Author's Note: He everyone, this is the 3rd published chapter, and I hopefully plan on getting out a chapter every Saturday, but no promises. Anyway, on with the show!"

NOTE: Until this disclaimer is removed, the story is a broken mess. Read on at your own peril, but I warn you that the quality will be drastically reduced until I'm done reworking and rewriting. I will copy-paste this onto the next chapter when finished with editing.

Chapter Two: Recruitment

Dâgalûr made his way to the elevator that led to the Presidium, before coming across a door to his left. He came to a halt, overhearing a conversation. He took his helmet off and put his ear to the door, hoping it wouldn't open and blow his cover.

Dâgalûr distinctly heard a young woman's voice, but it was metallic, like the user was more machine than flesh, but also with some form of Haradric-like, exotic accent. The other user he could make out to be a male turian, just like that asshole bartender.

"Did you bring it?"

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?"

"They'll be here. Where's the evidence?"

"No way. The deal's off."

Dâgalûr couldn't resist anymore, and opened the door manually with his omni-tool. He saw the turian, a young quarian, and two salarians, all in the center of the alley, and at the other side of the alley stood the same scarlet-haired woman from earlier in the day, alongside another turian and a krogan watching undetected from the other entryway into the alley. The turian in the center quickly took notice of Dâgalûr .

"Get lost, bud, before I blow your brains out." He drew the attention of everyone in the alley to Dâgalûr.

Two simple words exited his mouth. "Make me."

The turian fired two rounds from a pistol, aimed straight for Dâgalûr's chest and head. The next thing Dâgalûr knew, his eyes glowed with an orange-white light, and his voice was as deep and booming as the Sea of Núrnen, he extended his hand. Both bullets stopped inches away from his face, and crumpled like aluminum foil as he clenched his fist. He heard mumbling from almost everyone in the alley, ranging from, "I've never seen such biotics in my life!", to, "What the hell did I just see?"

"Shouldn'ta' done that, fool." Dâgalûr said.

The turian didn't know it, but doing that was his death sentence. The quarian cartwheeled out of the way, and a small explosion went off near the assassin salarians, staggering them. Dâgalûr charged straight at the turian, his torn cape flowing freely, and tackled him to the ground. He let a mighty orcish roar as he fell to the ground, and proceeded to maul the turian with nothing but the bladed, claw-like finger-tips of his gauntlets. The woman and her companions, along with the quarian, began to open fire on the other two assassins, killing them in a shower of bullets.

They then watched in horror as the turian's mortal existence was cut short when Dâgalûr tore his jugular open with his orc teeth and feasted upon the blue blood within. He got to his feet and used his cape as a napkin, as the other four individuals backed up slightly and looked at him with a sense of horror, disgust, and confusion. Dâgalûr grinned let out a low chuckle as he inspected the four of them.

The quarian turned back to the three, trying to ignore the grizzled beast next to her. "Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!"

The woman leading the others asked, "Where you hurt in the fight?"

"I know how to look after myself, not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?"

"My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren is a traitor."

Dâgalûr had no idea of what these nutcases were talking about. He recognized the name Shepard from earlier, knowing that she could not be trusted.

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life. But not here. We need to go somewhere safe."

The krogan pointed to Dâgalûr. "What about him?"

The four turned their attention back to Dâgalûr.

"You again?"

Dâgalûr planted a grimace on his face. Nobody really wanted to talk to him, let alone be within his line of sight, out of fear of enraging him again. On top of it all, he smelled foul, like a mixture of rotting flesh and body odor. Nobody had picked up the scent until just then, but the quarian quickly blocked the offending scent from entering her suit, and the krogan showed no visible reaction. Shepard gagged, however, and the turian backpeddled slightly to distance himself from the odor.

Shepard finally broke the silence. "What the hell is that stench?"

Dâgalûr gave no answer, but let out a low croak.

The turian nudged Shepard with his elbow. "Careful. He could be an escaped mental patient."

The krogan crossed his arms. "Last I checked, mental patients didn't wear suits of armor, or roar like animals."

"He killed that guy with nothing but his hands and teeth and ate a part of him. Pretty sure that qualifies as 'deranged'."

Dâgalûr was getting pissy now. "If anyone here's deranged, it's this lot of freaks." he thought to himself. He shot a venemous glare at the turian.

"If he's on our side, I don't care what he is." Shepard retorted. "I remember you from earlier. Who are you?"

Dâgalûr extended his hand. "Dâgalûr." Shepard reluctantly shook it.

"Shepard." She pointed back to the turian. "This is Garrus." Dâgalûr nodded at him. "And this is Wrex." Dâgalûr nodded at the krogan. Both of the aliens behind her responded with the same nod. "What's your business here?"

"I have no business here. I wandered over here from the 'Academy'. Damned bartender wouldn't take my coin, so he sent his goons after me."

Garrus chimed in, "Told you he had a few screws loose, Commander."

Dâgalûr snorted at Garrus, attempting to intimidate him enough to get him to shut his gob for more than ten seconds.

"Garrus, we don't have time for you two to be at each other's throats."

"I suppose you're right. We could just take them both to the Human Embassy. Your ambassador will want to see this evidence anyway." The five turned back and began their trek to the Embassy.

Along the way, the quarian nudged Dâgalûr to get his attention. "I also wanted to thank you for saving my life back there along with Shepard, Dâgalûr." She struggled to correctly pronounce his name. "Did I say that right? Anyway, I don't know how I can repay you. I doubt you'll find any use in what Shepard needs."

Dâgalûr didn't care about a reward. Nothing in this galaxy meant jackshit to him. Especially not some stranger's life. There was one way she could repay him, but Dâgalûr didn't want to rot in a cell if she said no, so he didn't even bother asking. "Yes, you said it right. Forget about the reward. I got to kill someone and get away with it. That's a reward in and of itself." He just wanted her to stop talking.

When they arrived, they were met with two humans, whom Dâgalûr believed to be politicians. The elder one turned to Shepard.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the Wards, an all-out assault on Chora's Den, do you know many…" He had turned around and paused, surprised to see them all. "Who are these? A quarian and one of these new 'orcs' I've been hearing about? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Making your day, ambassador. She has information linking Saren to the geth, and he... well, we can't figure out what to do with him."

"Well then, maybe you better start at the beginning, miss…"

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"And mister…"

"Dâgalûr."

Ambassador Udina redirected his attention to Tali. "Anyway, we don't see many quarians around here. Why did you leave the flotilla?"

"I was on my pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."

"I've never heard of this before." Shepard replied.

"It is a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity, we leave the ships our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."

"What kinds of things do you look for?"

"It could be resources, like food or fuel, or some type of useful technology, or even knowledge that will make life easier on the flotilla. Through our pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than be a burden on our limited resources."

"When will you globs just fucking get on with it?" Dâgalûr thought to himself.

"Tell us what you found."

"During my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the veil. I was curious. I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world, I waited for one to become separated from its unit, then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

The younger of the two men, whom Dâgalûr didn't catch the name of, appeared to be decorated with medals. He finally spoke up. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some sort of defense mechanism."

"How did you manage to preserve the memory core?" Shepard asked.

"My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful, and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio banks."As she said this, she fiddled with her omni-tool, which emitted the voice of a turian. "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Saren's voice! This proves he was involved in the attack!" The younger man exclaimed.

Shepard spoke up. "He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding 'The Conduit'. Any idea what that means?"

"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology; like a weapon."

Tali continued. "Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't working alone." She played the recording over again, but after Saren's voice, another more feminine voice said, "... And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"I don't recognise that other voice, the one talking about 'Reapers'." The ambassador said.

Shepard was confused. "Are they some kind of new alien species?"

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished! At least, that's what the geth believe."

The ambassador had to put his two cents in once more. "Sounds a little farfetched."

Shepard had a look of pure shock on her face. "The vision on Eden Prime. I understand it now. I saw the protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life, and they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back."

The ambassador rolled his eyes. "The Council is just going to love this..."

Dâgalûr was growing impatient. He was through with being nice. He would show them what a true Uruk warrior could do if they didn't hurry this along. He still had to go get Laga and get home. He was already fed up with this universe.

Shepard showed genuine concern. "The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel Space. We have to tell-"

"No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor!"

"The captain's right, we need to present this to the council right away."

Wrex finally opened his mouth. "What about her? The quarian? And the... Whatever-he-is?"

"My name is Tali!"

"You're itchin' for a good shanking, aren't ya?"

"You saw me in the alley, Commander, you know what I can do, let me come with you!" "I thought you were on your pilgrimage." "The pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My pilgrimage can wait."

Attention then shifted to Dâgalûr, with a silence only broken by Shepard. "What about you, Dâgalûr? Do you have somewhere you've got to get going?"

"No, I've got nowhere in this hellhole to go. Sure as hell ain't getting home anytime soon. Since you've finally shut your gobs, I can say it sounds like you need every blade you can get, though. You've seen what I can do to my enemies, Commander. The choice is yours."

"I'll take all the help I can get. You're both in." The two moved behind Shepard. "Wise decision." "Thanks. You won't regret this."

The ambassador interrupted again. "Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us in the Tower." The two men were off.

"If you see my boy Laga there, tell him to report back to me." Dâgalûr halfheartedly stated

"Dâgalûr, Wrex, I think it'd be best if you two headed back to the Normandy."

"The what?"

"It's our ship."

"You travel by boat in this universe?"

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Sure, Dâgalûr and his lot were new to the Galaxy, but were they really so primitive as to not know what spacecraft are? "Anyways, when you get there, inform Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams that she's to report to me immediately. She'll be downstairs in Storage."

As the two made their way back to the ship, Dâgalûr began questioning the krogan next to him. "So, what's your story, Wrex?"

"There is no story. It's the same as all krogan."

"Listen, you overgrown lizard, all I learned from that damned officer during his interrogation is that the turians and salarians sterilized your people."

"That's all there is. Nearly all krogan newborn are stillborn, and most never even make it that far. Would you want to talk about it if it were your species?" He pointed a finger at Dâgalûr. "And, by the way, if you ever call me 'overgrown lizard' again, you'll be coughing up your own testicles."

"I've eaten bigger rats than you." Dâgalûr let out another low-pitched growl to the krogan next to him.

"Hmm… the fact that you had the guts to keep running your mouth after my threat makes me respect you a little more, you fat little greaseball."

"You're on thin ice, krogan. You saw me stop two of those death-pellets and crumple them like paper. I'd choose your next few words carefully."

Wrex merely responded with a chuckle. He could easily break this... orc, whatever it was, in half if he wanted to. He simply dropped the conversation.

After a few minutes of walking, the two got in C-Sec Academy's elevator and went up, which slightly unhinged Dâgalûr. He had never been in such a device before, but he kept his composure. The two then found their way to the ship (which, as Dâgalûr found out, was definitely not a boat), and boarded it. As they entered the first room, an overhead voice began to say, "Decontamination in progress", as the small room filled with mist and a screen passed over them. Both of them felt uncomfortable during the process, but it was a necessary step to avoid offworld germs.

After that, they walked onto the Command Deck with a large CIC containing a galactic map hologram near the end of it. They descended a flight of stairs and went for another elevator ride, which Dâgalûr was mentally prepared for this time, before coming to a large room with a six-wheeled vehicle in it, which read 'Mako' along its side, and boxes stacked everywhere. They were the Engineering and Storage sections of the Normandy, and the two of them made themselves at home, with Wrex leaning against the wall to the right, and Dâgalûr leaning against one of the beams supporting the track that the Mako travelled on. In the far back of the room, a woman was standing over some sort of counter, cleaning advanced weapons Dâgalûr could not comprehend.

Dâgalûr went over to her and asked, "Are you Ashley Williams?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

It took all of Dâgalûr's strength not to sock her right in the jaw. "Shepard wants to see you immediately."

"Alright, I'm on it."

The Gunnery Chief went off to join the current squad, taking the elevator up. Dâgalûr then proceeded to decorate the beam with Mordor's flag, one of his only keepsakes from home. After an hour of nothing but silence, the only sound being the breathing of the two warriors, Tali, Ashley, and Garrus made their way down, with Laga not far behind.

"So, what happened?"

"They were a wee bit shocked. Couldn't handle a bit o' Uruk, it seems."

This made the two orcish companions laugh, fairly hard at that.

"But that Asari, though, Sulelsha..."

Dâgalûr was almost in tears laughing. Had one of his highest ranking soldiers, an ancient librarian and sorcerer, really fallen for a blue-pinkskin?

Tali made herself comfortable in Engineering, Ashley returned to her original position, Garrus decided to look over the Mako, close to Dâgalûr, and Laga took a seat on a stack of boxes. Shortly thereafter, a voice, which Dâgalûr knew was Shepard's, spoke over the intercom.

"This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy. For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy. Time to show them what humans are made of!"

It took all of Laga's and Dâgalûr's willpowers combined not to laugh at that statement. A pinkskin's a pinkskin, no matter what dimension.

"Wherever Saren goes, we'll follow. Wherever he searches for the Conduit, we'll be there. We will hunt him to the very ends of the galaxy and bring him down!" Ashley, Dâgalûr, Garrus, and Wrex all stood around each other and listened as Shepard continued, "Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel Space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all… we will stop him!" With that, Shepard's inspirational speech had concluded, and the four went back to what they were doing.