The last of the Geth blocking the way to the cell blocks fell to the ground. Sparking came from the wounds in its silvery body, courtesy of Shepard's shotgun. "Clear!" she called out.

"Clear!" Garrus echoed, sweeping this rifle around.

Robert called the same next, followed by Wrex after he inspected one of Saren's Krogan with an angry eye. The dead Krogan had a burned hole through his head from Robert's weapon. Robert could sense this anger was not directed at him but at Saren.

They moved into the next room and headed down a ramp to a line of cells. There was movement in one. They stepped up and found five Salarians gathered in one, each in the field uniform of an STG member. One Salarian, with reddish coloring, stepped up to the particle barrier that held them in the cell. "Who are you?"

"Reinforcements." Shepard put a hand on the control panel beside the barrier. The barrier disappeared. "I'm Commander Shepard, a Spectre."

"Ah, yes, I have heard of you. Lieutenant Patak Wijas, STG 3rd Regiment."

"They took you alive?" Garrus asked. "What for?"

"Experimentation, I believe," Wijas replied. His eyes blinked. "At least six of our number have already been removed. None have returned."

"Right. We'll see if we can find them too."

"Thank you, Commander."

"You'd better get going," Robert said. "We're planning on setting off a nuke soon."

"I see."

"There are some dead Krogan and Geth in the storage chamber we left to get here, they still have intact firearms you can use to defend yourselves," Shepard explained. "Just in case you run into trouble on your way back to base."

"Understood, Commander. Good luck in finding my men, and again, thank you." Wijas looked back to the others. "Alright everyone, fall in!"

After the Salarians left, Shepard had an unmistakably pensive look on her face. "Experiments," she murmured. "What is Saren doing?"

"I bet we'll hate finding out" Garrus said.

"Either way, we press on." With that declaration from Shepard, they continued through the base.

The lift to the Hot Labs came to a stop. Lucy was the first out, the Marines behind her with Liara and Talara mixed in with them. "I sense them," Talara said. She looked pained. "Mindless with fear. Something's wrong, very wrong. There is no… song?"

"Probably a result of how they were created," Anders remarked. "Alright Marines, heads on a swivel. This is bug central."

"Sir yes sir!" was the echoed response.

The lift exit led them to what looked to be an observation room. Sealed exits led out of it to either side. Laying on the floor near a fallen chair was a Human male of fair complexion and, quite obviously, a missing left leg. He looked toward them when they came in and spoke with an accent. "You… you are not with ERCS."

"United Systems Marines," Anders answered. "Major Gabriel Anders, Commander of Marine Troops for the Starship Aurora."

"I am Yaroslev Tartakovsky, director of research for Binary Helix. I will not ask why it is you have come. The important thing is that we set off the neutron purge."

"Can we?"

"Yes. But I will need your help. My leg…" He gestured toward the stump.

Lucy looked it over. A tourniquet around the stump of thigh was preventing further bleeding. It was, regardless, not a pretty sight at at all. She winced at it, realizing the leg hadn't been sliced off so much as ripped off. And it certainly explained the pain she sensed in him.

"There is a VI terminal in the monitoring room behind me," he said. "We must access it and give the codes for the neutron purge. I will need help."

"Talara, Liara, can you help him up?"

The two stepped up and helped the man to his remaining foot. His face remained pale. "Hold on," Talara urged. "It won't be long."

As they walked into the next room, Lucy felt the attack coming. "Incoming Major!" she shouted.

"We're on it. Get that damn system going!" was the response.

Tartakovsky groaned as Liara and Talara guided him toward the control room. Lucy stood by the entrance and pulled her weapon from her belt.

When the Rachni came, it was through the floor grating. They spilled out and were immediately met with fire from the Marines. Insectoid screeches filled the air, cries of pain and fear and anger, and they kept coming.

One bug that got past the gunfire went for the door. Lucy intercepted it and slashed with her weapon. The blade passed cleanly through one of the long tentacles of the Rachni, slicing the clawed appendage free of the body. The Rachni screeched at its mutilation. The other claw came for her, aimed at her head. Lucy moved to the side to evade it and swung her weapon again, severing the other limb. She twirled the lightsaber and drove it into the Rachni's head, killing it instantly.

Most of the Rachni were not interested in the door, merely in the closest foe. They pressed the Marines on all sides. Their chance to overwhelm them was significantly reduced thanks to Anders' use of the heavy armor squad, and the flexible weapons built into their arms. Instead of a standard automatic rifle weapon, they swapped to a flamethrower. White-hot flames fanned out and burned Rachni until they retreated or, more often, collapsed in near-death.

With her back to the door, Lucy contributed to the fight with warnings and, increasingly, the use of her abilities. She sent Rachni threatening Marine flanks flying into each other and the walls, giving time for the Marines to mow them down.

She turned to see Liara and Talara return with Tartakovsky. He was sweating from how much pain he was in. And, she felt, from fear too. "The purge is set to go off in less than three minutes," he shouted. "We must go!"

"Time to go!" she shouted to the Marines in turn.

"Marines, fall back to the lift station!"

"I have unlocked the cargo lift," said Tartakovsky. "we have room for everyone."

Whether or not the Rachni knew what was about to happen, their attack didn't let up. To clear the way for the wounded, Lucy pushed her abilities to their limit. She reached through the Flow of Life, channeled it into herself, and as focus pushed her arms forward. Her energy resonated with that physical movement and flew outward. It took control to keep the energy from lashing out everywhere, focusing the burst entirely on the Rachni.

The force threw them into the walls of the control room and away from the Marines. They hit with enough force that most were injured simply from the impact.

Talara and Liara moved ahead, carrying Tartakovsky along as quickly as they could, heedless of his pained winces. Lucy followed behind them, arms spread, invisible force keeping the Rachni in place. The Marines poured fire into the new arrivals as they came up through the grate.

Once Talara and Liara were through the door with Tartakovsky, Lucy released the Rachni and ran ahead to join the Marines, forming a half circle around the entrance. One by one they withdrew, stepping backwards toward the door to keep their guns firing on Rachni. Lucy waited at the door and gathered her will for another wave. As soon as Anders came through she threw out another wave of force. Control for this one was unnecessary. The only thing it could hit was Rachni. Hit them it did, sending them flying into each other or the walls and windows, one even going through the far door. Once this breathing space was achieved Anders and Lucy retreated through the door. Lucy raised a hand and moved it to the side. Through her power she gripped the door and it moved in sympathy with her hand, closing shut.

"To the lifts, now!" Anders shouted.

"One hundred seconds until neutron purge!" Tartakovsky yelled.

At the lifts, everyone piled into the heavy cargo elevator. It shut behind Lucy and Anders. With Talara providing him support, Tartakovsky triggered the lift to rise. Nobody spoke until after they heard a muffled blast from below. Tartakovsky examined his omnitool readings. "The purge is complete," he said. "All Rachni life signs are gone."

"Excellent news." Anders looked him over. "We'll get you some medical attention in the barracks area."

"Can you explain what's going on here?" Lucy asked.

"Someone found a derelict Rachni vessel. Eggs aboard from Rachni Queen, one was in effective cryo-stasis," he explained. "We were going to clone it. Make specialized troops for environments hostile to Human life. But we found out the egg was for Rachni Queen. She hatched."

"Are you telling me there's a Rachni Queen in this lab?!" Liara asked, horrified.

"Da. Yes. Rachni Queen on upper level. For Matriarch Benezia to examine."

"So what, you created eggs of normal drones from her DNA?"

"No. Rachni Queen is born pregnant. Like fuzzy creature from… what universe is it? S5T3? Little furball, goes 'coo'? Tribble. Rachni Queen like Tribble. She carries paternal DNA to make her first batches of eggs. Evolutionary adaptation."

"So just one Rachni Queen could conceivably restart the species," Talara said.

"Yes. We took her first generation of eggs, planned to program biologically into soldiers. Separated them from mother. This was a bad mistake. It is why they went berserk. They need mother early in life according to data."

"It explains the sense we get from them."

"This is all well and good, Lieutenant, but I'm more interested in Benezia," Anders said.

"Benezia is dangerous. Has war drones of some kind with her, and many trained Asari Commandos. They are guarding her now. If you fight her, you will be cornered and killed."

"How many ways are there into her lab? Where the Rachni Queen is?"

"Three," Tartakovsky replied. "Lower level maintenance entrance, main entrance off of barracks hall, and emergency exit near tram."

"The latter could be overridden with time," Lucy advised Anders. "But maybe too much time. Benezia has to know something's up now."

"Agreed," said Anders.

"And she may have more ERCS personnel with her commandos and Geth too."

"Also agreed."

Lucy nodded. "So what I was going to recommend is that you take the main entrance and pin down her troops. This will let Liara, Talara, and I go through the maintenance entrance. We can confront Benezia alone. Maybe even reason with her."

For a moment she thought Anders would refuse her, and they might have another fight. He was clearly calculating possibilities. As the lift began to slow and come to a stop, he finally nodded. "A good plan," he said. "That way she's pinned in too. Let me get my squads together and we'll get started."

Lucy nodded. "Be careful with the Commandos. Their biotics make them a major threat even to armored troops."

"We'll be careful," Anders assured her. They stepped out of the lift together. "Let's go get Mister Tartakovsky some medical attention and get this show on the road."

The office of Lorik Qui'in was surprisingly well-kept for a place that had been searched for a hidden data disc. There was still something of a Spartan look to it, which - she supposed - fit Turian mentalities.

"Not much of a decorator," Richmond observed while examining a shelf.

Angel looked up from where she was scanning the wall. "I'm not finding any hidden safes or anything."

"That would be too obvious," Richmond said. "I would assume a more subtle method of hiding the evidence."

"That does seem to be the nature of this world." Meridina inspected the desk. "Everywhere we have been, I can sense the secrecy, the deception. This is a dangerous world."

Julia glanced back out the door. "It doesn't surprise me." She felt her mind wander back to her concerns about the Marines. How were things going in Peak 15? "Anything?"

Angel looked at what seemed to be a wall safe. "Too obvious?"

"Too obvious," Richmond agreed. She was already intent upon the holo-projector for the desk computer system. The others looked her way while she ran her hands over it. Her fingers seemed to find purchase on the base. With a determined look on her face Richmond pulled. The plate she was gripping came away, revealing the internal of the base. It was a small space. After Richmond put her hand in and pulled it out, her fingers were wrapped around a small circular object, barely two inches in circumference. She held her omnitool up to it. "Encryption. Very good encryption."

"That must be it," Julia said.

"I would say so." Richmond tapped at her omnitool. "I'm copying the data to our omnitools now. Each of us will have a piece. Just in case."

"A good idea Commander." Meridina looked relieved. "We need to go."

"Is something wrong?" Julia asked her.

"I sense something… nebulous in the Flow of Life," Meridina admitted. "It may simply be the nature of this world and the experiments conducted here. Or it may be something worse. Either way, I fear we may be in danger."

"Let's get this to Qui'in."

Richmond stuck the disc in her uniform trouser's pocket and the four walked out of the office. They followed the pathway to an area of communal tables and barely made it past the first before armed and armored figures rounded the stairs ahead. A blond Caucasian woman led them, a fierce look in her dark eyes. All were clad in the body armor of an ERCS guard. "I'm Sergeant Kaira Stirling, ERCS. And you are all under arrest."

"On what grounds?" Julia asked. "We have authorization to be here."

"Only Administrator Anoleis can authorize anyone to enter this office," Stirling responded. "And I know you don't have it. Now place your hands on your head…" She raised her pistol. "...and if you resist, I'll shoot every last one of you."

It wasn't hard for Shepard's team to follow the base's internal corridors to find the labs. They came around a corner and found the first chamber, a receiving chamber of sorts with a few pieces of examination hardware. Nearby a transparent door covered a cell with four Salarians inside. They were dressed the same as the last group.

But Robert felt something wrong that wasn't with the others.

"What do you want? I told you everything," one of them said, his voice strained. His dark eyes locked onto Shepard. "Wait. You're Alliance, aren't you? I knew someone would come. Someone would get us out. It told me nobody would come. It tried to break me. But I shut it out."

Robert glanced toward Shepard with undisguised worry. She noticed it but looked back to the Salarians. "You're with the 3rd Regiment?"

"Private Menos Avot of the 3rd Regiment STG, ma'am. Captured while on reconnaissance five days ago. Glad to help, ma'am." The Salarian's voice gained an angry tone. "Five days of nothing from these bastards. Just whispers and poking and cutting. I'd do anything to get out and give some payback."

"What did they do to you?" Garrus asked.

"Experiments. Testing. Seeing the effect of the whispering on my shortening temper!" The Salarian gripped his fists. "Whispering is loud, you know! And I can't take it anymore! I'd do anything to make it go away!"

"Something's not right about this," Wrex grumbled.

"Whatever Saren did to them, we can't just leave them," Garrus said. "Otherwise they're as good as dead."

Shepard nodded at their arguments. She looked to Robert next, to see if he had anything to add. For the moment, he didn't. He was too busy focusing on the Salarians' mental state. Most of them felt… empty. A chill came to him at the realization they were just as empty as the Krogan soldiers under Saren's authority. But Avot was different. There was something more in him, a subtle sense of wrongness. Something was twisting him. Breaking him.

The closer Robert examined them, the more he felt sick. There was a malicious influence on Avot and the others that Robert couldn't grasp, but he could see how it was corrupting Avot.

"This isn't just drugs or brainwashing," Robert said. "This is… this is more. It's a corruption of being. I can feel it twisting his mind. Corrupting what he is. Just as it destroyed the others."

"Are they a danger to us?"

Robert shrugged. "I...I don't think so. At least not now."

"Then I'm not leaving them to die." Shepard reached for the door control. "Not without giving them a shot." When the door opened she said, "Get out of here. This entire place will go up."

"Yes! Good! It will go boom, all boom, no more whispering! The whispers still aren't going away, they just want me to…" Avot shook his fists. "You! You can make the whispers go away! They whisper because you're here! If you're gone, they'll stop! The only way they'll stop is if you're dead!" Avto promptly charged at Shepard.

But he never got to her. Wrex blew a hole through the Salarian's chest with a single shot. Seeing the dead Salarian, the only thing Shepard could say was, "Damn."

"What about the rest?" Wrex asked.

"They're not going anywhere. The bomb will catch them." Shepard didn't seem happy. "Just what the hell is Saren doing here?!"

"Something that is inherently corrupting." Robert felt a chill in his very being. "Whatever it is, it's malevolent." He walked over to one of the work stations. A tap of a key brought up a screen. There was only one ongoing file he could read. "Indoctrination," he murmured. "It's some kind of effect that Saren's using on his followers. To keep them loyal."

"Like Shiala said." Shepard shook her head. "Let's keep going. I want to blow this place sky high."

A cavern cut through the glacier acted as the maintenance access for the upper lab. Walking through it was an exercise in nerves for Lucy, Liara, and Talara. "Goddess, how many kilos of ice and stone are above our heads?" Liara wondered aloud.

"More than I am comfortable with," Talara admitted.

"I find your nervousness distracting," Lucy mumbled to them.

"Sorry, Lieutenant," replied Talara.

"Group A to B, we have engaged, repeat, we have engaged," Anders' voice said.

"Roger that, Major," Lucy replied. "At least this way we'll only be facing Benezia."

"Good luck, Lieutenant." Before the channel cut, Lucy could make out the warping sound of a biotic field being generated. Anders was in for a tough fight.

For a moment she glanced back to Liara. She sensed the growing tension inside the Asari archaeologist and knew their fight would, in a way, be no less difficult. Especially for Liara.

A firefight broke out as soon as Shepard's unit reached the labs. Geth and Krogan fought back hard. Wrex grunted from a bullet embedding itself in his arm while he moved to cover. Robert came to his assistance by projecting force into the offending Geth, sending it flying into the wall with enough energy to critically damage it. Wrex finished it off with a shotgun blast.

As usual, Shepard was in the thick of things. A biotic charge into range was followed by a shotgun blast to the throat that killed a Krogan. Her gun roared again, the slug coring the chest area of a Geth platform, and a biotic shockwave knocked the damaged platform over and threw one of the scientists against the wall. Another tried to shoot Shepard from behind only to get a bullet to his head for the trouble, courtesy of Garrus.

The firefight lasted ten seconds. When it was over, Robert quickly realized they weren't alone. He marched over, pulse pistol in hand, and directed it toward the cowering form of the last surviving scientist, an Asari. "Up," he said.

"Don't kill me. Look, I was a prisoner here too!" The Asari rose to her feet. "Saren hired me for a neurological analysis experiment and refused to let me leave!"

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

"Doctor Rana Thanoptis," the woman replied. "I'm a neurospecialist. Saren tricked me into coming here and has me researching indoctrination."

"That was the file we found back with that Salarian," Garrus noted.

"Yes. The test subject. And not the first. Saren's been investigating it for months," Thanoptis said. "He's still exploring the limits and mechanisms of the effect."

"And yet he was able to use it on an Asari matriarch, among others," Shepard said.

"So you're saying Saren himself doesn't know the full extent of this capability?" Robert asked.

"No, not at all," Thanoptis answered. "Wherever he got it from, Saren still doesn't know the full extent of how it works. Honestly, I think he's more afraid of it than interested in its limits."

"So if he didn't develop it, where did he get it? That big superdreadnought he attacked Eden Prime with?"

In reply to Shepard, Thanoptis shrugged. "I'm not sure. My inquiries were always met with resistance. Saren kept things compartmentalized. I do know he's becoming more and more interested in the long-term effects of exposure. He's not been happy with our findings."

"It loses effect over time?" Shepard asked.

"No. Even worse. It settles. The brain is completely altered and the subject either turns mindless or goes mad. And it's not just research subjects. The researchers lose control over time. My own predecessor was my first test subject."

A very bad feeling started to fill Robert. But he said nothing for the moment, sensing Shepard's continued questions. Unfortunately, it proved Thanoptis knew nothing more of use.

More than that, Robert could feel that Thanoptis' feelings were entirely self-centered. She was worried about her mental health and whether she was indoctrinated. She didn't care for her victims, intentional or otherwise. Saren had hired the right person for this terrible job.

"Please let me go." Thanoptis' voice was full of terror. "I… I'll leave. I'll testify, whatever you want, but I don't want to die here. Here." She reached over and hit a key on the nearby desk, nearly getting shot by Wrex for her troubles. A sealed door on the other end opened and revealed a lift. "Up there is Saren's private lab. He keeps things down there none of us are allowed to see. Maybe you can find something? Saren's your enemy, not me!"

Robert examined Thanoptis more closely at that point. Was she just utterly amoral? Or was there a sliver of the indoctrination in her?

Shepard sighed and jerked her thumb. "Exit's that way, past the bodies. Run fast if you don't want to get hit by the nuke we're going to plant."

Relief flooded Thanoptis. "Thank you!" She ran in that direction. Robert felt her pleasure at living. Her desire to find a better job.

"Let's go," Shepard said. She stepped toward the lift opened by Thanoptis. Wrex moved next and Robert behind him.

He'd made it to the lift when he heard Garrus' rifle fire.

Shepard and Wrex looked to him and then to Garrus, who walked up with the rifle in his arms. "One of the Geth looked like it was moving," Garrus said. "So I made sure."

It was a lie. A thin one, one Garrus only said for form, and Robert could sense both his complete confidence in his choice and Shepard's resigned acceptance. "Good thing you spotted that, it might have caused us trouble," she said, accepting the lie that she clearly didn't believe.

Nobody said another word as the lift doors closed.

At the top of the lift was a two-level chamber. The top level held the entrance and a catwalk ending over the middle of the room, leaving open space. The lower level had stations of varying kind and an object wreathed in green light, including a hardlight control construct. Robert felt the surge of familiarity inside of Shepard and glanced in her direction. "What is it?"

"It's another beacon," she said. "Just like the one on Eden Prime."

Together the group walked down to the lower level. "It looks like Saren was investigating the beacon," Garrus said. "Like he was trying to understand more of it."

"Which still begs the question of what he wants with them," Robert noted. "And how they relate to the 'Conduit'."

Shepard stepped up to the beacon. "There's one way to find out." She set her hands on the controls. After several moments they faded.

The beacon lit up and Shepard froze in place. Robert felt her mind reel as the beacon fed information into it. He caught glimpses, just the barest ones, and sensed Shepard's mind putting the pieces into place. The Cipher, acquired from Shiala on Feros, gave her mind the foundation to comprehend what was in the beacon.

After several seconds the beacon's glow faded. Shepard slumped forward slightly and set a hand to her helmeted head. "What was that?" Wrex asked.

"The beacon. The entire message," she groaned. "It was a warning. About the Reapers. And more." Shepard shook her head. "I need time to process this." She stepped through them and toward the ramp leading back to the second level. They followed.

As they ascended the ramp Robert let out a gasp. There was something in the energy in this room, something wrong. A presence was forming that brimmed with raw malevolence.

As they neared the top, a form appeared at the end of the extended catwalk of the top level. A construct of red light with the shape of a sea creature, Shepard turned toward it and followed the path to approach the construct. "That can't be a good sign," said Wrex.

"I think we got someone's attention," Robert replied in a low tone.

From around them, a voice spoke with an electronic timbre. "You are not Saren."

"It must be some kind of VI interface," Garrus said.

"Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding." The voice made a shiver go up Robert's spine.

"Yeah, I don't think this is a VI," Wrex said.

The voice continued. "There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

"Saren's ship," Shepard said. As she spoke Robert felt the same horrible realization in her that he felt. "It's not an old Reaper ship. It's an actual Reaper."

"Then all of Saren's tests on indoctrination, his experiments…"

"'Reaper'? A label given by many races to give voice to their destruction." Sovereign's voice was laced with contempt. "In the end, what any choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are."

"You just expect us to believe you've existed for over fifty thousand years?" Wrex demanded.

"Your expectations are beneath our concern. You are mere organic life, a mutation. An accident of nature. You live for mere years and decades, withering away until you die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us you are nothing. We are the end of everything." As the creature spoke Robert felt the chill in his spine travel up and down his body. This… this thing was mechanical, a machine, and just the image of that machine projected through space for communications, but the Flow of Life seemed to be responding to its presence regardless. As if Sovereign by its very existence slowed the Flow of Life.

"And what is it you want?" Shepard asked. "Why did you destroy the Protheans? Or the Adranians?"

"They were among the many who have fallen to the Cycle."

As Robert felt the cold spread dread through him, he heard Garrus ask, "What 'Cycle'?"

"The Cycle has repeated itself more times than you can fathom," Sovereign replied. "Organic civilizations rise, evolve, expand. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. These civilizations you speak of did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the Mass Relays. These are the legacies of my kind, left for them to find."

"Why?" asked Shepard. "Why go to all of that trouble?"

"To ensure your civilizations are based on the technology of the mass relays. Our technology. By using it, your civilization develops along the lines we require."

"You must not be too pleased with the Multiverse, then." Garrus eyed Robert, who remained silent. He noticed how deeply Robert's face was paling.

"We have long been aware of the existence of the other universes. The deviations they present are irrelevant. Your kind has still advanced in the patterns we require."

"That still doesn't explain why," Robert said, swallowing as he did so. "Why you do this. What this cycle is for."

"We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it."

As realization spread through the others, it hit Robert the hardest. He'd already felt that truth. The admission clicked into place, delivered with a tone of inhuman malevolence. "You're harvesting the sapient life of this galaxy," he said. "Your Cycle is about wiping out interstellar civilization whenever it advances to the level you want. The Adranians and Protheans realized this. That's why they called you Reapers."

As he spoke it all became clear. That cold streak within the Flow of Life in this galaxy… it was the equivalent of scar tissue around a wound. His dreams when near the Citadel, of constant slaughter, unending, that was from this scarring left on the Flow of Life, a wound that the Reapers were constantly re-opening whenever their cycles came to pass. It was no wonder he felt so sick just being in Sovereign's electronic presence. The Flow of Life sensed what Sovereign was. And it knew another slaughter was being prepared.

His thoughts began to wander to his discussions with Kilaba and Ledosh in Umintamil, about a guiding intelligence in the Flow of Life. His thoughts might have continued down that path if Sovereign hadn't resumed speaking. "Your efforts to understand us are pitiable. My kind transcends your understanding. We are each a nation, independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence."

"Someone built you," Shepard said. "Who? Why would they make you do this?"

"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years from now, when your civilization has long been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure."

"Now you're just posturing," Shepard retorted. "If you think we're going to just let you destroy us, you're mistaken. We don't just have a galaxy behind us, but many more. A Multiverse of living beings who will fight you to the bitter end. Do you really think there's enough of you to fight all of us?"

"We are legion," answered Sovereign. "The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom."

"You're not a god," Shepard countered. "You're a machine, as are the rest of your kind. And I don't care how powerful a machine you are, you can be broken. So we're going to stop you."

"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."

With that parting remark, Sovereign's image faded.

For Robert it was like closing a window open to arctic air. The chill in his being faded. He was still pale from the shock of feeling what Sovereign was, but at least it was gone. "Are you okay?" Shepard asked him.

"I will be," Robert answered. He momentarily detached his helmet and ran the comfortable material of the robe he was wearing over his forehead, sopping up sweat. "That thing… it's like the Flow of Life itself slows in its presence. Like it knows what Sovereign is and is both angry and terrified of it. I… even now I can feel that sliver of cold in this galaxy's energy. The Reapers' cycles have left their mark on it."

"I've never understood this 'Flow of Life' thing you talk about," Garrus admitted, "but I can believe it. That thing sounded like it came out of a nightmare."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with the Turian on that," Wrex added.

"Are you ready to go on?" Shepard asked Robert. "We need to…"

She was interrupted by a tone from their comms. "Normandy to Shepard, Commander, we've got a situation."

"Hit me, Joker."

"That ship of Saren's? That thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. It's heading our way and fast. Whatever you're doing, you need to hurry."

"Roger that, Joker. We're on our way." Shepard pulled her hand from the side of her helmet. "On to the breeding facility. The reservoir should be just beyond it. Let's move, people!"

They rushed to the lift.

Lucy felt the the life forms in the chamber ahead of them even before they came up on Talara's sensors. Overhead a bubbling beaker insignia signified this was a lab. She glanced briefly to Liara, who looked deceptively calm about the situation, before activating the door panel. A second panel existed beyond the first. Through the light gray doors they stepped into a room with an open center, a cylinder accessible on the second floor.

A voice was speaking, accented, stern and demanding. "You've never been a mother," the voice said. "Not truly. You have no idea of what…" The voice stopped.

Ahead of them, at the top of the stairs leading up to the second level, an Asari clad in black looked down. She wore an elaborate headpiece, also black; indeed, the only real color was the light blue of her face and the open chest area of the suit above her cleavage. It looked like she was dressed for death, either in mourning, or like a dealer in it.

"Mother." Liara stepped ahead of Lucy and Talara. "Mother, what are you doing?"

Benezia looked down at her daughter from the height of the second level. A brief register of shock was quickly pushed away. "Was this your plan, Human?" she asked, looking at Lucy. "Bring my daughter to manipulate me? It will not work."

"I asked to come," Liara insisted. She took a step toward her mother. "I had to see for myself. I… I needed to. I needed to see what you'd become…!"

"I am what I need to be," Benezia insisted. "Saren has shown me the future if we do not act. His way is now mine. It is the only way we have to survive."

Lucy almost asked what she meant, but she stopped herself. This was not her conversation to have.

"But you're betraying everything you ever stood for!" Liara cried. "Everything you ever taught me!"

"You are one to speak of that given how often you refused to listen to me." Benezia's voice never lost its monotone sound, not a lifeless monotone, but one of incredible reserve. "Who do you think you are, Liara, to judge my choices? To judge me. I'm doing what's necessary for all of us to survive!"

"Survive what, Mother? The Reapers?"

"Their return is inevitable," Benezia said. "All we can do is ensure we survive it." She brought a hand up. Biotic power, a lot of it, gathered around her right arm. Lucy was stunned at the raw power she was sensing. She'd never felt such a powerful biotic before, not even Commander Shepard.

"Mother, don't!" Liara pleaded. Dark matter began to gather around her as well. "Please don't do this!"

"Your choice is simple, daughter," Benezia answered coldly. "Join me or fight me. Choose."

For all of the pain Lucy felt inside Liara at that point, she also sensed absolutely no hesitation. "Saren has to be stopped," Liara insisted. "Please, see reason!"

Benezia responded with an eruption of biotic energy that nearly sent them all flying. Liara and Lucy absorbed it with their powers, although not with ease.

And so the battle was on.

The last Krogan defending the breeding facility fell to Wrex's shotgun. He looked down at the fallen Krogan and then to the tubes around them. The look on his face was easily-read. This was what he was focused on, the possibilities of this place.

Robert glanced to Shepard. "If there are any recoverable biological samples in the tubes…"

Shepard nodded once in reply. "Wrex, if you can find anything with the cure, now's the time. The reservoir is straight ahead." That led to an uneasy look from Garrus that Shepard didn't react to.

"I won't be long," Wrex said. "Go ahead and get the nuke set up."

"Speaking of that." Shepard keyed her comm. "Shepard to Williams. We're almost to the rendezvous point. We've already taken care of one AA tower, what about your team?"

"The Salarians are overriding the controls now. We'll get to the rendezvous point as soon as we're done."

"Good. We'll be waiting. Shepard out." Shepard turned to Robert. "The Normandy is going to land on the other side of the door, but…"

"...nobody remains alone," Robert finished for her. "I'll stay with Wrex until he's done."

Shepard nodded and moved on to a large gate. Interfacing with the control caused it to open, revealing a water-covered area beyond where the Normandy would be clear to land. Moments after they passed through the gate closed again.

By that point Wrex was already operating the controls for one of the breeding tubes. Machines moved the tube into place and opened it. His omnitool activated and, for a moment, he was intent on the scan results. "Nothing," he finally growled. The noise from another of the tubes drew his attention to Robert, who was repeating the process. "What are you doing?"

Robert gave him a bemused look. "Helping, obviously." He ran his omnitool over the interior. "The sooner we're done, the sooner we get back to Shepard."

Wrex closed the empty tube he was examining and moved over to the one Robert was scanning. He scanned it as well. Robert waited until he was done before remarking, "So you don't trust me."

"On something this important? I can't risk being wrong." Wrex recognized the negative result and lowered his arm. "Maybe if it was Shepard. Maybe."

"But not me."

"No." Wrex moved on to the next tube in line.

They heard an engine roar overhead. Robert glanced up long enough to see the Normandy fly overhead, banking to come in for a landing. He immediately returned his attention to Wrex. "But you'll trust me to watch your back?" he asked.

"I'll trust that you won't let me get killed," Wrex said. Beside him the next tube moved into place. "That's different. That's just me. This is about the future of the Krogan."

"You're worried I'll lie and hide viable cure samples from you."

"Not as worried as I'd be with Williams or Vakarian," Wrex admitted. "You strike me as too honest. Which is odd given your new job. I've never known black ops operatives to be truthful."

"I'm not a black ops agent," Robert replied. "That's not what the Paladins are supposed to be about."

"If you think that, you've got a lot to learn." Wrex grunted at another blank result to a scan. He moved to the opposite tube in the other row. "I've been fighting wars for hundreds of years, Dale. A lot of them were nothing but secrets and lies, piled on top of each other until nobody knew what was true anymore. Your Alliance isn't going to change that."

"I'd like to see us try," Robert replied. "Especially since those same secrets and lies often cause wars in the first place."

"They also keep them from becoming bigger wars." Wrex had another negative result. He felt a pang of uncertainty, of fear. That all of his hopes would be for nothing…

Robert sensed that. He drew in a breath and quieted his mind, letting the instinctive feel of his life force guide his thoughts, his attention. "Fifth tube down to the right," he finally said.

Wrex looked at him for a moment before heading to the tube Robert specified. He operated it for several seconds before grunting in acknowledgement. He opened a section of machinery near the tube and pulled out a vial of fluid, mostly empty. "Krogan genetic material," he said. "According to my omnitool, anyway."

Robert walked up and scanned it with his own. "Mine says the same thing. Although you'll need to give it to an expert to confirm. Chakwas may be able to tell you."

"Chakwas… No." Wrex shook his head while securing the vial in his armor utility pouch. "I think I know someone I can trust."

"I could ask Leo…"

"They're not Alliance. Not entirely. And that's what I want," Wrex insisted. "I'll see to it myself."

Robert sighed. "I suppose… well, I can see why you're being cautious. But curing the genophage is just the first step for your people, Wrex, and trusting other species is going to have to be part of the process."

"You want me to trust the Turians and the Salarians with the future of my species?" Wrex's red eyes reflected old anger. "They know my people are dying out, and they've done nothing to help us."

"How would they? Anything they do will be treated with suspicion," Robert said. "You're clearly not trusting them, after all. You're not even trusting me, and my friends helped you on Tira."

"Your Alliance is also allied with the Citadel. If the Council wants the genophage to stay, your people won't resist that."

"Maybe we'd try to talk them out of it," Robert said. "Encourage the Council to make new arrangements for Krogan. It wouldn't be easy, though. Someone among the Krogan would have to step up, give everyone an expectation that the Krogan wouldn't try to repeat the Rebellion if they were cured. Someone needs to be leading the Krogan toward something more than endless conflict and fighting." As he said those words Robert sensed a symmetry with Wrex. Thoughts in the old warrior's mind that matched what he was saying. With that in mind he continued, "The Krogan need a leader to show them a new way. Otherwise curing the genophage won't be enough to save them."

After several moments of silence Wrex grunted in acknowledgement. "A good point." He tromped past Robert. "We should get back to Shepard and the others."

No sooner did he speak that Shepard's voice came over the comms. "Wrex, Robert, get back here on the double. The Salarians are pinned in and need backup, now."

"We're on our way," Robert replied, and the two ran to the door.

For a moment there was quiet in the Synthetic Insights office. The ERCS guards kept their weapons trained on Julia and her officers. With no weapons and no cover, their options were extremely limited.

Julia considered the possibility of accepting arrest. It would mean a diplomatic fiasco, but no blood was shed and the evidence against Anoleis would likely be exoneration in of itself.

That possibility died with the next thought. Anoleis had these people on his payroll. How many? Was Stirling one of them? If so, surrender likely meant getting shot anyway.

"Anoleis has been bribing your guards to help him shake down Qui'in," Julia said. "How do I know you're not one of them?"

"It doesn't matter if I am or not. It's none of your business. I'm here to take you into custody and whatever happens next is up to my bosses. Now hands on your heads, or we shoot. I'm not taking risks with you people."

Meridina, it's all up to you, thought Julia. She brought her hands up to put them on the back of her head. Angel and Richmond did likewise.

Meridina started to as well. As her hands came up to near the level of her shoulders she acted. "Drop your weapons," she said in a stern tone. The words were simply a verbalization of the mental command she sent to them with her telepathy, an order into their brains to loosen their grips on their weapons and drop them.

Stirling and her comrades did just that. They looked at their dropped weapons with stunned shock.

The other three all dashed forward, selecting a target. Richmond caught one guard with chop to the neck and a follow-up punch. Angel's opponent recovered enough to attempt a first blow. Angel blocked it with her left arm. Her right arm snapped forward in a punch that caught her opponent off-guard, flooring him. She moved to pin him.

This left Julia with Stirling. Julia struck first, throwing a punch that knocked Stirling backward. Stirling recovered enough to not fall. She was still unbalanced, though, and Julia took advantage of that with a snap kick that sent a tooth flying from her opponent's mouth while she toppled backward. Again she caught herself, so Julia moved in to try and put Stirling down.

This time her blow never connected. She barely had time to begin the movement of her next blow when dark blue energy gathered around Stirling's arm. Julia recognized it immediately, but had no time to react before the dark matter struck her. It was pure force, so much that it sent her flying back into the wall with bone-jarring power.

Stirling snarled and turned toward Angel and Richmond, who were now cooperating against the other remaining ERCS guard. She gathered biotic power into her hand.

She never got a chance to use it. Meridina's power, invisible by nature, slammed into Stirling. The dark matter wreathing her hand and forearm dissipated from the loss of focus. After she hit the ground she stood up, snarling in frustration and anger at Meridina. "You'll never leave here!" she shouted. "You've assaulted ERCS personnel, defied the Administrator…"

"You mean we've fought off an attempt to hide the Administrator's corruption," Julia replied hoarsely, picking herself up from the ground. "We know what he's been doing, Sergeant. You can't protect him."

"To hell with Anoleis. I'm not bending for you, for you and your alien freak with her mind powers," Stirling hissed. She gathered more biotic power and threw it in an instant.

Meridina held a hand up. A meter away from her the dark matter blew apart, as if striking a solid object. "Hatred clouds minds," she said in reply to Stirling. "I do not wish to hurt you. I…"

Julia watched as Meridina paled. She had no opportunity to ask what it was, as Stirling sensed the lapse and tossed another biotic bolt. Meridina didn't stop this one and it sent her flying upward into the air. A second bolt crashed into her and sent her flying against the wall beyond with even greater force. Meridina let out a cry of pain when she slammed into the wall and fell to the carpet. Julia felt a surge of panic at the way she flopped lifelessly, her eyes half-closed. As if she'd hit her head.

Stirling snarled with satisfaction before turning her attention to the others. There was a release of breath and the guard Angel and Richmond were tag-teaming went down, unconscious, to Richmond's chokehold. They turned in time to see Stirling's arm wreathed in dark matter. Both lunged.

Stirling threw out a biotic bolt that struck both. They hit the wall beside Julia and went down to the ground.

"Now, where were we?" Stirling asked. "Oh, right. You're all under arrest." She walked up to her discarded weapon and picked it up. "Although I'm of a mind to just finish this here." She lifted the rifle toward them. "Yeah, I think I'm going to just shoot the four of you for wasting my damn time."

"My crew will get to the bottom of this," Julia warned her.

"I doubt it. And it's not going to do you any good." Stirling raised the rifle at her. Julia glared defiantly, the only thing she could do in the moments she had left.

A pair of gloved hands grabbed the sides of Stirling's head. Surprise briefly flashed on her face before her head violently twisted to the right. An audible crack filled the air. The hands released her, allowing her body to fall lifelessly to the ground, her head turned at an unnatural angle.

Stirling's killer looked down at her briefly from behind his aviator's sunglasses. The accented man who send them to Qui'in looked up toward them, as if he'd just dealt with an annoying business matter, not a swift execution. "Captain," he said. "I see you ran into some trouble."

"You could say that." She stared at the killer, relieved at being alive, but wondering just what the hell she was dealing with. "Thank you. She was about to shoot us."

"I noticed." He shifted his head slightly. "Your Forceful officer dropped her guard. Puzzling. Sergeant Stirling was no match for her otherwise."

His words jolted Julia's attention to Meridina. She led the others over to her. Richmond knelt and did a scan with her omnitool. "I'm no medical expert, but I believe she's suffered a cranial injury. I can't tell you the severity."

"We need to get her back to the Aurora," Julia said. "Take her to the Irrawaddy, I'll finish things up down here." She glanced toward their rescuer. He seemed to be deep in thought. "So what is going on? Who are you and what's your…"

"Shh." He raised a finger. "We're not alone."

"What do you…"

Before Julia could finish something rushed in, too fast to be Human. To her amazement he moved just as quickly. There was the sound of flesh striking flesh, their new ally went flying off into Qui'in's office, and a new dark-clad figure was falling backward from them. It - he - rolled with it and wound up on his feet. He was a pale man, with skin more white in tone than even Richmond's porcelain complexion. Wiry in frame, but taller than any of those present. A snarl formed on his face. "What a prize," he rasped, in a voice that rasped so hoarsely it didn't sound like it could come from a Human.

"Holy crap," Julia heard Angel mutter. "It's like that…"

The attacker spoke again. "I thought only to follow the Black, but I have been gifted opportunity. Dawn-Bringers in my presence…"

Julia and Angel exchanged glances at that reference. "What do you want?" Julia asked the thing.

"Your deaths," rasped the being. And without another word, he sprang forward.