Location: Artemis Tau, Athens System, SSV Normandy SR-1

When I got aboard the Normandy the first thing I had to do was address the crew. I gave them a speech about how humanity is the only species with the balls and the courage to stop people like Saren and the crew loved it. Quite a few approached me afterwards and praised me for standing by humanity.

That was a week ago, before we started searching for Dr T'Soni. It would only make sense if she was Saren's first stop in all of this. That vision made almost no sense to me, so I'm assuming it made no sense to Saren either. We both need the Doctor to tell us what we saw and where it happened because if neither of us understood the beacon's message then neither of us will find the conduit. And if by any chance that Saren did understand what that message meant then I think Benezia's probably just looking for her daughter to recruit her, and we can't let a Prothean expert join their side.

"Nate is something on your mind?" Rylee asked.

I was sitting at the table in my new cabin, eating whatever military slop I was given with Rylee.

"Just getting real impatient. We should have found that Doctor by now. Well we would have if Udina gave us more to go on besides an entire fucking cluster. What he said about looking for Prothean buildings and landmarks shit is shit. All of these planets have the same Prothean crap. I'm a week in to my first mission and I'm no closer to my goal," I ranted in with more frustration than I should have let on.

"Nate calm down. We might have scoured this entire system and found nothing but-"

"I need to figure out what this vision meant and that Dr is probably my best shot at it. Besides, she might know what and where the conduit is or at least know something about the Reapers."

"I know you're under a lot of pressure so you're frustrated. But if you'd let me finish I'm about to make your day," she bragged.

"Enlighten me."

"I have a contact on Illium who used to be one of Benezia's acolytes. She was in contact with Liara a few years ago and she said Liara had a series of digs planned out between 2180 and 2184."

"Is there a point to this story?"

"I'm getting there. She just sent me that list of planned excavations and of all the digs which were scheduled only 4 were in the Artemis Tau cluster. And all of them were in the Knossos system. 3 of them were scheduled for Armeni and the last was for Therum."

"Wait… you've narrowed it down to two planets… Thank you. You're even more useful than Udina."

"Was there ever a doubt, what would you do without me?"

"We'll start with Therum. If there's only one digsite then that one should be the easiest to search."

"I'll go and tell Joker."

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I had just finished eating in the Mess when some of the engineering team entered the room. I overheard the group of them talking about a Quarian in the engineering room so my first instinct was to enquire about her.

"She's been spending all her time down here, asking about our engines."

"I'll tell her to leave you alone," I assured.

Adams shook his head in protest. "What! She's amazing. I wish half my guys were as smart as she was. Give her a month on board and she'll know more about our engines than I do. She's got a real knack for technology that one. I can see why you wanted her to come along."

"I can't deny her skill. According to Lt Shepard, anyone who can remove a Geth's audio file before it explodes has to be on my team. I'm trusting her instincts on this one."

"She's got an eye for talent that's for sure," Adams finished before returning to his meal with the rest of the Engineering crew.

After completing my meal, I decided that a little gym work would do me some good and get me warmed up in case we have to go groundside for Therum. I can't make the same mistakes I made in Chora's Den. I need to do better for the sake of the team.

On my way down to the armoury on the engineering deck I encountered Garrus. He nodded as he entered the elevator with me.

"Hey Anderson, what brings you down here?"

"I'm checking the weapons bench. Making sure my SPECTRE gear is ready for combat," I responded. I'm not close with the Turian and I have no interest in getting to know him at the moment.

"By the way, I just want to thank you for bringing me aboard, Commander. I knew working with a SPECTRE would be better than life at C-Sec."

"Have you worked with a SPECTRE before?"

"Well no. but I know what they're like. SPECTRE's make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way. At C-Sec, you're buried by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back."

"Being a SPECTRE does have its advantages."

"Exactly my point. If I'm trying to take down a suspect, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it. But C-Sec wants to do it their way. Protocol and procedure come first. That's why I left."

"So what you're telling me is that you quit because you didn't like procedure?"

"There's more to it than that. It didn't start out bad, but as I rose in ranks, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren's typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving."

"You did the right thing. Life's too short to sit around and wait for things to happen."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Either way, I plan to make the most of this. And without C-Sec HQ looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done my way for a change."

"As long as you do your job well, you're free to go about your business as you see fit."

"Thank you Commander," he appreciated before he got back to working on the Mako.

I was once again stopped on my way to the bench by the resident Krogan of the ship. "Nice ship you got here, Anderson."

"Thanks, it's the Alliance's best."

Something dawned on me which I still didn't understand "Wrex, why are you here? I know I'm not paying your services, you seem willing to join us on ground missions and you follow my orders."

"It's simple. I'm curious to see how this all pans out and you're actually a competent leader. If you were a fool I would have eaten you."

"Eaten me?"

"Human heart is surprisingly chewy."

I know how Krogan work. Force tends to illicit positive reactions from them so it was time to toughen up. "Try that and I'll mount your head in the CIC to show people never fuck with Nate Anderson," I snarled.

Wrex squinted his eyes to see if there was any lie or bravado in my statement. "HA! The human has quad. Don't worry Anderson, so long as you don't tell me to do something real stupid we'll have no problem."

"So long, Wrex" I dismissed before heading towards my weapons bench.

Wait a minute. I should really get a feel for the alien's personalities. I need to be able to assess if they're potential liabilities and see how I could coerce them in case they need convincing. Wrex's motivations were pretty easy to read, just promise him a good battle and he's up for it. I need to spin a 'justice' angle for Garrus to get him on my side. But Tali was an unknown to me.

She'd kept herself holed up in the engineering room ever since she had gotten aboard

When I entered the engineering room she was the first person I saw.

"Your ship's amazing Anderson, I've never seen a drive core like this before. I can't believe you were able to fit it in a ship this small. I'm starting to see why you humans have been so successful, I never had any idea ships in the Alliance were this advanced."

She proceeded to bore me with ship tech talk. I could already tell that she was enthusiastic and excited about being aboard the Normandy. She was like a child. My previous experience with Quarians shows that they mostly keep to themselves and they were generally selfless. They are probably one of the few alien races that I can tolerate.

She explained her struggles aboard the Migrant fleet, their scavenging and recycling to survive. From what she explained the Migrant fleet didn't seem too different from a gang. No set wants anyone who will be useless or too soft. Her pilgrimage was sort of an initiation to prove her worth and once it's done you can represent your family with pride. The main difference was Quarians had an end goal for their people, whereas gangs are just created out of boredom and have no objective.

I think she'd rather stay in the Engine Room than come with me on missions, so she'll probably spend more time here than groundside.

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I finally found the time in the week to visit Chief Williams. I've been busy handling paperwork and reading the SPECTRE material Councillor Tevos forwarded me along with 500000 credits to start things off. There was a shitload of requisition information, protocol and a list of SPECTRE's. That combined with the fact that I had to investigate these planets trying to find the Doctor. Go to the gym every day to keep in shape and deal with Alliance Brass try and keep what little hold they have over me through constant meetings and congratulations.

"Commander, what are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on my crew. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing better. The doctor said that I should be cleared for combat in 4 days"

"That's good. I know I was hesitant to let you on board but after what happened on Chora's Den you proved Anderson right about letting you on board. Your performance was great."

"Thanks Commander."

"Something on your mind Chief?"

"It's… since I've been in this bed I've had time to think… too much time to think."

"Eden Prime."

"Yeah, I just wish you'd gotten there sooner. No offense, I appreciate the rescue. I just wish…"

"Alright stop right there. I know what you're thinking right now because I've been through the same. After Akuze they had me hospitalised for weeks and I kept thinking of every conceivable action I could have taken to save my squad and I had a mental breakdown as a result. You need to put this behind you."

"Commander."

"You're a good soldier Williams. Don't start blaming yourself for deaths that weren't your fault. That's how you end up in the psych ward. Trust me I know."

"Y-yes sir."

"I know I was cold earlier and I had no right to out my frustrations with what happened down there on you. For that I'm sorry. But please know that you can talk to me about Eden Prime if you ever need to get things off your chest."

"Thank you Commander."

"Commander, heavy Geth activity has been detected on Therum and we're picking up transmissions between Saren and a merc who looks like he's found the Doctor," Joker announced over the PA.

"Joker, tell Shepard, Alenko, Wrex and Garrus I want them at the airlock ASAP" I informed the helmsman.

"Aye, aye!"