2/5 2183

SSV Normandy, on route to Binthu

With a sigh, Mads retired to his quarters. He slowly unbuckled his belt and hug it over the rack, but not before taking his magnum with him to the desk where his terminal was. It was like some dumb rule he had with himself, always leave the gun within arms reach of him. Realistically, nothing was going to happen on the Normandy where he was going to need it, but he felt naked without it.

Mads took the time to look up whatever files on Cerberus he had access to. Which, was limited. They were part of the Alliance… Or they used to at least. A black ops created long ago, who had now gone rouge. Bad business, as always. Mads took the time to smoke a cigarette as he read the files he could find. Admiral Kahoku had probably tried to confront themselves, or gather information. But, he had done so on his own, and Cerberus was probably aware of him as well. Which meant that the Admiral's life expectancy was dropping by the second.

More pressure to the mix. Mads knew this was something he had to take care of, but he wished he could have been free to focus on his mission to find Saren. It would seem getting the Normandy was a double edge sword, it provided a good tactical advantage in combat, but it was also called in to fix every goddamn problem the Alliance had.

Mads' hand found it's way to liquor stored beneath his desk, and managed to fish up a bottle of Vodka. He smiled at the alcohol percentage, and wasted no time pouring himself a glass. He lifted it up to the picture of his family on his desk. "To you… And to me." Mads said as he downed it in a matter of seconds.

3/5 2183

SSV Normandy, orbiting Binthu.

"Ready to deploy whenever you feel like it, Commander." Joker said over the intercom. Mads washed his face with cold water from the bathroom and promptly stared at his reflection in the mirror. He shook his head and dried his face. He changed into his armor and buckled on his belt. His magnum snugly sat in his holster as he retrieved the rest of his firearms from his locker. He yawned as he made his way to elevator and pressed the button to go down a level.

He found most of his team members ready. He figured that bringing 6-7 crew members would be enough for the mission, since from what he gathered, the Cerberus presence wasn't big enough for him to deploy the entire marine squad. Though, he heard that several of them were beginning to be a bit restless, even though they were shot at only a few days ago on Feros. Seems short term memory wasn't something the modern marines of the Alliance possessed.

"Alright. Listen up maggots. We'll be searching for Admiral Kahoku-" Mads held up a picture of the Admiral to show them who he was talking about. "-Intel suggests he went to investigate Cerberus on his own, and is now at their mercy. Our main priority is shutting down Cerberus' operations and locating the Admiral. Now, since there are several facilities, we need to split up." Mads explained. "Kaiden, you take Ashley, Riesman and Wrex. Are they any questions?" Mads asked.

"What kind of enemy should we expect?" Garrus asked as he holstered his sniper rifle on his back.

"Well armed spec ops. Officially, the Alliance has cut ties with them. But, they are well funded from outside parties. So, don't underestimate them, they are well trained." Mads replied. "Anything else?" Mads then asked.

"Is it shoot to kill?" Kaiden asked back.

"Yes. They have turned into a fanatical human supremacist group. Based on what they already have done so far, I'd say our best bet is to show force and push. But mind your targets, we need the admiral alive." Mads ordered.

"Yes sir." Kaiden replied with a salute.

"That everything?" They all nodded. "Then let's move." Mads ordered as he gestured for them to enter the MAKO and prepare for deployment.

10 minutes later.

One of the Cerberus facilities, Binthu.

Mads had dropped off fire team one at the first point. Mads, Tali, Liara and Garrus went to other site. Mads feared what they would find. As far as they could tell, these were research facilities. Only God knew what they were researching here. Peace didn't seem to be an option, these fanatics were armed to the teeth and ready to defend their research to the very last man.

As to why they had set up shop here, on this unwelcoming planet, Mads' best bet had to be that they didn't want to be found. This place wasn't even a pre-garden world, it was just a sulphur mine with acid rain. No one ever came here, because why would they? It was perfect for doing research away from prying eyes.

"Alright, we're here." Mads informed them as he pulled up to the entrance to the other facility. "Remember, we're here to shut down the operation and find Admiral Kahoku. So mind your kills. Is that understood?" Mads asked. They all nodded as they got their gear. "Good, then let's go." Mads said as he was the first to climb out. He and the others ran the short distance from the MAKO to the entrance and jumped inside.

Inside, it was quiet. Mads moved with a certain sense of caution as they went further into the facility. There was hardly any Intel to verify what kind of threat they would be facing. They came to a door, and then noises from within began to leak out. A screeching sound could be heard, one unlike anything Mads had ever heard before.

Mads gestured the plan to the team and he stressed the need for them to be careful. They all signaled that they understood the mission and what to do. With a shift knock, the door opened to what appeared to be at least a dozen, if not more, paramilitary looking soldiers looking back at them. For a split second, it was as if time stood still. The guards had been caught completely unaware.

Still, action followed suit. Mads fired the first shots at them, and they returned fire quickly. The rest of his team took cover and began a large firefight within the small confounds of the bunker walls. The room filled with light and deafening noise. The soldiers they fought seemed to be biotics as well, which made things more complicated than it otherwise would have.

But, they worked as team. Under Mads' leadership, they performed excellent. It didn't take long for them to clear out the terrorists. So, as the last Cerberus trooper fell, things became quiet again. Expect of course for the main attraction. Within a confined chamber, large creatures roamed. Creatures that looked awfully familiar, but Mads couldn't quiet place his finger on what they were.

He ordered his team to look around while he looked at the chamber. He tried and hail the other fire team on his radio. "Bravo-Delta. This is Big Duke 6, what's your situation? Over." Mads asked into his earpiece.

A few seconds passed before a reply came. "First bunker cleared. We found what appeared to be husks, or whatever those creatures on Feros were. We have neutralized them. Over" Kaiden replied on the radio.

"Copy that. Second bunker is cleared as well. We have found some creatures as well, we'll begin to look into it. Proceed to the last bunker. Big duke 6 over and out." Mads ordered.

"Copy that. Bravo-Delta over and out." Kaiden replied and went silent. Mads squatted down to take a closer look at the creatures.

"What are you?" He asked, nothing more than a whisper as he looked into the dead eyes of the creatures staring back at him. He tried to think back to his studies into the species that roamed the galaxy. Of course, he didn't know every single one. But, he knew the most important ones and he could swear on his life he had read about a creature like this before.

Still as he was there. Deep in thought over what they were, the blue containment field that separated him from the feral creatures suddenly disappeared. It took a split second before Mads, or the creature for that matter, realized what had happened.

"Blyat..." Mads muttered as the creature jumped at him and pinned him to the ground. Mads tried desperately to reach the knife he had concealed in his boots so he got get out of his rather unfortunate predicament he found himself in. The creature screeched at him, and practically threatened to tear his throat out.

Finally, Mads' hand reached his knife, and he stabbed the creature several times in the stomach. It roared and screamed as he wiggled his way out of his grasp. He finished it off with a stab to the head. Similar to how you would kill a lobster. Quick and merciful… If this creature even deserved that. The creature laid on the ground, lifeless and limp. Mads holstered his knife as he tried to catch his breath. He looked around, and saw that the other creatures had also died, most likely by the hands of his team mates.

"Commander, are you alright?" Kaminski asked as he came over.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm alright. What the fuck happened?" Mads asked back as he straightened himself up.

"No sure… The shield just seemed to drop?" Kaminski pondered.

"I-….I did it." A meek voice called out behind them. Mads and Kaminski both turned around to see Tali standing there, with her head down. She couldn't bring herself to look at Mads after she felt like she put his life in considerable danger.

"You did?" Mads asked confused.

"Yes…. I-I was looking around f-f-for clues l-like you said… A-and I must have-… Have accidentally pulled a switch or something… I'm so sorry! Please forgive me Commander!" She stuttered like never before, her hand gestures were all over the place. It was clear that this wasn't her intention.

"I'll forgive you Tali, but I would appreciate you leaving red buttons and switches alone until you know what they do. Are we clear on this?" Mads asked. His life had just been in danger, but for some reason it was hard for him to be angry at her. He didn't know why. Yeah, it was an honest mistake… But that give you a get-out-of-jail free card. A minor ass wooping was in order.

"Y-Yes sir! It won't happen again!" Tali replied.

"Yeah, it better not." Mads muttered.

"Commander! There is something you should see!" Kaminski called out. Mads ran over to where Kaminski was crouched down over something. As he got closer, he could make out the alliance blue uniform of someone laying on the ground. All Mads could do was pray and hope it wasn't who he thought it was…

As he got there, he only needed to look once to shatter those hopes… It was Kahoku, no doubt about it. As dead as dead could be. Mads felt Kahoku's wrist for a pulse, but found that not only was there no pulse, Kahoku's body was cold. "Cyka… Gavno..." Mads muttered as he released Kahoku's hand. "How long?" Mads asked.

"I'm not sure, but at least 48 hours. His body temperature is really low." Kaminski said as he searched on.

"Cause of death?" Mads then asked.

"No body trauma. No real marks of restraint. But-" Kaminski lifted up the other wrist and showed needle marks. "-This is probably what killed him. We need to do some tests on the Normandy to know for sure." Kaminski explained.

"Sure thing… Did he have anything on him?" Mads asked curiously.

"Hold on..." Kaminski stuck his hand into Kahoku's pockets, a few seconds later he pulled out a disc from his depth. "There is this." Kaminksi said.

Mads took it and quickly loaded it into his omni-tool. It read the content of the disc as thoroughly as he could. "huh…" Mads remarked.

"What is it?" Kaminski asked.

"Seems Kahoku bought information from the Shadow Broker. That's how he tracked Cerberus down..." Mads replied. "Ah! They have a base on Nepheron. I don't know if it is their main base or not." Mads added.

"We owe it to Kahoku to shut it down." Garrus said as he came closer.

"I agree. We should make sure that the Cerberus threat is dealt with. This is unacceptable." Mads replied. Mads looked back at the body that Kaminski was prepping for evac back to the Normandy. "Sorry Admiral. You died a martyr, may you find your squad in heaven..." Mads whispered.

He called up the other fire team, and found that they had cleared the last bunker. They had killed a fair few Cerberus troops as well. Mads ordered them to be ready for pick up. They had pressing mattered to see to.

4 hours later.

Normandy.

"So… Wrex. Mind if I ask you a question?" Mads asked as he took a drag of his cigarette. It was rather quiet in the cargo bay of the Normandy at the moment. No one really uttered a word.

"Make it quick." Wrex said, short and to the point. He was still leaned up the support pillar of the cargo bay.

"What was the nail in the coffin for you? What made you decide that the Krogan were no longer savable?" Mads then asked, still smoking his cigarette.

"Jarrod… A warlord named Jarrod did." Wrex replied.

"And how did he manage to make you feel that way?" Mads went on.

"Jarrod's ideas were as old as he was. He was a mighty Krogan warlord who had held his own in both the Rachni wars and the Rebellion. He had amassed a mass following of fanatical idiots who followed his ideals." Wrex explained.

"And what were those ideas?" Mads asked.

"That the Krogan should keep fighting. Should keep rebelling against the council. He wanted to fight another war." Wrex answered.

"And what did you want?" Mads asked curiously.

"I wanted us to focus on breeding… At least for one generation. We were following apart fast, as we still are. But, we couldn't find common ground, so he invited me to a crush. A meeting on holy ground." Wrex said.

"Wild shot in the dark here, but let me guess: It was a trap?" That was what made sense at least. Very few people would ever find common ground when their ideals were so far apart.

"Of course, but when your father invites you to a crush, you have to come." Wrex remarked.

"Your father? Jesus fucking Christ… Sorry to hear that…. So, your own goddamn father turned on you?" Mads said, trying to be sympathetic.

"Not right away of course. But as soon as he could see that I wouldn't come around to his way of thinking, he gave the order… His men leapt from the graves of our ancestors and began killing everyone." Wrex explained.

"Expect for you I see." Mads remarked.

"Yes. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe it was skill. No matter what saw me out of that graveyard, I didn't leave until I planted my dagger in my father's chest… But, I do owe him something, he did open my eyes for the first time" Wrex replied.

"How so?" Mads asked.

"I realized our species was doomed. No Krogan is willing to do anything about it, and I didn't want to waste my time with idiots anymore." Wrex proclaimed.

"I think it's a rather sad thing." Mads remarked.

"What do you mean?" Wrex asked.

"Giving up on your species. I mean… Humans are scumbags, right? I'm sure that you have met your share of dumb, smart, evil or good humans. Yet, despite my species being hopeless in some sense, I still have faith in them." Mads philosophized, though it was rather cheesy.

"Maybe, but you have to understand that-"

"That your case is something else. Yes, I get that. But I still think every race has something good to offer." Mads interrupted Wrex. "But that's for another time… I was wondering… Do you have anything to remember your family by?" Mads asked. Wrex cocked his head when he looked confused at Mads. "I mean, an heirloom or something like that? I would still keep one, even if I hated my father." Mads added.

"I did. My ancestor's armor. Something I promised my grandparents to keep safe…" Wrex answered, surprisingly remorseful… or Thoughtful. Krogan are hard to read some times… scratch that, they are always hard to read.

"You did?" Mads asked curiously.

"A Turian weapons collector took it some time ago." Wrex informed.

"You know where this weapon collector is?" Mads then asked.

"I have the location of his main warehouse, but… I can't ask you to do this, Romanov." Wrex said.

"You won't have to. Just give the coordinates to Joker." Mads offered.

"I-… Thank you. But one thing: I want to be there when we get it back." He sincerely said.

"No worries Wrex. We are comrades, you and I. Whether or not you like it. It would be weird to reclaim it without you." Mads replied. Wrex nodded. Mads gave him a small nod in return and went on. He walked over to the weapons table and saw Ashley hard at work cleaning the weapons there. Curiously, Mads approached her.

"Hard at work as always." Mads remarked as he leaned against the table.

"You know me skipper. I fall apart without work." Ashley replied as she kept cleaning her assault rifle.

"That's an interesting choice of words, Gunnery chief." Mads said. Ashley stopped her work and looked at him.

"What? That I would fall apart without work?" She asked.

"Nope, that I know you… You see, I was curious as to why you were only gunnery chief. You are cleared skilled enough to be a lieutenant, at the very least… So, I did a little background check." Mads explained.

"Oh God… Here we go..." Ashley sighed. This wasn't the first time she had this conversation with a superior officer.

"Assigned to over a dozen colonies. Remarkable and spotless record. Regarded as good at taking initiative, and having good leadership capabilities… Yet you never made it past Gunnery chief. Williams is a common last name, and yet… The same happened to your father? Where did this trend start?" Mads was asking a question he already knew the answer to.

"My grandfather was-"

"Was General Williams, the man who surrendered the garrison at Shanxi. I know. A man who is universally looked down upon by the human race." Mads finished for her.

"Yes… That's-… That's correct. But I promise you that I'm just a good a soldier as anyone on this vessel." Ashley assured Mads.

"I believe you, and contrary to popular belief, I believe General Williams made the correct choice on Shanxi. One shouldn't hold his ground when it's doomed to fail. He was dealing with an unknown threat. Same story with Stalingard." Mads remarked.

"I-.. Thank you Commander." Ashley said.

"It's no worry. Once we are done with Saren, I'll look into promoting you, and lifting whatever curse has befalling your family." Mads reassured her.

"Thank you Commander, it means a lot." Ashley sincerely replied. Mads gave her a nod and went off. He thought it was shameful that the Alliance could hold a grudge across several generations. Kids should not be burden with their parents' sins… If they even were sins.

No matter. Mads approached Garrus on the other side of the room. He was busy fixing the MAKO, in fact, he had found the roller, so he could fix the underside… Well, fix or improve. Still, only Garrus' lower half was visible, so Mads had a bright idea. Just as he was in range, and sure that Garrus hadn't noticed him yet, he went in for the kill.

He kicked the side of the roller. Garrus, who had quite the scare, banged his head straight up against the underside of the MAKO. A large "Owwww" Was heard from underneath the MAKO, and Mads bursted into laughter, so much so that everyone else in the Cargo bay stopped to look at them. Garrus shamefully rolled out from underneath the MAKO.

"You smug son of a bitch!" Garrus yelled.

"Ahh, come on Garrus! It was too tempting!" Mads laughed.

"You best believe I'll get you for this." Garrus promised.

"Oh, I know. I'll be looking forward to it!" Mads cheekily replied.

"So, what did you want?" Garrus asked as he rubbed his sore forehead.

"Not much, just wanted to see how things are." Mads said.

"Well, they were good until you came along. I was installing a new suspension on the MAKO." Garrus replied.

"Well, that's probably going to be useful in the future." Mads remarked.

"Sure will." Garrus agreed.

"So, do you have any good C-sec stories to share? I'm kind of curious of what can happen on the citadel." Mads asked.

"A lot of stuff happened on the citadel. It's a big hub of people. Why are you so interested?" Garrus asked.

"Well, like most boys I once dreamed of becoming a cop. Along many other things. So I was wondering what kind of thing happens on the Citadel. Got anyone in particular in mind?" Mads asked back.

"Yeah… A Salarian doctor named Saleon. A man who deals in genetics. We got report that there was an influx of black market organs changing hands on the citadel. After many hours of investigating, we managed to find a Turian liver. We DNA traced it, and found the host to still be very much alive and kicking. And he was convinced he still had his liver. But, here is the kicker: He was previously employed under Dr. Saleon." Garrus explained.

"Genetics? You telling me that the fucker dealt in livers and such?" Mads asked.

"Yeah, and Krogan testicles." Garrus replied.

"Wait a minute… Krogan testicles?" Mads raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah, some Krogan think that a new set of testicles will cure them of the genophage… Doesn't work that way, but some are still willing to pay 10.000 Credits per testicle. That's 40.000 for a set." Garrus informed Mads.

"Jesus. I'm in the wrong business..." Mads remarked.

"Yeah, someone is making a killing out there." Garrus agreed.

"So, what did you do? About Saleon I mean." Mads asked intrigued.

"We raided his lab, and found that it was a horror show. And we got the scans from the Turian and found that his entire Organ region was a mess. Turns out that Dr. Saleon was growing organs in his own employees, and he was even being cheap about it. Only paid a small percentage of the price if the Organs were good. By the time we raided his lab, he was already out the door and on his ship. Ready to fly away." Garrus answered.

"Wait, you still caught him… Right?" Mads hated stories of criminal scumbags getting away and escaping their punishment.

"I ordered them to shoot down his ship, but he had hostages on board, so C-sec refuses. So what? They were going to die soon, and if not, they would be wishing they had died… It was the first time I really understood that C-sec was flawed. So, Dr. Saleon got to walk free." Garrus explained.

"Fuck me… So, is he still out there?" Mads asked.

"Yeah, he is. As far as I know at least." Garrus answered.

"So… Do you know where he is now?" Mads asked curiously.

"I put out some feelers now and then. Seems he changed his name to Dr. Heart… His idea of a joke I guess. He brought a ship labeled MSV Fedele… I'll try and look into the system if you want?" Garrus was really hoping that Mads would agree to tracking the doctor down and finishing him off.

"Do it. If you find any information, send it forward to Joker and Me. We'll get the fucker." Mads promised.

"Thank you Commander. I look forward to it." Garrus smiled. Mads patted Garrus on his shoulder.

"Me too… Me too."

5/5 2183

Nepheron

Mads sighed. "Okay, let's get this over with. Remember, we are doing this off the book. We are doing this for Admiral Kahoku. No mercy." Mads ordered. They all nodded, in understanding. They proceed to climb out of the MAKO. At their feet was the Cerberus base, in all it's disgusting glory. Several dead snipers were already on the ground, Garrus had done a wonderful job with taking them out with the MAKO cannon.

Tali and Riesman quickly cracked the door and they all descended into the labs that no doubt held horrors beyond belief. They were to shut this place down, and make sure it never came back. All underground bunkers seemed to look the same, or maybe they were just built after a certain standard. Though, it didn't matter. Soon there would be one less in the galaxy.

So, the second door opened to another dozen of Cerberus' finest. This time though, they were prepared for intruders. They had even taken the time to make some cover for themselves. They were ready to defend this lab tooth and nail. Mads barked some orders for the rest of his team as they began to exchange fire with the Cerberus troops.

The firefight lasted longer than what Mads had hoped. These were some tough sons-of-bitches. They didn't give up easy, and they were rather skilled in combat. Mads couldn't get the advantage. So, he had to use another tactic. He pulled out his flash grenade. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Mads yelled as he pulled out the pin and threw it over the cover. A few seconds passed and the entire room lit up in blinding light. Enough to confuse the Cerberus troops and give Mads the breakthrough he needed. Once he had gotten through their line, they stood little chance as Mads let out his rage on the troops.

They died one by one, and when the last one had kicked the bucket, it was on to whatever they stored here. Mads ordered them to check through the systems again, and giving a small lecture to Tali about what happened last time. After taking pictures of the dead terrorists, Mads joined them in their search.

In one of the rooms in the back, Mads discovered what appeared to be the main system. Mads cautiously pressed a few buttons, when an alarm suddenly rang out. The system was deleting it's data for protection. Mads acted quick and managed to save a little bit on his omni tool. It was no doubt encrypted, but it was valuable data none-the-less.

With that sorted, it was on to the next thing. "Kaminski, Riesman. Go get the Jerry cans in the Mako." Mads ordered.

"Yes sir." They both replied and went to get them. A minute or so later, they reappeared with the four Jerry cans. "I still don't know why we need them." Kaminski asked backhandedly.

"Best way to clean something is through fire. Ash is the cleanest thing in the universe." Mads said as he popped the lid of the first can and began to spray it around the first room.

"Should I point out the flaw in that statement?" Riesman sarcastically asked.

"You should shut it and help me spread this stuff." Mads ordered.

"Yes sir, sorry sir." Riesman quickly replied and began to spray the second can around. The others joined in and soon most of the bunker was covered in gasoline. The sickeningly weird but sweet smell of gasoline dominated the bunker now.

"Alright pals, get out of here." Mads ordered and they all did as asked in a hurry. Mads lit up a cigarette and took a few drags of it. "This is for you Admiral." Mads said as he took the last drag and threw the cigarette into the main room and quickly went out. The flames spread like wildfire, torching everything within the bunker. Soon, black smoke flew out of the bunker as the Cerberus research facility was destroyed in the flames of justice. A most beautiful sight to behold.

3 hours later.

Normandy.

The ride back had been uneventful, as had the small debriefing they had once they returned to the Normandy. Mads was currently seated at his desk, debating if he should write about a report about this incident. In the end, he decided that the alliance deserved to know. The data he held was still encrypted, but the eggheads back at the alliance would surely make short work of it.

As he was sitting there, suddenly a call came on his terminal. He looked confused at it. Who would contact him now? And on his terminal none-the-less? Intrigued, he clicked on it.

"Hello?" Mads asked cautiously.

"Greetings Commander Romanov! I represent a very interested party. We learned that you recently raided a lab that was operated by Cerberus. This was done with Admiral Kahoku's information, correct?" The man on the other line asked.

"Yes, and am I correct in assuming that you are representing the Shadow Broker?" Mads asked carefully.

"Yes, so I assume that you know about the deal he made?" The man asked back.

"I know that he brought the information from the Shadow Broker, yes." Mads replied.

"Admiral Kahoku promised he would deliver whatever information he found at the Cerberus base back to the Shadow Broker. His death is very… Unfortunate. But, we believe you to be a man of honor. If you would transfer a copy of the Data to us, we would happily pay you… Otherwise, the Shadow Broker will remember this incident the next time you decide to employ his services." The man explained.

Mads sighed. Of course Kahoku promised that. The Shadow Broker was a very powerful man… Or woman, or whatever it was. He'd rather not be in disagreement with the Shadow Broker. "Yes, I'll transfer it right away." Mads replied.

"Good, very good Commander. We'll remember your honor the next time we do business. Once again, we are terribly sorry about Kahoku's death." The man said.

"Some how I doubt that, but good day to you." Mads remarked as he hung up on the line and transferred a copy of the Data to the account that came with the call. The real copy would be given to the Alliance. Hopefully something good would come of it.