Again, I do not own Mass Effect. I made up Leah and the Irlan. This takes place after several missions after Shepard takes Command of the Normandy.
...w...
Commander Shepard looked around his cabin. There were so many things depending on him… He was the first Human Spectre and Commander of the ship he has been serving on. Also, under the command of his favorite Captain, a man whose retirement he unknowingly forced. Shepard kicked his chair into the desk still angry about that. He felt as though he betrayed Anderson. He walked to his bed and sat on the edge, staring at the floor.
So much has happened in just a short few weeks and he hadn't taken a few minutes to digest it. He's got a new crew members Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah, and Urdnot Wrex. 3 Aliens. He never had anything against Aliens but had never worked this closely with them before either. He sensed immediately that he and Garrus were going to be quick friends because they thought a lot alike and it was rare for him to make that connection this quickly with someone.
After being given the Cipher, he hasn't been able to sleep. Flashes of memories that are not his kept him awake or would wake him from a dead sleep. Now they were on the way to Feros to get Liara T'Soni. Maybe she'd be able to assist them in finding Saren. And he was hoping her assistance was still available although Shepard had to kill her mother was she just as corrupt as Benezia? And the Rachni… Shepard's head pounded again.
"Shepard." Joker's voice filled his quiet quarters.
"Yes?"
"We made it to Feros."
"On my way…"
Getting Doctor T'Soni out of the Prothean dig site was a lot tougher than they expected. Then again, they were not expecting Saren to have sent Krogan and Geth to retrieve her. After a fight, they all made it safely out of the dig site before it collapsed. Garrus and Kaiden were laughing at how close that was and were making fun of each other.
"Let's not do that again." Kaiden half hacked and laughed.
"What's the matter Lieutenant? Not up for a challenge?" Garrus hacked.
Shepard ignored them and was still coughing up dust, trying to catch his breath from running. He was the last out so he got the worst of the dust and whatever else he breathed in. He looked up through his teary eyes and confirmed Dr T'Soni was okay.
Everyone loaded up into the Normandy safely and they all headed to the next stop. Shepard wasn't sure what was going to happen. He was certain it was going to be a shit show because everything else on this mission has been.
"Commander," Joker called over his comm. "Admiral Hackett wishes to speak to you."
"I'm in my cabin. Send it here."
"Aye, aye Commander."
Shepard walked to his desk and turned on the screen.
"Commander Shepard." Hackett gave him a nod.
"Admiral, what can I do for you, sir!?"
"I received some troubling information I thought you would want to see, Commander. Someone is killing former Alliance scientists. There have been four deaths in the last month."
"Happy to help, sir. What can you tell me?"
"We found a connection between the scientist... and you. They all worked on a classified project several years ago... On Akuze."
Shepard took a step back and stared. He looked away from the screen and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. Admiral Hackett remained silent and watched the Commander for a few seconds understanding that he may need a moment with that information.
"This can't have anything to do with what happened to me on Akuze." Shepard said suddenly looking back to the screen.
"Those Thresher Maws killed dozens of soldiers. If this was more than just an accident, we need to know. Commander..." Hackett then stopped talking and sighed. "...Shepard, what you do with this is up to you. I just thought you'd want to know. There was one other scientist on the project, Dr. Wayne. I'm transmitting his last known coordinates. Good luck. Fifth Fleet out."
Shepard stared at the dark screen for longer than he needed to. He hadn't thought of that nightmare in years and now with everything going on, this comes up.
"Joker..." He called.
"Already on our way, Commander." Joker responded.
...w...
Shepard, Garrus, Liara and Kaiden fought through the Cerberus base killing everyone in their way. Garrus and Kaiden left Shepard to his own this mission because of how personal it was for him. They had never seen him shoot this many people without negotiating at least a little bit. It helped that they did shoot at them first, but Shepard would normally try something before just shooting back. It also didn't help when they found evidence that this was a secret Cerberus base. Something seemed to have snapped in Shepard after they found that connection. He wanted to end it all and find out what the connection between Akuze and Cerberus was.
As they entered a back room, a man was holding a gun to an unarmed scientist. The scientist trembled and immediately looked at the two men, the Asari and Turian for assistance.
"Stay back!" The gunman yelled. "I've got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!"
"Please!" The scientist yelled. "He's a madman! Mr. Toombs, you're insane! You need help!"
"Shut up! You don't get to lie! You don't..."
"Toombs?" Shepard asked taking a step forward.
"Shepard?" Toombs stared. "My god, Shepard, is that you?"
"...but...you were on Akuze! I saw the Thresher Maw pull you under!"
"They took me, Shepard. The scientists..."
"The took you?" Liara gasped.
"You can't prove any of this! This man is delusional!" The Scientist yelled.
"Cerberus keeps great records of what they do, Shepard." Garrus stepped close to Shepard. "I'd be happy to relieve him of his key card and access that Terminal over there. Find some answers."
"I could help him break into their system." Liara smiled.
"No!" The scientist shouted.
"I don't think you're able to make demands." Kaiden added making the scientist cower.
Garrus walked up to the scientist and held out his taloned hand.
"Key card," He growled. "...Now!"
Still trembling the scientist handed over the card Garrus wanted. He, Liara, and Kaiden then headed over to the nearest terminal and began drumming away staring at the screen.
"They were running tests on the Thresher Maws. They let those things hit us just to watch and study. I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I'd survived. Now they had someone to run tests on." Toombs began.
"Toombs... I-I didn't see anybody. If I'd seen you, I'd have come back for you..." Shepard's heart ached.
"You can't believe Toombs! He doesn't have any proof! I demand a fair trial!" The scientist demanded.
"Shepard was there, you bastard! He knows what happened! You Cerberus bastards treated me like a lab animal! This man deserves to die, Shepard! For you, for me, for everyone else in the unit. Are you with me?"
"You're better than this, Toombs. You're not like them."
Shepard took another step toward his old squad mate. He then looked at Garrus and Liara who were deep into whatever they were reading on the terminal still. Kaiden was watching the two men with Shepard.
"Don't tell me who I am! You got away with scratches and a scary reputation. The rest of the unit died, and I was tortured for years, Shepard! You don't have the right to judge me!"
"If I could have helped you on Akuze, I would have. Let me help you now!"
Toombs sighed and lowered his weapon after a few seconds passed.
"Fine. I'm no murderer. Just as long as he goes to trial." He sounded defeated but knew Shepard was right.
"Those bastards can't hurt you anymore. Joker, tell the..." Shepard began but stopped midsentence as he was shoved to the side.
Garrus suddenly came from the side and punched the scientist in the face. Kaiden hustled and grabbed him by the arms but it was too hard to hold him without help.
"Let me go! I will kill you!" Garrus roared.
"Garrus!" Shepard stepped between him and the scientist. "What the hell?!"
The Scientist scrambled on the floor away from the irate Turian.
"Make him tell us where she is!" He shouted.
"Where who is?!" Shepard's hands were on Garrus' chest pushing him back.
"Species 001! Where is she, you bastard?!"
"No!" The scientist tried to leave but Toombs grabbed him. "She'll be a danger to us all!"
Garrus shimmied from Kaiden, pushed Shepard to the side, and pulled his side arm pointing it at the scientist's head.
"Tell me where she is, or you will suffer the worst pain! You will WISH FOR DEATH BUT I WON'T GIVE IT TO YOU!"
"Stop!" Shepard yelled. "What the hell is going on?!" He jumped in the path of Garrus' weapon.
Shepard met eyes with Liara wanting an immediate explanation, but she was staring at the screen like she was reading something forbidden. He then looked to Kaiden who shrugged just as confused.
"Looking through the computer we came across a species marked in red. We went into it," Kaiden walked back and read it over Liara's shoulder. "Irlan. Female. Extinct. Then he went insane."
"Do you know what this means?" Liara squealed with delight.
"Put the gun down and tell me what the fuck is going on, Garrus." Shepard demanded. "Please."
"It'll take more than a short conversation, Shepard. We need to get her out of Cerberus hands. We have to call the Primarch too."
"The Primarch?" Shepard was shocked to hear that.
"Her who?" Kaiden shouted. "Who is she?"
Shepard turned to the scientist and looked at him. The scientist flinched and when nothing happened, he slowly straightened back up.
"Girl. Ira-whatever. Where?"
"Gone."
"Are you lying to me?" Shepard smirked.
"..." The scientist cowered.
"I'll ask again. If you lie, I will leave you alone in this room with my Turian and Krogan crew members. Have you ever been in a room with a Krogan AND a Turian? Both very unhappy with you?"
"Across the hall! Cryo-tube number twenty-one!" He shouted.
Garrus grabbed the Scientist's key card from the terminal and ran across the hall immediately. Liara all but pushed over a table to get out of the room after Garrus. Shepard, Kaiden, and the Scientist, being dragged by Toombs, walked across the hall. By the time, they got in there Garrus and Liara had already opened the cryo-tube. Liara was scanning the cryo-tube and Garrus was just starting at it as though he just hit the jackpot.
Shepard stepped closer, cautiously as if it were going to explode in his face. He then let out an audible breath. In it lay a frozen angel. She was so stunningly beautiful that they all just stared in silence.
"I need to have her baby." Liara whispered in awe breaking the silence.
"Whoa…" Kaiden jerked a quick look in Liara's direction.
"She… looks human." Toombs added.
"Let's get her out before more Cerberus troops arrive." Garrus insisted.
"I agree." Shepard added.
"Shepard, please." Liara begged. "…I need to be in the research on her."
"Okay." He agreed more irritated that he realized.
...w...
As the Normandy pulled away from the planet, Shepard called a meeting. He paced in front of the briefing room audience in silence trying to get the beautiful face out of his mind. He was never really one to let a woman haunt his mind like this but her sleeping face was burned into his mind. Her full lips slightly parted, her flushed cheeks… she was the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on. Every time his eyes closed; He saw her.
They were waiting on Liara and Doctor Chakwas' report on the new Alien they just picked up and had no way of knowing when it would be done. Tali was drumming away at her data pad mumbling to herself in excitement, that led Shepard to believe she knew more than she was letting on. Garrus was standing in the corner as if he had seen a ghost. He attempted to explain everything he knew about the woman's race and the team just sat in silence with more questions than answers.
"So... The Turians were friends with this race, this race that no one has heard of... You policed the galaxy together years and years ago?" Ashley asked.
"Yes." Garrus said.
"Not you… but your Ancestors." Kaiden added.
"Right."
"Then they went extinct and you didn't?" Shepard asked.
"I have to contact the Primarch, Shepard...maybe he..." Garrus said then stopped.
"The Primarch? What is Turian hierarchy going to do?" Shepard asked after Garrus did not finish his thought.
"I... I don't know. We thought they were all dead... I've never seen one before... I just..."
"You've never seen one before?" Wrex laughed. "You're looking at spitting images." He pointed at Shepard, Kaiden, then Ashley.
"You know what I mean..." Garrus huffed.
"We still don't know what we're dealing with. That Cerberus Scientist said she'd be a danger." Kaiden added.
The room went silent again. Garrus was now pacing up and down the hallway of the briefing room.
"I-I don't understand!" Shepard broke the silence. "Why don't we know about this species? She looks human!"
"Well she's not." Ashley hissed. "She may look human but she's still an alien."
"Ash, don't start." He snapped.
"I'm just trying to bring a little honesty..."
"Enough, Gunnery Chief!" Shepard shouted.
"Shepard," Tali stood as if her data pad revealed a miracle. "...it's said that they were attacked by Bartarians and the entire Irlan race was exterminated...or so we thought obviously. If we could contact an Asari or a Salarian..." She spoke so fast and didn't realize it.
"My people fought with them. Not the Salarians or Asari. We did!" Garrus added not having anything to do with what Tali was talking about. "I'm in shock... Do I look pale to you?"
"Why would the Bartarians attack them?" Shepard asked Tali ignoring Garrus.
"They led the fight against Slavers. The Bartarians hated them." Tali read the data pad.
"I'm confused. The Bartarians are far from capable of taking down a whole race." Kaiden frowned. "Garrus speaks of them as if they were great warriors and the Bartarians did them in? It makes no sense. Why take the Ira-what's-its and not the Turians?"
"The Irlan were peaceful by nature. They never fought unless they had to." Tali said.
"Question stands." Kaiden looked at her. "Why them and not the Turians?"
"They were strong but every year they had a large planetary week of 'reflection'. They were all together on one planet, their planet. Turians would never do that… have every citizen being on one planet at the same time?" Garrus stopped.
"That's when the Bartarians hit." Tali finished.
"We lost a lot of people that day too. But it is not my story to tell, Shepard."
"I understand, Garrus."
Garrus was a new friend of Shepard's but he could tell how hard this was for him. He wasn't going to press the issue.
"She is the sole survivor of her race. How she lived... We will not know until she wakes. She will..." Tali studied her data pad. "If she even knows what happened it will change galactic history. We know so little because the Turians hid..."
"We hid nothing! My people were devastated when we learned..." Garrus shouted.
"I don't mean maliciously hid."
"The Irlan could have killed any enemy... I wonder if the Bartarians put something in the shroud to make them... They were unbeatable otherwise." Garrus thought to himself.
"Is she safe?" Kaiden asked suddenly. "She's stunning..."
The group all stopped and looked at Kaiden. Shepard agreed in silence and that is what scared him. She was stunningly beautiful, but she could also be a stone-cold killer that would kill them all once she woke up.
"Dismissed." Shepard sighed. "Garrus, please stay."
After the room cleared Shepard called to Joker.
"Joker, get the Turian Primarch for me."
"Aye, aye."
Shepard and Garrus sat in silence until a Turian image stood in front of them.
"Commander Shepard. Officer Varkarian." The Turian Primarch's mandibles flared.
"Primarch." Garrus nodded.
"Primarch, thank you for taking our call on such a short notice. We need your help." Shepard smiled.
"On?" The Primarch asked.
"The Irlan, sir." Garrus stated.
Primarch Fedorian stared at the two men.
"Everyone clear the room. Now." He commanded to the people on his side of the call.
Shepard and Garrus shared a surprise look then waited. The Primarch looked around to see if he was truly alone and sighed loudly toward the screen.
"This is a deep history you two are uprooting. What about them?"
"We rescued a female from Cerberus today, sir. She is in a cryo-tube currently. My medical officer is running tests as we speak but she is still asleep. I'll send you the information." Shepard pulled up his omni-tool and the Primarch's lit up shortly after.
The two men stared at the Primarch waiting for him to say something. It felt like 30 minutes had passed before he looked up from his Omni-Tool. It was as if the Primarch couldn't believe the news he was hearing or reading on his omni-tool.
"Leahala Vail." He said breaking the awkward silence.
"Sir?" Shepard and Garrus said together.
"She likes to be called Leah. She'd kill me for saying 'Leahala'." He chuckled to himself. "...Leah went missing about 10 years or so ago. Seems you both have solved a great mystery we have had in the Turian Military. Bring her to Palavan immediately."
"I cannot do that now, sir." Shepard stated. "But we will head there as soon as we can."
"Then keep Garrus close, Commander. If she wakes, he'll be the only one to stop her from ripping your ship apart and killing you all."
"Who is she?" Garrus gasped.
"The last survivor of Irlan's greatest bloodline. She was raised by the Hanar at an early age to be an assassin before we recruited her as a black op member in the Turian Military. Once we found out what she was and she was released from the Hanar service, that is. She was working for us for years when she went missing. I'll keep an open channel. If she wakes call me and have her here so I can talk to her."
"Yes, sir." Both men said in unison.
The Primarch vanished from in front of them.
"What the hell did we bring on your ship, Shepard?"
"I have no idea."