…

"Valor. Duty. Leadership. Sacrifice. Can one man truly make a difference?"

(Medal of Honor: Allied Assault)

…

MFV Normandy, January 12th, 6:12 AM, 2185

…

I yawned, throwing both of my hands up in the air as two loud pops rang out from my back. I exhaled afterwards, returning my attention to the bowl of powdered eggs in front of me. No matter how you made them, they always had that grainy consistency in your mouth. It took lots of water to down properly, despite having eaten it often over the years. Thanks to our supplier in the Fleet who traded frequently with the colonists on Elysium we were lucky enough to get liquefied egg bags for our homes, but here it was back to the basics.

I picked my datapad back up, reading the reports from the twilight crew as I shoveled the barely palatable stuff into my maw. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, and aside from me having to explain the redundant reactor safeties to Gabriella Daniels and her partner Kenneth Donnelly, everyone understood what their jobs were and how to do them.

I didn't blame them for not knowing about the reactor safeties, even I had forgotten about them. Dan and I had them put in place with the intention of using our prototype plasma engines on the Phantom-class frigates, but that idea was eventually phased out during the second redesign at the insistence of the shipbuilders.

Their intended function was to prevent plasma blowback from the engines into the reactor system. The safeties remained and only activated once engines had reached full power, surprising her and Kenneth. They did still serve a secondary function, albeit only in emergency situations. If the Normandy was in a dire situation that required more engine power, they could be used to force plasma into the ship's antiproton engines, acting as a "nitro boost" of sorts.

This wasn't a good idea for long-term application. The antiproton engines weren't built to handle the heat emitted by our plasma, and would literally melt if used for more than a minute or so.

I took a sip of my instant coffee, allowing the heat from it to wash over me as Shepard walked out of his Captain's quarters wearing just pants and a tank top. Despite being healed, his body was still covered in pockmark scars from where he had been hooked up to the machines in the lab. Miranda said that they would heal more in the future, but that didn't make him any easier to look at.

"Good morning, Commander." I greeted with my coffee mug held up in the air, doing my best to focus only on his face. "How do you like your coffee?"

"Black." He answered in a nonchalant tone, walking past me to the serving station.

"Good, because that's all we have here." I shot back in as dry as a tone as I could, putting one of my arms over the back of my chair. "You're up awfully early. I thought you would have taken more time to rest after everything that happened yesterday."

"I've been laying on my back for nearly two years. I don't need any more rest." He replied, digging through the large fridge before stopping himself. "Frozen breakfast burritos? Since when do they have these on warships?"

"Since I brought them aboard." I smiled, allowing the one corner of my mouth to curl up. "I figured it would be a nice treat for after missions, but you're the exception."

He let out a huff of approval, putting it in the microwave before sitting down next to me.

"So, what are you working on?" He inquired, leaning over to look at my datapad.

"I'm just looking over the info we have again." I explained, taking another sip from my coffee cup before picking the datapad back up. "I think once we have these two guys from Omega and the biotic we should try investigating one of these deserted colonies for ourselves."

"Sounds like a good idea… see if we can't find something the official investigation missed." He nodded, letting out a sigh. "I still don't know how I feel about these "specialists" you and Miranda are so dead set on getting… seems risky."

"It'll be fine, trust me." I reassured as the microwave beeped and he stood back up.

He grabbed the burrito and a bottle of water as he headed for the elevator, causing me mild surprise.

"Hey, you want a suit of our power armor for use in the field?" I asked, causing him to turn and face me. "It's not hard to modify it to your liking."

"Hm… maybe later." He denied, taking a few steps backwards. "I prefer to stick with what I know for now. I'm going below deck to exercise, see you later."

"Bye." I finished, watching him walk back off and out of my view.

I focused on the empty space for a moment before downing the rest of my coffee in one big swig, knowing today was going to be a long one.

…

MFV Normandy, January 12th, 10:21 AM, 2185

…

I paced back and forth on the bridge in my armor, trying to break it in a bit better before we stepped off the ship. Tali was here too, wearing one of the new suits that Richard and Powell had designed. She was busy fiddling with her omni-tool trying to get connected to Omega's station-wide network before we docked.

My armor was custom designed for these assignments I'd be doing with Shepard. Unlike the regular ceramic plating that most hardsuits used, I made the chest and abdomen armor out of the same material used in our Gen IV exosuits. It was as thick as I could make it without obstructing movement, but the shoulders and upper thighs were almost unprotected because of weight limitations and to make it easier to wear an exo if I so desired. There was only one magnetic rail on my back due to the large battery I had installed for the beefed-up kinetic barriers.

The result looked a lot like the Kerberos Panzer Cop armor from Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, but without the pauldrons and cuisses. My helmet, if you could even call it that, was little more than a head-covering breathing mask that hung off my belt.

I was armed with one of our Mark III Plasma Rifles, which I had personalized with a holographic sight and a black paintjob. The Mark III could fire 65 times before the plasma was exhausted, and I carried five spare canisters on my belt. For a sidearm I carried the always reliable M-6 Carnifex with armor-piercing ammunition and the same paintjob as my rifle. Last but not least, I carried the knife I had won from Kal'Reegar on my chest plate, immediately visible on my left breast.

It went without saying that I considered it my last resort.

"You OK there, Captain?" Joker asked, looking at me through a small mirror he had adhered to his dashboard. "You look more nervous than me going down a flight of stairs."

"Oh, it's nothing." I denied in a slightly whimsical tone, forcing myself to stand still as I watched the asteroids fly by outside. "Stepping onto a space station loaded to the brim with some of the biggest criminals in the Terminus. No sweat."

My comment got Joker to crack a smile as Omega came into view outside. To say it was ominous was putting lit lightly. The way it looked gave me the impression we were flying towards a giant, evil mushroom. The kind of mushroom an evil wizard would use in a life-ending potion.

"Hard to believe people would want to live in a place like this." Joker quipped, taking us in closer as Miranda looked up and closed her omni-tool.

"Some of them don't have a choice." She added, crossing her arms as she stood next to me. "There are plenty of quarians who traveled to Omega and never returned."

"Yeah, cause sending your most young and impressionable people to a scary-looking space station is always a good idea." Joker shot out, shaking his head. "Remind me to thank the Admirals."

I closed my eyes, shaking my head at his comment as I let out another huff of air. He wasn't making this any easier for me, but I didn't have the heart to openly chastise him. A few moments later, Shepard walked in with his new suit of N7 armor.

"How's are approach looking, Joker?" He asked without missing a beat, standing in between me and Tali.

"We're pulling in now, Commander." He quickly answered as we moved into the confines of the station itself. "I hope you've all had your shots. You're libel to get tetanus just from breathing the air here."

"I think you've made it out to be a charming place already, Joker." I said, finally getting tired of his comments. "Thank you."

He let out a huff, shaking his head as we pulled into one of the docks, attaching with a solid *clunk* as gravity clamps took hold. The three of us piled into the airlock as the decon sequence began. A few seconds into the process our radios crackled as Miranda connected to them.

"Alright, can all of you hear me?" She asked as we all gave her a response. "Good. I'll keep track of you as best I can. Until I can update my records, you might have to ask around for information."

"Copy that." Shepard replied, giving a quick nod as we turned back to the airlock doors.

Miranda would be acting as our voice with an internet connection for our first incursion. I had set her up with a console that I had explained was filled with a multitude of intrusion software designed by Dimitri and Richard, but the reality was it was simply a way for Lydia to quickly relay information to her without anyone catching on to her presence.

The other end of the airlock opened with a small hiss, revealing a long, empty space that bridged the gap between the cradle arm and the actual station. I looked at Tali for a moment before Shepard took the lead.

We walked out into the open, immediately coming face to face with two armed turians who wore matching armor. They didn't raise their weapons as we approached, and said nothing as we walked past.

"Joker, make sure the Normandy stays on lockdown until we return." Shepard ordered into his comm, looking back at the two turians as we kept moving. "There's a lot of suspicious people around here."

Based on the identical gear and the nonchalant attitude, I could only assume the were there to guard the airlocks from undesirables, or to silently screen everyone coming and going through the station. Now that we were out in the open though, I could finally see the scale of the station. It was massive, much bigger than my initial impression led me to believe.

"H-hey, are you new here?" An uppity, disheveled looking salarian greeted with outstretched arms. "Welcome to Omega! I'm sure that-"

He suddenly cut himself off as a batarian wearing armor similar to the turians walked over, shooting him a death glare.

"Get out of here." He ordered in a threatening tone as the salarian ran off, leaving just us and him. "Stupid lystheni. Welcome to the station, Shepard."

All of us were taken slightly aback by the sudden greeting, as I leaned back slightly and allowed my eyebrows to shoot up in the air.

"You know who I am?" Shepard questioned, looking very confused.

"Of course we do, we had facial recognition on you the moment you walked out of your airlock." He explained in no-nonsense tone, giving Shepard three ornate cards. "Aria T'Loak would like to speak to you. She's very interested to know why a dead SPECTRE is here on Omega."

"Why should I accept this invitation?" He asked, getting an annoyed look from the batarian.

"Aria knows everyone's buissness on Omega, and if she asks to see you in person… well, let's just say it's in your best interests." He replied in an increasingly aggressive tone. "Aria. Afterlife. Now."

The batarian walked off, leaving us all mildly confused. Shepard handed each of us one of the cards as I held it in the light to get a better look at it. They were coded VIP passes for some nightclub called Afterlife. Based on the brief conversation that just took place, I hypothesized that this must have been her base of operations.

"Classy." I commented dryly, looking at the gold foil shine as I turned the card around. "Hey Miranda, any idea who this Aria T'Loak character is?"

"She's the self-described "queen" of the station, acting with the most authority." She answered without missing a beat, likely already aware of who she was. "Cerberus has a… shaky relationship with her, especially after an incident involving a warehouse in the Endo District a little over a year ago. If you can get on her good side, she should be able to provide you with information."

"What do you make of this, Commander?" Tali asked, slipping the club pass into one of her pockets.

"I think we should accept her invitation, but cautiously." He replied, taking in another breath through his nose. "Let's go. Wouldn't want to keep the "queen of Omega" waiting."

I shook my head at how ridiculous it all sounded, putting the club pass into the pouch attached to my leg.

It didn't take long to find Afterlife, considering you could feel the beats from the music just being near it. The front entrance was filled with lines of people trying to get it, guarded by an elcor bouncer and more armed guards. Holograms of asari pole dancers and fire could easily be seen all over the building.

Mara would kill me if she knew I was going into a den of iniquity like this. We skipped the line, walking straight up to the large elcor.

"Menacingly: Where do you think you're going?" The bouncer stopped, holding up one of his massive arms as he spoke in the characteristic elcor monotone. "Assertively: If you aren't VIPs, then I'd suggest you get in line with everyone else."

All three of us pulled out the VIP passes we had, displaying them clearly for the bouncer to see.

"With mild surprise: Oh, I see. Go on in, Aria is expecting you." He accepted, taking a step to the side so we could get by.

The moment we entered the club I was greeted with a pink and purple vidscreen of an asari dancing. It flashed erratically as several real ones danced on a raised platform below it, making varied poses as onlookers watched. The place was packed to the brim with people drinking, smoking, and doing various drugs as holographic flames licked the backlit walls. The air was humid, and if it weren't for my suit I would have immediately started sweating.

We walked around the center platform, moving through the crowd before spotting a private glass booth above it all in the back. From there, an asari wearing a black and white outfit watched us with cautious eyes.

There was no doubt she was Aria T'Loak.

We walked up to one of the armed guards who stepped aside, letting us go up the stairs into the isolated booth. Inside it was noticeably cooler, and the music was dampened. Aria had her back turned to us. Tali and I stayed at the bottom of the booth as Shepard approached her.

"That's close enough." She announced without moving a muscle as everyone in the booth pulled various weapons on us.

"Bosh'tet…" Tali exclaimed, unable to grab her shotgun in time as I forced myself to stand straighter.

The same batarian from before walked up to Shepard, instructing him to stand still as he did a scan.

"Is any of this necessary?" Shepard asked, taking a single step forward as the batarian's omni-tool blinked rapidly.

"You can't be too careful these days, especially when dealing with dead SPECTREs." She explained, turning around to face him as the batarian gave the all-clear on Shepard's scan. "A lot happens around here, and it's my goal to know everyone's buissness. So… what's yours, Shepard?"

"I'm putting together a team to investigate the human colonies going missing here in the Terminus." He answered truthfully, taking a seat on the large couch as she did the same. "Two of the people I'm looking for are here on this station, and I've heard you're the one who can tell me where they are."

"Depends on the individual." She remarked slowly with a raised brow, looking at the two of us. I could see the gears moving in her head as something came to her mind, but she quickly returned her attention to Shepard. "Who are you looking for?"

"Dr. Mordin Solus and Archangel." He replied, crossing one of his legs over the other.

"Hm… you're interested in some dangerous people." She said with a smile, leaning back against the couch cushions. "I can tell you where Mordin is, but Archangel is a little more… tricky."

"Why is that?" He asked, maintaining his posture.

"Archangel has made enemies out of nearly everyone on this station, and it's catching up to him." She explained, looking more annoyed than anything else. "Word is that his team recently suffered several losses, but until the mercs try and make a move on him, I have no idea where he actually bases his operations."

"Why haven't you gone after him?" Shepard asked, looking slightly confused.

"Why would I? He hasn't interfered with my buissness, and he's kept the three biggest mercenary factions on the station focused on him and not me." She said with a smile, looking rather satisfied with the situation. "In any case, you'd have to come back later for him…"

She stopped, locking eyes with me again but with much more energy this time around.

"Oh… I see you already have an interesting individual with you, Shepard." She stopped, directing all her attention to me. She looked at me up and down before leaning back in her chair with a smile. "So, you're that scientist that has Cerberus all worked up… you're quite brave, walking around here with that kind of bounty on your head."

"Bounty?" I repeated, raising my eyebrows in surprise. "This is the first time I've ever heard of any bounty."

"You didn't know?" She shot back with a smile, emitting a quick chuckle as her eyes bore into me. "Cerberus has a ten million credit bounty on your head. They posted it several months ago, though for what reason I can only speculate."

I took in a deep breath through my nose and swallowed all the saliva in my mouth, looking at the guards around me without moving my head as Aria let out a sharp laugh, throwing her head back before quickly regaining her composure.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on collecting your bounty… not today, anyways." She reassured in a disconnected, but sincere fashion. "I've been finding Cerberus agents all over the station trying to establish smuggling operations without my blessing. I don't plan on giving them something they want."

"I… appreciate it." I thanked, even though my nerves were slightly shot.

"Consider it a… personal favor that you owe me." She joked, turning back to Shepard with a more serious expression. "Mordin is down in the Gozu District. He runs a clinic, caring to the sick and wounded. Unfortunately, there's been a viral outbreak down there and I've placed it under quarantine. Last I heard, the doctor was working on a cure before the lines of communication broke down."

"Quarantine or not, I need to get down there and find him." Shepard said with determination, getting Aria to narrow her eyes slightly and smile.

"I'll let the guards know you're coming, but don't be surprised if they don't let you back out." She agreed, sitting forward slightly on her couch. "If you do find him, you might be able to help him spread the cure he was making."

Shepard nodded, standing up from the couch. He took several steps before Aria spoke up again.

"Oh, and Shepard?" She added, pointing her nose up a little more. "You clear the plague off the station, and addition to info on Archangel I might have some data waiting for you that you can use on your little mission."

Shepard had a distrustful look in his eyes, maintaining it for a few moments before softening.

"Deal." He agreed, offering her a handshake that she ignored. He turned around to us, looking annoyed. "Well then, I suppose we're going to the Gozu District."

"I noticed she didn't mention what kind of outbreak it was." I commented as we walked out of the booth.

"We'll have to make sure our breathing masks are secured properly." Shepard mused loudly over the music as we left the club, leaving the beats and pole dancers behind us. "Whatever it is, it can't be good."

"Its times like this that make me appreciate suited life." Tali said in a dry tone, taking an air filter out of her pocket and replacing her current one.

As we moved through the marketplace towards the entrance to the Gozu District, I took the time to absorb the fact that Cerberus had a full-blow multimillion-dollar bounty out on my head. Part of me knew something like that was a no brainer, but learning it while surrounded my criminals left me with a bit of a pit in my stomach.

I was surrounded by people on this station who would immediately jump at the chance to collect that bounty. My hand wasn't leaving the edge of my handgun for the remainder of this excursion.

…

Omega, January 12th, 11:46 AM, 2185

…

It didn't take us long to get to the Gozu District. One elevator ride later we were in the security checkpoint Aria's men had established. It was fortified with military-grade barriers and mounted guns. I could only imagine how many people they had gunned down trying to escape from the plague. Shepard and I secured our masks and opened the door to the district, ushering ourselves through as the door sealed behind us.

We were on our own for the time being. I pulled out my Mark III Plasma Gun, checking the canister to make sure it was sealed properly before activating the power supply. The weapon hummed as it warmed up, bringing a small smile to my face.

According to one of the guards at the checkpoint, the plague had killed most of the inhabitants of the sector. The only ones still alive were the vorcha, who's body chemistry rendered them immune to whatever it was spreading around down here. They had killed most of the people the plague hadn't and were in the process of setting up shop in former Blue Suns territory.

Vorcha were lanky little bastards with even shorter lifespans than the salarians, but made up for it in adaptability and pure ferocity. They weren't hard to kill, but you had to make sure they were dead.

"Sean, you take point." Shepard ordered over the comm as I nodded and gripped my rifle tighter. I could hear my breathing very clearly as I moved up to a turn, checking both ends before moving out into the open.

The place was a mess. There was battle damage everywhere, bodies, and fires that had yet to be put out. Several Blue Suns were busy picking up bodies and tossing them into a fire, incinerating them as another made sweeps looking for movement.

I began to wonder if this Dr. Solus was even still alive seeing all this carnage.

The three of us crouched behind an old kiosk, trying to make our way past the mercenaries without alerting them. We made it to the very end, realizing we had no choice but to go through them.

"Three on the left, two behind the crates, two on the upper platform." I announced, moving my head back behind cover.

"Alright, once I give the signal, open fire from this position while Tali and I flank them." Shepard ordered, smacking my shoulder real fast before getting up and moving back towards where we came from. I held my weapon at the ready, preparing myself to pop out of cover at a moment's notice.

The signal, as it turned out, was an exploding grenade. The explosion took the leg off one of the mercs, sending him screaming to the ground as the others frantically looked around for who had thrown it. I popped out of cover, using the kiosk to its best effect as I fired on them with superheated synthetic plasma. I cut down three of them with two-shot bursts before they retaliated, firing everything they had at my position.

Shepard and Tali opened fire from their end, cutting down the last three mercs in less than three seconds. I walked out of cover, letting out a low whistle as I met back up with the two.

"I hate these assholes." I commented, putting a plasma bolt into the wounded merc's chest before checking the way out of the area to see if there were any more coming.

"These guys part of the same outfit that attacked you in Sigurd's Cradle?" Shepard questioned, doing his best to avoid tracking blood.

"Yep. These guys are nothing but a private army of looters and thieves." I replied as we went down the alleyway the mercs had been guarding. "To be fair, I doubt the Eclipse and Blood Pack are any better."

"They're not." Tali quipped, holding her shotgun tightly as we came to a balcony overlooking a residential area. "The Blood Pack are the worst, especially since the krogans started using vorcha as disposable front-line troops."

We began to move down the stairs until gunfire rang out from below. We looked down to see several Blue Suns running away from the residential areas only to be gunned down by a large group of vorcha wielding old handguns and rifles. There were about eleven of them. A slightly bigger one let out a loud snarl, shouting for them to spread out as the others moved.

"Looks like they're pushing the Suns out of the district." I hypothesized, checking to make sure I had plenty of shots left. "It shouldn't be too hard to take them out, they don't even have armor."

"I agree." Shepard replied, reading his rifle as three started making their way up the stairs below us.

As soon as they turned the corner to our set of stairs, all three of us popped out and gunned them down, surprising the other eight down below.

"Kill them!" The leading vorcha hissed, pointing at us right before I blasted his head off with a well-placed shot from my Plasma Rifle. They all scattered, going for any cover that they could find as we rushed down the stairs. I set myself up on the landing, having a good view of the whole area. I managed to gun down two more of the little bastards before gunfire forced my head back down for a moment.

Shepard and Tali flanked them, rushing away from the stairs and taking down two more before the last three retreated. I managed to kill one of them as they ran off.

"We need to move, they're going to come back with reinforcements if we stay too long." Shepard ordered, waving me towards him and Tali as I jogged down the stairs and ran back to them.

We elected to avoid the path the vorcha had retreated down and took the longer way, taking our time and checking the corners. Shepard took point, making sure there were no threats before moving on.

"That weapon of yours seems to do its job well." Shepard commented, looking back at me. "Have any more of those on the ship?"

"Oh, don't worry, there are plenty." I reassured, looking down at my ammo counter, seeing 48 shots remained out of the 65 I started with.

We eventually came across a larger open market area that had been repurposed as a staging area for the Blue Suns. They were trying to hold off the waves of vorcha that regularly attacked their position with a mounted gun and several LOKI mechs.

"There's way too many to attack ourselves." Tali said over the comm with a drop in her voice, looking back at us as we hunkered down behind a wall. "We have to find a way around them."

"Hm… maybe we could sneak through those kiosks on the sides." I suggested, looking over at the right side which laid vacant. "If we're lucky, there might be a way out through there."

"Doesn't look like we have any other options." Shepard reluctantly agreed, putting his rifle on his back and taking out his handgun. "Sean, you take point."

I nodded, holstering my own rifle as I pulled out my Carnifex. We crouched, waiting until the mercs had their backs turned before quickly sprinting over the counters behind a kiosk, a burning kitchen filled with abandoned produce. A heavily charred chunk of meat was still in one of the pans, completely dried to nothing.

We moved into the back, finding a long hallway that connected all the businesses together. We moved around the crates stacked around carefully, making sure not to knock anything over before we came to another corner.

I looked around the bend to see something that immediately made my heart drop. There were at least six vorcha held up on the other side, likely waiting for a good chance to ambush the undefended side of the Blue Suns command post. Being this close, I was lucky they hadn't spotted me.

"Shit." I exclaimed, squeezing the grip on my Carnifex much tighter. "Six vorcha around the corner. No way past."

"Miranda, are there any other ways out of here?" Shepard asked into his omni-tool as I fought to keep my breathing stable. There was a pause before we got a response.

"There should be a maintenance passage to the right behind you. There's a hexagonal hatch covering it." She answered, bringing me some relief as I looked around and saw it. "It leads to one of the power substations, so be careful."

"Roger that." Shepard said with a nod, motioning to me and Tali to remove the hatch. We quietly removed the bolts by hand before prying off the cover with a bit of force. We set it down gently, making sure not to make any loud bangs as we all crawled into the confined space one by one. I took the rear, pulling the hatch cover back on with the upmost care.

Once at the end of the corridor, we found the substation which was still chugging despite all the damage that had been done to the rest of the district. We stacked up on the door to the substation, looking out to see the sign for Mordin's clinic. To say I was thankful was putting it lightly.

We quickly dashed across the open area, avoiding several vorcha hunkered down near the other side of the command post before reaching the door. We quickly entered, only to be met by several armed people and a few more LOKI mechs.

"Hands up!" One of them shouted as we obeyed their command. "Who are you people?"

"We mean no harm! I'm here to speak to Mordin Solus!" Shepard yelled at them as they looked at one another.

"Alright, you're clear, but don't do anything stupid." The man finished, holstering his rifle as we walked into the clinic proper.

The inside was filled to the brim with people of all species, all of whom appeared to be civilians. They looked scared, but all appeared to be healthy despite the plague. Aria's comment about Mordin developing a cure must have been true.

We were led into an operating room where we finally saw Mordin working diligently to stabilize a man who had taken a bullet to the stomach. We waited for a moment, watching him give the man a heavy painkiller before stitching him up all in short order.

"He'll be fine. Check on others after moving him." He said in a rapid-fire voice to one of his assistants, walking up to us with inquisitive eyes. "Didn't expect to have any friendly visitors. Too much chaos, death. Take off masks, air is clean here."

Shepard and I looked at one another for a moment before peeling our masks off, allowing ourselves a moment to breath in.

"Don't know why you would wear masks, humans immune to plague." Mordin quickly spouted, handing Tali a small canister about the size of an air filter. "Take this, plague bypasses mask filters. Engineered a cure, need to spread it through air filtration systems."

"The plague doesn't affect humans?" I questioned, immediately getting suspicious.

"Correct. Plague is engineered, not natural." He explained further, focusing on the two of us as he narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? Too well equipped to be mercenaries, experimental weapons… military?"

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance, working alongside the Migrant Fleet. We're looking into the disappearances of human colonies in the Terminus." Shepard began, folding his hands behind his back as he stood straighter. "I'm putting together a team to fight combat whoever's abducting our colonies, and I was told you were someone to look for."

"Human colonies disappearing troublesome, likely symptom of bigger problem… Reapers?" He asked, getting a surprise reaction out of me and Shepard. "No no no. Either way, cannot leave. Must cure plague first, but can't leave clinic unattended."

"What do you need us to do, doctor?" Shepard volunteered, folding his arms across his chest as Mordin smiled.

"Need to go to atmosphere processing, spread cure through air systems." He explained, picking up a much larger canister and handing it to me. "Path dangerous, vorcha have control of sector. Must move quickly."

Shepard nodded as I attached the can to my back, swapping it out with my plasma rifle. Tali quickly attached the small cartridge into the back of her mask, taking in a deep breath as she injected the cure directly into her bloodstream.

We had an objective, and after seeing all the hellishness the plague had caused, I was determined to save these people.

…

A/N: The mission to recruit Mordin had gone well so far, and who's to know what could happen in the second half of the mission? Also, what extra info does Aria have waiting for Shepard after the plague is cured? You never know.

I've been having a lot of fun writing these new chapters, feeling far more invigorated after take a few days off from work to further my writing. I don't know if any of you have every watched them, but ASMR videos on YouTube are surprisingly good for helping relax the nerves after a long day of work.

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