I don't own either the Mass Effect or Alien vs Predator franchise

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

USM Normandy

"Doctor."

"Commander."

Shepard walked into sickbay. "So, how is our new guest?"

Dr Chakwas shrugged. "Emotionally shaken, tired, somewhat dehydrated, but not too badly. She wasn't in that force-bubble long enough for that to become a problem. Stiff muscles, obviously, but nothing serious. Despite the apparent physical similarity, asari have a lot more flexibility in their joints and spines than we have, so being suspended like that was not as stressful as it would have been for a human. Frankly, I'm currently more concerned about you, Commander." She looked at Shepard. "What is this I hear about nightmares?"

"I see that Dr T'Soni has been carrying tales." Shepard shrugged. "It started after Eden Prime. I figured it was combat-induced. Not the first time I've had some bad dreams. According to T'Soni it might be related to that prothean beacon, but to be honest, who can tell?"

"She can, according to what she told me."

"By merging her brain with mine? I suppose we could give it a try, but to be honest, I'd as soon not have other people taking a stroll through my mind."

"Understandable." Chakwas nodded. "I can sympathize with your reluctance, Commander. But don't dismiss it too lightly. I'm sure I speak for everyone on board when I say I'd rather not have you going into combat sleep-deprived and distracted. And, to be frank, if it is related to the beacon, I'm not sure if there is anything I could do about this. I'm afraid that fixing prothean-device-induced-nightmares was not part of my training."

"I'll keep it in mind. Now, I'd like to speak to your patient. There are a couple of questions I need to ask her. Questions that I did not want to ask in front of everybody."

The doctor nodded. "She's awake and fit enough to answer questions. But, if you don't mind, I also have some other concerns, Commander."

"How so?"

Dr Chakwas shrugged. "To begin with, we now have a very diverse crew and they're engaged in high-risk operations. I've had basic xeno-medical training, but not to the point where I feel comfortable performing surgical procedures on non-human patients. And the autodoc isn't going to be much help either." She nodded to the multi-billion credit piece of equipment that occupied part of the sickbay. Arguably the most expensive single object on the ship other than the drive-core, it was a fully automated medical robot that could take in a patient, diagnose the problem and administer treatment, either in the form of medication or surgery. "It's not programmed for anything other than humans and, yes, I checked: There are experimental software packages that allow it to perform limited procedures on non-humans. The keywords being 'experimental' and 'limited'."

"I see." Shepard nodded. "And I guess, we should not inquire too much where they found the test subjects to experiment on in order to determine those limits. I understand your point, Doctor. Unfortunately, there isn't much I can tell other than: 'slap some medigel on it and hope for the best'. I'll make sure we have supplies of the species-specific versions of it but that is all I can do. I guess this is one very good argument against multi-species crews, under any circumstances. Anyway, you indicated you had more than one concern."

"Yes. I have to be blunt, Commander. What are your intentions regarding Dr T'Soni?"

"My intentions?" Shepard grinned. "I don't plan on marrying her if that's what you're asking."

"This is not funny, Commander." The Doctor turned away. "Every other non-human on board this ship came on board as an ally; in a way. Very well, they made their choices. But this is different. Whatever you may say, you have effectively taken her prisoner."

"True."

"So, I ask you again, what are your intentions?"

Shepard's face remained expressionless. "Both the General Assembly as well as the courts have ruled that the Geneva Conventions and its various additions apply to any sapient species. That's stated explicitly in our treaty with the Citadel Council."

"Indeed. Tell me, Commander. How does the population of Torfan feel about that?"

Shepard's eyes narrowed. "The slaves we found there? Or do you mean the slavers? The former seemed to be quite satisfied with the way we acted. As for the others, well, that's tough to say, considering the fleet bombarded Torfan until there was nothing left."

"After you informed them that they could do so, or so I've heard."

"Me? I was just a lowly lieutenant, Doctor. Lieutenants don't get to make decisions like that. Perhaps I told my superiors that we had recovered everyone of value. And perhaps someone misunderstood that to mean that there was nobody left on the surface. But that's not my responsibility. At least, that's what the board of inquiry found. Are you saying that you disagree with them?"

"I am saying that I'm a doctor." Chakwas stood up. "I'm not naive. Bad things happen in time of war. They always have, and they always will. And perhaps what you did on Torfan, whatever it really was, was necessary. I wasn't there, so I cannot judge. But I am here and, as a doctor, I am oath-bound to protect my patients; even the non-human ones. And I'm not such a hypocrite that I can pretend that 'Standing by and looking the other way' qualifies as 'Doing no harm'. Just so we understand each other."

"Oh, I think we understand each other just fine, Doctor." Shepard's expression relaxed slightly. "But don't worry. For the moment I mean Dr T'Soni no harm. At least, as long as she doesn't try to stab me in the back and I don't believe she intends to. Things may change when we catch up with her mother, but I suggest we cross that particular bridge when we reach it. Meanwhile, do you have any other concerns?"

"Other than my wide range of non-human patients and your nightmares, whatever their cause may be? No, Commander."

"Good. Then, if you don't mind, I've got an asari I need to talk to." She made to walk past the doctor, then turned around. "Just one thing, Dr Chakwas: You said bad things happen in time of war. I disagree. Bad things don't happen, they are done. And quite often they are done by people like me. Let's not pretend otherwise. You see, I'm not a hypocrite either."

-0-0-0-

Liara looked up as the door opened. The small room she had been given did at least contain a computer terminal so she had something to occupy herself with, but it was also fairly obvious that its access had been severely limited. In any case, a distraction, any distraction, was welcome.

"Dr T'Soni, I trust you have been made comfortable."

As Commander Shepard walked in, Liara felt another twitch of disappointment. Someone who had actually interacted with a prothean beacon, right there in front of her. Who knew what kind of information she had absorbed? And no way to find out. Intellectually she could understand that the Commander was not exactly eager to engage in a mind-meld with a stranger, but still-

Liara shook herself. This was not the time to indulge in day-dreams.

"Yes. Yes, of course, Commander. Dr Chakwas has been very helpful. I.. I was surprised at her level of knowledge. I didn't know that human medical training included xeno-medicine."

"The times are changing." Shepard shrugged. "Whether we like it or not, we're part of the galaxy. That comes with certain obligations. Anyway, if there is something you require, medically speaking, make sure to inform her right away. We'll be moving quickly and resupply may take some time."

"But-" Liara felt unsure how to continue

"But what?"

"But... Surely you don't plan for me to remain on board? I mean-

"You're not going anywhere." Shepard's voice was calm, but also utterly implacable. "This whole operation is being conducted in secret and partially to avoid spooking Saren, partially to avoid the public outrage that will undoubtedly happen when the general public finds out that a Council Spectre was behind the attack on Eden Prime. So, no matter what fraction get's their hands on you, they'll immediately isolate you. That means that I lose access to your expertise. Not going to happen."

"But... Won't your superiors insist that you hand me over to them once you return to human space?"

"I'm sure they would like to, but the other members of your expedition know that we picked you up. I sent them a message to that effect, so they know you're on board Normandy," Shepard shrugged. "I don't like politics, but that doesn't mean I cannot play the game if I have to."
She looked at Liara, who realized that her confusion must be written plainly on her face because she continued to explain: "If USM Intelligence got their hands on you, you'd disappear into some black-site and the only way to do that without the Council and the Asari Republics turning it into a propaganda circus would be if they'd claim that you died on Therum. Now they cannot do that. That leaves the Council themselves. I'm sure they would prefer it if I handed you over to them, but I don't answer to the Council. Besides, it works both ways. If I hand you over to the Council, they'll lock you away somewhere, while our own ambassador raises the hue and cry and screams about cover-ups. They're not going to risk that."

Shepard sat down. "Anyway, that is for later concern. Meanwhile, there is something I want to show you. Remember what I said about a biological agent that was deployed on Eden Prime? That was something of an understatement. Here take a look." The Commander held out a datapad, showing an image of- Liara gasped.

The image was not particularly good, almost certainly a still taking from a video recording. Still, it was clear enough to identify. A dark shape, vaguely humanoid with an elongated head that had no other features than teeth, and teeth and-

"Dr T'Soni."

Liara saw the change in the Commander's face, it was small, nothing overt, but that did not make it any less frightening.

"So, you do know about them. You have some explaining to do, Doctor T'Soni. Where did you see these creatures?"

Liara shook her head, trying to rid herself of the images that her memory had produced. It had taken years, -and quite a bit of alcohol- before the nightmares had gone away. She did not want to go through that again. Still, she obviously had to say something.

"Aboard one of your ships."

"You were aboard one of our ships?" Shepard's voice sounded flat, emotionless. "When?"

"It was years ago." Liara had wondered if the humans had identified her from that brief encounter, but clearly, that was not the case. "We found an empty ship in orbit around an uninhabited planet. We thought it was a First Contact. Later we found out that you had already encountered the turians near Relay 314. But we had not been notified. These... these things were on board. They'd killed the crew. When we boarded, they attacked us. We were trying to figure out what was happening when a human warship approached and-"

"Wait. That was during the war? You were there for the Calypso incident?"

"The Calypso- Yes, that was the name of the ship. Your people destroyed it, then the turians showed up and-"

"And the shooting started. Yeah, that seems to happen a lot when turians show up. I know the story. So you were there. Now, how's that for coincidence?" Shepard grimaced. "Well, that's another dead end. We thought we'd exterminated these creatures. Calypso was supposedly the last sighting. Seems like Saren and your mother found another batch. And they've figured out a way to get at least a semblance of control over them. It probably won't last, but for the moment it gives them a serious edge. Geth are one thing. I can just shoot them and then they're gone. But these, according to all reports, they're like a fungus. Once they settle somewhere, you cannot get rid of them. Right now, our people are considering a nuclear saturation bombardment of Eden Prime, just to make sure they're gone."

"Nuclear bombardment? On a garden world?"

"Yes. That should give you an indication of how seriously we're taking this." She stood up. "If you can think of anything else, let me know. We're on our way to rendezvous with a supply vessel. If we're lucky, they'll also supply us with new information, so I can plan our next move. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until either Saren or your mother reveal themselves."

-0-0-0-

48 hours later. Skyllian Verge

The ship that was waiting for Normandy as she came out of FTL looked like any other merchant ship: average in size, no real distinguishing features, nothing that attracted the attention. Even the airlock and the room behind it did nothing to dispell the image of the harmless, perfectly normal trade vessel. Unfortunately, the man waiting at the airlock spoiled the image of wide-eyed innocence. Rear-admirals in the United Systems Military did not normally serve as crew members on merchant ships, nor did they use civilian vessels for transportation unless the circumstances were exceptional.

Shepard jumped to attention.

"Commander Shepard, I presume?" The man returned her salute.

"Yes, sir."

"I am Admiral Mikhailovitch, commanding officer of the 63rd Scout flotilla. In case you were unaware, your ship is nominally assigned to my command, that is when you're not being detached to go on a galactic sight-seeing tour."

"Yes, sir." There didn't seem much else to say.

"Which makes me your commanding officer, even when you are on that sight-seeing tour."

"Yes, sir."

"Though that may not be much of a blessing, considering what happened to some of your previous commanders. Is that not so, Shepard? By the way, what did happen to Major Kyle?"

"I don't know, sir," Shepard answered in the same bland voice. "The last thing I heard was that he retired from the service."

"Ah, yes, retired from the service; before he'd served his full term, which means that he neither receives a pension nor has he gained the right to vote when the General Assembly gets elected. A curious decision, rather unwise wouldn't you agree?"

"Sir, I am not privy to Major Kyle's motivations and I, therefore, cannot comment on his decisions, concerning retirement or otherwise."

The admiral's eyes narrowed. "Very clever. But the fate of Major Kyle is irrelevant. What matters to me is that overpriced lab experiment that you call a ship. Tell me, Commander, do you have any idea just how expensive that thing is?" Shepard remained silent; the question seemed rhetorical. "Even if we ignore the development costs, just the production costs for this one frigate are the same as for a standard destroyer. Frankly, I'd prefer to have another destroyer. Or the half-dozen normal frigates that we could have built for the same cost, which would at least have the ability to be in more than one spot at a time."

"Yes, sir."

"But, since I'm stuck with the thing, I should be able to put it to some use. Now, I don't even have that option. So, to put it bluntly, Commander Shepard, I am not a happy man. And while you deal with the delivery that has been sent to you, I will be doing a full inspection of your ship. We will meet here when we're both done, which is when you will find out whether or not you're going to be as unhappy as I am."

-0-0-0-

"So, that's five new suits of armour and two exoskeletons."

"Check"

"Weapons and ammunition..." Shepard's eyes widened as they traced over the document. "Just how many galactic wars am I supposed to fight? You could supply the entire Shanxi militia with this stuff."

"Not my call, ma'am," The supply officer shrugged. "Someone wants to make sure you're not going to run out anytime soon."

"I guess I should be grateful. Though it might be a hint that the next supply run is going to be a while." She continued down the list. "Medical supplies and food look okay, even the dextro stuff. I think that's all." She signed the cargo manifest. "That leaves the intelligence update."

"Ah, yes." The officer looked almost furtive.

"What?"

"Well, other than Admiral Mikhailovitch, we have some other passengers on board as well. They're waiting for you in the conference room."

"And these other guests are..."

"I don't know, Commander. And frankly, I didn't ask. They're that kind of guests."

-0-0-0-

Two people were waiting for her. A man, whom she did not recognize, and a dark-haired woman in a tight-fitting suit who looked quite familiar.

"Commander Shepard. So good to see you again."

"Lieutenant Shepard, a word if you please?" Shepard's mind flew back in time. That had been five years ago, on Arcturus HQ as they planned the Torfan raid. Five years and the woman had not changed one bit. The same dark hair, the same spectacular figure, and the same taste in tight-fitting clothes.

"Yes?"

"My name is Lawson. I work in intelligence. I was hoping that we could speak for a moment. We have some concerns."

"We?"

"Myself, and the people I work for. You see, there are several reasons for the proposed operation, beyond simply the liberation of the slaves. And we are very much afraid that the mission will fail in those respects unless the current plans are adjusted."

Even after five years, Shepard could remember the alarm bells going off in her head.

"Why come to me? Admiral Lindholm is in command of the operation."

"Yes, of course. But it isn't the overall planning of the mission that concerns us. That seems to be very well under control. We are more worried about the implementation, in particular as concerns the ground offensive."

"Then you should be talking to Major Kyle. He will command the ground forces during the assault."

"But you see, it is Major Kyle that concerns us, Lieutenant. In particular, the reason he was selected for this mission, rather than a more... experienced officer."

"Once again," Shepard remembered saying. "Why come to me?"

"Because we believe that you will be in a position to ensure the success of the mission, insofar as that can be assured." Lawson smiled briefly. "Please, Lieutenant, this will only take a moment." She gestured to an open door and the small conference room behind it. Whether it was because of genuine concern, or just plain curiosity, Shepard stepped inside.

Shepard kept her face carefully expressionless. "Ms Lawson. It's been a while." Her gaze moved to the man standing in a corner of the room. He was tall, blond-haired and appeared very well-groomed. There also seemed to be something off about him, though it was tough to determine exactly what it was. Something about his bland expression simply didn't seem quite right. "Who's your friend?"

"My name is David, Commander Shepard." The voice matched the man, well-modulated, but somehow... lacking.

"David...?"

"David is here to observe, Commander," Lawson said. "You and I can speak freely in front of him."

"Is that so? But then again, if memory serves me right, you never really say anything. You're better at implying things."

Lawson looked at her. "Perhaps, and yet I believe you found those implications useful at the time. At least, your actions would imply that you did."

Shepard snorted. "Not half as useful as you found my actions. But enough about the past. What is it you're after? You wouldn't be here if you didn't want something."

"What we have always wanted, Commander. To be of service. To you, of course, but mostly to the United Systems in general."

'Right. And, eh, what can you do? For me, and for the United Systems in general."

Lawson ignored the mockery. "We can provide information, Commander. For one thing, we think we have found at least one link that explains how Saren and Benezia got on the trail of the xenomorphs, the point where they became aware of its existence"

That got Shepard's attention. "I would have thought that was the Calypso. For one thing, the Council must have received a report on what happened and Saren would have access to that. Besides, Benezia's offspring was there. "

"Yes, we know. When we realised Benezia was involved, we checked the daughter as well. We checked her appearance against asari that we encountered over the years and found a match with the camera footage taken from the marines helmet cams. But there was another potential point of contact."

"I'm listening."

"Before the war, there was an Exogeni laboratory on Shanxi. A lab that kept some, eh, shall we say souvenirs from the whole xenomorph business. Guess who was involved with the turian attack on the Exogeni compound?"

"Saren?"

"Exactly. We cannot prove he actually saw it, but we know that he did go inside the compound. And he came out minus an arm."

"Interesting. Inconclusive, but the coincidences keep piling up. I assume you are sure about this?

"As sure as we were about Major Kyle, Commander."

Shepard twitched slightly. "Right, Major Kyle."

"In any case, I have a full report here for you. Eh, we would appreciate if you were discrete with the data., especially considering your new, eh, crew members."

"Of course." Shepard took the data chip. "Anything that requires my immediate presence?"

"Actually, yes." Lawson nodded. "There has been an emergency call from Feros, in the Theseus system. It's out in the Attican Beta. Exogeni has a small settlement there, mostly for reclaiming prothean artefacts."

"Prothean artefacts again."

"It's the main game in Citadel Space and humanity cannot afford to be left behind. Anyway, they claim to be under some sort of attack. The transmission was not very clear, but there was some indication of them being attacked by robots."

"Geth."

"That's what we suspect."

"I see. I guess that means I'm on my way to the Attican Beta." Shepard checked the time. "Well, I suspect the good admiral is done with his inspection by now, so I should be heading back. It's eh, been a pleasure, Ms Lawson." she turned toward the man in the corner, who had not moved during the conversation. "David."

"Commander Shepard."

As she walked out of the room, Shepard considered again. There was something about David that didn't add up. Something subtle, that was just missing.

-0-0-0-

Admiral Mikhailovitch did not look any more pleased than before his inspection.

"So, Commander. Would you care to explain?"

"Explain, sir?"

"To start with, I would like to know why a USM warship seems to have more aliens than humans among its crew. A turian and an asari, no salarians I note. A pity, I suppose. You could have scored a Citadel Council trifecta. But you've compensated: with a krogan and a quarian you score nicely on the Council-outcast-list. So, why would you, of all people, allow such a situation aboard your ship?"

"Shepard shrugged. The question was hardly unexpected. "I need to be able to move in Citadel Space, sir. That requires some adjustments. Besides, they have their uses."

"As what, target practice?" I did not sound as though the admiral was joking, still, the opportunity was too good to waste.

"No, sir. That's what batarians are for, but I've run out."

Mikhailovitch snorted. "Ah, yes, I guess you used up your supply on Torfan. Very amusing, Commander. But that doesn't change the fact that you have a massive security problem. I did read up on your crew manifest on the way here, you understand. You have a krogan who works for the Shadowbroker, a turian who works for either the Hierarchy, the Council, or both, and an asari who may be working directly for the enemy for all we know. And as for the quarian, she may well be the greatest security risk of all. What do you think would happen if the Migrant Fleet gets its collective paws, or whatever, on Normandy's design? Bucket heads in stealth ships?"

"With all due respect, Admiral, if they could afford to build ships as expensive as Normandy, there would be no Migrant Fleet. They'd have settled a planet long ago and told the turians to take a hike. You said it yourself. For the price of Normandy, you can build a destroyer."

"Perhaps." Mikhailovitch was silent for a moment. "But the security issue remains. Also the question as to why you, of all people, would accept a crew like this."

Shepard brows rose slightly. "Sir, rumours of my genocidal tendencies have been greatly exaggerated."

"Is that so?"

"Sir, I try to be practical about these things. Right now, I need these people. Without Vakarian I cannot enter Citadel Space and without Zorah I have no intelligence on the geth. Unless there is some expertise on that subject hidden in Naval Intelligence...?"

"Unfortunately not," Mikhailovitch looked sour -more sour even than what seemed to be his resting face. "It was considered a low priority. In any case, there was almost no way to gather intelligence, short of sending a ship into geth space. That was one of the few things Normandy would actually have been useful for."

"That's what I thought, sir. So, I'm stuck with those two. As for the others, the krogan does work for the Shadowbroker, but only on a pay-per-kill basis. I don't get the impression that there is any personal loyalty there. Besides, he is very useful in a fight and he can go places where I cannot, at least not without attracting attention. And T'Soni, well, I need a prothean expert anyway, considering how much time our friend Saren seems to be spending on that subject. And having Benezia's daughter within reach might yet prove to be useful. So, as I said, they have their uses. If I stop needing them, then their presence aboard Normandy will need to be re-evaluated."

"I see," Mikhailovitch nodded. "You seem to have prepared your arguments well, Commander. I suppose that is something. Setting aside the issue of your, eh, motley crew, we need to discuss the ship itself. I was not joking when I said you could build a cruiser for the same price. If we include the development costs, you could build a carrier and have pocket change left for a fighter wing. And what do we get for all that money? A glorified patrol boat! She doesn't have the firepower to be a ship killer, and she doesn't have the volume to deploy a full Marine platoon. So, Commander, in your professional opinion, exactly what am I supposed to do with this ship, assuming I ever get control over her?"

Shepard though for a moment. For all his unpleasantness, Mikhailovitch did have a point. "I suppose, sir, that Normandy's a bit like a ship-sized version of the Mako APC. She can get a small strike team into position and support it when needed. Whether that is worth the investment is not up to me."

"And if it were up to you, Commander? As an experienced officer, you should be able to come to some judgement."

"If it were up to me, sir, I would see her as a prototype, a technology demonstrator. Then take it from there. Perhaps the design can be scaled up to make a more effective multi-purpose frigate. Or if that's not an option, we might be able to produce two different versions, a dedicated planetary assault-transport and a dedicated anti-ship vessel. Meanwhile, it serves its purpose for our current task. The technology works and I can see any nuùber of practical applications. And, of course, it served its other purpose as well."

"Its other purpose?" Mikhailovich nodded. 'You know about that, then."

Shepard smiled briefly. "Yes, sir. I got the briefing before we deployed to Eden Prime. The irony is quite amusing. A stealth ship serving as a distraction."

"And you believe it worked, Shepard?" The Admiral's gaze was very intense.

"Yes sir, I do. I had a nice talk with Nihlus Kryik, the Spectre, before he died. He was rather condescending, telling me how Normandy's design concept was obvious and old news, and how he didn't need to spy on us, because he'd already figured out what we were up to."

"And no hint about anything else? Good. It's no guarantee, but I doubt he would have sounded very triumphant if he suspected the truth." The admiral turned toward the window, staring out into the depth of space.
"I was there, you know? When Second Fleet came out of light speed and we got our first look at the Destiny Ascension. I was on Admiral Drescher's staff, aboard the old Yamato. Talk about getting thrown a curve-ball. We'd seen at Shanxi how tough it could be to keep Turian dreadnoughts from closing with our carriers and how much damage they could inflict when they got in range. And those things are tiny compared to the Destiny Ascension; half the length and only a fraction of the internal volume." Mikhailovich shook his head. "It wasn't discussed at the time, but sometimes I wonder how much seeing that thing influenced Admiral Drescher's decision to talk to them, and to agree to a cease-fire. If even one such ship ever came near a human planet, there would have been no way to stop it. Fighter strikes just cannot inflict damage quickly enough. Of course, there is only one of them, but we didn't know that at the time. For all we knew, the xenos had a fleet of those things ready to go."

He turned back toward Shepard.

"The answer was obvious, of course. But we had to keep it secret, or they'd have come up with a counter and we'd have been stuck in an arms race where they had a head start. So, we decided to hide the whole thing. Trust me on this, Commander: You have no idea how many other projects we used to hide the funding. And even then, there were doubts. Give the xenos credit where it's due: They are damn good at intelligence analysis. Sooner or later they would have gotten wind of a secret naval project. And they would have started looking, and eventually, they would have found out."

"And so you gave them what they were looking for: a secret naval project. And from that moment, all the aliens saw was the Normandy project." Shepard nodded.

"Exactly. It explained the extra funding that was unaccounted for, the diversion of personnel, everything. And, I suppose in its own way it even yielded a useful result. But the real project, the real surprise..." Admiral Mikhailovitch's face twisted into something that he probably thought was a smile. "Well, that turian fleet watching Eden Prime is about to get an eyeful real soon. And then, Commander, we may have a little conversation with them as to who goes where with how many ships in this galaxy."

-0-0-0-

Unknown location

"Contact has been made. We've selected the planet."

"This Haliat agrees?"

"Haliat wants revenge. This is likely to be his only chance."

"And the timing?"

"Saren has moved on Feros, to communicate with the old growth. The humans have learned that something has happened there, so Shepard will follow. When she reaches Feros, we will contact Haliat and he will activate the probe. If Shepard survives Feros, she will be sent to investigate the signal and Haliat will strike."

"Haliat will fail." The third hunter spoke curtly. "Haliat's a thug. Shepard is a killer. The battle can only end one way."

"That battle will begin and end with a nuclear explosion," The first speaker snarled.

"So you say. You put too much trust in criminals. When Haliat fails, we will have to interfere ourselves. Where will Shepard move after Feros?"

For a moment, there was silence.

"There are two possibilities. Human intelligence operatives are tracing Saren and Benezzia's financial transactions. Eventually, they will succeed. That would lead her to Noveria."

"And the other?"

"The salarians have started their own investigation. The STG agents will talk to each other and correlate data. That means that sooner or later, they will discover the installation on Virmire and the connection with Saren. They may contact the humans."

"No!" This time the hunter seemed truly agitated. "That cannot be allowed. The humans must not discover the laboratory."

"You panic too quickly. STG does not share data with outsiders until they are forced to, so they'll start by sending in their own special forces. When that proves insufficient, they will contact the turians, who will react in typical turian fashion. They will send in troops, who will also fail. Then they will want to bombard the site from orbit, but the salarians will object, which will freeze everything in place. At that point, the salarians may contact the humans and ask for help, but such a request will have to go through the Council. That gives us time."

"Make sure it does. If necessary, plant information for the humans to find. Send them to Noveria. I have a hunting party standing by. They will be ready to deal with Shepard there."

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

A/N: A completely different encounter with Mikhailovich. In the game, he was a bit too much of a cliche to my taste. Plus, as obnoxious as he is in the game, he makes some valid points. The design of Normandy definitely leaves some room for improvement, (as shown by the fact that Cerberus made a much-improved version) and it is a huge investment in a ship that is inherently limited. So, I changed things. And, yes, if you go back to my story Someone had blundered, he had a small cameo during the First Contact War, and, yes, I did have this encounter in mind when I put him there. It took a few years, but my planning paid off!

The medical issue. This is one of those things that always pissed me off when watching Star Trek. One doctor, who is qualified to work on dozens of different species? Considering that it takes a decade to qualify in just one speciality of human medicine, how does anyone imagine that this is possible? The autodoc from Prometheus could be a game-changer in this regard, but keep in mind that in Prometheus it is stated that it cost a fortune and that one could only work on male humans! As for Chakwas, I wrote her a bit different from the game, but let's be honest, Shepard has already shown she's willing to torture prisoners for information and/or have them executed. If I were a physician serving aboard her ship, I'd have concerns.

And then there is Miranda. My universe is very different from canon, and with human space largely closed to aliens, there is no incentive for Cerberus to exist, at least not as a terrorist organisation. Yet, TIM was part of military intelligence in my version of the First Contact War and he'd still need someone to oversee operations.