting in. Had it not been for it, I would have more than likely had a bullet lodged in the back of my skull."

"And you knew he was alive." Shepard turned to her captain next.

"I knew a short time after you reported Nihlus' death." Anderson nodded. "He reported in on a priority channel and found a safe location after you had found the beacon."

"You would have been useful in proving that Saren had betrayed the council." Shepard said when she finally turned back to Nihlus. "Where were you all this time?"

"I was working in the background." Nihlus answered. "While you were aboard the Citadel, I was in contact with Barla Von. He mentioned a few of Saren's contacts that were abroad in the Attican Traverse. The hanar tradesman on Noveria and the salarian whose freighter had landed on Feros were a few. I assume that you wondered where Donnel Udina had gotten his information from when he suggested that Saren was sighted around those two planets."

"You gave him that information."

"Indirectly, but yes. I used one of my contacts to do so. She sent a message to the human embassy that was disguised as a warning about her activity with a few mercenary bands. Without the proper access, that was all that people would see."

"Helena Blake."

"Correct." Nihlus nodded. "She transferred the coordinates of the two mercenary bases to your ship's galaxy map interface. That also allowed for her to send a tracking program within within the transmission. It was how I was able to keep an eye on your progress from Therum, Noveria, Virmire, and finally Feros and Ilos."

"Where were you before the battle of the Citadel?"

"Aboard the station. I managed to alert the Ascension's commanding officer to where the asari councilor was after she had been arrested for assisting you in escaping the station. Well done."

"How did you get here?" Shepard hated playing twenty questions with Nihlus, but answers were needed. "Did you find us, or did the captain find you while we were planetside?"

"I found you." Nihlus explained after a moment. "I had a few other contacts that you came into contact with. I believe you will remember them: Mallene Calis on Noveria and Gavin Hossle on Feros."

"Mallene Calis, the asari that was wanting to crack into Binary Helix' representative's personal network…" Shepard remembered the asari that had been working for the Armali Council on Noveria. "You used that as a means to track the rachni from Noveria and link them to Cerberus, didn't you?"

"Very well spotted." Nihlus nodded. "I also used Gavin Hossle's proximity to the Thorian to follow up on another Cerberus contact that was getting the creatures off-world. Calis' lead sent me to the Styx-Theta cluster. You had already been there by the time I had secured transport. The information I received from Gavin Hossle led me forst to a derelict freighter and then here. When I saw the Normandy in orbit, I boarded her while you were planetside."

"You boarded while we were down there." Shepard motioned to the planet's name that was in her report still displayed on the terminal.

"Yes." Nihlus said; nodding. "You have not been alone in your quest against Saren, Sovereign, and the reapers. Though I did not see the visions from the beacons, I did not doubt your word; I had no reason to." Crossing the cabin, Nihlus regarded Shepard carefully through his dark eyes. "You assumed that you were left to complete this mission on your own, and that brought out a side of you that I had hoped to see in person. Sadly, I could only hear about it through scattered extranet reports and eye-witness accounts. Still, you are the spectre I hoped that you would become. Do not second guess yourself now. You have done what any self-respecting Spectre should do; think of the galaxy as a whole first. Your own race will be better for it, whether they realize it now or not."

"What will you do now, Nihlus?" Captain Anderson asked this after hearing the exchange between spectres.

"I will return to the Citadel and do what I can to assist in these matters." Nihlus stated finally. "It will be difficult for the galaxy to come to terms with the truths that have been revealed during this mission."

"It will." Shepard acknowledged this fact. "I just hope that humanity's worst-kept secret doesn't play a role in all of this." She motioned back to her report on Cerberus and the ExoGeni facility.

"Every species has its own undoig, Commander." Nihlus said quietly. "Unfortunately, it seems that it is usually our job to ensure that doesn't happen."