AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, sorry about tonight's delay as well as te short chapter. I did turn out to have a busy week. One such example, if any of you are familliar with ARMA 3, just tonight I joined the 501st group for ARMA. Tomorrow I'll be doing a shinie test, and I don't know if Sorensic will be there to stream it, but if he is, go to Sorensic Steel on twitch. You can watch me die horribly to clankers for your enjoyment. Among other shinies dying.

Commander John Shepard

Everything felt numb as I started to come to. I began to open my eyes as my memories of what happened began to return. Instead of looking up at the interior of the Mako, being attended to by Mordin, the ceiling was instead a pristine white. The Normandy med-bay. Sensation returned to some parts of my body. My chest hurt; my breathing labored. Not empty, like when I was shot, but labored. A three fingered hand was grasping my right, and I looked to see Tali asleep in a chair beside me. Like how I did when her mask was broken. Garrus was also in the room, I realized, as I struggled to sit up on my elbows, grunting. He was asleep on a chair against the far wall. While on my left was an IV tapped into my arm. Whether it was sedatives, painkillers, nutrients, or all three in some capacity I couldn't tell. I also noticed how I had a set of air pumps hooked up to my nose. The same kind you normally see hospital patients with. Or the Elderly. The door to the med-bay then opened, revealing Doctor Chakwas stepping in with a mug of coffee. Fresh, by the smell of it.

"I wasn't expecting you to be awake for a few hours yet. But frankly, nothing about you really surprises me anymore."

"That makes two of us."

"Indeed," Chakwas walked over to her desk, sitting down. We were keeping quiet for the sake of the others. "You really should get some more sleep."

"How'd the mission go?" Chakwas chuckled in response, shaking her head.

"The only one even close to being as hurt as you was Grunt, but his wounds were only flesh wounds, and few of them at that. Those are barely pin pricks to a Krogan. Even less still for him. And the beacon down there is intact with a Council team en route to bring it to Council Space. Plenty of time still for you to get some rest then see what it has to tell you before they arrive. You can thank Garrus for sending that message."

"And my condition?"

"The fact you're even coherent right now with the painkillers I've hooked you up to only goes to show what your implants are doing for you. The bullet went right through you, but it struck a rib on the way in. The bullet may have missed the heart by a fair margin, but bone shrapnel was dangerously close to damaging it. But the shrapnel did still tear through your left lung badly. With Mordin's help, I've taken the liberty of starting to grow a cloned lung for you with at least most of the biological modifications Cerberus originally gave them, that way you don't need to worry about whatever replacement they might send you and what they might plant in it. As for the rib? I can't work with the shards that were left, so we're growing a replacement one of those as well. Mordin is also helping me to see that it receives the same reinforcement to its structure as the rest of your skeletal system. Again, without Cerberus meddling."

"Appreciated, Doc. What's my recovery?"

"Well, as it stands, I've sealed your lung, removed the shards of bone, and closed the wound on both sides. With the medicine you'll be receiving and with your modifications, your body should heal itself to the best that it can no sooner than a week from now. But you won't be authorized for combat, not with one of your lungs barely functioning on its own. And trust me, you'll feel it. You need to wait for the lung replacement. The rib won't be ready by then but it's a determining factor for your combat readiness. So. The new lung will be grown and ready in two and a half weeks, followed by at least two days of observation to ensure it works properly. The rib would be the following week and another two days after that. But in-between I'd be willing to clear you for combat."

"Wonderful… And how long are you going to keep me locked up in here?"

"For the week. But if you're a good boy, I may be inclined to let you take your meals in the mess closer to the end of the week."

"Will you at least let me use the actual restroom when I need to?"

"My dear, the answer to that question should be the bedpan you have."

"Damn it," I murmured.

"I may have changed some of your diapers once upon a time, John, but don't think for a second that I ever missed doing so. I'm already being generous by allowing you to return to the surface and take a vision from the beacon tomorrow. On a gurney. Under my supervision. It would take a strong gust of wind to re-open most of your wounds at this stage, John. And Rupert works so hard to keep this ship clean, I won't have you covering it all in blood," she teased. "Now, go back to sleep. If you need, I can provide more sedative."

Commander John Shepard

The following morning, we wasted no time getting back to the dig site and to the beacon. Garrus and Tali had already been informed by Chakwas about the medical situation, and as what the plan was? They would have to wait until we returned to the ship. I knew what I wanted to do, but I think I'll just tell the whole crew at once. I had remained in the gurney, per Chakwas orders as we took the shuttle down to the surface, and down the elevator to the dig site proper. And finally, to the Beacon. The thin, needle like structure like the two we had seen during the Saren campaign. The base of it still appeared buried. There was no console, but as we approached, a green interface flickered to life.

"It didn't do that last time," Garrus remarked.

"Guess it likes me," I joked. The bed was pulled up beside so that I could reach out and touch the interface. None of it was in English, yet I could understand the symbols perfectly. It was asking permission to interface. One button declining, the other accepting. Naturally, I lifted a finger to accept, followed by a sharp intake of breath as the world flashed to pure white, and then black. First, it was the same images as before. Or at least mostly the same. No, now they were different, slightly. The angles were different, but the surrounding architecture appeared the same, as did the people present. Running, on the ground, dying, screaming, fighting. The Reapers descending and firing. I would assume it to be of wherever the Prothean VI in here was present to record for. Or however they did it for this beacon.

This time, however, entirely new images appeared. A group of Protheans being chased down by Collectors. Collectors being fired upon by Protheans. Collectors clawing into and tearing apart the chest of a Prothean. They were the Husks of the previous cycle, not just a useful Remnant left behind. And then a voice. Deep, masculine, like the one I heard from the Illos beacon, but again, different. As for what I could see, I was back in that grey, dreary, ruined grassland, surrounded by the eerie forest of dead trees under a dark, cloudy sky.

"Human," the voice boomed. As he approached, while he was still a hologram like the others, he was not in robes, but rather in a kind of ornate armor, by the looks of it. "And one who understands. This unit is designated as Sentinel. Your memories indicate you have spoken to other units. And the Reapers have been delayed, as was our goal. And you are already aware of their origins, and intend to strike at them through the Omega-Four relay. This is good. You must annihilate not only them, but every trace of them. They corrupt just as surely as the Reapers themselves."

"Then do you know what they're doing with our people?"

"I do not. The Reapers did not leave behind agents such as the Collectors in our cycle. It was not uncommon for them to drag away wounded soldiers or civilians, but we knew it was for the purpose of creating more Collectors. I cannot be sure why the Reapers decided to leave behind agents for this cycle. We have old records of the Reapers telling us that we were 'incompatible,' early in the days of our extinction. Though what we were incompatible for, we do not know. We can only guess that they still wanted us to be of use after they completed the cycle."

"Is there anything you can tell me?"

"Not that you do not already know. Avenge us, Human. And remember, nothing of the Reaper's slaves can survive." The vision went to black before I could do or say anything, my eyes flickered again, my vision clearing to see the Beacon.

"Damn," I muttered.

"Already? You just pressed it," Garrus spoke up, my hand still outstretched to the button as the interface faded.

"What did it show you?"

"Nothing new," I sighed. "The VI in there recognized that we had already used other beacons and delayed the cycle, that we knew what the Collectors were and such, and that he didn't know what they were up to as they didn't use some Predecessor on the Protheans. The closest he could get to explain why they exist was that the Reapers once said that they were incompatible. For what? No idea.

"Well, hopefully someone can pull some useful information out of it. Tech, I mean," Tali stated.

"One can hope."

Commander John Shepard

We returned to the ship disappointed, having only gotten hints of worthwhile information. Still, better to put this right into Council hands than Blue Suns. Chakwas made sure to wheel me right back to the med-bay the moment we were back on board, Garrus and Tali still choosing to follow. At least the doc let me make my announcement over the intercom.

"Attention all hands," I began. Doing what I could to bring out the 'Commander' voice. A bit harder, and a little painful, admittedly, as I had only one lung to work with at the moment. "As you are all no doubt aware, I am out of commission for a while thanks to a pair of Bastard Blue Suns snipers. I will not be combat ready for over two weeks' time. But that does not mean the Normandy will be idling away in some dock while I recuperate. Miranda, TIM had hinted that something else had been going on related to yesterday's mission. If he has information for us to follow up on, I want you to deliver the briefing to Garrus and Tali. The former will be acting in my stead while I recover, and Tali, his second. Both are qualified and skilled leaders that I trust to make the right decisions. In the field, you will follow their orders as if they came from my own mouth. No exceptions. And if I hear anything about any of you disobeying their direct orders, I will personally boot your ass off my ship. If you have any questions or concerns, you may speak with me. We're all adults here, and I expect you all to act like it. That's all."

Garrus met my eyes, and nodded after a moment, which I returned.

"Why not just Garrus, John?" Tali asked.

"You already hold a leadership position in the Migrant Fleet, Tali. Don't forget that. If, in the field, Garrus ever needs to divide the squad, I need him to have an option right there that no one will question. Miranda may be a capable leader, but I can't trust her to make the decisions that I know either of you would. And the others either fail into the same category as her, or haven't proven themselves a leader. You two already have my full trust." I paused for a moment.

"I suppose this has made an opportunity for you both to learn to trust yourselves."