Cenotaph I: The Morrow

by Rob Sears

Roahn'Shepard was always doomed to an abnormal life. As the daughter of John and Tali, she would always be overshadowed by her parents' heroics, but at home... her father is no hero. He is distant. Withdrawn. But when a new threat arises, she and her father are forced to confront their differences and Roahn will soon discover what it means to be the daughter of Commander Shepard.

13. Chapter 13: Foundation of Lies

"Now that we have the public records introduced as part of our evidence, let's take a look at the list of campaign donors that are displayed on Chimera's sheets. Exhibit 16b, I believe. Nothing out of the ordinary upon first glance, although one does note that Chimera has a distinct pattern of donating rather large sums of money bi-annually to many political action committees for politicians whose views align with the corporation's interests. We will state for the record that this committee right now is not charging Chimera with improper donations—ever since Citizen's United v. FEC was overturned in 2021, it has been deemed illegal for any corporation to donate directly to a campaign. Donations to PACs are still allowed, and Chimera is apparently abiding by that law."
Sen. Shah – Indian Republic

"Will there be an overall point to this statement, senator?"
Erich Koenig – CEO, Chimera

"If you would refrain from making any butting comments, all of us would reach that point quicker, Mr. Koenig."
Sen. Shah – Indian Republic

"You're right. My apologies."
Erich Koenig – CEO, Chimera

"Your apology is unnecessary. What is necessary is to understand Chimera's overall need to make any political donations at all. For a corporation with such an extensive governmental contract, it does not sit well with many of my colleagues that your company continues to wield influence like a heavy club, trying to buy loyalty with a massive checkbook. This sort of behavior is acceptable for those trying to find business with potential clients, but is considered boorish when a client has already been obtained. Are you understanding the picture right now?"
Sen. Shah – Indian Republic

"Senator, if Chimera has violated any laws, you might as well come out and say it."
Erich Koenig – CEO, Chimera

"We don't need to rise to such a challenge, Mr. Koenig. After all, this will only be all the more apparent come the time when your contract is nearing its expiration date. And many of us just might want to be beholden a little more to our constituents, whom might I add, are none too happy about your little arrangement. So, might as well try to remain as comfortable as you can, Mr. Koenig. Your behavior determines the future of your company."
Sen. Shah – Indian Republic

---

Thessia

When Roahn had eventually learned that she was about to step foot on Thessia, she initially had no idea what to make of it. Being a well-learned individual for her age, her first reaction was one of pleasant surprise. Another world for her to visit! A check mark to add to her growing list of galactic destinations! More sights, more sounds! It hit her in a vast hammer blow of incredulity in the beginning as her spirits summarily rose as she awaited to disembark.

However, upon seeing her father's tightened face as the glowing blue world proceeded into view after they had traversed the relay system, her enthusiasm withdrew from a boil down to a simmer. Her gut similarly twisted as the ship seared through the atmosphere, subtly yanked down as the planet's gravity took hold. Roahn held onto the guardrails as the craft bucked in the wake of turbulence, her eyes wide as she took in the sights from the window.

Black marks, charred and glassy, stretched on in uneven lines as far as the eye could see as Roahn's ship passed above ruffled grasslands. Enormous channels were seared into the ground, lingering reminders of scorching blows from gigantic laser-based attacks. A scar upon the land, a sign of the machine gods that had chosen to occupy this planet, and of the destruction they brought with them. The earth had cracked here, encrusted by heat in excess of a hundred thousand degrees. Plants, animals, and dirt had all melted into a shapeless mass of obsidian from the boiling attacks of the war, glistening and bubbling. Life was still burgeoning anew here, smashing its way from the layer of destruction to reach the pure air above.

Thessia, without resorting too much to hyperbole, had been the most stable economic power in the galaxy for millennia. The homeworld of the asari, Thessia had enjoyed for a long time, until war had come calling to its doorstep, a remarkably low rate of conflict, crime, or any sort of environmental disaster. There was a reason why many had dubbed this world "the crown jewel of the galaxy," or "the apex of democracy." Some romantics even referred to Thessia as the "beating heart of galactic love," most likely as a reference to the universally pleasing beings that inhabited the place.

Compared to the other forms of government that were erratically and sparsely pinpointed across the galaxy, the Thessian government enjoyed a fair share of influence across the entire Milky Way, both economically and politically. Thessia was practically inundated with natural reserves of element zero, so much that the asari's close proximity to eezo veins result in giving every single one the side effect of having active biotics in their body systems when they are born. Eezo is quite reactive with cells, especially those in vitro, and young asari are nearly universally susceptible to being born with natural biotics, especially if they so happen to be born on Thessia. The demand for eezo galaxy-wide, taking into account just how economically important the substance is for many industries, gave Thessia all the wealth it would ever need. The asari flourished and enjoyed the luxuries of its riches over the centuries.

Perhaps this languid state, the mindset of being comfortable among excess, was partly one of the reasons why the asari had yet to completely repair all of the damage accrued during the Reaper War. In contrast, Earth had made huge strides in their reconstruction progress while on Thessia, there remained several neighborhoods that looked like they could have been detonated by proton bombs just yesterday. The asari had been so caught off-guard when they were attacked that they became collectively shell-shocked, dazed into a gaping horror that something had manage to penetrate their veil of security, that had upended the perfect lives they had built for themselves.

From this distance above the ground, Roahn had quite the clear view at just how badly things had been upended here.

The girl had never before been to a world as developed as Thessia before. The only major city Roahn had ever visited had been Rannoch's capital, which was a slum in comparison to the urban sprawl she could see down below.

From the air, all Roahn was able to view on the ground was chaos.

Toppled buildings crumbled onto the streets, still left behind as fresh as the day they had fallen. The metal of walkways lay bubbled and twisted, curling as they peeled away from the stone foundations upon which they had been bonded to. The curvature of elegant constructions, blackened and maimed, created a blight upon the skyline. Chunks of condominiums still lingered, looking like a giant creature had taken a bite out of them in passing. Crushed skycars littered every nook and cranny. Shattered gas lines, fractured from eruptions, sadly resided in huge craters, cracked open from where detonations had pockmarked the earth.

But after a minute, the craft passed over a partition and suddenly the underlying ground was all squeaky clean to Roahn's eyes. Sparkling and glimmering with an ethereal light, Roahn could hardly believe how rapidly the landscape had changed in the literal blink of an eye. No longer was she looking at the forsaken ruins of what had appeared to be a massive battle zone, now she was staring in awe at the very sort of images she had seen in textbooks, on the extranet, and that had been described in whispers by passing traders.

This was the true Thessia she had been expecting. An unbroken swath of gleaming silver—a city as far as the eye could see. Untarnished. Unbroken.

Here the towers cradled the sky, seeming to support even the heavens with their tall spires. A steady flow of traffic created arteries of lights in the air, while a churning pot of individuals far below produced a broil of color. Light from the sun bounced around a multitude of surfaces, giving the city the appearance that it was glowing all around Roahn. Her visor had to automatically darken to shield her eyes and she marveled at the wonder that lay before her.

Roahn's thoughts then trailed back to the skeletal remains of the city she had seen before. All that destruction and damage, seemingly swept under the rug in a callous fashion. How could the asari sleep comfortably at night, knowing that parts of their home languished like that in such disrepair? Was the cleaner part of the city all a façade, a means to instill upon the asari population that things were all back to normal on their world?

If she had lived in that squalor, Roahn thought, then she figured she could never feel the dull bite of normality ever again. To be faced with the towering walls of heat and fire… it seemed irresponsible to leave it all in the open.

Now Roahn had a dilemma all to herself to figure out. If this was how a civilized world dealt with the aftermath of a war, what else could she expect from other worlds like it?

---

It was initially unclear just what was on Shepard's itinerary for Thessia, and to be honest, it was not all that set in stone in his mind either. All he knew was that he wanted Roahn to have the chance to be able to understand his position the last time he was here and for her to gain a deeper understanding of why this war ended up with the outcome that transpired.

Fortunately, when he had broached his hazy plan to Garrus, the turian was immediately able to come up with an idea of how they could do just that. All they needed to do was to follow him for a few blocks after they landed and Garrus would show Shepard how he could provide his daughter just a little more context.

Landing at the spaceport was a rather dull affair, which suited Shepard just fine. He was not in the mood for any surprises right about now. The Thessian control tower did not need Shepard's name to confirm him for a landing spot, just the ID of his ship. This would ensure that his presence here would be kept rather quiet and that he would not have a gaggle of admirers waiting for him once he lowered the ramp to exit. Good thing too, as Shepard's flight from Rannoch was still pretty incognito to the rest of the civilized galaxy. When the trio eventually did leave the craft, all that greeted them was a sparse cluster of bored-looking dock attendants, already setting to refuel and restock the ship's supplies, barely paying any of them much mind.

This part of Thessia certainly looked to be in a much improved condition since the last time that Shepard had been here. It was a relief to be walking down the roads and to not have to anticipate a stray husk jumping at him from behind a walled garden, or to have a harvester make a strafing run upon his position from the air. Here, all he had to contend with were pedestrians—a sea of asari in every shade of blue imaginable to the eye. He had been armed and armored back then. He had courted danger at every turn when this planet had been burning. It was almost confusing to bear witness to what more than a decade of peace could accomplish.

Garrus led the way down an automated staircase, while Shepard kept Roahn close to his side. In their current attire, none of them were even remotely recognizable, and even when they found the main avenues for foot traffic, no bystander jumped from the crowd to accost them. They were invisible.

As he pushed his way through the flowing crowd of asari, Shepard felt a smile grace his lips. To be an anonymous face in the crowd was quite welcome. Blissful, even.

Very soon it was clear what Garrus was leading him to after about a mile of walking. A glimmering dome of a shimmering alloy flanked by towering skyscrapers, bulbous and bright, revealed itself past the passenger tunnels, asari script blazing proudly above the entrance.

The Athame Foundation – Gallery and Museum, it read.

Shepard silently looked at Garrus, who gave a complacent shrug.

"It'll be a learning experience, I wager," the turian drawled.

Shepard's fingers began unconsciously tapping on Roahn's shoulders, causing the girl to look up at her father expectantly, as if she was awaiting for him to say something to her.

"How'd you hear about this place?" Shepard directed to the turian.

Garrus shrugged. "I'm a fan of one of their guest lecturers."

"No, seriously."

Garrus tilted his arm so that Shepard could see something on his omni-tool. "I am being serious."

Roahn could not see what Garrus was referring to, but a knowing spark in Shepard's eyes flared momentarily as he peered at the text upon the turian's tool and then he gave a quick smile, followed by a nod of acceptance. "A learning experience, indeed."

The turian then partially knelt down to appraise Roahn. "Ever been to one of these before?" He jerked a thumb back towards the entrance of the gallery.

Laboriously, Roahn shook her head. "Never. What's inside?"

Garrus gave a slow blink. "History, dear Roahn. Good and bad. If you want to understand your father more, this place will definitely help you."

Looking up to see if he had overstepped any bounds, Garrus expected Shepard to be shooting daggers at him with his eyes, but when he finally did lock eyes with the human, all he could see was acceptance and knowing in Shepard's face.

"We'll take as long as you need," Shepard said to his daughter as he affectionately squeezed her shoulders. "No sense in trying to censor things here. Unless the asari have already gone to the trouble…"

"Oh, they already have," Garrus uttered in a strangled whisper, after performing a double-take to make sure that not too many people within earshot. "They've removed any and all references to the… to the you-know-what. But the rest of the important parts, they haven't touched. Besides, you can help Roahn fill in the blanks, if you like."

"That's been my goal from the start, anyway."

"Splendid. Shall we?" Garrus made a grand gesture, a flourish with his arm, towards the automated raven dark glass doors, which parted to admit the three into a cavernous murk draped in black so thick that it cut out the bloody crimson rays of the sun behind them.

Cold air smashed into them in a frigid blast. Roahn had to hold on to her father otherwise she felt that she would be blown away.

Sweeping columns in a pyramidal scheme greeted the three as they entered the gallery, tall supports of deep purple that took on the appearance of thick arteries all running up to a metallic beating heart in the center: a holographic representation of the Milky Way as everyone knew it. A glimmering disc filled with the light of a billion stars, boiling and churning in the wake of combustible gases.

Roahn craned her head as far back as possible, but even so, she was unable to see the ceiling. Much like Omega, the roof just sloped up, and up, and up, until there was nothing but a vague shadow consuming her line of sight, despite the fact that she intrinsically knew the rafters had to connect to a point somewhere up there. The girl shivered, feeling miniscule in this massive building.

As they all moved past an initial set of pillars that were twice as tall as Roahn, their omni-tools beeped as a small sum of credits was summarily docked from their accounts. The entrance fee.

Now that they were fully committed, Shepard and Garrus halted to congregate in the lobby, while scores of elegant asari flowed past them, not caring a whiff about the mismatched group in the middle of the foyer.

"Where to, Shepard?" Garrus asked as he pulled up a map of the place.

Shepard blinked. "Why are you asking me? This is the first time I've been here. How should I know where to look?"

"Just wanted to see if you had an opinion."

"I have no opinion, Garrus. Let me see the map and I'll form an opinion in due time."

Roahn rolled her eyes as she slowly edged away from the two squabbling men. Keelah, they could bicker like a married couple, all right. The acidity and snark being traded between Shepard and Garrus certainly came naturally to them. Maybe, Roahn considered, this was all part of the friendship between Garrus and Shepard—they knew each other so implicitly that they could afford to throw a few barbs at each other from time to time. Who knows, perhaps they enjoyed this petty side of arguing?

With her hands folded innocently behind her back, Roahn entered the first exhibit through the first darkly carpeted hallway once she was sure that her father and Garrus were following behind her several lengths away, at a staggered pace.

Roahn kept an open mind as she strolled through the first part of the museum, not exactly knowing what she was about to see, but she had to keep herself contained so that she would not dart all over the place looking to absorb everything in one go. After her little sojourn on Omega, she knew that her father would want to always have her in his sights from now on.

The introductory exhibit encapsulated the early history of Thessia, and the asari along with it. Giant behemoths of bone—fossils of extinct creatures that had roamed the planet millions of years ago—proudly stood upright, as if they could merely take a simple step forward… if only life clung to their bones once more. Accompanying the remains were early tools used by ancient asari hunters: arrowheads, skinning shears, rudimentary utensils. Derivations passed down from generation to generation. The trailing part of the timeline documenting the inspiration for items taken for granted nowadays.

The next sequence was a collection of antique art pieces created on Thessia. The variety of mediums spanned the length of a singular corridor that had to be half a mile in length. Rock paintings, sculptures, mosaics. Swaths of the most brilliant colors Roahn could imagine. Delicate dabs of paint dipped in water. Wide smears of thickly dyed acrylics. A renaissance of thought. Impressionistic interpretations.

Self-portraits of matriarchs. Depictions of the stars and worlds. Collections of storied writings. A history parallel to that of any other species.

A dazzle to the eyes. Roahn was transfixed.

But the girl would continue to have her attention pulled in every direction as she heard a projected voice echo from a side chamber. Roahn turned around and saw a sign pointing in the direction of the voice that indicated that she was looking at the entrance to a theater room. Perfect! More things to see!

"…into raging waters Thessia befell, for in 2186 a scourge, one the current inhabitants of this galaxy had never seen the likes of before, descended upon us without warning," the pleasant voice of the omnipresent narrator intoned, thought there was a dark undertone that was morosely reflected in the speaker.

Roahn padded into the room, finding that she was the only one in the circular space. A cushioned bench ringed the entire circumference of the room, but Roahn chose to stand smack dab in the center, as holo-screens taller than her lifted above her head, dousing the room with light, and filling her visor with wonder and terror simultaneously, thanks to the bevy of chaotic images that would soon grace its blank face.

The images being shown on the screens were not calm and still frames, but violent, shaking handheld clips depicting gigantic metal machines with spider-like legs, reaching heights taller than the tallest buildings on the planet, roaring ear-splitting bellows, and spewing vibrant and effervescent red bolts of light. Roahn could hear people in the footage screaming in panic and every so often she would get a flash of a panicked face as the asari on Thessia tried to flee from the Reapers, which were already proceeding to wreak havoc the moment they touched down upon the planet. The soundtrack that accompanied the clips was dark and brooding, simmering in the background, waiting for the perfect opportunity to swell and strike.

"They showed no mercy."

Beams spat from the Reapers in the footage, scything through skyscrapers in seconds. Civilians were vaporized in an instant, leaving behind either swirls of ash or blackened corpses that were devoid of any familiarity, all their flesh having been melted off.

"No one was given any opportunity to surrender."

Rabid husks were shown jumping out of storefront windows, smashing straight through plate glass, leaving a trail of slick ichor behind. Marauders carefully plodded at an even length, firing jagged beams of energy into a fleeing crowd of asari. Cannibals tucked their heads, their arms outstretched, and dove into the pack of people with aplomb. Even from the shaky angles, Roahn could still see blood and flesh fountain into the air and she wobbled where she stood, simultaneously astonished and a little sickened.

"We could not fight back. We were being hunted."

A new angle in the film focused intensely upon the face of a banshee, a Reaperized asari. The indoctrination process had stretched the flesh and bone of what had formerly been an intelligent and individual being, causing it to tower nearly three meters in height. The wavy cartilage of its head had grown out into spikes, the once-vibrant irises paled to a blue-gray, and fingers of the banshee had elongated into spindly razors, delicate as the wings of a bird. The banshee, true to its name, gave a high-pitched shriek that seemed to disorient the person recording the footage. The monstrosity then darted towards the hapless director, which caused the picture to abruptly tilt and pitch towards the ground. Static briefly fluttered over the screen and Roahn gasped, clutching at her chest as if she imagined the banshee's claws piercing her.

"All seemed lost."

Asari artillery were now being shown tearing into Reaper Harvesters, abominations that looked like giant winged insects, but to little effect as the Harvesters would easily dodge the incoming fire at the speed they were travelling. Commandos fired at will behind massive barriers, only for them to fall when brutes charged the gates. One such asari was decapitated by a brute with a swing of a massive arm, leaving the headless body to flop to the ground while the rest of the soldiers screamed and fired, knowing that they had seconds to live before they too were to be slaughtered like animals.

Roahn gulped at the sight, her fingers twisting into knots as she held them near her own neck.

Now routed, all of the screens depicted the asari fleeing up the streets in every direction, desperate to get away from any sign of the Reapers. Scattered machine gun fire sporadically disrupted the shouts, cutting into the instrumental track backing the images up, which was now harshly vibrating with a manipulated and synthetic pulse.

"But some individuals…" the narration whispered as the screens briefly faded to black, "…never gave a thought towards giving in."

As the music then rose to a crescendo, switching into a heroic key, Roahn continued to stand, flabbergasted, as a blur of color zoomed by the screen. A man, a human, decked out in a set of black armor, adorned by red and white stripes upon his right arm, vaulted over a barricade, never breaking their stride as they simultaneously grasped a large assault rifle. The look in this man's eyes was fierce, laser focused, as sharp as it could ever be. It encapsulated a lifetime of suppressed anger, now fully susceptible to this moment where he could unleash it all back in kind. The human took up a position, his movements quick and crisp, made possible from years of practice. He raised the rifle to his shoulder, and not even sparing a second, began to lay down a barrage of fire, decimating all of the Reaper forces in his way.

The human in the footage. From the millisecond she had spotted his face, Roahn recognized him. It was a bit odd, seeing him without a beard and with a shaven head, but she knew that stern look anywhere.

"Dad," Roahn unconsciously blurted out.

Her father. He looked… magnificent. Like a knight in the books that Roahn used to read when she was younger. Confident, strong, purposeful. In the footage, Shepard was barking out orders, keeping a proud stride as he advanced through the streets, weapon in hand. He was always the one leading the charges, placing himself at the forefront of the danger. Roahn watched her father chuck grenades, embark in a running slide to slice a cannibal in half with his omni-blade, and perform a sharpshooting feat against a foe a mile away as casually as drawing a breath.

War and violence apparently came naturally to Shepard, Roahn saw. He was a whirling dervish on the battlefield, always managing to place himself out of harm's reach. He took risks, played with his life, but he always came out on top. Unbridled madness. Or… calculated peril? A genuine commander, through and through. The bloodstained human would down scores of enemies that she saw, tear into the gaping maw of the Reaper horde and rip out the tainted heart of the infection that plagued this galaxy. He did it all with a scowl on his face, and a mouth wide open in a yell that could paralyze demons in their place. By his bullets or by his blade, no one could stand up to him. No one could possibly face down this immortal warrior.

Roahn felt like sinking to the ground in awe. Her heart felt like it was about to beat clean out of her chest. She felt dizzy. Dehydrated. Seeing her dad like this in ways she could never have imagined him before, it was like her entire world was starting to overturn and she was still foolishly trying to cling on for dear life.

The montage of clips went on and on, and the music kept on enunciating the joyous moment whereupon Commander Shepard took his steps onto Thessian soil for the defense of the asari people. Roahn kept silent all the way through, enduring memory after memory of her father cutting a path through the Reaper forces to his overall objective. He did not slow. He did not get hurt. The man seemed to have a limitless supply of adrenaline. His blows could crumble beings. He could outshoot any man in the galaxy. As the camera followed Shepard's march through the city, Roahn found herself completely on edge, bouncing on the tips of her toes as she silently cheered her father on, her hands halfway up in the air as she failed to halt an infectious grin from spreading on her face.

It was only when one of the cameras panned to a new individual did Roahn cease in her reveling.

A shock of black and purple. A blur of a quick, lithe figure. A few inches shorter than Shepard, as portrayed on the screen, their expression not immediately apparent, but all too familiar to Roahn.

Behind a toppled pillar in the film, Shepard crouched down for cover, laser bolts sailing over his head, as the slightly more diminutive figure of Tali'Zorah crouched next to him. In the quarian's hands, she cradled a large shotgun, breathing hard as indicated by the rapid rise and fall of her shoulders, yet she never tore her gaze off of the man she was situated next to. It was obvious, from the positioning of her eyes behind her visor, that she would never tear them away from the man she loved, the one person that she implicitly trusted the most in this disintegrating galaxy.

All alone in the room, Rohan simply watched her parents give a subtle nod to each other before leaping over the barricade to raise hell together, guns blazing.

Mother, Roahn tried to say, but her throat was so dry that the words would not flow.

The footage impassively painted a portrait of the events exactly as they had happened in real life. There was no obfuscating the truth this time around and the truth was quite simple to the girl: in battle, her parents were glorious.

Shepard and Tali made quite the team. If Roahn's father had no trouble taking on an entire crowd of bad guys before, then with Tali at his side, the two were invincible. They never faltered in their advances—at least, that was what the cameras were showing. Their aim was true, their speed unmatched. They could read each other perfectly without needing to call out to the other. These two people, paired together, were a well-oiled machine built entirely around the confidence and faith they had in each other.

And even off the battlefield, it showed.

The footage now switched to a period of downtime, a lull in the fighting. Perhaps this was on another planet, Roahn was too absorbed to catch the narration this time around. She was more interested in scouring the clips for more memories of her parents together.

One particular shot managed to catch Tali and Shepard sitting on a makeshift bench together. The human, still clad in his body armor, looked exhausted from the day's events, his brow crusted with his blood. Tali leaned upon him, her helmeted head lightly resting upon the man's armored shoulder, her arm barely managing to make its way around Shepard's broad shoulders. The two did not look like they were speaking at the moment, but Roahn could tell that, in that scene, they probably had no use for words at all as they were simply enjoying each other's company, despite the madness of the war decimating everything around them.

They were each other's emotional anchor. Their one unyielding constant in a changing galaxy. With each other, the two of them could find some semblance of peace, no matter how small.

Small wonder they never found themselves apart after all this had been finished.

Stars and tender beams flitted across Roahn's visor now. The girl held the universe in her view as she watched her father and her mother together. She succumbed to the wonder and let her arms dangle to her sides as she turned on the spot, every single screen beaming the same images right back at her.

For the first time, she could see her father.

The video then switched off with a snap, after the announcer had bidden everyone farewell and a pleasant day. As there was no one else to file out of the room, Roahn was still transfixed where she stood, head still angled upward, silently pleading for there to be more to the film, for her to get more glimpses.

Anything… just more…

Roahn's neck then gave a slight tickle as she realized that someone was just behind her. Timidly, she turned around, only for her wide eyes to gaze upon her father, who was also looking upwards as to where the multitude of screens had been playing just seconds previously, his mouth a thin line.

Shepard then looked down and bumped his eyebrows, almost as if he had been surprised to see Roahn right in front of him, but that was not the case as Roahn realized that he did so out of mirth. Shepard then barely raised his arm, palm up, for Roahn to take. She obliged right as she took a breath, her three fingers easily being eclipsed by her father's larger appendage.

"It's funny when you see yourself being propped up on a pedestal, especially when you know that you most likely didn't deserve it," Shepard mused as he lightly squeezed his daughter's hand. "If the asari truly knew how I felt, they'd take all of this down."

"No. No they wouldn't," Roahn emphasized as a part of her seemed to reach right out of her body, up towards a rapidly fading Shepard. "After… after what you've done…"

"What I did was kill their countrymen," Shepard grimaced, still transfixing his gaze to the blank theater. "It did not matter if the Reapers had taken them by then. They were living beings, once. And I snuffed them out as carelessly as one would do to an insect. No, if the asari saw my point of view, they'd treat me like a war criminal instead of a hero."

"But…" Roahn could not believe that she was about to say these words out loud as she pleaded, "…you are a hero."

Shepard's answering smile was chilly. "Am I? Or was that title merely bestowed upon me for convenience? It's easier to forgive a 'hero' than a murderer, isn't it?"

"Stop," Roahn spread her arms, pushing herself away from Shepard. "That's not what everyone saw. That's not what mom saw."

Deflated, Shepard gave an idle nod as his gaze fell to the ground. "She… saw more than that in me." With a withering look, Shepard reached out his hand again, beckoning his daughter closer. "People want to see me as an icon, but I neither need nor want that. I especially don't ever want you to think that, Roahn, no matter how tantalizing it might be."

Any other day and Roahn would have agreed wholeheartedly, but there was something holding her tongue back this time around, something keeping her from saying something that she might regret. Wordless, she instead nodded and took a step forward once more, taking Shepard's hand again.

"I've killed people," Shepard softly told his daughter. "Far too many to count. There's no getting around this. I shouldn't be rewarded for such a thing. I merely did my duty—what I felt was right. If I had to make the same choice, I would do it again. But… I wish I did not have to. No matter how lofty the praise gets, it will never answer for the things that I have done in my life. That's what people can't understand, Roahn. They would rather see the good in people and deliberately blind themselves to the bad."

Now the frosty exterior began to warm as Roahn's helpless gaze began to melt the ice surrounding Shepard's heart. He gave a tiny smile and patted at Roahn's helmeted head affectionately.

"Maybe…" he mused, "…maybe I've been keeping too much of the good from you, huh?"

Mutely, Roahn gave a nervous nod.

Shepard continued to smile as he now took Roahn's hand, leading her out of the room by his side. "But that's what I'm trying to change. With you, I still have a chance."

The two of them, the sole occupants of the hallway, trudged along the carpet which silenced their footsteps, the two of them encased in darkness as the light from both ends warred against each other, with the vacuum of shadow in the middle.

"Come," Shepard whispered. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

---

Garrus was waiting for them by the entrance of the next room, arms crossed over his chest.

"She's nearly finished," he said as Shepard and Roahn approached, not by the way of chastisement but merely to state a fact. Shepard nodded at his friend and gestured for him to lead the way through the doorway.

The next room was a very compact amphitheater, filled to the brim of young and eager-looking asari who stared transfixed upon the central platform upon all which the benches were angled towards. Garrus and Shepard immediately started scouting for seats as they stood upon the top level, almost as if they were petrified by walking into such a crowded area. After none of the bystanders chose to tear their gaze away from the person in the middle of the room who was currently speaking, the two men sort of accepted that they had gotten away with crashing the presentation. All that was left was to find a place to park their hides for a few minutes.

There was a blank area on the top row, right up against the wall, large enough for three people. Shepard, Roahn, and Garrus immediately helped themselves and edged along the wall behind the people seated in the row in front. With no place to sit down, unfortunately, the three of them simply relegated themselves to lean against the wall, trying to keep as silent as possible.

The steps of the auditorium were steep, so it was easy to see over the heads of the people sitting in front and towards whatever they were looking at. There was only one person occupying the center dais on the ground. This person, like the majority of the clientele, was an asari. They wore what appeared to be an elaborate coat of a firm and shiny material that was dyed red and black—an emphasis on function rather than fashion, clearly. A few pieces of facial jewelry, also black, were stuck to the forehead of the asari, breaking up the otherwise smooth pallor of her face. Glass cases containing what appeared to be ancient artifacts flanked the asari on all sides, and still renderings of various locations were constantly being beamed up onto a large screen behind her with text at the bottom of the slides indicating where these locations actually were within the known galaxy.

The asari held a firm command over the room, with everyone hanging onto her every word. She spoke with confidence and poise, and every hand gesture had been meticulously planned out beforehand. Nothing was spontaneous with her movements or her words.

She literally had not changed at all, Shepard figured to himself.

"…for at first glance at what the Protheans were able to accomplish, it is easy to assume that they were capable of not only great feats of innovation, but great feats of empathy as well," the asari was saying in her cool and controlled voice, her eyes casually scanning the room and enjoying the amount of attention she was being inundated with. "After all, this was a claim that many archeologists assumed, at the time, to be the truth. It seemed like the obvious conclusion. Integrated and compatible technology being present at all dig sites? The evidence of beacons being planted with the intent to disperse large amounts of information in the blink of an eye? The Protheans, to us, sounded almost like they had figured everything out, that they had managed to place the good of the collective over the good of the individual. We had little information to go on at the time, but there was little evidence contradicting any of our findings. As you heard earlier as to what Prothean civilization was actually like, you can imagine that there was a fair share of embarrassment within our profession once the true nature of our galactic predecessors finally came to light. We're a humble bunch but we still get a little miffed when all of us have been told that our theories were way off the mark."

Polite chatter rose from the crowd and the asari paused a beat for effect.

"She's drawn some fans," Garrus whispered to Shepard

"But I've always thought back to a quote from a human who lived many centuries ago by the name of Igor Stravinsky. He was a musician, not an archaeologist, but he had an interesting insight into the subject that… I've always thought to be quite poignant and that taught me to keep an open mind when dealing with criticism: 'The past slips from our grasp. It leaves us only scattered things. The bond that united them eludes us. Our imagination usually fills in the void by making use of preconceived theories. Archaeology then does not supply us with—'"

The asari stalled mid-speech as her gaze had finally lifted up to the top row, whereupon she instantly locked eyes with the only human in the room. No doubt he was easily spotted in this place. Recognition instantly registered in both of their eyes, merely solidified when Shepard allowed a smile, visible even from the dais down below.

The asari started to stammer, caught off guard. The first cracks of the day. Her eyes swept back and forth as she tried to regain her train of thought.

"'—w-with… with… with certitudes… b-but rather with vague hypotheses.'" The asari stifled laughter of her own and cleared her throat, trying to keep her facial expression neutral as she continued with the quote. "'And in the shade of these hypotheses some artists are content to dream, considering them less as scientific facts than as sources of inspiration.'" The asari then clapped her hands together once, taking in the energy of the room as she took a final deep breath. "I hope you all will then understand how important it is to keep an open mind both in the classroom and in the field. Also, perhaps you will now realize just how much of an exciting time this is now that we're finally making the most headway into our search for answers within the Prothean civilization. Thank you all for your time."

The lights dimmed briefly to raucous applause. Up at the top, Garrus clapped similarly, but with a cheeky look on his face as he did so. Shepard, meanwhile, was still staring down at the asari as the lights came back up, as the asari continued to stare right back at him, not at all distracted by the standing ovation she was getting.

"She finally got the recognition she wanted," Shepard said to Garrus when there was a lull in the clapping.

"Wait," Roahn said next to him, tilting her head. "I know her. That… is that…?"

Shepard gave a pensive nod. "Yes. Yes it is, Roahn."

The asari down below was now getting swarmed by her admirers and well-wishers, all exclaiming, "Dr. T'Soni! Dr. T'Soni!" The infectious crowd surrounded her, shining eyes and dripping with adoration. They bombarded her with questions, with requests for photos, or for an endorsement in the form of her signature. True to her nature, she calmly complied with each and every last request, but her eyes never took their focus off of the people waiting on the top row of the amphitheater, wisely waiting their turn until the crowd had been sated.

Little by little, as the minutes passed, the horde began to gradually disperse. All the asari were either too star struck or aimlessly chattering with each other that they all failed to notice that three living legends were in the room at this moment, not just one. Apparently Shepard and Garrus' luck was still on a streak, as no one had even spared so much as a glance in their direction as the crowd finally filed out of the room, leaving just the three of them alone with the asari presenter.

The asari began ascending the stairs at the same time that Shepard started to descend them. They both met in the middle and the asari excitedly threw her arms around Shepard, her face positively beaming. Shepard gratefully returned the hug and provided a laugh of his own, followed by a slight choking sound as the asari squeezed perhaps a little too hard in her enthusiasm.

Breaking the hug, Liara T'Soni placed a hand on Shepard's bearded cheek, warmly grinning as she struggled to contain herself in the moment, clearly having been caught off guard from this impromptu arrival.

"All those years, I thought…" Liara whispered numbly. "I thought I would be waiting far longer to get even a glimpse of you again. I can't believe this is real." Liara shook her head for a moment, clearly needed a moment to get her bearings before she could not resist any longer and gave Shepard one more hug. "Shepard… it's so good to see you again."

"As it is for me, Liara," Shepard said as he patted the asari's back in a friendly manner before breaking away for a second time. "You haven't aged a day."

That was all cheek. Asari could live to be over 1000 years of age. A mere twelve years would have never even registered upon Liara, who was only a youthful 121, and not even close to approaching her matron stage.

The asari's lips rose upwards sadly as Liara tenderly plucked at Shepard's beard. "Whereas you have aged quite a bit. I can only imagine what these past few years have done to you."

Shepard took the last comment in stride. "As best as I could, Liara. I've been trying to hold on."

"I know," Liara nodded. "You have tried more than anyone I've ever known. That has to count for something." Shifting her eyes to the side after giving Shepard a slow, respectful blink of her eyes, Liara smirked as she spotted Garrus standing behind the human. "I wish I could say that I'm surprised to see you, Garrus, but…"

"You know me," Garrus shrugged as he stepped forward and the two embraced quickly, "you can't keep me away from something like this."

"I'd be a fool to think otherwise," Liara said before catching the eye of the youngest member of the party.

Suddenly overcome by a base and vibrant emotion, Liara knelt down as she beckoned Roahn closer. The girl, timid all over again, crept closer to the asari, studying every detail about the woman and cataloging it against the mental picture she had been compiling of the famed doctor for years. Roahn's head was summarily reeling, now that she was face to face with two of her idols, members of the Normandy crew.

Liara held out her hands for Roahn to grasp. The quarian girl's limbs were shaking as she raised them in mid-air, stilled only when the asari curled her fingers around them.

Smiling warmly, Liara could not hold in her longing sigh. "I knew I would meet you some day, Roahn. It's something that has been on my mind for the past nine years." Liara dipped her head, but her eyes never lost their concentration, peering deep into Roahn's own gaze to the point where Roahn swore that Liara was looking past her visor and directly into her own soul. "It's… uncanny."

"Wh-What's uncanny?" Roahn asked in a hoarse voice.

Liara's beam was one of delight.

"How much of your mother I see in you."

---

"So," Shepard said after he took a sip of his drink, "you're a curator now?"

Liara picked at her food with a sly grin. "Did you think I'd be continuing my broker life after everything had calmed down?"

Garrus answered in Shepard's stead. "I did."

"It did seem to be something that you were quite heavily involved in, at the time," Shepard added.

"At the time," Liara pointed out as she punctuated her words by jabbing her fork in the air. "It was always going to be a stopgap for me. Just a slight deviation in my career."

"Emphasis on slight," Garrus muttered into his beer with amusement.

Liara shot the turian a look but all three of them resorted to light chuckles as they continued to eat their food.

With Liara's presentation over and done with, and also taking into consideration that all four people in the party were rather hungry, Liara had led everyone over to the gallery cafeteria to get some food and drinks. It had taken everyone about fifteen minutes to decide on what they wanted, but when all had their food sorted out, Liara made sure to snag a table upon the gallery balcony, letting everyone bask in the balmy sun of the bright Thessian day.

The view from the gallery overlooked a significant portion of the city several levels below. The balcony itself was lined with hanging gardens that overflowed with multicolored flowers, springy green ferns, and thin looping vines. The sky was bright and spotted with clouds, occasionally being broken up by skycars that would fly by a couple times a minute. It was past the usual lunch rush on Thessia, so Shepard and everyone else had the balcony all to themselves. They had also found a perfect table big enough for four, and the seats were plush and springy as well.

No one seemed to be having any complaints about the meals they had chosen. Shepard was not all that familiar with how cafeteria food from a museum should taste, but he had to give the cooks some credit here, they could make a decent eggs benedict. In all actuality, he was more worried if this place had anything for Roahn, given that Thessia was not a planet completely suitable for people of dextro chirality. However, he was relieved to find out that the cafeteria did have a stock of dextro food items that Roahn could eat, and more importantly, could be sterilized. Roahn had then picked out for herself a tube filled with an assortment of chilled fruits and nuts, and had been happily popping them in her mouth through a slit at the base of her helmet. The girl must have been starving, Shepard noticed. She had gone through the tube like a maniac, judging from how rapidly the food contents were disappearing, the crunching noises she was emitting, and the rather content gaze she had upon her veiled face as she ate.

Shepard looked in all directions before leaning forward to speak. "I'm assuming that the administrators of this place are unfamiliar of your past as the Shadow Broker?"

Liara laughed, appreciating Shepard's attempt at discretion. "They have no reason to suspect anything. I'm also content to keep it that way."

"So, what? You just walked away from the entire thing?"

"Not quite. I made sure to tactically disband the organization piecemeal. I divested some of the assets of the Broker and distributed them to the still standing Council governments. The rest I deleted. Being the Shadow Broker was an important duty that I'll never regret performing. It's just that… I was always interested in archaeology far more than trying to blackmail individuals."

Shepard made a gesture with his glass. "Hence the curator position."

Liara gave a mischievous smile. "The Athame Foundation came up with quite a good collection of old Prothean pieces over the years—the most extensive collection on the planet, in fact. I guess they must have noticed me after my latest book deal and offered me the position of administrator here. It gives me something to do and I get a modest source of income out of it. Nothing outrageous, but it handles living expenses well."

Honestly, out of the three veterans at the table, Liara was the most individually wealthy out of all of them. Having had a vested interest in Protheans for decades, Liara had always hoped to reveal a new chapter of the extinct race that would not only get her name in the history books, but would also bring her a fair share of recognition as well. It had been a sore spot for Liara, early in her career, when her hypothesis of there being a pattern of cyclical extinction in the galaxy had been shrugged off on the account of her being fairly young compared to the average professional in the archaeological realm. Stung by rejection after rejection, Liara had hoped that she would be offered the chance to make her own mark, regardless of how old she was. She had been confident about her conclusions for decades, but would not get a chance to prove her theories correct until her path caused her to collide with the most unexpected of people: Shepard.

Inevitably, once she had been working alongside Shepard on his many missions, such a chance to prove herself right had practically been deposited directly into her lap almost immediately, when she and everyone else in the human's team discovered the existence of the Reapers and the fact that they were the cause of each extinction cycle. But perhaps the most important discovery Liara would take part in finding came in the form of Javik, an actual Prothean who had survived the last Reaper cycle tens of thousands of years ago. Stuck in a cryopod for all that time, Javik had been patiently waiting to be revived so that he could integrate himself in the next cycle and be unleashed against the Reapers once more, to take revenge against the machines that had executed his people 50,000 years in the past.

Obviously having an actual living Prothean in close proximity was an opportunity that Liara had been salivating over. The Protheans had been extinct for millennia—no one had ever assumed the possibility of getting to meet a live member of the species before! Liara would be the first to properly get a firm understanding of Prothean society through Javik, and although the Prothean was a bit on the blunt side and had the tendency to rub everyone the wrong way through his seemingly uncaring actions or words, he and Liara had eventually nailed out a clumsy sort of understanding between them. It was that understanding that enabled Liara to write a pair of books: one a biography of Javik's life titled Journeys with the Prothean, and the other a definitive codex of Protheans entitled simply, Prothean. The pair of books became best sellers and won multiple awards, making Liara completely financially sound and opening all the doors in her profession that had been previously locked away from her.

"How is Javik doing these days?" Garrus asked as he finished knocking back his beer.

"Javik?" Liara repeated, followed by a shrug. "He does what he wants to these days. He's not exactly the sort of person that likes to keep people updated of his location. I think he secretly thinks that people are intercepting his communications to plot his assassination. He's always been paranoid about that. In any case, last I heard he was taking a brief stay on the hanar homeworld. They have the ruins of a prothean temple there that he wanted to visit, plus the hanar treat him very well, from what I understand."

"I would have liked to have met him," Roahn interjected with a tiny sigh as she set her empty food tube down on the table.

Liara gave a sympathetic look towards the girl. "I'm sure that you'll get the chance soon enough. Well, once your father finishes with this unpleasant business of Chimera, of course."

The girl fidgeted in her seat as her fingers twisted together. "I read your books, you know," she said to Liara.

"Really?" Liara bumped her eyebrows, looking at Shepard briefly for confirmation. "What did you think of them? Were you able to understand them well enough?"

"I got them, yes," Roahn said, deflecting the unintentional condescension from Liara with grace. "Though I liked Journeys of the Prothean a lot more. It had a more personal touch to it than Prothean."

Liara chuckled. "I'm not surprised. Prothean was designed to be… more of a denser tome. It wasn't an easy book to write, nor was it really meant to be read in a single sitting."

"I did like in your book when you described how you became interested in archaeology. That your mother caught you digging in your backyard for ruins. I also thought that you had a very… romantic way of describing Prothean society. You made them seem very fascinating in an alien sort of way, like their ways of life were initially beyond our understanding at first."

Liara dipped her head modestly. "Yes, well, that was one of the things that critics jumped all over me on at first with Journeys. They said I might have been a little too saccharine in my tone. I probably did have everything through a maudlin lens when I was interviewing Javik, because my interest was piqued so heavily. It was… hard to resist the appeal and it showed in my writing. Though I would have been impressed if anyone else had such an opportunity and that their excitement was somehow not reflected in their accounts."

"I don't know, I still liked it. I thought your personal connection between your life and that of Javik's was nicely paralleled in some of your passages. Like… his own experiences with fighting in the war in the last cycle and the similarities that you faced with this one."

Liara leaned back in her chair, her smile unable to be wiped from her face. "Actually, that was sort of the point with Journeys. I wanted to introduce readers to this unfamiliar race, but to not overwhelm them with information. The… overwhelming part was what Prothean was for. I intentionally wrote Journeys to have a sort of conversational flow to it, to tell a vibrant story by outlining similarities between our races and that of the collective Prothean race. Truth be told, Roahn, Journeys is actually my favorite of the two as well." Trying to hide her astonishment, Liara looked over at Shepard as she patted Roahn's arm. "Shepard, your daughter… she's unbelievably sharp!"

Shepard nodded in agreement. "I think we both know where that trait came from," he said and Roahn beamed.

"Extraordinary," Liara laughed before leaning forward slightly. "So, what are your plans after this? I'm going to take a guess that you're not planning on staying on Thessia indefinitely."

"No, sadly we're not," Shepard concurred as he gave Roahn's back a pat. "You see, I'm trying to show Roahn around the galaxy a bit now that we're… on the run, just to help her understand her family a bit more. Also, I hoped that we would get the chance to meet you guys, because… well, you're part of the family that she has, honestly. I didn't think that it would be fair to keep that from her for long."

Liara and Garrus both looked touched from Shepard's admission and Roahn also felt a sizable pang in her chest. It was still so weird hearing her father speak so candidly that she was still having trouble adjusting to it.

"As for where we're going next," Shepard continued, "I thought we might swing by Tuchanka for a bit. Say hello to yet another old friend."

"Tuchanka?" Roahn gaped. "You mean… Wrex? We're going to see Wrex?"

Shepard did not answer his daughter right away, as he still continued to appraise Liara as he spoke. "I figure that we'll be relatively safe there, like we are here. I'm just hoping that this whole nonsense blows over or at the very least there will be an opening for me to take care of this Chimera business once and for all. I'd imagine that Wrex would give us a warm welcome—he'd certainly love to show us how things are going on the homefront. Perhaps he could even withstand any questions Roahn has for him. He's always had a soft spot for children."

Liara looked rather giddy at the news and she played with the straw in her drink before she next spoke. "I'm not usually one to impose at a time like this, and I'm almost hesitant to ask-,"

Shepard just shrugged as he pushed his finished lunch tray to the side. "I probably already know what you're going to say, Liara. Might as well fire away."

The asari paused for a few seconds, as if testing the magnitude of her request and whether or not it would be prudent to voice it anyway.

"In that case… would you mind if I came along with you to Tuchanka?"

"Why not?" Shepard said immediately, a vague hint of intrigue lining his gaze. "The more the merrier. Besides, one afternoon is not enough for us to catch up. By all means, you're more than welcome to join us. It'll be just like old times."

This was just getting better and better for Roahn. Now she had Garrus and Liara both in close proximity! For a few days, at least! One a noted soldier, the other a graceful biotic. And of course, she had just learned that she was about to visit the esteemed krogan overlord. If a maniacal cyborg had not been chasing her and her dad, this week would have definitely averaged a net positive.

In any case, once Liara and Garrus had risen from the table to refill their drinks, Shepard scooted closer to Roahn, a little more happiness on his face infecting it this time around. A stark contrast from the morose man who had been living on Rannoch with her for her entire life.

"You've opened the floodgates now," he mused out loud as he watched Liara turn the corner towards the cafeteria. "Once you get her going on Prothean history, there's not much you can do to stop it."

"I think I can handle it," Roahn said confidentially with a grin. "Liara always seemed like the sort of person that I could talk to for hours."

"Be careful, your wish just might come true," Shepard lightly elbowed Roahn in the ribs, who laughed and shoved his arm right back.

"You've known her almost as long as mother," Roahn then stated.

"Just about. Liara, Garrus, Ashley, Kaidan, Wrex, and… Tali. The original team. Comrades and friends, all. At one point, we were adamant that we would die for each other. In Ashley's case, she was true to her word. I was… I was just glad that I never had to bury the rest of them, despite there being plenty more friends that were killed before the end."

"It turned out well for most, didn't it?"

"For the ones who lived, yeah. You've seen how Garrus and Liara are doing. Kaidan's still got a strong career in the Alliance. Wrex is now practically the ruler of all krogan. And Tali… well, settling down with me was as perfect of an ending that she could ever come up with. I don't think she had any other wish that she wanted to achieve."

Shepard folded his hands together as he looked past the balcony, past the curtains of hanging moss and the straddled veins of traffic in the sky, past the curved spires of the rebuilt offices and apartments and back out to the blackened landscape they had previously passed over in coming here. Through a thin haze, near the boundary where the land curled and crackled, Shepard's eyes narrowed in that direction, his breathing thin through his nose.

"There was another reason why I brought you here to Thessia, Roahn," Shepard said as he pointed a finger towards a towering building off in the distance, flanked by stone sculptures of sleek asari representations. "You see that structure over there?"

Roahn squinted as she turned around in her seat and leaned forward. "Yes."

"That's the temple of Athame," Shepard explained. "That building is one of the last few places on Thessia that stands to honor the asari goddess Athame. The doctrine surrounding that particular goddess fell out of favor centuries ago, but the asari kept it here out of respect… so the story went. We can't go over there now as it's heavily under military control—has been for the past twelve years. In fact, it's that particular building that is part of the reason why I'm in trouble with Chimera in the first place."

"Why?" was the only natural question Roahn could come up with.

Shepard's answering look was grim. "There was some stuff that Liara left out of her books for a very good reason. Knowledge that could definitely turn the tide of public opinion against her race. I think you should understand why she chose to omit what I'm about to tell you, and why this information got me in this hot water. You see, Roahn, what Liara deliberately did not mention in her accounts was that the Protheans had long ago judged the asari to have potential as the dominant race in the next cycle. It was the Protheans who created the idea of a goddess for the asari to worship, Athame, and it was them who genetically manipulated the asari to have a natural ability to create biotics."

"So… that's why all asari are biotically active?" Roahn was amazed. "All because the Protheans meddled with them, somehow?"

"Genetic research has tampered all of us in some way, Roahn. It's just that the asari were selected to receive a bit more help in that matter. But the asari's inherent biotic ability was not the only mark the Protheans left behind. No, they actually hid much more. You see, the Protheans left a beacon behind. Here, on Thessia. A working piece of their technology containing vast amounts of information that still remained active for millennia. And until just a few years ago, only the asari knew about it. It had been kept secret for who knows how long as they plundered its contents, giving them the advantage of knowledge. They had no choice but to finally reveal its existence to an outsider, to me, when the galaxy was crumbling down around their ears and they had reached the limits of their desperation." Shepard nodded again in the direction of the shrine. "The temple was built around the beacon, to keep it a closely guarded mystery."

Roahn's head was spinning and she struggled to make sense of it all. "But… the Council… the Council declared so long ago that withholding Prothean technology was illegal. How could…?"

Shepard parted his hands as a half-sort of shrug. "Who do you think wrote that particular section of the Council charter? The asari, that's who. They had already found the beacon long before the Council was even an idea. They thought that they could keep it under wraps. The asari never did believe me about the danger the Reapers were to us until the very end of the imminent invasion. They felt they had no other option but to disclose the beacon to me when Thessia started to come under fire, and if they had not, everyone in the galaxy would be dead. But therein lies the problem."

"What to do with the knowledge of the beacon afterward," Roahn realized.

"Precisely," Shepard indicated proudly. "Very good, Roahn. So yes, you can imagine that revealing the beacon put the asari in a very awkward position. After all, the Citadel Council was formed with one of its tenets specifically designating that all Prothean knowledge is to be shared amongst the races. The asari had been particularly fastidious in following this rule, or so we thought. You can go back to the records and find no less than several dozen times the asari have spearheaded investigations and calls for censure on any species that has dared to keep even a tiny bit of Prothean technology for themselves. With this beacon, the asari now look like the galaxy's biggest hypocrites, right? And what's worse, the fact that this particular beacon held information that was specific towards enacting the Reapers' defeat makes the asari look even worse. What would have happened if they had never revealed the existence of this beacon at all? Or rather, could we have stopped this war a lot sooner had we known of the beacon from the beginning?"

The girl could only rub at her arm, amazed. "I… I didn't know. What happened afterward, dad? How did people react when you told them of the beacon?"

"Told?" Shepard politely snorted before he shook his head, regretful and languid. "Perhaps that's part of the problem. I never said anything about it in an official forum."

Dumbstruck, it took a while for Roahn to respond. "Keelah, dad. Why would you not tell anyone?"

"Because I felt there was no point. Telling people about the beacon would only have made things worse after the war. Think about it, we had just come out on top from the greatest threat anyone in this galaxy had ever known, and if I had gone and started telling people to make inquiries, that would only accomplish nothing but more chaos. The asari would be disgraced at the wrong time; their home planet had been decimated, billions of their countrymen killed. Why pour salt in the wound by threatening them with political repercussions now? They broke the law, yes, but they have also paid for their hubris. In the period after the war where reconstruction was paramount, where our interspecies cooperation was most prized, it did not make sense to suddenly tear all of it apart for the sake of… what, some senators trying to leverage power in the wake of the asari's collapse? Why should only some benefit while many more would be hurt by such a revelation?"

"You're talking about cooperation," Roahn said. "You're saying that… that you withheld this—the beacon—for… for the greater good."

"We all kept quiet," Shepard muttered softly. "Me, my team, and Hackett. We all came to the same conclusion in the end. Staying silent was the only way to preserve galactic peace. But that meant that there still were gaps in the narrative, gaps that people like Raynor Larsen have noticed. He's the caliber of person that would stop at nothing to learn the truth, even though it will hurt more people than it will help. He's one of the few that would stand to benefit from making such information public. For the sake of preserving the status quo, I specifically never mentioned it."

In shock, Roahn stepped from her chair, eyes wide and aghast. "And what did mom think of this? What did she want?"

Shepard raised a hand to calm his daughter. "She wanted to tell the whole galaxy at first, but I ended up talking her out of it."

"Well… I think you were wrong."

Shepard pursed his lips as the girl across from him stood defiant. His fingers began to ache again and a building headache started to press upon the back of his skull.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to think," he said evenly. "I just want you to understand why I made the choices I did."

"But what if you had said something?" the girl emphasized in her horror. "Would we be safe now? There would be no reason for someone to chase us, right?" Roahn then licked her lips as she fumbled for a breath. "Would mom still be alive?"

Immediately, Shepard tensed like he had been hit by a bolt of lightning. "That has nothing to do with what happened, young lady."

"But what if it did? Would we have been stuck on Rannoch still? We could have gotten mom to a… to a better doctor when she got sick! We wouldn't have had to sit around and… and…"

Roahn trembled and her words soon dissolved in her mouth. She leaned against her chair for support, suddenly drained. Shepard saw this change in Roahn and he reached out a hand to gently grasp her shoulder, but the girl edged just out of reach, her gaze suddenly fierce.

"Roahn," Shepard sighed as his arm, stung by denial, drooped next to his body. "I told you that you would know everything about me. I'm only trying to keep my word."

The shaking quarian girl could only muster enough strength to form a barrier of rejection around herself. "I… I'm not sure I really want to know anymore." Turning on her heel, the conversation finished, Roahn walked away from Shepard to make her way to a lower level on the balcony. She sat herself down upon the steps so that she could watch the city below her, but now being well out of Shepard's range.

Shepard took the hint. He was not going to force Roahn to listen to him if she did not want to listen at all. But still, her departure had felt like someone had stuck him with a butcher knife. He sighed and used an arm to prop his chin up as he daydreamed. There was just no easy path to victory this time around. Everything he was doing was scrutinized, meticulously analyzed and interpreted. Every tiny mistake amplified, ready to be thrown back in his face.

And the person doing all of this to him was his own daughter.

But how could he find a way to please Roahn? Or was he just doomed to fail and he just did not know it yet? Was he that much of an idiot not to realize that he had been sliding on a downward slope this whole time? Perhaps Roahn's acceptance of him was a goal that had been unattainable from the start while he wallowed in his own spiral of despair and confusion. Yet he could not bring himself to lie to Roahn. Lionizing himself was not an option—he had specifically made a promise that he would bring the truth, the entire truth, to Roahn. If he let even a tiny lie slip by, that was it. The game would be over. She would shut him out forever and he would never get another crack at it again.

"Tali, I could use your help right now," Shepard muttered as he closed his eyes respectfully. "I need to reach our daughter. I need… you. But… I can't reach you either."

Then, even on a clear Thessian day, atop this balcony, Shepard's mind ran away with him once more, sucking him into a vortex of his own creation, populated by objects manifested purely through his consciousness.

Another memory. This one pure.

Shepard did not resist as he willingly let himself be carried off, away into his fantasy.

Where she still lived.

There were many places Shepard could let his mind wander to. The day he first met Tali. The day she showed him her face for what had been the first, but certainly not last, time. The day of his wedding. The day Roahn was born. Yet the central focus of his reminiscence pulled him in a certain direction, one whereupon he could still recall the physical sensations of his wife. Sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. Nerves all ablaze, searing at the maximum.

A moment where he could truly feel Tali.

And when he opened his eyes, there she was, framed perfectly in his head, all exactly as he wanted. Unmasked. Bare. Heartfelt smile. His name on her lips. Shepard could feel Tali's fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulder passionately. He heard her cry out in pleasure, causing the primal part of him to deeply respond. Her taste was on his tongue, still lingering and unwilling to depart. In the moment, he groaned, taken aback by the sheer agony that was his own earnest expression of joy.

Tali's hands slid across Shepard's bare chest, her fingers groping endlessly for purchase but still she endured in the torturous slide, relishing the deliberate motions of her body. The room swirled into focus as the two, stark naked, moved in tandem upon a bed, the springs creaking gently in time to the rhythm they had set. Next to the bed, a fire crackled past a hearth, creating an aura of warmth and a wheat glow to cast upon the room. Outside the window, the sun had set many minutes ago. The sky was the color of a deep and cavernous lake. The air of the bedroom was musky with love. Quarian and human groped and kissed the other in a fervor. Their minds swam.

Straddling Shepard, Tali rose herself up to her full height momentarily to brush a stray strand of her hair out of her eyes. Lying prostrate on his back below her, Shepard could only look on endearingly as his eyes feasted on his wife's form. Tali was still in great shape. The gray of her skin shone with a milky glow in the muted lighting. Her abdomen was well toned and muscular, forming a perfect "V" just above her groin. Touching her upon her flat stomach felt like touching warm marble. The bottom of her rib cage was just barely outlined by her skin, heaving with her lungs. Her breasts were perfect, her nipples round and erect from lust.

Then there was her face… her face.

Thin, unmarred, a band of freckles dotted underneath her eyes. Her irises glowed from within, iridescent and ethereal, but if Shepard looked carefully, the edges were barely marked by rings of caramel hues. Tali's hair was short and wavy, barely dropping beyond her skull. Sweat clung to her brow and a brief trail of saliva dribbled from the corner of her mouth, which she wiped away with a deep breath.

Tali was the first quarian Shepard had ever seen unmasked. The only quarian, to be precise. Up until the point where he had finally seen her, Shepard had never been concerned as to how Tali would appear underneath her enviro-suit, but when she had finally worked up the courage to show him, everything he had seen was a delight to his eyes.

Her strong body, lightly scarred, still taut after years of peace. Confident in the wake of her illness. Fearless against her unseen foe. One would never know she was ailing.

It was hard for Shepard to not be transfixed by such beauty and bravery.

Writhing atop him, Tali ground her hips into Shepard, producing a deep moan from her throat. She threw her head back, momentarily paralytic, as the electric shocks of delight shot through her spine. Regaining her wits, she repositioned herself, her eyes focusing again in time for her to submit to her inclinations and to lay herself flat atop her husband. Their lips furiously locked in a passionate kiss. Their tongues battled, cries were muffled. Their bellies brushed. Tali's breasts mashed against Shepard's chest and she still continued to thrust upon him, helpless in a hurricane of desire.

As perfect of an evening as either one of them could envision.

Tonight had been the culmination of months upon months of waiting. It was a particular milestone in the timeline of Tali's treatment, ever since she had undergone minor amounts of therapy to combat her illness. For tonight was the first time Shepard and Tali were making love since she had been diagnosed.

Knowing that action was crucial, Tali had taken to the treatment right away. There had been quite a rapid improvement in her overall health over the passing months, to both her and Shepard's relief. The entire regimen had not even taken as big of a toll on her as she had expected, which had been another unexpected benefit. Throughout that time though, Tali willingly kept her suit on, especially skittish at the prospect of chancing her wellness during such a critical period of recovery. Shepard had been gracious enough to accept this, let alone accept it without hesitation, for he was not all that disappointed in Tali's choice to keep herself contained until further notice. Being upset at such a decision would be the most selfish thing that Shepard could possibly imagine him performing.

Their decision to have sex tonight was not something that had been spontaneous. A lot had planning had gone into making this night perfect. This day had been marked on their schedule for weeks. A nice dinner had been prepared, Roahn had been put to sleep early, and Shepard had even gone to the trouble of lighting a fire in the fireplace. Tali loved watching the wood logs crackle and pop in the fierce heat, her body jumping every time a branch snapped, only for Shepard to hug her tighter. The atmosphere of the room had been so cozy that Tali could probably have gone the entire night without needing to make love and would have been entirely comfortable in any case.

But… inevitably, there had still been a hunger festering within her that yearned to be sated.

After lying upon the bed for an hour, being warmed by the fire, both still completely clad in their clothes as Tali reclined with her back to Shepard's chest, it seemed like neither one wanted to disrupt the serenity of the moment. But Tali would be the one to get antsy first.

Turning her body as best she could, she met her husband's gaze as her limpid eyes bred excitement and flight. She did not mince words this time around. "Want to have sex?" was her only question.

Tickled by her boldness, Shepard just gave a broad grin. "Sure," was his simple reply.

With what had to be a smug look underneath her visor, Tali had abruptly risen from the bed and glided over to the bathroom, making sure to shut the door behind her. Temporarily alone, Shepard stripped down to his underwear and sat at the edge of the bed as he waited for his wife to reappear.

A few minutes later and Tali seemed to float out to greet her husband, her bright smile already lighting up the very room she was in.

Shepard's jaw fell open.

As she strode back into the bedroom, Tali had on a teasing look upon her face, simultaneously eager and bashful as she walked in to savor Shepard's undoubtedly dumbfounded reaction. Her laugher merely brightened as she found her husband's face undeniably hilarious as she fully stepped into the bedroom.

Tali was now stark naked, completely bare, except for a few trappings deliberately left upon her. A few of her ceremonial belts still loosely looped around her thin waist, slipping ever so slightly downward with each gentle step she took, and her sehni was draped above her head, shawling her hair up and letting only her face be revealed. She had done this completely on purpose, to intensify the erotic nature of this night, to increase her allure to the human who continued to stare dumbly at her nude body.

Slowly sashaying her way over to where Shepard sat, Tali let her hands seductively run up her sides, over her flat belly, squeezing her breasts tauntingly, and up to her face. The belts finally dropped from her waist, fluttering over her strong thighs. Tali then lightly tipped her sehni off her face, trailing it behind her back, and she shook her head out to let her hair flow free.

Transfixed, Shepard had been still as a rock the entire time, watching his wife shed the last vestiges of her clothes, all for him. Shaking off his sudden apathy as a sudden mania gripped him, Shepard reached out, callused palms coming into contact with softened skin, and lightly pulled his wife toward him.

With a laugh, Tali pushed Shepard down and fell atop of him.

The next few minutes became nothing but a constant tangle of skin and pent-up hunger. Shepard and Tali's mouths found each other gleefully and they proceeded to explore the other with their fingers and eventually their tongues and lips. Shepard's boxers had been quickly discarded in a ragged pile in the corner of the room as the interlaced couple tumbled this way and that, eyes tightly shut as they held each other as they kissed. So long it had been without anything standing in between them. So long had they waited. It was time to make up for all those opportunities lost.

In her haze, Tali was already panting hard as she struggled to take in the feel of her husband again. She let her mouth wander to his chin, his throat, and to his chest. She lightly bit him, nibbling with her teeth, enjoying the slight reactions he gave. She teased him relentlessly, her hands drifting downward and playing with him, coaxing his rabid desire out of him. Tali grinned evilly as she saw Shepard make a strained face and she knew he was now struggling to contain himself, a desperate desire take things slow and make everything last.

But her multi-pronged assault would prove to be too much for him, as Shepard would soon grasp Tali and turn her over onto her back in an explosive maneuver, causing her to squeal in glee, helplessly turned on from her husband's sudden savagery.

Shepard growled as he ran his tongue along Tali's throat, the touch along Tali's skin electric and sizzling. She moaned huskily, unable to stop herself. Shepard had grinned at that, for he knew that any sort of stimulus upon Tali's hyper-sensitive skin would be amplified tenfold compared to what he would experience.

He continued his loving work.

Tali could only twist and turn upon the bed, back arching, softly crying out as she was trapped under Shepard's devotion. The human kissed and suckled at her breasts, licked at her belly, before finally positioning himself between her legs. That always set Tali off and she spent what seemed to feel like an hour moaning towards the ceiling as Shepard cradled and loved her. The quarian gasped, her breath flying into the air. She undulated, jerked, and soared as her husband kissed her between her thighs. Her hands massaged his scalp. Her lungs trembled and burned. Her jaw locked shut. Breathing was difficult.

He had always been good at this, Tali remembered. He was always so patient… and so talented with his hands… and his mouth.

The bed soon shook as Tali's ecstasy reached a peak. She spread her arms wide seconds later, cold air now pouring atop her as she lay, spread-eagled, as everything seemed crystallized to her, that each perfect moment could be halted and inspected at her very whim. She felt content. Clear. Even her ailments seemed to have fled.

But she wanted more.

She had begun straddling her husband a few minutes later, desperately thrusting upon him as though her life depended on it. Her toes curled as she rode him and Tali eagerly grasped Shepard's jaw with tight fingers as her wet tongue clumsily slid over his face, making his chin slick. Tali managed another orgasm rather quickly and she was soon resorted to a trembling, drooling, quivering mass atop Shepard. Yet the human still had some surprises up his sleeve for the quarian, as he gently took a hold around Tali's back and gently laid her upon the bed so that he was now on top. When she was calm enough to finally proceed, he did so with a purposeful yet vigorous energy.

Tali was overwhelmed almost immediately. She felt so full—full of love, full of Shepard—that level-headed thinking was no longer possible. Words dissolved into babbling. Slow breaths escalated into hyperventilating. Calculation departed for instinct. Lust overrode common sense.

A mad minute, and Tali loved every single second of it.

Wrapping her legs and arms around Shepard as he thrusted, Tali goaded him on with high-pitched cries of her own. "Yes!" she tried to say, "Yes!" but she could only manage tender yips. Her nails clawed into the skin of Shepard's back, she hugged him with all four limbs with all her might, and as she felt Shepard give a potent and heavy throb inside her, she voicelessly screamed as she shared in his pleasure, her own body seizing in time to Shepard's.

Her climax was violent.

Tensing. Burning. Painful. Wonderful. Love.

Then all was quiet.

Tali could feel Shepard inside her and she knew that he had finished. Making cooing noises as he panted atop her, she rubbed at his back, smearing the sweat across his skin that had beaded there. Tali kissed her husband's cheek, tender and soft. Shepard then raised his own head, red-faced and exhausted, but grinning like a mad fool. Their lips met to say what their words could not.

Later that night, the two of them had still not gotten dressed for bed just yet. Shepard had resumed sitting on the edge of the bed, basking in the fire, while Tali lay on her stomach, feet kicked back in the air. Shepard turned slightly to look at his wife, to see that lovely face that was continuously locked away from, to soak in the curvature of her body, as her softly ridged spine trailed down along her back, her butt lightly extended into the air. Shepard stroked Tali's soft skin with the back of his hand, causing the quarian to give out a shiver—Tali bit her lip coyly as she did so.

"You do appear to be doing better," Shepard whispered. "Am I imagining things?"

"No, no, you aren't," Tali reassured him as she stretched out her arms and yawned, cat-like. "I feel… I feel better than ever. I could almost just walk right out into the air of Rannoch and breathe in my homeworld."

"In your current state? Not likely," Shepard chuckled as he gently cupped Tali's face, studying her features. "But I'm glad you're so confident."

Tali stared right back at Shepard, her smile never wavering. "I like it when you look at me like that," she said.

"Why is that?"

"I just feel the safest whenever you do. Like nothing in the galaxy can possibly hurt me."

A dry moroseness briefly flashed over Shepard's face. Fighting not to let his misgivings show, he took a second to look away before reconnecting the stare. "I sincerely hope that's true, Tali."

"It is true," the quarian poked Shepard's leg. "Would I lie about something like that?"

"Probably not," Shepard agreed with a muted bob of his head. "Still… we've been so lucky."

"Lucky? Lucky how?"

"That you managed to beat your disease into remission. We caught a break here, Tali. We just need to be more careful in the future, in case this comes back."

Tali rolled her eyes playfully as she lightly brushed her fingers against Shepard's bare hip. "The doctors don't give that much of a chance, John."

"They know better than either of us. They're doctors, and even they don't know how this cropped up."

"Who cares where this came from? It was a one-off. It's done."

"I care," Shepard sighed. "Someone has to. Why is it that you don't care?"

"You really want to know why? I don't care because I know that I'm not going anywhere," Tali fiercely declared as she pushed off the bed with her arms, now creeping forward on her knees until she swung her legs off the bed so that she could sit next to Shepard. "Not now. Not anytime soon. I won't be leaving you or Roahn."

"Tali…" Shepard tried to say, but was interrupted by the light caress of fingers upon his lips, followed by a soft kiss as Tali began to ply his face with her affection. Her body brushed up against his, her breasts tantalizingly close, and Shepard found himself stirring in desire, to helplessly drown in his own yearning.

"I'm not leaving you," Tali whispered again as she pushed Shepard back down, climbing on top of him once more.

---

Omega

Aria T'Loak stumbled into her quarters, head buzzing from drink, ears ringing from being at such a close proximity to music pumping from oversized loudspeakers. Even at such a distance from Afterlife, the thumping of bass hits bled through the walls like an ever-present heartbeat. It warped the asari's mind, but the constant thrumming had been something that she had gotten used to after a few centuries of languishing on this station. In fact, she found a small degree of comfort from the noise.

The asari sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck as she wandered about her domain, the lights still dim. She unsnapped the clasp of her suit near her neck, savoring the sensation of being able to breathe a little better now that her throat was somewhat less restricted. She liked having this synthetic leather outfit on, no doubt, but she did not savor the fact that it was somewhat tight in a few places. Moments that she could relax like this were most gratifying.

Allowing the quiet to wash over her for a bit, Aria finally appraised the state of her room, finding to her surprise that she was the only one here. That was unexpected.

Aria checked her chronometer in irritation. Emma was late. That little minx was supposed to have been in this room already, waiting for her. Aria was not a patient woman—she certainly did not like to have to wait on people. Today had been a rather lively day and Aria had been looking forward to unwinding with Emma for a few hours of torrid sex before she would rise for the next business affair the following morning. Wasting precious time like this was… troubling.

The door opening behind Aria gave rise to a burst of relief followed by a smoldering irritation.

"What kept you so long-?" Aria began to say as she turned around.

Her next words died in her mouth.

"I didn't know that I was expected," the Legionnaire murmured in amusement, his bulky frame barely edging through the doorway as the cyborg proceeded to straighten up to his full height, easily standing a few feet above the top of Aria's head. The lowered light from the lamps sluiced around the enormous figure's form, outlining his massive frame by throwing the rest of him in shadow.

Aria took a step back, her hands instinctively clenching as purple streams of energy began to crackle from her closed fists. "Who the fuck are you?"

All eight of the Legionnaire's oculi seemed to narrow as his dual-toned breathing hissed over the bass thumping from the club down below. Narrow shafts of light shifted across the hardened transparisteel faceplate that muted the hint of bloody flesh just beyond. "The local auditor," he drawled.

"Hilarious," Aria spat back tonelessly as she raised a fist, about to strike a full-fledged biotic blast in the Legionnaire's direction. "You've couldn't possibly have picked a worse spot to wander."

"On the contrary, I'm right where I want to be."

The asari shook her head, but she still held off from attacking. "For an assassin, you're remarkably dense."

The cyborg rumbled in laughter, metal plates clanking with each shudder. "Whoever said anything about me wanting to kill you? All I'm after are some questions."

"You expect me to believe that, bitch?"

"I'm unarmed, see for yourself," the Legionnaire spread his hands wide, each inflection of every word perfectly even, allowing Aria to get a good glimpse that no weapon was holstered or slotted anywhere upon him. "But even so, attacking me might prove to be a bit of a challenge."

Aria would have liked nothing more than to prove the Legionnaire dead wrong, but there was the current circumstance to consider. The Legionnaire was way too calm for his own good, and even unarmed, he was still a big bastard. Tackling him in open combat was not going to be a cakewalk, but then again, Aria soured at the prospect of this fool getting the drop on her so easily. This little ambush would not be good for her reputation if word of it got out.

Her options limited, Aria chose to forego violence for the time being. She dropped her arms but an occasional flash of a biotic wisp still escaped her fingertips as they hung at her sides.

"Speak, then get the fuck out," Aria snapped.

A vague hint of a growl escaped the Legionnaire's vocabulator as the cyborg took up a neutral posture of rigidity. "You spoke with Commander Shepard recently, did you not?"

Aria was nearly thrown by where this line of questioning had already turned to, but the asari had spent centuries honing her ability to mask her surprise. Her breathing did not as much as rise, nor did a stray muscle twitch out of alignment. Still, she did not like being in the dark for very long.

"That's rich," Aria snorted instead. "The galaxy's most morally superior golden boy setting foot on Omega? How did you ever come to that conclusion?"

"A squad of associates was sent to Omega recently. They reported that a ship registered in Shepard's name put into port here." The Legionnaire spoke as casually as one would discuss the weather. "As it stands, they have failed to report in for the better part of a couple days."

Aria feigned ignorance. "My sympathies, but I can't help what happens on Omega. People disappear here all the time."

"A little convenient that you are unaware of such events occurring under your own roof, Aria."

"Are you insinuating something?" Aria sneered contemptuously.

"Merely stating a fact," the Legionnaire hissed in kind.

Aria continued to frown before waving a hand dismissively, as if she could somehow will the Legionnaire from existence. Better to answer his questions and be done with this matter as quickly as possible. "What sort of squad are we talking about, here?"

If the Legionnaire suspected foul play or was getting more and more aggravated, there was nothing in his posture that could be deciphered to such an extent. "The kind that you would naturally take an interest in, considering your history with organizations like mine."

"Ah, the paramilitary kind," Aria pretended to recall as she snapped her fingers. "So, what outfit do you belong to? Blue Suns? Eclipse?"

"Chimera," the Legionnaire gave a singular, curt nod before proceeding back into his line of questioning. "The squad leader reported the presence of Shepard's ship but, admittedly he never made visual contact of the man himself. Shepard's ship evidentially no longer appears to be here and neither does the squad that reported it being here in the first place. If you don't know, then perhaps it's best that I check your records, make sure that it didn't slip your mind."

"You're going to fucking stay right where you are and not take another step closer," Aria warned as she abruptly levelled an unflinching finger. "You do not get to barge into my home and tell me what to do."

"The alternative is very simple," the Legionnaire said. "You have not been able to provide me with answers that I might deem suitable. Only when that happens will I depart."

The asari's hysterical laugh nearly rose to a shriek. "I… provide you?" she repeated for emphasis. "You don't get it, asshole. There is only one person on this station that gets to order people around, and that person… is me. Omega… is all mine! Mine! Not yours, not Chimera's… or Cerberus'… or anyone else's to command! I don't have to entertain a solitary second of your existence, for that is how little you are to me. I don't give a shit what you want or why you're here, but if you think that you're going to come up here and break Omega's only rule, then you are seriously fucked in the head."

As Aria was ranting, she failed to notice that two fingers of the Legionnaire's right hand gave a tiny flick, causing a light source to flash on behind the asari as she continued to espouse her nonsense to the cyborg. The Legionnaire kept on looking at Aria as she screamed at him, but all his attention was firmly fixated upon the array of security footage that had just beamed up at Aria's back.

Aria, however, was too engrossed in chewing the Legionnaire out to notice.

"…if you want me to indulge you, I can give you the minimum amount even though it's more than you and your masters deserve. No, I have not seen Shepard. No, I have no idea where your men are. No, I will not help you find them. Yes, you may go fuck yourself—,"

One by one a new screen of security footage booted up behind the asari, each one hovering in midair directly across from the last. The cluster of screens fanned out and began to wrap around the room in a perimeter, creating a vibrant barrier of light as more and more intriguing scenes began to play out around both Aria and the Legionnaire. Aria noticed this too late and, as a result, began to finally falter when she realized what the security screens were showing.

Recordings ripped straight from Afterlife's databanks. Each screen portrayed a different angle of a few key scenes, but all seemed to taunt Aria with damnation for her misplaced audacity.

A few of the hovering displays portrayed similar scenes all grouped together: Shepard confronting Aria upon her luxurious couch, Shepard engaging in willing dialogue with the pirate queen, Aria's mercenaries torturing the Chimera troopers mercilessly, Aria and Shepard watching the torture.

In seconds, Aria's hypocrisy surrounded her, leaving her trapped.

He's hacked Omega's security, Aria realized, finally feeling a twinge of fear, wondering how her opponent had managed to outsmart her. What is this thing?

The Legionnaire stayed quiet at first, soaking up the queen of Omega's stunned silence. The circle of recordings continued to flash on by, soundless, but roaring the truth in a vacuum. Aria turned on the spot, trying to fumble for a way to get out of being caught in her own web of lies, but no matter how hard she tried, she kept drawing a blank.

"How much weight does Omega's one rule carry now?" the Legionnaire finally whispered, smugness tainting his words with the intent to provoke the asari.

Predictable to the last, Aria whirled to face the cyborg.

Aria's hands closed before abruptly snapping open, creating a wide disc that fluttered with unstable biotic energy, warping and crackling under its own weight, but the Legionnaire had begun moving before Aria had finished putting the barrier up. Before she had even moved to attack, even.

The Legionnaire drew his arm back, and from his wrist a blade made out of anodized nano-particles slid into view, its edges humming with a fiery orange light and humming to a high frequency. Wasting no time, the Legionnaire thrust the blade forth with all his might, the blow seemingly slicing through time and space itself. The tip of the sword impacted upon Aria's not fully formed biotic shield and shattered it instantly as the force of the blow pushed it through—electricity spat from the shield's disintegration and Aria flinched away.

With a wet thunk, Aria gave a solitary flinch and the sword finished its trajectory.

Time stood still for a deadly moment.

Aria remained frozen until a helpless cough gurgled from her throat. Hot, wet liquid ran up from her esophagus and beaded upon her lips before she splattered it all over her chin with another wracking wheeze. Trembling, her fingertips raised up and came away slick with blood.

The pirate queen finally looked down and saw where the Legionnaire's sword had lodged in her gut. Fire erupted from both her front and back. Aria then realized that she had been run through. She could not feel her legs anymore. Her vision grayed.

Then she realized how serious things were. Her stomach had been punctured. Her spinal column had been severed.

Without warning, the Legionnaire suddenly wrenched his arm back, pulling the sword from Aria's body. The asari found it interesting that the blade hurt going out even more than it did going in, but she only had a second to comprehend the blistering pain before shock took hold and her deadweight legs could no longer support her body. She fell heavily to the floor, a pool of blood slowly spreading out from the wound. Her hands gingerly groped for the area on her stomach where the blade had pierced her, uselessly trying to hold herself together. Blood bubbled on Aria's lips. The asari's life gushed between her fingers in limp throbs. The pain was already fading away.

Above her, the Legionnaire stood impassively, as the nano-blade retracted back into the polished chassis.

"You might have guessed that I didn't need you at all," the Legionnaire taunted as he leaned over slightly, enjoying the sight of the asari bleed out before his eyes. "If you had only cooperated from the start, I would not feel that I had to do this. But… you wasted my time, and I'm not so forgiving about that. You were only another obstacle to me."

Aria did not have the strength to muster a reply as her gasps began to slow, something the Legionnaire took a sick sort of pleasure in.

"No more biting quips from you ever again. Truth be told, Aria, you've remained a pain to the civilized galaxy for far too long. Omega's pride in being a haven for lawlessness been a constant source of embarrassment, but no longer. Cerberus took the wrong approach with handling this place—many times they could have killed you yet they always let you live. Vanity on their part; you ended up evicting them upon your triumphant return. What were they trying to avoid by killing you? Chaos? An attempt to limit any collateral damage? It does not matter anymore. The Alliance has no need for this place, and without you, well… the ensuing power vacuum is going to ensure that many unsavory individuals will tear themselves apart in your absence. Does that sound right?"

The asari groaned, spitting up a thick globule of blood-tinged mucus as she ground her teeth in agony.

"Yes," the Legionnaire hissed. "With you gone, Omega will destroy itself from within in a matter of days. There will be a bevy of hopefuls attempting to claim the mantle of ruler, but their attempts to wrest control will only be through violence. Gang warfare will rip through the streets. Thousands will die. Your own band will scatter, headless, and Omega will soon perish, destroyed from within. Operations in the sector will be crippled and order will eventually be restored to this little corner of the galaxy. You will perish knowing that you will have paved the way for both the Alliance and Chimera to flourish from your ashes. But you will not be remembered for long. No one will dedicate a thing to you. You will die without a legacy, with no cenotaph to mark your grave. An unceremonious end, for a queen."

The door to the apartment suddenly opened and the Legionnaire whipped his head around instantaneously, machine-like, his lightning-quick hands groping for a hidden latch upon his thigh.

"I'm sorry, babe," a young human woman in a tight-fitting dress skirted through the doorway, looking at her omni-tool, distracted. "I was all caught up on-,"

Eventually the human gained some of her wits back in time to spot the gargantuan metal cyborg standing over her lover, who was slowly dying while coated in her own blood. The girl's red lips swelled as she realized the danger she was in and she started to slowly breathe in and out, two seconds away from losing it completely.

"Hel—," the girl tried to scream.

The Legionnaire beat her to the punch, as he suddenly raised his arm, a pistol clenched tightly in a fist, withdrawn from a hidden holster. The gun exploded once, in time to the beat of the pounding music, and a flare furiously brightened up the dim room in an instant. The light caught the very first instant of the girl's head coming apart, brains and chunks of skull parting away in an expanding mass, but darkness caught the rest and the lifeless body dropped to the floor, now cradled by the shadow.

Emma, Aria winced as what felt like ice began to infect her, spreading from the stab wound at a glacial pace.

Smoke curled from the end of the pistol as the Legionnaire still held his arm ramrod straight, as if the freshly decapitated body of the human woman would miraculously get up anytime soon. Not a gear whirred until the Legionnaire waited the maximum amount of time until he was certain that wielding a weapon was no longer necessary.

The cyborg flicked his wrist, spinning the pistol several times upon his finger before he quickly slotted it into a holster at his side. The Legionnaire hated that little tic—he was not in control of that particular body function. The techs in Chimera specifically programmed him to showcase a little flair now and then. The Legionnaire felt the entire action was juvenile and useless, but the wires embedded in his brain were hijacking all his actions. He had no recourse other than to endure this foolish game.

Before the Legionnaire finally departed, he beheld the fallen Aria one final time, unsympathetic to her plight. The pool of blood surrounding the asari had spread to the Legionnaire's feet, staining his soles as Aria's pulse grew feather-faint.

"'Thus always to tyrants,'" came the rasping taunt. "The only epitaph you've ever deserved."

A harsh squeal of wet heels on floor and the cyborg finally stomped away, leaving red blotches behind him in his wake. As she lay on the floor, cold took Aria as the beat of the music faded and the silence proceeded to overwhelm her.

The pirate queen of Omega would die alone.

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A/N: A dab of angst, a little smut, and a touch of violence. You guys got a bit of everything in this chapter.

I'd definitely love to hear your thoughts of the chapter - I do try my best to respond to each and every review, so don't be shy!

Playlist:

Shepard Highlight Reel (Source Music): "Monza 1976" by Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe, Mel Wesson, and Martin Tillman from the film Rush (The Complete Score Album)

Pillow Talk: "Glück" by Hans Zimmer and Bryce Jacobs from the film Rush

Long Live the Queen: "Ground Zeroes" by Ludvig Forssell from the video game Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes