…

"Silence is a source of great strength."

(Lao Tzu)

…

Arcturus Station, October 15th, 5:56 AM, 2184

…

I felt all stress roll off me as I floated around peacefully in a zero-g therapy chamber, listening to Prophet Suite from the Halo 2 Anniversary soundtrack on repeat. While this normally would have been reserved for paying customers, Hackett granted us special access to the station's amenities during the duration of our stay. I had decided earlier yesterday to come here, and came very early in the morning so I wouldn't have to share it with anyone.

Being in zero gravity gave way to odd sensations. The loss of weight makes you feel as if you're floating in an ocean, but without the feeling of water on your skin. The lack of a reference point when your eyes are shut can give one the feeling as if they're falling forever. If I thought about it for too long, I got a hypnic jerk in the back of my brain. It was the same sensation one felt when "falling" in a dream.

After sleeping off the beer and two shots of Vodka I had guzzled down yesterday with my friends, we had all walked the length of the station. It had been me, Sira, Kirva, and Lenlo's first time seeing the place, and despite it being much smaller and less opulent than the Presidium, it was still impressive. Its overall design reminded me an awful lot of Arundel Mills Mall from back home, but then again that was probably the alcohol in my system talking at the time.

I opened my eyes again as the music shifted to the next part, examining the padded walls and all the little fabric handles that jutted outwards from their surfaces. Something about the pattern reminded me of a dream, but which one I wasn't sure of. There were very few dreams I could remember in detail, and even fewer that I could remember at all. I could only remember one in full detail.

It was long ago back in 2013. I dreamt that I was a medical doctor in a science fiction space asylum of some kind, likely an orbital installation. On the station were the criminally insane of every shape and color, and my colleague was this older woman in her fifties who I was friends with. Before anything else could happen, the main power shut off, the red emergency lights went on, and shouting could be heard in the distance as the patients escaped.

The nameless woman quickly pulled me over to a cabinet of some kind, forcing me under so that I wouldn't be seen. Before I knew it, these people were tearing open the door, rushing in and beating this poor woman to death while all I could do was lay there and watch. Blood covered the floor as she fell to the floor, dead. They ran back off, leaving me to whimper like a child as her cold, dead eyes stared back at me.

What had marked this one dream for me was how real it felt. It had filled me with genuine fear and terror, leaving me covered in sweat and heart beating as if I had run a marathon. I had never had a dream that intense until after Dan and I "jumped" here. Now my dreams all felt like horror movies.

I hated it. I wanted to have dreams like the old days where I was a SPARTAN-II from Halo or flying over various cities like Superman. I feared that those dreams may never happen again.

My thoughts were thrown into disarray as my omni-tool began ironically playing the theme song from Kelly's Heroes, "Burning Bridges." Greg was calling me, likely with news on the defectors.

"Yes?" I asked as I opened the call, still floating calmly in the same spot.

"Sean, I recently just got out of the holding facilities with the detailed reports of each of our new friend's backgrounds and specialties." He explained as I continued to stare into space. "Would you like me to give you the general rundown? I know you were interested in this particular matter."

"Sure." I agreed, closing my eyes as I braced myself for any possible surprises.

"Alright, let me see…" He began as I could hear papers being shuffled in the background. "OK, first off is Nathan Sterling. He was a graduate of Oxford University who worked for the Sirta Foundation before being acquired by Cerberus in 2182. He works in the field of genetics."

"Hackett mentioned before that he was linked to their biological warfare division." I recalled, looking down at my omni-tool out of habit.

"I'm getting to that." He held off, pausing for a moment before going on. "Cerberus apparently brought him on to work on some kind of discriminating neurotoxin that would be used against the Turians, but he had a change of heart, holding off on his work in various ways until an escape opportunity presented itself. He's the one that convinced all these other people to come with him."

"Sounds quite romantic." I remarked in a disconnected, mocking manner as I shook my head in disappointment. "Who's next?"

"Well, next would be Johnathan Sadler." He said as more paper shuffling could be heard. "He went to the University of Auckland, specializing in mechanical engineering. From the records we could dig up, he previously worked for Hyundai Heavy Industries doing shipbuilding."

"Hyundai is still around after all this time?" I questioned out loud before quickly shaking my head. "Uh, never mind that. Who do we have next on our list?"

"That… would be Luciano Keller." He continued as I gave myself a small spin in the weightlessness around me. "He went to the… Technical University of Munich. From what I can tell, his work is relatively benign. He's a computer engineer that helped maintain the systems aboard Minuteman Station. Used to be Alliance R&D."

"Hm… I'd keep an eye on him." I said in a lower tone, knowing that those who had any possible military experience were suspect.

"Next on the list is Mineko Kaznyk." He went on, speaking slightly slower as to not butcher her name. "She's an undergraduate from Meiji University, specializing in molecular biology. She was apparently brought on to work on new, more experimental forms of gene therapy."

"Unregulated gene therapy is illegal, right?" I asked, unable to remember whether it was or not.

"To be honest, it's more of a legal grey area." He said with what I could only guess was a shrug. "The Alliance passed the Sudham-Wolcott Genetic Heritage Act in 2161 to control the development of certain treatments, but that only applies in our space. Citadel law only really outlaws the creation of new forms of life."

"So they could have had her working on just about anything." I sighed, closing my eyes again as I felt a sense of vertigo. "Three more left, correct?"

"Yes, next here is Hans Gastwirt. He went to the University of Munich, and is a physician. He previously worked at Jump Zero during the duration of the BAaT program." He continued, starting to sound slightly more tired.

"I've heard that acronym before… what is BAaT?" I questioned, remembering one of the conversations I had in the past with Hendel Mirta aboard the Idenna.

"It stands for Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training. It was an early training program set up for the first generation of human biotics." He answered, the puzzle pieces snapping together in my head. "I don't blame you for not knowing about it, the Alliance classified most of the documents related to the program after it ended in 2169."

I sighed, knowing there must have been a good reason why this was kept off public record. I switched my musical track over to Marconi Union's "Weightless" as I formulated my next thought.

"So he worked with biotics while our understanding of the field was still limited. Good to know." I nodded, knowing I still wasn't quite qualified to make any judgements on the subject. "Next?"

"James Watterson." He stated, sighing on his end for a few moments. "He was taught at Colorado State University, works primarily in astrophysics fields. Cerberus had him working on… element zero applications and dark energy theory."

I let out a "hmf" of approval, crossing my arms as I let my eyebrows go up. He sounded interesting.

"I think you already know who's last." Greg said, calling back both my attention and my memories from yesterday.

"Nitty gritty, same as the other six." I pushed on, wanting to make sure I had the full overview.

"Miranda Lawson. She's the one we have little to no information about." He began as I recalled the shape of her face. "So, according to what she's told us herself, she was raised privately by Henry Lawson, owner of Signus Geneworks until she ran off to join Cerberus. After that, her father pulled his support for the organization and she became one of their agents."

"Of all the groups she could have gone to, why Cerberus?" I asked out loud, letting a large puff of air out of my lungs.

"She was unwilling to divulge that information. She states that she had various personal reasons for doing so, and ended our line of inquiry." He finished, the fatigue in his voice blatantly obvious by this point.

"I appreciate the update, Greg." I thanked, giving myself a push though the chamber to the padded wall. "Go get some sleep, you sound like you need it."

"You don't have to tell me twice. See you later." He cut the line, leaving me once again with nothing in my ears but my music.

I pulled myself across the walls back to the entrance, feeling drop in my stomach as I entered artificial gravity once again. I shook my head as I felt the weight on my body, feeling a little jelly-legged for a few moments. I waved to the owner as I walked out, looking at the central Alliance Parliament tower through the skylight.

This was going to be a long day. I could feel it in my gut.

…

Arcturus Station, October 15th, 11:12 AM, 2184

…

"No, listen, I'm telling you this ID was issued by Hackett himself!" I argued with the marine at the entrance of Arcturus Station's holding facilities. "Level 5 Access! Full authorization!"

"Sir, I can't let you inside until the ID is fully registered in our systems. I told you it could take a few hours." He repeated as I slacked my shoulders and rolled my eyes. "Those are the rules."

"Yeah, the Alliance and their goddamn rules…" I exclaimed, forcing a sigh out as I stormed back off though the hallways. I stopped at the tram station, opening my omni-tool with barely restrained frustration.

I had come down here looking to get some more in-depth, one-on-one information from our seven new "friends", but without any other form of authorization I was unable to get in to see them.

"Richard, any change in his condition yet?" I asked on my private line, connecting directly to him.

"There's been heightened brain activity over the past two hours, though I think he still needs more rest before he's ready to wake up." He answered honestly without any bullshit. "How'd your meeting go?"

"The committee meeting isn't until twelve, and my ID still isn't registered to access the holding facility." I answered just as bluntly, hearing the whine of metal in the distance as the tram neared closer. "So yeah, nothing yet."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck." He finished, cutting the connection as the tram came into view, coming to a stop in front of me. Two MPs dragged a disgruntled marine past me as I boarded the transport, finding a seat all to myself near the back.

The committee meeting involved a few members of the Alliance Parliament who would be debating me, the ambassador, and Captain Mal about how we wanted to handle this entire situation. Since elements of the Human-Quarian Coalition had been jointly involved in the effort to capture these defecting scientists, we had just as much of a say in what would happen with them as they did.

My personal thoughts were still muddled with bias and uncertainties. While one half of me wanted to bring them back to Reach and have them put to work, the other half wanted to never see them again, to banish them from my memory. It was part of the reason why I had tried to get in and talk to them again.

I needed to get a personal feel for the other six before I could cement my judgement.

All of this was leaving me with quite the headache. I was going to have to make a judgement call during the meeting, and it was less than an hour away.

I casually looked at the faces around me, judging them as the lights around the tram flickered slightly as we crossed through another tunnel. It was mostly off-duty Alliance personnel wearing their standard crew uniforms, though there were a few civilians who either worked here or were waiting for their ships to be refueled.

One face out of all of them stuck out to me. It was a man who, like me, sat by himself. He appeared to be of Chinese descent, and had long black hair that shrouded half of his face. He sat there with this empty, cold look on his face before raising his head slightly and turning to immediately meet my gaze.

The man had some of the deadest eyes I had ever seen. I could only keep my gaze locked with his for a second before I forced myself to break off. It shook me to my core. I barely kept myself relaxed, suddenly feeling a primal urge to get away from this person as soon as possible.

I got out at the next station, putting some distance between me and the tram before looking back. He was still sitting there in the same spot, but I immediately felt my blood go cold as I saw his gaze still locked on me. The doors to the tram closed, speeding away from my sight.

I couldn't describe what had just happened, other than the fact that I now felt much better knowing that man was gone.

…

Half an Hour Later…

…

After going back to the Explorer and putting on the nice suit I had bought earlier in the day, I was making my way up the central tower of Arcturus station. The elevator ride was very quiet and long, much like it had been back on the Citadel.

My suit was decidedly official, with full rolled cuffs, a simple white long point collar, and a nicely-padded blue button up. Its design was odd by my old-timey standards, but the dresser had reassured me this was "the" professional look of the now.

Despite looking good in them, I always hated suits. I found them restricting, lacking in warmth and versatility. The part of my getup I hated the most was the dress shoes. I was a diehard fan of my military surplus boots, loving the heavy footfalls and extra grip characteristic of them. Wearing these things bothered me to no end.

The elevator came to a stop at the 78th floor of the tower, revealing a small lobby that doubled as a waiting area. The first thing I noticed was Mal talking to another quarian who I immediately realized was the Admiralty Board's chosen ambassador. It had occurred to me in that moment that I didn't know who they had sent as their ambassador to Arcturus. I didn't even have a name.

"Captain Sean Michaels, MFV Explorer." I greeted the receptionist, handing her my ID. "I'm here for the twelve 'o'clock meeting."

"Thank you, Captain." The older woman accepted, handing the ID back to me. "The meeting will begin in a few minutes. Please wait over there."

I nodded in confirmation, slipping the ID back into my pocket as I walked over to Mal and the ambassador. She wore one of the brand-new envirosuits, well-adorned with layers of beautiful, decorative fabrics that had white swirls against a purple background. The moment I focused in those swirls, I immediately realized who it was. It was Admiral Zorah's daughter, Tali.

"Hey there, Michaels." Mal greeted, shaking hands with me before the two of us turned to her. "I assume you've met Tali before?"

"We met once to decipher some information on his ship." She answered as we both shook hands. "It's good to see you again, Captain."

"Likewise, ma'am." I replied, allowing myself to crack a smile. "I didn't know you were the one they sent to Arcturus."

"Well, Raan and my father figured I was the best pick for the position due to the time I spent aboard the Normandy." She said, bowing her head slightly. "It's not the first job I would have chosen, but it's the one I was best suited for."

"Speaking of suit, how's the Mark IV working out for you?" I prodded, pointing out the new envirosuit she was wearing. "My friend Richard worked hard on their design features."

"It fits very well, I must say." She answered, spinning herself around so that I could see the entirety of the suit. "It's much more efficient than my old suit, and can handle my programs much more efficiently."

"Well, I'll have to let Richard know that it's being well received." I smiled, looking back at the elevator as it opened, revealing Greg and Captain Weir who were both wearing Alliance dress blues.

"Michaels, what's your opinion on the whole situation?" Mal asked, bringing back my conflicted thoughts again. "Since you've met these people, I assume you have some idea of how they are."

"For the most part they seem alright, but I have my doubts about two of them." I replied, shaking my head as I looked at both him and Tali. "While I think bringing them to Reach and having them put to work would be plausible idea, I'm not sure the Alliance will agree with me."

"Why would you want them moved to Reach of all places?" Mal questioned with obvious confusion.

"Well, their backgrounds suggest that they could be useful if put back to work." I argued, focusing on him. "They all have experience in fields that we could help us greatly in the long run."

"But how can you be sure that they're not infiltrators of some kind?" Mal shot back, the attack on the Idenna still fresh in his mind. It was perfectly reasonable for him to be worried about Cerberus infiltration.

"Well, there's always going to be a risk involved." I shrugged, allowing myself to look back at Greg and Weir who were walking this way. "Hello gentlemen."

Greg simply sighed in response, fatigue still in his eyes as Weir shook hands with the three of us.

"You'll have to excuse him, he's still half asleep." Weir joked, allowing himself to crack a smile as he folded his hands behind his back.

"I forgot to ask earlier, did your guests behave on the way over here?" I inquired, focusing on his strong, blue eyes, a genetic trait that was exceedingly rare these days.

"They were pretty civil for a bunch of Cerberus pukes, I admit." He answered, looking at the door that led to the committee chamber as he spoke. "Maybe they are the trustworthy types, who knows?"

"Only time will tell." I finished as a woman came from the chamber and called us all in.

The chamber was simple. In it was a podium in the center where the three reps from the Alliance Parliament would sit, while we stood in front of them. The only other thing that stood out in the room was the large window behind them that gave a great view of the Fifth Fleet.

"This meeting is now in session." The woman in the center of the podium announced, tapping a display to her side. Likely starting a video or audio recording of some kind. "So… seven Cerberus defectors in the middle of our conflict. Things just keep getting more interesting as they days go on."

"Yes, we've debriefed all of these individuals over the last twelve hours, and frankly we're still not sure whether to charge them with aiding and abetting a terrorist organization, or simply have them dumped out into space." The older man on the left mused, rubbing his chin. "Captain Michaels, we've been informed that you have another suggestion for us, given you and the Quarian's role in their capture."

"I do." I accepted, taking a few steps forward. "In the interest of mutual cooperation, I believe having them transported to Reach and having them work in our facilities would be the best course of action."

"And what does sending these traitors to Quarian space accomplish?" The younger-looking man to the right shot out, cocking his head slightly to the side.

"If we move them to our space, give them work that they're comfortable with, it'll allow us to further monitor them an discern any possible motives." I argued, speaking as clearly as I could. "If we believe that they truly aren't who they say they are, we'll have them detained and brought back to the Alliance."

"Plus, due to the isolated nature of the Klenot system, making any escape attempts will be impossible." Mal added, walking up to my side.

"Ambassador Zorah, does the Admiralty share Captain Michael's views on the matter?" The woman in the middle asked, looking over at her.

"We've already begun moving materials over to our system piece by piece after our successful attack of Minuteman Station. If Captain Michaels believes they can be relied on, then I concur." She answered, hands folded neatly behind her back.

"I can't believe we're considering handing them over." The man to the right said in a lower tone, sounding much more annoyed. "We've got all the facilities needed to squeeze any information out of them we want, and you want to offer those people jobs."

"I'm never one to waste a good opportunity, sir." I shot back, causing him to glare at me.

"Either way, it won't be decided now." The woman hushed, staring daggers at the other man. "If we do agree to this however, can you promise us that any research they work on is sent our way?"

"I'm sure I can arrange that, ma'am." Greg said with a raised hand, still looking very much tired. "We've got a steady stream of information going, and I don't think working something out will-"

He was suddenly cut off as the woman's omni-tool began beeping furiously, putting an immediate end to the conversation. My eyebrows shot up in confusion as I looked at Greg and Weir who appeared just as bewildered.

"Oh no… we've got to cut this short." She announced to the surprise of the other two committee members, her face suddenly much paler than normal. "This session is dismissed."

"Oh no, you're not going to throw me out of the loop that easily!" I yelled up at her as I pointed my finger. "What just happened? What's suddenly so important?"

She stood there for a second, staring at me before responding.

"Follow me." She said in a deadened tone, hitting the display one more time before we all piled out of the room.

…

Eight Minutes Later

…

We all walked as fast as we could, nearly in a run as we followed the woman. Her name, I had discovered, was Serin Kreg. She was a senior member of the Alliance Parliament, one of the ones who had been there since the beginning. Not a word was spoken as all five of us followed her to the holding facilities I had attempted to enter earlier in the day.

The implications of this sent a rock to the bottom of my stomach.

"Serin, Level 5." She announced to the marine in charge out here, quickly flashing her ID. We were immediately ushered inside much to the commotion of several medical personnel rushing past.

I didn't have to look far to see the thing I had dreaded most. Lots of blood, and the body of Sterling on the ground, staring blankly up at us.

"Son of a bitch." I cursed quietly, turning around and clutching my forehead for a few moments before speaking again. "When did this happen?"

"Roughly twenty minutes ago." She answered, kneeling down next to the edge of the holographic line that had been put up. "Two of them are dead."

I looked over at the other side of the line, seeing Miranda laid out on a stretcher. I could see from the movement of her chest that she was still breathing, but even from here she looked like she was in bad shape.

"What happened, sergeant?" I asked, looking at the man in charge down here.

"According to the woman over there said before she passed out, a Cerberus assassin broke into the holding cells with the intent of killing her and all the others. He killed two of them before she was able to intervene." He answered bluntly. "One of my men say they saw another person in the hallway, but we have no way of confirming it."

"Cameras were disabled, too." One of the other men quipped, who was leaning down and examining the body.

"Who was killed?" Greg asked in a somber tone, completely awake after our run.

"Sterling and… Keller." The sergeant answered, sending my heart plummeting even further.

"Fuck!" Greg yelled, storming off back through the entrance as I sighed and shut my eyes.

It was hard to believe that Sterling was dead. The man who I had talked to less than 24 hours ago was on the ground dead in front of me, murdered. Cerberus wasn't going to let this go, that much had been established.

That's when it dawned on me. The man I had spotted on the tram earlier.

"Sergeant, you said the cameras inside the holding area were disabled, correct?" I asked as he nodded his head. "I want you to go through the video records of the tram security footage. Look for an Asian man with long, dark hair. I think he might be their murderer."

"That's awfully specific, don't you think?" Weir commented, looking understandably confused.

"Just do it." I ordered, looking back at Serin. "Listen, I'm know we both have our own motives here, but these people need to be moved to our system immediately. It's the only place where they're going to be safe."

She nodded with understandable reluctance, pursing her lips as I walked over the line, bending over and closing Sterling's eyes. I allowed myself a moment of silence before getting back up and walking off.

I should have known this was going to happen, I should have been able to see the signs. But I didn't. The simple fact that I hadn't argued for more security made me feel like the biggest fuckup in the galaxy. Two of these people were dead, and if that woman, Miranda, hadn't been here to hold him off all of them would be dead.

All of it made me feel like rolling up into a ball and crying. If I didn't have everything else happening around me, I'd down a whole bottle of whiskey without a second thought. I knew that deep down there was nothing I could have done otherwise, but I still felt responsible for their lives.

I made my way back to my ship without speaking to anyone else, knowing there was nothing else I could do. All I wanted to do was get these people away from Cerberus, and do it before anyone else was hurt or killed.

The one constant in the back of my mind was my wife and child. Seeing them, getting away and looking at their faces and hearing their voices was the only thing I wanted.'

I reminded myself once again that if anything ever happened to them, I would cease to have a reason to exist in this world.

…

A/N: Things have taken a dire turn for the worst as Cerberus manages to strike once again. How all of this will affect Sean and his team in the future is still undetermined, but he sure as hell is going to try his hardest to keep all of them safe.

Had a lot of time to work on this after the snow removed any possibly of going any where. Wasn't quite sure how this chapter would end up panning out, but I squared it away quite will in the end.

As always, I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism! Stay tuned!