A lot going on in this chapter along with the appearance of a very old Player. Also, the origin of the 1911 and why he uses it. Don't forget to review!

POV: Aedon Wynne

I spent the rest of the night crying in my bed with Tali wrapped around me. It hurt so much, so much but I had to push through. I needed to center myself, the team and the mission needed me to be at peak performance. That was something that couldn't be done with how I was now. Still, I took the time to let everything out in my bed until I cried myself to sleep. First time that's ever happened to me and it wasn't the best experience. Wouldn't recommend.

After I had cried myself to sleep being held in Tali's arms I woke up bright and early. Blood from my hand stained the sheets and they would definitely need to be washed but for now I could deal with it. Pushing it all down I unwrapped myself from Tali's grip and went to the center of my room. Sitting down I took deep calming breaths before starting to meditate.

Through this I was able to center myself. It took much longer than before but I was still able to do it. The scene of Miss T'Kari dying in front of me at the forefront of my mind but I accepted that it was something I couldn't undo. It hurt like you wouldn't believe to acknowledge that but I did it anyways. Still, I knew I wouldn't get over it for a while.

Once I was done meditating I made my way to the gym and began my usual workout. Well, as usual as it could be as I couldn't work the punching bag at the moment. They still hadn't set it back up so instead of working the bag I shadowed myself. Found a window to look at and started mirroring myself trying to beat my own reflection.

It was a weird thing to witness if anyone did witness it but it was one of the best ways to train. Sometimes the only person who could truly challenge yourself was yourself. Anyways once I was done working out I went to Shepard's room. It was still super early by the time I reached his room and when I knocked he didn't answer.

I knocked again and again he didn't answer. Deciding that I might be pushing it a little bit if I just barge in their again I took a moment to check my messages as I stll haven't. Right at the top I saw one from Shepard saying that we were heading to the Citadel. He had sent it last night sometime and I couldn't tell if it was before or after I broke down. Not something to worry about; Shepard's a good man.

Leaving the door I contemplated what I wanted to do for a few moments before deciding to work off some steam. Starting with shooting first.

Arriving at the firing range Garrus was already there taking shots at the targets in silence. As he heard me arrive he looked over to me and gave me a subtle nod of his head. I returned it and punched in what I wanted for targets. The range immediately spat out what I wanted and I got to work on shooting them.

Both of us didn't say a word as we kept shooting the targets. The thoughts of yesterday as far away from my mind as I could make them. I didn't want to think about it at all. However, I knew that I would and that when I got to the Citadel talking with Frank would suck beyond belief. It was something I didn't want to think about at the moment but when it happened I would face it like I have so many other things. Standing tall.

There was a saying that a priest of mine used to say. He was a Vietnam vet and had gone through the absolute ringer. When I talked to him privately one day he told me the saying and I still remember it to this day. If I feel pain, I am alive. If I am alive, I can fight. If I can fight, I can win. I guess I'm there now; I feel pain but I still feel it and I can still fight and if I can fight then I can win. Nothing will stop me from winning this life. Nothing.

Finishing up my shooting routine I went back to my room and did maintenance on all of my weapons. For the most part everything was in top shape. Just a small bolt on my Mattock was out of place but otherwise it was fine. It took a little fiddling to move the bolt back into place without disassembling the entire gun but eventually I got it there. Checking it afterwards everything was good.

After that I spent the whole of my day in my room. Either meditating or just contemplating everything silently. Though Thane did visit me for a couple of hours. We had a good talk on religion and it distracted me from everything that was creeping into my mind. Specifically Miss T'Kari and her death. It still hurt and I doubt it would stop hurting.

Looking to the corner of the room her sword sat propped up agains the wall. I still didn't want to acknowledge what happened. But it had happened, it happened with me watching. Still, I had to move forward. It was the only way that I could go; looking back would only be detrimental to me. That is something I knew Miss T'Kari would say to me as well. She would want me to move forward, to believe that she was in a better place.

Bringing myself back into myself I went onto my bed and drifted off into sleep without Tali. She was in the engine room doing what she normally did. When I woke up I realized that I was in the little spoon position again. It didn't bother me at all but it did wrankle my masculinity a little. Still, it felt great to be held; don't knock it until you try it I guess.

Pushing myself out of her grasp she stirred and woke up as well. We shared tired glances before she took off her mask and ran a hand over over my face resting it at my cheek. She gave me a kind and tired smile as we looked between each other. There was silence for the longest time between us before she snaked her arm a little farther around my cheek and pulled me into a kiss. It was quick and quiet and each of us pulled away after only a moment of being together.

"I lov-" I cut her off raising a hand towards her. She looked heartbroken for a moment but steeled herself as she reached out with a hand and gently touched my shoulder.

"Please, not now Tali," I could hear my voice shake as I said those words but I couldn't do it. Not right now. Turning away from her I sat on the edge of the bed.

"I… haven't said it yet… and thought it might help," her voice was quiet as she kept her hand on my shoulder. I reached up with my own and gently grasped her hand giving it squeeze.

"My feelings towards you were made clear with that Necklace Tali… and it would, will. Just not right now Tali," I kept my hand clasped to hers and let the silence hand for a moment before I felt her remove her hand. Then I felt her rustle behind me and then embrace me from behind. Now that I wasn't distracting myself anymore and felt safe again I could feel the tears come back.

An hour later we were on the Citadel. Shepard and the rest of the crew went to resupply everything that needed to be done. From the conversations I've heard they plan on upping the shields for the impending fight against the Collectors. While they did that though I made a beeline for Frank's shop.

A lot of people recognized my helmet but for the most part left me alone as I stormed through the crowd. As I got into the lesser crowded areas of the Citadel I found an alley without cameras and took off my helmet. It wouldn't do much to conceal my identity but at this point it didn't matter. Just about everyone knew my face and today the only thing that mattered was the sword strapped to my back at that moment.

Coming out of the alley I made my way to Frank's shop at a slower pace. With each step that I got closer I continued to dread what would happen, how he would react and everything inbetween. I didn't want to think about it but that's what it was. He was losing the love of his life and I couldn't imagine his reaction… If Tali died I might rip the galaxy apart in my grief.

Still, as I ended up at his shop I stood in front of the door contemplating everything for a couple of seconds. Pushing it all down I pushed open the door and walked inside. Frank was moving boxes of ammo at the moment and when he saw me he sent a smile my way. That smile though quickly disappeared as I walked towards him.

His smile changed to trepidation and when I reached the counter it was a scowl. One that changed to horror and sadness as I reached behind my back and pulled out Miss T'Kari's sword. I layed it on the counter between us and for a moment there was no sound at all in the entire shop.

"I'm sorry… It was Dashi," even as I said the words I felt my voice shake with each syllable. I could feel my eyes watering as I looked up at Frank. He… He was resigned in his posture and face but beneath that I could feel that absolute sadness that radiated off of him. Shakily he rasied his omni-tool to his face before he contacted both Ceelo and Volio.

"Chora's Den. 10 minutes," was all he said before he looked to me. Silently he pulled me into a hug crying. I held him tightly as he did so and made no attempt to remove him. I couldn't, I just couldn't. We had both lost someone who just couldn't be replaced.

Quietly pulling away from me he held me at arms length before taking a deep breath with tears still streaked across his face. Wiping the tears from his face he pulled aned when he did he simply walked away. He didn't betray anything in his movements as he went about his normal work.

When it was done he stepped away from his work and we made our way to his transport. Hopping inside of it we each made our way to Chora's Den with him driving. As we parked outside of the place neither of us said a word before we went inside. Still, even as we went inside neither of us said a word as we sat down. Both Ceelo and Volio already there and both affixed us with curious looks.

Both of their curious looks disappeared as soon as we ordered five shots. As soon as those words were out of Frank's mouth they both adorned saddened looks. Neither said anything but both knew what it meant. T'Kari was dead and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. Nothing.

As soon as the shots arrived we all swallowed them. We kept the final shot that was meant for Miss T'Kari alone. None of us touched it, none of us could disrupt her silent drinking in the afterlife. After each round, as there were multiple we left each shot alone for her. She deserved that, at bare minimum. Then as we were about to drink our sixth round the whole world stopped.

Looking around the bar I was confused as every single person stopped moving. Not only that but they each stopped in varying positions. Including Ceelo and Volio who each had their shot glasses mere inches from their mouths. Or in Ceelo's case it was mere centimeres away fom being sucked into his mouth from his straw. However, it was stopped completely like someone had frozen time.

Looking over to Frank he was completely frozen as well but hit eyes were wide and moving around. Neither of us knew what was going on at the moment but I made sure my hand was already on my pistol. That being said, if anyone could literally stop the world around us I don't think a 1911 would do much of anything to it or them.

"Found you,"Run. a man said in a sing song voice as he took the final seat at our table.

He was tall and wore a perfectly tailored two piece black and white suit. With no tie and top two buttons undone he also wore pitch black sunglasses and gave a dazzling smile. Still, as I saw him smile it was unsettling there was something inherently wrong with whoever this was.

"I've been looking for you for along time Aedon. Or should I say Cody?" my gun was immediately out of its holster and pointed at the man at the mention of my name. Even if I couldn't truly remember it I knew it deep in my soul and whoever this was just pulled it out of his ass. That was my original name.

"Oh please. Like that could do anything to me," he simply waved his hand in front of my pistol and it disappeared back into it's holster. "And you Frank. It's been a long time huh?"

Frank, frozen as he was, could do nothing but widen his eyes at the man. At seeing this the man chuckled as he reached down and grabbed one of the drinks we had set aside for Miss T'Kari. He slammed it back before giving us a vicious smile. As soon as I saw that I instinctively knew who this man was; Lucifer, the Devil.

"Oh, you figured it out? Good on you kid, it's so hard to find people who recognize me and the danger that they're actually in," his smile grew more vicious with each passing second. "I once almost got Frank to make a deal with me but he backed out at the last moment. So unprofessional."

Frank and I exchanged glances at that. He looked ashamed for what had been said but at the same time didn't. Whatever had happened to even make him consider that route it must've been something I couldn't relate to. Something that only god could judge him for but at the end he backed out. He didn't bow to the Devil, he stood tall.

"Still, I'm not here for that," he spoke shrugging his shoulders. "I'm here because I've been cheated and I HATE being cheated… I can deal with it happening one time because ya know it happens. They accept the old coot upstairs right before the end but for it to happen twice by the same person? Oh no no," his prescence was terrifying.

"Fuck off Lucifer," I found my voice and he stopped any movement at all as he began looking at me. It was as if my entire being was being examined by the man and let met tell you it was scary. It shouldn't happen at all and yet he was doing it. He quickly looked over at Frank and I saw out of the corner of my eyes that his eyes glazed over frozen.

"Ya know. When you cheated me the first time I let it slide, you were always religious so I thought you finally accepted God and repented but here I am almost 200 years later and in a different dimension no less. Color me surprised.

Now though, your here and your changing the destiny of people who were meant to be MINE! T'Kari was MINE! And whatever you did got her to heaven. She didn't deserve that fate, your meddling has changed the natural order," I couldn't help the smile that brought to my face. I got my mom to heaven through my own actions. What better reward could there be even if she was dead.

"I am chaos Lucifer. I change the natural order because I can. Nothing that you do can stop me, nothing. Maybe one day you'll find that out to be the truth," at my response though he seemed so calm. Too calm.

"Keep telling yourself that. It might just keep you alive a little bit longer. It won't matter though, you'll still join me in hell. Your past life determined that and this one isn't so much different. You are still a killer, a murderer, a monster.

I know your soul too… Do you want to know what it is? Imma tell you anyways. You are steeped in blood, death and destruction but your soul remains light and bright. A soul like yours comes along once in 1000 years. I've met very few like you and every single time they all join me, they all fall. You can't change, no one changes and let's face it. You are a monster."

"A monster of my own making… Trying to save this galaxy from something they can't or won't comprehend and you will not stop me. I will kill ALL the Reapers, if it is the last thing I do. I will do it. And if I go to hell because of what I've done in my past then so be it as long as I save those that live now. It'll be a price well paid," we were almost nose to nose now but he shook his head for a moment before he looked back to me.

"I used to think the same thing… You and I are not so different," he lowered his sunglasses as he spoke and exposed his eyes. Completely Blood Red, just like when I drain someone. "You will join me whether you like it or not."

Lucifer's eyes then shifted to look at something behind me and they widened for a moment. At that exact moment I felt as if someone or something had their hand on my shoulder but my body refused to look. Like I wasn't allowed to look at what was behind me.

Then I saw Lucifer's mouth start moving but I couldn't hear the words. The world distorting around him so I couldn't even read his lips. Whoever had their hand on my shoulder was having a conversation with him and whatever it was I could tell the scowl on his face that he was loosing the fight. Then he looked at me and the world became normal again and lowered his glasses once more before winking at me.

As he winked at me though I felt memories I had long suppressed or forgotten come back to me. All of them from my old life and what I did as an assassin for the highest bidder. How I had truly set my place in Satan's hell with a reserved seat just for me. I didn't want to acknowledge it and wouldn't but I knew that the actions I made were mine. Those memories he showed me I knew were mine and I knew that no matter what I did I would deserve a seat in hell for them.

Lucifer then completely disappeared but the presence behind me didn't. I sat there unable to move nervous about what was about to happen but nothing ever did. The hand on my shoulder simply patted it twice before speaking.

"You got this kid. Father chose you for a reason," and then whoever that was completely disappeared and the world around me resumed. Maybe I should stop drinking?

As soon as it did Frank and I exchanged nervous glances both of us deciding to forget what had just happened. Instead we continued to drink with Volio and Ceelo in silent reverence for Miss T'Kari. The one thing that stuck with me though was that she made it to Heaven. If there was ever a consolation prize for death that would be it. To know that she made it.

Eventually Volio and Ceelo left Frank and I alone at the bar. Citing that they needed to go and do other things. We wanted them to stay but didn't fight it when they left. It wasn't like we could take up the entirety of their time. Much later and after a lot more drinks both Frank and I left the bar together and went to the shuttle port to call a shuttle.

Frank got one for each of us as he had to go back to his shop and I needed to go back to the Normandy. As we waited on the bench for the shuttles to arrive we settled into a nice silence. Of the people that recognized me they gave me a wide birth knowing I couldn't deal with anything at the moment. When Frank's shuttle showed up he stood up and turned to me.

"Do you know what your name means?"

"Fire."

"No. Not that one, your original name," I shook my head in the negative. "Cody means to help, to be a helper. Quite a good name huh?" and then he walked off leaving me with that as he got into his shuttle.

A couple of minutes later my shuttle arrived and I got in. The pilot took me straight to the Normandy without any questions. Upon arriving I paid the man and went in and to my room. The people inside gave me a wide birth as I entered the Normandy. Tali wasn't in my room so as I sat in there on my chair I was alone.

It didn't feel good to be alone at the moment but I needed to accept it. It wasn't all that bad but it… It still hurt. Everything did as I wasn't distracting myself anymore. Time to move past this, I have to, need to. They need me, they need the warrior, they need the monster; and they'll get it. Good.

Several hours later the PA system of the ship went off and called for all ground team members to go to the briefing room. Standing up from my chair I headed straight there. I was the first one besides Shepard and he gave me a curious glance as I entered. Nodding my head to him that's all he needed from me.

As everyone else entered they each gave me cursory glances but for the most part left me alone. Garrus sat on my left as usual with Tali taking what would be Shepard's seat if the man ever sat down for the briefings. He didn't so no one really took any mind to it. Once everyone was in Shepard started the briefing.

"We've found a derelict Reaper. We'll be going there as soon as we're finished refueling and getting it's access codes. It's the only thing the research team can think of that will let us pass through the Omega 4 Relay. We'll still have to decrypt it but once that's done we'll be hitting the Collectors home base. This fight is ending soon people."

"About damn time," Zaeed said in his usual gruff voice. Though he got nods of agreement from everyone. It was about time.

"Any knowledge on the timeline for us to get there?" Garrus asked addressing Shepard.

"Refueling should be done within the hour and to get there it'll take just under a day. So about 24 hours from now we'll be on a derelict Reaper. I'll keep you all appraised if anything changes. Any more questions?" when no one said anything he nodded his head and dismissed us.

Leaving the room I grabbed my gun and went straight to the shooting range. No one else was there at the time so I had it all to myself. I spent a couple of hours there just shooting before I finished up and went to the gym. Got a good leg workout in today, in full armor as usual too. It was incredibly how much stronger I've gotten recently. The only thing that I could think of that was causing it was the Drains.

It wasn't just a small difference either, it was significant. My max for squats used to hover around 400 pounds but now I could do almost 600. That was a weight you didn't see in anyone outside of massive body builders and for me to reach that with almost no outward change in my body was startling.

Still, I finished up my workout and got my armor all cleaned up from the sweat before heading back to my room. Once there I did my usual maintenance on my weapons before putting everything up and hopped in bed. Getting in bed I went to sleep taking a nap.

I woke up a little while later with Tali snuggled into my chest. Smiling at that I squeezed my arms around her for a moment eliciting a humm of happiness from her as she slept. She then squeezed me back in her sleep and my smile just got bigger before sleep took me again.

I don't know when I woke back up again but when I did it was to my omni-tool beeping. Tali was still snuggled into my chest as I looked at my omni-tool. It was a message from Shepard saying that it was time to get ready and that we were only about 90 minutes from taking off in the shuttle. Sighing at the apparent end of naptime I shook Tali awake.

She groggily woke up before giving me a smile and a small peck. Smiling at that I showed her the message from Shepard. She read it quickly before sighing and we both began untangling from each other. As soon as we did we got dressed into our armor and made sure all of our weapons were ready to go.

Stepping out of the room together we made our way straight to the shuttle and got in. We were the first two to arrive and had already made sure everything of ours was ready to go. Sitting in the shuttle side by side we went over our programs absent mindedly. It was really just us checking them over out of habit and to make sure everything was good.

As we did that we were joined by the rest of the team. Everyone was on this mission as well and we all piled into the ship. Including Tela, I hadn't expected to see her for a while or join us at all. I thought she got off at the Citadel but I guess not, she hadn't even been at the briefing yesterday. Still, i wasn't complaining; it would be good to have someone as powerful as her on the team.

Once everyone had shown up Pequod did being the last to arrive as usual as he started to prep the shuttle. It only took him a couple minutes and when everything was all set he looked back at Shepard. Shepard gave him a nod and he began take off procedures radioing in with Joker who opened the bay doors.

Flying out of them we got a first hand look at the Reaper. It was just floating in space completely dead with a quarter of the hull missing. Besides the rest of the Reaper didn't look much better. Like someone had taken an extremely oversized bat and went to town on the thing. It was the very definition of derelict, it was amazing it wasn't breaking up.

Circling it a few times in the shuttle just to get an overall look at the thing. The damage was absolutely extensive everywhere and after that settled into our minds we landed in the part of the hull that was missing. There was a makeshift landing platform there surrounded by Cerberus equipment. Equipment that obviously hadn't been either maintained or even used in several weeks at the very least.

Something that caught the eye of Garrus and Shepard as well as we all exchanged glances. If that was truly the case, which it probably was, then why hadn't Timmy told us about this earlier or gotten the codes already. Which was an easy question to answer all things considered. They were researching this place trying to gain anything that they could and that in and of itself was dangerous. That tech in their hands was dangerous.

We may technically be working for Cerberus but absolutely none of us like it. Even Miranda, as loyal as she had once been, hasn't sent any type of report to Timmy in the last month and a half. Well, at least that's what I've been able to gather from Tali as she had hacked every outgoing message on the ship and was monitoring them. Shepard ordered it after I had been captured.

That didn't stop many of the other Cerberus members on the ship who sent out reports. At least we knew about them though and for the most part kept them away from anything important. It wasn't all that hard, all things considered, none of them were well versed in the art of being stealthy. That didn't stop it from being a concern but this wasn't the time for that.

Landing on the platform we made an immediate perimeter and after that a simple hand sign from Shepard sent us out to investigate the immediate area. Taking Garrus and Grunt with me we walked forward and we started to make out the infrastructure in the area with everything around us. We couldn't make too much of it out as we rounded the single corner obscuring the view.

Once we did there were plenty of walkways that had definitely been made by Cerberus. There were only two walkways, both side by side but that isn't what caught our attention, we found the Spikes. The things used to almost instantly turn people into Husks. Garrus and I made silent eye contact for a moment before Garrus called it in over the radio and broadcasted it to the whole group.

"There's Spikes here. Be wary of husks," there were a couple clicks of acknowledgment before Shepard gave a signal to the others. We could see them but we could hear them as they made it to our position. As soon as they made it to us there was a rumble coming from in front of us. All of us raised our weapons and pointed down the hall and started to wait. It took all of a few seconds for Husks to come storming at us across the walkway.

We got into the best positions we could with everyone there and started blasting at the incoming Husks. Garrus getting to a knee in front of Grunt and I being an example of that and subsequently everyone found a way for everyone to get an angle without having to really speak about it. We just did it with Tela being the last one to really adapt but she'd been with us for days; she'll get the hang of the chemistry.

Either way as the husks charged us across the walkway we made relatively quick work of them. There was a lot of them but they were relatively weak and with literally everyone here we mowed them down. It would've been a lot harder if there was only a couple of us but we were all here.

Once the last of the husks fell we held our position for a moment waiting for anymore to come just in case but none did. When that became clear Shepard gave a wave of his hand and we all began moving forward. Jack, Grunt and Legion in the lead; the first two with Shotguns and the latter with a smg. I was right behind them with Thane, Shepard and Tela. Miranda, Jacob, Zaeed, Mordin, Tali and Kasumi behind us with Garrus taking up the rear.

As we pushed forward we came upon several terminals. We accessed each one mostly out of curiosity to see if they could tell us more about what happened. There were only three terminals but with each one it became more distressing. On each terminal was a play by play of how the people working here slowly became indoctrinated over several weeks.

It was… unsettling but I pushed it down. There was nothing to think about beyond that they were gone and we now had more information on how to spot indoctrination. Shepard made sure that both Tali and I downloaded each video. We would be giving the evidence to the Council and the STG.

As we reached the last terminal and the end of the subsequent pathway more husks came at us. Some jumping over the railing at our sides in the middle of our formation and attacking us. The first two groups charged off the path and into the open space of the new area taking the fight to the husks while the rest dealt with the ones jumping over the railing.

There were a lot few this time around but that didn't make it any easier as they swarmed us. Putting my Mattock away after a few shots before taking out my double barrel and ax. Blasting the closest Husk with my shotgun I holstered it and charged the next one with my ax.

It glowed a bright purple for a moment as it came down on the collar of the husk. As soon as it made contact it discharged whatever biotics that were stored in it and ripped the husk from collar to hip in an instant. I was shocked for an moment at what had happened but pushed it off as I readied myself for the next husk, putting my ax in my right hand.

When the next husk approached me I batted away it's claw as it struck at me with the ax before grabbing the face of the husk. Draining it was just as disgusting as the first time but it was a quick way to end the fight. As I did that another came from the side trying to ambush me and I responded by burying my ax into its head.

Finishing the drain and ripping the ax out I prepared for the next bout of husks only for none to come. It had seemed that the fight was over and the area in front of us clear. Looking back at the walkway they too were finishing up with the other husks. Zaeed and Mordin beind the ones to blast away the final husk.

With a simple motion from Shepard we all regrouped and walked forward. There was more terminals about what they discovered on the Reaper. Looking through the data it was just research on the Reaper as a whole and not any clear info on how to defeat it. At mentioning that to Shepard he made the decision that we would be destroying all the files. We spent the next couple of minutes destroying the terminals.

Once that was finished up we saw that there was a horizontal elevator at the edge of the area. It was nowhere near big enough to fit all of us so at that Shepard picked myself, Garrus, Thane and Grunt to get on it with him. The rest were to head back to the shuttle and get back to the ship. They didn't much like that but they did so without raising any real complaints.

Getting on the thing with Shepard he hit a few buttons and we took off down the hallway. It took us about a minute to finish getting to where it wanted us to go and when we did we were immediately met by a modified Husk. It was a lot larger then the rest, had what looked like other husks stacked on its shoulders and had one regular arm and one that hung down past its waist.

Before it could do anything I shot forward grabbing its protruding face and drained it. It was a lot worse than regular husks in terms of taste but at the same time there was more power from it. As I finished the drain and the modified husk flopped backwards and behind it there were a good amount of husks now staring at us with several of the modified ones with them.

From there we all went into battle firing at the husks as we pushed forward. This came to an abrupt halt for me for a moment as while I was putting my ax into the head of a husk something hit me and sent me straight into the ceiling. Dropping down and groaning at what had happened I didn't get the chance to wonder as I felt a husk drop onto my back.

I tried to flip over to at least look at the husk but it wouldn't let me for a moment. It's claws digging into my back armor but before it could rip through them a shotgun blast took it off me. Flipping over I shot to my feet and gave a grateful nod to Grunt who just smiled in return.

We then both set off against the husks with the others already firing at them. As we did that I got to see what the new Husk could do as it fired a Shockwave out of its longer arm. Dodging said attack wasn't the easiest thing either as it fired off quickly but you could still see that it needed to charge itself before it did fire. It gave you about a half second before it fired and then you had to dodge the Shockwave.

Add to that was that they were tough. Took a lot more shots to take them out then the rest of them. Which resulted in the team making openings for me to run forward and grab onto the new husk draining it. It was never pleasant and often got me swamped by other husks but for the most part the team kept them off me.

It was a hard fight all things considered. The amount of husks in the area along with the new ones made nothing easy. We made it work though as they covered me taking care of the bigger ones and they took care of the rest. It worked to a startling degree and at the end of it we were all alone.

Looking around at the others Shepard gave the group up signal and we did without hesitation. Once we were grouped together we kept moving through the walkway and too a pair of massive double doors. They entered as we approached and when they opened the core of the Reaper was right in front of us. It had the Reaper IFF that we needed.

As soon as we saw it Shepard gave a nod to me and I shot forward and began hacking into the core to get the IFF. Looking at both the process on my omni-tool and even with the improved power of the suit courtesy of Tali it would still take upwards of almost 10 minutes to get it. I told him as such.

"Get ready people. I doubt they'll let this go unimpeded. Aedon, stay by the core to make this go as fast as you can," everyone nodded at that and made to be ready for the upcoming fight.

Not 30 seconds into the hack did we start to hear the discombobulated roaring of the husks. About another 15 seconds later they started coming up over the railing at our sides. The first few climbing over the railing went down with headshots from us but eventually they started pouring over.

Fire at one, headshot; fire at another, headshot; fire at another, headshot. Bring out the ax and slam it into the next closest one as it got to me the biotic ability of the new ax cleaving it in two in an instant. Though that one was red and I didn't pay much attention to that until it literally exploded in face sending my sprawling backwards. The concussive force destroying my shields but leaving me okay.

Springinng back up I relayed that information to everyone in a shout. Red ones explode when they die. That didn't stop their tide though but it gave us more options. I couldn't really use my grenades here with the close proximity of everyone but if we caught a red one before they could get over the railing they could get other husks in the blast.

It worked several times too as we used their own suicide husks against them. It slowed them down a little but didn't do much beyond that. They were still an almost unstoppable tide but we were an immovable object against them. We kept on killing every single one that came at us moving around the area as we did so, so we wouldn't get bogged down.

It didn't go without it's hiccups though as Grunt and Garrus were both overwhelmed at the same time. While Shepard and Thane went for Garrus I brought out my ax and reloaded my shotgun and went for Grunt. Arriving at him I blasted my shotgun at the face of the two closest ones grouped together ripping them apart.

The other three got a courtesy ax through two of them cleaving straight through without a problem, I love this new ax. The final one got drained and I threw it off of Grunt who immediately got back to his feet and pointed his shotgun right at me. Ducking out of faith he fired and blew away the husk that was right behind me.

Nodding back to him we got right back into the fight. Blasting and cutting any husk that got close to any of us as I kept as close to the core as possible. The minutes stretched out endlessly as the hoard of husks just kept on coming without any sign of slowing down at all. Eventually though I heard the ping on my omni-tool signalling that the download was done.

"Shepard! We're good!" I shouted out to him.

"Pequod, get us out of here! Come to our position!" I heard Shepard shout and then he pointed at the wall closest to him. "Make a door Aedon, we'll cover you!"

Nodding to him I ran at the wall and set up my det cord in the biggest area that it would allow. About eight feet tall and six feet wide as I set it up. When the det cord was set up I took my grenades and started planting them all over the space using all 10 of them. Sending a thumbs up to Shepard we all started pouring fire down on the husks pouring out at us.

Pushing them back to the far side and away from the wall. As soon as we made it far enough I detonated all the charges. The explosion was magnificent in all sense of the word as it blew the hull of the Reaper. I had no dissillusions about it being actually capable of that though in a fully intact Reaper. It had to be a thin part of the hull or partially destroyed but it still did it's job and opened up a pathway.

As the door exploded outwards we saw Pequod in the shuttle already waiting for us with the shuttle door already open. Standing there was Zaeed, Tela and Jacob. Wasting no time we all shot towards the door with Thane being the first one to jump towards the shuttle. Floating through space the three in the shuttle caught him and pulled him in.

Grunt with next with Garrus following him. As soon as they landed in the shuttle Shepard gave me a nod and I went next jumping out into space and floating to the shuttle. It was a surreal experience and one that I was not comfortable with at all. They caught me though and brought me into the shuttle. Not a moment later Shepard joined us in the shuttle and we took off straight for the Normandy.

As soon as we landed in the shuttle Joker took off and got us far away as possible from the Reaper. We did not want to be anywhere near the thing even if it wasn't dead.

Once Joker got us a good distance away I took the data I had gotten from the Reaper and gave it to EDI. I didn't like doing that and my paranoia was sending off alarm bells as I did so but I did it anyways. I may have downloaded the IFF but it was heavily encrypted, there was no way I would be getting through it for at least a month at the bare minimum. That was with continued hacking as well. Something I wouldn't be able to do.

After giving the datapack to her I broke off and started doing maintenance on my weapons in my room. It didn't take long and once it was finished I left and went straight to the bar where I found Garrus already drinking with Kasumi pouring the drinks. Neither said anything at my arrival but Kasumi immediately poured me a drink.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Garrus asked silently as he took a sip of his drink. Kasumi for her part immediately left us at seeing the mood.

"I've cried enough," Garrus was silent for a moment before he looked over at me.

"But have you talked about it?" I downed my drink at his words before reaching over and grabbing the almost finished bottle of Everclear I now knew was there. I didn't even bother pouring it in the glass, I just held onto the bottle.

"No. I haven't… Not even to Tali," Garrus was silent for a moment before responding.

"I heard you gave her that Quarian Necklace… And I know you Aedon, you give your all to everything; that has to include healing as well," I could already feel the emotions coming back to me. I didn't want to feel them. I didn't want to feel weak. I'm not weak, I'm a warrior, a monster who feels nothing.

"I'm good Garrus."

"No you're not. I've been with you through Hell Aedon and I'll continue to walk that path with you and Shepard but if we are to survive this we'll need you. You are nowhere near 'good. You're hurting."

"OF COURSE I AM!" I snapped roaring at Garrus. He just took it in silence though his gaze completely void of judgement as I roared at him.

"Then talk. I know it hurts but it'll feel better, trust me," and I did trust him.

"She was my mom in all but blood Garrus… She loved me and I loved her. Out of all my mentors she was the first to truly believe in me. To believe that I could be more than just the monster I was. To believe that at my core I was still a good person no matter my previous actions."

"And what were they?" he asked simply looking at me.

"Before I became the Torchbearer, before I met my mentors I was an assassin on Earth. I worked for the highest bidder," Garrus was completely silent now as he looked at me in rapt interest. "There was one contract where I was sent to kill this guy. They gave me next to no information on him and I couldn't find much about him regardless… He was a former Marine turned detective and they wanted him off the board.

I found that out later but when I got to his house I got in easy and was about to kill him with a knife before he spun around and knocked the knife out of my hand. From there we wrestled and fought for control trying to kill the other. He was old though, closing in on his 50s and I was barely 19. I overpowered him but he brought out a gun," I grabbed the 1911 off my waist and put it on the counter as I took a swig from from the bottle in my hand.

"He tried to fire it but I was faster and disarmed him before he could fire a shot. Knocking the gun away I kicked him before diving to the gun spinning around and fired at him. Shot went straight through his head and as he had FMJ* rounds it went through his head and through the wall behind him.

When I stood up after killing him I heard gasping on the other side of the wall… Running out I saw a kid, no older than 14 clutching his neck as blood poured from it. Then his mom came around the corner and opened her mouth to scream and I shot her out of instinct; the bullet going straight through her head," the silence that permeated from between Garrus and I was palpable. I took a massive swig from the bottle in my hand.

"I… I am a monster Garrus. I killed a family and I still carry around his 1911 as a reminder. A reminder of my failure, a reminder that I am undeserving of anything.

That is why it hurts so much. Miss T'Kari believed that even though I was a killer, a child killer, that there was something in me that could be redeemed. That I could still find the light. That deep down I was still a good person and now she's gone."

There was a silence between us for a long moment as Garrus digested everything that I had just told him. He looked between me and the gun for a couple of moments before he slowly reached out and grabbed my gun. Inspecting it he then slowly handed it back to me in silence. Looking at him his face betrayed nothing before he started to speak.

"And look at you now," he spoke quietly looking at me, I gave him a curious look before he continued. "You were a monster… but look at you now. You have saved thousands of souls from the pit of slavery because they were willing to fight back because of the hope you gave them. You saved trillons when you stalled Saren for us. You saved thousands more on Omega. Each step you take you devote everything you are to saving lives Aedon… You may have been a monster but I know for a fact you aren't anymore. You may not believe it yourself but you are a good person," he reached out a hand and put it on my shoulder in a comforting silence.

I paid him no heed though as I reflected on his words. There was so much about it I didn't want to think about but there was still so much that I had to believe. Garrus brought me back from the depth, he believed in me. He believed I could be better. Just like Miss T'Kari, Frank, Volio and Ceelo. They all believed I was better than what I believed myself to be…

"Thank you Garrus," I took a big swig of the bottle I had in my hand finishing it off. Walking away a little dizzy I made it back to my room where Tali was working on something at my desk. In the chair that I usually reserved for myself. Taking a few big breaths to center myself I walked forward and wrapped myself around her.

"I love you," she stayed silent for a moment as I saw her remove her mask and wiggle around in my grip to look me in the face. She was silent for a moment as she reached up a hand and held it at my cheek.

"I love you too."

And there we have it folks. Hope you enjoyed!

*1: FMJ: full metal jacket, very good penetrating power.