9/5 2183

SSV Normandy.

Sleep was hard to come by these days. In fact, it had been hard to come by for the last 9 years. Every time he went to bed, he would see their faces. Staring back at him with a judgmental look. Those dreams always paved the way for questions; Like why did he survive? Why is he here? What could he have done differently?

Yet he was never able to answer those questions. Instead, they would linger in the back of his mind. Forever haunting him, like the voices he heard. He had come to accept his fate. He really wished he could go back, but there was no way it would ever happen. So, he would live with these things. They can't touch him… They are long dead.

So, he tried to live his life. He tried to ignore them. But it would prove real difficult. It was only when he was fighting, or working, that those voices could be held at bay. When his mind was too preoccupied. So, that was what he intended to do.

He began to look up the C-sec files on this Doctor that Garrus had been talking about. He figured he could do this as a favor to Garrus, and also because he hated when villains got away with their crimes. They deserve to pay. But at the very least, Mads got see that Garrus hadn't lied about anything. The Doctor really had done all the bad things, there were even pictures to go along with boring texts. Garrus was mentioned as being a bit too hot headed in the report. It painted a less than flattering picture of Garrus.

Mads disagreed with them. Doing the right thing couldn't always be done through the legal channels. Garrus had told him that he had found the location of the ship, and Joker was currently flying them there. Mads knew what needed to happen. He knew that Doctor Saleon would not leave his ship alive.

"I still don't get it. Disarming a nuclear bomb is not part of the N7 Program, is it?" Kaminski asked as he moved a piece on the chessboard.

"I don't know the N7 Program well enough to comment on that." Riesman replied as he moved one of his pieces on the board.

"I don't buy it… Something is amiss." Kaminski remarked as he thought about his next move. Riesman had beaten me the last 8 times they had played chess. Yet somehow, he wasn't getting better. It irritated him beyond belief.

"Why is it exactly you are working yourself up over the fact that the Commander knew how to disarm a Nuke? He saved us. I – For one – Enjoy living quite a lot." Riesman asked.

"It's the fact that something isn't right. And it is adding up. Everything about Romanov… It's just-… It's strange, that's all. Not that I don't like him – I Do – He has saved my life more than once now. But-…. Well, I don't know." Kaminski answered as he finally moved his chess piece. Riesman moved his one tile, and looked up at Kaminski.

"Checkmate." He said with a slight smile. "I know what you mean about the Commander. I think everyone on this vessel thinks he is just a bit strange. But, his Command has earned him that right. Maybe it's best to let bygones be bygones." Riesman explained.

"Well, maybe you are right." Kaminski replied as he thought about how Riesman had just beaten him for the ninth time. "Someday you will have to properly teach me how the fuck you do it." Kaminski requested.

"You can only get better by playing against a smarter opponent. That's the first rule of any game." Riesman advised as he collected all the pieces to put them back in the box. Before Kaminksi could reply with a witty comment, Garrus walked in to the mess hall.

"Hey Bird man! When will you propose to the Mako?" Kaminski jokingly asked.

"As soon as you and Riesman get over your differences and see that you are perfect for each other." Garrus fired back. Kaminski laughed.

"So, what are you up to? Besides fingering the Mako, of course." Kaminski asked.

"Well, The Commander promised me to help with a project I have going on." Garrus replied.

"Oh yeah? What project?" Kaminski asked. He was genuinely curious.

"Tracking down and killing a Salarian doctor by the name of Saleon." Garrus answered as he brewed his Turian coffee. Kaminski had heard about that prank, and he was damn proud of Garrus for being able to pull it off.

"Why do you want this Saleon dead?" Kaminski asked.

"He killed a lot of people, and he harvested their organs. C-sec was too soft. They let him go. I want to make things right." Garrus explained.

"I see. Well, good luck with that." Kaminski said. Garrus nodded as a gesture for thank you. "But, I want to ask you something: Do you find the Commander to be a bit… odd?" Kaminski asked.

"Well yeah. I think everyone does. But he gets the job done." Garrus answered as he took a sip of his coffee and realized it was still to hot to be consumed.

"I mean, he seems like someone who just doesn't belong in this era. Like he should have been born 100 years ago or so." Kaminski remarked.

"I don't know humans well enough to remark on that. But I would agree, Romanov seems out of place. But that doesn't mean I won't follow him. He is a damn good leader." Garrus said.

"I know and I will follow him everywhere too. But I just can't stop thinking about it." Kaminski confessed.

"Yeah, well… I'd say that-" Before Garrus could finish his remark, Mads came out of his quarters.

"Joker just told me he has the ship in his sights. We'll board it as soon as we are ready. Let's go." Mads said. Garrus threw his coffee out in the sink and followed Mads. He was excited at the prospect of making it right.

"You guys need one more?" Kaminski asked as he arose from his seat.

"Nah. We'll get Wrex with us, three should be enough. Besides, you need to stay here and practice your chess." Mads wittingly replied.

"So it seems." Kaminski remarked with a slight chuckle as he sat back down. "You up for another round?" Kaminski asked Riesman.

"Sure." Riesman replied as he began to place the pieces on the board once again.

"We need to get one thing straight." Mads said as they all entered the airlock and awaited the decontamination to begin. "When we find this doctor, we kill him. I don't want to risk him getting loose again." Mads ordered.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. This feels right." Garrus replied. Mads looked over at Wrex to see if he agreed.

"I don't care either way." Wrex answered in his usual cold voice. Mads was satisfied with their response. He couldn't stand having someone as sick as Dr. Saleon on his ship. He'd rather they brought a body on board. It was easier that way. As Mads checked his weapons for the last time, Joker's voice came over the comms.

"Scans show that the ship is without power, and it looks abandoned. So, there is no telling what is inside. So… Be careful, alright?" Joker advised.

"Joker… I didn't know you cared." Mads jokingly replied.

"Well, my CV would look pretty bad if my CO was killed because of my instructions." Joker fired back.

"Sure." Mads laughed. "We'll sweep the vessel and be back in a jiffy. Sit tight." Mads ordered.

"Aye aye." Joker replied and closed the comm link. The decontamination finished and the door opened to the new vessel. Mads took point, with Wrex and Garrus following close behind. The ship did indeed look abandoned. Aside from that, there was a foul smell that haunted the halls.

"Eyes open. Watch your six and stay in formation." Mads ordered as he opened a new set of doors. The others grunted in affirmation. As soon as Mads took the first step into the great unknown, something underneath his boot made a real ugly and nasty squishy sound. When Mads looked down, something that appeared to be flesh covered in blue blood was sticking to his boot.

"For Christ sake." Mads muttered as he holstered his rifle over his shoulder and tried to get it off with his knife. "What the fuck is this?" Mads asked.

"That, my friend, is a Turian liver. Looks relatively fresh too." Garrus replied.

"I suppose that means we are on the right track then." Mads remarked. Garrus nodded and gestured for them to continue on. As soon as the liver had been removed from his boot, Mads continued along with them. "I'll kill that fucking doctor." Mads muttered to himself.

They navigated through the cargo area, which seemed to be full of crates. Whatever was in them, Mads wasn't sure. Perhaps it was better to not know. Wrex went forward and opened the next set of doors, which led to something entirely different.

Monsters lurked on the other side. They looked a lot like the Thorian creepers they had defeated about a week or so prior. Wrex killed the one standing in his way, naturally by blowing it's head off with his shotgun of course. "This just got more fun." Wrex laughed as he began to blow his way through the horde of monsters coming at him.

Garrus and Mads helped where they could, but Wrex did most of the work. Mads wondered what those things were. His best guess was that they were failed test subjects. Probably some sort of cloning experiment to create an endless supply of organs. Only God knows what were inside those crates…

They continued forward. It was clear that something had gone wrong. Dr. Saleon had created monsters, and now he was trapped and was hoping some patrol would stumble upon his ship and save him. Only this patrol wasn't interested in saving him. There were here was an entire different reason entirely. Mads noticed how Garrus seemed. Turians were usually really hard to read, but Garrus' body language told Mads all the details he needed to know. The way he seemed so focus, the way he clutched his rifle in his hands. It was clear that Garrus wanted nothing more than to give the doctor a little taste of his own medicine.

As the fighting died down in the main cargo area, they decided to go and give the good doctor a nice visit. He had to be around there somewhere. They carefully checked each room, and made sure they always kept their eyes on their six. There was no telling if some mutated creeper would jump at them around the next corner.

Finally, they opened a door that, at first, revealed an empty room. But as they took a few steps inside, they realized they weren't alone in here. "Dr. Heart?" Mads asked out. It was probably best to get the doctor into his sights before they revealed that they knew who he really was. It didn't take more than a few seconds before a Salarian appeared from behind one of the crates.

"Oh thank the heavens! Someone finally came!" The layer of falseness in the Salarian's voice was hard to not notice.

"Is that him?" Mads turned to Garrus and asked.

"It is. No doubt about it" Garrus replied and turned his attention to Dr. Saleon. "You're a dead man, Dr. Saleon! I'll gut you!" Garrus promised. It wasn't a threat, Mads knew Garrus well enough to know when he made a promise.

"Never! I will never turn myself in!" Doctor Saleon proclaimed as he took his pistol and fired several shots at them. They all hurried out of the room to take cover behind the door frame. Luckily, the doctor wasn't a very good marksman. He hadn't hit anything notable other than the ceiling. Garrus was ready to rush back in, but Mads gestured for Garrus to stay put for now.

"Dr. Saleon! I'm gonna give you a deal! If you toss your weapons towards us right now, I promise you we won't harm you!" Mads offered. He saw the look on Garrus' face. It was a face of confusion. Probably because of what Mads had said earlier. Mads took a step towards the frame of the door, and quickly took cover again as the good doctor fired off a few more rounds. Mads returned fire with his magnum. He hit the doctor, but he wasn't sure if the shot was lethal or not. But, the yelp and grunt that was heard afterwards confirmed he was wounded at least.

Mads sighed. He knew that the Doctor would have done something like this. "Stay put." Mads ordered as he took a smoke grenade off his chest plate and unplugged the pin. Mads tossed it inside, right to where Dr. Saleon was hiding. Garrus once again looked over at Mads with that confused look of his, but this time it was more a look of anticipation. What was going to happen next?

Mads could hear Saleon coughing from the other side of the room. He didn't dare to go out in the open yet though. Mads knew they could storm the room and take Saleon with little to no issues, but he wanted to do it this way. Finally, after a good minute or two, the doctor's voice was heard.

"I'm surrendering… Taking your deal!" The Doctor's voice was meek, and it was clear that he was in pain.

"Alright. Toss your weapons over to the door and come out with your hands up." Mads ordered. He heard the sound of the weapon being thrown towards them, and Mads then got out of cover to face the doctor. Mads had shot the doctor's fingers off. It had been a nice shot.

"Please… I need medical atte-" Before the Doctor could utter any more words, Mads shot him three times. Two times in the chest and one time in the head. The Doctor died quickly, which was more of a mercy than what he gave his victims.

"Spirits!" Garrus exclaimed as he too came out of cover. Mads went over to check if the Doctor was truly dead. He was. "I mean… I wanted him dead, but-… Well, I'm not sure I would have done it that way." Garrus remarked.

"You wanted to gut him." Mads pointed out as he holstered his Magnum. "I think this is more ethical." Mads theorized.

"Well, either way; I'm glad we did this. It feels good to actually set something right." Garrus thanked him.

"No worries. The Galaxy is a little bit safer now, without this piece of shit cutting up people." Mads replied. "Let's get back to our ship, eh?" Mads suggested.

"Yeah. I've had enough of this ship." Garrus answered. "You coming Wrex?" Garrus asked.

"Sure." Wrex replied. Garrus took some data as evidence. Just in case that C-Sec ever needed it. It was better to have some confirmation rather than thinking if you killed an innocent man. But, after Garrus was done, they were quick out of there, and they were quick in getting the Normandy out of the system.

Killing Dr. Saleon was not a thing he regretted. He wouldn't even linger on it. Instead, he would settle down in front of his terminal and watch a good movie… Perhaps a good old gangster film? They were usually good.

He fell asleep in his chair that evening. A bottle of Vodka in one hand, and a gun in the other.