"What a surprise. I was beginning to think the Doctor was going to keep you in the med bay until we found Saren."

"Same here. You think three days would be a little excessive for a bump to the head."

"I don't know about other races, but for Turians? Yes."

We stood there in an awkward silence for a moment.

"So...was there something you wanted to ask?"

"Oh yes, yes there was. So, uh, do you remember that story you were telling the night we were at Flux? Did Shepard ever ask you for the end of it?"

"You're going to have be a little more specific. I remember telling a lot of stories that night."

"Oh you know...the one about the home grown organs and Doctor...Salarian?"

"Saleon."

"That was the one."

"No, I don't believe she has."

Well, that's why I'm here.

"You mentioned you got a lead on him awhile back didn't you?"

"Yeah, I thought I did. I used to put out feelers for him every now and then, and a couple months ago, I finally found something. He got a ship named the MSV Fedele and changed his name to Doctor Heart. His idea of a joke I guess. I told the military but they weren't convinced it was him. I eventually got the new transponder frequency for his ship but I just couldn't get anyone to check it out."

Music to my ears.

"Dude, we could just give those coordinates to Shepard. Have her check it out next time we get the chance!"

"I don't know Shield. We don't have time to-"

"Hey, you."

"Yeah?" I replied in Ashley's direction, wondering what she wanted. She took her sweet time sauntering over to the Mako from the weapons bench.

"These are what you wanted right?" She held a pouch in her outstretched hand.

"Uh...what are those?"

"Those heat clips the Geth carry. I thought you wanted them."

Oh sweet!

"Really?!" I took the pouch from her and took a peek inside. I counted about one, two, three, five in total, which was still more than I had hoped for. "I totally forgot I asked you to do that! I owe you one Ash."

"No problem," she said smirking.

"Heyyy, I don't think I ever actually asked how that mission went. The Geth give you guys any trouble down there?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle," Garrus casually replied.

"Yeah, they were pushovers. Cleared out their base and blew it sky high without any problems. Apparently Tali even found something that could help us in our search for Saren too. Though the Commander wasn't too clear on the details about that-oh, speak of the devil."

I heard her before Ashley had acknowledged her presence. The clomping of Shepard's boots made it sound like there was an Elcor onboard. Her clomping could probably be heard all the way from the bridge.

"Wrex, Ashley, Garrus-"

I turned around with the pause.

Oh come on.

She grimaced while saying it. "...Shield."

"What is it Commander?" Ashley shouted to Shepard who was now marching over to her locker.

"Suit up and get ready to go. We're being dropped planet-side in about thirty minutes."

"Woah what's going on?" I followed up her question in alarm.

"An asteroid's on course to hit the colony of Terra Nova. We have four hours to change that."

In the Present...

WhatDoIDo. WhatDoIDo. What do I dooooo-

The back of my helmeted head bounced off the frame of the Mako as it shot up into the air. As my head rattled around, I heard Shepard yell out targets to Ashley, who was currently manning the mass accelerator.

"At our ten! Aim down that turret on the mobile track!"

"I see it!"

The blast rocked the entire vehicle.

Shepard's a maniac. A bloodthirsty monster.

The way she had killed Charn replayed over and over again in my head.

That's the most gruesome thing I've ever seen in my life. That was worse than that scene in Paranormal Entity. She fucking tore that guy in half. WITH HER MIND. I mean Shepard looks like fucking Carrie with how much of that Batarian's blood she's covered in.

She hadn't even given the four-eyed bastard time to talk. One second Charn had been standing there passively, talking about how insane Balak was and then the next...the guy was lying in chunks on the floor.

I didn't even know you could even do that with biotics. I mean-Focus. He's gone and dead. Focus on the here and living.

I continued to be jerked violently back and forth in the Mako as Shepard maneuvered it wildly around the missile turrets guarding the main facility. I was just too distracted by the general unpleasantness of the situation, and I sat there helplessly as my mind drifted back to the building attached to the third fusion torch.

What she had said at the third fusion torch was true. The Batarians here were in the process of sending an asteroid on a collision course with a planet. There was no reason they deserved any mercy. They were going to kill millions of people because...they were insane.

Did Charn even really deserve to live? He might not have agreed with Balak but he was still a slaver regardless. He was still a complete scumbag...so why the hell did I argue with her?

I wish I hadn't spoken up in the first place as the scenario played over and over again in my head.

No. The reason I objected was that she could've talked him down. Could have let him leave without any trouble. She just needed to say a few words and...but should we have? I mean she's right. They were intending to go on a slave run before any of this even happened. Not like Charn was an innocent bystander. He killed Kate's brother didn't he?

And that brought me back around to the current dilemma. Shepard didn't bother to 'persuasion check' the Batarian. Whether Mass Effect gameplay still even dictated what went on in this universe I had no idea. What I did know however was that when it came down to the decision... when Balak shows his face and gives her the ultimatum...there would only be one answer.

I kicked myself repeatedly for not realizing it sooner. Shepard had a Mindoir-Torfan background. Both were horribly brutal situations sharing one thing in particular. And that one thing happened to create the perfect storm for this scenario. I hoped she wouldn't. I really did. Hoped that she cared more about the lives of the civilians than blindly killing the individual responsible. But I couldn't leave it up to chance. And the feeling I had in my gut agreed. Shepard would rather kill Balak than let him leave. If I just tagged along and followed Shepard's lead, I would be resigning Kate and the other hostages to die.

Which left me in the current scenario of what the fuck I do.

When it all goes down...do I force her at gun point to let Balak go?

I let out a nervous laugh that didn't leave my helmet.

Critical Mission Failure for sure. Sure way to getting myself killed after that whole melodramatic episode with Shepard...Could I maybe...sneak up on Balak before he detonates it? Kill him before he can react? ...How would I pull that off?

My head jerked right as the Mako broke to a stop.

"Alright, everyone out. You see something with two pairs of eyes, you put a bullet between them."

"Aye-aye Commander," a majority of the squad replied, quickly exiting through the back of the Mako.

Shit-Shit-Shit.

I was the last to get out of the vehicle, and just in time to see Shepard be the first to enter the facility. She was followed by Wrex and Ashley, and then Kaidan and Garrus after them. As I trailed behind Garrus, Tali brought up our rear, fiddling with something on her shotgun. Probably making it more deadly or something.

I didn't bother to ask. We walked through a fairly long and dark hallway before all seven of us eventually reached what seemed to be a secretary's office. A wide desk with a small console atop it sat unoccupied across from where we all entered. The rest of the room was barren of any furniture and was a homey charcoal grey. Ashley bent over to pick up a medi-gel kit and a box of grenades lying suspiciously on the floor. I could tell Garrus was examining the room wall to wall for any surveillance or booby traps that there could be. Shepard gathered the others standing idly by in a circle to formulate a battle plan, with me among them.

Instead of listening however, my attention was focused on the staircase to our left, which I knew led to the main room. The room where a lot of Batarians were itching to shoot at us and where multiple bombs were spread throughout. And somewhere to the left of the stairwell leading up, in a small alcove on either the first or second floor, was where the hostages were being held.

That would be my priority. Fight my way there regardless of Shepard's orders and find some way to crack the door open, allowing the researchers to escape.

"Weapons free. Come on." Shepard turned away from the group huddle and started slinking up the stairs. I was too late. It was already crunch time.

And the whole thing was chaos incarnate. One second all of us were in a tight-knit formation keeping an eye out for any sudden movements and the next we had all scattered. I followed my initial plan and took off left. Which coincidentally had the least amount of resistance. I made quicker progress than I anticipated, making it to the first alcove in the room I could see in seconds, with apparently no Batarians having set their sights on me in the process. I made one last sprint through the open walkway however and dove head first into the nook. I wasn't taking any chances.

I popped up from where I dove in to take a quick layout of my surroundings. It was as sparse as the office we had first walked into, while having the added bonus of being absent of Batarians. The sound of the fire fight outside the room I was in though was deafening. Something I wasn't planning on jumping back into anytime soon. Then I did a physical sweep of the room. No locked room and no hostages. I ran upstairs. The floor above the alcove seemed even smaller. There was no place where the hostages could possibly be either. I immediately cursed and ran back toward the stairs.

Where the fuck are they!?

"SCATTER!" I heard Shepard over my radio. I heard a subsequent explosion erupt somewhere outside the alcove.

Dammit! Where-

It hit me like a charging Krogan.

The hostages were on the left side of the area. If you were walking back towards the exit. Which meant-

They were actually on the right side. I cursed out loud again and sprang into action. I practically leaped down the stairs, and sprinted as fast as my legs would allow to the alcove's door, which emptied into the main lobby.

I could still reach them if Shepard and co. hadn't killed all the Batarians yet. With that in mind, I took off, out the door, and into the fray before me.

And as soon as I had exited the doorway, I literally screeched to a stop. Literally screeched. For I found myself face to face with one of the four-eyed terrorists. We were literally inches away from one another. I was so close I could hear him breathing heavily. He was the first Batarian I had actually seen without a helmet on asides from Charn, whom I didn't even get a good look at before he was...disposed of. And I have to say, Batarians were probably the most grotesque aliens I've seen yet. Aside from the Keepers. My body reflexively shivered at the thought of those nightmares.

The first thing I noticed was his agape mouth that displayed hundreds of needle-like teeth. They were reminiscent of a whale's baleen plate. And I'm assuming, that almost always, your eyes would next lay upon the fat roll of skin draping around their maw, which resembled a disgusting skin goatee. And sooner or later, the sight would inevitably cause your eyes to move up, and fall upon their nightmarish looking proboscis, which was an inverted triangle with eight nostrils. Add their freakishly giant eyes placed abnormally low and too close to their mouth with two creepy smaller ones placed abnormally high on their forehead, and you got a face not even a mother could love.

While simultaneously gagging inside my helmet, I threw a right hook as hard as I could straight to his face.

I knocked the Batarian back on his ass. Hard.

I had to shake my hand though with how much the punch had hurt. Batarians had craniums of steel apparently. Of course, I only shook my hand all about after I had killed him. I pulled the trigger of the predator in my left hand several times at his head in a panic. He had actually almost gotten himself back up, ALMOST, before the gun took down his shields and a bullet found its mark.

I was slightly disgusted with how I had just executed the guy lying on the floor, feeling dirty about killing him so unceremoniously. I gagged a little to be honest. But I had other things to worry about. I quickly turned my attention to the other side of the gigantic room. There was another alcove straight across from where I was. The only thing in my way was the giant pit in its center where I could hear either Wrex or Tali's shotgun going off. And I was sure that other room was where I would find the hostages.

Opting to not enter the pit where gunshots were being exchanged, I backtracked the way I came, past the facility's entrance, and onward to the alcove on the right. Much, much further ahead of me, I saw Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley marching down the corridor. After seeing the squad, I noticed Garrus's conical blue helmet poke up further off in their direction, loosing a gun shot not a moment later. Where exactly he was aiming, I wasn't quite sure. But with Shepard's small squad clearing the way before I arrived, I made it to the opposite side of the room lickety split. Running inside of the alcove, I immediately spotted a thin, horizontal window constituting part of a wall to my left. And I could see eyes peering out of it. Human eyes.

SCORE.

I ran over the door and tried to interact with its interface, pushing the manual commands to open it. But the circle on the door didn't respond to my clicking, opting to stay red. Muttering to myself, I activated my omni-tool and tried to use what I learned from the manual to hack it. After fumbling around for a minute I gave up on that idea. Peering through the small glass strip, I could tell they were shouting at me to get them out. The walls must have been soundproofed however because even though I could see them opening and closing their moths, I couldn't hear a peep.

I did a 360 around the room, looking for anything that could help. The gun fire was dying down. I was running out of time.

Oh God. I really hope that firefight right now isn't between Shepard and Balak.

If it was these people would already be dead.

Oh. Right.

I looked around desperately for anything I could do. I couldn't get past the door, I couldn't hack it, I couldn't-

"TALI!"

I saw her out of the room's doorway as she flitted up a staircase from the room's pit. It was her shotgun that had been going off below the main floor. I yelled to her again. She heard me the second time and turned in my direction. I waved wildly to her, motioning her to come over. Looking around cautiously at first, the Quarian then made a quick beeline toward me when she saw the coast was clear.

"Shield!" she said panting. "I think we got them all. Shepard and-"

"Tali! No time! The hostages are in here! We need to get them out!"

"What! Have you gotten the door-"

"I can't! I need you to!"

I shoved her towards the door.

"Oh! Uh, I'll get it open!"

"Hurry!" I said louder than necessary, running back to the doorway and taking a peek outside.

My view was obscured. I could see the faint outlines of Wrex and Garrus on the far side of the room, and I imagined the rest of the team were most likely standing further ahead of them. With how tensed the two looked though-

We don't have much time...

"Are you close?"

"No, someone stripped the door of its actuator and physically jammed its magnetic latch! If I have a couple-"

"We don't have a couple more minutes Tali!"

"But-"

"DAMMIT!"

She cowered. I would've felt awful for raising my voice at her if I wasn't currently pulling out my hair, figuratively speaking.

THEY'RE ALL GONNA-WAIT.

"Tali. Can you remotely deactivate things with your omni-tool?"

"Uh, yes, most-"

"There's a bomb on the other side of this door! Can you shut it down!?"

"Wha-what!? Another one?! I-I might-let-I'll try to sync to its signal," she started stuttering.

"Another one?!"

I had completely forgotten about the others.

"I already disabled them but that was because I-

"Just hurry!"

I peeked out the door way. I could hear shouting coming from further down the walkway.

Oh Goooood-

"I found it!"

"SHUT IT DOWN!" I shouted back at her.

She started typing away frantically on her omni-tool.

A thought crossed my mind.

Why do you care about these people? They're not even real. Hell, they're not even essential characters. If a handful of people die it's not like-

What? Brain. Shut the fuck up. These people are *currently* as real as we are. We're not letting them die. Not if we can help it. There's not gonna be any orphans born here today. Not on my watch-

Beep.

"...what was that?"

Beep.

"Just a few more seconds-"

Beep. Beep-Beep-Beep.

"What is THAT?"

Beep-Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep-Beep-BEEP-BEEP-BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEEeeeeee-

While the sound began to slowly die away, I exhaled heavily and dropped my gun. As calm as I thought I currently was, my heart was still trying to claw its way out of my chest.

"Got it!"

I fell backwards onto my butt.

We did it.

Gun shots broke out back in the main chamber. But I ignored them. Shepard was a big girl. She could handle the rest of the Batarians herself.

Back on the ship, I stripped off my armor piece by piece until every component lay neatly organized in my locker.

Back when I just had the Onyx armor, I never actually had to take it off. Its fabric inlay was pretty comfortable, and with how light it was, I rarely felt like I was ever even wearing armor. Not that I could take it off if I wanted to. I didn't have anything under it back then except for some underwear.

But with how heavy the ceramic plating on the HKSW line was, clothing underneath was certainly needed, less I get the chafing of a life time. I owed Kaidan for helping me out there, as he lent me the spare uniform that I was currently wearing. The 'Janissary' armor had been hella uncomfortable the first time I donned it. Sometime after Luna, I remember unintentionally mentioning it to him. That had become an embarrassing conversation. But the dude was pretty chill about it. Didn't laugh or anything, just offered me his spare crew uniform, suggesting it would help. He really was a nice guy. Definitely needed to make it up to him somehow.

And speaking of favors...

I still had to do something for Ashley since she helped me mod my gun back when I wasn't the cool kid on the block. And I have to do something for Garrus since he saved me from those muggers too. And Tali for just helping me save those civilians-

I remembered why I had been so mad in the Mako while we were waiting for pick-up.

Shepard.

I thought she had changed. Or that we had at least come to some kind of understanding. But no. She was just as mean to me as she was when I met her back on Prime. Chewed me out in front of everyone back at the third fusion torch and again when she realized I didn't help them kill Balak. Although mentioning that Tali and I saved the hostages seemed to shut her up.

"Hey princess, you done there?"

I turned around to find Wrex an inch away from my face.

"Uh...yeah. Go ahead Wrex." I stepped aside and motioned to the locker.

He muttered something back to me under his breath but I didn't bother to find out what he said. Probably something snarky. I just let out a heavy sigh in return.

This is like freakin' high school. You know what. If she has a problem with me, then she can say it to my face.

Sometime Later

"It looks like the Alliance owes you another medal Shepard."

"Just doing my job Captain."

"I'll forward your report on what happened to Alliance Command. And I'll be sure to mention this to Admiral Lundvall too. The Sixth Fleet's flotillas should have been patrolling that region. The fact that Batarians got so close to destroying that colony...I don't even want to think about it. Again, you did good work. I'll talk to you later Shepard."

"Captain," she responded saluting. The holo-projector powered down and the orange hologram of Captain Anderson fizzled out.

"Shepard."

She spun around to face the doorway of the conference room.

"How long have you been there?" she demanded from him with venom in her voice.

"Literally just walked in," he lied taking several more steps into the room.

Shepard folded her arms in response. "What do you want? Or did you just come by hoping you'd overhear something you can take back to your boss?"

"I'm here because I wanted to talk," he now replied tense.

"I don't have time to play twenty questions with you," she snapped, beginning to make for the doorway before he purposefully stepped in her way.

"Really? Because it seems you have time to do that with everyone-else."

She felt a scowl come across her face. "If you don't get out of my way-"

"What? You'll kill me? Like you did that Batarian?"

What? Was he really still on that?

She leaned back again, deriding him. "I didn't realize you were such an alien lover Shield-"

"You would have killed those people Shepard!"

His comment jarred her. She found herself standing where she was in shock.

"...what did you just say?"

"I heard everything Balak said. You would have let Kate and all the other hostages die just to get your petty revenge!"

Did he just call me PETTY?!

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you," she now snarled through her teeth, as she tested her own resolve. "Those terrorists were going to kill millions on Terra Nova. You think we should have just let them walk after what they tried? You don't think that they would have tried this again? That someone would be lucky enough to stop them twice?!"

"What you think doesn't matter. He could have tried it again. Or he might have learned his lesson. We don't know. What I know is that if Tali hadn't defused that bomb, all those people would be dead right now!"

"Don't attempt to lecture me. You know NOTHING about what you're talking about!" She stared Shield down. "Ka'hairal Balak was a Batarian terrorist at the top of the Alliance's most wanted list. He's the one who orchestrated the Massacre at Ferris Fields and the hundreds of Humans left dead in its wake. He's responsible for destroying dozens of Alliance merchant ships. And you wanted me to let that monster go free?" Shield's face of self-righteousness disappeared. He'd obviously never heard of the Batarian. "That's what I thought." She knocked him aside and continued toward the door.

"You know what that Batarian would have done in your place?"

She froze.

He wouldn't dare...

"He would've let those people die without a second thought too."

Her temper flared. She wasn't aware of what she had done before the man had already flown several feet away shimmering violet. But that piece of shit had just compared her to one of THEM. SHIELD of all people.

"Don't you DARE ever compare me to one of THEM-"

"Why not!" he said popping back up. "What makes you so different!?"

"I don't murder innocent people-"

"-Really!? Then what was that back on X57?"

She felt her face contort, her fists clench, her nostrils flare. But then she stopped herself, took a deep breath, and then forced herself to take a step back.

"...I don't need to defend my actions against someone like you. We're done here."

She was halfway out the door before he spoke up again.

"Shepard! You could have just left me on the Presidium if you didn't want me to tag along. Why the hell am I on this ship if you don't want me here?! Tell me Shepard, why am I currently aboard this vessel?"

"Because Anderson said so!" she shouted back in his direction. "I wanted to leave you there. I argued we don't need second-rate spies like you on this ship. But he disagreed. Said that you'd be a valuable asset to have." She paused. "I've yet to hear one valuable thing come out of that mouth!" He avoided her eyes now, pointedly staring at the walls of the conference room instead. "My hands are tied. But if you wanted to leave out of your own prerogative, you can go right ahead next time we make port. I can tell you right now...you wouldn't be missed."

"What the hell's your problem?" He thrust a finger in her direction. "Please tell me what the hell I do that angers you so much! I'll be sure to work on it."

The mocking tone he took at the end of the sentence just served to poke the bear further.

"My problem is that you haven't told the truth since we found you cowering behind those crates on Eden Prime! You lied about who you were. You lied about what you were doing there, and you continue to lie to us even now! You can't be trusted!"

"What? Are you still mad about that? Okay, yeah, I'm sorry about pretending to be a detective alright. It was a mistake. But I thought we already moved past that. What else have I lied to you about since then?"

She felt veins pop out on her forehead as she heard his reply. He talked like a child. An ignorant, impudent child. It truly infuriated her. But she was better than that. She wasn't going to waste such energy on the likes of him. "Back on the Citadel, after you talked to Kahoku. I asked you if the Shadow Broker wanted anything from us in return for protecting the Admiral. You just told me you took care of it. When I asked Ashley about it later, she said you gave him information on someone named Kai who was a part of Cerberus. That organization you mentioned outside of Udina's office. You lied to us about not knowing more about them. And if you actually worked for the Broker, why did you withhold that information originally from him in the first place? Why would you have to bargain for Kahoku's safety if he was your employer? Please tell me because I'm beginning to think you don't work for him at all."

Oh shit. Where the...oh shit. What do I...oh shit.

Luckily my face didn't betray the current shock coursing through my brain.

Did I really make that many mistakes? How many other holes has she already found in my story? How the hell did she even find all that out? How-Answer first, questions later.

I replied with the straightest face I could manage.

"In that order? Well, first thing. I'm going to go ahead and agree with what Anderson said. I am very valuable, that's a fact. I know a very many things." She obviously disagreed. "Look, I didn't mention anything else about Cerberus because I didn't think it mattered. Did you really want me to tell you about their entire history when it was irrelevant at the time?"

"You'd just revealed they were spying on us, trying to learn what happened on Eden Prime! Of course I did!"

Oh.

"Well...I was a little more focused on us exposing Saren. So alright, my bad."

She paused a moment before asking her next question. "So you're telling me you don't know anything else about them? That you didn't also know about their operations on Binthu?"

What?

"Woah...Shepard. Backtrack. When did you learn that?"

"So you did!" Her hand started glowing a menacing violet.

"No! No I didn't!" I lied. "I was just surprised that you would know where the hell Cerberus were hiding. Where did you get that information?"

"Admiral Kahoku. He contacted us right after we left the Grissom system. He-"

I missed him?! Dammit. Dammit-Dammit-Dammit-Dammit!

I had already warned the guy though, and I gave him the Shadow Broker's protection. Kahoku would be fine. He had to be fine. I had to trust that he would be. And then I noticed that Shepard had already finished talking. And she still looked as angry as ever.

Oh crap, what was she saying? Daaaaaaammiiiiiiiii-

"So..." I began. "...as for the information on Kai Leng..."

Shepard stood there, arms crossed, glaring at me.

She's not stopping you, just keep talking. She doesn't know you ignored everything she just said. Power through it. You can do this...

"Uh...you learn quickly in the organization that you should always keep some information to yourself. Use it when you have nothing to report to the Broker or...keep it for a rainy day when you need a favor. That piece of info was the latter."

"Okay. So who the hell is this Kai Leng?"

"Uh..."

Dammit. I'm giving this stuff out like candy. I need to save this information for when I need it. I can't...this is one of those times when you would need it dummy. In fact, valuable. I'm valuable. Or my information is. I need to, in fact, dish this more often, not less.

"He's a N7 operative. Former operative. In fact-"

Wait. Did Anderson meet him yet?...uh, let's not risk it.

"-he was expelled from the Alliance shortly after he graduated for conduct unbecoming."

"Conduct unbecoming? What exactly did he do?" she asked obviously feigning interest.

"Killed a Krogan in a bar. I think. Apparently, murdering innocent civilians is frowned upon in the Alliance."

She scowled at my remark. "So how'd he end up with Cerberus?"

"Apparently the dude was always a tad racist-"

Or was it speciest?

"-So Cerberus thought he'd be a good draft pick and busted him out of the jail he was put in. I'm guessing when he found out there was a rogue, morally bankrupt, human-centric terrorist organization who wanted him, the guy was ecstatic. Finally had a place to call home. I think he's been one of their top enforcers ever since. But enough about him."

Because I don't really have much more on the guy. Not this early in the game.

Then I asked, "So...is that all Shepard? Anything else I can do to prove to you we're on the same side-"

Oh. Wa-

"-it. If I really was the bad guy you're making me out to be...don't you think I would have shown my true colors by now. Do you remember what happened? Back on Therum? I could have let you go back then. If I was really working against you guys, do you think that I wouldn't have saved your LIFE that day?!" That comment certainly got her. The look of chagrin on her face...in fact, she almost seemed hurt. But that couldn't be it. It was definitely something else.

"If you had, it's not like you would've gotten away with it. The entire garage was watching you."

"Oh my god Shepard, what do you want from me?!"

"How 'bout the truth!?" she shouted back.

"Truth?! I've been keeping it as real as I can up to this point!"

"Really? Because you still haven't even given us a real name. Don't you try to fucking tell me it's really Marauder Shield."

Hm. Fair enough.

"Ok. Yeah. True...I thought it might've been clear to you that it was just my...code name. One passed down by my predecessor. One I'm definitely not worthy of using." I stopped a grin from creeping across a face. "A name I'm certainly still trying to live up to."

"Okay then. So, tell me...what's your real name?"

Dilemma. What do I tell her? Another fake name? I would just be digging myself further down and down if she found out. Uh...oh god. I guess I should just-

"To tell you the truth...I have no idea. The only thing I remember is working for the Broker." Her face grew grave again. Obviously not the answer she wanted to hear. I spit out the rest of my premeditated back story I hadn't gotten the chance to tell before. "I was raised by them as a child alright? They just called me...kid. For the longest time. Until I was given the call sign Shield, I didn't have an identity. I was whoever they told me to be."

"Really? So where you come from, who your parents were, what-"

"Don't remember any of it. Zip. Nada. Nuevo."

Nuevo means nine.

"Look, that's really all I can tell you about myself Shepard."

We definitely still weren't seeing eye to eye but her rage definitely somewhat subsided hearing that. We stood there awkwardly for several seconds before Shepard spoke up. "So...have anything else you want to mention?"

"...like what?"

"You just said you knew more about Cerberus. You ever come across any information that might help us deal with whatever operations they have going on? Aware of anything related to their operation on Binthu?"

Did I?

"Uh, planning on paying them a visit sometime soon?"

"Yes," she replied clearly displeased.

She seemed strained in just telling me. "Uhhhh, let me think...oh. Yyyyyes. I have heard through the grape vine that Cerberus has been getting into some creepy shit recently. Doing...tests on weird alien creatures and stuff. We've tracked some...sketchy xenobiologists shipping to somewhere in that region actually. Might indicate what we're up against."

Was that too much?

Whatever the case, the information seemed to satisfy Shepard. "Oh, great. Real helpful. Good talk," she remarked with scathing sarcasm.

"Hey, you know this is a two way street." I almost regretted opening my mouth. I could have just let her continue to walk out the door. Stupid mouth.

"What the hell are you talking about."

"I just gave you a little something about myself. I think it's only fair that you share something too."

"I don't think so."

"C'mon...not even a name?"

I honestly don't know why I asked. But I realized rarely anyone ever referred to her by it. Actually, no one referred to her by it. Not Kaidan. Not Anderson. Not nobody.

Was it because of...the game mechanics? The game's diaLOGUE!? COULD IT REALLY BE DICTATING WHAT STILL HAPPENS!? IS THAT WHY HER FIRST NAME-

"You know what my name is."

Ooooh. So that's how it's gon' to be.

"You know what I meant."

"I did. And to you, it's Commander Shepard."

"Oh come on. It's not like it's a secret...is it?" I widened my eyes in anticipation of her answer.

"No. But we're not friends. You haven't earned the privilege to use it. And I can safely say you never will."

And with that, she walked out the door.

Ow. My feelings.

Codex Entry:

Alliance Correspondence

Intercept 13:45/ Secure Comm Buoy #8973 / Encrypted / #3687 - FU - 291

Sender: Admiral Johanna Lundvall, Arcturus Station

Captain Anderson:

Your report is disturbing to say the least. Batarian slaving runs are nothing new but the scale of what they tried to do this time- I mean attempting to destroy Terra Nova- is simply intolerable. And you know those bastards in the Hegemony put them up to this. Something of this scale isn't just done by regular slavers at the drop of a hat. We can only thank whatever higher power there is out here that Commander Shepard had been close enough in the area to stop them.

Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call to those kleptocrats in the chamber that something needs to be done about the Batarians. The way they've been tiptoeing around the subject for the last decade has been borderline treason. It's like after the Theshaca Raids, they want to pretend the slavers no longer even exist. Which brings me to why you sent me this report in the first place. I'm sure you've already sent what happened on X57 to Shastri's Chiefs of Staff, but I'm not quite sure why you've decided to include me in the loop. It's almost like you're insinuating I have something to do with this. As if what happened there was a fault of the Sixth fleet.

And I'll tell you what I'll tell the board Captain. The Sixth Fleet has been kept as a reserve power of the Alliance Navy since its founding. I've personally sent multiple petitions time and time again to establish us as a permanent patrol fleet in Exodus or Argus Rho, and every single time, they've been dismissed. I understand the whole precedent of "She who tries to defend everything defends nothing," but if my fleet was actually stationed off the Exodus Relay, my patrols would have most certainly caught the terrorist Ka'hairal Balak before he even entered Terra Nova's system. I'm confident to say as well that if we had been stationed in the cluster, we could have even prevented what happened on Eden Prime.

We have four scout flotillas assigned to patrol Terra Nova's space. That's not even close to the number needed to cover a planet's orbit, let alone the whole damn territory, so don't you dare point your finger at me or my men for those pencil pusher's shortsightedness. In all honesty, I'm glad I'll be able to point this out to them, hopefully it'll give them enough reason to pull their heads out from where the sun don't shine and address the problem. In any case, send my regards to the Commander for a job well done. She's one of the few officers left in the Alliance that gives it any sort of credibility.

With all due respect,

Admiral Lundvall

Commanding Officer of the Sixth Fleet

Arcturus Station

Author's Notes:

So after looking it up, I've actually come to find out that Nuevo means neither none or nine in spanish, just new. Hope that nuevo information filled your quota for Fun Fact Friday (if you happen to read this when it came out). I type the dialogue as I go along, I certainly don't plan this ish. So keep an eye out for those mistakes in Shield's random thoughts or conversations. OH and please, if you happen notice an embarassung typi, think you could send me a PM of its location? It's shameful for me to ask, I know, butt I'd really appreciate the help in catching the few that slip through the cracks. I go through some chapters and when I see them, it's like ugh, I'm sorry you guys had to endure that. But in any case~

Review Responses:

Gen. Zaroff: Sorry bout the cliff hanger man but I do love me some cliches. Hope this chapter sated you. And thanks for the encouragement, I'll be sure to keep the work up to the best my ability allows! :V

NightFury: Trust me, the next chapter did sound good! Originally.

And a shout out to NathanHale2 too for reviewing this chapter before it came out. His thoughtful analyses definitely helped in finding what elements it was still missing. Be sure to thank him for his work and the chore of dealing with me.

In the Next Chapter: Beware the fury of a patient man.

Tune in next time on Mass Effective: A Hero Made!