24/4 2183

Comm's room, SSV Normandy.

"Alright fellas, go on and get the fuck out of here. I have to make a call to the council." Mads remarked as he stood up from his chair. They had just finished discussing what had happened on Therum, and he had assured them that he would question Dr. T'Soni. He had a hunch feeling that she may be innocent, based on her reaction and how they found her. But nothing could be ruled out.

"Don't get your tongue too brown now." Garrus joked as he arose from his seat.

"Very funny, Vakerian. Take a fucking hike." Mads pointed to the door, but he couldn't keep a grin off his face. They all left, one by one. Mads had to admit he hated the council, he thought of them as self-righteous dickheads. Too concerned with a peace that would never hold. Still, he had agreed to give reports whenever he broke something in the case, and it was safe to say the capture of T'Soni was something to talk about.

"Joker, patch me through to the dipshits at the citadel." Mads ordered as he rubbed his temples.

"Sure thing, remember to smile." Joker replied. A second or so later, they appeared as holograms. Mads let out a huge sigh.

"Councilors." Mads greeted.

"Romanov, what's your status?" Tevos asked.

"I arrested Dr. T'Soni yesterday on Therum. I am currently holding her on the Normandy, and I expect to question her after this meeting. I will then decide what to do next." Mads explained as he paced around a little.

"Nice work commander. Do you have reason to believe she has ties to Saren?" The Salarian councilor asked.

"Yes, her mother has been proven to be in alliance with Saren, and Therum was crawling with Geth. But, I can't say for sure right now if she is aligned with Saren." Mads replied.

"Understood commander. Please report back with your findings to us. What will you do next?" The Salarian councilor continued.

"Most likely Feros, it depends if something comes up before it." Mads clarified.

"Commander, I don't approve of your tactics. According to the reports from the mining company, you completely ruined the mines and the Prothean ruins." The Turian councilor always seemed to have something against Mads.

"I do what needs to be done, councilor. Can you say the same?" Mads asked, and he could see the facial expression of the councilor change to pure anger. But he stayed his blade.

"I will report back when something noteworthy happens." Mads promised, and promptly closed the call.

"Damn! That was ice cold commander!" Joker remarked over the comms.

"Someone has to hand their ass to them. Might as well be me." Mads commented. "… Now, I guess it is time to pay the doctor a visit."

"Doctor Chakwas." Mads greeted as he entered the medbay. "Kaminski, you look better." The field medic looked pristine. He hardly had a scar on his neck anymore.

"Thanks, Chakwas cleaned it up for me. I'm cleared for field duty, if you want to bring me along." Kaminski put down his data pad.

"Might come in useful later." Mads remarked.

"What with the liquor?" Kaminski asked, referring to the bottle of vodka in Mads' hand. The other hand held two glasses.

"Figured that dropping such a heavy load might give her a thirst. It's compassion to offer a drink." Mads explained.

"I see, well… I don't see the Asari as a drinker. She actually seems like a kid almost. Most Asari her age are out dancing on Omega or something." Kaminski said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Asari Maidens use their young years to do different things." Chakwas remarked from her position at the terminal.

"Anyway, she might be in bed with the whole organization, or she may not be. That's what I'm gonna find out." Mads said as he began to move for the back room.

"Good luck, commander. By the way, doesn't it ever get annoying or hot to wear those gloves all the time? Why do you even wear them?" Kaminski was a nosy one apparently. The question just flew out of him like it was nothing.

"I wear what I wear for personal reasons. You got that, you polish prick?" Mads didn't mean to be rude, but when he got angry, he always did end up saying stuff he would regret.

"Yeah, whatever, you Russian douche bag." Kaminski played it off as a joke, and that suited Mads just fine.

Mads knocked on the door to the room contained Dr. T'Soni. A faint 'come in' could be heard on the other side. And Mads unlocked the door. There was a table in the middle of the room, with a dimmed light over it. T'Soni was sitting at one end of the table. Her hands seemed to be in her lap. Mads went over the table and placed the glasses and the bottle of Vodka on the table, before putting an ashtray on the table as well.

Mads sat down in the chair and pulled out his data pad. He looked from the data pad onto Liara and back again several times. Then he wrote a few things down. He let out a sigh, and then pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He placed one in his mouth and held the pack out to Liara. "Smoke?"

She shook her head. Mads just continued with giving flame to his cigarette, and took a drag of it. He exhaled the smoke and poured some Vodka into his glass. "You want a drink?" He asked as he looked at her.

"I-... I don't drink" She replied nervously. Mads nodded, and drank the contents of his glass.

"Dr. Liara T'Soni. Born on Thessia in 2077, only child of Matriarch Benezia, father is not mentioned. Graduated from the university of Thessia with a degree in archaeology, has written several reports for the university about Prothean ruins." Mads read the list out loud. "Is this correct?" Mads asked. She nodded.

"Listen here, doctor. You are placed under arrest for the suspicion of collaborating with your mother to help the outlaw known as Saren Arterius. What do you say in your defense?" Mads asked as he took another drag of his cigarette.

"I have no idea what you are talking about commander. And you have no right to hold me here!" Liara bursted out saying.

"It's not just commander. I'm a Spectre for the citadel as well. I have the power to keep you here as long as I see fit." Mads explained.

"Wait? There is a human Spectre?" Liara had never heard about that.

"How long were you down in that mine?" Mads asked as he leaned forward.

"Oh goddess, at least 3 days before you arrived. I was doing research on the ruins, when the Geth showed up. Their leader, that Krogan, wanted to take me in. He said that Saren wanted me. I activated the field to keep them out… Only it kept me locked in place as well." She explained. Mads looked her deep in the eye, and he could see that she was telling the truth.

"When was the last time you spoke with your mother, doctor T'Soni?" Mads then asked, as he took another puff of the cigarette.

"A few years ago at least, she-… She did not approve of my direction in life. She wanted me sit at the high table, where as I wanted to study and learn the Protheans…" Liara confessed. "Commander..."

"Romanov."

"Commander Romanov… If you don't mind me asking, what is going on?" It sealed the deal. Liara had no clue about what was going on. Mads began to tell her. He spent several minutes telling her what had happened, starting from Eden Prime. Liara ate it all up, and was amazed by the mere mention of the Prothean beacon.

"That's amazing Commander! Do you realize how rare it is to find a working beacon nowadays?" Liara asked, full of excitement.

"No, I don't have a fancy degree in archaeology. But I do know it is Prothean technology, and that Saren is interesting in it. That puts it on my map." Mads replied and took another sip of his drink that he just poured.

"It's amazing that it didn't fry your mind commander. Prothean technology is very unstable. You must have a strong mind." Well, there was a back handed compliment is there ever was one.

"Thanks Doctor… I guess?" Mads was a bit unsure on how to proceed. "That brings me to the next subject, what are your plans now? I can drop you off the next time we hit civilization." Mads suggested.

"May I speak my mind, commander?" Liara asked.

"Sure, go ahead." Mads allowed it.

"If I may, I would like to stay here. I would love the opportunity to stay here and help with your mission." Liara had an odd request.

"Excuse me for asking, Liara. But do you have any military training or experience at all?" Mads asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"Well… No… But I'm a biotic! I had some training in it!" Liara proclaimed.

"Well, Liara, I'll let you join our team on condition: That you train with me." Mads said.

"Yes, I would love to." Liara said. Mads gestured for her to come with her hands. She did so and Mads unlocked them. She thanked him, and he nodded as he arose from his seat.

"You can stay here, if you want to." Mads suggested.

"Thank you, commander."

"Commander Romanov. A pleasure to meet you. I won't take much of your time." Admiral Kahoku greeted. Mads had been hailed on the hologram, and apparently it was important.

"The pleasure is all mine, Admiral. How can I help you?" Mads asked.

"I'm at a crossroad, Commander. I have been banging my head against the council, but they refuse to speak with me. I sent one of my best squads of marines to Edolus, to investigate a distress signal. They disappeared, and I haven't heard from them since… I know you are a Spectre now, maybe you can bypass the red tape and get me some answers?" It was clear that Kahoku was desperate. He was worried endlessly.

"I can try, Admiral. But I can't promise any miracles. I'm running a tight ship here." Mads replied.

"I will take any help you can give. Please, give me and their family some answers." Kahoku pleaded.

"I'll look into it. I'll update you when I have something." Mads promised.

"Thank you, Commander. You are God sent. Kahoku out." He closed the call, and Mads let out a sigh. It wouldn't take long to check it out, so they might as well. Mads gave Joker the location and promptly when to his cabin to change into his combat gear.

Tali sat at the mess hall table. Most crew members were asleep at the moment. There were close to no one there, expect for three members sitting at a table at the opposite end of the room. She looked around and noticed what they were eating. She often wondered what a real meal would taste like, a hot meal. But alas, she was stuck in this position.

So, with no one else around, and her being almost invisible, she started to listen in to what the other crew members talked about. She hadn't heard the start of the conversation, so there was little to no context for her to build on.

"You think so?" Tali didn't know their names, so it was just crew member 1, 2 and 3 to her.

"He is a damn war hero. The alliance pinned the star of Terra to his chest." Crew member 2 replied.

"Romanov is a bit weird, but I do see him as a good leader." Crew member 3 remarked.

"Weird? That's putting it mildly. He wears gloves all the damn time, who does that?" Crew member 1 asked.

"Someone with something to hide. I bet he has burned skin underneath, and he refuses to show it" Crew member 3 theorized.

"Nah, it's gonna be some cyborg enhancement, right?" Crew member 2 suggested.

It had never been strange to Tali that the commander did not show his forearms or hands. She never showed any of her skin, but that was of course for practical reasons. The commander could survive in this environment, no trouble, yet he insisted on covering himself up. She didn't judge him, she figured he had his own reasons.

There were many weird and mysterious things about her commanding officer. And she was naturally curious to some of them.

"You are not holding it right, Dr. T'Soni." Mads advised. "Are you a rightie or a leftie?" Mads asked. She was holding an alliance standard issue pistol. They had just begun their training, and Liara was already annoyed at Mads' constant barking of orders. Mads kept changing her stance, her grip, and everything else there was to change.

Liara slowly progressed with each shot. Mads was keeping the heat on her, making sure she didn't get to catch a breath. Finally, a shot hit dead on. Then another one, then another one. Followed by a few misses here and there.

"If you are serious about joining me on missions, Liara. Then you will at some point be confronted by a choice. A bad guy pulls his gun, and you have to decide what is more appealing to you. A bullet in your head, or a bullet in his." Mads lectured.

"I know." She replied, stern and firm.

"Really? Do you?" Mads asked. "Interesting. For now, let's see how you do with a moving target." Mads said. He loaded up a simulation program, that showed a target moving about. First off was walking. She did okay with the walking target, but the running one? That's a different story.

"Come on, Liara. I know you can do better." Mads pressed her.

"What do you want me to do, Commander? I clearly can't hit the target!" Liara wasn't sure how much more she could take. Mads then pulled out his firearm, fired 6 shots, with each hitting their target.

"That's not fair! You've had several years of experience." Liara protested.

"It's about hitting the target where it's gonna be, not where it is. Predict where it will be." Mads lectured. "Take your time, better hit a shot than miss a dozen."

Liara continued her course, and gained quite a few on lookers. It went on for hours, none stop shooting and training. Mads had told her he couldn't train her in everything, since time was not on their side. Whatever she was lacking, she had to make up for with the experience she would gain. At some point, Mads let her train on her own, select her own courses through the simulation program.

"Not only do you pardon her, you actually teach her combat training? I'm shocked." Garrus joked.

"She had no idea her mother was in bed with Saren. But she is as green as grass when it comes to anything military related. She is getting better, but…" Mads took a pause. "I don't know if she's truly got what it takes for this."

"Hmmm, I don't know. But I have seen unlikely candidates succeed before. Liara is determined, at least as far as I can see, to help out." Garrus remarked.

"I'll keep an eye on her. I won't bring her on the next assignment, but maybe the one after that." Mads replied as he leaned up against the Mako. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes to smoke another one.

"Speaking of which, what is the next assignment?" Garrus asked curiously.

"A squad of alliance marines went missing on the planet Edolus. Apparently, they were investigating a distress signal. Admiral Kahoku called in the favor." Mads replied as he gave fire to his cigarette.

"Does this have anything to do with finding Saren?" Garrus asked confused.

"It ought to interest you, Garrus. The whole case is filled with red tape, the admiral can't get answers, and the council refuses to allow anyone near the planet." Mads explained as he took a drag of his cigarette.

"Red tape you say? And we can get in there?"

"Well, you are looking at a council Spectre, if you have forgotten. I can bypass it, sure, but there is something lurking underneath the surface here. But I can't put my finger on it." Mads sighed. "I think I will bring along Kaminski for this one. You and Tali can come as well."

"Kaminski?"

"You haven't met Kaminski yet? Daniel Kaminski. Well, he is our field medic. He is a good man, although not that experienced in combat. He was wounded on Eden Prime, but he should be back in shape now. He can help give us an estimate on what happened, if we find the marines."

"I see… well, you know best."

"Of course I do, that's why I'm a Spectre and you aren't."

27/4 2183

Nearing Edolus.

Garrus, Tali, Kaminski and Mads were all gathered around the Mako. Mads was looking through the last details before they would deploy. This was largely an unknown mission they were taking on. They had close to no information about it. It did make Mads nervous, not for himself, but for his fellow crew members. They had tackled unknowns before, but there was no telling as to why the marines had disappeared.

"Alright fellas. We do this quickly. We go down and look for any traces of the marines. Should we find them, alive or otherwise, me and Kaminski will see to them. We will only search for about 1-2 hours, since we are running a tight schedule here. We have their last known location, and hopefully that will be enough." Mads gave the sit rep. "Are there any questions?" Mads asked. No one said anything, which was hopefully a good thing.

They all went into the Mako. Garrus at the gun, and Tali running anything technical. Mads drove, as usual, and Kaminski placed himself in the back.

"Approaching the planet, get ready for deployment in 30 seconds." Joker advised.

"You heard the man, buckle up. Approach same as usual." Mads ordered from his place at the helm.

They came in fast, perhaps even a rougher landing that the previous one. But, they took it well, even Kaminski seemed to be made of something tougher than Mads had predicted. "Spirits, I will never get used to that." Garrus remarked from his place at the gunner's nest.

"Nonsense, you are making progress. You didn't look like a victim of Shell shock this time around." Mads joked, but he was half serious.

"Beacon is active, Commander." Tali broke in and said, giving the satnav a new point of interest.

"Got it, thanks Tali." Mads began to make his way there. He hoped that the Marines had just lost contact, and were still there, alive as ever. But that was probably a pipe dream. Sometimes he wished he could take the place of those dead, sometimes he managed to convince himself that everything would be better if he did so. He tried to battle those thoughts, mostly for everyone sake. No one wanted a suicidal commander at the helm of anything.

He sighed as he drove on. The planet was nothing noteworthy, quite a dull place to put it bluntly. It did make Mads wonder, why was there a distress beacon there to begin with? Something had to have gone down. Mads hated when there was a lack of information.

"It's just over that hill" Tali said as she pointed straight forward. She pulled Mads out of his thoughts and back into reality.

"Righto." Mads replied as he began to make the Mako climb the hill. The sheer amount of traction and horsepower made the it small task. As soon as they were on top of the hill, Mads could spot the downed shuttle, as well as the distress beacon.

They slowly pulled up beside the wreck. Mads put the Mako into neutral and slowly began to make his way out. "Garrus and Tali, stay here. Me and Kaminski will check the site out. You guys stay ready if something happens. This place is a right place for an ambush of some kind." Mads remarked as he began to climb out, Kaminski followed hesitantly. The planet was anything but forgiving in its nature.

Slowly, they made their way to the bodies of the fallen marines. "Give me something, Kaminski." Mads ordered as he stood guard. Kaminski squatted down to take a closer look. He was quiet for a few moments, as he moved the bodies around a bit, looking closer at what happened.

"Well, they're dead." Kaminski finally said.

"Yeah, no shit." Mads replied.

"Their armor has completely melted away. Interesting." Kaminski explained as he took a sample. He put the thing through his omni-tool. "Mind speeding this up?" Mad asked as he kept his eye trained on their surroundings. His gut was telling him something would go wrong.

"It's acid. I have never encountered this type before though." Kaminski remarked.

"What is that supposed to-" Mads was cut short. The ground began to shake violently, enough to knock Kaminski off his feet. Suddenly, the earth shattered as it gave way to a massive creature. It was a worm like creature, looking menacing in its own right.

"THRESHER MAW!" Mads yelled as he pulled Kaminski to his feet. They tried to close the distance to the safe heaven known as the Mako. They were cut short a few yards before it. The Thresher Maw spat its fire acid right before them, it melted the very rock this planet was made off.

"Shit! Come on!" Mads yelled as he grabbed Kaminski with one hand, while shooting his magnum at the creature with the other one. "Tali! Garrus! ARE YOU THERE?" Mads yelled into his ear piece.

"What is going on out there?" Tali asked.

"IT'S A GOD DAMN THRESHER MAW! AND WE KNEW SUPPORT RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" Mads was doing his best to keep him and Kaminski out of the acid spit, but that was proving more and more difficult by the second. It wasn't a stupid creature, it knew how to hunt its prey.

"But how?" Tali was getting nervous in the cockpit of the Mako.

"You drive it, and Garrus unleashes hell upon it. And make it quick!" Mads replied as he stopped just a few feet short of another giant pool of acid.

"But I don't know how to drive it!" Tali argued.

"DID I FUCKING STUTTER? LEARN QUICKLY!" Mads ordered over the comms. There was no further communication from the Mako as Mads and Kaminski fought to both stay alive, and give the Mako some breathing room. The Mako had superior fire power, but if the big fucking worm decided to focus on the Mako, it wouldn't last long either.

Tali quickly figured out how to drive the giant vehicle, and she wasn't half bad after she got a hang of it. Garrus continued to rain down hell as best he could on the creature. The Thresher Maw seemed more interested in Mads and Kaminski though.

It was five minutes of pure terror for Kaminski, and five minutes of instincts guiding Mads. But, with the combined fire, they finally put enough bullets holes in the beast to kill it. With one last roar, the beast fell to the ground, dead.

Mads laughed as he slowly took his breath. Kaminski was really breathing heavily to even out his oxygen. "Nice job, you poles are fast on your feet." Mads joked as he padded Kaminski on the back.

"Oh Jesus, we nearly died!" Kaminski proclaimed.

"But we didn't." Mads pointed out as he looked over at the Mako that was coming towards them. 'God bless them' was all Mads could think as he saw the white color of Mako as it pulled up beside them. Kaminski was quick to get back in to the safety of the Mako, while Mads collected the dog tags of the soldiers, and took a closer look at the beacon that summoned the marines there in the first place.

Mads downloaded the contents onto a USB drive. He couldn't really figure out the beacon, it was placed so weirdly, right at the center. There was no way it wasn't a trap. He hoped that Kahoku could make sense of it, after he had overcome the shock of the news that his men had died.

Afterwards, Mads climbed back into Mako, and promptly sat down in his seat. Tali was being awfully quiet in her seat, Mads looked over at her concerned. "Are you alright Tali?" Sometimes Mad wished he could see what was happened beneath the visor, because Quarian could sometimes be hard to read, not as hard as Turians, but hard none-the-less.

"I'm sorry." It wasn't more than a whisper, but it was barely audible for him. Mads was hit by confusion before anything else. What was she apologizing for?

"Sorry for what?" Mads asked as he shifted in his seat to get a better look at her.

"You trusted me, and I failed you." She replied, she refuses to look him in the eye. Mads sighed as he laid his hand on her shoulder, urging her to look at him.

"Tali, if this is about what happened out there-" Mads pointed to outside the Mako. "Then you should not feel sorry. You did your very best in the situation, and I'm proud of you." Mads encouraged her. He could see it now, Tali was quick to judge herself. Was it self loathing? "I'm sorry I yelled at you Tali. It is never anything personal. It was a heated situation. I think you handled it well." Mads praised her. She was at least not looking down in the ground in shame anymore.

"T-Thank you." Her voice sounded a bit weak, but the gratitude was there.

"I hate to interrupt this lover's kiss and make up, but can we get out of here? I'd rather leave the monster planet." Kaminski requested from his seat in the back.

"I don't know, I quite fancy staying here." Mads joked.

"Don't you joke around with that stuff, Romanov." Kaminski was not having a laugh in this moment.

"That was scary, are you sure you didn't shit yourself?" Garrus asked jokingly from his position at the gunner's nest.

"I have been through worse. But thank you, both of you, if it wasn't for you. I would probably have melted away." Mads remarked. He then called for the Normandy to come pick them up, it was high time to get out of there before anything else happened, and Mads wasn't in mood for any more surprises.